"Honey, you'll receive an allowance for a few chores in the palace, plus whatever Roff pays you," Lissa reached out to touch his cheek. "Just pick out what you want to give Nissa and I'll take it out of that."
"Come on, dude, let's go get dressed for shopping." Toff was hauled away between Tory and Ry, shock on his face at being called dude, among a multitude of other things.
* * *
"I like this." Toff pointed at a comb that held a jeweled flower. It reminded him of the magnolia tree that stood outside Father Willow's cottage. Willow had the only magnolia tree inside the Fae village and Toff loved the velvety petals of the huge flowers when they bloomed. "It will look good in the top of her braid, don't you think?" They stood inside a jewelry shop on Hraede. Uncle Rigo had come with them—this was his home planet, according to Ry and Tory. It was also the safest world in the Alliance. King Jayd and Queen Glinda of Kifirin had come too, with their twin daughters Jase and Jehrie. Ry couldn't take his eyes off them, Toff noticed.
"I think it will look good in her braid," Ry agreed. Toff had gotten a credit chip from Grant, one of the Queen's assistants before they'd set out, and Queen Glinda had folded space to get them all to Hraede.
"Here," Toff handed his wrist over—the credit chip was on a bracelet and the clerk scanned it before boxing up the comb. Toff kept looking around him as they made their way through a crowded shopping district in the capital city of Hraede. Tory and Ry bought a bracelet and matching necklace for their sister before they were done for the day.
"Want to see the High Demon palace on Kifirin?" Tory whispered to Toff when the shopping was over.
"Can we?" Toff was extremely curious. Only one thing might have made this day better—if Nissa had been there with him.
"We can go for a little while," Lissa agreed—she'd heard what Tory said to Toff. Toff realized that Ry hadn't been lying when he'd said his mother could hear anything said nearby.
"So, how are you feeling?" Glinda asked Queen Lissa later when they landed inside the palace vestibule on Kifirin. Toff noticed it was very much like the palace on Le-Ath Veronis.
"Both palaces designed by the same person," King Jayd leaned down to inform Toff before he could ask.
"Tybus was an amazing architect, don't you think?" Tory's father, Gardevik Rath walked up while packages were sorted. Garde was King Jayd's brother and Prime Minister on Kifirin, in addition to being one of Queen Lissa's Inner Circle mates.
"Is that his name?" Toff stared at the vaulted ceiling made of marble veined in blue, silver and gold.
"Was his name. He died long ago when Le-Ath Veronis was destroyed," Garde replied, tousling Toff's hair. "How are you, Toff? Are you doing well? You must tell us if there is anything amiss."
"Le-Ath Veronis was destroyed?" Toff hadn't heard that before.
"Around one hundred fifty thousand years ago," Tory answered Toff's question. "Mom is still rebuilding it."
"How long have you been rebuilding it?" Toff asked Lissa.
"Nearly eighteen years," Lissa was smiling at Toff. "Did you enjoy the trip to Hraede?"
"Yes. Can we go again, sometime?"
"You will be welcome on Hraede anytime," Rigo nodded.
They had a light snack with Glinda, Jayd and the others, and Tory showed Toff through the hall of ancestors. Toff stared at the huge sculptures.
"What are those?" Toff didn't know what to think—the images seemed frightening.
"High Demons in Full Thifilathi," Ry replied. "That's what King Jayd and Uncle Garde are—High Demon. Tory here is half."
"You turn into that?" Toff now stared at Tory in disbelief.
"Not yet." Tory sounded embarrassed.
"Plenty of time, young one—don't rush it," King Jayd draped an arm around Tory's shoulders, although Tory was as tall as his uncle.
Toff's head was spinning. What else might he see? Tory, a High Demon? He hadn't heard of that before. Norian Keef, the Director of the ASD, a shapeshifter lion snake? Ry and Tory had hinted that their Uncle Winkler was a shapeshifter, too. What did he become? Toff was afraid to ask.
"Do you do that often?" Toff nodded to the nearest huge sculpture. The sixteen-foot statue depicted something between humanoid and animal, Toff thought, with widely spaced fangs in the open mouth, horns that bent back above the ears and claws on fingers and toes. The scaled skin, carved in marble, appeared tough and impenetrable.
"Once a month," Jayd nodded. "Or if we are attacked, the Thifilathi will come. That is how we fight our enemies."
* * *
Roff sat next to Toff at dinner later. "Would you like to come with me tomorrow to Kifirin and cut back the oxberry vines?"
Toff hadn't seen natural sunlight on Le-Ath Veronis since coming to the palace. "I think I would like to come," Toff nodded. "I just need some time tomorrow evening to finish a report for Master Morwin."
"We'll have you back in plenty of time for that," Roff smiled, showing even, white teeth. "Wear something you won't mind getting dusty or scratched up. The oxberries have thorns."
"Wear denim pants and leather boots," Ry suggested. "I've cut oxberry vines back before. You'll be covered in dust and leaf bits when you're done."
"Can't be much different from cutting and binding cornstalks," Toff smiled back at Roff.
"Much the same, except for the thorns," Roff agreed, accepting a glass of wine from a servant.
* * *
"This is my favorite place to sit." Toff sat beside the Queen, listening to her as he stared over the capital city from the uppermost dome of the palace. Toff was glad he wasn't afraid of heights—he might have been screaming if he were, they were up so high. "I had to bring you now, because Karzac tells me that in two weeks I can't use my power until after the baby comes."
Toff jerked his head around to look at the Queen. "You're pregnant?"
"Yes, honey. It came as quite a shock, let me tell you. I thought it was impossible, but that, like many other things, has changed."
"But Ry and Tory." Toff didn't finish. He meant Nissa, too, he just couldn't say it. How was Lissa their mother, if she hadn't been pregnant before?
"Ask Master Morwin to explain genetics to you," the Queen hugged Toff before letting go. "My Larentii manipulated donor eggs with something of me, and my three children were born to surrogate mothers. They're still mine in every sense of the word, just as they belong to their fathers. Now, we're all waiting to see who this one belongs to." Lissa patted her almost-flat stomach.