"But that applies to apprenticeships and employment," Hervis of Refizan pointed out. "I have asked the comesuli that serve the City Council and they seem to think that age twenty-five is old enough for the bite." This debate, once it was over, would establish the age at which a vampire could legally drink from a comesula, so there would be no doubt when enforcing the laws regarding drinking from a child.

"I still think that's the equivalent of a fifteen-year-old," I grumped. I needed my physician here, to give us information on when a comesula was completely grown and past their formative years, but he was off-planet at the moment. My brain was working slowly, though, until it finally hit me.

Mom? I sent to Amara. She'd been a healer for a hundred thousand years, and she'd been involved in children's hospitals and children's causes for a very long time. Maybe she could help me out with this.

Lissa? Her mindspeech sounded slightly surprised. Probably because I called her Mom.

We're having a bit of an argument over how old the comesuli are when they're fully-grown and capable of handling blood donation, I returned. Can you help us out with this?

She didn't reply, she came herself and knocked discreetly on the door. Gabron rose from his seat to let her in. Amara is so beautiful—I knew what Griffin had seen in her the minute I'd met her the first time. Every vampire in the room stopped and stared as she entered the Library. Gabron offered her the seat next to mine and then sat beside her.

"This is Amara, who has been a healer for a very long time," I introduced her. "She is also my stepmother. She will be speaking truth to you when she answers your questions." I was being Queen, now, although I was exhausted and shaky as hell.

"In your opinion, Lady Mother, what is the age when a comesula is fully grown and capable of handling blood donation?" Hervis asked. He was the biggest proponent for the twenty-five year plan.

"Their bones and organs come to full growth around the age of twenty-nine," Amara smiled at the gathering. We had nearly a hundred vampires in the room—Le-Ath Veronis was growing nicely and the Councils from eight cities were represented. "The comesuli are slow to come to adulthood, since their average lifespan is six hundred years, barring accidental death," Amara continued. "If you take blood from them between the ages of twenty-four and twenty-nine, it should only be done once every two months and that may be difficult to track. It is my suggestion that you place the mandatory death penalty for drinking from a child at age twenty-three and below. Perhaps a severe punishment could be handed out if a vampire drinks from a comesula twenty-four through twenty-eight years of age, as long as it is once only. More severe punishment, up to the death penalty, might be considered if the vampire repeats the offense." Reemagar translated Amara's words for all present, one language at a time. It amazed me that he kept track of all of it so easily. When the last language had been delivered, I saw nodding around the room. Most of the vampires spoke Alliance common, but it was considered polite and they understood it better if their own language was employed.

"I'm pleased with that suggestion," I said, smiling at Amara.

"I am grateful for the explanation," Hervis nodded courteously to Amara. "I think I can come to terms with this."

"I will write up the proposal and send electronic copies to all of you," Gabron said. "Prepare any suggestions for revisions and return them to me. I hope to have this finished by the time we meet next week."

The meeting broke up after that and eventually only Flavio, Gabron, Amara and Reemagar remained.

"Child, you are exhausted," Amara said, as I rose from my seat.

"We had two baby girls born last night," I yawned as discreetly as I could. "Reemagar, I can't thank you enough—this would have gone on until midnight if you hadn't been here. Are you going to stay with us or fold back to the Larentii homeworld?"

Reemagar was only a bit over eight feet in height—one of the shorter Larentii I'd seen—and he smiled when I thanked him. "I wish to stay upon Le-Ath Veronis, but I will fold to the light half to feed for a while. Where shall I sleep while I am here?"

"I'll find a room for you, just send mindspeech when you get back," I was yawning again.

"Come, you need something besides blood substitute," Amara coaxed, so we made our way to the kitchens after Reemagar folded away.

I only ate a light meal and Reemagar was back before I finished. Flavio folded away after the meal so Gabron, Amara and I found a room in the Royal Wing—there were fourteen suites in that wing. Reemagar was perfectly happy with his suite and set about enlarging the bed right away, to accommodate his height. "I will bring in sufficient clothing, Raona. Please let me know whenever you need my services."

"I appreciate your help," I said. "I need a nap now, before I keel over," I patted his arm. He nodded politely at me and we left him.

"Lissa, allow me to carry you," Gabron murmured in my ear as he, Amara and I walked toward my own suite.

"Lissa, I should go," Amara stopped and smiled at me.

