“So you know that she is indeed Lady Callista’s flesh and blood, sire?”
This caught Titus’s attention. “You know too?”
“After Horatio made the switch, I switched them back.”
Fairfax gasped. “You were the one who switched us back?”
Commander Rainstone sighed. “You probably know that I read Her Highness’s diary, Miss Seabourne, which I did under duress—Callista, my half sister, kept insisting that something terrible might happen to her child if I refused to find out what Her Highness might have foreseen. As it turned out, I read a vision of a man switching the places of two infants in a nursery, on a night during which there seemed to be a steady shower of fireworks outside the window.5
“As I left the hospital, after having been caught snooping by Her Highness herself, I saw the meteor storm overhead and realized that the streaks of falling stars were what Her Highness had foreseen. All at once I understood why Callista had been spending so much time with Horatio, because he knew an orphaned baby girl in that hospital, and because that girl was soon to go to a relative who had never seen her before.
“I made up my mind then that I would not let Callista do this. She would not steal someone else’s child. I reversed the switch.
“I was afraid that Callista might treat her own child as a mere decoy. But that did not happen, as most of the time Callista kept her memories suppressed and didn’t think of Aramia as someone else’s child—though she was disappointed that Aramia was neither beautiful nor a born charmer.
“I spent time with my niece when I could. I wanted to be a different kind of influence in her life. And at first she proved to be a very rewarding child, bright, inquisitive, always attentive, and with beautiful manners. But later I saw that she was obsessed with winning her mother’s love, the kind of obsession that didn’t care what it crushed underfoot, or that this mother of hers was made of a monstrous indifference to just about everyone except herself.
“I pulled back my involvement with Aramia, but I must apologize here.” Commander Rainstone bowed her head in Titus’s direction. “Early on I had told her about Validus’s sister wand. She gave the information to Atlantis, when the new Inquisitor wanted to know how he could find Your Highness, after your escape from their bell jar dome in the desert.”
“Did you also tell her about the destination disruptor in my possession?” asked Titus. “The one that would have allowed me to use a translocator at Delamer East to get to Atlantis?”
“No. According to those at the Inquisitory, Aramia told them that it was Prince Gaius who had shown her the disruptor long ago.” Commander Rainstone turned to Fairfax. “Miss Seabourne, please allow me to apologize to you also. I should never have spoken of Validus’s daughter wand to anyone, blood relation or not. I hope you will forgive me for having put your life in danger.”
“Quite to the contrary,” said Fairfax. “I am most grateful to you for not letting me grow up under Lady Callista’s influence.”
They were silent for some time. Commander Rainstone rose and bowed to Titus. “With your permission, sire, I will return to my duties.”
Titus nodded.
As she reached the door of the room, Fairfax stood up. “If you will excuse me, Commander. You and my guardian were friends—very good friends, I believe. Did you ever speak to him about what he had done?”
Commander Rainstone shook her head. “For a time I was as upset at Horatio as I was at Callista. But then, about a year after Aramia was born, I asked to meet with him. He said he was too busy just then. A year after that, he contacted me. But when we met, I realized that the only memory he had of Callista was the first time he saw her.
“Later that day I confronted Callista. But she didn’t know what I was talking about either—her own memories were suppressed too. I left completely frustrated: I couldn’t help him, nor could I find help for him. So I pulled away from Horatio, feeling that our friendship simply wasn’t strong enough to withstand what he had done and who he had become.”
Fairfax slid her fingers along the edge of the table. “And were the two of you ever . . . more than just friends?”
Titus remembered the picture Fairfax had shown him of