"All of your produce would be considered organic," Griffin's smile widened. "You merely have to find someone to tend the crops."
"Can we offer citizenship, perhaps, to a world in need of it?" Jayd asked. "If we must hire, I want those who desire to come and are happy with what we can offer."
"Perhaps. There are many worlds classified as not worth saving, though there is a small percentage of the population that is still good and decent. Perhaps you could ask Kyler, Kiarra and some of the others to bring those to you. Of course, you have to rid your planet of the ones you have now. They have not taken advantage of the opportunities they were given."
"I like this idea," Jayd nodded thoughtfully. Garde also agreed. "How quickly can this be accomplished?"
"I have to approach my daughter, first," Griffin's smile disappeared.
"She still has reservations, doesn't she?" Garde knew what Griffin's expression meant.
"Where I am concerned, she does." Griffin didn't elaborate.
"I will come with you, if you want," Garde offered.
"So we can share in the frigid indifference?" Griffin asked.
"Something like that," Garde nodded.
"I'll settle for that," Griffin agreed.
* * *
"Raona?" Roff's voice was barely a whisper.
"Hmmm?" I was trying to swim up from the depths of a deep sleep. I felt his fingers on my face, gently stroking, and then the kiss.
"Roff," I wound my arms around his neck.
"Raona, your meal is ready and the others are waiting." I let my arms drop away.
"I don't wannoo," I mumbled, trying to force my eyes open.
"Raona, please speak clearly," Roff teased. "You know I have difficulty understanding your slang."
I blinked up at him. "You understand me just as well as anybody else," I touched his mouth with my fingers.
"Come, my love. We will eat with the others and then you may sleep again. We must also discuss off-days."
"Who wants off-days?" I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Roff was supporting me with an arm around my shoulders.
"We must discuss off-days for those who are not getting them," Roff said, coaxing me off the bed.
"Who isn't getting off-days?" I blinked at him, confused. Every comesuli was supposed to get two off-days in every seven-day week. If somebody wasn't getting them, their supervisor might get a personal and angry visit from the Queen.
"Come to dinner and we will discuss this over food," he pulled me to my feet. Giff, who'd been standing by (I just hadn't noticed her yet), had clothing ready.
"Giff, baby, are you all right?" I asked as she and Roff proceeded to pull my nightdress over my head. Giff and Gavin must have put it on me while I was asleep after the Council meeting; I didn't remember doing it.
"Raona, I am quite fine, as is Rolfe." Today was one of her days for the bite and I figured that had already happened. Giff was smiling too much for it to be otherwise.
I was dressed in a comfortable tunic and loose pants. Giff wanted to put shoes on my feet but I convinced her to let me out of the bedroom wearing socks that matched my outfit. Roff escorted me to the dining room.
We had guests, I learned, the moment we walked in—Griffin, Amara, Kiarra, Adam, Merrill, Kyler and Flavio were all there, in addition to my bunch. Garde had also come, I noticed.
"How are Glinda and the babies?" I asked, first thing. I'd only gotten a brief glimpse after they were born two nights earlier. Two long days of Council meetings had happened since then and I'd managed to get a brief nap before dinner this time.
"They are very well," Amara smiled at me. She'd gone to see them, I could tell.Roff got me seated at the head of the table. The other end was for Kifirin, but he only showed up occasionally. Usually the seats to my right and left were for the ones who were scheduled to spend the night with me. Right was first, left for the night after that.
The soup course came and Garde spoke up. "I have a huge favor to ask, Lissa."
"You want an apple pie?" I quirked an eyebrow.
"That too," he smiled. "But Jayd, Griffin and I talked earlier and we came to the conclusion that the ex-Ra'Ak and the Elemaiya are not going to accept their current situation. Jayd fears for Glinda and his daughters."
"Yeah," I set my soupspoon down and stared into my fragile, china bowl of broth. "It's not working, I know. I messed up. I'm sorry."
"We have a suggestion," Griffin said softly.
"What is it?" I looked up at him—his eyes were more hazel than brown, with gold flecks in them. I'd gotten my blue eyes and my hair color from my mother.
"The Dark Elemaiyan planet is uninhabited," Griffin said. "I would like to send all of them there, with your permission. Jayd and Garde are asking Kyler and Kiarra to bring in humanoids from a few worlds listed as not worth saving. They'll only take the ones who still have redeeming qualities and the desire to work for their citizenship on Kifirin."
