"Lissa, do not add their deaths to that pile of guilt you're racking up against yourself," Norian chastised me and then winced. "Breah-mul, I did not mean it to sound like that." Lendill was now staring at Norian after he'd let the endearment slip in front of him.

"Get used to it, Lendill Schaff," a new voice sounded outside our kitchen. The owner of the voice walked in and I immediately placed myself between Norian, Lendill and the newcomer, fangs and claws out, eyes red and hissing for all I was worth. I was staring at a Copper Ra'Ak in humanoid form.

Chapter 10

Several things happened at once; Lendill stood and bowed low, Norian was trying to get to me (which was mighty brave—nobody should try to approach a vampire when they're hissing, with claws and fangs bared) and the Ra'Ak was trying to explain.

"Lissa Beth!" Norian was doing a little hissing of his own (he comes by it honestly). "This is Ildevar Wyyld!"

I turned my reddened eyes on Norian for the barest second before turning them right back to Ildevar Wyyld. "What did you have for breakfast this morning, Deonus Wyyld?" I hissed around my fangs.

"I didn't have breakfast this morning, but I have a sheep every third day, or a cow or something similar, upon occasion," he smiled at me. "I knew I couldn't fool you, little Queen." He smiled—actually smiled—at me.

"Uh-huh," I muttered sarcastically. "I've only met one of your kind who wasn't murderous in the extreme."

"You know of one other?" Ildevar Wyyld looked at me, a speculative light in his eyes. He wasn't bad looking as a humanoid—with dark-blond hair, brown eyes and dimples when he smiled. Tall, too—around six feet or better.

"Yeah. But that information won't be coming from me." Gilfraith's secret was safe. I began to wonder, though, why Kifirin had left me there, if he knew there was a Ra'Ak—surely, he'd known what Ildevar Wyyld really was.

"Lissa, I would very much like to speak with you in private on this matter," Ildevar Wyyld informed me, beckoning with a hand. I didn't want to go anywhere with him.

"Little Queen, you are safe, I promise. I realize that a promise might not mean much to you, but if you knew me better, you'd know that I keep my word. I have known Norian for a very long time and you see he is still whole."

"He might not be for long," I gave Norian a dark look. How could he not know what Ildevar Wyyld was? How could he not?

"Now, I cannot have you harming my Director," Ildevar was smiling again. "Please. I have held this position since the beginning of the Alliance and have been what I am much longer than that. Hear me out at least, before you make up your mind about me."

"Fine," I muttered. Norian frowned at me, but he and Lendill left the guesthouse. Ildevar waited several minutes before he said anything.

"They are out of hearing now. I know you know what I am, little Queen. Norian and Lendill only suspect that I belong to an ancient race. They have no idea what I really am. Please, sit and make yourself comfortable," he gestured with a hand. "I know your vampirism makes you strong, but to me you seem small and frail. Please sit. Would you like more tea?"

"No," I muttered and sat on a stool at the small kitchen table. I got tea anyway and watched Ildevar Wyyld closely while he made it. That seemed to amuse him. He laced it generously with honey before placing the fresh mug in front of me and sitting at the table on the opposite side.

"I am Ra'Ak." That was his first statement. I snorted in response. It made him smile. "I know you have met my younger cousins," he went on. "I and a handful like me are from an earlier time. When the Copper Ra'Ak were the protectors, so to speak, of the Black Ra'Ak. Coming from Earth, you might call us muscle." That statement amused him no end, I could tell. "Not that we didn't possess intelligence. Many of us did and employed it, even, from time to time. Is your tea to your liking?" He nodded to my mug—I still hadn't tasted it. I did so now.

"It's lovely," I mumbled ungratefully, setting the cup down again.

"Good. I haven't lost my touch." He rested his elbows on the table. "The Twenty Charter Members of the Alliance are exactly what I am, Queen Lissa. A Copper Ra'Ak, before the fall of the Copper Ra'Ak. The youngest among us is two hundred thousand years old. I am three times his age. When our cousins started breaking away from Kifirin's teachings—yes, I know who he is and that he was here earlier—Norian told me. Well, to make a lengthy tale shorter, we did not like the direction our race was headed, so we broke away before one of ours set himself up as Prince and began watching all his underlings. He never touched us. It meant breaking away from Youon, the Black Ra'Ak King as well, but at the time, he was ignoring what his Copper subjects were doing. He continued to ignore them until they became unmanageable and eventually destroyed their Black brothers. By that time, the twenty others and I were already set up here—all our worlds are close together in case we need to help one another. We settled on what was then sparsely populated worlds. That has changed as you can see. We have thriving populations, now, and sustainable industry. We protect our humanoids."

