"Here," I handed the certificate to Kevis when we landed inside Edward's huge kitchen. I wanted to see Edward. Make sure he wasn't something I'd dreamed up. He appeared moments later, a huge smile lighting his face when he saw me. I did something I never do. I ran to him and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"I missed you, sweetheart," he lifted me up and kissed me.

"I missed you, too," I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Let's sit on the deck by the pool," he said. I let him take me.

"Why don't we ever get that?" Aurelius muttered.

"Are you ever that glad to see her?" Kevis asked.

"I am now. I guess that hasn't been the case for the past twenty-five years, though."

"Want to take a little trip with me?" Kevis looked at Aurelius and Lok.

"I suppose. How painful is it going to be?"

"No idea. I want to talk to Edan Desh."

"Let's go," Lok sighed in resignation.

"What can I do for you?" Edan Desh, now Doctor Edan Desh, sat behind his desk at a small clinic on the southern half of Ooklar. He treated the children in a particularly poor section of that world. He was also campaigning for better education for them. Things were looking up at the moment; a very generous sum had recently been donated.

"Tell me what you remember about Reah. When she was small," Kevis said, sitting in the chair Edan offered. Lok and Aurelius also sat.

"Those memories are hazy, like they're from a vid that I watched when I was young," Edan sighed. "I know they're borrowed from that other lifetime. I try not to call them up if I can help it."

"What can you tell me of the motivation that other Edan had, then, when he hurt her?"

"I only sense anger," Doctor Desh replied. "Extreme anger. I can't explain it any better than that. He was striking out at something, to assuage that anger. Only it never seemed to work."

"You shouldn't waste your time here," Kifirin appeared. "This one cannot help you, and it will only upset him to attempt to remember things for you. He is not to blame. Come, I will take you to the one who is."

Kevis didn't have time to protest, Kifirin had folded him, Lok and Aurelius away. "So, the real Edan Desh." Kevis walked around Edan, who lounged on a small cot inside a prison cell.

"Go away," Edan growled.

"No, I think I'll stay," Kevis said quietly. "Aurelius, will you place compulsion, please, for him to tell the truth?" Kevis wasn't going to ask Kifirin for anything. The god had a way of making someone pay for anything asked of him.

Aurelius had Edan's face in his hand in less than a blink, staring into his eyes and telling him that he would only speak the truth. Edan, frightened out of his wits, could only nod.

"Now, tell me about Reah," Kevis said pleasantly.

"I hated her. Hated Ilvan, hated Wald, hated my mother and hated my father. But mostly I hated Fes. I should have been firstborn."

"What did you think, when your father sent Reah to you when she was eight?"

"He saddled me with a kid. His kid. Or so I thought. I was skimming money from the business that he didn't know about. I had to worry about keeping her in clothes and school supplies."

"Yet you never spent much on her. Did you? You took the money your father sent for her upkeep."

"He sent four hundred a month. I was able to keep three hundred fifty of that."

"When did you put her to work in the kitchen?"

"Right away. Wasn't about to spend a single credit on childcare. She could do dishes. That's what she did."

"But she started cooking quickly."

"She watched the others and picked it up. I ignored her."

"Unless you wanted to beat her for something."

"I liked listening to her scream. And beating her got rid of my frustrations with Father." Edan was clenching and unclenching his fists.

"You will not be violent now," Aurelius commanded. Edan's fists stilled.

"Tell me about Raedah, Reah's mother."

"Small. Weak. Mother was jealous of the time Father spent with her. He might have loved her. He never loved the rest of us."

"Why did you conspire with your mother to kill her?"

"She didn't belong. Didn't fit in. Fes was even older than she was. We didn't know Father was seeing someone else until he brought her home with a ring on her finger."

"You felt usurped."

"Yes!" Edan cursed. "And so did mother. She approved of all the other wives. She never saw Raedah until after Father married her."

"Did you try to kill Reah when she was a baby?"

"Yes. Mother and I fed her poison. Only she didn't die. Then Farla became curious and started checking on Reah. Since we were afraid of getting caught, we backed off. I thought I'd killed her when she was ten. But she came back after that, too. Then she began cooking, and the awards started coming in. She was the prize. If Father had found out about her, he'd have taken her back to Targis, so I kept beating her and told her to keep her mouth shut. She did. Until that fucking conscription notice came."

