Chapter 7 Annani
ANNANI
The doorbell rang right on time, announcing Mia and probably Toven as well.
Annani was certain that her cousin would accompany his mate and most likely try to argue against the idea of her using Mia to enhance her powers and insist on doing it himself.
It was not that he had anything against Mia working with Annani, but it was misplaced machismo.
Toven did not want his sweet, delicate Mia to be anywhere near the big bad wolf without him there to protect her.
Annani planned to tell her cousin that the wolf was still partially paralyzed and quite toothless, but she doubted it would convince him.
She would have shared her musings with Kian, but he was so focused on the news he was reading on his phone that he had not even noticed the doorbell.
A moment later, Ogidu ushered her cousin and his mate inside, and the sour expression on Toven's face confirmed Annani's prediction.
His hand was resting on the small of Mia's back, his jaw set in that particular way that she still remembered her Khiann had assumed every time she had come up with another idea that he had not agreed with but tried to be supportive of.
"Good afternoon." Annani rose from her armchair. "Thank you for coming."
Kian stood up as well and walked over to shake the hands of their guests, and the look he exchanged with Toven was laden with understanding. He was not a fan of her plan either and would have much preferred for Toven to be the one interrogating Navuh.
"Please, take a seat." Annani gestured toward the sofa and turned to Ogidu. "You can serve the tea now."
"Of course, Clan Mother." Ogidu inclined his head and retreated toward the kitchen with the smooth, slightly hurried gait that made him look like a caricature of a real butler.
He was trying so hard to imitate human behavior, but that was precisely why he was failing.
It was like an actor on stage who was a little too loud for the part he was playing or moving his body in an exaggerated manner.
But he was slowly changing. The sentience that had been growing in the Odus was not dramatic, but it was unmistakable, and Annani found it fascinating.
The implications, however, were a little unsettling.
She had never treated her Odus as things, and neither had her children, to whom she had assigned an Odu each.
They had always been part of the family, but now the rules were changing, and at some point, they might decide that they no longer wanted to serve her and her children, and if that ever happened it would be devastating.
The Odus had stayed by her side through thick and thin, as the humans liked to say, and she could not imagine life without them.
Mia sat on the sofa Annani had indicated, but Toven remained standing, looking too agitated to be able to sit.
"Please sit down, Toven." Annani returned to her chair and smoothed her skirt. "You are making Mia anxious by your hovering, and she is already anxious enough."
Toven cast Mia a questioning glance and frowned when she nodded, confirming Annani's assessment of her mental state.
"I'm not hovering," he grumbled.
Annani motioned at the couch again. "We are having tea in my sitting room, not storming a fortress."
"Not yet," Toven said, but he sat.
Ogidu returned with a tray loaded with a teapot, four cups, and an arrangement of pastries that Annani had not requested but that the Odu had apparently decided were appropriate for the occasion. Another sign of that growing sentience was anticipating needs rather than simply fulfilling commands.
"Thank you, Ogidu." Annani waited as he poured tea for each of them, set the pot on the table, and then withdrew to the kitchen.
Kian took the chair across from the sofa and cast Toven a sympathetic look. "If it helps, you can come along and stay in the penthouse with Areana while my mother and Mia are with Navuh. That's not as good as being there with her, but at least you will be close."
Toven's expression eased. "I would like that. Thank you for the offer."
Annani set her teacup down. "That is a kind suggestion, Kian, but I do not wish for Areana to know about Mia's ability.
I do not want her telling Navuh who she really is and what she can do.
The less he suspects, the lower his shields will be.
That is why I want Mia to wear a nurse's outfit and use a fake name in case Areana has already mentioned her to Navuh. "
Toven's expression was skeptical. "Navuh is not going to fall for that. He knows that we are treating him as if he's radioactive and limiting exposure to him. Why would a nurse in training be allowed in his room, and especially while you are visiting him?"
That was a good point, and Annani considered several logical explanations before choosing the one that seemed most reasonable.
"I could introduce Mia as a rehabilitation expert instead of a trainee.
Navuh will start physical therapy soon, so getting to know his training nurse will seem logical to him. "
Mia set her teacup down. "What fake name should I use?"
"Any name you want, dear. Do you have any in mind? It should be something you can respond to naturally without hesitation. If someone calls you by your assumed name and you fail to react, it will give your cover away."
Mia took a moment to think and then smiled. "Azul." She turned to look at Toven. "I'd respond to that automatically."
"Azul?" Annani tilted her head. "I sense there is a story behind this name."
"There is. That was the avatar name I chose when I first met Toven in the Perfect Match virtual fantasy. His assumed name was Orlando, which was Orion's given name before he changed it. Toven chose a name he knew he would remember."
"Have you ever gone back?" Kian asked.
"Many times," Toven said. "We continue the adventures in the same fantasy world, and I write them after we are done. The books are selling very well."
Toven could not care less about the income from his books because he was rich beyond anyone's imagination, but it was proof of his storytelling talent, and he enjoyed the ego boost it provided.
"I should read them someday," Annani said.
"Don't!" Mia slapped her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you, Clan Mother. It's just that Toven includes things about us in his books that are, well…intimate. I don't mind as long as no one I know reads them, but I would be mortified if you did."
"I see." Annani stifled a laugh. "I will wait until Toven releases a modified version."
"Thank you, Clan Mother." Mia let out a breath. "That's why I never tell anyone about these books." She glared at Toven. "You never talk about your novels. What possessed you to do so now?"
