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In the distance, coming from the east, he saw the Guard patrol arrive. Stone saw them as well. “Let me take care of this. I’ll be back.”
Stone levitated in a whip-like fashion and handed out orders. The patrol immediately dispersed toward the various Invictus and started processing the battlefield.
While Stone was busy, Rez crossed to the female vampire. He wanted to make sure. But the dead eyes that stared back at him weren’t anything like his daughter’s.
He felt a new, but gentle presence arrive, another realm-person capable of teleporting. To his astonishment, he turned to find Vojalie next to him. She was tall with brown eyes and wore her long dark brown hair braided on top of her head. She was a real beauty. Vojalie presided over the Sidhe Council and was married to the ugliest, most charismatic troll in all the realms, Davido the Wise, sometimes the Ancient.
“Rez, it’s so good to see you again. Not under these circumstances, of course. Bernice misses you.”
Rez had known both Davido and Vojalie a long time. Decades, in fact. Their latest offspring, Bernice, was a favorite of his.
Vojalie glanced around then toward the darkened windows of the bakery. “I’ve been here a couple of times. That shop makes the best pies.”
“It does.” There was a gentleness to the woman and a calmness of spirit that invited trust.
Her gaze shifted toward the street and the Invictus. When she glanced at the female vampire, she asked, “She isn’t your daughter, is she?”
Vojalie knew about his hunt for Isobel. “No, she’s not.”
He glanced back at Holly. “Will she be okay?”
Vojalie turned to look at her as well. “She’s fine. Tougher than she looks. Smart as a whip. But I imagine you’ve discovered some of that for yourself tonight.”
He settled his gaze on Holly who appeared to be waking up. “She surprised me more than once. I couldn’t have done this tonight without her. Even toward the end, she shared her power with me.”
“Ah, yes. Her blood rose ability. It has many applications. And are you without pain, Mastyr?”
That Vojalie of the Nine Realms would use his title so respectfully meant a great deal to him. “I have no more pain.”
“Good.”
“What is it you know, Mistress?”
At that, she smiled. “Too much.”
He thought he understood. “It becomes burden.”
“You have a great deal of perception, Mastyr. But I fear you will need more of it in the coming hours and nights.” She drew a deep breath. “Stone would like to speak with you and Holly at his home. Rosamunde will be there. You haven’t seen her since the incident at the Wild Boar, have you?”
He shook his head.
“All will be well. I’m told she’s serving a hearty beef soup with pumpernickel bread and a castle-brewed beer, her own recipe. I hear it’s outstanding and would have won awards over the centuries had she been able to enter any of our realm fairs.”
Rosamunde had lived a hidden life until the last year when the existence of Ferrenden Peace, lost for a thousand years, was finally revealed. The cloistered queen now had a life with Stone in Tannisford.
“So, you’re able to time-path.”
Vojalie nodded once firmly. “Yes. Davido as well.”
Rez frowned. “Did you know this was coming?” He felt angry suddenly. Put upon. A warning and some instruction would have been useful. Holly could have died tonight.
Vojalie held his gaze, her expression solemn. “I don’t actively pursue the future. I did at one time, but
it becomes almost unbearable to know what’s around every corner. I take great pains to hold the future at bay, to take the challenges as they come.
“As for tonight, my prescience told me Holly would need my support. I’ve spent time this evening meditating on her behalf. The vision that came to me was of you, oddly enough, hunting here for your daughter. I saw nothing specific, but I had an overwhelming sense that several elements had been put in motion tonight, including that Stone and Rosamunde would need to be involved in a peripheral manner. But that is all. I called Rosamunde and asked her to prepare a meal.”
She then smiled. “Just a suggestion, but you and Holly would do well to eat frequently over the next night or so.”
