Reah? Thank goodness. When Torevik sent the message saying that someone had attempted to attack you, I nearly took the house apart. Aurelius' voice was warm inside my mind.

Love, I'm sorry I didn't contact you sooner—I didn't know whether you were busy or not.

Reah, my beautiful love, I am never too busy for you. Even if I am in combat, I will get back to you as swiftly as possible.

Auri, I wish I were with you. Right now. I did—I hadn't ever been so worried in my life. Even when Edan was beating me, at least I knew it would stop for a while after he hit me. This was constant and completely over my head. Aurelius always seemed so confident. I wished for a little of that, right then.

Reah, you sound lost, love. Is there no way we can see one another?

Auri, I'm afraid. I don't know what I'm doing and Lendill wants me to stay here. Now, Arvil San Gerxon has named me one of his heirs and I'm a target for his enemies or those who want to take what he has. What am I supposed to do? I was wiping tears off my face even as I entered amounts of stock items into my comp-vid. Tory almost got up but Ry grabbed his arm and dragged him back to his seat.

Reah, don't cry, love. We'll see one another soon. Aurelius broke off the mindspeech.

"Reah?" Kiasz's voice broke into my concentration. I think everyone in the kitchen knew I was crying by that time. I hadn't meant for that to happen—I should have waited until later to contact Aurelius.

Avilepha, hold your head up. We'll take care of this later. Tory's mindspeech had me wiping my eyes again. "She's all right," Yindu was shooing the others away. "Go on, you'd do worse if somebody tried to poison you." Well, that had gotten around fast. I brushed dampness from my cheeks and went back to work.

"I heard you worked in Desh's kitchen, but I never thought I'd get their yaris fish outside any of their restaurants. This is even better than I remember." Wilffox Hardlow certainly liked what he'd been served for dinner. Teeg hadn't said a word when he came in with Arvil and the Hardlows—I had no idea what they'd been doing or what poor Teeg might have done or witnessed. The warlocks were enjoying their meal, too. Arvil was smiling from his place at the head of the table—his heir was making everybody happy tonight, except herself.

I still felt depressed after my conversation with Aurelius. Tory had done his best to reassure me with mindspeech, but Ry was keeping watch on him—there would be no more touching, I think. It was too dangerous. I made a point not to look at Ry and Tory as they stood guard in the kitchen; I knew there was a gossip mill now and didn't want to feed it. Tory and Ry were served in the kitchen; I got my dinner at the table with the others while my staff served wine, plates of food and desserts.

"Sweetheart, no more crying in the kitchens, all right?" Teeg pulled me against him after we made it to our bedroom and closed the door. Honestly, I wanted to cry again, but I held the tears back. If Teeg knew, then Arvil and the others knew. He'd think I was weak.

"Will he try to get rid of me?" I asked, looking up at Teeg. I meant Arvil, and Teeg knew it. He led me to the side of the bed and settled me on the edge.

"Reah, I know you're young. So young." His hands cupped my face. "I know that not long ago, you didn't worry this much about getting killed. Don't let that homicidal rapist hurt you like this." He leaned in to kiss me. How could I tell him it wasn't just Haral that upset me? All of it was weighing on me and closing in, like a windowless room. "Baby," he murmured, "I promise you, I'm not without resources. I'll protect you as well as I can."

I knew Tory would do the same, only Tory probably had more resources than Teeg could possibly imagine. So did I, but I always worried I'd be caught unawares. Lendill had told me not to change. What was I supposed to do, wait until they killed me to decide otherwise? Ry was strong as a warlock, but could he stand against any one of those working for the Hardlows? I was afraid to ask, in case the answer was no.

Lendill's hand automatically went to his throat when he saw Aurelius coming. Aurelius didn't look happy. "Now what?" Lendill decided to be practical about it and lowered his hands.

"Reah sent mindspeech. She was crying before it was all over. That girl is frightened out of her wits, Lendill Schaff. And you're forcing her to stay there." Aurelius' words were thick with anger.

"She's in a unique position to deliver the biggest criminals in and outside the Alliance," Lendill pointed out the logic.

"She told me she's too inexperienced for this, Lendill." Aurelius' golden-brown eyes were hard as they raked Lendill's face.

"That's why I sent Ry and Tory. They'll take care of her."

Aurelius eyed Lendill's throat. Lendill put his hand there again. Aurelius snorted and walked away.

Farzi, Nenzi and the others came in the following day. Nenzi came to me expectantly, so I gave him the best hug I could. Farzi nodded to me and smiled.

