"Gorchenco betrayed me."
"He was probably extorted. You know how it works. You’ve used the same methods yourself countless times. Anyway, she didn't come to cause you any harm. She came to find me."
"How did she know you were in the harem? I kept that information more secure than the code to my submarine."
Areana smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "I know you were trying to protect me, but you overdid it. Anyway, Lokan was the one who prompted the investigation. I don't want to get into the entire story, so I'll tell you an abbreviated version of it. Lokan remembered me and wanted to find a way into the harem to find me. His plan was to abduct a mother and daughter who could communicate telepathically, have one of them inserted in the harem, find me, and communicate her findings to the other one. He was caught by the clan because these women were part of it, and he was put in a dungeon, where he met Carol. They fell in love, and she volunteered to help him find me."
"Lokan," Navuh spat. "So, his betrayal started a long time ago."
Areana sighed. "He and Carol are truelove mates. His loyalties became split, but he never told Annani's clan anything that could have harmed you personally."
"Only because he didn't know any such thing. If he had, he would have told them."
"I don't think so. You didn't give him or Kalugal any reason to love you, but they are still your flesh and blood, and they are too honorable to commit patricide."
"Kalugal? Is he part of this as well?"
Areana nodded. "He was invited to join Annani's people, but he had nothing to do with Carol and her infiltration of the island. That was just Lokan."
"And you just welcomed this spy into your confidence? Trusted her with our secrets?"
"I was cautious. But when she told me that Lokan had been searching for me, that he wanted to know me—" Areana's voicecracked. "I missed my son. To know that he remembered me and was searching for me was incredible."
"Did she offer to help you escape?"
"She did." Areana smiled. "But I told her that I could never leave you. I chose to stay. She offered to take Tula, but Tula didn't want to leave me and chose to stay as well. Do you understand now why I had to help Tula when she was desperate to do what was offered to her, and she declined because of me?"
Something eased in his expression, and she knew she'd hit a nerve. He'd believed that she had stayed with him because she had no other choice, but that wasn't true. She loved him, and now he had irrefutable proof of that.
"I understand," he said. "Did Carol somehow smuggle a communication device into the harem?"
"Not on her person, but the clan sent a tiny drone that was not detected by the island's defenses, and it dropped the communication device on the harem grounds. Tula and I collected it, and Carol showed me how to use it. Through it, I've been speaking with Annani once a week for over two years."
"Two years." The words came out in a hiss even though he was too weak to elongate his fangs. "You've been talking to my enemy for two years, and I never knew."
"She's not your enemy. She's my sister."
"She has spent five millennia trying to destroy everything I've built!"
"She has spent five millennia trying to protect her people from yours!" The words burst out before Areana could stop them. Sheimmediately regretted her tone, but she couldn't take them back because they were true.
Navuh stared at her, and she couldn't read what he was thinking.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to raise my voice. But you must understand. Annani is my family. My blood. I have loved you for five thousand years, and I will love you forevermore, but I cannot pretend that my sister is a monster when I know she isn't."
The silence stretched between them, taut as a bowstring.
"How did Carol escape?" Navuh finally asked. His voice was controlled again, carefully neutral.
"Down the cliff next to the harem."
"The cliff is supposed to be unscalable."
"It is for almost everyone, but there are a few individuals worldwide who can scale even that sheer and wet rock. The clan sent a team. Divers with underwater scooters, climbers with specialized gear. They came up the cliff face in the middle of the night to extract Carol. She pretended to be distraught over Gorchenco's abandonment and to take her own life, when in fact she climbed on the back of another immortal from Annani's clan. He took her down, put her in a wetsuit, and from there they scootered to a waiting submarine."
Navuh was silent, and Areana could almost see his mind working, analyzing the tactical implications.
"You intended to do the same for Tula," he said.
