"We'll be entertaining guests after dinner," the General said, coming out again. His face looked worried, though. I nodded.

Chapter 6

Thurlow Burghin stood before the Minister for Defense, who was in charge of the Alliance armies, their spies, investigators, military tribunals and any other thing that might keep the Alliance safe and adhering to the law. Thurlow wasn't particularly handsome, not as some measured it, anyway. He had thick, black hair, gray eyes, a slightly crooked nose and lips that were full and nearly sensuous. They were his best feature, according to the three female secretaries who'd passed him through office after office, from one ranking officer to the next, until he reached the Minister for Defense.

"Your record is impeccable," the Minister noted, setting the handheld computer on his desk. The Minister was in his sixties—still young for this day and time upon any number of Alliance worlds. "And the Founder has personally approved your assignment to Le-Ath Veronis."

"Thank you sir," Thurlow nodded respectfully.

"We need someone to act as Liaison with Le-Ath Veronis," the Minister sighed. "We are getting more and more arrests from there—people who have been hired by the remnants of Solar Red, all trying their best to gather information to send back to those murderous fanatics. I want someone on the ground, there, to hear those confessions firsthand. I want this stopped before it can start, do you understand? Our newest monarch, on our newest Alliance world, is being threatened, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you that Le-Ath Veronis is padding the Alliance coffers right now."

"I understand that, sir," Thurlow nodded slightly. "Why do we need someone there, though?"

The Minister rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Rumors have reached me, and those above me, even, that if the present Queen dies, all except the comesuli will be forced from the planet. You've read the information on Kifirin?"

"The planet or the demigod?" Thurlow asked.

"The god part," the Minister breathed a sigh. "He has been heard to say that if Queen Lissa dies, the others will be forced off the planet, except for the comesuli. That means the revenue that we are currently enjoying from Le-Ath Veronis will cease, and gambling will once more be done on non-Alliance worlds, more than likely. You understand, now, why we have an interest in all this? We very much wish to keep the Queen alive, by any means necessary. That is why we want to send one of our best. You are our eyes and ears. You will report directly to us, so we may see how urgent the matter is and take appropriate measures."

"Of course, sir. I understand." Thurlow didn't even twitch at the news. The Minister wanted to sigh again—his spies and undercover agents could all hide their expressions—quite well, in fact. They'd been trained in it, after all.

"You won't be undercover so much there; I've informed them that you are coming, in an effort to keep everyone apprised. We are obligated to keep all our Alliance leaders alive, after all."

Thurlow wanted to smile. Those leaders were kept alive as long as they agreed with the general consensus among the Grand Alliance Council. Assistance might come a little slower if the leader disagreed too loudly with the Founder and the twenty Charter Members that made up the Grand Alliance Council. "How quickly should I pack, sir?" Thurlow asked, a slight smile playing across his lips.

"Right away. I want you on a ship tonight. Passage is already booked. I'd provide an assistant, but I'm hoping that they'll do that for you. Ask when you arrive. Let me know if that request is denied."

"I will, sir." Thurlow dipped his head and turned to go.

* * *

"Now is the time I wish Lissa were here, just to deal with this," Tony grumbled. The Alliance was sending a Liaison, while he and Gavin were scheduled to follow Paulin, their little artistic spy, off world to Hraede. Paulin's employer, Ibbitt, might have connections to Solar Red, and Tony and Gavin were going after him. Lynx offered to come along, claiming a bit of boredom since he'd retired from the Saa Thalarr. Gavin was doing his best to be pragmatic about the Alliance sending in one of their own.

"It's only a bureaucrat," Gavin replied. "He'll follow others around and make a nuisance of himself, more than likely. Erland, Aurelius and Gardevik have already offered to keep him entertained and out of our hair while we tend to actual business. Flavio, too, has offered to help."

"But he's coming in right before we leave," Tony wasn't done, yet.

"Anthony, let us save this discussion for later," Gavin said.

* * *

"Child, we will be entertaining a guest this evening, at the palace," Flavio informed Roff. "Please dress appropriately."

Roff set his book down. He hadn't read much before, but now he found he had a fascination with it. Flavio's library was extensive and Roff's interests were wide and varied. He was currently reading a rather large book on the Ancient Greeks. Flavio smiled at Roff's choice and wondered if it might not hurt to have Roff point his inevitable questions in Wlodek's direction.

