Demon’s King (High Demon #3)(8)
Author: Connie Suttle

Farzi helped wash my hair—I wasn’t thrilled about Treesa coming in again. Teeg, though, was there when I came out of the shower, dressed in the robe Farzi had helped me slip on. Nenzi was still fussing over me when Teeg picked up the comb and wordlessly started working on my hair. I tried to fend him off, but he stopped me with a sentence. "Gavril will be better off if you let me do this." Was he threatening both of us? I shivered at the thought. Teeg went back to working on my hair. When he finished combing it out, he lifted strands of it to his nose.

"It smells wonderful," he murmured. "Reah, your friend will be fine as long as you treat me well. Treat me as you did before, Reah. When you loved me, still."

I wrapped my arms around myself and rocked a little. What did he want? To go to bed with me?

"No, Reah, you’re still recovering. I won’t expect that just yet." Teeg got up and walked out of my bedroom. Farzi and Nenzi stared after him.

"Reah, he not harm you—I know this," Farzi sat on the bench beside me.

"Farzi—he’s already brought harm. Here." I touched my chest.

"Reah, Teeg not—he not do—he not mean," Nenzi couldn’t think of the words. I couldn’t really tell if he were saying that Teeg wasn’t mean or if he didn’t mean it. Either way, I silently disagreed.

Both of them helped me into bed. My legs were still shaky and I felt worn out just from bathing. Jes had said he was starting rehab the next morning. I hoped I could get to sleep so I’d be rested; Teeg wanted me on my feet quickly. More than anything, I wanted to contact Lendill and let him know that Zellar was gone but his trainees might be scattered and already causing havoc. If any of them knew what they were doing, they could already be passing their secrets off to others. It was a frightening prospect. I wanted to get that remote away from Teeg, but Gavril’s life might hang in the balance.

"Sleep, our Reah," Farzi turned out the light and he and Nenzi silently left my room.

* * *

"You can make it." Who knew that Jes could be such a slave driver? I walked down the hall to the elevator and then to the kitchen with little or no help. I think I was drenched in sweat and trembling by the time I got to the kitchen. Ardalin and an assistant were there cooking breakfast. Ardalin was making a great deal of racket, banging her pots and pans. She wasn’t much of a cook if she treated good cooking utensils that way. The eggs she served me were terrible and I found bits of shell in them. I picked it out and ate what I could. Teeg came in with Astralan and the other three warlocks.

"Reah, I hope I get to eat one of your meals again someday," Astralan grinned. Well, he’d just made my life worse, as far as Ardalin went.

"You know," I said, pointing my fork at him, "I ended up on a non-Alliance planet once because the master cook for the Governor of the Realm was so jealous of me he locked me in an escape pod during a drill and reprogrammed the thing. I think if Ardalin had an escape pod, I’d be on my way back to the Alliance right now." Ardalin stiffened at the mention of her name. Well, I wasn’t about to get killed or nearly killed again because of my cooking skills. I hadn’t failed to notice how Ardalin looked at Teeg when he came in or the fact that he got the best of what she was serving.

"You cooked for a governor?" Stellan asked.

"The Governor of the Realm on Tulgalan. Do you know who Addah Desh is?" Ardalin perked up at the mention of that name. She knew if the others didn’t.

"I know he owns the best restaurants on Tulgalan," Stellan was smiling at me.

"My birth name was Reah Desh. Addah Desh is my grandfather. I thought he was my father for the longest time, but as it turns out, my oldest brother raped my mother and then he and his mother arranged for my mother to be killed when I was born. My older brother turned out to be my father. Is that f**ked up or what?" I was telling Teeg my family history if he hadn’t gotten that from hacking into my records as he said he did.

"Addah sent me to Edan when I was eight because he had DNA tests run, proving that Edan was my father. Edan, who should never be allowed to have children, beat me from the moment I arrived. He broke several bones and sent me to the hospital many times when I was between the age of eight and seventeen. When the Alliance conscription notice came, I was more than happy to get away from my abusive family. By that time, I’d made Desh’s number two famous for my cooking, though Edan took all the credit. Too bad that all went straight to hell the moment I left. Ardalin, these eggs are awful. If you don’t serve good food, it’s your own damn fault." I slid off my barstool and hobbled out of the kitchen.

* * *

"Now, that sounded like a master cook talking." Celestan guffawed. Jes was staring after Reah, wondering if he ought to follow her.

"Ardalin, I think you just got insulted by the best cook I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been from one end of the universes to the other," Galaxsan pushed his plate toward the gaping woman. "If you’d tried, she wouldn’t have said a word. Reah doesn’t miss. Not while shooting or while watching people. If you were interested, you might have learned from her. Too late for that now."

"Then I quit," Ardalin ripped off her apron. Secretly she was hoping Teeg would call her back. He didn’t. She stalked out.

"Make sure she gets out of the gate and tell the guards not to let her back in," Astralan was already on his communicator.

"She served eggs with bits of shell on Reah’s plate; I saw her picking it out," Jes offered.

"Fuck," Teeg rubbed his face with both hands.

"I’d like to learn from anybody whose last name is Desh," the assistant said timidly. Teeg lowered his hands to look at the man.

"Her last name isn’t Desh anymore—she had it legally changed to Nilvas. And since she’s still married to me, her last name is officially the same as mine." Teeg stood. "I’ll take your offer to her and see what she says."

* * *

I hadn’t gone back to my suite—I’d gone to the pool at the back of the house instead. I’d had to lean against the wall and rest a time or two—Teeg’s palace, formerly Arvil San Gerxon’s, was huge. Now I sat on a chaise, trying to get my breath back from so much exertion. That’s where Teeg, Jes and the warlocks found me.

"Ardalin quit," Teeg said, sitting on the chaise next to mine. The sun was already bright overhead; I had to shade my eyes to look at Teeg.

"I’m sorry if I cost you your cook."

"You didn’t—she did this to herself. If she hadn’t quit, I would have fired her."

"You should have done it long ago if her food is that bad."