"All right," I was yawning again. I was afraid I was going to crack a jaw, the yawn was so wide.

"Get some rest." Amara leaned in and kissed my cheek before folding away. Gabron lifted me up the minute she was gone and I think I was asleep before he got me to my suite.

Chapter 2

"I hate this." Jayd paced before his oldest brother Gardevik for perhaps the fiftieth time. "She and my daughters should be enjoying adoration and pampering here on Kifirin, yet the servants we have are surly at best and murderous at worst. I cannot keep her here and our children are not safe."

"We knew there would be problems, I just had no idea how difficult these creatures could be," Garde agreed, keeping his voice soft. Glinda was sleeping in the bedroom of the suite—he and Jayd were in the reception area. Cleo and Shannon had come to help with the twin girls, allowing Karzac, Jeff and Joey some much-needed rest after a long night.

"I can't rule from Le-Ath Veronis and I can't keep Glinda here. It is too dangerous," Jayd snorted, smoke pouring from his nostrils. His Thifilathi was agitated and threatening to turn.

"Perhaps we should ask Lissa if there is something she can do," Garde suggested, attempting to calm his brother.

"I hate to ask her for anything," Jayd muttered. "I know that most of this is our fault, but it still angers me that things are not better on Kifirin."

"Most of this is not our fault," Garde replied. Jayd looked up at his brother's words. "All of this is our fault," Garde added, causing Jayd to snort again. "Granted we were younger, brother, when Lendevik sat in his throne room and pronounced the doom of the Dark Realm with his indifference and lack of caring. But we could have spoken up. Nedevik was the only one who did so and he was ridiculed for his efforts. We watched from our place of safety while all those worlds fell. And then we reaped the benefits of Le-Ath Veronis' fall, in the form of the commons. We no longer had to do for ourselves, brother. They took all our tasks upon themselves while we wallowed in the luxury. The cost of that luxury has now come due and we barely have the skills to feed ourselves."

"You are paying for your continued indifference," Griffin folded in to join the conversation. He still felt animosity toward Jayd but attempted to overcome it. "You collected most of the profits from the labor of the comesuli, yet you never put any of that money toward improvements in manufacturing or anything else that might have brought this world into alignment with others. Even the cloth for clothing was still woven by hand. Nothing changed since Lendevik laid down the initial laws."

"So I'm supposed to just go out and build factories?" Jayd snapped.

"I did not say that, but if you expect to keep your world alive, you must turn your thoughts in that direction. Do not do anything in haste—these things must be carefully considered. My daughter is doing the same thing for Le-Ath Veronis—deciding what is needed now, what will be needed in the future and then asking for ideas and suggestions from the Councils now in place before acting. Do not tell me that your High Demons don't skip off this world for pleasure. They are aware of the amenities that other worlds enjoy."

"Do we have funds for this?" Garde looked at his brother.

"The accounts are in total disarray, brother," Jayd sighed. "The treasury was always in High Demon hands; none of the commons were allowed access."

"More than likely because Lendevik and Rorevik had no desire for the comesuli to see how they were taken advantage of," Griffin said. "That does not include the thousand years that Glinda's eldest brother held the throne and raped the planet."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Jayd asked. He was annoyed and made no attempt to hide it. A bit of smoke drifted from his nostrils.

"I suggest you go to my daughter," Griffin gave Jayd a hard stare. "Ask her for one of two things—either to move the High Demons to Le-Ath Veronis and establish your kingdom there, or ask her to move your current humanoid population to the world once occupied by the Dark Elemaiya. They will never gate away from it and they will live or die there by their own efforts. That choice, of course, will require that either you send your High Demons out to farm and herd and weave and cook, or you will be forced to hire new servants and pay them a fair wage. That may also be the case upon Le-Ath Veronis, but the farms there could help support your population—I believe the comesuli would be happy to sell to you at a fair price."

"We need to find a way to bring in income, instead of paying it out," Garde suggested. "No matter what our choice is from now on, that is the way it must be."

"I think my daughter speaks fondly of the cheeses that were made here," a slight smile tugged at Griffin's mouth. "And she liked the cane sugar she had to work with when making desserts. Those are two viable exports."

"Beef is highly sought after by Reth Alliance worlds," Garde agreed. "All their planets are highly industrialized and their beef is not organic or high quality. Ours is both."