Teeg had to worry with Wilffox, Wilffin and the warlocks while Farzi, Nenzi and the others took me to the drakus seed fields the following morning. "See?" Farzi lifted a branch of one of the drakus plants. The leaves were dry and brittle, as if they hadn't been watered. Except they had. In fact, the ground was still damp from the watering earlier.
"None of the other fields are like this?" I peered into the distance—it would take half a click just to walk to the opposite end of this field.
"One more on other side," Farzi pointed in front of us. I started walking through the field with Nenzi, Farzi and six other reptanoids following me. It wasn't particularly hot this early in the morning, but the farther I walked along, the hotter I felt until I thought my insides would melt. What did this mean? I stopped still and looked at Farzi. "Farzi, do you feel hot right now?" I asked, my voice sounding breathless.
"No, our Reah. Are you not well?" Farzi came and put a hand to my forehead. "Your forehead does not feel like fever."
"I don't feel like a fever either—not there, anyway," I said. "I feel it, here." I pointed to my chest. "There's no pain," I was holding Farzi off; I think he was about to fling me inside Nenzi's hovercar and rush me back to the plantation. "It just feels really warm." More than anything, I wanted to contact Gavril and ask him what he thought. Bouncing ideas around with him often led to better conclusions. He never looked at me as if I were crazy when I said something, and this was definitely sounding crazy.
"I want to walk a little farther," I said. Farzi didn't want me to; I could see that right away. He didn't argue with me, moving along beside me silently as I strode farther and farther into a field of drakus seed that stretched as far as the eye could see. I knew immediately when I reached the warmest spot in the field. The plants were almost completely brown around me, but even without that visual confirmation, I would have known. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the heat itself.
"Our Reah, are you well?" Farzi eventually reached me from where I'd gone.
"Farzi," I smiled at him, curling my hand around his neck and drawing him close.
"Reah, I say again, are you well?"
"Yes, Farzi, I am well," I assured him. "Now, you said before that you knew I was different when you met me."
"Yes. We not know how, but we know." Nenzi had come up beside me to give me a hug.
"Then I ask you not to be frightened when I show you what I am. I promise that I also recognize my friends and enemies when I turn."
"I'll be big," I warned before undressing and concentrating on the turn. I sat on the ground to make the change so I wouldn't tower over my friends.
Eight faces were turned upward as my larger Thifilatha loomed over them, even sitting down. "Our Reah," Nenzi was breathless as he gazed at me in wonder.
"I won't hurt you," I promised. "Ever," I added, smiling down at him.
"Stretch out wings?" That was Hirzi asking. I stretched out my wings. The sun glinted off the gold of my scales and the membranes of my jointed wings.
"What is our Reah?" Yanzi knelt down before me.
"High Demon," I said. "Those things that come and attack us are not demons. They are the young of a monster. I would know if they were demons." I concentrated on turning back to myself. Nenzi helped me dress. "Were you afraid?" I asked him.
"No," he said. "Our Reah is a queen."
"No, Nenzi. I'm not a queen," I shook my head. "But I thank you for the compliment."
"Your skin scaled—like ours." Farzi seemed happy about that.
"Yes it is." I smiled at him.
"We are kin." Perzi wanted that more than anything, I think.
"We are kin," I tapped his chest. "Here, if nowhere else."
"What did you learn?" Teeg asked as soon as we walked into the kitchen. He'd been waiting on us. I barely had time to put lunch together.
"Some of the plants in two fields look like they're dying, as if they're not getting enough water," I said. "But they are. The fields around those two are doing fine. The ground is damp and still the plants are brown."
"Only two fields, not a lot to worry about unless it spreads," Teeg brushed it off. I left it at that. I didn't tell him about my other feelings regarding the dying fields I'd wandered through earlier. I hadn't even told Farzi and the others what I was thinking. That was a secret I was holding onto as long as I could.
Berthias Tayde swallowed hard as the Director and Vice-Director of the ASD watched him squirm in his seat. "So," Norian Keef finally said, "you weren't aware that drakus seed was about to be funneled through your station?"
"N-no. Not at all," Berthias was shaking his head violently. Berthias knew if he were convicted of transporting drakus seed, he'd never see freedom again. They'd pulled Berthias in first, but Windelin was waiting outside, chained to a steel bar. Nothing would get either of them out of this.
