Kass sniffed, nodded a watery thank-you to her mother, who had just handed her a handkerchief. When she had blown her nose and wiped her eyes, she straightened her shoulders and stepped back a pace, forcing herself to remember they had not risked this mission for an Orlondami family reunion . "Mama, Papa, I have brought friends with me." And Jagan.
Her four companions snapped into view, standing in a line in front of the hidden panel, Anton and Joss with weapons at the ready, sandwiching Tal and Jagan between them. King Ryal, a man with hair black as Kass's and the faintly tilted clear blue-green eyes he'd passed on to his son, put Kass aside. His face firming from loving parent into autocratic monarch, he examined his visitors one by one. Beside him, Jalaine, Psyclid's ParaPrime, did the same.
Dear goddess, Kass thought, she hadn't planned past this moment. She'd envisioned rosy moments of reunion , introducing Tal, Jagan outlining his plan. But what if her parents resented Tal's Regulon heritage? What if they struck down Anton and Joss for carrying weapons into their presence? What if they feared Jagan more than they trusted him?
But Jalaine, a striking woman with a waterfall of auburn hair flowing over her gown of leaf green embroidered in gold, was ignoring Jagan, staring at Tal instead. "We know you," she said. "You are Admiral Rigel's son, the one who supposedly died fighting the Nyx."
Using his best court manners, Tal strode forward and knelt on one knee before Psyclid's king and queen. "If I may be forgiven an ancient quote, Your Majesties, ‘News of my demise has been greatly exaggerated.'"
"More like well planned and executed," Ryal commented dryly. "You are S'sorrokan, are you not?"
"Yes, sir." An appreciative gleam lit Tal's eyes, and Kass felt a surge of pride for the quick intelligence of the two most important males in her life.
"Rise, Captain. You are welcome here as the young man we once knew and as the powerful man you have become."
A rush of hope before Kass realized her father's approval was for Tal alone, not for a liaison between the two of them. Yet her mother must have sensed the connection the moment Tal decloaked.
"Jagan Mondragon," Ryal ordered, "step forward."
Tal recognized dismissal when he heard it. He inclined his head to both Ryal and Jalaine, then stepped back, but only as far as Kass, standing beside her, arms behind his back in parade rest. Yet she didn't so much as turn her head to offer a smile or a "well done." He might as well have gone invisible again.
Well, fyd you, princess.
The regal tones of Psyclid's ParaPrime, standing stiffly erect beside her husband, cut through Tal's sulks. "Jagan Mondragon, you fled our country, taking the best of our gifted with you. Yet now you return-in company with our daughter who was a rebel long before the rebellion. And," Queen Jalaine continued, emphasizing each word, "with the dashing S'sorrokan, who has taken from you everything you once wanted. Your motives are suspect, Sorcerer Prime. Explain yourself."
Mondragon, his expression unfathomable, stood tall, looking down at his queen and high priestess of all things psychic, clearly aware one of her primary roles was to keep his powers in check. "Majesty, it was the right moment."
"In what way? Explain."
The sorcerer gave a deprecating shrug. "If I may offer advice, Majesty, never go to Bender's Folly. It should, in my opinion, be termed Hell One, not Hell Nine." He cocked his head to one side. "Or perhaps Hell Nine Hundred and Nine, if-"
"Insufficient. Do not attempt to distract us with irrelevancies."
Mondragon spread his feet farther apart, scowled at the floor, then returned his gaze to his queen. "It is not every day a Reg huntership travels outside the sector to offer a Psyclid sorcerer a ride home."
Tal heard a choking sound that might have been King Ryal thrusting back a laugh.
"Your humor fails to amuse me," Jalaine declared. "Continue."
"As much as I dislike to admit it," the sorcerer said, dragging out each word as if it were painful, "I realized, however incongruous it might seem, that Rigel could do the impossible. He could bring down the Regulon Empire. And, besides, L'ira demanded my return. I had no choice."
The facile-tongued bastard! Tal choked back a snort. The queen was right-Jagan Mondragon's loyalty to the House of Orlondami was highly suspect.
"And now?" Jalaine persisted. "Why are you here?"
This was it, Tal thought. And not the best moment for presenting Mondragon's plan when the queen was already hostile.
