He wasn't lying. Maldak was completely truthful in everything he said. "Very well," I told him. "I will carry this back to the others and a date will be set. Meanwhile, do you have information on the whereabouts of the remaining rogues?"
"We do not. They have been hiding from us for quite some time, willing only to send their youngest children out to create havoc among the worlds. I find this repugnant—they transformed humanoids without thought to their character, and then forced them out to be killed by the Saa Thalarr or some other faction capable of doing so. You do not send your children out to be destroyed in such a way. They must be carefully taught so they will know not to kill."
"You are not from this time, are you?" I said, watching him carefully.
"No. I brought these forward from long ago, to escape those who thought to destroy everything. I looked for an appropriate time to re-establish ourselves. A time when the threat against us would be in measures we could handle. Now, all we need is the proper candidate to bring us together with our lost cousins and those created to hunt the rogues of our kind. If we may meet here in three days, that will suit us very well."
"I'll do what I can," I replied, nodding to Maldak. He smiled.
* * *
"He said they came from the past, to get away from the rogue faction that was taking over," I said. We were all inside Lissa's library on Le-Ath Veronis. "They want to inhabit Trasindelim again," I said. "And I have a suggestion."
"I'm agreeable," Lissa said. The suggestion I'd made was to allow the Ra'Ak, Black and Copper, to feed twice a turn from Evensun. I knew that every prisoner was sterilized before they went, so there were no children. The youngest would be sixteen or older, I knew that, and all certified as adults. Only the worst of criminals were sent to Evensun. "And limit the take to one day for each hunt," I said.
"Where will they get their new children?" Kiarra asked.
"Shall we ask Ildevar?" I suggested. Lissa sent a message to Norian, who contacted his patron. Ildevar appeared, walked straight to me and hugged me warmly.
"Little Reah, are you well?" he smiled at me.
"As well as can be expected," I said, asking him to sit with us. We were in a circle in Lissa's library. "Do you know why we're here?" I asked.
"Willem informed me that this would come. It is a glad day," he replied. "And I think that we will form a committee. Worthy citizens' names from across the Alliances might be suggested, and we will choose from that list when they are dying. The Ra'Ak will limit their numbers, as they always have. They will replace what is lost only, once the full complement of our kind is reached. Then they will look to replace what is lost when the time comes. The committee will decide and then take suggestions to the Ra'Ak, who must also agree. The King of the Black Ra'Ak and the Prince of the Copper race will make final decisions from the list submitted. And then the ones suggested make the final choice. It is only fair."
"I agree with that," I said. "Some may not want that sort of life. The final choice should be theirs."
"And I want Reah on that committee," Ildevar smiled at me.
"If you'll do it with me," I said.
"I would be honored," he nodded.
"Jerigar and I will also be on that list," Willem and Jerigar, the only white-haired Larentii I'd ever seen, appeared. Jerigar came over and lifted me up, placing a hand over the baby.
"He is quite fine, but his mother needs to gain weight," he said.
"We need one more member," Willem announced. "Edward Pendley should take that spot."
"Edward Pendley will do it, as long as Reah is there," Edward was folded in by Aurelius.
"Good enough," I sighed. "And the first person I want to put on that list is Flyer from Falchan."
"Yes!" Lok stood and shouted his approval, something so unlike him. Dragon and Crane were pounding Lok on the back. I just shook my head in amazement.
"Flyer is ill," Jerigar whispered in my ear. "They should take him soon."
"There is a vacancy with the Black Ra'Ak now," Youon appeared. Someone had likely called him.
"Lok, do you, Dragon and Crane want to go to Flyer?" I asked. "To see if this is what he wants?"
"Wait," Belen appeared. "We owe a debt to Reah. Several, actually. Reah, we will hand Flyer's life to you. We will make him like Lok and Aurelius, immortal with a bit of power, with an invitation to join the Spawn Hunters. He will not become Ra'Ak. Is that what you want?"
I didn't even have to think about it. "Yes," I said. Flyer had been more of a father to me than most other men in my life.
"We will go," Belen said, and every Falchani in the room disappeared with the Nameless One.
"Now I'm back to looking," Youon sighed.
"Then go see Plovel on Bardelus," I said. "He was a good policeman and investigator. I hear he's retired, now."
"Good choice," Jerigar smiled at me.
