"Reah has mindspeech. Do either of you have that talent?" Bel swung his pack over a shoulder. Ry looked at Tory and then back at Bel, a huge grin on his face.
"I wish I had your talent, my friend. Someday, perhaps, you'll tell me how you came by it." Bel stood inside the walls of the outpost where he'd served with Commander Aris. He still had no idea what had happened to the man. He addressed Ry after Ry folded all of them to the outpost.
"Perhaps someday, I'll consider telling you where that talent came from. Is this where we're staying?" Ry studied their austere surroundings.
"For the night, at least." Bel, Hish and Max dropped their packs inside the barracks they'd used before. "Pick a bunk. We'll have to feed ourselves tonight. Some food—not much—is still inside the keepers."
"Tell me again why we didn't bring Reah with us?" Hish was doing his best to chew the meat they'd cooked.
"I think I should ask her to teach me a little of what she knows," Ry was cutting his meat into tiny pieces, hoping that would make it easier to consume.
"How do you know her, anyway?" Bel was curious.
"Reah is my mate," Tory was struggling to consume his dinner.
"You're joking." Bel almost dropped his fork.
"No. But she has two. I'm the second one."
"She's only nineteen."
"We know," Ry admitted. "Tory and the other one are recently mated to Reah."
"So, she wasn't just any conscript when she landed here," Hish said, cutting into his meat with difficulty.
"Well, she was at the time. Worked in a kitchen for the Alliance. It wasn't until she got back that the ASD latched onto her." Ry was about to give up on his dinner.
"So, she has us to thank for all that battle experience?" Max grinned.
"I believe that's true," Tory agreed.
"We have a cook where we're going—we'll stay in the largest village. You'll get a look at the drakus seed fields while you're there. The villagers the High Commander relocated spend most of their days pumping water for the plants." Bel gave Tory and Ry the information they needed. Ry had tiny cameras affixed to his clothing—nobody from Mandil would even think to look for them—the technology was beyond them. The Director and Vice-Director would be getting live feeds from Ry if he wore either of the two vests he'd brought with him.
"Who guards the fields at night?" Tory asked, sipping the wine he'd poured; they'd found a few bottles left behind after the evacuation.
"Pell is there—he sleeps during the day and guards at night. You'll take his place so he can go home to his wife," Bel nodded at Tory. "Mind you, I don't want any of the attacking wizards killed—we want to bring them in with us. We may need their help when the time comes. I figure the High Commander will wait until the harvest is done before making his move."
"What about the army?" Ry asked.
"Right now, the Station Commander is still loyal to the High Commander. Evlif Gorth is a reasonable man, though. I'm hoping that when the final push comes, he'll send his troops in the right direction. The High Commander hasn't done much to make Station Commander Gorth respect him." Bel shoved his plate away with a sigh and sipped his wine.
"She's no family of mine—I received the papers making that a fact not too long ago." Addah Desh was rude to Vice-Director Schaff.
"Then ponder this—let her identity slip, even in the slightest way possible, and you and I will have a discussion with the local magistrate over child labor law violations within your restaurants."
"What?" Addah Desh almost came out of his chair. His face was turning slightly purple, too. Lendill wondered if he might be forced to call Emergency Medical for assistance.
"I have all the records, Master Cook Desh. Your son did not pay her properly and worked her long hours from the age of eight. No child is to be employed in a service industry establishment that exists to bring in income—not under the age of fourteen. At age fourteen, that child is only allowed to work a maximum of three clicks per day. Your granddaughter was forced to work for six to eight clicks per night, depending upon which night. The money you sent to your son to pay her was funneled directly into his accounts and not paid out. Not in the proper manner, anyway. He may have slipped her a few credits now and then, but it would not have been sufficient. All his expenses are accounted for. No salary was paid to Reah Desh. She may as well have been a slave—he treated her as one. And beat her, as you know, whenever he was angry. A trait gained from his mother, don't you think?" Lendill toyed with the comp-vid under his hand—all the pertinent records were there if Addah Desh wished to see them. "Your granddaughter—your flesh and blood—and you allowed this to happen. What do you think will happen to your business if this is leaked to the media?"
"You're saying that Edan raped her mother—at Marzi's urging?"
