Blood Rebellion (Blood Destiny #7) (3 page)

"Do you have plenty of storage for the harvest?" I asked. The crop looked to be a good one—the rains had been good and fields covered in ripening wheat stretched endlessly around us. I wondered briefly if Kifirin had a hand in that. I was just thankful the crops looked good so far and that we wouldn't be facing shortages.

"We have enough, Raona," Sernus smiled. "I have much experience in farming wheat. We will have more than enough to last us until next year's crop can be harvested."

"If you need anything, you only have to let me know," I said. Sernus was five-ten or so, one of the taller comesuli and he smiled down at me as I made the offer. The harvest would be done by hand, I knew, but I wondered if I shouldn't ask for a meeting with my Inner Circle to see if we couldn't bring in equipment—I knew many worlds had solar-powered farming equipment and vehicles—the comesuli would probably appreciate the convenience.

It was my goal to make Le-Ath Veronis as self-sufficient as possible—I didn't want to depend on imported food to feed the comesuli. The sad truth is that we had hardly any industrialization at the moment; no manufacturing other than handmade goods, tools and such, aside from the blood substitute factory. Equipment, better tools and vehicles would make things so much easier for the comesuli, who hadn't had anything like that before and therefore didn't know to ask for it. I made a mental note to send information to the comesuli overseers soon—as to what was available and how it might help them in their work.

Flavio and Gabron were also suggesting we allow tourism. I was having trouble with that—I didn't want a bunch of people on the planet looking for the thrill of the bite and I sure as hell didn't want any of them trying to get turned while they were here. I had visions of the seriously ill—those wealthy enough to come, anyway, trying to find a way past their mortality. The comesuli would become vampire if anyone would.

"The farms are beautiful," I smiled at Sernus. He was beaming as we walked toward the barns. The plowing oxen were grazing peacefully in a field nearby; they would be used to pull the wagons when the wheat was harvested and hauled to the threshing floor. I thanked Sernus for giving us the tour before turning to my Falchani twins. Drew gave me a slight smile as we folded to the next farm. Avocado trees, fruit trees, nut trees—they grew in huge groves and many had only the barest beginnings of fruit upon them.

My comesuli guards were exhausted when we finished our inspections for the day, but their counterparts were happy to see their monarch. Those who worked the farms and weren't pregnant made their way to the vampire cities twice a month. They were already forming attachments to this vampire or that. They called the bite the rapture, since it gave them sexual release.

Drake folded us home after the inspections were over—I think I was as tired as the comesuli; I just didn't want to admit it. "Lissa, cara, you look worn out," Gavin and Tony were waiting when we arrived. Dinner was ready and most of my crew was there, as were Glinda and Jayd. The twins and I had to hurry and change; dinners were more formal and the only time when everyone who could would gather for a meal. It was only when I sneaked into the kitchen after hours that I could slump over the huge island and have a snack.

We were halfway through dinner when I noticed that Glinda was merely picking at her food. She stood when dinner was over and her water broke. Garde arrived swiftly, attempting to calm Jayd. He was demanding the babies be born on Kifirin, so that's how I found myself upon the High Demons' planet, sitting on a bench outside the royal suite and waiting for Jayd and Glinda's twins to arrive. High Demon guards patrolled the hallways and outside the palace—Garde had no desire for any humanoids on Kifirin to attempt a murder or a coup while the royal family was in such a vulnerable position.

"Lissa, staying awake and fretting won't make those babies come any quicker," Tony sat on the bench next to me and draped an arm around my shoulder. He'd traded places with Gavin—they were helping patrol the palace. Karzac, Jeff, and several Larentii were inside the royal suite, tending to the birth. I deliberately stopped myself from
Looking
—it was something that should be free from interference.

"You're awake," I pointed out the obvious. Tony grinned. I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes for a moment.

* * *

"The substitute will always nourish you, but it will never taste the same as the real thing," Jeral informed Davan as Davan drank thirstily from the offered bottle. Davan woke on the fifth day to find his vampire sire with him inside the secured cell. Davan drank two bottles of the fluid before slaking his thirst completely. Once he was finished with his meal, Jeral set about teaching Davan how he should behave around humanoids.

