Demon Lost (22 page)

"I'm not." I didn't look at him. I ached. I felt as if I would be ill. Too many emotions warred with one another.

"Reah, come. Please." He would have helped me up if I hadn't been more than twice his height at the moment. Standing with difficulty, I wobbled toward the back of the massive home. It was lovely, as any home belonging to a Queen might be. Marble floors, plaster walls, sculpture, paintings—it put the Tulgalan Governor's home to shame. Aurelius led me; I followed unsteadily behind him until we found Reemagar standing beside a large pool in the back. Oatmeal powder had been mixed in the water, making it a cloudy color. Reemagar used power to lower me into the water; I was too weak to climb in on my own.

"My love, don't fall asleep in the water," Aurelius warned after a while. The warmth of the water lulled me and I closed my eyes.

"I will lift her out." Was that someone else's voice? I didn't care; I was nearly asleep. I was laid on a soft bed and covered carefully.

Sleep my love
came into my head. Those words weren't needed; I was asleep already.

Chapter 11
 

I awoke in a normal size bed for the first time in days, still feeling weak and achy. "You'll feel that way for a few days still; you must eat and get your strength back to heal properly." Turning my head, I looked into the green-gold eyes of a man I hadn't seen before. "I have seen you," he gave a half-smile. "You have been unconscious while I have seen you. I am Karzac, healer for the Saa Thalarr and spawn hunters. I am one of Lissa's seventeen mates." He had light-brown hair, was nearly six blocks tall and seemed competent.

"I should be competent," he pulled the thoughts straight from my head. "I have been a physician for more than fifteen thousand years. Before that, I was a physician on Refizan."

"You're Refizani?" My eyebrows lifted in surprise. "My father always bragged about his Refizani gardener."

"Many of my race make good gardeners. We have other talents," he was smiling again. "Someone will come and help you bathe. We are expecting you at the breakfast table this morning and Aurelius and I will be watching to make sure you eat. You don't have to eat much—we will be feeding you every two hours or so. Small meals so you won't become ill."

"I don't know if I can get up."

"I know." He reached out and placed his hands on me. I felt better after that. He took my hand and helped me off the bed. I discovered that someone had dressed me in a pretty nightdress. Aurelius walked into the room as I contemplated who it might have been. I almost shrank away from him as he lifted me in his arms. Karzac left us, closing the bedroom door behind him.

"You're not afraid of me now, are you?" Aurelius kissed my forehead. I almost fell asleep again in the tub, he was so careful bathing me. "Love, stay with me," he murmured, kissing my palms. I was carried down long corridors later, after Aurelius dressed me in soft trousers and a matching tunic of deep green. I had no idea where he'd gotten the clothing. Warm socks covered my feet. "There is no need for shoes just yet," he'd told me.

Shocked best described how I reacted at the number of people sitting at the Queen's table. Nearly all of them male, I noticed. One other female was there, besides the Queen of Le-Ath Veronis. She had white hair like mine, only it was quite long, hanging past her waist. Her eyes were blue where mine were green. Gardevik was there—I recognized him from before. He sat next to another man who looked very much like him. The woman with the white hair drew my attention again when she hissed out a breath and stood.

"Jayd, she looks like my mother!"

I must have been staring at her—I didn't look like anyone except my mother; someone had let that slip when I was little.

"Reah, this is your great-aunt Glindarok, Queen of Kifirin." Lissa made the announcement as if she were used to telling people daily that they were related to royalty. It had been mentioned before, but it hadn't felt real. This was real. She'd said I looked like her mother.

"Does your lady mother still live?" I asked. Merely asking a question wearied me.

"No. My mother is dead. Nearly fifteen hundred years dead." Her words were a blow to both of us. I had hoped to meet someone who looked like me. Perhaps it was the hope of seeing my own mother, finally. I had never seen an image of her—those had been destroyed or hidden.

"Love, sit here." Aurelius lowered me beside a high-backed chair covered in gold-patterned fabric. After settling me in the chair, he sat beside me.

