“Thank you, Aunt Deryna,” Iannis said as I tried to find my voice. He didn’t seem the least bit surprised to see them. “I very much appreciate you two comingout.”
“Is Ennartha here, too?” I asked in a hushed voice. “And…and…” I couldn’t bring myself to pronounce that wicked woman’s name, and desperately hoped she hadn’t set foot in theFederation.
“No, don’t worry,” Deryna said, correctly interpreting my expression. “Ennartha sends her regards, but she never visits Northia, not even for this, any more than her mother would. And speaking of Ta’sradala”—she grinned, an expression that made her look significantly younger—“the scuttlebutt is that Ta’sradala has incurred the serious displeasure of the High King for sending you to their realm, and has been forbidden to visit Earth for the next five hundred years. I understand she hasn’t taken itwell.”
“Five hundred years?” Iannis and I said at the same time, sounding stunned. We exchanged looks of absolute delight. “You could not have brought us a better wedding present,” I said fervently, and Deryna laughed. Ta’sradala had gotten off lightly, in my opinion, but by the time she was allowed to come back to Recca, our children would be grown. And that was no smallcomfort.
“And how are you, Drawe?” Iannis asked, crouching down to meet the boy’s eyes. “Are you enjoying your time inSolantha?”
“It’s so big,” he said in a hushed voice, his eyes wide. His gaze darted around the room before going back to Iannis. “I’ve never seen so many people in mylife.”
“I’m really happy you could make it out,” I said, hugging Deryna and Drawe. “You two were kind to me when I was alone and friendless, and I will never forget that. But how did you get here sofast?”
Deryna smiled, pulling a gulaya out of her pocket. “My wonderful nephew sent me this,” she said, patting Iannis on the arm. “We arrived justyesterday.”
“Keeping secrets, are we?” I asked Iannis, arching a brow athim.
He only smiled. “I thought it would be a nicesurprise.”
“And so it is,” I said, smiling at them all. “I’m guessing you’re staying here at thepalace?”
“Weare.”
“Good. Then make sure you find Liu, Tinari, and Rusalia,” I told Drawe. “They’re the friends I was telling you about who live here. Tell the librarian, Janta Urama, that I sent you, and she’ll put you in touch. Iannis and I are going on our honeymoon, but you guys can stay here as long as you like. I hope you’ll have a greattime.”
“We are planning on staying here for a few weeks before returning,” Deryna said. “I wish you two a lovely honeymoon. You certainly deserve it after everything you’ve beenthrough.”
“And now,” Director Chen, who was acting as tonight’s master of ceremonies, called in a magically enhanced voice as the chatter quieted down, “it is time for the bride and groom to open the firstdance.”
Iannis and I looked at each other. “Are you ready?” he asked, offering hishand.
I smiled, wordlessly slipping my hand in his. The crowd parted as a slow, beautiful melody started up and Iannis gracefully led me onto the empty dance floor. The world fell away as I looked into his eyes, and as we swirled and glided across the room, volumes seemed to pass between us without either of us saying a word. After the first minute or so, other couples joined in, and soon we were at the center of a happy throng. Rylan was swinging Annia around with great energy, and Com was smiling at Elania as they danced. Fenris and Mina were pretty lively on the floor together, I noticed with approval. It was like we were all one big, happyfamily.
The song was just winding down when something odd flickered at the limits of my vision. Frowning, I looked over Iannis’s shoulder at the ballroom and activated my magesight.
“What is it?” Iannis asked, sensing mytension.
“It seems that Deryna and Drawe aren’t our only unexpected guests,” I murmured. “Nalan and Alara are standing by those pillars behindyou.”
I looked at the Tua twins directly, and they both smiled and waved. They had glamored themselves to look human, but beneath the magic, they were just as gigantic as they had been in the Tua realm. As I stared, Broghan popped out from behind Alara and soared across the room in baby dragon form. The guests gasped as he let out a thin stream of flame, forming a heart that blazed directly aboveus.
“What a charming illusion,” I heard somebody gush. “It will soon be the rage at every wedding, I’dbet.”
“We have come to learn more of the human world,”Broghan said to me in mindspeak as he did a few somersaults. He was stealing the show, but he was way too cute for me to care.“My father has given his permission, as long as my cousins accompanyme.”
“Do you think you might act as a guide for us?”Alara asked.“Once you come back from your honeymoon, ofcourse.”
“We have a number of experiments we’d like to perform,”Nalan added,“and could use a native guide to help us minimize thedamage.”
I held back a snort.“I’ll think about it,”I told them, then relayed what they’d said to me to Iannis in mindspeak.“I’m kind of torn,”I told Iannis as the song came to an end.“On the one hand, I don’t love the idea of them running around doing ‘experiments’ in our world, but I shudder to think of what havoc they could wreak unsupervised.”Not that I had a chance to control even one of them, but hopefully they would listen to their expert in local culture. They had all my memories, but would they be able to make proper sense of them? Did they have a true idea just how vulnerable Recca’s people were when faced with the might of theTua?
“The mind boggles at the possibilities,”Iannis said, though he did not sound tooworried.
Inspired, I flagged down Rylan and Annia, who were still together on the dance floor. “You complained that your life was too boring,” I told my cousin with an evil grin. “I have just the remedy for that. You and Annia are going to look after some foreign guests while I’mgone.”
They glanced at each other. “I happen to be at loose ends,” Annia said, shrugging. “Whynot?”
“What’s the catch?” Rylan askedsuspiciously.
