"Lissa, staying awake and fretting won't make those babies come any quicker," Tony sat on the bench next to me and draped an arm around my shoulder. He'd traded places with Gavin—they were helping patrol the palace. Karzac, Jeff, and several Larentii were inside the royal suite, tending to the birth. I deliberately stopped myself from Looking—it was something that should be free from interference.
"You're awake," I pointed out the obvious. Tony grinned. I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes for a moment.
* * *
"The substitute will always nourish you, but it will never taste the same as the real thing," Jeral informed Davan as Davan drank thirstily from the offered bottle. Davan woke on the fifth day to find his vampire sire with him inside the secured cell. Davan drank two bottles of the fluid before slaking his thirst completely. Once he was finished with his meal, Jeral set about teaching Davan how he should behave around humanoids.
* * *
"Lissa, we can reschedule this meeting." Gabron had my elbow as we walked toward the library. I'd gotten two hours of sleep after Glinda's girls came—Gavin insisted we return to Le-Ath Veronis and he'd put me in bed himself. Karzac stayed on Kifirin to care for Glinda and the newborns.
"Let's get this over with," I sighed. I probably looked like hell—I hadn't paid attention to my face in the mirror and Giff had dressed me—I didn't care what I wore. Flavio was coming with the City Councils—all the members from Earth combined with the members from Refizan. The Council members from other cities were coming as well, to hammer out the articles of governance. Gabron was going to help and Pheligar was sending a Larentii advisor.
"He's young," Pheligar said, describing the Larentii in question. "Only two hundred fifty years of age, but he is skilled at translating languages and has a feel for intentions behind words. He wants to work as a diplomat, Lissa, and this is the only world where Ferrigar will allow it—we do not involve ourselves in politics."
"His name?" I asked.
"Reemagar," Pheligar had replied. "You may ask Grace about his mother, sometime." I didn't know what Pheligar was trying to tell me and at the time, I'd been too busy to Look. I remembered his words now as we found the Larentii waiting for us outside the doors to the library.
"Reemagar?" I asked. He nodded solemnly to me and opened the doors using power.
We only broke twice during the lengthy day; blood substitute was handed out both times and I drank it with the rest of them, although it didn't do a thing to help with my exhaustion. Gabron managed to order coffee brought in and he, Flavio and I had a cup while we were debating what the age of adulthood should be for the comesuli.
"The comesuli consider a child an adult at age forty," I said for perhaps the tenth time.
"But that applies to apprenticeships and employment," Hervis of Refizan pointed out. "I have asked the comesuli that serve the City Council and they seem to think that age twenty-five is old enough for the bite." This debate, once it was over, would establish the age at which a vampire could legally drink from a comesula, so there would be no doubt when enforcing the laws regarding drinking from a child.
"I still think that's the equivalent of a fifteen-year-old," I grumped. I needed my physician here, to give us information on when a comesula was completely grown and past their formative years, but he was off-planet at the moment. My brain was working slowly, though, until it finally hit me.
Mom? I sent to Amara. She'd been a healer for a hundred thousand years, and she'd been involved in children's hospitals and children's causes for a very long time. Maybe she could help me out with this.
Lissa? Her mindspeech sounded slightly surprised. Probably because I called her Mom.
We're having a bit of an argument over how old the comesuli are when they're fully-grown and capable of handling blood donation, I returned. Can you help us out with this?
She didn't reply, she came herself and knocked discreetly on the door. Gabron rose from his seat to let her in. Amara is so beautiful—I knew what Griffin had seen in her the minute I'd met her the first time. Every vampire in the room stopped and stared as she entered the Library. Gabron offered her the seat next to mine and then sat beside her.
"This is Amara, who has been a healer for a very long time," I introduced her. "She is also my stepmother. She will be speaking truth to you when she answers your questions." I was being Queen, now, although I was exhausted and shaky as hell.
"In your opinion, Lady Mother, what is the age when a comesula is fully grown and capable of handling blood donation?" Hervis asked. He was the biggest proponent for the twenty-five year plan.
"Their bones and organs come to full growth around the age of twenty-nine," Amara smiled at the gathering. We had nearly a hundred vampires in the room—Le-Ath Veronis was growing nicely and the Councils from eight cities were represented. "The comesuli are slow to come to adulthood, since their average lifespan is six hundred years, barring accidental death," Amara continued. "If you take blood from them between the ages of twenty-four and twenty-nine, it should only be done once every two months and that may be difficult to track. It is my suggestion that you place the mandatory death penalty for drinking from a child at age twenty-three and below. Perhaps a severe punishment could be handed out if a vampire drinks from a comesula twenty-four through twenty-eight years of age, as long as it is once only. More severe punishment, up to the death penalty, might be considered if the vampire repeats the offense." Reemagar translated Amara's words for all present, one language at a time. It amazed me that he kept track of all of it so easily. When the last language had been delivered, I saw nodding around the room. Most of the vampires spoke Alliance common, but it was considered polite and they understood it better if their own language was employed.
"I'm pleased with that suggestion," I said, smiling at Amara.
"I am grateful for the explanation," Hervis nodded courteously to Amara. "I think I can come to terms with this."
"I will write up the proposal and send electronic copies to all of you," Gabron said. "Prepare any suggestions for revisions and return them to me. I hope to have this finished by the time we meet next week."
The meeting broke up after that and eventually only Flavio, Gabron, Amara and Reemagar remained.
"Child, you are exhausted," Amara said, as I rose from my seat.
"We had two baby girls born last night," I yawned as discreetly as I could. "Reemagar, I can't thank you enough—this would have gone on until midnight if you hadn't been here. Are you going to stay with us or fold back to the Larentii homeworld?"