Lomones couldn’t get there fast enough. Lin had fallen unconscious, tucked to his chest, and he drove forward, cutting through the crowds with Pidge fast at his heels. He felt bad for Pidge—after all, Pidge was desperately weak from being underfed—but there was no time to lose.
Over and over again, he repeated what he would do once he got to the asylum: instruct the nurse to fill a bath, give Lin to Segius, explain the situation, and leave. It was unfortunate that Lars would see Lin in that state, but it couldn’t be helped. At least Lars could say goodbye, if it came to that. And, considering her shallow breathing, that could be well likely. Yasi was right: the White Swans couldn’t restore the blood. And she had lost a lot of it.
And then there was Alzan, damn it. Selenia had come, according to Alzan, and they were waiting for him. Every couple of minutes, Alzan would contact him and ask, “When are you coming? We are waiting for you.” And of course Lomones couldn’t contact him back. What would he say? “I met Hoas, and he’s a girl, and now we’re going to save Lin’s life and then come to you.”
No. Alzan would not understand. Alzan would think that he had gotten too much involved and then dismiss him. Selenia would go, alone, to the cell, pacify Uclepidies, and kill Solea. After all, they had all the evidence they needed to kill her.
Besides, what did Lomones have? A word of a little girl that seemed to be Hoas? How far would that go? And then, if they did believe him, he would have to admit that somehow Elise was still alive and quite able to inflict pain on other people. And then they wouldn’t allow him next to Solea at all.
He hurried up the asylum steps and burst through the door. The nurse glared at him.
“Would you like something?”
“I need to see my brother.” He started to walk forward, but she blocked his path.
“No visitors allowed.”
Lomones blinked. “I just want to see my brother.”
“They’re not allowed.” She pointed to Lin and Pidge. “If you want to see your brother, you have to leave them outside.”
Lomones glanced at them and then tried to smile. “No, you don’t understand. I need to bring them to my brother. It’s official business.” He moved forward, but she blocked him again.
The nurse shook her head. “Unless I have official documentation allowing them in, I cannot let them in.”
Lomones stared. “But they’re with me!”
“Doesn’t matter. Rules are rules.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“They could die if they’re left alone!” he cried, frustrated. “In her unstable condition, you can hardly pretend that she can withstand being left with a little girl for a long period of time.”
“You should have thought of this at first.” The nurse smiled. “If you want to come in, you have to leave them outside. No exceptions.”
Lomones shifted Lin in his arms. “This is because of what happened earlier, isn’t it? I’m sorry if I offended you in any way, but her life is at stake now.”
“You should have thought of that before.”
Suddenly, someone touched his shoulders. Hard. “I’m sorry, nurse, are you having a problem with my wonderful brother?” a familiar voice said.
Lomones spun around. “Eurodities?” he blurted out. Then suddenly a wave of joy hit him. “Eurodities!” he cried again. If he were not holding Lin, he would have thrown his arms around her. Out of all the miracles that could happen, she was the best miracle of them all. After all, who would know Solea better than Eurodities? The thought that she might be Eurodities’s daughter flitted across his mind once more. “What are you doing here? Did you hear of the news? Have you heard about Uclepidies?”
Eurodities ignored him and smiled sweetly to the nurse. “Like I said, was he bothering you?”
The nurse glanced at her suspiciously. “Yes, he was. If you would kindly remove him from the scene, I would be much obliged.”
Eurodities turned to Lomones. “You heard the nice lady,” she said in the same sweet voice. “She doesn’t want you here. Why do you persist in staying here?”
“Because this woman will die if I don’t get her to Segius!”
Eurodities narrowed her eyes. “You’re a far better healer than Segius ever could be,” she said. “Segius’s specialty was always fighting. Yours was healing. Why would you hand this woman, whoever she is, to him?”
“You don’t know who she is?” said Lomones, surprised.
“No, who is she?”
“Lin.”
“Who?”
“The one that Lars loved.”
Eurodities wrinkled her nose. “Oh, that whore?” She glanced over at Lin. “Why would you want to save her?”
“So you know her?”
“I know of her,” Eurodities corrected. “I haven’t had the privilege of meeting her until now.” She pointed to Pidge, who was trying to make herself smaller and failing utterly. “Who’s the girl?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Is it Lin’s daughter?”
“Not quite. I’ll explain later.”
“Lomones, we’re going in without you,” Alzan’s voice said in his mind. Lomones swore.
