Lacey's Warriors (Bondmates #6) - Ann Mayburn Page 0,63
smile that was warmer than any he’d ever seen. “Little one, it is time for the adults to talk now. Thank you for visiting with us.”
Gwarnon gave Lord Rell an admiring glance, seeing his mentor’s genius in the maneuver. By admitting what she had done, Lacey had taken the focus off Lady Roxy and her much more dangerous gift, giving them a valid reason for having won the fight. With a Truth Speaker in the room, any lies Lacey might have told would have been called out at once. If the High Congress had discovered that Lady Roxy possessed the dreshentah, the chances of her being allowed back on Kadothia would have been much slimmer. Now Lady Roxy would be able to come back to Kadothia without being interrogated about her involvement in the Hive battle.
Lacey knelt and gave Jillian a long hug before she passed her off to a waiting Warrior with red and purple short hair.
After the little girl was gone, Lord Rell moved forward in the circle, his cape shifting like liquid light as he stood before the High Congress. “As I am sure most of you noticed, you didn’t feel Lady Taylor’s emotions as she said goodbye to her daughter. Her mates have taught her the basics of controlling her bond. She has command over her gift and is no danger to Kadothia.”
“That is all fine and well,” Lord Pompour said as he stood with an imperious tilt to his chin, “but the fact still stands that Warrior Gwarnon and Healer Chel broke our laws by going to the Baladium. I am as sympathetic as any other Kadothian male to their plight, but the facts remain that they didn’t know their bondmate was at the Baladium. We have many cases to see today, High Lady Yanush. I move we take a vote on the men’s punishment.”
Lady Yanush reluctantly said, “This is true. No matter the circumstances, or how sympathetic to them I may be, the fact remains that these men broke a high-level law. I will convene with my fellow High Congress members until we come to a decision.”
Turning away from the High Congress, Gwarnon stared at his alyah, aching to reach out and touch her. He had a million questions, chiefly among them why she abandoned them and why she didn’t contact them to tell them she was all right. He’d been going out of his mind with worry and bitter depression.
“Remember,” Lord Rell sent to him, “do not object.”
Lady Elsin’s cold voice cracked the silence like a whip. “We have come to a decision. Warrior Gwarnon and Healer Chel, your Territory is hereby stripped from your holdings on Kadothia. You may not own land on Kadothia for the term of one hundred years.”
“Who will our Territory go to?” Chel asked in a voice trembling with anger.
“That is up to you to decide,” Lady Yanush said. “As I said, we do recognize the unusual circumstances that led to you breaking our law, and as such we offer you the choice. Your old Territory may either go to your nearest relative for one hundred years, or you may enter it into the Lottery.”
“The Lottery,” both Chel and Gwarnon said in unison, even as Gwarnon’s heart broke.
Better that some young blood brother Warriors win the territory than Lady Melissi get her hands on it. All his people that he rescued were about to be under the hand of a stranger, one who might not understand how and why his people were so damaged. Or care. A shudder worked through his soul, the profound sorrow of failing his people causing minute fractures between his soul and the Madness.
His guilt and sorrow compounded when he realized that, without a Territory, Lacey would have no power or position on Kadothia. She would be unable to form her own court and would be treated as an outcast. True, she had a fortune of her own, and they could live anywhere in the Galaxy, but Kadothia was by far the safest place for her—especially with the Hive so eager to capture her.
“Then it is done,” Lady Yanush declared.
Lady Elsin began to dismiss them. “May the Lord of Life bless you—”
“If I may?” A woman’s voice with the same rolling accent as Lacey’s came from behind him. “I wish to approach the High Congress in a matter regarding my daughter and Roilinda’s Decree.”
His crystal implant quickly supplied the information on the ancient law, his confusion turning slowly to surprise as he watched a