"Oh, my gosh, Norian, what did they do?" The man we looked at seemed perfectly normal as a humanoid, except for his eyes. They were slitted—a reptile's eyes.
"Lendill and I think these may have been manufactured—that they took sperm or DNA from one of the kidnapped shapeshifters and created these to build an army. Cheah-mul—we may be facing who knows how many of these." Norian's eyes were troubled as I blinked at him in horror.
"Honey, this is awful. We're tracking rogue wizards, Solar Red, Black Mist and now lion snake shapeshifters that somebody created to go out and assassinate people cleanly? I think I have a headache." I slumped in my chair.
"Deah-mul, I didn't mean to make you ill." Norian settled on the edge of my desk and rubbed my forehead gently.
"Nori, your brother has an awful lot to answer for." Norian didn't say anything to me.
* * *
I dressed the best I could without going too far, and wore the band of Tiralian crystal on my forehead. Norian, too, wore his ASD dress uniform. I had no idea he had so many medals and doo-dads. He gave me an embarrassed grin when I examined some of them on his chest. A hover-limo had been sent to the shuttle station to pick up Norian's parents; we waited in one of four reception suites I had inside the palace. Aryn and Aurelius had gone as palace representatives to pick up our guests and they were ushered in while Norian's mother stared about her in shock.
"I thought you might have been lying to us," Rivelodar Cordrifith said as he was brought before Norian and me.
"No. Some days I try to forget about all this—it doesn't mean a thing when there are more serious matters to attend to," I said. "I hope you and your wife are well."
"We are," Norian's father nodded.
"We have refreshments ready, if you'll come with us," I said. Norian was still tongue-tied, I think. I grabbed his elbow and he followed along, settling his parents on a comfortable sofa in more intimate surroundings. Aryn and Aurelius followed us as security.
"We, ah, wanted to come and talk to you about your brother," Norian's mother Narimalan said after drinks and tiny sandwiches were served in my library. I didn't say anything, waiting to see what she and Norian's father had to say.
"What's that?" Norian hadn't said much until now—he'd listened while his parents went on about relatives—living and dead. I figured Norian had already done his research, once he knew who his family was, but I didn't point that out. After all, if the Director of the ASD didn't have access to that information, then nobody did.
"We, ah, want you to leave Reedy alone. We know he may have made some mistakes," Rivelodar Cordrifith said, holding up a hand, "but he is our son."
"And Norian isn't?" I know I should have stayed out of it, but I couldn't.
"No—we know he is, but for years we thought he was dead. We didn't raise him; someone else did that. We can't change any of that now, and he's a stranger to us. We've talked to Reedy—he knows that he just can't kill indiscriminately, even if it's someone who might deserve it. He has to take care of things after we're gone; he has a fiancé now and we hope to have grandchildren before long. Please understand our situation." Norian's father was begging us to go along with this.
"So, you want Norian to look the other way for his brother, the murderer, who not only arranged to have his brother kidnapped but two other children as well?" I know; I was completely incredulous. "Have you told those other families what he did? Have you?" I knew all too well what having a child stolen away felt like. At least I knew where Toff was—those other parents had no idea what had happened to their children. And the fact that their children had probably been raised to commit crimes and perhaps to provide sperm or DNA to create others like them didn't sit well either.
"No, and we're begging you not to tell them—they'll kill Reedy." Norian's mother's voice was tremulous. "Reedy's engaged to one of the Travinseloh's daughters."
"You mean the fiancé might not be so in love with dear old Reedy if she finds out he sold her brother into slavery?"
"It was someone who wanted to keep them as a novelty," Rivelodar snapped.
"Yeah? Guess again," I snapped back. "Somebody has been using them to assassinate heads of state and important officials for the past hundred years or so. I know he's your son, but really, what else do you think he might do?"
"He was only nineteen when he made that bad decision," Norian's mother was in tears, now.
"Yeah. But he wasn't nineteen when he killed those people who came asking about the missing kids. Whether they were trying to bilk you out of money is irrelevant. All it would have taken is a call to the local constabulary and they'd have investigated. Instead, he did murder. And we're just supposed to conveniently forget about that, because you asked us nicely?" I still couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"We hoped that you'd see it as parents wanting to protect their child," Rivelodar muttered.
"Nobody protected Norian," I said. "Did Reedy say why he sold his brother? Did he say what he got out of it? And mind you, unless I miss my guess, the one he sold those children to is still alive and he knows where you are. What if he wants more lion snakes? What then?" I was standing and shaking. Norian still hadn't said a word. I think he was lost in all this—he might have been taken back to a time when he was four or five, not understanding what was going on around him. Lost completely to a childhood that had brought him loneliness and pain.
"You're joking. Surely they wouldn't be so bold or foolish to come back—we've taken steps to guard against that," Rivelodar spat, standing up.
"Can you stand against Black Mist?" I asked. "Can you stand against them and their Solar Red Allies? Most likely, they have your two missing lion snake shapeshifters, and perhaps a few others manufactured from their DNA. We have pictures. What if they show up for the next batch of children your little community produces? Yes, I did my research, too. Except for Reedy, they wiped out an entire generation, didn't they?" My chest was heaving, I was breathing so hard.
"Lissa, don't upset yourself," Norian found his voice. "It is just as well that Ildevar adopted me, isn't it? I have no real parents. They'd rather have a murdering child trafficker for a son than one who has done well for himself. I won't press charges against Reedy. Not for past crimes. But I will be watching," he warned his parents. "If he steps a toe out of line again, I'll haul him in and I'll see to it he's prosecuted completely for all his crimes. Let him know that Evensun is waiting for him if he ever crosses my path again." Norian stalked out of the room.