Karzac was there near the head of the table, watching me as promised. A plate of food was set in front of me—soft-cooked eggs with toast and fruit. The others were getting other things. I knew it was because I'd been ill that I was getting what I was—the meat dish might have been too spicy for a weak stomach.

I couldn't eat much and observed as a child sitting next to Lissa ate properly under his father's watchful gaze. He looked to be twelve or thirteen, had dark hair and eyes and seemed to be tall for his age.

"That is Gavril, Gavin and Lissa's child," Aurelius whispered near my ear. I was doing my best to eat while feeling weary. This was my first meal since leaving Mandil.

"Aurelius, are Bel and the others all right?" I turned my gaze to his face. It was a good face—a handsome face—framed by the dark-gold hair that made me think of him as a lion of a man. Well, vampire, I suppose.

"Bel and the remaining wizards are well," Aurelius smiled at me. "You saved Mandil, my love, and the Rangers. I think they would be grateful, if they knew what they were truly seeing that night."

"I won't get to see them again, will I?" That upset me.

"Love, all of them saw you turn. They've had no dealings with High Demons—or vampires. Neither of us might be welcomed back to Mandil, though I think Bel and the Rangers might be happy to see us."

I stared at my plate. The first real friends I'd ever had and I'd never see them again.

"Reah, others will come." Aurelius rubbed my back gently.

"Aurelius, do you have the answer to everything?" I stood on shaky legs, intending to walk away. Where, exactly, I had no idea—I wasn't sure where I was in the first place.

"Reah, I do not mean to upset you like this." Aurelius was beside me suddenly—he had vampire speed and I had nothing at all at the moment, including a destination. I was at his mercy and it was best I remember that.

"Our apologies," Aurelius turned to the others. "Reah is not feeling well." He was right about that at least—I didn't feel well at all. I wanted to curl in a ball and weep. I'd never see Bel, Delvin, Hish or any of the others. They'd counted me as one of their own and I'd felt as if I'd belonged with them there at the end. Here, I stood on unsteady ground. Slapped right back to the Alliance, which I was sure would come calling soon to let me know how things stood between it and me. On Mandil, my family had become what they should be—ghosts that I wasn't forced to deal with any longer. Now, their specters were back and I'd have to deal with them, too. Aurelius? Where did he fit? He kept telling me we were connected; calling me his love. What was that supposed to mean? Nobody had ever loved me before.
Nobody
.

"Reah, I can't fix everything overnight," Aurelius lifted me up once we were outside the dining hall. "You must give me time. I wish to know you better, and you must know me better as well. Bring your troubles to me and we will work them out together. I promise." His golden-brown eyes looked into mine with concern.

"Aurelius, how can I tell you things like that? It's embarrassing," I muttered, burying my head against his shoulder.

"You can keep your head against my shoulder and tell me anything. You will learn that it is extremely difficult to embarrass, shame or surprise an old vampire." Was he smiling as he kissed the top of my head? It felt like it. Perhaps I was imagining things. "Come, love," he added, "I will take you to the light half of the planet where they grow the fruits and vegetables. You will see where much of the food comes from for Le-Ath Veronis."

* * *

"Jaydevik, I must return to Kifirin." Glinda's hands shook as she pushed her chair away from the table and stood.

"My love?" Jayd was beside her in seconds, taking her hands in his.

"It is too much. Like seeing my mother again, only this one will never be," Glinda couldn't finish, a sob escaped her. "Jayd, I know she's kin, but this is too hard."

"My apologies." Jayd said and skipped Glinda away.

* * *

We appeared in a grove of trees. Until then, I hadn't realized that Aurelius might take me anywhere on a whim, just by disappearing from one place and reappearing in another. "We call it folding space," he said softly as he settled me in the middle of an apple orchard. "Corent, how are you?" Aurelius said to the male who approached us. I stared in shock as the one called Corent walked toward us, his hair turning from a sea green to a deep blue in only a few ticks.

