The Twisted Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 3)

Chapter 18.2

Mara had regained consciousness completely by the time they reached Sabrina's apartment, and Rndara stepped back from the bed with a smile to make room for Tirqwin as he gathered his wife into his arms. Sabrina, Rassir, and Mukryilla paused near the door, discreetly not looking at the couple. Sabrina stifled a pang of abandonment. It was only right, she told herself, that Tirqwin's first concern should be for Mara, but in her own emotional state it hurt to see how completely she had dropped from his thoughts.

Rndara came over to join them. "My lady!" she said to Sabrina. "I was worried about you. Are you all right? Have you eaten? Is there anything I can bring you?"

Sabrina felt a little reassured at her lady-in-waiting's obvious concern. "I'm fine, Rndara, thank you. And I had quite a good breakfast, under Tirqwin's supervision. But perhaps our guests would care for something? Prime Minister? Subcommander?"

"I could use some cocoa," Mukryilla said, after Rassir shook his head.

Rndara nodded. "I will have it brought with Her Majesty's breakfast. My lady, would you care to change clothes? I have laid out a fresh dress for you in your dressing room, and I can be with you in a moment to help you."

"I'll do that in a few minutes, thank you," Sabrina said, longing for a hot bath. "First get the Queen her breakfast, and then we'll go from there."

"Yes, my lady," Rndara replied, ducking quickly out of the room.

Sabrina glanced to where Tirqwin and Mara were engrossed in some silent communication and decided to leave them alone until they were ready. To Rassir and Mukryilla, she said, "Would you care to come into my study?"

"Yes, thank you," Rassir said. He and Mukryilla followed her into the study and sat down in the worn, comfortable chairs. Sabrina glanced out her window at the smoke still rising from the ruins of the Residence, then at Baldaran's portrait. I'm sorry, she thought. And yet perhaps it was better that Mara would not have to live in the home where Baldaran and Shariara had raised their doomed family.

"We will rebuild," Rassir said softly, as if he was thinking similar thoughts.

"Where will we get the money?" Sabrina sighed, looking out the window again.

Silence answered her. After a moment, she sank into the chair behind her desk. One hand brushed the comconsole, which flared to life at the touch; she saw a long list of messages awaiting her attention and stifled another sigh. General Zhahghai's name caught her eye, and she remembered that she had meant to talk to him the previous day and had not. She looked up at Rassir and Mukryilla and said, "Do you mind if I just see what General Zhahghai wants?"

"Please go ahead," Rassir said.

Sabrina played the message. It was brief, saying only that he had received a message from one of the trade delegations and needed to discuss it with Sabrina at her earliest convenience. He sounded fairly upbeat considering the circumstances, she thought, hardly daring to hope he might have good news. Sabrina forwarded the message to Justek's queue, appending a note instructing him to add the General to her schedule.

A light tap on the door heralded Rndara's arrival with Mukryilla's cocoa and, Sabrina noted wryly, a cup for her as well. Evidently Rndara was skeptical about how much nourishment Sabrina had taken and was determined to supplement it.

"Thank you," Sabrina said, sipping at the rich, hot liquid.

"Her Majesty is eating, and the Tirqwin asks that you all join them, as they do not intend to remain on the planet much longer," Rndara said.

Sabrina rose, cup in hand, and led the group back into the bedroom. Mara was wolfing down a large pastry while Tirqwin watched. At their entrance, he looked up and smiled at Sabrina. "At least I don't have to coax her to eat," he remarked.

"I didn't fold up space around a battle fleet," Sabrina replied. "If I had, I'm sure I'd be ravenous too. Mara, you were marvelous. And thank you for picking us up out of the ocean on your way up there."

"I should be thanking you," Mara replied, "for what you did. I could not have done it."

"I guess that's what makes us such a formidable team," Sabrina replied. She turned back to Tirqwin as Mara started on a pile of something resembling hashed potatoes. "You're not really leaving right now, are you?"

"Soon," he said. "Mara has agreed to have a look at Scotty first. But we should not be lingering here. Shall we check in with Lthos occasionally, to see when the meeting is scheduled?"

"Yes, you can send a message to Haaron. He's arranging it all. I wish you wouldn't go," Sabrina said.

Mara said, "Don't worry, Sabrina, I will have a word with Aunt Imari before I leave. And I will straighten Scotty out too. You don't need us for any of the rest of it, and we cannot risk Homeworld changing their minds and returning. They must guess that we are still here."

Sabrina said, "Mara, I'm sorry. About Rayland. I tried...."

"I know you did," Mara said sadly. "I am sorry too. You knew him better than I did, and Scotty yet better. We are all bereaved, Cousin."

"Yes," Sabrina murmured. She took a sip of her cocoa so that Mara would not see her eyes grow misty.

Mara ate a piece of fruit and dabbed at her lips with her napkin. "There. That is much better. I will see Imari now, and then go up to Khediva and see Scotty. Princess Rndara, will you please ask Lady Imari to attend me here?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Rndara said, curtsying and hurrying from the room.

"Prime Minister, Subcommander, let us leave Sabrina possession of her bedroom for a bit and adjourn to the study," Mara said. "I shall receive Lady Imari there. Tirqwin, if you would go and relieve Lady Selémahs? I need her."

Tirqwin nodded and vanished as Mara led Rassir and Mukryilla out of the room. Sabrina went forward and automatically began to straighten the bedclothes. Selémahs appeared a moment later.

Selémahs smiled reassuringly at Sabrina. "Your brother still sleeps. Is Her Majesty well?"

"Yes. She's eaten, and she looks fine," Sabrina said. "It's amazing how she can shake something like that off. To see her earlier, you would have thought she would sleep for years, like Sleeping Beauty."

Selémahs looked puzzled, and Sabrina explained, "It's a story."

"You shall have to tell it to me someday," Selémahs said. "But the Tirqwin said that Her Majesty wanted me to help her speak to Lady Imari?"

"Yes, they're all in the study," Sabrina said.

Selémahs laid a hand on Sabrina's shoulder as she passed. "Take a few moments for yourself, Sabrina, and let us deal with this." She glided from the room, leaving Sabrina to look helplessly around her at the room which she had only just begun to feel was hers, and which she now felt belonged to someone completely different, someone who had died with Rayland.

Her glance fell on a nearby mirror, and she stared in shock at the heavy-eyed wraith reflected back at her, disheveled and with a dark smudge on one cheek. She turned and went into the bathroom. If she had to face Imari, she would at least do it with a clean face, she thought.