Aurelius folded me to Norian's office inside Lissa's palace. Lendill was there, as were Teeg, Ry, Tory, all eight reptanoids and Astralan and Stellan.
"We will take our Reah's bag," Nenzi stepped up right away, so Aurelius handed it over.
"Nenzi," I hugged him tightly. I'd issued an invitation for him and the others to stay with me and Aurelius but they hadn't come. I blamed Teeg for that.
"Our Reah well?" Farzi got the next hug.
"I'm all right," I assured Farzi as the others came forward to get hugs as well.
"Reah, I'll see you soon," Aurelius leaned down to give me a kiss before disappearing. Without him, I felt I was in enemy territory. Only Farzi, Nenzi and their brothers would be any comfort at all. If I were truthful, I felt cold and abandoned. I had no desire to heal Tulgalan and wished I could wait until after my daughter's birth. Just the thought of it made me rub my belly.
"Reah well?" Farzi repeated his question.
"I'll be fine," I lied to reassure Farzi.
"We're ready," Norian nodded to Ry, Astralan and Stellan. We were folded away quickly.
* * *
"Tory and I will be trading nights," Teeg said the moment I was shown to my bedroom. Both of them, in addition to the reptanoids, had followed me. Nenzi still carried my bag.
"No," I turned and glared at both of them.
"Reah, this is the way it's going to be," Teeg snapped. "One of us will be with you at night and Farzi and the others will be in the bedrooms on either side. Get used to it!" I was just about to tell Teeg what I thought he could do with his high-handedness when Lendill walked in.
"I'd like a night, too," he said.
"No. Absolutely not," I almost shouted. I only held back a little—he was still my superior, after all. In fact, he shouldn't be trying to push himself on me. He and Norian would be lucky if they ever saw me again the moment my time as a conscript ran out.
"If either of them get to trade nights, then I demand time as well." Lendill had his arms crossed angrily over his chest. All three stood there in identical poses, almost, all glaring and snarling. I wanted to tell them to get out but there wasn't any chance they'd listen. They never listened. Every time, it was what they wanted. They got their way, too, every single time. Suddenly, I was too tired to fight with any of them.
"Nenzi, will you help me unpack?" I turned to my friend.
"Nenzi help," he nodded eagerly. He and the others had my bag on the bed and unpacked in very little time.
"Reah, baby, Norian wants one of those fruit and rum drinks," Tory poked his head inside the door. I just stared helplessly at him, all the fight gone out of me. Forces outside my control had decided my fate and I had no more strength to do battle against it. I walked wearily out of the bedroom, brushing past Tory and heading toward the kitchen to put drinks together.
* * *
"Reah, that was wonderful as usual," Astralan complimented me on the meal. I said nothing, gathering plates from the table instead. The reptanoids had helped me as much as they could with dinner. Now they would help me clean up. I hadn't been included in Norian's meeting with the others while they planned their assault against the Hazlan family in a few days. I was there to cook and do cleanup afterward.
"Reah not feel good," Farzi was rubbing my back as I huddled on a barstool at the island later. We'd cleaned the dishes and the kitchen, leaving me worn out afterward. Perhaps I was depressed. That might explain the feeling I had of a terrible inevitability stretching before me.
"Aren't you done yet?" Teeg stalked into the room, drawing to a halt a few feet away. "What's wrong with her?" He demanded. My head was buried in my arms at the island and I hadn't sat up when he walked in.
"We not knowing," Farzi was still stroking my back.
"Sweetheart, I can get Jes here in no time," Teeg had come closer.
"No. Keep him away from me," I muttered, still not lifting my head.
"Reah, if you don't sit up and come to bed with me, I will have Galaxsan bring him immediately." I sat up. "See," he said, holding his arms out. "Problem solved." If I'd had any energy, I'd have punched him in the gut for his arrogance.
"Come on, you don't have to do anything. Just let me love you," Teeg was nuzzling and kissing. He'd insisted that I not wear pajamas to bed. I wanted to push him away. I didn't have the strength. At least he was gentle. I think I wept while he loved me; I couldn't hold back the tears.* * *
"What's wrong with her?" Wylend demanded the moment he'd folded in with Erland. Tory didn't want to argue with his grandfather and kept quiet. As it turned out, Tory didn't have to argue with Wylend—Gavril decided to answer.
