Rejar Part 11

No, that was too far fetched even for this ridiculous world!

"Here we were all so worried about you; and you, coming in at this hour-after a night of carousing, I wager. Do you have any idea how long it took poor, old Yaniff to find you?"

Rejar came to a dead stop in the entryway, stunned. His brother Lorgin was sitting across the room from him, his booted feet, crossed at the ankle, conquering a tabletop! He was the picture of indolent tolerance.

"Of course," his brother continued blandly, "if you had taken your studies with the Charl, as Yaniff had always hoped, you might have called the Tunnels to yourself and saved him his grief."

"Lorgin!" Rejar's face lit up with a huge grin. He crossed the room in three strides. Lorgin smiled as he stood, embracing his younger brother in a hearty hug.

"I was going to ask how you fare, Rejar, but, as usual, I see you have landed on your feet." He slapped his brother affectionately on the back, then stepped back to grin cheekily at him. "Or, in your case, should I say on your side?"

Rejar wagged a finger at him. "So speaks the voice of his own experience."

Lorgin laughed, then became serious. "We have missed you, brother. Suleila was beside herself with worry; I do not think father has had a moment's peace from her since you were lost to us."

Rejar smiled at the mention of his mother, sorry she had been worried, yet knowing a female Familiar's love for overdramatizing events. "I suppose father enjoyed it, in his own way."

"Mmm. But he was concerned for you, as well, Rejar. Although, he refused to believe any ill befell you. He said he had the utmost faith in his son's abilities."

Rejar raised a black eyebrow. "Did he?" Not his Familiar abilities. Rejar exhaled resignedly. Even though he knew his father loved him, Krue had never accepted what he considered to be Rejar's denial of his Charl heritage. His Aviaran father wanted only warrior sons, a difficult path for a child born of a Familiar mother inheriting all the abilities of her race.

Understanding his brother's dilemma, Lorgin placed a hand on his shoulder. "He loves you, Rejar. He wants what he believes is best for you."

Rejar looked down at the carpet for a moment, wisely deciding to let the subject pa.s.s. "I know," he finally said.

"Come, let us not think on these things now; I have pleasant news to speak of-Adeeann will soon make you a father of the line." Lorgin crossed his arms over his chest in an arrogantly proud pose. "What say you to that?"

Rejar lit up with joy. "Lorgin!" He grabbed his brother in another bear hug, almost causing both of them to topple over. "This is truly the best news! How does Adeeann fare with the babe?"

Lorgin laughed, sharing his brother's happiness. "She is well, though she complains much, as is her nature."

Familiar eyes being what they were, Rejar caught the briefest of movements behind the couch followed by a flash of red hair, quickly hidden. It appeared Adeeann was here and Lorgin did not know of it. The corners of Rejar's mouth twitched in suppressed laughter. His brother was in for it now.

He would see to it.

That was what a brother was for.

"Ah, Adeeann did not accompany you, Lorgin?" Rejar asked him innocently.

"Of course not! I would not allow her to take such a risk; she is safely at home, where I have told her she must stay."

Another flash of red, followed by the minutest snort of disgust.

"I see." Rejar nodded slowly. "And she agreed with this?"

Lorgin stuck his square chin out, falling for the bait. "Yes, Adeeann understands she must take my counsel when it conies to certain matters." He waved his hand through the air in a gesture of dismissal. "She is my mate so she does as I bid her."

Two lethal gray eyes speared Lorgin before popping behind the couch.

It was all Rejar could do not to burst out laughing.

Oblivious to the danger he was in, Lorgin leaned against the back of a couch, crossing his arms again. "She wanted to come to see you, Rejar, especially when she found out you had come to her world. But she quickly agreed with my reasoning when I-"

"This is Adeeann's world?" Rejar was surprised. Some of the language similarities he had noticed immediately, but there were so many differences he had a.s.sumed he was on a sister planet.

"Yes, Adeeann's world, but"-here Lorgin looked carefully at his brother-"not her time."

The nuances in Lorgin's words pa.s.sed by Rejar. Lorgin was not totally surprised; after all, his brother was not a Charl mystic and would have no reason to understand the significance of what had occurred.

"I did not know Adeeann was from Earth." At his extempore comment, Rejar heard a slight gasp of dismay come from behind the couch.

"She is not. She is from the Disney World."

"But you said ... Lorgin, this is Earth."

Lorgin stared at his brother, then blinked once. "I see. I think my wife has some explaining to do."

Rejar smiled before keenly prodding Lorgin. "Perhaps she can explain it to you when you bid her to-since she listens so well to you, brother."