"You don't eat any of them? I've spoken with Youon. Even he says they feed six times a year from the worlds not worth saving." I was still a little huffy, I'm afraid.

"We also feed six times a year. From the criminal population. We choose our target carefully and go after them. Crime is low on our worlds as a result. Tell me you did not take blood from humans and I will accept your self-righteousness."

"I did take blood from humans. I never killed to do it," I snapped. "And becoming vampire to begin with was never in my plans, your high and mightiness." We were just about done, here. I rose from my seat.

"Wait. Please, sit," he held a hand out toward me. "Calm yourself. I did not mean to upset you or open wounds. You seem to have more than your share of those."

"Well, did you plan to become Ra'Ak? In the beginning?" I was poking at him, now.

"No. That was definitely not in my plans. I was selected, of course, as it is supposed to be. An old cleric—that's what I was, of a now dead religion. Not unlike how the vampires turn theirs, I believe. They are supposed to take someone of good character and death must be imminent? Isn't that right?"

"That's what the rules say. They didn't apply in my case."

"They were ignored, in your case," Ildevar nodded, his brown eyes gazing at me sympathetically. I didn't know whether to buy that or not. "I have the abilities any Ra'Ak has and yes, please try to accept that I mean you no harm and in fact intend to be kind. Our Copper relatives, once they decided to break away from our traditions, went after the strong and corrupt instead of the honorable and steady-minded for their turns. They intentionally evolved the race into the killers they are now. I hear you are responsible for nearly destroying the race." I watched his face as he made that statement—there was no evidence he disliked that fact.

"Yes. I was responsible. That is why I consider any Ra'Ak an enemy. Except for one. If what you say is true, then he must be a throwback to a better time."

"I might wish to meet him sometime," Ildevar said idly, toying with Lendill's abandoned mug of tea.

"You'll have to prove yourself to me before I ever approach him with that idea, and he's no longer Ra'Ak, actually."

That statement made Ildevar Wyyld's eyebrows lift in curiosity.

"Then perhaps if you trust me enough one day to introduce me to your friend, I'd like to discuss how he's no longer Ra'Ak with you. We'll table that for now. You know what Norian is, I presume."

"I know what he is."

"I think of him as a distant cousin to my kind, then. I would like to name him as my heir, but there is the problem of his mortality. While he'll live for centuries, he'll die eventually, unless something is done. I wanted to ask you to make him vampire, so he would become immortal and rule Wyyld should I choose to retire."

That brought a loud snort from me. "You do not care for him? You do not wish to do this?" Ildevar actually looked hurt.

"Ildevar Wyyld, you haven't caught up with the last few pages of this novel," I informed him. "If I give Norian blood, he'll become immortal, all right. You see how I can walk around in daylight?"

"I assumed your Larentii accomplished that for you."

"That's what people are supposed to think," I said, dropping my eyes.

"The Larentii are not involved?"

"No. Neither is Kifirin."

"He was my second guess."

"Well, he didn't have a hand in it, either."

"Will you tell me how this was accomplished, then?"

"Initially, my father gave me blood. That allowed me to walk in daylight. I've evolved, since then." That was putting it mildly, but I didn't want to go into twenty questions with a Ra'Ak, no matter how benign he seemed.

"And your father—how did he do this?"

"Have you heard of the Saa Thalarr?" That was my trump card, and I played it now. Ildevar's eyes widened in shock. He'd heard of the Saa Thalarr, all right.

"That is what your father is?"

"He's retired, now."

"Ah." Ildevar was settling down, now, getting used to this bit of news. "Did that make you one of them?"

"No. They have no claim on me."

"Interesting."

"Yeah. Don't think to get to them through me, either. It won't happen."

"I would not ask such a thing." Ildevar now sounded hurt. "I know of their long struggle with the evil that the Copper Ra'Ak became. I know they were created to keep them from destroying all the races. I have no argument with them or their purposes. What I am asking is for you to trust me, if you can. I care for Norian, if I care for anyone. He is a kindred soul, in his shapeshifting. I hope we come to have that in common, little Queen. He cares for you—I know this much—and if you would consent to make him immortal, to take my place one day, then I would be most grateful."