“Eurodities is here! Eurodities is here!” Lomones thought to Alzan as loudly as he could. “I will be there soon. Wait for me.”
It was silent for a moment, and then came a reluctant assent. Alzan would wait. Lomones let out a huge breath of air and turned to the nurse. “Let us through, please,” he said. “I promise that nothing bad will happen if you let us through.”
“If you try to hurt me, White Swan, I will bleed you in front of your sister,” the nurse hissed.
“Can I help?” Eurodities asked cheerfully. When the nurse turned to look at her, Eurodities swung her fist at the nurse’s head. The nurse dropped to floor, unconscious.
Eurodities looked altogether too happy. She grinned at Lomones and flexed her arms. “Not bad for a Black Swan, eh?” She glanced at Lin. “She’s not going to make it,” she announced after a quick look over. “She’s lost too much blood.”
Lomones grimaced. “Let’s just go to Segius.”
Eurodities snorted. “You know that Segius wouldn’t bother healing her. He would say some idiotic notion about humans following the course of nature and fate being a wonderful thing. If you want to save her, you better do it yourself.”
Lomones felt a lump in his throat. “You don’t understand, I need to leave as soon as I can.”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise your goddaughter will die.”
Eurodities stared at Lomones. “By goddaughter, you mean Solea?” When Lomones nodded, she groaned. “Typical, typical. Solea seems to get herself in the worst situations ever. And I suppose you know about Lars then?” She squinted at him and then sighed. “All right, we’ll take Lin up and rescue Solea. But first—”
Eurodities rummaged through the nurse’s clothes until she found a large knife. “Ah, that will do quite nicely,” she said, grinning. Then, before Lomones could react, she stabbed Lin in the liver with the knife.
Lin screamed.
“What did you do?” Lomones cried. He almost pulled out the blade, but Eurodities waggled her finger at him.
“Not so fast, big brother,” she said, smiling. “She’s in no real danger. Or at least she can’t die anyway. Not now.”
“You’re mad!”
“Do you want her to live or not?” When Lomones didn’t answer, she smiled. “You see, this is what Elise did when she wanted to prolong the suffering. When the person she was torturing was at the very edge of death, she would have a Black Swan stab the person. And of course Black Swans cannot kill. So their magic kept the people alive for additional torture. Or did you not read the files about your daughter?”
The nursing staff came running out, and among them was Segius. When he saw Eurodities, he blinked. “Eurodities!”
“Brother!” She motioned to Lin. “I’m afraid I stabbed her with this knife, so that she will live in everlasting pain.”
Segius swore and raced to Lin’s side. “Accidentally, I suppose?”
“What kind of woman do you think I am? It was a deliberate, premeditated attack. She obviously made a snide comment about my hair.”
“And that’s punishable by this?” Segius said, his voice rising.
Eurodities sniffed. “Well, if your hair was as nice as mine, you would be offended too. Of course, your hair isn’t. But who is to blame for that?”
Segius looked like he was about to explode. “So you decided to kill a woman off just because—”
“She can’t die, silly. I’m a Black Swan. You would have to be the one who kills her.”
Segius looked closer at the woman. “This is Lin!”
Eurodities made her eyes go wide in mock surprise. “Is it really? I suppose it’s a small world after all.”
Segius swore. “Speaking of Lin, you’re wanted for aiding and abetting a Conqueror.”
“Am I now? And who is the Conqueror?”
“Solea.”
Eurodities tilted her head, confused. And then she laughed. “Oh, so that’s why she’s going to be killed. It’s because she’s cursed, isn’t it? Bad blood.”
“Are you her real mother?” Lomones quickly said. “Is that the reason why she has the blood?”
“Goodness, no. Can you imagine me being a mother of any sort?”
“Then who is the real father? It isn’t Lars.”
“Her real father is Lars, you stupid, bumbling beasts.”
She glanced at the door. “Ahh, finally, some sanity. Archondid is outside. I suppose he has just been told that Lin was taken out by you, Lomones. And I suppose that means it’s time for us to leave and pick up Solea.” She turned to Lomones. “Where is Solea, by the way?”
Segius glared at Archondid. “In maximum security in solitary confinement.”
Eurodities snorted. “Very good. I’m glad to know that the world is protected from this sort of evil. Is she eight years old now? I forget.”
“Don’t take this lightly,” Segius snapped. “She is a Conqueror, after all.”
