"We never expected anything like this to happen; it is completely unprecedented," Raffian went on. "At no other time have we or any other wizard clan dealt with something like this."
"Then maybe you should stop beating around the bush and just tell me," I said, setting my fork down. They were destroying what should have been a good day for Rigo and me. Gavin was frowning deeply from his seat next to Rigo, and I think Norian would have given anything at that moment to be able to send mindspeech. Wylend looked like a thundercloud and Erland was ready with the thunder and lightning. Garde must have gotten mindspeech from somebody, because he skipped in late for dinner.
"This begins with Findal, Melida's wizard mate and the contract he signed with Kenderlin of Cloudsong to protect Brandelin, the royal heir," Glendes said. "Cloudsong is one of the few worlds which require this sort of contract—in fact, it is this that kept them out of the Alliance forty years ago. They weren't willing to give up the rights, if you can call them that."
"What he means, Lissa, is that where the safety and well-being of Cloudsong's crown or its heirs are concerned, they make sure that the ones they contract with only have the best interests of the crown at heart," Merrill took up the explanation. "Cloudsong requires that the wizard and the wizard's head of household, if there is one, sign the contract. If the wizard willfully fails in his duty to protect or perform, then their life is forfeit, as well as the life of the head of their household. This is their way of making sure the lives of the crown are protected."
"So? What does this have to do with me?" I asked. I hadn't signed a contract with Cloudsong, and I wasn't the head of any household involved.
"It has to do with Findal, Melida's deceased spouse," Glendes said.
"Melida being the one who can have babies." I didn't hold the snort back that time.
"Yes. That is indeed the one," Glendes nodded. "King Kenderlin of Cloudsong learned recently that Findal joined Black Mist to take down the crown Prince. Both Brandelin and Findal died in the ambush, when Findal gave away their location. Kenderlin demanded the blood price against Marid, Melida's father, as head of household for the Belancour Wizards. Unfortunately, Melida had already come to Shadow and the marriage had taken place. In the contract Grey House signed with Marid of Belancour, I am not only Melida's new head of household, but we agreed to take on any debts that Melida and Findal incurred. At the time of my signing, the debts were insignificant."
"So those f**kers are now after your head?" I was about to come out of my seat. Rigo placed a careful hand over mine to hold me down.
"The communication we received from Cloudsong's legal counsel informs us that they are being generous, as they realize we had nothing to do with Brandelin's death—they are merely demanding all proceeds from our work for the next fifty years and all profits from Le-Ath Veronis for the same amount of time."
"And how are they connecting my mate to all this?" Kifirin was suddenly in the dining room, blowing smoke and ready to go Thifilathi, I think. Everybody needed to get the hell out if that happened.
"They learned of Shadow and Lissa, most likely from Marid," Raffian replied carefully. "Since Shadow still wears Lissa's ring, Cloudsong intends to reap as much profit from this as they can. They are demanding their price from anyone involved and they feel this includes Lissa, as Shadow's mate. Shadow is also listed as Melida's mate of record. Melida managed to get herself pregnant before she came to us, so she'd have an ironclad reason to stay mated to Shadow. The child isn't his, but Cloudsong doesn't recognize DNA evidence or anything of the sort. Any male is responsible for their female mate's child, according to their laws."
"They thought this out well, didn't they, and then they threw the bait your way and reeled you right in." I threw my napkin on the table. "Do they expect me to take this lying down? Because I can assure you, I will not. If you'll get miss pregnant pants in front of me in the next five minutes, we'll find out whose baby it is."
"Lissa, we can't do that; when we mentioned it to her before in an attempt to discover who fathered her child, she went into hysterics and Selkirk had to place her in a healing sleep. She seems terrified of vampires."
"She may have reason to be," Gavin growled.
"Gavin, you and Anthony gave an oath when you were brought in as auxiliary Spawn Hunters," Kiarra said. "You are not allowed to confront these—it is not a direct attack against your mate." Well, I was learning something new, I think. I didn't know there were oaths attached to their signing up with the Saa Thalarr.
"Lissa, we should have explained this a little better," Merrill said.
"Uh-huh," I stood, then—even Rigo couldn't hold me down.
"Not all her mates are held to those standards," Rigo stood beside me.
"Lissa should take care of this herself—the hearing is scheduled in six days." Thurlow showed up by folding into the dining hall. If anybody wasn't already aware that he wasn't just an official from the Alliance, they knew now.
"Oh, my God." Kiarra was now standing and staring at Thurlow. She knew if nobody else did. "Lissa, do you know who this is?" I'd never seen Kiarra so upset, I don't think.
"Yes, I know exactly who it is," I replied, looking at Thurlow, who used to be Thorsten. "At least he says he loves me, which is more than my father says nowadays." I'd had enough of this, so I folded away.
* * *
Norian settled back in his chair, unsure whether he should be amused at all the commotion, or upset on Lissa's behalf. He felt both emotions—Lissa was obviously upset and he understood that. It was amusing, too, watching Adam and Merrill try to get to Thurlow, before a blinding light appeared and someone named Belen called them back, explaining that Thurlow, who'd been someone named Thorsten long ago, had paid his debts, except what he owed to Lissa. Now he was trying to make up for a great mistake he made where she was concerned.
The fact that Thurlow was acting as an agent for the Alliance concerned Norian not at all. Norian wished he could find Lissa—he would tend to her if the others wouldn't. They seemed content to argue with Belen, Thurlow, Glendes of Grey House and his son and grandson. Norian settled in to watch the entire debacle—it was more amusing that Alliance vid-vision.
* * *
If my life wasn't f**ked up in one way, it was f**ked up in another. I was held responsible for the screw up on Cloudsong, though I hadn't signed anything and had no part in any of it? That was priceless, and not in any good way. Did I need legal counsel? Cloudsong obviously had some f**ked up rules. Once again, I'd chosen Harifa Edus as my place to hide. Too bad the planet was still in its second infancy—there weren't any tall buildings to sit on to ponder life's little problems.