Demon Lost (14 page)

* * *

"You know I cannot interfere, except as required as Liaison," Renegar the Larentii sat in a chair enlarged with power and spoke with Aris.

"At least tell me how they all survived—I had nothing to do with it." Aris rose from the chair behind his desk and paced, raking a hand through his thick mane of hair.

"What was different this time?" Renegar's blue eyes twinkled with humor.

"Nothing. Nothing other than Reah going out with them. She's the best marksman I've ever seen," Aris mumbled. Renegar shrugged his wide shoulders—a humanoid trait that he found enjoyable. Most Larentii found no need for gestures, but then most Larentii conversed in mindspeech, so gestures weren't necessary.

"Then I cannot help you past that," Renegar replied.

"That's all you're going to say—what was different?" Aris' voice held a note of incredulity.

"I cannot interfere. You hold the answer; you just do not realize it." A smile tugged at the corner of Renegar's mouth. He smiled easily at times, contrary to most of his race. Renegar attributed it to his mother, who had a fine sense of humor. Most Larentii didn't know their mothers, or their mothers were deceased. Renegar's was neither deceased nor unknown. In fact, he'd spoken to her only that morning.

"You're going to make me puzzle this out, when I have the worst headache in centuries," Aris grumped.

"Now, the headache I can remove," Renegar stood, reached out and placed a hand on Aris' forehead. The headache was gone in seconds. Larentii were likely the best healers among all the races, they just kept that information to themselves.

"But what am I to do about Reah?" Aris flopped onto his chair again. Renegar didn't fail to notice and knew anything of that nature coming from Aris was unusual in the extreme—he always held himself properly.

"You have to make her yours before I can interfere any more than I have already."

"But she won't be able to make that decision for herself until she knows me better, and there's no opportunity for that here." Aris gripped hair in both hands and stared at the top of his desk.

"A conundrum," Renegar nodded, holding back another smile.

"I should know better than to ask any Larentii for advice," Aris muttered.

"
That
I have heard before," Renegar chuckled and disappeared.

* * *

Sleep was long in coming; the night's events kept repeating themselves in my mind. How were we not dead? And Hish—was he all right? Those creatures in the desert—whatever they were—did all of them hold power like that, or did only a few? Bel, Aris and the other wizards, did they have a way to fight this or would Crown City be next to fall under attack? I wondered how strong the Prince's Wizards were. Until this night, I'd thought Hish quite capable. His shields had fallen quickly. Delvin had said there was a lot of power thrown at us. Wizard's power. Who wielded it? Midmorning arrived before sleep came, and I found myself thankful that I had no windows in my small room. No light filtered in to disturb the sleep I managed to get.

* * *

"So, what do you think of the food in the mess hall?" Delvin sat next to me for our meeting in Aris' office.

"It makes me suicidal," I said without thinking. Delvin laughed. Laughter was a good sound to hear after our experiences the night before.

"Re, what are you saying?" Aris was behind his desk quickly and frowning at me. He'd overheard my statement to Delvin. A worried crease appeared on Aris' forehead as he studied me closely.

"Mostly that the food is terrible in the mess hall," I said, lowering my eyes.

"Ah. Well, not everyone is a master cook," Aris observed. His frown disappeared.

I wasn't a master cook—on Tulgalan, you had to be certified to be a master cook. I had no hopes of that, now. My current desire was to live through the day, considering recent events. The rest of the wizards wandered in, with the exception of Hish—he was still in the infirmary. A few held cups of tea in their hands. I wish I'd thought of that—tea sounded good after the quality of the meal I'd gotten at the mess hall.

"Any ideas on last night's survival?" Aris asked right away.

"There's only one thing different about last night," Bel said. "We all know it, we just can't determine how it's significant." I was leaning forward in my chair so I could see Bel as he spoke. Bel had turned to look at me at the same moment. Cold and fear held me immobile.
I
was the different thing. Blasts had been leveled at me before, while I was inside the transports. I swallowed nervously. I'd survived every one of those attacks, when many others hadn't.

"But I don't have anything—what you have," I stuttered.

"We know that—do you think I couldn't tell?" Delvin huffed. I should have remembered that about him. He could gauge a wizard's power. He didn't get anything from me. I wasn't a wizard. I breathed a shaky sigh.

"Bel, stand." Aris had Bel standing in a blink. "Re, stand up as well." I blinked at Aris, looking into his golden-brown eyes in shock. What was he doing? What was he going to do? "Bel, I have the disguise spell in place. I'll remove mine. You place one of yours," Aris said. I thought Bel already had one on me. As it turns out, I was wrong. Aris did something with his hands; I have no idea what. Delvin was nodding—he'd registered the removal. Now Bel came forward and light formed around his hands. Delvin was still nodding—he felt Bel's power. The other wizards, Bel included, gasped in shock.

"What happened?" I couldn't tell. I hadn't felt the one Aris had placed on me to begin with.

"Re—nothing happened—Bel's disguise spell didn't work, and his is almost as strong as mine," Aris was standing behind his desk, now.

"It's as if the spell is being deflected—I feel the power around her, it just isn't settling
on
her," Delvin breathed. Max was on his feet, now.

"That's how it happened—we were all in a tight knot so Hish could cover us. That spellwork was deflected around Re. She—he—was right in the middle of the rest of us. We thought to protect him. The opposite happened instead."

"I've only known a few races that can do this," Aris breathed, coming to stand in front of me. I looked up at his face—it was a good face—a handsome face. "Re, what can you tell me about your family? Bear in mind everyone inside this room is safe. Your information is safe with them."

Delvin nodded encouragingly at me. They all knew. Aris had told them. It frightened me.

"Re, it will be all right," I blinked up at Aris as he spoke.

"M-my father is Addah Desh," I muttered.

