"Farzi," I leaned over and kissed his cheek, "you don't have to worry about upsetting me. I'll still love you, Nenzi and the others, even if I'm mad at the time."
"But Teeg say you be upset about moving."
"Probably, but I'll be upset with him, not you. How's that?" Nenzi was leaning closer to me. "You want a kiss too?" Nenzi grinned. He got his kiss on the cheek. We went shopping for sleeveless shirts and shorts after that. Jes' workouts must have produced muscle I didn't have before—clothes fit tighter so I got different sizes. I certainly had more muscle and definition in my legs now. I bought sandals for all of us, Lenden included, when he said he was coming along. He was surprised that I'd even think of it.
"Well, you need something too, don't you think?" I looked up at him. He just shrugged. "Besides, Teeg's paying." I grinned and flipped the chip bracelet on my wrist.
"Now see, Farzi was supposed to tell you so you'd be over your mad by the time you got back," Teeg said. He was pulling his shirt off to go shower—he was taking me to dinner. Kiasz was going to cook for us and we'd be served in one of the private rooms in the restaurant.
"You wanted me to be mad at Farzi instead?" I had my hands on my hips.
"No, I just thought you'd be calmer if the news came from him." Teeg let his pants drop. The underwear followed. At least he picked up after himself.
"You're not going to tell me where we're going?"
"No. I may not tell you when we get there. You might figure it out for yourself, though."
"Great." I flopped onto the bed, feeling a snit coming on.
"Reah." Teeg came over and pulled me up again. Leaned down to kiss me. His naked body was telling me what it wanted, even if he never said. We were nearly late getting to dinner.
* * *
Teelas. That's where we landed. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that it actually existed. Hot as a desert most of the time; the rains came in late afternoon or early evening. If it were hot enough, the cold rain hitting the hot stones that made up the roadways often steamed and sizzled as it hit.
Teelas was a paradox. Tales said that it was created by wizardry of some sort. Lush trees and plants grew in small oases around the equator, where most of the population lived. Of that population, which numbered around ten million, two-thirds held some sort of power. Rogue wizards or warlocks found it easy to blend in, there. Teeg must have gotten information from the two he'd captured, leading us to Teelas. The two captives were already gone when we left for Teelas—I had no idea what Teeg had done with them.
All four of Teeg's warlocks were with us and quite happy to be on Teelas. Farzi and Nenzi had come—the other reptanoids had stayed on Campiaa. Lenden, Jusef, Marc and Jes made up the rest of our party.
"Little girl, do you remember anything about your mother?" Lenden sat down heavily at the bar that fronted a spacious kitchen; Teeg had rented a spacious, well-appointed home for us. I handed Lenden an iced fruit juice blend and he sipped it as he watched me prepare other drinks for Jusef and Marc.
"My mother died shortly after I was birthed. I have no memories of her," I said, wondering why he wanted to know. "You can ask Teeg—he probably has more information on that than I do. My father, whom I thought was my brother for the longest time, managed to plot with his mother to get Raedah killed. That's all I know." I could have asked Lendill for the entire file and the court transcripts. I didn't. Edan and Marzi had confessed to their crimes, and that was enough for me. They were still in prison.
"What about you? They didn't treat you very well, did they?"
"That I know more about," I nodded. "I was happy to get away from all of them when the conscription notice came."
"You're an Alliance conscript?"
"She's ASD. She probably won't tell you that, so I will." Teeg came in with Astralan and sat with us at the bar. Marc and Jusef got their drinks, so I started working on something for Teeg and Astralan.
"Can I get a little Sardof in mine?" Astralan wheedled. I looked at Teeg; he nodded benignly. I poured a shot of the clear alcohol into Astralan's drink. I started to pour some into the drink I made for myself but Teeg slapped his hand over my glass. I sighed and put the top back on the bottle.
"What do you do for the ASD?" Lenden was still curious.
"She won't tell you that either. Or the fact that she's High Demon. Or that she has two other mates who are likely going crazy right now, since I have her."
"Thanks, Teeg. Difik," I muttered and walked angrily out of the kitchen.
* * *
"She called you an idiot," Lenden lifted an eyebrow at Teeg.
"I know what difik means," Teeg grumbled, watching Reah walk away from him. He shouldn't have mentioned her other mates—that was a sore spot and he was digging into it.
Lenden wanted to tell Teeg how much Reah looked like Queen Belarok, her great-grandmother. He didn't. It wasn't time to tip his hand. He wanted Reah to trust him. Perhaps to care for him as she did those others—the ones with the eyes of reptiles. They were humanoid in every other way and Reah loved them as if they were family. Lenden was family and he wanted to tell Reah that more than anything. I will be patient, he told himself. Over and over until he believed it.
* * *
"What's wrong?" I sat on a chaise in the enclosed courtyard next to Jes, who spoke after noticing the angry frown on my face.
The square courtyard was surrounded by the rest of the house, and held a pool, a patio and a lush garden with tropical plants. I'd gone straight to the patio after Teeg upset me with his callous references to Tory and Aurelius.
"Teeg. Just—Teeg," I snapped.
"What did he do?" Jes made to rise from his chair. I motioned for him to sit back down. Jes wanted to be friendly—more than I wanted him to be.
"He won't let me have alcohol. I didn't even get a glass of wine with my meal last night."
"It's not good for you—you're still convalescing."
"Surely a little wouldn't hurt." I couldn't believe Jes was siding with Teeg.
"Reah, just bear with us. All this will go away after a while. In the meantime, you have to keep up your strength in case Teeg needs you to go out with him."
"Oh sure—let Reah get shot at but she sure won't get any alcohol. Which is more dangerous, Jes? You're the physician, tell me." I was grumpy and out of sorts and I knew it. Teeg's dig about Tory and Aurelius had capped off my anger with him. If it weren't for the fact that he held Gavril, I'd have walked out of the house and gone anywhere else right then.