The Twisted Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 3)

Chapter 2.1

Sabrina and Scotty went up to Khediva when they left Rayland's rooms; it was Sabrina's night on guard duty, and Scotty often kept her company for the first part of her watch.

"Hey, guess what, Khediva," Scotty called out as they appeared on the control deck. "Rayland wants to adopt us!"

"Yes, I know," Khediva said. "Tirqwin has been hard pressed to think of anything else for the past few hours. Though I admit, I have thought of it much as well, since this regency seems our best hope for escape, and the regency hinges on your acceptance."

"It does?" Sabrina said.

"Yes. The Council of Ministers is adamant that Rayland must have an heir before Mara can leave," the Wayship told them.

"But what good does adopting us do? Rayland told us we wouldn't be in line to the throne," Sabrina protested.

"You would not be. If anything were to happen to Mara—which we know to be impossible at this time—and then Rayland were to die, you would be obliged to marry Rayland's nearest male relative, and the resulting child would be the new monarch."

Sabrina dropped onto one of the couches in the sunken sitting area. "Huh. What is it with the Miahns and this aversion to full disclosure?"

"It is only a contingency to comfort the Praxatillians," Khediva said. "Maratobia will not die without children. The Great Crystal will ensure it."

"And who is Rayland's nearest male relative?" Sabrina demanded.

"I do not know. However, Sabrina, you could always refuse, forcing Scotty to marry his closest female relative."

"Hey," Scotty grinned, "and she could be a looker, you never know. C'mon, Rina, it doesn't matter anyway. Mara's not gonna leave Rayland in the lurch, so we're fine."

Sabrina eyed him. "Scotty, did it never occur to you that quite possibly, Rayland's closest female relative is Imari?"

Scotty howled with laughter, unable to speak. Sabrina tried to keep her stern demeanor, but finally had to give in to his infectious mirth. When they had calmed down a little, Khediva said, "Do I understand, then, that you are favorably considering Rayland's request?"

"Yeah, why not?" Scotty said. "He's a great guy. I wouldn't mind him for a dad. And we'd be protected, Rina and me. We'd always have access to Mara. We'd fit in. We'd belong." He paused. "We haven't belonged anywhere since our folks died, not really."

Sabrina looked at her brother in surprise. He had always been so adaptable, so much at home almost everywhere, that she'd never guessed he felt the lack of roots. Their great-aunt's home in London, where they had gone after being orphaned, was the closest they had to a home, but it was not the place they had grown up, and it lacked the people they had known and loved in their childhood. The word "home" still triggered an image of the house they had lived in with their parents. Could they really forge a new family, a new home, here on this alien world?

"Besides," Scotty continued, "it'll help Mara and Tirqwin, if it means the Council of Ministers'll agree to this regency. And Mara'd like to have us as her cousins, you know she would."

"Tirqwin doesn't like it, though, does he?" Sabrina said thoughtfully.

Khediva said, "Maratobia wishes quite passionately for you to accept, for a variety of reasons. I believe the regency aspect is really the least of them. Tirqwin wishes to be free to leave, and for that reason it would be best for him if you accepted, but on a personal level I believe he feels vaguely threatened. If you accept, you will be under Rayland's guardianship. You will be legally responsible to him. Tirqwin regards himself as your guardian and does not, in his heart, wish to surrender the responsibility."