touch them, but her illusionary hands passed through what would be holographs of them on Kadothia. Giving them both a bemused look, she nodded at Lord Rell then turned her attention to the High Congress, once again the strong, unsmiling woman who’d made the Hive tremble.
“What is Lacey doing on Kadothia?” Gwarnon mentally sent Lord Rell, but the older man in his dark blue Negotiator armor ignored him.
“As you can see,” Lord Rell said as he held his hand out to Lacey. “Lady Lacey Taylor is alive and doing very well.”
“Hi guys,” Lacey sent via their crystal implants. “You ready to watch me make the High Congress and Lady Melissi eat shit?”
That mental image shocked Gwarnon so badly his cold expression broke for a moment and he gaped at her as Chel mentally said to them both, “Please, my bride, tell me that is some kind of Earth metaphor?”
“I want her arrested immediately!” another of Lady Melissi’s supporters said, this time a Matriarch with flame orange and red hair held back in a glittering crystal net. “The High Congress didn’t approve her application to enter Kadothia. She is here illegally.”
Lady Elsin appeared unmoved by the Matriarch’s outburst as she calmly said to Lord Rell, “Care to explain how Lady Taylor managed to find her way to Kadothia?”
“A few weeks ago, Lady Lacey’s mother, Tara Taylor, became a Kadothian Matriarch,” Lord Rell said in a smooth voice, pausing for a moment as the shocked murmurs and whispers died down. “As you know, Lady Lacey is engaged but unbonded. Her mother had her full rights to bring her daughter to Kadothia. Especially when Lacey’s own infant daughter is here, living with her grandmother.”
“Jillian is five. She’s hardly an infant,” Lacey muttered, ducking her head as she caught Lord Rell’s quelling look.
Returning his attention to a focused audience, Lord Rell lifted his arm, the lights gleaming over the hidden teal blue undertones of his armor. “Who among you would deny a mother her daughter, or a newly born daughter her mother?”
There were a few High Congress members that looked like they wished they could object, but didn’t.
“Be that as it may,” Lady Yanush said placing her palms on the table so her beaded braids fell forward, “There is still the matter of Warrior Gwarnon and Healer Chel’s punishment. As much as I sympathize with their situation, we cannot allow them to break the law without repercussion. We will open the debate to discussion about what punishment is fair and just.”
Various points were debated ranging from all out forgiveness to multiple requests for exile to an island for the safety of Kadothia. It surprised him how many on the High Congress not associated with his mother gave Lacey leery looks, and suggested that she was too dangerous to be allowed to roam Kadothia after her fight with the Hive. More than one High Congress member demanded to know how Lacey defeated the Hive.
Lady Yanush stood at this point, turning to face Lacey with a hard look on her face that made Gwarnon’s gut clench.
“Lady Taylor, how did you manage to escape the Hive?”
“It’s hard to explain,” Lacey said, standing with her back straight and her arms at her side, every inch the Warrior, “but easier to show you. If I may?”
“Lord Rell,” Lady Elsin’s pink lips turned down in the faintest of frowns, “what is she talking about?”
“High Congress,” Lord Rell gave them a little bow. “It is far easier to show you Lady Lacey’s gift than to explain it.”
There was more arguing from the High Congress about the safety of such a display, but Lacey remained calm throughout. She also moved closer to Chel and Gwarnon, and her hand would have been brushing his if they were both physically in the same place. He tried to send her a message, but her crystal implant was closed off to him for the moment.
“I swear to you,” Lord Rell said in a loud, clear voice, “that none who remain will be harmed. The nature of her gift is not offensive. But, if you fear for your personal safety, by all means feel free to leave for the duration of Lady Lacey’s demonstration.”
“Well, now I am too curious to leave and be called a coward,” Lady Elsin’s husband said, and just like that, half the Warriors that stood to depart were once again back in their chairs.
“Clever old man,” Chel sent to Gwarnon. “He managed to give those that are truly afraid, and not just hateful