"Greetings, young one, this is the Palace of the Queen of Le-Ath Veronis," someone stepped forward to greet them. "Lissa, the Council meeting was a little bumpy today."
"That's Aurelius. Gavin's sire," Ry bent down to whisper to Trik as Trik stared at the golden-haired bear of a man who stood before him.
"What's the problem now?" Lissa really did sound tired.
"Lissa, I suggest you get something to eat and sit down to discuss this with Aurelius," Karzac said. "Connegar and Reemagar can go with the young ones."
"Why is Lissa discussing a Council meeting?" Trik looked up at Ry.
"He doesn't know," Ry grinned and elbowed Tory, who'd come to stand next to Trik's chair.
"Mom's the Queen," Nissa and Toff came to stand on Trik's other side. "And my Dad is Shadow Grey of Grey House," Nissa continued when Trik stared at her in shock. "Dad says you have talent, but until you go through the rite, he can't say how much for sure."
"But before that takes place, young one," Connegar grew before Trik's eyes and his skin turned blue, "Reemagar and I will see about healing as much of this as we can."
Trik couldn't speak for minutes as Connegar, a real, blue-skinned Larentii, lifted him from his motorized chair and folded him and the other teens into a spacious suite.
* * *
"It'll take a while to do all of it, and the muscles will have to be exercised," Ry said as he and the others admired what the Larentii had done with Trik's hand.
"Mom says that there are hospitals and clinics all over the Alliance that could have done this easier when you were a baby, but since Shaaliveer isn't an Alliance world, then your family would have had to pay for the medical care. It can be expensive," Nissa said.
Trik couldn't believe it, either. Right away, they'd done this—his right hand looked normal. Connegar said that he and Reemagar would come back in a week, when Trik had time to get used to it and exercise his hand every day, before they attempted to do more. After about a month, his right hand and arm would look exactly like the left. Then they would start on his leg. He'd always heard the Larentii were powerful beings, but until today, he'd imagined that they might not be quite real.
"Want your chair or do you want Tory to skip us to dinner?" Nissa asked. Toff had both arms around Nissa as she leaned against him.
"I think I'll do the chair, but only because I want to see the palace," Trik breathed.
"And you don't have to room with us unless you want to," Tory said. "But we like having Toff with us. If you're here, we can plot and plan without having to sneak into your bedroom."
"And after the Larentii are done with you, you'll come to train at Grey House," Nissa said. "It'll be so nice to have someone there who's a friend and close to my age."
"They'll train me?" Trik's voice was almost a squeak.
"Yes. Like I said, Daddy told me they'd check your ability when you go through the rite. Great-Grampa Glendes will probably do it himself."
"Glendes of Grey House is your great-grandfather." Trik's voice held awe tinged with a bit of alarm.
"Yeah, why?"
"Marid complains about him constantly. Says he takes away Belancour business."
"We have all the business we can handle. We send the excess out to other houses," Nissa sniffed.
"No, no, I didn't mean it that way. Grandfather just gets grumpy at times," Trik said. He was still in shock at the sudden change in fortunes for him. Finally, the wind seemed to be blowing in the proper direction.
"Young ones, are you ready to come to dinner?" A tall, dark-haired man appeared in the doorway.
"Uncle Rigo, this is Trikleer," Nissa made the introduction.
"Most pleased to meet you, young sir," Rigo nodded to Trik.
"Uncle Rigo used to be King of Hraede," Nissa said conversationally as Trik steered his chair through the suite he now shared with Tory, Ry and Toff.
"Am I missing something here?" Trik was completely confused.
"Do you know about Le-Ath Veronis?" Ry turned and smiled over his shoulder.
"My history books didn't cover it," Trik replied.
"Then we'll bring you up to date," Tory laughed, reaching over to flick Ry's ear.
"Here we go," Nissa grumbled, rolling her eyes. Toff burst out laughing when Ry wet a finger in his mouth and stuck it in Tory's ear before running down the lengthy marble corridor.
* * *
"Toff, you have a visitor." Toff couldn't fathom why he'd been called to Lissa's study after dinner, but now he knew. Corent sat in one of Lissa's chairs, waiting for him.
"Father!" Toff rushed toward Corent and Corent lifted him up, hugging him hard.
"I missed you, son," Corent smiled at Toff as he set him down again. Corent's hair was a blue-green—clouds must be moving in, Toff thought as he smiled up at his foster-father.
"I missed you, too."
"Toff, why don't you take Corent to the arboretum upstairs," Lissa suggested.
"All right." The arboretum would be perfect—it held all kinds of plants and trees. Toff hadn't ever seen the gardeners that tended it, but they had to be good—the plants were all thriving.
"Do you like it here?" Corent asked as they walked up the last flight of stairs to get to the arboretum.
"Father, I do. I mean no disrespect to you or my foster-mother, but I feel at home here. Nobody bullies me or calls me names. And I learned that my lack of, well, that my lack is normal for what I am. I jump in the pool here with Tory and Ry and they don't even look."
"Child, I should have told you that long ago, but Redbird thought it would confuse you. I see now that it was a mistake. Those children in the village were being taught to ridicule by their parents, who had less understanding than they should." Toff merely hunched his shoulders at Corent's words. Nothing could take away the emotional bruising he'd received at the hands of his peers in the Fae village.
"Father, what can you tell me about these trees?" Toff decided to break away from the subject of his past once they walked into the arboretum. The enormous, indoor garden was beautiful, with sunlamps hanging everywhere inside the glass enclosure. From the outside, Toff thought the arboretum looked like something from an old tale of castles and such, sitting atop the palace as it did and always lit from within.
"These trees I haven't seen before," Corent went to touch the first of many. "I was born on Vionn, you know."