* * *

"Lissa, we can reschedule this meeting." Gabron had my elbow as we walked toward the library. I'd gotten two hours of sleep after Glinda's girls came—Gavin insisted we return to Le-Ath Veronis and he'd put me in bed himself. Karzac stayed on Kifirin to care for Glinda and the newborns.

"Let's get this over with," I sighed. I probably looked like hell—I hadn't paid attention to my face in the mirror and Giff had dressed me—I didn't care what I wore. Flavio was coming with the City Councils—all the members from Earth combined with the members from Refizan. The Council members from other cities were coming as well, to hammer out the articles of governance. Gabron was going to help and Pheligar was sending a Larentii advisor.

"He's young," Pheligar said, describing the Larentii in question. "Only two hundred fifty years of age, but he is skilled at translating languages and has a feel for intentions behind words. He wants to work as a diplomat, Lissa, and this is the only world where Ferrigar will allow it—we do not involve ourselves in politics."

"His name?" I asked.

"Reemagar," Pheligar had replied. "You may ask Grace about his mother, sometime." I didn't know what Pheligar was trying to tell me and at the time, I'd been too busy to
Look
. I remembered his words now as we found the Larentii waiting for us outside the doors to the library.

"Reemagar?" I asked. He nodded solemnly to me and opened the doors using power.

We only broke twice during the lengthy day; blood substitute was handed out both times and I drank it with the rest of them, although it didn't do a thing to help with my exhaustion. Gabron managed to order coffee brought in and he, Flavio and I had a cup while we were debating what the age of adulthood should be for the comesuli.

"The comesuli consider a child an adult at age forty," I said for perhaps the tenth time.

"But that applies to apprenticeships and employment," Hervis of Refizan pointed out. "I have asked the comesuli that serve the City Council and they seem to think that age twenty-five is old enough for the bite." This debate, once it was over, would establish the age at which a vampire could legally drink from a comesula, so there would be no doubt when enforcing the laws regarding drinking from a child.

"I still think that's the equivalent of a fifteen-year-old," I grumped. I needed my physician here, to give us information on when a comesula was completely grown and past their formative years, but he was off-planet at the moment. My brain was working slowly, though, until it finally hit me.

Mom?
I sent to Amara. She'd been a healer for a hundred thousand years, and she'd been involved in children's hospitals and children's causes for a very long time. Maybe she could help me out with this.

Lissa?
Her mindspeech sounded slightly surprised. Probably because I called her Mom.

We're having a bit of an argument over how old the comesuli are when they're fully-grown and capable of handling blood donation
, I returned.
Can you help us out
with this
?

She didn't reply, she came herself and knocked discreetly on the door. Gabron rose from his seat to let her in. Amara is so beautiful—I knew what Griffin had seen in her the minute I'd met her the first time. Every vampire in the room stopped and stared as she entered the Library. Gabron offered her the seat next to mine and then sat beside her.

"This is Amara, who has been a healer for a very long time," I introduced her. "She is also my stepmother. She will be speaking truth to you when she answers your questions." I was being Queen, now, although I was exhausted and shaky as hell.

"In your opinion, Lady Mother, what is the age when a comesula is fully grown and capable of handling blood donation?" Hervis asked. He was the biggest proponent for the twenty-five year plan.

"Their bones and organs come to full growth around the age of twenty-nine," Amara smiled at the gathering. We had nearly a hundred vampires in the room—Le-Ath Veronis was growing nicely and the Councils from eight cities were represented. "The comesuli are slow to come to adulthood, since their average lifespan is six hundred years, barring accidental death," Amara continued. "If you take blood from them between the ages of twenty-four and twenty-nine, it should only be done once every two months and that may be difficult to track. It is my suggestion that you place the mandatory death penalty for drinking from a child at age twenty-three and below. Perhaps a severe punishment could be handed out if a vampire drinks from a comesula twenty-four through twenty-eight years of age, as long as it is once only. More severe punishment, up to the death penalty, might be considered if the vampire repeats the offense." Reemagar translated Amara's words for all present, one language at a time. It amazed me that he kept track of all of it so easily. When the last language had been delivered, I saw nodding around the room. Most of the vampires spoke Alliance common, but it was considered polite and they understood it better if their own language was employed.