"She'll be fine after we get this over with," Gavril unfolded his arms and picked up a small sculpture that adorned the desk inside the plantation's study. "She doesn't like that Norian's forcing her to do this. Karzac says the baby is fine—I don't know why she's balking like this."
"Right now, you're all riding over her—as if what she wants doesn't matter." Wylend didn't like it either—he understood Reah's position better than the others might think—he was in the early years of a female cycle. With Karathians, the cycles ran around a hundred years. Erland's was currently in a male cycle—Wylend's and Erland's tended to be opposites.
"Don't say that—we'll make this up to her when this mess is over," Gavril set the sculpture down again. It was a stone carving of a tiny Skycatcher.
"So, you don't care that she's miserable right now. Is that it?"
"You make us sound like unfeeling louts," Tory muttered.
"Well, aren't you?" Wylend glared at Tory now. "If I understand correctly, that little girl she's carrying may help revive the High Demon race. I think your father is none too happy with where Reah is at the moment."
"Yeah, don't remind me," Tory sighed.
"And since we're taking turns—you never should have told Rylend, by the way," Wylend was still glaring at Tory, "then I demand a night too. I wish to take Reah to dinner while she's here."
"Fine. Take her out tonight. See if you can get her into a better mood." Gavril was giving permission without consulting Tory. Tory turned a stunned look on his brother.
"When did you get to be in charge?" He snapped before skipping away.
"I was wondering the same thing," Wylend said. "You've only been around for a little while, Gavril. I don't care what you've gone through the past fifty-odd years. Being a King or in charge of anything means that you need to stop and listen to your people occasionally. If you want to be successful at ruling, that is." Wylend nodded to Erland and both of them folded away.
"Fuck," Gavril rubbed his forehead with shaking fingers.
* * *
"Reah, my love, I heard you weren't feeling well. Does this mean you can't come out to dinner with me tonight?"
I'd fallen asleep with Farzi and Nenzi watching over me. Wylend had come in to wake me with a careful kiss.
"Wylend?" I wanted to fling myself into his arms and sob out my misery.
"Reah, pretty Reah, don't do that, you'll make me weep as well," Wylend sat on the edge of my bed and pulled me against him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I sniffled for a moment before getting myself back in hand. Being pregnant was certainly playing with my emotions.
"Where did you want to go?" I wiped my face with the heel of a hand and pulled away from Wylend to search his face.
"It'll be a surprise—I made reservations already—they know the King of Karathia is coming with his intended." Wylend held out a hand, palm up. Light formed around it and suddenly there was a beautiful ring lying there. "This is yours, Reah. You know I want to marry you. You have led me to believe that you will when your service to the ASD is over. It is not too early for us to make the commitment. I know you cannot wear Aurelius' ring while you work, but you can wear this tonight when we go out. I expect those people at the restaurant to fawn over us and give us only the best of what they have," Wylend smiled and offered the ring. When I nodded, he placed it on my finger. "See," he said, "it fits perfectly."
It did. I wanted to sniffle again—I'd never gotten a ring from Tory and now wondered why that was. It was his baby after all, but then he hadn't shown much interest in her, either.
"Come with me, love. I will take you to dinner. These louts can fend for themselves for one night." Wylend had brought a dress with him—it was turquoise and nearly matched my eyes. It also had a high waist so my early pregnancy would not show at all.
"You look beautiful," Erland offered his arm to me when I came out of the bathroom later. Erland, Ry and two of Wylend's personal guards were there to protect us as Wylend folded us to a restaurant.
"Wylend, no," I moaned when we appeared at the private entrance to Desh's in Targis. Doormen were already falling over themselves to greet the King of Karathia and his entourage.
"Reah, I want your fool of a grandfather to know he can never touch you again," Wylend whispered softly as he led me inside.
We were handed over to the master of tables, who bowed respectfully to a visiting monarch and his intended—that's how Wylend had made the reservations. The man had never seen me and had no idea who he was ushering into his restaurant. If Addah learned I was there, he would seethe but he wouldn't say anything to Wylend—he'd know that the King of Karathia could ruin him in more ways than one.
"Sorry I'm late," Lendill rushed in, joining our party invited or not. Wylend lifted an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Erland cleared his throat a little and Ry scooted over a bit to give Lendill room.
"Are we expecting other guests?" The master of tables asked pleasantly. His job consisted of making the guests welcome, no matter the difficulty.