The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume III: Volume III

brilliant smile. “Soon I will be home, among my own people, and you will be hailed a hero for rescuing me.” She kissed him soundly. “I will wash your back,” she said with a new huskiness in her voice. “And your front.”
    Kinnsell swallowed his desire. He hadn’t time to linger this morning. He’d lost too much time already. Katie must be frantic over the loss of her daughter.
    He wouldn’t take Maia to the bushie lord until he’d satiated the burning ache of desire in his gut. His granddaughter was safe. Even the conniving members of the king’s Council wouldn’t hurt the child, a mere baby and a girl. Now, if Katie had had the good sense to give birth to a son first, the child would be heir and therefore a threat to the rebellious lords.
    The bread tasted nutty with a delightful complexity. It satisfied his hunger and settled the too-hungry-sick feeling quite readily. Kinnsell pushed aside the fish. The cheese would have to suffice for protein. Normally he wouldn’t eat milk products, but the meal contained no legumes to complete the amino acid chain. The flavor burst on his tongue, promising new delights. The berries in their wine sauce were worthy of a royal banquet back home.
    Maybe he’d linger on this planet a little longer, sample the delights of its cuisine—so much better than ship rations and tanked food. Fresh food was, after all, the primary reason for nurturing this planet. He’d also indulge himself with Maia for as long as he wanted. No need to hurry back to Terra and his cold and unloving but politically powerful wife until he’d secured a power base on Kardia Hodos. But he had to check in with the mother ship soon, or they’d send a search party. He didn’t need any of his crew—especially his sons—questioning or sabotaging his work to bring this planet back under Terra’s influence. Sean Michael and Liam Francis were due back any time now. The boys might even rescue Marilell from Balthazaan before Kinnsell reclaimed her.
    He hurried through the bath despite Maia’s attempts to climb into the little tub with him. The water didn’t stay hot long and the heaviness threatened to return to his chest.
    By the time Kinnsell and Maia walked out of the Bay Hag Inn, the sun rode high and raised steam on the damp cobblestones. A spring returned to his step that he hadn’t felt in many years. Maia kept up with him, prattling stories about great adventures of the road. Most of her stories centered around the mysterious Televarn, chief of her clan. He tuned her out and concentrated on what to tell the bushie lord and when.
    After about two kilometers, they reached the cutoff from the Great South Road. Kinnsell eagerly turned west. “Not far now, my dear,” he said with a smile. Within half an hour he’d be back in his shuttle, an island of civilization on this planet of chaos.
    Maia stopped abruptly, pressing her temples with anxious fingertips.
    “We must go this way.” She took two hesitant steps on the Great South Road. “We must hurry. They need us.” She dropped her hands and stared blankly toward the south. Her eyes glazed over as if blinded by a trance.
    Kinnsell had seen similar reactions to hypnosis. What kind of latent suggestion had the magicians put upon her?
    “The clan of Televarn needs us,” she chanted. “Televarn is dead. Long live the clan.” Two more steps and she fell to her knees.
    “Noooooo!” she wailed, pressing her hands to her temples once more. “He can’t be dead. If Televarn is dead, then who has been inside my head this year and more? Who directs me?” She cried and tore her hair, still kneeling in the road. “I didn’t believe them when the magicians told me Televarn died. I didn’t dare believe them because his voice was still inside my head. He murdered the Kaalipha. I saw him do it. I saw him twist the poisoned knife in Yaassima’s gut. He has to be alive!”
    Kinnsell stared at her gape-mouthed as she pounded the ground with her fists. She stumbled to her feet and started running.
    “That is not what happened,” Kinnsell grabbed her shoulders, ready to shake some sense into her. He tried to remember the details of the tales told about the events in Hanassa when he’d first brought Katie here a year and a half ago. “Yaassima turned the knife in time and killed Televarn. Yaasaima died later. Now come along, this way,” He tried to lift her to her feet. A deep cough made him release her.
    “Follow me. We have to go west. We