"Reah, it's only one night, and only for reassurance. We can have Larentii nearby, in case it's necessary. I don't believe it will be."

"And what then?" I asked. "Let's say it all goes peachy fine. What then? I won't go back to him. It's impossible."

"Reah, Jayd can order you to do this." Garde played his trump card.

"Then Jayd can harvest the fruit next week. Jayd can see to the disabled that fill the infirmary. Jayd can pay for the medical supplies that I buy out of my own pocket. Jayd can balance the books and chase away insects and inspect the shipments and settle disputes between the workers. Jayd can see that the worker's children are getting a decent education." I stood up, ready to go.

"Reah, I didn't mean to open that can of worms," Garde said.

"And Jayd can live in a two-bedroom house and wear rags," I snapped and skipped away.

"Garde, could you fuck this up any better?" Lissa glared at her High Demon mate. "And what's this about buying medical supplies out of her pocket? Does she wear rags?"

"She never asks me for money," Teeg pointed out. "I'd give it to her if she asked."

"Her house is tiny," Dee said. "I've seen it. She goes to the workers' barracks twice a week and cooks for them. Probably pays for those meals as well."

"How do you know this?" Teeg stared at Dee.

"I went and asked questions, that's how I know. You didn't hear the conversation I had with her this afternoon. Shall I play it back for you? I recorded it on my comp-vid." Dee hauled out the comp-vid in question and ran the entire conversation for those present. Teeg cursed when Reah talked of eight mates and spending most of her nights alone.

"The harvest is next week, and Lara and Kara's claiming is scheduled right in the middle of it," Garde raked fingers through his hair.

"Let's go see if she went home or if we need to start looking for her," Teeg sighed. Lissa was the one to fold all of them to Kifirin.

"She was here earlier. She's out fixing a broken sprinkler line in the east grove," a man leand c; a maning on a crutch informed Garde when he asked about Reah. "She wore a fine dress when she came in. Never seen her in a dress before."

"Come on; let's go to the eastern grove." Since Garde was familiar with the area, he directed Lissa so she could fold everyone again. They found Reah, barefoot and clad in stained trousers and an old shirt, replacing a section of flexible pipe in the sprinkler. She was cursing while she did it.

"Reah, I can send someone to help with that," Teeg offered.

"Sure. One of the reptanoids? Or do you have farmers coming out of your ass?" I was angry and didn't care that I'd snapped at him. I got the part hooked up and went to turn on the water. Spray drenched everybody immediately. I wanted to laugh, but held it back.

"Are you ready to go back to the house?" Teeg asked. He was angry, too.

"Sure." He folded everyone to my tiny house. There wasn't enough seating for all of them—my kitchen had a small table and two chairs. No island. That lack made it difficult to cook, but then I didn't have much time for that anymore. The sitting area had a small sofa and one chair. The smallest bedroom held my office. The larger one, and it wasn't that much larger, held a bed and a dresser.

"Reah, I didn't know the house was so tiny," Garde said.

"Because I'm seldom here," I pointed out. "You've always come to the barns or out to the fields. The girls have stayed at the palace, at Jayd's insistence, once they were old enough to be educated. I had to visit them there after that. But they're family, aren't they, Garde? While I'm not."

"I told you she was nearing the breaking point," I heard Dee say.

"Get out of my house, all of you," I shouted. "Get out!"

"Raedah, we don't think your mother is doing very well right now." Lissa offered Reah's oldest daughter—by a matter of minutes only—a cup of tea. Lissa had taken everyone back to the palace on Le-Ath Veronis, leaving Reah behind.

"Mom's under a lot of stress." Raedah sighed as she slipped onto a stool at Lissa's kitchen island. "And yes, I heard that our real father came home. That can't be helping, now can it?"

"Does she really take it badly that you were raised at the palace while she lived in a small house on the plantation?" Garde asked. He was still a bit damp after the drenching in the gishi fruit grove.

"What do you think, Grampa? She came to see us every night, sometimes with dirt still under her fingernails. Our bedroom was larger than her whole house and we didn't want for anything, Aunt Glinda saw to that. Dara and Sara are making it hard for Mom now, because Mom can't send them money like the other parents do at their private school. They don't really need it, they just think they do. Everybody wants something from her, they just don't want to pay for it, or give her the care and support she deserves. If Mom had somebody like Philavik, she wouldn't be such a wreck."

