"I bought that knife you're using," I nodded toward it. "It's a fine-edged filleting knife. It wasn't meant to be used to cut fruit. Where's the trash heap?"
"On the west side, over by the piles of trimmed brush. My husband is in charge of these groves, now, I'll have you know. He'll throw you out of here when he comes in for lunch."
"Your husband can try to throw me out," I snapped at her before skipping away.
They'd burned my things. Clothing, little gifts, everything they hadn't wanted or thought was valuable. Most of it was ash, lying in a heap beyond the cottage. I brushed tears away as I stared at the smoldering pile. Hunching my shoulders, I struggled to hold tears back before skipping to the palace in Veshtul. Jayd and Glinda were there, having lunch with my four oldest daughters and their husbands. I stood and gaped at them for several moments before the first sob came.
"Did Garde wait five minutes before he tossed out my things and gave away my jewelry?" I wept. "I found a woman using my knives in the kitchen and she said my rings weren't there when she moved in. She took them; she was lying to me. You took my daughters, didn't you? What else are you going to take from me?" My body shivered so hard it was difficult to remain standing.
Jayd was on his feet, now, a worried frown on his face. "Reah, we'll get them back," he said.
"And all the things my girls gave to me when they were small are in a trash heap and burned, Jayd. Can you give that back, too?" I couldn't stop the sobs. Raedah stood up, then.
"Mom? Are you all right?" I skipped away before I could hear any more lies.
"What the f**k just happened?" Jayd shouted inside his study. Lunch with his great-nieces had been interrupted in the worst way possible. Now, he had no way of finding Reah. He'd sent mindspeech to Garde the moment Reah had skipped away. Kifirin, Lissa and all of Reah's mates except Nefrigar had come, many of them angry and willing to shout at just about anyone. Reah's daughters were all concerned, now. They'd seen their mother break down before their eyes.
"She said the woman lied about her rings," Glinda said. "And threw all her other belongings out that she didn't take. Garde, what did you do? What did you tell that woman when she moved in?"
"I told them the house was furnished," Garde muttered, flopping onto a chair beside Jayd's desk. "I didn't think about the things Reah left behind. Assumed thnd.at ere wasn't anything important there."
"You thick-brained lummox." Aurelius' eyes were red and his fangs were out. "We were forced to ignore her for twenty-five years by that dark bastard over there, and you give away all she had left of us? Do you know what those rings are worth? Do you? Gavril's is Tiralian crystal, you idiot. It's worth millions, by itself."
"If poison work against High Demons, we would bite," Farzi declared. He and Nenzi were very close to becoming lion snakes.
"I said I wasn't thinking," Garde snapped. "We'll get her things back."
"Only if you can bend time on some of them, brother," Jayd said. "And where is Reah?"
"I think you should all come, but be very quiet and not make sudden movements." Nefrigar appeared and he looked frightened. Larentii never looked frightened. He folded all of them to the Southern Continent.
"No," Garde whispered and began to walk forward. Aurelius gripped his shoulder and jerked the High Demon back. Stay still, Aurelius' voice hissed in Garde's mind. Reah was weeping, standing on the edge of Baetrah. If a High Demon wished to end their lives, they leapt into the fiery heart of the volcano while humanoid. It was the only way, unless they were overpowered and killed by another.
"I told you she was near the breaking point," Dee said softly to Gavril, who stood, petrified, by Dee's side. "I'm sure the attack and everything else during the assignment didn't improve matters any."
"Dee, she can't kill the baby," Gavril wiped his cheek. It was wet, somehow.
"Is that all you care about?" Dee turned dark eyes on his adopted son.
"No. God, no."
"Lara'Kayan?" Nefrigar held out his hand to Reah.
Nefrigar had come. I could barely see him through my tears and the sobs wouldn't stop. I couldn't stop them, somehow. Something was broken and I didn't know how to fix it. The blow had come, as it does in any fight, when you can't take the beating any longer and you fall to your knees, beaten and uncaring what happens to you after that. Glinda and Jayd had my daughters. Had them all along. I'd only been allowed to pretend I was their mother. Now, there wasn't any evidence that I'd even existed in their lives.
"Little one?" Nefrigar held out a large blue hand to me. I stared at it for moments. If I took it, it meant more pain. More betrayal. More people taking what was mine.
"Reah, no, child." Kifirin was there, too, and weeping.
"You said I didn't have to talk to you unless I wanted it."
"My father pointed out that I shouldn't make promises I cannot keep." His tears sizzled as they hit the dry and crusty earth on Baetrah's western edge. It was the one with the cliff hanging directly above the caldera. The heat from below was drying my tears almost as quickly as I wept them.
"Go away," I said, turning to look into Baetrah's flaming depths again.
"Reah, it wasn't meant to be like this. You have to believe me," Kifirin begged.
"I can't believe anything you say, Kifirin. Can I?" I wasn't even looking at him. The fire below was giving a promisiviuot;Lara'e of its own. Of peace and no pain.
"Reah, I only placed Baetrah here for those who'd lived so long they couldn't remember their births and life no longer held interest. Come back to me, little one, and things will be made better."
"How? You can't do it, Kifirin. It isn't within your power to fix this. My daughters were stolen from me long ago. They're Jayd and Glinda's, didn't you know? You took my mates away, you said so yourself. I don't have anything left. My own mate and uncle stole from me. Garde gave away all the sentimental things I had and a Greater Demon violated the sacredness of the act of love. Tell me what I have left now, Kifirin. What do I have left that you will likely take from me in the future?"
"Little one, come away." Nefrigar was still there, only now he stood between Kifirin and me. I blinked at him. He'd been the only one who'd come to visit, no matter what. "My love," he said, "think of the child, if not of yourself. Come away, little one. Take my hand, and I promise enough peace for you until these things might be dealt with. None of these are worth your life. Take my hand, love." He was closer, now. I gazed into the caldera. And then turned back to Nefrigar, who was now close enough to touch. "Take my hand, Reah. I will help you make this right. For you, as well as Garwin Wyatt."