The Haunted Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 5)

Chapter 11.2

When Tirqwin arrived, he was in no mood to linger. Cynthia had little to pack, fortunately, and she was just as happy to forego good-byes with her acquaintances. Éllina saw them off, and then they were aboard Khediva and moving out of orbit.

"Dare I ask how it went on Homeworld?" Sabrina ventured, when Cynthia was taking a nap and she was alone with Tirqwin.

Tirqwin scowled. "I think you can imagine pretty accurately how it went," he said. "I believe I managed to convince them it was unnecessary to interview you, but you had better be prepared for them to change their minds."

"I'm well versed in the abridged version of events," Sabrina replied. "I've had to tell it to the Council of Trême, the Council of the Realm, and the Council of Ministers. They condescended, as a sop to my poor health, to let me tell it just once, in front of all of them. I can't say I enjoyed it. And I wish Mara wouldn't treat me like a frail child!"

"You should be grateful she is shielding you."

"I never said I wanted to be shielded from anything, least of all the consequences of my own actions!"

"It is not your actions that are in question," Tirqwin said. "But Mara and I would greatly like to avoid seeing you interrogated about the knowledge you gained from the Pharon identity who impressed itself on you. We would even more greatly like to avoid having you answer questions about your link with Niavar and your impressions of that identity and its abilities. There is more at stake here than your wishes, Sabrina. More at stake even than Realm/Homeworld relations. Not much is known about the Pharon Empire, and we would like to keep it that way. It is a dark and, I hope, irrelevant part of our mutual past."

Sabrina absorbed this with a frown. "You're afraid that because the Wayfarers, the Miahns, the Deltarrans, and a few others trace their descent to the Pharon Empire, they'll think you are as dangerous as the Pharon?"

"That is one possibility."

After a moment, an ugly idea occurred to her. "You're not keeping me away from Ford because you're afraid we'll compare notes and discover something, are you?"

"I believe the current strategy is to discourage Niavar from thinking about the Pharon at all," Tirqwin said. "That is partly why he has been sent to Deltarr—"

"What?" Sabrina exclaimed. "He's well enough to travel, and they still won't let me see him?"

Tirqwin let out a sigh. Khediva said, "Sabrina, you are not going to be allowed to see him until he has satisfied the Miahns and Homeworld that he interprets the situation from their point of view. They are afraid that you will interfere with that."

"Khediva," Tirqwin said, "that is not exactly—"

"That is what it comes down to," Khediva snapped. "However deplorable I find your treatment of your son, that is your prerogative. That you then try to hide your conduct from Sabrina under the guise of concern for her welfare is unconscionable."

"This is not my fault!" Tirqwin shouted. "What am I supposed to do? What is Mara supposed to do? We have to show everyone he is not a threat. Otherwise they will bide their time, and then assassinate him—or he will become a tool for another unscrupulous megalomaniac!"

Sabrina was staring at him in shocked horror. "So you're basically brainwashing him!" she spat.

"No! They are helping him recover his memories and examine them, so that they can confirm that his...his ability to judge is intact. To make sure that he has the same morals and principles that he did before—"

"There is nothing wrong with Ford's moral principles!" Sabrina yelled. "If you gave a damn about him instead of what other people think about him, you'd know that!"