All For One [Nuworld 3] (20 page)

craved the knowledge and she couldn’t think of better payment. She was right, of

course. It was while I lived in their house that I slept with Sorg. It was casual, after a

large party they’d thrown, and I never gave much thought to it afterward. I don’t think

he did either. It’s also quite trivial in comparison to what I have to tell you, but of

course, it’s what you would notice.”

Her tone wasn’t as vindictive as it had been earlier. She sounded almost tired and

moved to sit back down in her chair. She sighed deeply and then leaned forward. Her

eyes fell directly on Darius, even though she shot Tara a quick glance.

“One of Marda’s servants is a young boy of about thirteen winters. He has blond

curls that fall past his shoulders with gray eyes. He bears a resemblance to Andru—a

strong resemblance, like they could be related. At first, it never crossed my mind who

he might be.” She shrugged. “It was the furthest thing from my mind. There were too

many other things going on. Marda kept him with her always, even though I noticed he

didn’t do much to help like her other servants did. As I grew closer to her I asked her

where he came from. All the other Tree People are dark-haired with dark eyes. They

aren’t muscular like Gothman or Runners, and as Beel, that’s the boy’s name, entered

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his thirteenth season, he took on a growth spurt. Over the summer cycles that I lived

with the Barringswoods, we all watched Beel grow and become quite muscular. He

didn’t look like any other person I’d seen while with the Tree People.”

Syra reached for the coffee and poured herself a cup. She took a long, slow drink

and stared directly into Darius’ eyes. She saw no fear, no concern, nothing. It was

almost as if she held him in suspense for the end of a good story.

The rest of the room was quiet. All the advisors seemed ill at ease and looked down

at their laps.

Tara had pulled one knee up to her chest and wrapped her arms around it. She

chewed on her lower lip and stared out the window, seeming indifferent to the fact that

Syra had quit talking.

“Marda told me that Beel was one of the many children taken from the Lunians

after they were destroyed. They felt it their duty to bring the children into their own

homes, since they knew most of them were conceived through hideous crimes and had

no heritage.”

“She hit it on the head with that one,” Tara mumbled to no one in particular, and

everyone in the room moved in their chairs uneasily.

Syra ignored her. “If I’d told you all of this last night, Sorg would have pulled those

thoughts from both of you the second he saw you. He would realize he has a child

under his own roof who is in direct line to rule two very powerful nations.” She glanced

toward Torgo, and for a second wanted to reach for him, but instead folded her hands

in her lap. “That’s why I refused to talk last night. I was trying to save your ass.”

“How long did you know who this child was?” Tara looked like she had an

unpleasant taste in her mouth. She wrapped her arms around her knee and body

tightly, as if she were cold.

“Tara, I can’t just call home the second something comes up that might be of

interest to you. You don’t get it, do you? You’ve always known that child was out there

somewhere. Not knowing where he was didn’t hurt. It’s the knowing that can do you

damage.”

“Does this child look like me?” Everyone looked at Darius when he asked the

question.

“Well, he looks like…” Syra hesitated. “Well, the way Andru looks like you, I guess.

He’ll probably look more like you when he gets older.”

“So he looks like Andru.”

“If you knew one and saw the other, you would do a double take.”

“Well, none of the Tree People saw Andru. And I didn’t notice Sorg give me any

odd looks.” Darius seemed to be thinking out loud.

“All that does is buy us some time,” Tara pointed out.

“Wait a minute.” Syra snapped her fingers. “There are pictures on my disc. I mean,

I didn’t intentionally take pictures of Beel but he might be in some of them.”

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Darius looked at her for a minute. Tara looked at him. Did he want to know what

his son looked like? She felt sick to her stomach. When Darius spoke, he addressed

Torgo. “Take her upstairs and go through that disc. I want everything decoded and

print all pictures. We might as well learn as much about these people as we can.”

“The rest of you, leave us,” Darius said to the advisors.

He waited until they’d all left the room and then turned to stare at Tara. Her face

was expressionless. She stared back at him for a moment and then leaned her head into

her hands and groaned. Darius moved to her side, and then pulled one of the chairs so

that he could sit next to her. He didn’t have anything he could say to his claim, so he sat

with his hand on her back, and stared out the window, and wondered if the situation

with his bastard son needed to be handled, or left alone.