Lorgin's brow instantly lowered, proving Rejar had not lost his touch. "That is not humorous, Rejar. In all the months you have been gone, I vow I have not missed your sense of-"

"Months?" Rejar interrupted. "What mean you months? I have not been here that long."

"I speak in standard Alliance terms; you have been gone-"

"Lorgin, they measure the pa.s.sage of time here much as we do." It had surprised him how similar the standard Alliance day, based on the rotation of Aviara, was to this planet's. Though the names were different in his language, Aviaran's also marked day, week, month, and year. "Why do you say I have been gone months? I have only been here a relatively short period of time; perhaps a little more than a standard month-but that is all."

It was as Lorgin had feared; he looked steadily at his brother. "You have been in the Tunnels for many months, Rejar. Almost a year measured by the pa.s.sage of Aviaran time."

Thinking it was not so, Rejar dismissed Lorgin's words. "It is not possible!"

"After you released the Shimmalee, what happened to you?"

Rejar thought back. "There was an immediate disturbance; a violent upheaval followed..." He shrugged. "I was carried along with it, then suddenly an opening appeared and I fell through to ... here."

"Yaniff thinks that during the cosmic storm, you were buffeted by temporal waves. Somehow the release of this particular Shimmalee back into the Matrix caused vast shock ripples throughout the flux of time. Since you were still in the Tunnels while this occurred, you rode the waves of the phasing storm, leaping time pulses within the Matrix itself."

Rejar was concerned by this new twist of events. "It does not seem possible. The whole thing seemed like just a brief occurrence to me."

"Perhaps it was." Lorgin paused. "Rejar, Yaniff believes you might have been affected by the experience."

Rejar's head snapped up. "Affected how?"

"He was not sure. He wanted me to ask you if you sensed any changes within yourself. Have you?"

Rejar reflected a moment. Except for his restlessness and his penchant for Lilac Devere he felt exactly as he always had. And the restlessness he had experienced before he had entered the Tunnels. "No. There is nothing. I am as I have always been."

Lorgin watched his brother closely. "Yaniff believes otherwise. Although he did say that whatever the effect is, it might not be apparent for some time, mayhap not even in your present incarnation."

The Familiar was surprised. "I am years away from my first incarnation."

"This I know. There is no need to be concerned now. What will happen has already been set in motion. There is naught to do; best we concern ourselves with your present circ.u.mstances. Let us leave now and return home, brother."

Lorgin straightened, preparing himself to open the tunnel.

Rejar quickly forestalled him. "Lorgin, wait!"

"What is it?" Lorgin turned to him.

Rejar's sights flicked to the couch; he sent his thought privately to his brother. {I cannot leave ... just yet.} Lorgin looked shocked. "But why? Do you not wish to return home?"

"Of course I do, but..." He glanced at the couch again. {There is a certain woman here I want.} Lorgin exhaled in disgust, his voice getting louder with every word he uttered. "I vow I cannot believe what I am hearing! Are you telling me that I have left my wife, my pregnant wife, to come halfway across a universe after your reckless hide and it is not convenient for you to leave now because you wish to krnack!"

Rejar rubbed his ear in sudden embarra.s.sment, trying not to look into the bemused gray eyes that were peeking around the couch. "Lorgin-"

"What can you be thinking!" Lorgin threw his hands up in the air, totally exasperated with his Familiar brother. Then he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Look, Rejar, it is not as if I do not understand these things. Even though I am not Familiar, I can a.s.sure you I have had more than my share of exotic encounters on the many planets I have visited. Indeed, a night's pleasure with an alluring alien is something every man remembers fondly-"

"Ah, Lorgin ..." Rejar thought it was time for him warn his brother. Especially if he ever wanted Lorgin to speak to him again.

"As you know, in the past, before I mated, I had somewhat of a reputation among the Knights of the Charl for my"-he broke off to grin roguishly-"dalliances. Indeed, I was-"

Rejar closed his eyes and inwardly groaned. {Your wife is here, you fool! She is hiding behind the couch listening to every word you speak.} Lorgin stopped speaking midsentence, frozen to the spot, his pupils dilating in horror. Slowly, his sights shifted to the left in the direction of the couch.

It was too late.

There his wife stood, hands on hips, eyes narrowed to tiny slits of gray lightning, foot tapping imperiously.

He was a dead zorph.

Lorgin, being the sharp warrior that he was, immediately figured out that the best defense was a good offense. Purposely, he lowered his brow in an intimidating scowl, painting the same ferocious expression on his face that he knew in the past had sent many an opponent fleeing from him in utter terror. His voice was precisely, ominously, low.

