"You're one of the Nameless Ones?" Kiarra gasped.
"A sister to the Nameless Ones," I nodded. "Mate to Kifirin and Queen of Le-Ath Veronis," I replied. I was weary, too, but I wasn't going to show them that. I'd had a decision to make and once it was made—to accept what I had become—it was something that I couldn't forget or lay aside. It was forever. The one who'd charged every particle of my mist with power and enabled it to come back together, had also allowed me time and the final decision. Time to work through the anger and betrayal, and then time to make the decision whether to accept what was offered or not. The situation had been such that if I hadn't accepted, the worlds would now be dying while the Copper Ra'Ak danced their fatal victory upon the streets of Veshtul. I sighed.
"We can bring in artists, cooks and craftsmen to teach the rabble you now have," I offered. "Do not be lenient with them. They had no leniency for others." Jayd and Garde both agreed with me. Gilfraith came forward and knelt before me.
"Hey, don't ever do that," I said, pulling him up as gently as I could. Kneeling and bowing were just—embarrassing.
"I want to thank you," he said, looking into my eyes. "The Ra'Ak was always there inside me, and I had to control it every minute. It is now gone and I have not felt so happy since before I was turned."
"Then I'm happy with you," I said. Gilfraith smiled at me and backed away.
We spent the afternoon hammering out a few details, and I was wiped when we finished. "My Raona is tired," Roff announced as we left the meeting hall.
"Honey, you don't have to announce it to everybody," I whispered, putting my arm around him and leaning against his shoulder.
"If I am to be your mate and a member of your Inner Circle, it is my duty to make such announcements," he said, squeezing me tightly.
"Where are we going?" I asked. I was hungry, too, but I sure didn't intend to let that out.
"Le-Ath Veronis," Kifirin said, as if I should have taken that information from his mind. I could have, but that would be rude. I was in mid-yawn when we were all folded away, and the yawn turned to a squeak at what waited for me when we hit the ground on the vampire planet. Well, ground wasn't the proper choice of words. We landed on marble floors, surrounded by marble walls with huge marble columns evenly spaced down a long marble hall.
"Tybus designed this palace as well; I only had to recreate it," Kifirin explained as I stared in awe. "He made the High Demon palace as a lesser version of this." He swept out an arm to indicate the Queen's Palace on Le-Ath Veronis. Lights were everywhere, and the whole thing looked to be from a fairy tale.
"All solar-powered," Kifirin explained. "The power lines run from the light hemisphere. There are farms near the light half of the planet and the comesuli are already there and working them. Others are tending the flocks and herds and two cities of vampires are already here, avilepha. Gabron's vampires from Refizan are here in the southwestern part of this city—but there are only three thousand of them. The other city is twenty miles away. Do you wish for Earth's vampires to reside in the capital city with you?"
I was holding my breath as I looked around me. Gavin and Tony were nodding; Tony enthusiastically, Gavin's nod a bit more sedate. Drake and Drew were grinning; Karzac sent his agreement in mindspeech. Shadow shrugged, but it was Roff who made my decision for me.
"Giff will like it very much if Rolfe comes." I nodded and smiled wearily at Roff's statement.
"You're too tired to see your palace right now," Kifirin pointed out, once the decision was made. "Healer." Karzac came forward and I was out as soon as his fingers reached my forehead.
* * *
"I am King and Chief Advisor. The rest of you may sort everything else out," Kifirin waved an arm. He was sitting on the top step where Lissa's throne sat. He knew she wasn't going to appreciate having a throne, but it was expected.
"We will preside over security; both hers and that of the palace," Gavin pointed to himself and Tony.
"We will command the army," Drake and Drew grinned.
"I'll handle planning, construction, and the laws governing the infrastructure and utilities of the cities," Shadow said. "I have engineering degrees, after all. I want to inspect the water treatment facilities right away, and the desalination pipelines from the ocean."
"I will handle the courts and enforcement of the laws, which will require working closely with Drake, Drew, Gavin and Anthony," Gabron announced.
"I will handle the running of the palace," Roff declared.
"We still need somebody to handle the farming industry, plus we need to import fishing boats and other things to feed the comesuli," Shadow suggested. "And we need a chief of staff plus scribes, secretaries, whatever you want to call them," he added.
"I'd like the chief of staff job," Kyler folded in. "I'm not doing much of anything at the moment."
"I will handle the building of medical facilities for the comesuli and set up a proper training program for them," Karzac said. "As well as being personal physician to the Queen. I can't imagine the Saa Thalarr will need me much—Lissa just eliminated their job, after all." Drake grinned at Drew, giving him a high five.
"There will be other things to warrant their attention from time to time," Belen folded in. Kifirin rose and bowed slightly. Belen bowed back. "We also have an announcement to make," Belen nodded toward Kifirin. "We have permission to rebuild the dark worlds. That means the werewolf planet, as well as all the others, will be inhabited again one day. I wish to enlist the help of the Larentii on this." Belen smiled at Connegar.
"It is acceptable if the permission comes from you," Connegar rose and nodded respectfully to Belen. "Ferrigar will not refuse and many Larentii will be most enthusiastic over the project."
"What did I miss?" Erland Morphis folded in. He gasped when he saw Belen standing there, shining inside Lissa's throne room.
"Lord Morphis," Belen chuckled. "We cannot presume to leave you out, now can we? Perhaps you can oversee the business of the flocks and herds."
"Don't forget the fishing and mining," Shadow said.
"Mining?" Erland's ears perked up.
"We have a winner," Drake laughed.
"You mine it and I'll make jewelry out of it for the Queen," Shadow grinned.
* * *
"I don't want to go." Kiarra's birthday party was scheduled and my Falchani twins were dressed to attend. They were trying to convince me to come along. I wasn't in the mood. Yes, Kiarra and I shared a birthday, but mine wasn't the one to be celebrated. I hadn't celebrated a birthday since Don's death. Well, this one would go uncelebrated, too. Kiarra and I would have shared Merrill, had he and Griffin not done what they had. I wasn't in the mood to see either of them. Two days had passed since the finale on Kifirin, and I was still tired. I had things to consider, too. Kifirin planned to bring Earth's vampires the following day, and I wasn't sure how some of them might react.