Page 35 of Dark Destiny: The Turning Of The Loom

He chuckled. "Have you always been so devious?"

"Oh, this is nothing." She waved a hand dismissively. "I was raised by Ahn, the greatest manipulator to ever walk the earth, except perhaps for Nai, my mother, who outmaneuvered even him."

"A lethal combination." Khiann seemed to relax, despite recognizing how formidable his opponent was.

Well, this was only the tip of the iceberg.

"Ahn was also a powerful compeller, and I inherited that ability from him."

Khiann's eyes widened, and he instinctively leaned away from her.

She chuckled. "Do not worry. I did not use compulsion on you. In fact, I do not use it unless lives are in danger."

He frowned. "That definition could include many situations that are not clearly life-threatening."

"True, but my interpretation is quite literal. The only time I applied it broadly was when we allowed outsiders into the village and it was necessary to secure their loyalty and ensure they did not turn against us. It was done with everyone's full consent."

He regarded her for a long time, as if trying to gauge whether she was telling him the truth, and it pained her that he doubted her. Then again, he did not know her, and trust was not built overnight or even over several weeks.

"Tell me about the times you used compulsion without consent."

"With humans, thralling is usually enough, but compulsion is faster because it is delivered by voice command. When under attack, shouting 'stop' is much more effective than planting the thought in the savages' minds that they should turn back."

He nodded. "What about immortals and other gods? I assume you can compel them as well?"

"I can compel most immortals, but some are immune. Some humans are immune as well, though it is rare. As for gods, I have not tried. Toven is probably too strong for me to compel, but the three new arrivals from Anumati might be easier."

"And here we are again." He smiled. "I have no idea who you are talking about. Who is Toven? Where is Anumati? And who are the three new arrivals?"

"Toven is my cousin. He is Mortdh's brother, the son of Ekin who is Ahn's half-brother, but he is the exact opposite of Mortdh. Toven is an explorer and a creator. Power and politics have never interested him."

Khiann took a deep breath. "You really should start at the beginning because those entangled family ties are confusing, and I do not think my diminished mental capacity is to blame. I am particularly intrigued by how your mother outsmarted your father."

He was giving her an out if she needed it. The story of Nai's seduction of Ahn was lighthearted, while most of what she needed to tell him was not.

Khiann had always been perceptive, and he had always known when to give her space.

Her perfect mate.

She wanted to reach for him, hold his hand, or better yet, cross over to him, sit in his lap, and lean her head against his chest while he wrapped his arms around her, but he did not seem open to that, and it made telling him the difficult stuff even harder.

Should she wait until he was more comfortable with her?

"I can start with that," she said. "Or would you prefer that I start with what Ahn and the other gods did on Earth? This is information neither of us had back when we were together. I learned it much later, when we found the Kra-ell."

"Oh, yes. The mysterious Kra-ell you promised to tell me about before Ell-rom and Morelle come to visit, and since they are coming this afternoon, I think you are out of time."

13

KHIANN

Annani rose to her feet. "I should get comfortable for this tale." She glanced at his lap as if that were where she wanted to sit, but then she continued to the sofa in the living room.

He followed with his chair.

Julian had delivered the leg-exercising contraption the day after Khiann had moved into Annani's house and had instructed Ogidu on how to strap it on, how long each leg should be exercised during each session, and how many sessions per day.

It had been two a day to start with, but Ogidu had already informed him that today it would be three. Though how the butler thought to squeeze that in between all the activities and visits Annani was arranging for Khiann was a mystery to him. Today, they had already gone on an early-morning walk before breakfast, with Annani walking and him riding beside her, an Odu trailing behind them like a shadow.