The stone halls were cool and silent. Lowell tried to ignore childhood feelings of awe. The halls had been faithfully recreated from his childhood home on Serenos, only on a larger scale. He'd been summoned and he was determined it would be for the last time. He followed his guide towards the door at the end of the hall.
The guide tapped on the door then turned away, never speaking a word. Lowell watched him go.
"Kind of creepy," Suella said behind him.
"Just a bit overly dramatic. The Hrissia'noru have always tended towards drama." He pushed the door open. "This shouldn't take too long."
He stepped inside the room.
Tapstries hung floor to ceiling, impressive in their size. The room was not small, the ceiling soared above, a carved fantasy of stone arches. There were no windows. The only light was a series of globes glowing white. They hung in a circle above the center of the room, illuminating an ornately carved chair that was almost a throne. A woman sat in the chair, her silver hair catching the light, glowing like a halo around her head. Her silver eyes were cold and distant. She sat motionless, waiting for him to approach.
It was almost too much, Lowell thought. It was as if she was trying too hard to intimidate him. He realized they were afraid of him. He cocked his head thoughtfully to the side as he studied the woman.
"Grant Lowell." She pronounced his name sharply, her voice echoing in the room.
He stepped forward. "You sent for me, Rulo'ina?"
Her mouth pinched at his flippant remark. He already knew she was irritated that she had to actually speak out loud to him. He wondered how far he dared push.
Rulo'ina's gaze moved past him, to where Suella stood in the doorway waiting. "You viloate our secrecy?"
"Oh, I've done worse than that." He let his smile fade. "Why did you do it? In your utter arrogance, did you think of anyone but yourselves?"
"You have no right to judge."
"I'm as much Hrissia'noru as you, at least by birth. But since I was such a disappointment to you, mother, you threw me out and practically disowned me. Because my psychic powers were stunted. They're normal for a human. But I'm not human, am I?"
Rulo'ina stiffened. She opened her mouth. Lowell cut her off.
"Why did you summon me here? What crimes are you going to ask me commit this time?"
"You were given your post by us. It was necessary to protect us." She hissed like a snake, her eyes cold and angry. "You failed, Grant Lowell."
"So disown me," he said and shrugged.
She ignored his comment. "You must—"
"Clean up your mess for you? Not this time. I'm not hiding anything for you." He folded his arms. "Taliath'siuromi thought she was doing what was right, too. How wrong are you willing to be to prove your point? How many lives are you willing to destroy to serve your agenda? I've done too much of that for you. I'm not doing more."
"Taliath'siuromi was an abomination, a greedy, ignorant, power hungry woman who did not understand our ways, the truth of our being."
"She was a product of your manipulations. I have a copy of her research documents. She was convinced she was doing the universe a favor. She was convinced she was the epitome of human evolution."
Rulo'ina dropped her gaze to her lap, sitting in silence. Lowell kept his arms folded, waiting her out.
Taliath'siuromi had fled the Hrissia'noru compound where she was raised. She'd convinced one of the crime syndicates to take her in. She'd manipulated and used them to further her ambitions. She'd committed the ultimate abomination, an act of such utter egocentricity that Lowell had a hard time even comprehending how she could have done it. She'd cloned herself, carrying the child in her own womb. She wanted immortality, and she'd achieved it to a certain degree. But each generation of clones was like a copy that blurred slightly with each duplication. Sonja Medallis was an experiment. Prime, the lead clone, had blended her DNA with others in an attempt to reestablish the psychic gifts that had been lost along the way. She'd also tried too hard to keep the genetic line pure. Sonja Medallis wouldn't have lived long, even if she hadn't been mindwiped by Septimus. Lowell had understood Taliath'siuromi's records too well. He was still sickened by what he'd found.
"Taliath'siuromi is no more," Rulo'ina finally said.
"And so are a lot of other people. Why didn't you tell me about her when I could have stopped her?"
"I do not answer to you," Rulo'ina snapped.
"I'm sure you had your reasons. However misguided and selfish they may have been."
"You have no right to judge our choices."
"I have every right. You made me your pawn."
"You are still ours. We made you what you are. We placed you—"
"Where I could do the most spying for you? I'm through with it, Rulo'ina. Don't ever try to summon me again."
"You cannot be allowed to leave. You and your outsider ally." She shot a venomous look at Suella.
"You mean my wife?" Lowell smiled. "You told me once that I would never marry unless you allowed me to, that you would choose a suitable mate for me. But since my powers never manifested, you were never going to allow me that, were you?"
"Your genes are unsuitable for procreation."
"There are a lot of other reasons for marrying. Companionship, for one. I was tired of being lonely." He smiled over his shoulder at Suella. She smiled back. "And before you threaten me more, I have something to say to you. And the others listening in."
She straightened in her chair. She'd been plotting, he knew it. He could read it in her eyes.
"I've given every bit of information about you to both the Federation and the Empire."
Rulo'ina gasped and paled.
"Including the location of your world here. If you meddle again, they will show little mercy. Although they'll probably show more than you would if the situation were reversed."
"And your personal assassin? Are you sending her against us?"
He saw naked fear in her eyes as she asked that question. He caught just the tail of an image from her mind. He saw Dace, holding light in one hand, darkness in the other, as she stood over the stars. He almost laughed at the image.
"Don't bring her into this," he said harshly.
"She is the one that holds the universe in her hands," Rulo'ina said. "She must come to us, eventually."
"She already did. And you stripped her of her heritage. Not that she ever wanted it."
"We saved her from herself."
"You drove her to it." Lowell calmed himself with an effort. "Don't ever try to touch her again."
"She must be stopped, before she brings darkness to us all."
"Leave her alone and she'll never choose darkness."
"She must be stopped." Rulo'ina's expression was cold and haughty and distant again.
"If you dare touch her, I will personally raise every hand against you."
"You will not leave this world."
Lowell smiled his most charming smile. Rulo'ina twitched nervously.
"Don't try it. You touch me, or mine, and the Gypsies will wreak vengeance such as you have never known. I'm one of theirs now, a member of Shellfinder clan."
"The Gypsies are nothing."
"Don't underestimate them, mother. I'm through talking to you. Take it as a warning, or a promise. Don't try to stop me."
Lowell turned his back on Rulo'ina, on his heritage. Suella was waiting for him, smiling for him. He was no longer Hrissia'noru. He took Suella's hand, tucking it through his arm as they walked away, down the long hallway of stone.
"Your mother?" Suella asked.
"Not anymore," Lowell answered. He felt free, as if chains had been removed. He hadn't even realized they were there until now.
He smiled at Suella. He was happier than he'd ever been. She smiled back at him as they walked out into the blazing sun, to their waiting ship.