"I sent another one down," Garde winced at my expression. When had it been decided that I was nursemaid to the Crown's injured?

"Who, when and how bad are they?" I snapped.

"A thirty-year-old man. Fell off the barrachtef the bks roof when his crew was making repairs."

"And?"

"His back is still giving him problems."

"Of course it is. I'll try to find room. Good-bye, Garde. Unless there's other important news that just can't wait?"

"Reah, we owe you. We all acknowledge that," Garde muttered, his voice sounding less than grateful. "The gishi fruit groves are paying the bills and allowing us to repay loans. I realize we've shorted you, but that will change in a year or two. All the loans will be paid and we can redistribute the profits. Jayd is talking about dividing Tory's holdings and giving you half." I could tell Garde wasn't happy with that turn of events.

"Tell Jayd not to bother. Torevik doesn't have anything I want." I cut off the communication before Garde could say anything else.

"She hung up on me." Garde slipped his comp-vid into a desk drawer and stared across the polished wood expanse at Jaydevik Rath, King of Kifirin.

"I heard." Jayd blew a cloud of smoke to show his displeasure. Not at Reah, but at the state of affairs that placed Reah in her current situation. He'd ordered Reah to oversee the gishi fruit groves. She'd suggested planting them in the first place as a potential money crop. The fruit had only been grown on one other planet before Reah experimented and grew the trees in volcanic soil from the Southern Continent. Jayd, thinking it was a foolish venture, placed Reah in charge twenty-five years earlier, while she was pregnant with her first set of twins. The trees had shot up quickly, bearing fruit within five years. Now, Kifirini gishi fruit was the biggest export the planet had. And the one that brought in the most money. Jayd saw those credit sheets himself. Loans that might have taken a century or more to pay off were now getting settled in one-fifth of that time. Everybody tightened their belts a little, but none more than Reah. She watched every credit spent on the gishi fruit groves while maintaining a fair wage for her employees.

When Garde suggested that they send some of their slightly injured state employees to Reah to sort fruit before crating and shipping, it had turned into a steady flow. Reah had been forced to ask Aurelius and some of the Saa Thalarr for help. A clinic and rows of single-story apartments now stood near Reah's small cottage. Reah depended upon assistance from Karzac, her father and two oldest daughters to treat the influx of injured over the years. Most recovered; some were permanently disabled and would never work at full capacity again. Reah found some way to stretch her budget to cover the expenses the Crown's monthly stipend couldn't afford.

"Child, I think Reah is nearly at the breaking point." Dee set a comp-vid in front of Gavril Montegue, known to the Campiaan Alliance as Teeg San Gerxon.

"These the figures for the defense budget?" Gavril ignored Dee's comment and scrolled through rows of figures instead.

"Yes."

"These pirates are killing us, Dee. Norian and Lendill are saying the same thing about the Reth Alliance. We haven't been able to track these thieves; they must have small bases on every asteroid and meteor between here and hell. And they can move in and out quickly, with lightning strikes that leave dead crews on empty ships while they get away with the cargo."

"Which they then sell to desperate buyerthiperate s at ten times the price," Dee nodded.

"While we're trying to make Campiaa as self-sufficient as possible, other planets aren't moving so quickly. They think we're supposed to be the answer to all their problems," Teeg added.

"They think we can hire Karathian warlocks to track these miscreants and get rid of them."

"I wish it were that easy. Wylend says it's extremely difficult to track a moving target, especially if you don't have a name or an object in mind in order to track it. These filth are more slippery than a Darthinian eel."

"I agree. And they want to bankrupt us and send us back into martial law."

"What did you say about Reah?"

"Nothing, child."

"Daddy, he's just dead weight. We don't need him, and it will cause too much of a stir if we get rid of him the usual way. Let's just get him to sign the stupid agreement and get him out of here." Darletta paced inside her father's office.

"Have you taken care of the little problem, first?"

"I have. I'm not stupid, Daddy. I just can't figure out why he doesn't look any older than the day I married him." Darletta fumed silently for a moment. "Anyway, the documents are ready and he's going to sign as soon as I set the comp-vid in front of him. We'll send him back to mommy as a surprise."

Dantel Schuul watched his daughter. He knew she'd found a new candidate to be her lover. She'd found plenty of those while married to Tory; she'd held Torevik Rath as a plaything for twenty-five years and she'd tired of him. Dantel didn't care; he'd just force Darletta's future husbands to sign pre-marriage agreements. That would leave his daughter's wealth out of the contracts, should they divorce.