"I'm pleased with that suggestion," I said, smiling at Amara.

"I am grateful for the explanation," Hervis nodded courteously to Amara. "I think I can come to terms with this."

"I will write up the proposal and send electronic copies to all of you," Gabron said. "Prepare any suggestions for revisions and return them to me. I hope to have this finished by the time we meet next week."

The meeting broke up after that and eventually only Flavio, Gabron, Amara and Reemagar remained.

"Child, you are exhausted," Amara said, as I rose from my seat.

"We had two baby girls born last night," I yawned as discreetly as I could. "Reemagar, I can't thank you enough—this would have gone on until midnight if you hadn't been here. Are you going to stay with us or fold back to the Larentii homeworld?"

Reemagar was only a bit over eight feet in height—one of the shorter Larentii I'd seen—and he smiled when I thanked him. "I wish to stay upon Le-Ath Veronis, but I will fold to the light half to feed for a while. Where shall I sleep while I am here?"

"I'll find a room for you, just send mindspeech when you get back," I was yawning again.

"Come, you need something besides blood substitute," Amara coaxed, so we made our way to the kitchens after Reemagar folded away.

I only ate a light meal and Reemagar was back before I finished. Flavio folded away after the meal so Gabron, Amara and I found a room in the Royal Wing—there were fourteen suites in that wing. Reemagar was perfectly happy with his suite and set about enlarging the bed right away, to accommodate his height. "I will bring in sufficient clothing, Raona. Please let me know whenever you need my services."

"I appreciate your help," I said. "I need a nap now, before I keel over," I patted his arm. He nodded politely at me and we left him.

"Lissa, allow me to carry you," Gabron murmured in my ear as he, Amara and I walked toward my own suite.

"Lissa, I should go," Amara stopped and smiled at me.

"All right," I was yawning again. I was afraid I was going to crack a jaw, the yawn was so wide.

"Get some rest." Amara leaned in and kissed my cheek before folding away. Gabron lifted me up the minute she was gone and I think I was asleep before he got me to my suite.

Chapter 2
 

"I hate this." Jayd paced before his oldest brother Gardevik for perhaps the fiftieth time. "She and my daughters should be enjoying adoration and pampering here on Kifirin, yet the servants we have are surly at best and murderous at worst. I cannot keep her here and our children are not safe."

"We knew there would be problems, I just had no idea how difficult these creatures could be," Garde agreed, keeping his voice soft. Glinda was sleeping in the bedroom of the suite—he and Jayd were in the reception area. Cleo and Shannon had come to help with the twin girls, allowing Karzac, Jeff and Joey some much-needed rest after a long night.

"I can't rule from Le-Ath Veronis and I can't keep Glinda here. It is too dangerous," Jayd snorted, smoke pouring from his nostrils. His Thifilathi was agitated and threatening to turn.

"Perhaps we should ask Lissa if there is something she can do," Garde suggested, attempting to calm his brother.

"I hate to ask her for anything," Jayd muttered. "I know that most of this is our fault, but it still angers me that things are not better on Kifirin."

"Most of this is not our fault," Garde replied. Jayd looked up at his brother's words. "
All
of this is our fault," Garde added, causing Jayd to snort again. "Granted we were younger, brother, when Lendevik sat in his throne room and pronounced the doom of the Dark Realm with his indifference and lack of caring. But we could have spoken up. Nedevik was the only one who did so and he was ridiculed for his efforts. We watched from our place of safety while all those worlds fell. And then we reaped the benefits of Le-Ath Veronis' fall, in the form of the commons. We no longer had to do for ourselves, brother. They took all our tasks upon themselves while we wallowed in the luxury. The cost of that luxury has now come due and we barely have the skills to feed ourselves."