"You can't be an Elf," I wiped tears away, deliberately not looking at Lendill.

"I'm half," he said. "And I didn't always look like this. A Larentii changed my facial features nearly thirty years ago after I was attacked. An enemy had surgery done to make his face like mine. This was the way to distinguish me from him. I kept the disguise because it was more handsome."

"Your father was very handsome," I sniffled.

"I didn't resemble my father. I resembled my humanoid mother. She was my father's third mate. I have three brothers—all fully Elven. They tease—sometimes cruelly—because I was born an immortal without power among the Elvish race."

"We're not married," I repeated.

"Reah, my father says we are. In his eyes, that's binding. He will protect us both if necessary."

"He couldn't save my daughter. Nobody could." I refuted Kaldill's words.

"Reah, I've learned not to question my father's words. I've learned to eat my own too many times." Lendill took the spot on my bed previously occupied by his father. Nenzi scooted over to give him room.

"You need to leave." I turned my face away from him.

"Reah, I know the core needs healing here. Father told me. I'll stay and help Farzi and Nenzi guard you. I can smooth your way, Deah-mul. Those words are Elvish in origin, did you know?"

"I don't want your help." I hugged myself, feeling chilled.

"Cheah-mul, I do not—I cannot—live without you. Your tenure with the ASD is done. You may say anything you want to me and still I will love you with everything I am. You are not obligated to love me in return. I am broken, Reah. You hold my heart and soul within yours. I cannot live without you. It is the way of my race. It broke my father's heart when my mother—his third wife, died. He still mourns her, and that was more than two hundred years ago. He loves my brothers' mothers, but he misses mine."

"Lendill, don't do this. I just lost my daughter. There's nothing to take away that pain and emptiness."

"I know," Lendill whispered, gathering me against him. Farzi and Nenzi, now lion snakes, slipped off the bed and crawled across the carpet toward our camping gear.

Lendill didn't ask for anything. Soft words were spoken that I didn't understand and I fell asleep with his arms around me.

* * *

"Reah not faint now," Farzi explained to Lendill as I sat on the small patch of grass. Lendill didn't say anything, he settled for watching me with concern instead. Nidris hadn't tapped the core that long ago—it was an easy fix.

"That's it?" Lendill sounded skeptical when it was over and the core sealed up again. I didn't know how to explain what Kifirin had done to stop me from being ill. I wasn't sure myself. Shrugging, I slipped into my clothing with Farzi's and Nenzi's help. "Now what?" Lendill asked.

"I was going to Cloudsong," I said. "To see if I could do anything about that."

"Reah, no," Lendill shook his head in disbelief. "That sounds like a fool's errand."

"Most likely it is," I agreed. "But I want to try. Unless you have information on Nidris' whereabouts. I want to kill him."

"So do I," Lendill's hands clenched. That surprised me. Where was the Vice-Director of the ASD, who wanted to capture and question? "But we don't know where he is right now," Lendill added. "Why don't you allow me to buy a meal for all of us?" Lendill motioned for Farzi and Nenzi to join us. Much taller than both reptanoids, Lendill put an arm around both their shoulders and smiled at them.

* * *

"This isn't bad," Lendill smiled over his dinner.

"No, not bad," Nenzi grinned at him. We'd found a small diner on the outskirts of the capital city and slid into a booth. The cook worked in full view of the diner's patrons. Lissa would have said he was slinging hash. I never determined just what the phrase meant.

"It's decent." I took a bite from my sandwich. The meat wasn't dry and the lettuce and tomato fresh enough.

"Coming from you, that's a four-star review," Lendill smiled at me.

"I'm still trying to determine why your appearance was changed so dramatically," I said to him.

"I used to look like my mother's family, with light-brown hair and such. Lissa initially made me look like Flavio's twin. Reemagar modified that to what I am, now. I decided to keep it."

"Yes, you do look a bit like Flavio," I examined his features. Lendill sat next to me, Farzi and Nenzi sat opposite us. "But Flavio's sire is not the King of the Elves. I thought elves were myth."

"No, just hidden. For a very long time," Lendill went back to eating. Perhaps he didn't want to talk about it. I was wrong—as soon as he swallowed, he said, "Ask my father all the questions you like next time. Some he may not answer, but most he will. You're part of the family, now."

"Lendill," I muttered.