Dantel had given up his ambitions for a political career six turns earlier. His time and efforts were better spent watching over his manufacturing concerns. Meanwhile, Torevik Rath would soon be a bad memory.

Dantel had never been able to use Torevik as he'd liked. A man had come; black-haired, black-eyed and dressed in near darkness early on, threatening Dantel if he used Torevik's family or connections for political gain. Dantel normally didn't back down for anyone, but this one held a persuasion that Dantel couldn't explain or deny. Tory had remained married to Darletta, but just as she'd said, he was dead weight. Dantel thought several times over the years of killing him so Darletta could access Tory's holdings, but something always held him back. Dantel couldn't explain that, either.

"Get him to sign the agreement and put him on the first passenger ship out of here," Dantel huffed. He was done with this meeting.

"It'll be finished in less than a click," Darletta promised and oozed out of her father's office, her expensive heels clicking on wood floors that few could afford, nowadays.

"That's it. We're done," Darletta pulled the comp-vid away from Tory and transmitted the signed data to the state's records a short while later. "You're free. Shoo. Go away." Darletta made a dismissive motion with her hand. Torevik Rath sat and blinked at her for a moment or two.

"We're done? I'm free?"

"I said that." Something must have c fi must hlicked in Tory's mind at Darletta's words. He stood, beginning to feel angry; that was something that hadn't happened in a while and he couldn't explain it. A stream of smoke curled from his nostrils. Darletta, who'd never seen that before, took a step backward. "Here's a ticket for passage to Le-Ath Veronis," She held out the small chip, her hand shaking. "Daddy wants you off the planet by the end of the day."

"I don't need a ticket," Tory snapped, disappearing right in front of Darletta Schuul.

"I swear I'm going after this scum myself." Lissa fumed at the dinner table. A shipment of oxberries and wine from Le-Ath Veronis had been hijacked by pirates on its way to Refizan.

"You could transport the shipments yourself," Roff suggested.

"I could. But we do a lot of shipping. Where would it end?"

"No idea. Toff sends his love and says Nissa, Yoff and Trik are well."

"Can't Glendes let go of those four so they can come home once in a while? Yoff is barely twenty, for Pete's sake."

"He says they stay busy."

"Well, busy isn't always good," Lissa pointed out as a servant placed the soup course in front of her.

"Mom, do you have a place for me? Darletta and I just got divorced." Tory stood at the entrance to Lissa's dining room.

"Tory?" Lissa rose and stared in shock at her son.

"Reah," Rylend Morphis dipped his head to me and offered his arm. As Teeg's ambassador, he'd escort me to Teeg, who was busy making small talk with this potentate or that. I'd seen Wylend off in a corner, talking with someone while Erland and Garek guarded him. Wylend had tried once, early on, to schedule a meeting between us. I'd refused. Ry had also refused a meeting with his great-grandfather. After Wyatt's death, Rylend had renounced his citizenship and went to work for his brother, Teeg. Teeg depended heavily on Ry to smooth ruffled feathers here and there among rulers and planets belonging to the Campiaan Alliance.

"Have you talked to Mom lately?" Ry asked as he led me toward Teeg.

"No. Should I?" I asked.

"Darletta and Tory are divorced. As of three days ago. Tory's on Le-Ath Veronis, now."

"I'm not surprised she didn't tell me," I said stiffly. Tory and I had nothing in common, except for six daughters and the claiming marks that still scarred the back of my neck.

"She says he wasn't feeling well when he showed up."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I haven't talked to him, yet. I may get some time in the next day or so to visit."

"Ry, don't ask me to go. His girls don't even know him. Whose fault is that?"

"There isn't a way to heal that hurt, is there?" Ry looked at me briefly before turning his eyes back to our path through visiting dignitaries.

"I don't think so." My answer made Rylend sigh. He was perhaps the handsomest man I'd ever seen, barring his father and Kifirin. Kifirin appeared handsome, then marred his image by doing some of the worst things imaontt thingginable. Twice I'd found him sitting on the side of my bed when I awoke. Both times it was to tell me he'd manipulated a pregnancy with Tory's seed. He'd disappeared, too, both times, before I could scream at him. I hadn't seen the Lord of the Dark Realm in twenty years. That was fine with me.