But it wasn't the queen who disapproved. The sorcerer had barely begun to outline his plan to organize Psyclid's psychic talents when King Ryal roared a resounding, "No! You would violate Psyclid's prime rule?" he continued, pounding out his words like blows of a hammer. "To push out the Regulons, you would unleash a power that could destroy us all?"
"You cannot put the genie back in the bottle, Jagan," Jalaine added. "We might rid ourselves of the Regulons but find ourselves in the midst of chaos more deadly than the occupation."
"I can control-"
"Perhaps you, Sorcerer, are the genie that cannot be put back," Ryal said harshly. "My wife tells me there has been a Dissolution, however irregularly it was accomplished, so you must find another path to the throne. Out of chaos, a new ruler shall rise. Is that it, Mondragon. Is that your goal? Answer me!"
"It's all right, Father," said a voice they'd all forgotten. "I am happy to legitimize the ambitions of the Sorcerer Prime."
Chapter 36
M'lani! Kass took a less emotional look at her little sister, no longer a child, but a beautiful young woman of twenty-one. With hair a shade darker than her mother's and the same fiercely intelligent green eyes, her sister was as spectacular to look at as her declaration was a surprise.
"L'ira, M'lani, stand next to Jagan," the king decreed.
Not good. Kass did as she was told, as warning alarms sounded in her head. Her father was up to something, possibly something outrageous.
"L'ira, is your mother correct when she tells me you have effected an irregular dissolution of your betrothal to Jagan Mondragon?"
Kass's insides squirmed, but she stuck her chin in the air. "Yes, sir."
"Have you considered that Rigel will never rule here? Even if our people would allow an alien consort, Talryn Rigel would never fit the mold. He is a powerful leader in his own right, L'ira, you must know that. And meant for far greater things than a small, obscure planet like ours."
Kass blinked, her lower lip quivered. "Yes, sir, I do."
"Then you must make a choice. You are our firstborn, the rightful heir to our throne and heir to the ParaPrime as well. We had great plans for you. Plans that still may be fulfilled. You can accept Jagan Mondragon-if he will still have you-and keep your titles." Kass heard M'lani's small gasp of protest. "Or you will wed Rigel-if he will have you-here and now and follow him wherever his fate takes him."
Kass swayed, sucked in a sharp breath, steadied herself. Not here. Not now. Not like this. Not when Tal was so angry with her. Through a miasma of pain, Kass murmured, "I don't think he wants me."
"Sir!" Tal's voice. If he accepted her, it would be for all the wrong reasons. "I can't ask Kass-L'ira-to give up everything she is for love of me."
Kass sagged. He didn't want her.
"Captain Rigel," said Queen Jalaine, "do you love my daughter?"
Tal stood at attention, looking Jalaine straight in the eye. "I have loved her since the first moment I saw her on the bridge of Orion, though I was too stupid, too arrogant, to realize it at the time. But she haunted me. For her I gave up everything, launched a revolution. So the answer to your question, Your Majesty, is yes. I love her."
Jalaine offered a regal nod of acknowledgment, then turned to her daughter. "L'ira?"
I gave up everything . . . I love her. Kass's thoughts spun on a whirlwind, spiraling from despair to joy. Even the massive self-worth of a princess royal had never led her to assume that Tal's love for her had sparked the rebellion.
Offering a watery smile, Kass looked directly at him. "You know quite well it was the same for me, and I have loved you much longer than that. Since I was twelve years old and everyone laughed at me for being moonstruck over a man who barely acknowledged my existence. Jagan can confirm. He teased me unmercifully."
Jagan nodded, his eyes gleaming with the suggestion he still found satisfaction in recalling those torturous moments.
Kass lifted her chin, flinging out words she'd been too proud to say before, oddly relieved now the moment had finally come. "You, Tal Rigel, are the reason I adopted a new name and applied to the Academy. You were the sun in my sky. Dazzled by you, I let myself look at Psyclid through your eyes. I saw our vulnerability, knew I had to learn to fight. And, yes, the love of a child became the love of a woman." She offered a wry smile. "A bit rocky at times, but love nonetheless." Kass steepled her hands over her mouth. This was the moment of truth, the moment of decision. Irrevocable. Time to speak her heart, admitting her faults as well as her love.