* * * * *

“It would be easier if you just let me do it,” Syra said when she and Torgo were

upstairs. She plopped down in front of one of the landlinks and noticed the disc she’d

turned over to them lying on the table. “I should be able to bring this up for you easily

enough.”

Torgo sat down next to her and leaned back in the chair. Long muscular legs

stretched out in front of him, and his shirt strained against a broad, iron chest. She

waited as the landlink buzzed and beeped as it processed her request. Syra turned to

look at Torgo’s face. Their eyes met and he smiled—a genuine smile.

“Did you enjoy your travels?”

“Oh, yes. The River People are always trying to make a profit but they’re pleasant

enough.”

“And the Tree People?”

“They’re different.” Syra laughed. “Once I grew accustomed to the fact that they do

nothing—at least the Barringswood tribe—I enjoyed myself.”

“They do nothing?”

“Oh, they grow things, but only because they’re pretty. They play games and throw

parties but the other tribes take care of them.”

“I wonder how the Barringswood tribe was able to pull that off?”

“The only answer I ever got to that question was that’s how it’s always been.”

She began searching the disc now and Torgo leaned forward to watch. He moved

even closer when she decoded the hidden files and pulled them up.

“It would have taken me a while to have found those,” he muttered.

She turned and smiled. “You would have found them.”

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They made eye contact again and simply stared at each other for a moment. Finally,

Syra reached to stroke his cheek. “I’ve missed you, Torgo.”

Torgo got up quickly and stepped back a few feet.

“Syra, I have a claim now. We have three children, our oldest is three, and the twins

are one. There’s another one on the way.”

“You’ve been busy,” she mumbled without enthusiasm.

“She’s Gothman.”

“Of course.”

Torgo sat back down and crossed his arms. “I’ve taught Rayla how to read and I’ve

worked to make her happy.”

“I can’t imagine you doing it any other way.”

“Syra, she’s a good woman.”

“Do you love her?” Syra stared at the monitor.

“That has nothing to do with it.”

“You said you loved me.” She dared to look at him.

“You left.” Torgo sighed but didn’t look at her.

“So, do you love her?”

“Sure, I love her.” He shrugged now and his gaze met her face, but not her eyes.

Syra wasn’t convinced. She gave Torgo one hard look and then stared back at the

landlink blinking back tears. Darius was a fool. Torgo gave all those speeches because

he meant them. He would be loyal to his claim.

“I’ve pulled everything up that you need.” She gestured at the landlink then stood.

“You don’t need me here anymore.”

“Syra,” he said quietly, and stood up also.

He looked forlorn—trapped.

“Don’t say anything more.” She held her hand up and touched his chest, but then

pulled it away quickly. The heat from his body singed her hand, sending waves of

painful flames through her. “I’m not sure I could stand hearing it,” she added, and

rubbed her hands together, wanting to keep the heat from touching him, and get rid of

it at the same time.

“I can’t change the way things are today,” he told her, making it sound too close to

an apology.

But it was his own doing, and all she could do was wish him well. As tears began to

fall, she walked over to the doorway and left the room.

* * * * *

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“I heard you spent a winter with the Tree People.” Ana didn’t know how else to

bring up the subject. She walked alongside Syra as they strolled through downtown

Byron.

A big deal had been made out of her returning home. She’d been there several days

and Ana hadn’t had the opportunity to talk to her until now. Syra came to the house a

couple of times when she first got home but then spent the next couple of days at the

clan site.

Ana was thrilled when Syra called her first thing that morning and asked to spend

some time with her. Actually, she’d asked to spend time with Andru too, but since their

papa decided to increase his military training, Ana saw less of her brother. Right now

he was in the south fields doing target practice. So, it was just her and Syra—perfect.

“What was it like living with them?”

“I liked it.” Syra smiled. “They’re a lot different than we are, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, they can pull thoughts from you, or at least the tribe I lived with could.”

Ana stopped dead in her tracks. A frazzled Gothman mama with a handful of

children almost ran into her. Ana heard some rather rude comments as the woman