The moment Nenzi moved away, however, another reptanoid sidled up. I hugged him. Eventually, they'd all gotten a hug, including Farzi. They were hungry too; they'd come straight from the shuttle station. I had the kitchen staff put a light meal together for them. They went to rest for a little while afterward before meeting with Arvil and the Hardlows. I got the idea that Farzi had found something for Arvil. Teeg and I ended up in the meeting.

I'd arranged for snacks and drinks to be served during the meeting. Arvil seemed to like that very much. Everyone was eating and drinking as Farzi made his report. "We return from Zephili," Farzi nodded to Arvil and both Hardlows. "Grish has crops being harvested now. He say we can have those fields, for part of profits." Farzi continued.

"Did he say how much?" Arvil frowned.

"He not tell me." Farzi was upset over that, I could tell. This Grish person probably didn't think Farzi was smart enough or important enough. "He want to speak with you." Farzi nodded toward Arvil. "He want to see you." Whenever Farzi was upset, his speech deteriorated dramatically.

"Perhaps we should all pay Grish a visit." Wilffox lifted a tiny seafood salad appetizer and ate it, smiling maliciously. I wondered if he and Grish had some history. Wilffin agreed with his brother. "We can go tomorrow if you'd like, friend Arvil."

"I'll have my assistant send the communication," Arvil smiled. "If we're lucky, Grish will die of old age while we're there and we can take over. Zephili will be ideal for our enterprise, I think. Fields are available there to replace all three of our lost crops."

"Reah, just pack your things." Teeg was frustrated, I could tell. I'd grumbled when Arvil informed me I had to go. Teeg was staying behind on Campiaa to run things for Arvil. At least Ry and Tory were coming to Zephili with me. It might have been ideal if Arvil had left me on Campiaa. Wilffox and Wilffin had requested that I go with them—they liked the cooking.

"Sweetheart, you'll be able to talk with me anytime—by comp-vid communicator," Teeg watched me throw clothing into a bag a bit harder than was warranted. I wanted to scream, if I were honest. At Lendill Schaff. At Arvil San Gerxon. At Haral, Edan, the Hardlows, Delvin and just about anyone else who came to mind. "Ry and Tory will watch out for you," Teeg went on. "Besides, this will get you away from all the gossipmongers on Campiaa."

"Of course it will," I snapped sarcastically. "What are they saying about me now?"

"Reah, it's not important. Just finish packing. All right?"

I stood there, staring at Teeg. "Tell me," I said. He'd started this, saying what he did. Now he was going to explain it to me.

"Reah, ever since your hair started growing out and everybody recognized you as a woman, the rumors have been flying. Especially after Arvil got rid of his mistress housekeeper. At first, they said you were sleeping with Arvil. That upset me until I found out differently. Now they're saying you're sleeping with the Hardlows or their warlocks. Reah, you're beautiful. They see that now. People are even placing bets on who you're sleeping with besides me."

"That's it, I'm leaving." I dumped the armload of clothing I held in the bag that lay open on the bed. I turned around and stalked out the door, Teeg right behind me.

"Reah, where are you going?" Teeg grabbed my arm.

"Anywhere but here. All I have to do is make it to the shuttle station. Tell Arvil I said no, thank you." I jerked my arm out of Teeg's grasp.

"Reah!" Teeg was almost running after me, hauling me off the floor while I flailed against him. I think a few blows actually landed on his chest and shoulders as he carried me back to the bedroom. After tossing me onto the pillows scattered across the top of the bed, Teeg growled and turned away from me. I attempted to slide off the bed, but he caught me and threw me right back. "Reah, listen to me!" Teeg was nearly shouting.

Too angry to say anything that made any sense at all, I folded my arms stiffly across my chest and refused to look at Teeg. "Reah, I shouldn't have told you that, but maybe it's better to hear it from me instead of getting blindsided by it when you're working at one of Arvil's casinos. People here gossip, Reah, and they gamble. The two go hand-in-hand, most of the time. They get bored with the regular games, so they'll bet on anything."

"So they all think I'm going to bed with Arvil. Or the Hardlows." I was shaking now, I was so angry and upset.

"Reah, they're even betting that you're sleeping with your new guards." Those words hit too close to the truth. Tory and I hadn't coupled—we'd only had direct contact during the claiming and that had been unwilling on my part. Now, though, Tory and I—well, we were mated just as much as Aurelius and I were. I loved him, just as I loved Aurelius and Teeg. Multiple mates were recognized by the Alliance. I didn't know what the rules were on Campiaa and didn't want to ask Teeg—if he were fishing for information, I wasn't about to hand it to him. I did give him what I had, though.