“My dear brother, you misunderstand me,” she said, her voice rising. “I have never underestimated the powers of the Conquerors. Or have you forgotten that I was the only White Swan among us who stood up against the Conquerors while the rest of you argued that it wasn’t worth fighting for and spilling the blood of our own? Did I not kill the Conqueror? And lest you consider me capable of underestimating her progeny, were not Archondid and I were bled by the progeny of the self-proclaimed daughter and heiress of the Conquerors? Don’t you dare have the impudence of lecturing me now.”
Segius cringed. “Sorry.”
Eurodities’s nostrils flared. “If Solea is a Conqueror, I would kill her myself, if I could. But I can’t. In the meantime, give me credit where credit is due. I am the only one of our brothers and sisters who can claim Solea as my daughter, for indeed in many ways she is. Let me go to her with Lomones. If she is of Conqueror blood, Lomones will know instantly. And then she may die.”
Segius curled his lip. “And how do I know that you’re telling the truth?”
“I swear by my word. I swear by my blood.” She took the blade and sliced her hand, letting the blood drop to the floor. “If Solea is a Conqueror, I shall not intervene and stop her executers, though I may want too. That is an oath sworn on blood that cannot be broken. You know this as well as I.”
Segius looked disgusted. “Very well then. I’ll heal Lin and let you go. But if I hear that you’ve done anything—”
“You won’t,” said Eurodities flatly. And then she turned and walked out of the room.
Lomones glanced at Pidge. “Stay here and help Segius out,” he said. “You’ll meet Lars soon enough.”
“But—” Pidge began.
“Come on, little girl, and follow me.” Segius hoisted Lin on his shoulders and grabbed Pidge’s hand. Pidge took one last look at Lomones before scampering away.
“I’m coming with Archondid and Eurodities,” Lomones thought to Alzan. “I’ll be there soon.” And then he rushed outside to join Eurodities and Archondid.
Once outside, Archondid confronted him. “Tell us everything,” he said.
*
There was a long way to walk, fortunately, so Lomones gave a brief description of everything that had happened since the time that Alzan had called him over to read the diary to his meeting with the matron. He had thought that they would interrupt him, especially Eurodities with her famous temper, but they said nothing. The only times when they showed any sign of listening was when Lomones described what had happened after Eurodities had left Solea (Eurodities tripped) and when he told them that Lars had asked for Uclepidies to be inside him (Archondid laughed).
Altogether, he found their lack of response frustrating.
“And so that’s what happened,” he finally said, wiping off the sweat on his brow. They were still a mile off and Lomones thought that the combination of heat and humidity and being a human in filthy human world would kill him. “We still don’t know what is going on and why Uclepidies is being so unreasonable. The only explanation we have is that Solea is a Conqueror and she is controlling Uclepidies.” The words sounded stupid, even to him.
Archondid looked thoughtful. “It is a logical explanation. Everything makes sense in that version.”
“Except for the fact that it’s completely fictional,” Eurodities added.
“Damn it! If you know something else, you should say it now!” Lomones snapped. “I’ve been working on this case for days, and I can’t make heads or tails of it. Everything that I thought was true is false. If the diary is true — and there’s no guarantee of that — then Solea is a liar. There’s no other way around it. Nothing that she has written has turned out to be true so far. And if she didn’t write the diary — if it’s a mere fabrication — then what does this mean? She’s a Conqueror. Every piece of evidence points to that. There’s no other way around it.”
“If that’s the truth, then that’s the truth,” Archondid said. “You’ll find out soon enough, won’t you?”
Lomones flinched. “And then that’s the other problem,” he admitted. “I don’t want her to be a Conqueror.”
Eurodities snorted. “If she is a Conqueror, she’s a Conqueror. There’s nothing you can do about that. Truth is still truth, after all. You can’t change that.”
“But you think she isn’t?”
Eurodities glared at him. “What do you think?”
Before Eurodities could say more, Archondid interrupted. “Even if we knew something else, if we told you, would you believe us?” Archondid asked Lomones. When Lomones hesitated, he smiled sadly. “I don’t think the problem is that there is not enough information. I think there is too much information.”
“And misinformation,” Eurodities said. “It’s enough to drive one mad!”
“But if Hoas is right and Solea is the Conqueror’s cousin—” Lomones began.
“And if the Conqueror didn’t lie to him,” Archondid said bitterly. “Because we all know how well she was at lying.”
Lomones felt like he was slapped.