"I know it's not practical, but can we look for the ones who have children?" I begged.
"Kyler and I have already discussed that," Kiarra answered my question. "Those are the ones we will select first and we'll make sure they are prepared for the hardship and the massive changes. A few worlds are on the brink of self-destruction and we will target them first."
"Good," I nodded and lifted my spoon again. "When are you doing this?"
"Jayd wants what we have on Kifirin gone as quickly as possible," Garde was tearing into the bread set at his elbow. We were served by comesuli and vampires tonight. A few vampires had experience in the culinary arts and didn't mind cooking or serving. Some, like Adam, had owned restaurants and were looking to do so again. They were the strongest faction promoting the idea of tourism.
"I think we can get them relocated beginning tomorrow," Griffin said. "It may take a few days to get all the transfers done. The new residents can be brought in after that. We may need to borrow some of the comesuli, though, to teach the trades needed. Glendes of Grey House is begging for oxberry wine and has offered quite a bit for twenty cases. I think that oxberry wine, cheese, cane sugar and beef could be major exports," Griffin smiled as he cut into the quail served to him.
"You'll have to get Roff to teach them how to make wine," I said. "And tell Glendes I'll share what I have at the moment—Shadow can take it back with him when he comes for a visit."
"Raona, we are experimenting with oxberries here, but I do not know if the soil is the same to get the proper flavor," Roff informed me. I nodded at him—it probably wasn't the same. We might be forced to buy oxberries from the High Demons so Roff could make wine.
"The Reth Alliance will have to inspect all facilities before allowing export," Merrill said.
"We probably won't be ready for that for at least a year," Garde offered. "That may give us time to work the ash from Baetrah into the soil and plant cane crops. The barns and buildings on the cane farms will also have to be cleaned up—what still stands, anyway. It will take much work, but Weth and Foth have offered for those lands. If we put Lord Nedevik in charge, I think he will make his High Demons work just like everyone else. He knows how to plant and harvest."
"I like him," Roff said quietly. "He purchased oxberry wine from me many times and occasionally came to help pick berries."
"My brothers still run the cattle herds," Garde said. "We used to depend heavily on comesuli help, but we worked alongside them, much of the time. The beef supply has been uninterrupted."
"The wool that the rugs were made from was really soft," I said. "Orliff's parent made rugs and they were beautiful. That's something else you might be able to export."
"I think both planets should work together," Adam suggested. "Since Orliff's father and the other comesuli weavers know how to make the rugs, the wool could come first to Le-Ath Veronis and then the rugs could be exported from here. The oxberry wine as well—Roff could oversee his own winery, with the berries coming from Kifirin."
"I am in agreement with that—this would mean fewer facilities to be inspected by the Alliance," Garde said. "That would still leave us with cheese, beef and cane sugar as major exports, with the wool and oxberries offered exclusively to Le-Ath Veronis for wine and rug making."
"I'm good with that," I said and tore a bit of bread off in my fingers. It was herb bread and very good. I was going to have to introduce Cheedas and the vampires to olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a dip for bread. "Roff, do you want your own winery? I think you could do very well with this. I can see exclusive restaurants offering oxberry wine as a specialty. I think you could be very wealthy in no time."
"I might like to try this," Roff smiled. Giff was nodding hopefully at her father. Little Toff was being cared for by another comesula, so Giff and Roff could have their evening meal.
"Adam and I would like to help put up the winery, as an investment," Merrill said. He'd tasted Roff's wine and thought it was exceptional. Merrill had an eye for good wines; he always kept the best cellar. If he wanted to invest, he knew it was a winner.
"Roff, you need to get with Adam and Merrill. When will the oxberries be ready for harvesting on Kifirin?" I asked.
"In two weeks on the Northern Continent," he slumped dejectedly in his chair.
"Don't worry about it, okay?" I rubbed his shoulders.
"We may be able to come up with something," Adam chuckled.
"Uh-huh," I said. "Roff, you may have your winery by tomorrow afternoon."
"Perhaps in two to three days—we'll consult with Roff and look into other wineries to see what is needed," Adam said. "It'll go up quickly after that."