"Reah, please don't. Don't deny me or us. I'm sorry we've treated you as we have, but others were treated in a similar manner during the same period of time. We've been ruthless over the years—I admit it—just to keep the Alliance going. You've seen it yourself—the drakus seed and the crime families and assassinations—we use our best agents mercilessly. Reah, your discharge papers recognize your service. You have the awards to show for it—you know those aren't handed out until the agent leaves, just like the military. And you got the bonus that all agents receive for exemplary service. When you're ready to see all that, let me know. In the meantime, they're in my office."

"At least you're not making me go to Norian to get them," I snapped.

"Reah, someday we'll talk about the Director. Not now. He cannot harm you again. Not as he did. I know that once was more harm than anyone could expect from their service. Let's leave it for now, all right?"

"I didn't bring it up." I wasn't hungry anymore.

"Deah-mul, eat. You need your strength. You repaired the core this afternoon. Surely you must be tired and hungry. At the very least. Let us be gentle with you now. To make up for the past."

"Does the phrase too late and too little mean anything to you?" I drank from my glass of milk.

"Reah," Lendill sighed. "I can't take away the pain. It's still fresh. That wound too new. All I can do is love you as much as I can. Come back to the hotel room with me. Let me take care of you for a bit."

I relented. As it turns out, it was a very good thing. Hotel security and the local constabulary were waiting outside my room, wanting to question me about the camping equipment inside.

"Official business," Lendill flipped out his ID. I wanted to laugh at the facial expressions, but didn't.

"But why?" The hotel security chief should have left things alone.

"Tracking a rogue warlock," Lendill snapped. "We came prepared for any emergency. Unfortunately, our quarry has escaped. We will leave immediately."

We did leave—packing up while security watched. Farzi and Nenzi hauled our equipment out while Lendill and I took charge of the bags. I overheard one of the locals cursing as we walked angrily toward the lift. "I told you we should have asked questions downstairs," he hissed. "Now I'll never be considered for a position with the ASD. That was the fucking Assistant Director!"

"You're right," Lendill nodded to them as the elevator doors closed on us.

* * *

"We can hop a ship or you can get us out of here," Lendill pulled me against him outside the hotel.

"I'll do it, where do you want to go?"

"I'd like to go home. To Wyyld."

"You live on Wyyld?"

"I have rooms at the palace. Ildevar saw to it when he gave a wing to Norian long ago. Norian is on Le-Ath Veronis, so there's little chance of meeting up with him. Besides, my father's lands aren't far from Ildevar's palace grounds. They're hidden, though. Most people navigate around them without realizing they're doing it."

"You're joking?"

"Not. Can you get us to Wyyld?"

"I can get you to Wyyld." And I did.

"This nice," Farzi looked around him at the vaulted ceilings, marble floors, rich tapestries, rugs and fine sculpture that lined the hall we walked through.

"Deonus Wyyld's assistant knows we're here," Lendill smiled down at me. I'd never met Ildevar Wyyld, the Founding Member of the Reth Alliance. Or his assistant. "Hello, I'm Willem Drifft, Ildevar Wyyld's private assistant," Willem introduced himself as we walked into his office. Willem was Wyyldan and a full elf—a lesser prince in one of the noble houses—Lendill sent mindspeech explaining that to me.

Just in case you thought he might be humanoid. I think my father allowed him to take this job just to keep an eye on me, Lendill added.

"Should I bow or kneel?" I asked, suddenly worried.

"No," Willem laughed. It was a good laugh, with no contempt mixed in it for those of lesser importance. "If Ildevar were here, he would make a proclamation that Reah Nilvas Schaff should never bow to anyone."

"But why?" I wasn't sure what was going on. Lendill had a warm and comforting arm about me, refusing to say anything.

"Anyone who brings worlds back to life by repairing the core—something that only a god or Larentii might do otherwise, should never bow or kneel. I don't care how important the other person thinks they are." Willem was grinning widely. He was handsome in his own right, with dark-brown, wavy hair trimmed to his shoulders and deep blue eyes brimming with good humor. I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"I was going to Cloudsong before Lendill found me." I hung my head. I'd allowed his words to distract me for a time.

"Come, I'll walk with you to Lendill's suite. I've prepared rooms for our lion snakes as well." Willem included Farzi and Nenzi in his smile.