Keeper: First Ordinance, Book 2 (13 page)

"That bastard is no Prince," Tamblin hissed, shaking
with rage. "He is not my son. Ask anyone."

"He is your son," Tory breathed smoke, his voice low
and guttural. "It has been verified scientifically. It is your mind that
is weak, not your child."

"Scientifically? What word is that?" Tamblin spat
back. Tory, Justis and the others halted, barely four steps from Tamblin.

"Something I doubt you'll ever understand," Tory
replied, lifting one of his blades to rest the tip against Tamblin's throat. "Drop
your weapons and you will not be harmed."

Tamblin's guards dropped their swords and pulled daggers from boots,
letting them fall to the ground before stepping back with their hands raised.

Tamblin refused to give up his sword.

"Do you wish to do this, Commander Justis?" Tory
turned to Justis, his dark eyes narrowing as he jerked his dark-scaled head in
Tamblin's direction.

Justis knew his own expression was locked in a furious snarl. "I
wish it," he hissed. Before Tamblin could protest, Justis wrenched the
sword from his hand, tossed it away and shoved the self-proclaimed king against
the center pole of his tent. The angry Black Wing Commander then held Tamblin's
arms ruthlessly behind his back so Ardis could shackle him.

"This is what happens when your people see you as a
tyrant," Justis hissed in Tamblin's ear before letting go.

"We must go," Tory snapped suddenly. "I've
received a message from Reah. Things are not going well in Kondar."

* * *

Official Report

Kooper Griff, Director, Alliance Security Detail

The meal was in progress; the Founder was deep in
conversation with the Kondari High President, describing how the Alliance was
formed and how it worked. Quin, the young woman previously listed as a witness,
sent mindspeech to the High President's security chief, alerting him to the
presence of a spy posing as one of our waiters.

The security chief, Melis Norwal (also listed as a witness),
stood to go after the suspect when Marid of Belancour arrived with Sector Two President
Pragg (see attached list of Kondari rulers and politicians), a mute Sirenali
and two others, all except the Sirenali heavily armed.

Marid, head of household and chief wizard of the Belancour
clan, held a ranos pistol, which I recognized quickly. He'd come prepared and
armed, in case his wizardry didn't work against any of us. Reah Desh Silver, of
High Demon ancestry and formerly an agent for the ASD (see records), prevented
Marid's wizardry from having any effect and protected the rest of us in the
dining hall with the neutralizing ability a High Demon possesses.

Marid and his companions fired their weapons, then, never
expecting that Daragar (a Larentii) would provide an impermeable shield to
protect us. At that time, Marid discovered that he and the others with him were
trapped—Reah kept him from using wizardry to escape and the Larentii placed a
second shield to keep him from running away.

What Marid did then, none of us expected. His smile was
touched by madness as he pointed the ranos pistol at himself and fired before
anyone could stop him. Quin, the young woman, shrieked and fainted as Marid's
head exploded and his blood bathed anything nearby—so violent was his death and
Quin's reaction to it, that it took some time and effort to revive her
afterward.

Sadly, the news she delivered when she awakened was not
good. See attached witness report, labeled appropriately with her name and the
date it was recorded.

* * *

Lironis

Omina studied Tamblin, who now shared the shielded cell with
Yevil atop the castle in Lironis. She wished to spit upon him, but the shield
kept anything from traveling through the clear, impermeable surface.

Torevik and the others who remained, including those from Avii
Castle, had been in private meetings since their return, with only a few hours'
sleep in between. Omina had no idea what they were discussing; she only cared
that Tamblin was safely held away from her, Amlis and any other.

She wondered at that moment how many deaths Tamblin had
ordered, and how many of those deaths were by Yevil's command or suggestion. "You
always were a pig," Omina hissed at him.

Tamblin, sitting cross-legged on the stone floor of his
invisible cage, refused to raise his head or acknowledge Omina's presence. He
and Yevil had barely spoken to one another, too; they'd taken opposite ends of
their cage and both sat on the floor of it.

Yevil's remaining leg kept him from standing for long periods,
although he did stand upon occasion, to stretch.