"Zira, how come you to be here?"

His little wife did not even flinch.

Instead, she continued to glare at him. Hmm. Her stance did not portend well for him. The irritating idea that his brother could have warned him a lot sooner raced across his mind, but he would deal with that later; for now he needed to rea.s.sert his authority with his wife and hopefully save his own skin.

"I asked you a-" He began imperiously, only to be cut off by an outraged exclamation of feminine fury.

"How dare you try to bulldoze your way out of this one!" Deana tried to look fierce as she stomped across the room, although she supposed her ungainly waddle took a lot of the bite out of it.

When she came abreast of her husband, she stood on tiptoe and grabbed him by his arrogant, knightly ear. Deana knew Lorgin just hated it. Which made it all the more satisfying to her.

Ear captured, Lorgin glared at her, speaking through tightly clenched teeth. "Woman, do not dare-"

She did. Twisted it for good measure.

"I vow I hate when you do that!" His amethyst eyes flashed down at her, his ear still caught firmly in her grip.

It was all Rejar could do not to burst out laughing.

"Good! Now listen up, Lorgin; I want to know right now if you thought I was one of your exotic dalliances, because if I was-"

Lorgin looked at her aghast, all traces of effrontery gone. "Of course you were not! How can you even speak such a thing? I have told you I have loved you from the moment I first saw you, how I longed for ..." Lorgin caught the flash of Rejar's white teeth out of the corner of his eye and suddenly realized his brother was a captive audience to this embarra.s.sing display of affection.

And a highly amused captive audience at that.

His jaws snapped shut, a dull flush of bronze highlighting his cheekbones.

Deana, noticing her husband's embarra.s.sment, thought her diversionary tactic was working extremely well. She'd have to remember this one. "Very well. We'll let the matter drop-this time."

Unfortunately, Lorgin recovered very quickly.

"No, we will not, zira. I ask you once again, how come you to be here?" He lowered his face to hers, his nose nearly touching her own. "After I expressly forbade it!"

Not in the least intimidated, Deana fluttered her eyelashes at him. "I followed you into the Tunnels when you weren't looking." She quickly kissed the tip of his nose.

Lorgin blanched. "By Aiyah, tell me you did not! Have you no idea of the danger in such a maneuver?"

Deana dismissed his alarm with a shrug. "Danger, shmanger. I was right behind you; what could have happened?" Lorgin's pupils contracted to pinpoints as he stared down at her, a sure sign he was upset.

"I did not know you were behind me," he said dangerously soft. "When I exited, I could have sealed the Tunnel with you in it."

Deana swallowed, rather sick at the idea. She hadn't thought of that. Her voice came out a tiny little squeak. "Oh."

The small acknowledgement did not seem to mollify Lorgin in the least.

Deana swallowed again. There was going to be h.e.l.l to pay for this one; she just knew it. Change of subject needed at once.

Quickly, she plastered a smile on her face, turning to effusively greet her brother-in-law. "Rejar! It's so good to see you!"

Chuckling at her obvious diversionary ploy, Rejar threw his arms wide, letting Adeeann run into them for a hug. Holding her hands in his, he stepped back to observe her very rounded stomach. It was all the proof he needed of Lorgin's words. "It is true then; I have been gone for some time."

"And we missed you so!" Deana eyed him appreciatively from the tip of his Hessian boots to the thigh-hugging black pants to the pale gold waistcoat over frilly shirt to the top of his sultry, handsome head. "Look at you! Decked out like a Regency dandy!" A great hunk of a Regency dandy. The women here must be drooling their coiffed heads off, she acknowledged to herself.

Lorgin, not liking the way his wife was eyeing the cut of his brother's clothes, decided enough was enough.

"So, you have seen your Ree Gen Cee Ing Land, zira." He took her hand firmly in his, refusing to release it when she gave a halfhearted tug. "Now do we go home."

Rejar stepped in. "Lorgin, I ask you to wait. {I must explain something to you.} The thought he sent only to Lorgin.

"What is it?"

{I cannot return with you now. There is something unfinished here for me.} "A woman!" Lorgin spat out, causing Deana to look at both of them curiously. What were they talking about?

{Yes, but it is not what you think.} Lorgin raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Rejar gave him a feral smile. {Well, it is not totally what you think. I am engaged in a t'kan, a special hunt. I can not break off now. I need to-that is, I-} Lorgin watched his brother curiously. He had never seen him like this-sure and yet ... bewildered. And he had unconsciously used the Familiar word t'kan but Lorgin knew it did not mean just a special hunt; it also meant a love hunt. Was his brother aware he had used that particular word?