"Addah Desh? Master cook Addah Desh from Tulgalan?" Bel had heard of him.

I couldn't answer, so I nodded.

"Re, what about your mother's family?" Aris pushed for answers.

"My mother died when I was born. They tell me I look like her. That's all I know—nobody would give me information on her side of the family."

"Your father withheld this information?" Delvin couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"My father still has seven wives and twenty-six sons. I was his only daughter. I got nothing from my father. He shipped me to my second oldest brother when I was eight. I was working with him when the conscription notice came." I slapped a hand over my mouth at the last admission—I hadn't meant to say that.

"Reah, it's all right," Aris' voice was mesmerizing. "How did you come to be here?" Somehow, I was compelled to answer him.

"I was assigned to work in the kitchens of the Governor of the Realm. The master cook was jealous. I think he tampered with my pod during a drill, sending me into space as fast as the pod could travel. If he programmed as well as he cooked, then he likely didn't know what he was doing," I muttered.

"So, not a misfire but close enough," Bel sighed.

"I almost died—the oxygen was running out when I hit this atmosphere," I added. "The next thing I knew, Chlind and Seval had me on their transport and Chlind was telling me I'd die in the desert if I tried to escape and to keep quiet or I'd die anyway."

"I'm going to thrash Chlind if I ever see him again," Bel said angrily.

"Don't be so hasty," Aris said, turning to Bel. "If he'd turned her over to the crown, you'd all be dead, now."

"Well, there's that," Bel agreed, taking his seat.

"Now, I'll have to do some research on which races have the ability to deflect a wizard's power," Aris returned to his desk. "Re, sit down before you drop."

He was right—my legs felt as if they would collapse beneath me. "You know," Bel said, "the ones trying to kill us won't be expecting us out again tonight." I jerked my head in his direction. Surely he couldn't mean going out again—now?

"Bel, you are more devious than I thought," Aris was smiling. "Who can hold Re up if she can't walk?" Every hand went up. That's how I found myself dressing in my second black outfit, my fingers shaking and tears threatening as we made ready to go into the desert for the second night in a row.

"Keep close to Re," Bel commanded as we walked through the small gate again on our way into the desert.

* * *

The enemy wasn't prepared when we found them, just as Bel suggested. They lobbed a few power blasts at us, but the knot of wizards tightened around me and everything burst and exploded ineffectively around us. How was I doing this? It was involuntary; I knew that. It took no effort from me—I was terrified, not just for myself but for the others as well. When the blasts stopped, Bel had us running in tight formation, firing as we went.

That was the first time I saw what the demons became when they were older. Their façade of humanity had fallen away, revealing an ugly, mud-gray creature with a wide mouth and fangs. I killed at least thirty of them—there was a pod of them behind three rogue wizards. Bel killed the wizards with power. The rest of us were firing into the creatures who'd rushed forward to attack as soon as their wizards were down. They died too, as quickly as we could shoot them.

"Re, put your rifle down." Bel pushed the barrel of my rifle downward. I was frozen in the firing position, waiting for the next creature to appear. I nodded eventually and lowered my head. "Here," Bel offered me his canteen. Mine was in my backpack, but I wasn't even thinking about that. He stood by and watched while I drank.

We trudged back to Crown City, going through the gate a half click before dawn. Aris was waiting on us again. "Success," Bel grunted as he passed Aris. We were all looking for our beds. My head was empty of thoughts—weariness had taken over. It didn't occur to me until later that not once had anyone been forced to carry me. I discovered I was proud of that.

* * *

Love, I'm sending a tray. Wake and eat
. Those words woke me from a sound sleep around midday. I barely had time to throw a tunic and trousers on—I'd gone straight to bed when I'd arrived at my room, just slipping out of my clothing and crawling into bed naked. I found a recruit on the other side of my door, holding a tray in his hands. I thanked him, took the tray and pushed the door shut with my foot as the young man walked away. I didn't recognize him, except to note that it wasn't Nods or any of his pack of followers.

The tray held food; that's the best compliment I could pay it. I bemoaned the fact that I wasn't likely to get a good meal ever again unless I could cook it myself. I ate because I was hungry and because Aris had wakened me to eat. I'd only had three meals in two days instead of the usual six. I couldn't go haring into the desert on short rations.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Aris had pulled Bel away after they finished their evening meal.

"Shopping," Aris grinned. Bel stared at Aris—he seldom grinned or laughed.

"Commander, that is so unlike you," Bel grinned back. "Where and for what are you shopping?"

"Clothing," Aris replied. They walked through the eastern gate and into the shopping district next to the military station. The shops stayed open later, hoping for the troops' business. They were getting Aris' custom that night.

"Those aren't going to fit you," Bel teased as Aris looked at young men's tunics and trousers.

"Re doesn't like orange or red," Aris muttered to himself, setting those colors aside. He lifted blues and greens instead. Black went into the pile. A dark gray. Shoes came next—two pairs of good leather boots. Aris' purchases were wrapped and bagged.

"Now what?" Bel asked as Aris continued his journey, carrying the bag of clothing.

"This," Aris breathed, stopping at a shop that sold women's clothing. "She lost something like this when we got hit the first time." Aris was fingering the cloth of a lovely aqua tunic with rich embroidery.

"Aris, Delvin and I were with her when she bought that other outfit. It didn't cost nearly this much."

"How much is your life worth?" Aris turned his eyes to Bel.

"I'm buying," Bel pulled out his money pouch.

* * *

Dane, Gin and Dory had become regular dinner companions. When Nods and his bunch came by, the abuse was spread among the four of us.

"I'm surprised the military accepts babies," Nods taunted as he passed.

"That's why they took him," I muttered as soon as he was past us. Dane burst out laughing and then slapped a hand over his mouth.