"Filth," Omina flung at Yevil before gathering her
skirts and whirling to stalk away. She cared not what happened to either, but
death would be her first choice.

* * *

Kondar

Quin

Ildevar Wyyld, Founder of the Reth Alliance, was an honorable
man. He was also many other things, but an honorable man was what I told Edden
Charkisul when he asked me about him the following afternoon.

"You think the Reth Alliance is also honorable?"
Edden asked.

"I can see that in him, too," I nodded. Ildevar had
already offered teams of scientists who would travel to Fyris and study the
poison. It was in his best interests to do so—Marid, just before his arrival at
the High President's palace, had released hundreds of spheres containing the
poison on hundreds of worlds—many of those worlds members of the Reth Alliance.
Those worlds were now infected with the same poison that threatened Siriaa.

Marid had been a fool—a treacherous one—and, as he'd managed to
ensure the murders of too many people to count with his final act of perfidy, I
silently cursed his name.

Chapter 7
 

Le-Ath Veronis

Queen Lissa studied the ranos pistol taken from Marid's
hand—it was relatively new and had likely been bought on the black market. The
five others lying beside it in evidence trays were older. Far older.

"Ancient," she sighed before lifting her eyes to
Kooper Griff's. "This is the worst possible outcome, isn't it? Do we have
any idea which worlds are now infected?"

"Quin could only give us a partial list, and we're
verifying what she gave us. She was only able to read a few things in Marid
before he blew his head off."

"How many did she give you?"

"Twenty-six—that number is good and bad. Good that we
have names for them, bad because she claims there were hundreds of those
containment spheres that Marid spilled before traveling to Sector Five."

"Morid has no idea where his father put them—I've already
tried compulsion. He knows nothing."

"The Sirenali is in your dungeons, but he's so happy that
he's no longer under Marid's thumb that he doesn't mind being locked in a cell."

"Can anyone communicate with him?" Lissa asked.

"We haven't really tried—all we've done is mime eating
and sleeping," Kooper shook his head.

"Ask Morid, then. Maybe he knows. I'm hoping the Sirenali
will have information the others don't. He may be able to lead us to other
worlds Marid infected. If we can find the infection points, we can quarantine
the area until we find a remedy."

"If we don't find them, the entire planet could die and
we'll be looking to relocate as many as we can."

"We don't have enough planets to effect mass relocations,"
Lissa pointed out. "Quarantine is much better if we can get to it in time."

"I'll get on it right away," Kooper promised.

* * *

Lironis

"You're needed," Justis stepped inside Amlis' study
after knocking twice.

"For what? I've already been to the roof and spoken to my
father. He chose to remain silent."

"For a meeting, and then to lead your troops back here
before dispersal—I hear many of them are still heading this way and stealing
what they don't have funds to pay for," Justis snapped.

"May Liron have mercy," Amlis scrubbed a palm over
his face before rising. "Lead the way—let's get this meeting over with.
Rodrik!"

* * *

Kondar

"Father, Kaldill says there's an important meeting
happening in Lironis, and he says Quin and I should be there. May I have your
permission?" Berel gazed hopefully at his father.

"Of course. Quin assures me that the threats against my
life have been neutralized for the moment; therefore, it is imperative that you
go. Report back to me as quickly as you can."

"I will." Berel moved forward to embrace his father.
"This is terrible news—that other worlds are now infected," Berel
said after pulling away. "Perhaps this is what the meeting is about."

"I hope some cure can be found—the images you sent of the
land and the people of Fyris tell my scientists that the poison will kill them
soon if things do not change. The samples we're collecting from seawater shows the
poison is increasing. Siriaa will be engulfed in it if something isn't done
soon."

"I find it interesting that some still wish to engage in
self-serving political pursuits while the fate of their planet is of no concern
and its people are dying."

"It will always be thus," Edden's brow furrowed with
concern, "As much as we think it should be otherwise."

* * *

Lironis

Quin

I felt as if my wings dragged the floor behind me when we
returned to Lironis. Events from the evening before haunted me still and Berel
was nearly as troubled as I concerning the aftermath.