“Did you know about her blood before?” Lomones asked.
“No, why would we look up a thing like that?”
Lomones’s stomach sank. “At least tell me how you met Lars,” he said finally. “That will help. One of the main inconsistencies in this whole story is why you became her godparents. It doesn’t make sense. Selenia guessed that you did it as an act of mercy, but you didn’t understand the particulars behind it.”
For a moment, it was quiet. And then Archondid said, “Yes, Selenia was right. We did do it as an act of mercy. We didn’t understand what we were getting into at the time. How could we?”
*
Understand, first of all, that we had no intention of going to the human world. Alzan had tried to lure us there, but we refused because it seemed too artificial. Eurodities has always been annoyed by the pettiness of the humans, and I as you know am rather introverted and could do without the stimulation.
No, Lomones, it was not Alzan who lured us on, but Uclepidies. This is the strange part of the story, I suppose. Before, Uclepidies never came to visit us. We always imagined that he felt resentful toward Eurodities — after all, if Eurodities hadn’t killed the Conqueror in the way she had, it is likely that Uclepidies would never be as crippled as he is. He was always polite to us, but only enough to be cordial. And he never wanted to spend time with us alone. To him, it was something painful.
So you can imagine our surprise when he came to our cave, bloodied and obviously distressed. He tried tapping something out in the language, but what he was saying was nonsense and he was obviously so tired that we were naturally worried. We rushed to take care of him, but he refused and when he realized that we were going to get someone, he flew away from us, not quite so far as to be utterly uncatchable but enough to be significantly ahead. So we flew after him and he flew ahead. In this way, he led us on to the human world.
When we arrived at Lars’s house, it was not because we cared to be with him, but rather because his roof was bloodied with Uclepidies’s blood and Uclepidies had disappeared. It was late at night and we were understandably worried, so we burst into the house.
It is difficult to describe how disorganized the house was, even now. It looked as if a storm had gone through it and the house had been abandoned. Were we White Swans, we might have thought it was abandoned, however being Black Swans we heard the pulses of three humans. Except the pulses were hopelessly weak. And we smelt the blood of Uclepidies, of course, but the humans made us afraid, for we thought, as you have already thought, that this was a plan from the nefarious Conquerors who wanted to lure us in with the pretense of destroying us. So we were very much afraid.
Our plan, if it could be called that, was to sneak up on the humans and surprise them. Now, when I contemplate our plan, it sounds ridiculous to me. It would have been easier to simply run. But we didn’t. Instead we snuck up on the humans, intending to cripple them… and we found three half-dead humans.
You can guess who they are already — Lars was one of them, and he had collapsed in an exhausted stupor. Granid lay next to him, curled up in his arms, and Lars held him close while Granid shivered. And, on the floor on a blanket lay a baby girl, scarcely a month old. The very fact that she was alive still was a miracle in itself. Far from the healthy chubby look that little girls ought to have, she was skinny and every rib could be seen on her tiny chest. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open. She was whining, I remember. A tiny whine that didn’t seem to end. It was as if she had given up crying, so she had changed her cry into a lament of sorts.
I say that she was on the floor — that is not entirely true. She was on the floor, resting on a blanket on Uclepidies’s wing, and Uclepidies was there, his beak twisted open in agony, panting heavily from exertion.
And the scene didn’t make sense, not to us at the time. Both Eurodities and I turned into humans, of course. Eurodities picked up the girl and cradled her while I picked up the house. Uclepidies, upon seeing us clean the house, rushed away to a closet and hid.
When afternoon came, Lars and Granid finally woke up and, seeing girl gone, the house clean, and smelling food in the air, they were very much afraid. So they crept to the kitchen, half-dead. They were starving too. Lars had been trying to cook, but he was awful and half the time they were reeling from food poisoning. In fact, two nights before, they had both stayed up, sick with no one to care for them. The girl, if possible was worse. Lars had been trying to secure a wet-nurse for several weeks, but no wet-nurse wanted to have anything to do with an unbaptized child. And, as nobody would stand up to be the girl’s godparents, she was not allowed to be baptized.
*
“That’s awful,” Lomones said, shuddering. “I understand why you became the godparents to her now.”
Archondid shrugged. “Lars didn’t expect we would. He didn’t ask anything of us. In fact, he kept asking what he could do for us. He surrendered his bedroom to us when he realized we were staying, and pretty much did everything that we asked afterwards.”