He shrugged. "The subject came up."
Mia shook her head. "Over seven thousand years old and still acts like a juvenile. Men really never grow up."
Kian leaned forward, looking impatient. "We should talk about what you should do if Navuh tries to engage you. He's perceptive, and he has thousands of years of experience reading people. If he senses that you are nervous or hiding something, he'll probe."
"He will expect me to be nervous, and I can play into that. I will hide behind the Clan Mother and act terrified. A male like him loves to intimidate, and the satisfaction of scaring little Azul will make him lower his shields."
Annani had not expected such insight from a young woman like Mia.
Then again, Mia had endured a lot in her short lifetime.
A catastrophic heart failure had resulted in both her legs being amputated to save her life, and she spent a long time learning to walk with dual prosthetic legs, alternating between them and a wheelchair.
The Fates had been merciful and arranged for her to meet a god in a virtual fantasy, and the rest was history.
Mia transitioned into immortality and regrew her legs.
Toven reached for her hand, and his fingers curled around hers. "Are you sure it will only be an act?"
She chuckled. "Not really. I've never been around someone as evil as Navuh. Well, except for the villains in our virtual fantasies." She scrunched her nose. "I guess fighting those was a good preparation for today."
"The Fates work in mysterious ways," Annani said. "I am sure you never expected to use the skills you learned during your virtual romantic fantasy adventures with Toven in the real world."
"I did not," Mia admitted. "Have you tried Perfect Match, Clan Mother?"
Annani shook her head. "Entertainment is the last thing on my mind these days." She reached for her teacup and took a sip.
The truth was that she could not participate in those virtual adventures unless she chose a solo one, and that did not appeal to her. Once she got her Khiann back, they could try that marvelous technology together.
"By the way," Toven said. "Did Navuh ask you about your newfound siblings?"
She shook her head. "He has shown no awareness of their existence, but he might be just faking indifference. I find it hard to believe that Areana never told him about them. I did not prohibit her from doing so."
"She didn't," Kian said. "After you told Syssi and me about your plan, I had the surveillance recordings from Navuh's room reviewed specifically for that. The techs reported that Areana never mentioned the twins. She never mentioned the Kra-ell either."
A beat of silence settled over the room.
Annani had not expected that.
She had assumed that Areana shared everything with Navuh. After all, she spent long hours with him every day, and she needed to fill those hours with something. Besides, Annani suspected that Navuh demanded that Areana tell him everything she learned.
And yet, Areana had said nothing about the twins or the Kra-ell.
The discovery that she and Annani had siblings from the home planet, and the existence of an entire alien species that had been living on Earth in secret, were monumental revelations, and yet she had kept silent about that with her truelove mate.
Toven cast her a reproachful look. "Why didn't you prohibit her from talking about them?"
"It never occurred to me to do so because I never expected Navuh to be free again. Who would he tell?"
"That could have been a dangerous omission," Kian remarked, "but since we are not planning on letting Navuh go, it's not an issue."
"Maybe Areana anticipated that it could create a problem," Toven said.
"Maybe she realized that we would not be able to release him if he knew about the Kra-ell and your half-siblings from the home planet.
Areana may have understood that keeping Navuh ignorant was the only way to preserve the option of his release. "
It was a sophisticated analysis, and it gave Areana credit for a level of strategic thinking that Annani was not sure her sister possessed.
She leaned back in her armchair. "I doubt it has occurred to her that I would want to guard this information. Areana is smart, but she is not a political strategist. She has spent thousands of years in the harem, isolated from the world and kept deliberately ignorant."
"Don't underestimate Areana," Toven said. "She is much more astute than people give her credit for, and she has learned a thing or two about cunning from Navuh over the millennia."
Annani nodded. "Areana is cunning. It is easy to forget when looking at her angelic face and quiet demeanor.
She's navigated Navuh's moods, manipulated him in a way that did not appear manipulative in order to improve the lives of everyone in the harem, from the other ladies down to the serving staff.
He gave her almost complete autonomy to rule the harem as she pleased.
Still, I am surprised that she has not told him about Ell-rom and Morelle and the Kra-ell. "
"She was very aware of the cameras in the room," Kian said.
"When I asked Areana whether she had told Navuh about your theory that Mortdh had not killed Khiann and that the witnesses lied, she said she had not, and when I challenged her further, she suggested that we check the surveillance feed.
She knew that everything she said in that room was recorded, and we would know everything she told him. "
Toven nodded. "As I said, underestimating Areana is a mistake. She knows she's being watched, and she uses that knowledge to her advantage. Every word she speaks in that room is chosen with the understanding that someone else will hear it. She's playing a long game."
"There could be another explanation for why Areana isn't telling Navuh everything," Mia said.
"She has spent thousands of years under his control, but now she's free, and he is not, and she's choosing what to share and what to keep to herself.
Maybe it's not about political calculations but about the fact that for the first time in their thousands of years of matehood, she gets to decide what he knows.
That's power, and maybe she likes having it back.
After all, she hasn't been Navuh's truelove mate her entire life.
She enjoyed full autonomy before Ahn offered her to Mortdh to take Annani's place as his wife. "
"She volunteered," Annani said softly. "And I owe her for that."
"You owe her nothing." Kian's eyes blazed with anger. "Her so-called sacrifice gave her thousands of years with her truelove mate, while you had mere months with yours before he was either murdered by Mortdh or swallowed by the desert sands."