He, Daragar and Kaldill surrounded me as I made my way to the
Prince's chambers—he'd taken Tamblin's suite for himself and had his library
and clothing moved over. As yet, he hadn't officially taken control of Fyris,
but it needed to happen soon—the people required a steady hand and a wiser head
than Tamblin's in the coming days.

I understood, too, that Amlis had to take jurisdiction over
the remnants of Tamblin's army, to keep them from plundering the farms and
villages between them and Lironis. Rodrik would take charge of the troops, I
guessed, once Amlis appeared and named himself Prince of the people.

There would be no king in Fyris—Justis would make sure of that—at
Jurris' command. Omina would no longer call herself Queen—Justis would see to
that, too.

Once we arrived in Amlis' new meeting room and took our seats
at the table, Reah rose to speak. "I've asked two others to come at
Kifirin's request," she announced before nodding to Kifirin. "I
believe they may be able to shed light on Tamblin's behavior in the past. It is
my hope we can explain everything before the meeting ends, but the news will be
troubling, to say the least."

Two people appeared beside her. One was another of her mates—his
name was Gavril, although most people called him Teeg. The other Reah saw as a
father, although they were not related by blood. I could see this in her, as I
could read nothing from him—he was too powerful.

"This is Karzac, the best physician I know," Reah
introduced him, first. "Anything you hear from him will be truth, no
matter how difficult it may be to accept."

* * *

Until Reah's announcement, I had no idea the prisoners would
be brought to the meeting. Justis, Ardis and two other Black Wings brought them
in. Yevil cursed but quieted immediately when Justis sent a dark look his way. Yevil
was then seated in a chair against the wall while Tamblin was brought forward.

Tamblin growled softly but refrained from expressing his
opinion with words anyone could understand. "Seat him here," Karzac pushed
a stool toward Justis, who, with Ardis, held Tamblin between them.

Justis shoved Tamblin onto the stool when he attempted to
resist. Tamblin sat, his anger apparent as his face darkened. Karzac approached
him, gesturing for Justis and Ardis to back away.

Tamblin thought to escape when they took their hands off him.
With an unconcerned wave of a hand, Karzac's power shoved Tamblin down again. He
didn't attempt to rise a second time; instead, his body trembled at the power employed
to hold him in place.

"Please observe," Karzac turned toward the table and
nodded. Reaching out a hand, he held it for a moment at the back of Tamblin's
neck. Tamblin shrieked as something burst from his neck and slapped into the
physician's hand.

Ordin, sitting across the table, gasped at what Karzac had
done. I blinked in astonishment—something had been buried in Tamblin's neck,
for who knew how long? He wasn't aware of it, I knew that much. I'd have seen
it in him, otherwise.

After using his other hand to heal the bloody wound left on
Tamblin's neck, Karzac strode toward the table and set the tiny object before
Teeg. Teeg examined it closely for a moment before lifting his gaze and nodding
to Karzac.

"It's a controller," Reah's voice trembled.

"Where did that come from?" Justis strode forward
and lifted Yevil by burying a fist in his shirt collar and jerking him from his
seat against the wall.

"My father," Yevil spit in Justis' face.

* * *

"This device is so old it operated intermittently, which
ensured that Tamblin at times had control over his thoughts. At other times,
when the controller worked, he was under Yevil's spell," Karzac explained.

"At this point, there isn't enough of his mind left to
heal," he added. "It appears that many of Yevil's commands coincided
with Tamblin's desires, so it would be more than difficult to sort controlled
actions from uncontrolled ones."

"It matters not to me—a murderer is a murderer,"
Justis growled.

"I feel the same," Karzac nodded. "It is not my
position to interfere—I merely wish to explain what I know. The decisions based
on those facts will be yours to make."

"I want to know where it came from; I've not heard of
such in Camryn's treasury, which now belongs to Jurris," Gurnil fumed. "I
doubt you can believe anything that liar Yevil says. He is the same as his
father, who also spoke nothing but lies."