“Except for cooking.”
Archondid smiled. “We taught him how to cook. Once he realized that fresh ingredients helped, he became rather good.”
“And the wet-nurse?” Lomones asked.
“That was me,” Eurodities murmured. “She would have died otherwise.”
She could die now. Lomones shuddered. “As far as Lars goes, what kind of man did you think of him as?”
Archondid shrugged. “A crude, but honest man. He works hard and expects everyone else to work hard. He doesn’t put up with nonsense, but he enjoys life. As much as he can, anyway.”
“He’s a man,” Eurodities said.
“Did he ever tell you his relationship with Uclepidies?” Lomones asked.
“No, but we guessed anyway,” Archondid said. “It was hard not to guess.”
“And what would that relationship be?” Lomones asked.
Archondid’s glanced at Lomones warily. “That is not our story to tell.”
“Is Uclepidies the father of Solea?” Lomones tried.
“It certainly seems as if he has adopted her, yes.”
“But her blood—”
Archondid raised his hand. “Soon you will know soon enough. Can you not be patient?”
“But—”
“I don’t think you understand,” Archondid said. “Even we don’t know the full story. We know bits and pieces, but Lars has not told us anything definitive. We’ve always guessed that Uclepidies had picked up Lars as a lover and decided to adopt his children after his wife died.”
“But that doesn’t explain her blood!” Lomones cried.
“No it doesn’t.”
Lomones felt frustrated. “If you don’t know even whether she is a Conqueror or not, then why did you come? Or did you want to see the little girl that you suckled die?”
Eurodities’s eyes blazed. “Don’t you dare,” she hissed.
“If she has been in solitary confinement for this long, it is very likely that she would become a Conqueror, had she the blood,” Archondid said, his voice tired. “If she’s going to die, she might as well die in the company of those who love her and will comfort her in her last moments. That’s why we’re here.”
In the distance, Selenia waved at them. Lomones swallowed hard. “It’s time,” he said.
*
Selenia, Alzan, and Iluve were there. It was decided that Alzan would not go so that Solea would not be able to possess him. Iluve could go in, of course, as long as she stayed behind Selenia. As far as Eurodities and Archondid were concerned, they could accompany them, just so long as they made a blood oath to not stop Solea’s death, should she be found a Conqueror.
And Lomones had to come.
His ears felt itchy, like they couldn’t stop burning. While Selenia and Eurodities discussed how they would separate Solea from Uclepidies, all he could do was stare, feeling the sweat pour down his throbbing temple.
Iluve sat next to him, nervous. “I-I-I—” she began, nervously, but she stopped, her eyes growing frustrated. “Alzan says he’s going t-t-t-to leave m—” But she couldn’t finish the sentence and burst into tears. Lomones looked at her sadly. He wanted to say something kind to her, but he didn’t know what. What could he say? That there was a high possibility of her mother dying and that it was unlikely that Lars would ever become her father?”
“It’s almost over,” he said finally to the girl, touching her shoulder. “It’s almost over.”
“Are you ready?” Selenia said to him at last. “Eurodities and Archondid will come in first and take out Solea. And then you can verify her blood, and then we’ll do whatever comes next.”
“Do you want to kill her, or do you want me to?” he asked sadly.
A strange look came to her eyes. “I’ll do it,” she said. But her voice choked when she said that.
*
Iluve clutched his hand and wouldn’t let go.
She couldn’t stop trembling.
*
A guard led them through the labyrinth in prison, and Lomones shuddered. Prison was more awful than anything he could have ever imagined. It was overcrowded and filthy. Though they had made some sort of half attempt to create an automatic sewage system, the pipes seemed to have been blocked up for months and piss drifted out from the cells to the halls. For once, Lomones was happy to have no sense of smell. But right next to him, he knew Iluve was crying.
“And Granid is somewhere here?” he heard Eurodities say.
“He won’t last a week,” Archondid responded.
*
The path that led to the isolation chamber was the cleanest one, but it was also the coldest and the stone underneath his feet chilled him more so that his sweat seemed to turn to ice. His breath in front of him was frosty.
Eurodities looked worried. “She’s here?” she kept muttering, looking around. “But she’s so sickly.”
Selenia didn’t say anything, but she looked scared.
Iluve just clung tighter to Lomones’s hand.
*
Finally, they came to the cell. The guard took out a key. “Would you like me to stay with you, or would you rather have privacy?” he asked Selenia.
