52. Annani
Annani had a pretty good idea as to the reason Kian had called her to invite himself, Syssi, and Amanda over with only an hour or so remaining before the wedding ceremony was to start.
Syssi had probably induced a vision, and what she had seen was not good.
When Ojidu ushered them in, Annani scanned their faces for signs of sadness but found cautious excitement instead.
Had Syssi found anything? Perhaps she had seen a clue about Khiann”s fate?
Hope surging in her heart, Annani wanted to cling to it for a little longer, so she did not ask about that. Instead, her gaze shifted to Syssi”s empty arms. ”Where is Allegra?”
”She”s napping,” Syssi said. ”She was so exhausted from playing in the pool with my father that she fell asleep on the way to the cabin, and I had to put her in her crib without even giving her a bath. You know how she is if someone wakes her up before she is good and ready, so I left her with Okidu to watch over. If she wakes up before we”re back, he”ll bring her over.”
Annani nodded, a smile tugging at her lips. Her granddaughter had a formidable will, which would make her a good leader one day, but it was not making her parents” lives easy, especially Syssi”s, who was sweet and softhearted.
As her visitors sat down, Annani regarded Syssi with a calm expression, one she had honed over thousands of years of hiding her emotions. ”I assume that you have news for me?”
”Not the news you hoped for, Clan Mother. The universe has chosen not to show me Khiann”s fate and instead showed me clues about the Kra-ell royal twins.”
Annani was indeed disappointed, but not as much as if Syssi had told her that she had seen Khiann”s murder and that all hope was gone, so in a way, no news was good news.
”We should not refer to them as the Kra-ell royal twins,” she said. ”They are my half brother and sister, half god and half Kra-ell, so we should drop the Kra-ell part.” She sighed. ”I wish I knew their names.”
Their mother had even hidden that from her people when she had conscripted her children to the priesthood. Kra-ell priestesses were referred to as holy mothers and, before that, as acolytes, but since there had never been male priests before the prince, Annani did not know how he should be referred to. Perhaps a holy brother? That made sense since the only reason he could have joined the priesthood was being his sister”s twin.
Annani had no doubt that the Kra-ell queen had done so to further protect them and hide them from their grandfather.
She gave her daughter-in-law an encouraging smile. ”Please tell me what you have seen, my dear.”
As Syssi spoke of Jasmine appearing next to the pod, Annani was surprised. She had not met the human, but ever since Jasmine had been brought aboard, Annani had a feeling that there was something special about her. Still, she could have never imagined that the woman would lead them to the twins.
”I”m so sorry that I didn”t bring you news of Khiann,” Syssi said. ”But I promise that I will try again once this vision is fulfilled. Until then, I doubt I will be shown anything else.”
Annani leaned over and patted Syssi”s knee. ”Do not fret, my child. The Fates work in mysterious ways, and they reveal only what they want to reveal when they want to reveal it.”
Syssi let out a breath. ”I”m glad you see it that way.”
Annani nodded to her daughter-in-law and then turned to Kian. ”I am considering telling the queen about the twins when I speak with her tonight. I do not know whether she suspects that they are Ahn”s. After all, his legacy lives on in them as well.”
Kian frowned. ”The twins didn”t know who their father was, and all they have is his genetic material. You are the only one who carries on his legacy, and I don”t think it is wise to confirm the queen”s suspicion. She must be aware of them because the Eternal King wouldn”t have needed to eliminate them if they were fully Kra-ell, and she knows that was his intention. Still, she does not know for sure, and maybe we should leave it at that. We don”t know how she will react and what she will do with the information.”
Annani shook her head. ”It is the right thing to do. Ahn”s mother deserves to know about all of his children, and that includes Areana. I mentioned that my sister had survived, but the queen did not ask about her.”
”I”m not surprised that she didn”t,” Kian said. ”She must have assumed that Areana was a mere immortal, and despite her lofty ideals, the queen will never accept a hybrid. That”s also true of the twins, so she might be well aware of them being Ahn”s, but she just doesn”t care.”
Kian might be right, but Annani refused to leave it at that. The queen was not an emotional female, and everything she did was for Anumati. She might really not care about any of Ahn”s other children who were not his legitimate heirs.
Annani hoped that they were all wrong about that, and that her grandmother cared. ”I told the queen that my father offered Areana to Mortdh as a substitute for me, and Ani knows that Mortdh would have never accepted an immortal. Only a full-blooded goddess could have been offered.”
Kian nodded. ”You are right, of course. Queen Ani is too shrewd to overlook such a detail, but her lack of interest in Areana is telling, and if she feels like that about a granddaughter who is a full-blooded goddess, just not a legit heir, I”m curious about the queen”s feelings toward Ahn”s half Kra-ell children. She might be conflicted about the twins and wish them ill as the king did, not because she”s worried about them taking down the king, but because they might be a threat to you, the heir to the throne, the one in whom she places so much hope.”
Kian was right. The queen”s reaction to the news of Ahn”s other children could be unpredictable. She might see them as a threat to be eliminated rather than a potential ally to be embraced, or she might simply ignore them and pretend that they did not exist.
”The queen might be right about the twins being a threat.” Annani let out a breath. ”I am not concerned about Areana posing a threat, and yet I am careful about what I tell her. I never reveal anything that can lead Navuh to us, and I hope that Lokan and Kalugal are just as vigilant when they talk to her. The twins are an enigma, though. If we give any credence to the Eternal King”s suspicions, they are extremely powerful and, therefore, dangerous. Still, that does not mean that they mean me harm. They could become valuable allies.”
”We need to prepare for both contingencies,” Syssi said. ”I will start summoning visions about the royal twins. We need to know if they pose a threat to the clan and if they are friend or foe.”
Kian nodded, his jaw clenching, probably at the thought of Syssi summoning too many visions and draining herself. ”Aru and the other two gods are physically a match for the Kra-ell. They were engineered that way. But they weren”t given protection against the twins” rumored compulsion power. They will need to be equipped with the special earpieces we developed to filter out compulsion, to protect themselves in case the twins are malevolent. Whoever accompanies them on the search will need those as well.”
Amanda leaned forward, her eyes shining with excitement. ”They will need reinforced handcuffs and tranquilizer darts as well.”
A rueful smile tugged at Kian”s lips. ”Aru”s team did not arrive on Earth empty-handed. They have all kinds of sophisticated weapons that Aru refused to share with me. The one thing they don”t have, though, is the means to protect themselves from compulsion, which is both surprising and it is not. A society as technologically advanced as the Anumatians should have developed the means to protect its soldiers from compulsion, but that would have eliminated the Eternal King”s grip on them. He wants everyone susceptible to his power and under his control.”
Breaking the king”s grip and freeing Anumati from the chains of oppression and tyranny would be no easy feat. It might even be impossible.
”We need to discuss this with Aru before we approach Jasmine.” Kian pulled out his phone. ”There is no time to do so before the wedding, but we can meet tonight an hour before the scheduled meeting. Is that okay with you, Mother?”
Annani nodded.
”Can I come?” Amanda asked.
Kian turned to look at his sister. ”I don”t have any objection to that, but your sisters might not appreciate being left out, and I don”t think Aru will appreciate having to conduct the telepathic conversation in front of a crowd. I”m surprised he can do that with just the three of us there. A fourth person might not be a big difference, but he might be uncomfortable with six people in the room, all watching him as he talks with his sister in his mind.”