"I will wear my gray pinstripe," Roff smiled at his vampire sire.

"That will be fine," Flavio agreed. Flavio was worried, however. How were they going to explain to the Alliance representative that Lissa was missing? The media was already making their usual conjectures, since no interviews had been granted and there'd been no sightings.

The Council meetings, which had been televised at first for informational purposes on Le-Ath Veronis, were now fed to all Alliance worlds and there was quite a fan base. Many across the Alliance tuned in to see if Lissa caught any criminals. Many hoped to see her fangs and wrote reams of fan mail to that effect. Since Aurelius and Gardevik had been handling the meetings, the usual rumors spread.

The thing that Flavio appreciated the most, however, was the renewed friendship with Aurelius and the increasing friendship with Gardevik, the High Demon Prime Minister. Flavio had come to respect him greatly. Some of the Council's vampires might have gotten their way by applying pressure in the past, but that didn't work with Gardevik. In fact, all he had to do was sit there, staring them down and allowing a bit of smoke to curl from his nostrils. That generally restored order. Aurelius, too, was used to that sort of thing, but employed a different tactic; pointing out any flaw a plan might have with gentle thoroughness. Few of them knew what a sleeping giant Aurelius truly was. Flavio was one of the few still alive who'd seen Aurelius fight.

* * *

"I thought perhaps the Queen might come and greet me," Thurlow smiled at Erland's discomfiture. Erland had been elected to go to the space station and meet the representative for the Alliance. Thurlow was well aware that the Queen seemed to be on yet another of her sabbaticals.

"I am sorry to disappoint," Erland sounded gracious, even if he truly wasn't. "Our Queen could not be here at the moment. Nevertheless, your welcome is most assured. Come, I will take you to the palace and show you to your suite. I'm sure you are weary of traveling. You are also invited to a formal dinner later, with members of the Council from Lissia."

Thurlow followed Erland while two vampires lifted his bags easily and came behind.

* * *

The mess tent was the meeting location of choice, and the sides of the tent had been lowered for privacy. I followed the General as he strode angrily toward the tent. The HC and his seven murderous minions were already there. All six of the General's Captains were also there, sitting apart from the HC and his guards. I'd been sent to deliver messages to this one or that, and to gather messages while the General and the Captains had one of their usual, secret meetings after the HC's message had come. When I got back, it was already over. I had no desire to hear any of it, to be honest. I should have been more curious.

"Sit here, Liss," the General sighed, pointing to a seat, front and center. That shocked me. The HC grinned at my surprise. Well, Looking sounded like a good thing to do right about then, and what I found had me pissed. In the past, I might have been frightened, or a little shaky, at least. Not this time. If these things masquerading as religious representatives thought they might have the advantage in this situation, then they needed to think again.

"We are here to levy charges," the HC intoned as he unrolled a heavy, parchment scroll. "We charge that Liss, bodyguard for General Hardin Wolf, is in actuality a demon in disguise. We intend to prove this over the course of the evening, with tried and true methods developed by our most holy brothers in Ialus." Well, that sounded like torture to me. "What say you to the charges, demon?" The HC folded the scroll up and gave me a hard stare.

"I'm not a demon," I shrugged.

"We intend to prove it," he snapped coldly.

"You can try to prove it for the rest of your life, but it'll still be untrue," I said. "I'm not a demon, and anyone who has actually seen a demon would agree."

Solis was trying to get my attention by making minute gestures with his hand, but he could save the effort. I was done with these guys.

"Are you saying that you have seen demons?" The HC was nearly chortling. I was falling right into his trap.

"Oh, yeah," I nodded. "I can think of one in particular who'd have your head twisted right off your body if he were here. Would you like for me to invite him in?"

"You cannot summon a demon," the HC scoffed.

"Well, you can't have it both ways, then. Either I'm a demon and can summon other demons, or I'm not a demon at all. Which is it?" I had arms crossed over my chest, now, glaring right back at my would-be torturers.

"You are a demon; our holy writ proclaims that any creature with hair of flame, moving faster than the eye can see is a demon."

"Are you kidding me? My hair is more a strawberry-blonde. Not really a true red." I lifted a stray lock and studied it briefly.

"But none of us saw your movement when you removed Mardis' head." The HC was getting grumpy, now.