"But you admit to allowing the poppy drug to go through, in addition to a few other illegal items, such as wizard's charms, stolen artifacts and such?"
"Y-yes."
"So, you thought that was all right, did you, allowing illegal substances to spread across the Alliance?" Norian's arms were crossed angrily over his chest.
"I th-thought it was harmless."
"Poppy drug harmless?" Lendill Schaff asked.
"W-well, mostly harmless."
"Ah. And how much were you paid to think it was mostly harmless?"
"Not enough." Berthias wished he'd never heard of Grish or any of his heirs.
"The first truth he's given us so far," Lendill observed.
"What are you going to do with me? Or Windelin? He has a family."
"Not anymore," Lendill pointed out.
"Unless," Norian stroked his chin a little, watching Berthias with a speculative expression on his face.
"Unless what?" Berthias pleaded. "Please tell me there's a way out of this."
"Well, a lighter sentence might be arranged, as long as you do everything we say." Lendill grinned nastily at Berthias.
"Reah?" Astralan walked into the kitchen as I was preparing breakfast.
"Lord Astralan?" The honorific made him smile. He was handsome when he smiled, but I wasn't going to say that. I didn't know what to think about the warlocks most of the time. After all, Celestan and Galaxsan had gone to the city nearby and placed a well-aimed power blast at a natural-gas junction, killing fifteen people. Maybe they'd hit most of the traitors Delvin rounded up for his revolt, but I had no way to determine whether that was true or not. Either way, I didn't understand it.
"Reah, it's too bad Arvil found you first. Wilffox would have paid you whatever you asked if you'd come to work for him."
Wanting to ask him if that's what it took—a really big payday to do what he did, I just stared at the warlock for a few moments instead. "Well, what is it they say about being in the wrong place at the wrong time?" I shrugged.
"Or the right one at the right time." Astralan was still smiling.
"I suppose it's all a matter of perspective," I said. "What do you want for breakfast?" Breakfast had turned into an informal affair, with people wandering in whenever they rose for the day. I was thankful the servants had their own quarters and took care of their own meals.
"Astralan." Teeg walked in, nodding to the warlock.
"I'm glad you're here, Teeg—I was thinking about going to the slopes somewhere. Want to come along?"
"That sounds good. Reah?"
I looked at Teeg before heaving a sigh. I didn't want to leave the reptanoids alone. Not with the Hardlows and any one of their warlocks.
"I can tell by looking at you that you won't even consider it," Teeg said.
"You should go, I know you like snowboarding," I said. "I need to get some things done around here."
"She won't go without Farzi and the others," Teeg said, making me want to throw the stack of hotcakes I'd just placed on the bar at him.
"Bring them," Astralan was laughing now.
"Only if they want to come," I had my hands on my hips. That made him laugh harder. That's how we ended up on a ski slope somewhere, Teeg, Astralan, Stellan, all eight reptanoids and me.
"I never do anything like this before," Farzi was watching Teeg go down the slope on his board. The two warlocks had skis and they were adept at going down the hill.
"I've only done it once before and I fell more often than I stayed on my feet," I said. "But you're really quick and limber—I think you can do this," I encouraged Farzi. The poor man had probably never had fun in his life. I'd seen him smile only a few times since I'd met him. Nenzi and the others, too. Actually, Nenzi was watching all the other skiers and snowboarders in fascination.
"Just watch your ankles—that's what gave me the most trouble," I said. Farzi nodded, hopped his skis to the edge like an expert and then dropped over it. I watched in amazement as Farzi went down the hill—he didn't fall once and before he got to the bottom, he looked like a professional. Well, something to be said for snake shapeshifters, I suppose. Nenzi and the others followed Farzi down, with almost the same results. They were all good, right from the start. I was learning all over again and Teeg was laughing after I fell the second time just before I reached the bottom.
"Very funny," I smacked him on the arm when I got up and slid the last few blocks down.
Before the day was out, Farzi and his brothers were all talking about buying ski equipment. They knew there was an artificial slope on Campiaa and they wanted to do this again. I just shook my head in wonder. Teeg got my neck in the crook of his elbow and was pulling me close to kiss the top of my head when I turned my equipment in.