"You think your mother's a wreck." Garde said it flatly.

"Yes. She worries about the groves. She worries about those people you keep sending to her to get them out of your sight. Tara, Karzac, Grampa Edan and I go once a month to check on them and do what we can. Mom has them the d ias themrest of the time. She brings family members if they ask. Goes looking for supplies or treats if they need or want them. She needs at least three assistants on that plantation. Karzac is a bear every time he comes away from there."

"Why hasn't he said anything to me?" Lissa wanted to know.

"It's not your problem, Gram. Karzac says that every time. He says he's waiting for Kifirin to pull its head out of its ass."

"Do you want to meet your father? When he's better able to handle a fully grown daughter?" Lissa asked.

"Maybe. Just to see what he's like. And I want to know why he ignored us all those years. Did he hate Mom that much?" Raedah sipped her tea. "I need to get back; I'm on call at the hospital." Raedah set her cup down.

"I'll take her back," Teeg offered. He and Raedah disappeared together.

"I need to go home," Wylend hadn't said a word until then. "Erland, if you wouldn't mind." Erland folded Wylend away.

"I don't think he hated Reah," Garde defended Tory.

"She and her daughters think otherwise," Lissa said. "What do you intend to do, Gardevik Rath? And how are we going to convince Reah to let Tory's Thifilathi approach her?"

"Teeg, I thought I told you to get out. Go back to your palace." I'd dumped a good portion of bourbon into my cup of tea. I'd need it to sleep. Teeg had appeared as I'd sat miserably in my tiny kitchen, going over the night's events. Everybody seemed so shocked that my house was tiny. That I had more of Kifirin's disabled than I could handle. That I did my own repairs to save money. I knew what was going on with them. Made it a point to do so. Were all of them so self-involved?

"Reah, all you have to do is ask if you need or want something," Teeg sat on the only extra kitchen chair I owned.

"Teeg, I don't like to ask. Should I have to? Jayd and Garde don't have to worry about where the money comes from for clothing and supplies. I do."

"I guess this isn't a good time." Lendill folded into the kitchen.

"Here. It has bourbon in it." I pushed my cup of tea toward him and rose from my seat to make another.

"Land and sky, Reah, this is strong." Lendill took a sip from my cup.

"Yeah. Sit down," I said. "What do you want?"

"Is that any way to treat a mate you haven't seen in months?"

"You only show up when you want something," I said. "So what is it?"

"Bel has disappeared," Lendill swallowed more tea, grimaced and then swallowed again.

"Wizard Bel?" I hadn't seen Bel for years, yet I knew he still worked for the ASD.

"Yes. I sent him to investigate a problem on Surnath, and he vanished. We can't find him."

"What kind of problem?" I asked, sitting down with my freshly poured and spiked tea. I didn't even ask Teeg if he wanted any. I was still pissed at him.

"A worker in an electronics factory went crazy and killed twenty of his coworkers after getting his hands on an unregistered laser pisp wed lasetol. And then, two weeks later, a secretary at a legal firm killed six people there. The Governor of the Realm on Surnath asked us to investigate. We thought it was just a copy crime. Bel was in so he volunteered. Was there for three days before he came up missing."

"That's terrible," I said. "And you tried mindspeech and everything?"

"Yes. No answer. Bel isn't one to fall easily into a trap, so we're all concerned."

"Me, too," I nodded. I'd known Bel when I was a conscript in the Regular Alliance Army.

"Norian and I are willing to pay top credit if you'll work a special assignment on this."

"Lendill, I have the harvest next week and my middle daughters' claiming."

"We'll set you up afterward. There's no hurry since the trail is cold anyway. He's been missing for more than a month."

"Crap." I used one of Lissa's favorite phrases more and more as time went on. "Can you bring someone to watch over the disabled workers?" I asked.

"I think I can arrange something," Lendill nodded.

"Why do you want her to go?" Teeg was finally weighing in. I knew he wanted to—he'd been standing by, listening with a deep frown on his face. Teeg was handsome, no doubt about that. Lendill, once brown-haired and a bit plainer (I'd seen vid-photos) was now just as pleasing to the eye. He'd been changed by one of Lissa's Larentii after a criminal had his face remade to look exactly like Lendill's. Lendill liked the change and kept it.

"Because all our regular agents are out chasing pirates," Lendill answered Teeg's question. "I hear you're on the same boat, if you'll pardon the pun."