Page 123 of Dark Destiny: The Turning Of The Loom

It was so niche that Tamira could see the Fates' fingertips all over it.

"What does Darien call himself now?" she asked.

"Martyn Exley."

She turned the name over, but it meant nothing to her.

"Do you know where he is now?" Eluheed asked Kalugal.

"Not in New York. The investigator found that he is on an expedition to a cave system in the Western Caucasus, in a disputed region between Georgia and Russia called Abkhazia. The Arabika Massif, in the Gagra Range, has one of the deepest caves in the world." Kalugal looked at her. "So, the question is whether you want to go there or wait for him to come home to New York."

Tamira needed time to think.

It wasn't as if she could go after Darien into the caves, and arranging travel to a disputed region might be problematic. On the other hand, Eluheed had lived in Russia and was fluent in the language.

She looked at her mate.

"It is your decision," he said. "He is your son."

And he was also an expert in exactly the field Eluheed needed to search for his charges.

"I need to think about it," she said to Kalugal.

"Of course." He stood and put a hand on her shoulder. "If you decide to fly to Georgia, let me know. I can help make the travel arrangements." He tilted his head. "In fact, I will probably go with you. I haven't visited that part of the world yet, and I'm curious."

45

ANNANI

Annani had been making the rounds with Khiann for the past hour or so, but there were still tables she had not visited, and he was starting to limp.

"How are you holding up?" she asked quietly.

"Barely," he admitted. "I will need to sit down soon, but we have not covered even half the guests yet, and those we do not get to will feel offended."

She scanned the hall, and the table the harem ladies had claimed caught her attention. There were two vacant seats there, and Tula's belly meant there would be plenty to talk about while Khiann sat down and rested.

"I know where we can park for a few minutes, and maybe even enjoy that fabulous-looking dessert."

They had begun the rounds when the dessert started coming out and had skipped theirs.

When they reached the table, she noticed that Tamira looked perturbed, and Annani filed that away for tomorrow. Tula was still making an effort to finish the croquembouche, and Esag was assisting by eating spoonfuls off her plate.

"To the resplendent bride and groom." Raviki lifted her glass. "You look like you should be on a coin."

Annani laughed. "Is it the tiara? Everyone seemed mesmerized by it."

"They are mesmerized by you, my love." Khiann pulled out a chair for her. He waited until she sat down before pulling the chair next to her for himself and joining her.

"Don't sell yourself short," Raviki said. "You look incredible. It's hard to believe that only a couple of months ago you were a skeleton in a coffin."

"Raviki!" Beulah admonished. "That's no way to talk to Prince Khiann."

"I'm not a prince." He waved one of the servers over and pointed at the dessert. "Can we please get two of those with coffee?"

He had said it in English, and the server had no trouble understanding him despite the heavy accent.

Khiann's progress was astonishing for such a short period of time.