"Corent is of the Green Fae," Aurelius had an arm around my waist, helping to keep me upright without being obvious about it. "Corent can grow fruit trees in less than a third of the time it would normally take and his apples, peaches and pears are the best I've ever tasted," Aurelius held out his other hand to Corent, who smiled and took it.

"The ripening season will come soon," Corent was smiling at me, too. I could only stare as his hair turned yet another color—a medium blue this time.

"A storm is coming and the weather is somewhat unstable. My hair reflects this," Corent's smile was bigger. "I inherited this from my mother. She always knew what the weather would be. I know because of my hair."

"That must be most useful in growing crops," I said.

"It is. Would you like to see the berries? They are nearly ripe."

Spring must have arrived on Le-Ath Veronis—berries ripened in the spring and I always looked forward to seeing fresh berries come into the kitchen. They were a joy to work with and I loved to eat the fruit fresh from the vine, although Desh's customers preferred it in pastries or other concoctions.

"We will come," Aurelius was smiling down at me now. His eyes crinkled in a comforting way when he smiled. I decided I liked that. We walked behind Corent for a little way, Aurelius taking most of my weight with only an arm about me.

"These are the oxberry vines," Corent swept an arm out. "I have managed to grow them here when before, only Kifirin produced the best ones." I drew in a breath.
Oxberries
. They were next to impossible to get and the price if they were available was exorbitant. I'd only gotten to taste them once or twice while Edan wasn't looking. Mostly I made a special pastry with them, with a flavored cream and the berries nestled inside. The customers at Desh's number two had swooned and happily paid an exorbitant price for that pastry. I wondered if Edan had tried to reproduce it since I'd been gone. Just the thought of Edan made me frown.

"Reah, what troubles you?"

"Edan."

"Why did your thoughts turn to him?"

"I used to make an expensive dessert with oxberries—when we could get them," I mumbled. "Edan took the credit."

"As I understand, your brother took all the credit, when it should have been given to you," Aurelius brought me around to face him, his hand cupping my cheek. "You need never bow to your brother again, Reah. I will not allow him to harm you. If he wishes to die, he can raise his hand against you. I will make sure it does not fall."

"Aurelius, how can you say that?" He was talking of killing Edan Desh.

"We are allowed to protect our mates. I will protect my mate fiercely," Aurelius promised. "All you have to do is agree to become my mate and that protection will come."

"Aurelius," I sighed. He was moving too fast. I felt dizzy.

"My love, I will not push. Please know that. I will wait until you are comfortable with this. Know also that my kind can feel no jealousy. That is how the Queen of Le-Ath Veronis has so many mates. They cannot feel the bite of jealousy so many others might experience under the same circumstances. It is removed from us when we become what we are."

Why was he telling me that—that he couldn't be jealous? I had no other suitors and hadn't seen anyone that I wanted in that position. It was foolishness. "Reah, you never know what tomorrow may bring." His eyes were crinkling again. "I think I should take you back before the healer comes for my head."

"Thank you for showing me the oxberry vines," I turned to Corent. "I have only gotten to taste oxberries twice in my life, and they were worth the theft." Aurelius folded me away after my admission.

"Little thief, you need to rest." Aurelius was doing his best to settle me back into bed. We'd folded straight to the bedroom I'd awakened in earlier.

"I feel better now," I insisted, attempting to slide off the bed. "And I stole those oxberries when I was ten."

"Age does not mitigate the crime." Aurelius was smiling at me again and shoving me back in bed. "I once stole sweet cakes from a neighbor's cook. They'd been left to cool. I was twelve," Aurelius told me. "That is years uncounted ago, love. Still, I feel a twinge of guilt when I think about it."

"I'll make you sweet cakes as soon as I get out of this bed," I made one last halfhearted attempt to get away. Aurelius pushed me back gently with one hand. My head flopped onto the pillow. Wrestling with Aurelius had completely worn me out.