"I will go with Youon," Ildevar Wyyld said. "And with Willem." Those three disappeared.
"I like it when I get instant results," I sighed.* * *
"Reah, I have it on good Larentii authority that you should eat more and rest more," Kevis was ordering me to bed as soon as I finished dinner.
"And which Larentii would that be?" I asked, dressing in pajamas.
"Renegar. Remember, you said you loved him."
"I do," I said.
"Do you love me, too?" Ry appeared in the bedroom.
"I do. I was wondering what happened to my warlock King." I wrapped my arms around Ry's neck as he lifted me off the floor. I waved for Kevis to go away as Ry started kissing me. And when he loved me, it was gentle and perfect. I went to sleep in his arms afterward.
* * *
"I think Ry just made it around all the bases," Teeg sighed and swallowed his bourbon. Kevis had joined Teeg, Tory, Aurelius, Lok and Lendill for a drink at Edward's kitchen island. Edward had taken the reptanoids out to the groves to look for whatever was chewing on gishi fruit trees in the eastern grove. Teeg stared when they brought the dead predagator back. The reptile was nearly twelve feet long and not native to Avendor. An omnivore, it loved small mammals and fruit trees, chewing the bark off the lower portion of the tree and killing it that way. They also built dams similar to beavers.
"I can't imagine where it was planning to live," Edward said, examining the creature with the others. "These things require ponds, lakes or rivers. The nearest river is fifty clicks away."
"Planted?" Teeg asked.
"Undoubtedly. I grow tired of these pranks by my neighbors," Edward sighed in frustration.
"Buy them out," Lendill suggested.
"Do you think there are more of these out there?" Tory asked.
"Possibly. I've lost nearly fifty trees in the past six days."
"Then I'll go out. They won't stay anywhere near a High Demon. Reah would do it for you, if she were awake. Since she's not," Tory finished his drink and made ready to hunt predagators.
"Which one of you did this?" Teeg grinned at Farzi and Nenzi after examining the dead predagator.
"I do this," Nenzi was quite proud.
"Nenzi, you are definitely the man," Teeg slapped him on the back. "Come on, let's all go looking for predagators."
No less than sixty were rounded up and set on the neighboring gishi fruit groves. Terrified of Tory's Thifilathi, they couldn't get away fast enough.
"You think that might drive down the price?" Teeg laughed as they watched the reptiles rush away.
"Can't hurt to check," Edward nodded.
* * *
"Lord Kifirin?" Farzi stared at Kifirin, who stood inside the bedroom he and Nenzi shared at Edward's manor. Nenzi, who gaped at the god, wondered why Kifirin had come to them.
"I wish to give you—and Reah—a gift," Kifirin said. "It will not hurt in the least. I know it was painful when you experienced it in the beginning. This will be a return of what is rightfully yours." Light formed around Kifirin.
* * *
"Ry, you get more handsome every time I see you," I pulled his head down to kiss him. He'd wakened me with a smile.
"Just what I wanted to hear from my future Queen," he said and kissed me again. We were late getting to breakfast. I was weeping in no time when a very young-looking Flyer was sitting at the table, having his first meal as an immortal. He was up from the table immediately, hugging me.
"How is my daughter?" He held my face in his hands and kissed my forehead.
"I am better, seeing you," I wiped tears away. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you. My customers missed your cooking," he grinned. "It took years to bring them around again."
"That's not true," I said, hugging him. "Come on, finish your breakfast."
* * *
"You told me those things would stay in EastStar's groves," Crorver Ride cursed at Erbrin Dondl. Their groves bordered EastStar's on the western side only. Mountains bordered EastStar on the eastern side and SouthStar bordered all of them to the south and west, stretching toward the jungles protected by law. Those jungles consisted of rainforests that helped sustain Avendor. Crorver and Dondl's groves were surrounded by SouthStar and EastStar, and they didn't like it. They had no trouble expressing their displeasure with the owner of EastStar in ever-creative ways, but they were terrified of SouthStar's owner and his grove manager.
"They usually don't travel far if they find a food source," Erbrin whined about the reptiles they'd loosed on EastStar. The predagators had found their way back to their groves, somehow. "It's egg laying season, too," he went on. "I found a wallow and an egg cache right next to a broken sprinkler line this morning. We'll have to hunt the creatures down."