"Would it interest you to know that your father manipulated that?" Kevis asked.

"What the fuck did Father have to do with that?"

"Ilvan's name was the one selected. Your father went to the state recruitment office and paid the officer there to change the name to Reah. She was hauled away, while Ilvan remained in your kitchen. Your father thought he was protecting the business, because he saw Reah as worthless."

"Number two never got another top award after that," Edan grumbled. "We tried. Used the recipes Reah left with us, to the letter. And then varied them, attempting to duplicate the results. It was never the same."

"Reah was very intelligent. She knew not to give you everything."

"She got her revenge."

"I don't think of withholding a few recipe ingredients as revenge for broken bones and the hate you spewed in her direction," Kevis said.

"But she led the ASD to us. You see where I am, now."

"For crimes you committed against her mother. Do you not see murder as a crime?"

"Not against Raedah. We hated her. She took Father's affection."

"I think I'm done, here," Kevis sighed. "The one I need to speak with is dead. Too bad one of his own sons killed Addah Desh."

Ceerah stared at the empty field before her. The guards had removed her cuffs and shoved her away. Now, they watched as she walked into tall grass.

"This is like a park," she turned and sneered at her guards. "Someone will come for me. They promised."

"Nobody gets on or off this world without permission," one of the guards said softly. Ceerah snorted at him.

"You don't know of whom I speak," she said, laughing. "He's the son of the Elf King. He has power. Just wait, he'll get me away from here."

"Young woman, I am Gavin Montegue. Teeg San Gerxon is my son. His mother is the Queen of Le-Ath Veronis, and holds more power than that fool Reldill Schaff will ever realize. When I say that none gets on or off this world without permission, I mean it. Now, if I were you, I would run. Maldak is coming. You might live past the next few moments if you hide."

"How do you know of Reldill?"

"Reah is married to the Elf King's Prince-Heir, who is Reldill's brother. Of course, Naldill is calling Reldill's tune, although he no longer holds power. His father, the Elf King, removed it for a reason. What did they promise you, to distract Reah and the Director and Vice-Director? Do you think they are stupid, or without resources? Too bad, you might be able to warn them. If you had mindspeech."

"Is this my meal?" A dark-haired man appeared at Ceerah's side. She almost shrieked at his sudden appearance, and backed away immediately.

"Go ahead and run, you won't get far," Maldak smiled. "I will not hesitate to take you. You brought harm to the Lifegiver." Ceerah turned and ran. Maldak folded after her, appearing before her as the Copper Ra'Ak. Ceerah screamed before she was bitten in half and swallowed in two bites.

"Quick and effective," Tony sighed. Gavin nodded in agreement.

Chapter 14

"They're gathering allies. The rogue Copper Ra'Ak have already gotten on board," Pheligar held a three-dimensional image of Xordthe above the table. Most of the Saa Thalarr were there, listening. A careful plan was being laid out for them, in order to trap as many rats as possible in a single move.

Did Cynthin think her world wasn't being tapped a second time? She'd accepted the advances from Reldill and Naldill, after being ousted as president. "Others are being approached by the allied elf brothers and rogue Ra'Ak. We will see what their answer is." Pheligar was content to wait. The Wise Ones said only a short time would be needed. Pheligar smiled. As a Larentii, he'd always stood on the sidelines, never having gone into battle before. But now—the Head of the Larentii Council had listened to the Wise Ones and given permission. Pheligar and several others were looking forward to this.

"They have offered a way off the planet," Perdil hissed in Zendeval's ear. Zendeval lifted an eyebrow. He'd been King of Nrath for twenty-five thousand years. Yidrizin still worked as his Prime Minister; Perdil acted as advisor. Sometimes Zen listened to the dwarf. Sometimes.

"And how do they propose to do this, and what do they expect from us in return?" Zendeval asked, looking the two over that had come to him. They didn't seem like much; light hair, pointed ears, green eyes. One held power; the other did not.

Yidrizin had taught Zen many things through the millennia. One of those things was how to recognize power. Like the High Demons, power held no sway against the Greater Demons. Once, Kings, rulers and despots had approached the Greater Demons, specifically for that talent. None could harm them with power if their Greater Demon guard stood by their side.