* * *
"Reah, how are you feeling?"
"Awful." I did feel that way. Didn't feel like moving or doing anything else. Jes had already come to see me in Teeg's solarium, asking if I felt like getting a little exercise. I'd snapped at him and he'd slunk away.
"Baby, it has been two days. Surely you should feel better by now."
"Teeg, I don't feel good. I'm sorry." I pulled the cool pack off my eyes and glared at him.
"We need to get you up and around quickly. Whatever you did for Shillverr needs to be done for two other worlds. They'll die if you don't help, baby. I already sent Stellan and Celestan to Roorthi and Xordthe. They're in the same shape. We're still trying to figure out how you plugged the leak in the core to keep the energy from draining out, but we need to do it again. Jes says you should be good to go in an eight-day. I was hoping for sooner than that."
"Teeg, are you trying to kill me? Is that what you want? I don't have anything—you're not going to collect insurance money or anything when I die."
"Baby, don't even talk about that," Teeg growled softly. I was too tired to point out that he'd gotten his wealth and position from Arvil's death. If he hoped to capitalize on mine, he needed to think again.
"How is Gavril?" Teeg hadn't given me any information in days.
"Gavril is fine, if a little frustrated. He's learning woodworking," Teeg said. "Not something he planned to do with his life, apparently."
"Gavril is probably the smartest person I know," I placed the cool pack over my eyes again and leaned back in my chair. "I hope he gets away from you."
"He won't. Neither will you," Teeg whispered. "We need you up and around in three days, Reah. Do Xordthe and Roorthi for me and I'll let you see him."
I was up and sputtering, letting the cool pack drop to the floor in a wet sounding plop. "Teeg, don't dangle that in front of me," I wanted to shout at him, only I was still too tired. "Don't promise that and then pull it away from me." I was crying and I didn't mean to do that.
"You love him that much?"
"He's my best friend, what do you think?" I hugged myself and turned away from Teeg. The building housing Teeg's apartment on Shillverr wouldn't support a pool at this level, but he had a beautiful water fountain in the solarium that rippled over natural stone. Water lilies and other plants grew in the shallow expanse. I went to sit on the flat rocks that bordered it, trying to get my tears under control. Would he allow me to see Chash? Would he? It was almost too much to hope for.
"Baby, I see you love him a lot. Hold onto that, all right? Do Roorthi and Xordthe for me and you'll see Gavril. I promise." I nodded, still not trusting myself to speak. "I'll get Jusef to bring something for you." Teeg's footsteps walked away from me.
* * *
"I have the answer from Teeg San Gerxon," Erland said. He'd asked Lissa to arrange a meeting with Norian and Lendill.
"Well?" Norian didn't want to waste any time guessing.
"He says he can arrange something in fifteen days. And he says to bring Lissa. Says he'll have a gift for all of us," Erland waved the note Teeg had sent to Wylend.
"Do you think he'll bring more rogues with him?" Lendill asked.
"No idea. But he does have some stipulations."
"Of course he does," Norian visibly deflated. But if San Gerxon could bring in anyone on Norian's wanted list, he would be more than happy to hand over a few concessions.
"Wylend had to think carefully about some of these," Erland said. "But he's willing to allow it, since Wilffox and Wilffin Hardlow pulled their strings and got them into trouble before."
"Who are you talking about?" Norian asked.
"The brothers Starr," Erland said. "Astralan, Stellan, Celestan and Galaxsan. Powerful warlocks who fell in with the Hardlows. Now they work for Teeg and seem to be redeeming themselves. Wylend is going to suspend their criminal status on a trial basis, unless they get into trouble again. He'll lower the hammer if that happens."
"And what does Teeg San Gerxon want from us?" Norian lifted an eyebrow at the warlock.
"To suspend the criminal status of the reptanoids. He says they work for him and they wouldn't have committed any crimes if they hadn't been threatened and mistreated," Erland said. "You know how Reah feels about them."
"She threatened me if I hurt any of them," Lendill snorted.
"Exactly. Teeg wants a clean record for all eight of them, and their names are on this list," Erland Pulled a list into his hand and handed it to Norian.
"Who gave out these names?" Norian looked at all eight, shaking his head in confusion. "Does he plan to bring them when he comes?"
"I think so—he wants bodyguards, I think, just in case."
"I would do the same," Lendill muttered.
"Arrange to have Ry and Tory come with Lissa—since they've worked with Teeg before. Where are we meeting him?" Norian asked.
"He says he'll meet you at the space station, in the private rotunda reserved for visiting dignitaries," Erland said. "Wylend and I intend to be there, with our own guards. Lissa will probably bring Gavin, Tony and the Falchani twins. Gardevik will likely be there as well. I don't think anything will get past them, including the Starr brothers and the reptanoids."
"They really turn to lion snake?" Norian wondered idly.
"Reah said they did," Lendill nodded. "She also said their speech wasn't perfect—that something happened when they were created. I wish she were here so we could ask questions."
"Lendill, we all wish for that," Norian grumbled. "And for Gavril to come home to Lissa. She hasn't been the same since his disappearance. If anything happens to that boy, she'll go crazy and Gavin with her."
* * *
"Little squirrel, don't do this if you're not ready." Lenden whispered to me after Astralan set us down inside a house on the outskirts of Kristl, a city on Roorthi. Teeg didn't own this one—he was borrowing it from a Roorthi businessman who'd been quite happy to allow us to use his summer home. It was late fall on Roorthi anyway, and the owner was embroiled in business deals in the capital city nearly two hundred clicks away.
"Lenden," I said.
"Call me Em-pah," he corrected gently.
"Em-pah, I have to do this." I did—Teeg had promised I'd see Gavril. I wanted that more than anything. I'd suffer through days of debilitation for just a hug from Chash.