“Privacy,” she said firmly. She watched the guard bow and leave before turning to them. “Here’s the key,” she said to Archondid.
“Thank you.” He took the key and unlocked the door. “Uclepidies? Are you there? It’s me, Archondid. Uclepidies? I just want to collect Solea. It’s time she left this prison, don’t you think?”
It was quiet.
“Uclepidies? Where are you?”
“It’s a trap,” Lomones said suddenly. “If he’s hiding his whereabouts, he’s going to attack him.”
Selenia swore and turned into a White Swan. “Archondid, wait!” she called out. But it was too late. A moment later, there was a crash. In the next, Archondid’s body was flung unceremoniously out of the cell.
“Archondid!” Eurodities cried and rushed to him. Then she turned to the door, furious. “Uclepidies! If I get my wings on you, I swear I’ll do more than just dumb you next time. How dare—”
Iluve broke free from Lomones grasp and raced toward the door. “Iluve, stop!” Lomones cried, racing after her. But it was too late. In another moment, she slammed the door behind her and ran into the isolation cell.
“Black Swan! Black Swan!” Iluve called out. “Please, we only want to help! We know that Solea is very h-h-hurt, and we want to rescue h-h-her. Right now, everybody th-th-thinks she’s a Conqu-qu-queror, but we know she’s n-n-not.”
Selenia pressed her head to the door, swearing. “He’s going to kill her.” Then, through the keyhole, she yelled out, “Iluve! Come back! He’s going to hurt you!”
“Please, Black Swan, I know you’re afraid. But just trust us.”
“Go in the cell and get her out,” Lomones said.
Selenia swiveled her head to him. “And get bled?” she asked, confused.
Lomones swore and opened the door instead. He slipped in. “Iluve?” he called out to the darkness. She was nowhere in sight. “Come here, darling,” he said, rubbing his arms. “I promise, you’ll have a home after this. I swear by—” He stopped, confused, trying to think of something. “I forget what I can swear by, but I promise you that I will not leave you orphaned,” he finished lamely.
A red eye opened. Uclepidies.
Iluve ran to Lomones, throwing her skinny arms around his waist and squeezing him so tightly. “I promise to be a good little girl.”
“Never mind that and get out of here.”
Uclepidies tapped something on the floor.
She can stay.
Iluve turned to leave, but Lomones stopped her. “Wait a moment,” he said kindly. “I think he wants us as his guest.”
Again, the tapping started. Why here?
It took him a moment to understand what he meant. “I’m here to determine whether Solea is a Conqueror or not,” he said. “She’s here because she loves Solea.” Then, when Uclepidies made no movement, he swallowed nervously. “If it weren’t for Iluve, I wouldn’t be here. She provided interesting evidence to show that Solea wasn’t a Conqueror. It cast enough doubt that I was brought in to conclusively determine whether she is a Conqueror.”
How?
“How did the evidence show she wasn’t a Conqueror, or how do I determine whether she is a Conqueror?”
Two.
“I hold her in my arms. That’s all that’s necessary.”
It was quiet. Finally, Come.
Lomones hesitated. “You won’t bleed me?”
Come.
Lomones glanced at Iluve worriedly. “You stay here,” Lomones said. “If anything happens, go back to the others.” Then he walked forward to Uclepidies.
When he got close, Uclepidies unfolded his wings. At first, Lomones froze, but then he saw her.
She was tinier, tinier than he could have ever imagined, with a body so lean and gaunt that it made him wince. And her face! It was scratched and torn and scarred. Underneath her fingernails was blood.
He stepped back, repulsed, before gritting his teeth. “Solea,” he called out gently, stroking her hair. Her eyes jumped open at his touch and she stared at him blankly.
“Solea, I am going to hold you in my arms, all right?” he said, trying to keep his voice even. She stared at him blankly. Her mouth tried to form a word, but it wouldn’t come. Lomones kissed her.
“In good time, child, in good time. I will not hurt you.” He picked her up in his arms and pressed her close to his chest.
She began to cry.
He closed his eyes and forced himself to be calm. He felt the pulse of his heartbeat and felt the blood coursing through his veins — it thrilled him on the most primitive of levels. And he nuzzled closer into her, trying to find the same rhythm. With Elise, it was always easy. She had molded to him and laughed, clinging to his neck, and he would find her pulse easily. It was partly his, after all. But with Solea, it was all foreign. There was no connection.
She was not a Conqueror.
