Chapter 53 #2
A look of worry crossed the queen’s face.
“There is a comm in the palace,” she admitted slowly, and you may make use of it, but I fear that will not help your own predicament.
The council has eyes and ears everywhere.
Perhaps even among the guard, which is why I had most of them assigned away from this part of the palace, beyond Jathella and her sisters.
It is merely fortuitous that the passage to the elder palace lies between the council chamber and my own nest.”
“Thank you, your majesty,” Alex breathed a sigh of relief, but the queen waved her thanks away.
“It is unnecessary to thank me for such a small thing. It is the least that I can do to set your mind at ease. If only leaving here to go to the Vehal would be as simple a matter,” she hissed unhappily.
“Mother, are you agreeing?” Therxian asked, his gavo lifting.
“Agreeing in theory,” Zathexa amended with a grim laugh. “But accomplishing it would be another matter.” She shivered and weakly sank down into the cushions of her nest. “Not for me, anyway.”
“Your majesty, is there anything I can do? Some way I can assist you or make you more comfortable?” Alex murmured, but the elder female waved her off with a faint smile.
“You have a truly compassionate heart, but I am fine, child.”
“The poison merely tires her easily, hithana. For that reason, she has Jathella, Buosoa, and Kitanara here to be her strength as necessary,” Therxian replied quietly. “Once we have acquired the antidote, Mother will return to normal. For now, she just needs rest.”
Alex looked over at the drawn lines of the queen’s faces and the faded glow of her eyes, and she shook her head doubtfully.
That wasn’t just illness. She had worked among other non-gratas for years now.
She knew the difference between the look of sickness and the look of one’s own spirit preparing for death.
“Therxian, I think it is more serious than that. She is not just sick. Look at her—she’s dying. ”
“You dare!” Jathella spat, but the queen held up a hand, silencing the angry female.
Zathexa’s expression gentled as she looked at Alex, and she quietly chuckled a small, hissing laugh.
“You see more clearly than most do and possess the spirit to speak plainly. It is a fine quality to have. Perhaps it is not the most diplomatic approach,” she added with a smile, “but you are right. I am dying. The journey to the Vehal is not meant for me. It is too far, and as for me—my time is coming to an end here.”
“Mother, you do not know that—” Therxian protested as he rounded quickly to her side.
Zathexa smoothed a hand along his gavo, her eyes brightening slightly with her sadness and regret.
“My son. You look so much like your father. I never should have allowed the council to bully me into sending you to the haga. It has been my deepest regret for so many revolutions, only to be surpassed by the regret I have felt in submitting to them when it came to your mating and Slengral’s.
But knowing that you will be safe is enough.
I have held on and done my duty for revolutions.
First to see that you grew to adulthood, but then also to provide an heir.
Vorahna was my last nestling. I could not bear to touch another male yet again once I conceived her, seeing my duty as finally accomplished in providing an heir, but it has taken every bit of my strength to fight against the desire to reunite with my own mate beyond the veil of Shangla.
I have clung to life hoping to see our mother-line continue, and to protect the shinara, but now my spirit will simply have to accompany you. ”
She looked to her guards. “But we need to find a way to send both of you away in safety, and in the company of my trusted guards.”
“My queen!” Jathella objected, her sisters echoing the shocked protest.
“I need you to protect the last of my mother-line,” she stated firmly.
“Therxian is strong and Slengral is cunning, and they have both mated with capable females from what I can see. So, this shall be your new duty. And you may begin by escorting Therxian and his Alex to the comm room. Take the key,” she added, pointing to a small box on the table positioned at the far end of the sleeping chamber.
“When we arranged to bring it down to the Aglatha from the colony as part of our alliance agreement, I made certain that only I would have access to it to keep the council from stirring up trouble or gaining influence within the colony.”