"Yes, I have that confession on a vid chip. They were quite eager to blame the other, in an effort to reduce their own charges. And then Marzi paid the physician to slip a blood thinner into your youngest wife's medication—it appears that Raedah learned that the baby might have been Edan's and threatened to go to the constabulary after the birth of the child. Marzi didn't want to be implicated, and at the time, she was protecting your eighteen-year-old son. That is no longer the case. Marzi feels Edan has failed her, since you have cut them out of your will. You suspected this all along, didn't you, Master Desh?"
Addah Desh deflated. All his bluster and pompousness—gone. He hadn't realized he might be included in the charges, alongside Marzi and Edan. Fes was poised to take over Desh's number two, after Edan's arrest. Addah had no desire to lose business because Edan and Marzi had gotten caught. Now, he might be accused of knowledge of a crime, without reporting it. It could ruin the entire family.
"I should never have married Raedah. I knew Marzi was more jealous of her than any of the others." Addah sighed. "And then she died, leaving me with a motherless child to raise. I had the tests run, so I knew she wasn't mine. Yes, I had suspicions, but I chose to ignore them. I wasn't aware that Edan was harming the girl and not paying her. I swear I didn't know about that."
"Your granddaughter isn't a criminal. Someday, perhaps, you'll learn what she truly is." Lendill Schaff stood and lifted his coat.
"Word will not come from me or any of mine," Addah Desh voice sounded defeated.
"See that it doesn't—much depends on this," Lendill Schaff walked out the door.
"We haven't gotten drunk together in a long time." Norian looked at Lendill. They'd returned to Le-Ath Veronis and now sat in a bar in Casino City.
"True. What did Reah say about not saving me?" Lendill was half-drunk already.
"She said she'd think twice about saving your tight ass."
"She said my ass was tight?"
"Those were her words." Norian was beginning to slur his s's.
"You think she looked at my ass?"
"Well, that was the impression I had. I don't think she knows you well enough to speculate on your spending habits."
"I saw the vid—they cut her hair again."
"I know."
"She doesn't like that."
"It's the only way she'll pass as a boy."
"You didn't treat Lissa like this."
"I know." Norian tapped his glass so the bartender would give him a refill. "I just crawled right into her bed as the lion snake one night." Norian hiccupped.
"I wish I could do that."
"Lissa would have your head."
"I wasn't talking about Lissa."
"You'll sleep here." I was given a closet next to the royal suite. The Prince's bedroom was surrounded by those of his three wives. Guards stood outside his doors and I was going to sleep in a closet. A small cot had been brought in, but it didn't look comfortable. I'd had better at the military station. Clothing, too, had been brought—a young boy's clothing by the looks of it. Blue and gray, like the uniforms worn by the other servants. I hugged myself tightly as I sat on the edge of my cot, surrounded by my meager new wardrobe.
Auri? I sent. He was far away and unlikely to hear. It surprised me greatly when an answer came.
Reah? When did you gain mindspeech?
Yesterday, I returned.
Reah, you sound lost, love.
I am lost. Aurelius, they have me sleeping in a closet.
Lara'Kayan, it will not always be so.
I know. But it is small and closed in. I shivered, just thinking about it.
Love, I am only a thought away. If it becomes unbearable, call out to me. I will help you get through this. Try to sleep, love. You are still not fully recovered. A promise lay in Aurelius' words—a promise to get back at Norian Keef, somehow, for sending me out before the healer thought I was ready.
I'll try, I sent and crawled into my tiny bed. I was nearly asleep too; I was more tired than I thought when another message came. I love you was sent to me, and it was no voice I'd heard in my head before that moment.
"Wake!" The side of my small cot was kicked, nearly upsetting it. I stared in alarm at one of the Prince's wizards. "The Prince wants something to eat. Get up and cook!"
There would be no sympathy and even less patience from this one—he had a cruel mouth and disdain in his eyes. I rose, slipped into the clothing I'd worn earlier and followed the wizard to the kitchens. I cooked. The kitchen was well stocked and I was used to what Mandil had to offer already. Cutting thin slices of fowl, I dredged them in flour, fried them quickly and made a sauce to go with them, in addition to fresh fruit and sweetened cream. The wizard and the Prince were both staring at me as they tasted their food.
"Where did you learn to cook, boy?" The wizard demanded.
