All That Glitters Ch. 41

Junelliya was once again kneeling in front of the child. "In French, your name would be Geneviève," she told her.

"Why would she need to know that?" Brendon sneered.

"Most Toolend in human space are found on Liramor-23. While Standard is spoken on the platform, Liramor-23 is administered from Liramor Prime, which is a French colony world. While you do not need to speak French to deal with Liramor Prime, it is always a good thing to learn a new language," Junelliya told them, smiling.

"How many languages do you know?" Guinevere asked, suddenly curious.

"I speak Standard, Anuran, French, New and Ancient Pod-Drran, and I am learning the Toolend language," Junelliya told the child. "There is no reason that you could not do the same. Your telepathy, once you develop it fully, will help you assimilate languages at an amazing speed."

The child's eyes got very big at the thought of learning a new language but she said nothing, giving her father a furtive look.

"Are you saying my daughter must go with these monsters?" Brendon asked, looking horrified.

"MONSTERS!" Guinevere shouted, turning on her father. "How dare you speak of them as monsters! Their minds are bright and shinning, unlike you're mind, Father!

"Your mind is dark, so dark that I can no longer look at it. There are so many here that are the same. I see the darkness around you and shy away from you, knowing that looking at you, seeing what is in your mind, would bring me fear.

"Once, father, I willingly sat in your arms, letting you hold me for your warmth and comfort. But I can not even come near you now! You have changed so much, father, and not for the good!" she admonished.

"How dare you speak to me like that!" Brendon began but was quickly shut down by his wife.

"As you told them, Brendon, she knows things that she should not. Now we understand why. She is able to see the darkness in you. Like her, I once thrilled at being in your arms. No longer. You have changed much over the last few years and not for the better," Elizabeth snapped at her husband.

"Go then, if you wish, but your dowry is forfeit, for our sons," Brendon told her in return.

"That dowry is in the prenup we signed, Brendon, or did you conveniently forget that?" Elizabeth reminded him. "I brought you one million AP as my dowry. I have managed that and, over the years, turned it into a small fortune. From that, I have already given you three million AP, three times what I originally brought to the House. I owe you nothing.

"My dowry is designed to help me if we divorced and to provide an appropriate dowry for Guinevere, not for you to use as you please, Brendon. You would have to go to court to take it from me, and with the prenup, you would lose," Elizabeth stated.

"Your wife is correct, Master Brendon," the Chair said, having come up during the argument. "Most prenup agreements are ironclad. You would have a challenging time taking anything from her that is agreed in the document."

"Fine, go then," Brendon snapped. "I and my sons will do fine without you." Brendon turned and stomped away with all the bravado he could muster.

"He will not do so well without me," Elizabeth quietly told Junelliya. "He is very poor at man and money management. He does not realize how much he relies on me to run the estate. He will be bankrupt in a couple of years. I fear for my sons, but I cannot take them with me. He would not let me and they are of an age they can refuse to go with me. He has, unfortunately, turned them into his own image."

Junelliya reached over the baluster and gave her a hug.

"What will you do about your funds? Will you be able to get them out in time?" Junelliya asked her.

"Oh, I have a connection with a local bank. I am sure I can get all of it out. I have a little more than twenty-five million AP in my account now, but I will have to transfer it into Union Credits and that might be costly. Then I must figure out what I will do with my life," Elizabeth replied.

"The going rate for Alliance Pounds is 90% of the Union Credit, that means you will loose two and a half million to the transfer, leaving you with twenty-two and a half million credits. If you have those kinds of funds available, you will not have an issue living in Union space," Junelliya explained.

"The Toolend will sponsor your daughter. That will give you permission to live on Liramor-23. With the skill sets you have just indicated; you will have no problem gaining employment with one or the other of the Interspecies Embassies that require human support, if that is what you want. I know that I cannot live a life of pure leisure. I have to be doing something," Junelliya said with a smirk.

"If you need a place to stay until they can get you off planet, you are welcome to stay with me," Aurelia offered, having heard the final argument. "It seems my estate will be busy for a few weeks, a couple of more people for a few days will not be a hindrance."

"Thank-you, Lady Aurelia, we will accept your generosity, though we can pay our way," Elizabeth answered. "I should go to the bank and make arrangements before Brendon decides to try something. Can I leave Guinevere with you?" she asked of Junelliya.

"We would be happy to watch her until your return. The Toolend in particular," Junelliya said with a smile.

"Indeed," Tougrate picked up the conversation. "It is rare for us to find other telepaths in different species. We welcome you daughter into our minds and hearts."

Both the Toolend gave the tentacle movement that expressed deference to a parent who was leaving their child with another, though Elizabeth did not understand that but was grateful for the ama.

Elizabeth gave a quick nod to the group and a hug to her daughter and headed for the door and the nearest bank.

Guinevere turned to the two Toolend. "I will need to grow up quickly," she commented. "I will get a crook in my neck if I keep looking up at you."

Both Toolend burst into the odd sounding laughter of their kind, quite taken by the little girl. Malnad spread her tentacles out so that she came down to almost eye level with the girl. "Is this a little better?" she asked.

"As long as I can keep from stepping on your limbs," Guinevere smiled at erht.

"We are going to like working with you, little one," Malnad said. "We have the same sense of humour."

Malnad raised a tentacle and Guinevere clutched it without hesitation. They quickly linked together, though the child had to break the link almost immediately, her headaches coming in more powerfully with the more direct contact she had with the three.

One of the ratings from the ship came running in at the moment and handed Dr. Seito something. She smiled and turned to the child.

"This will help," she told Guinevere. She handed the girl a blister pack of twin analgesics. The girl broke the pack open and took the pills with some water. A few minutes later, she felt the relief they offered.

The Chair called the Landstradt back to order and the Union people turned to face the floor. Guinevere was now inside the baluster, sitting beside Kim, who was kneeling on the floor, watching the crowd intently.

Not long after the session began, a woman carrying an infant came into the Landstradt with two guards beside her. She swiftly moved to the front of the floor and passed the child to Junelliya, who smiled at the little girl, the Cat on her shoulder making excited sounds to the child.

Junelliya reached up and unzipped one of her breasts, the women of the Landstradt now understanding the new 'fashion' trend on which they had speculated. Urano placed a shawl over Junelliya's shoulder to hide the baby nursing. This upset Juneya, who ran back and forth frantically over Junelliya's shoulders.

"Settle down, Juneya," Junelliya scolded the Cat. "The people here are just a little sensitive about nursing, which is why we are hiding Zarrenia."

Junelliya lifted the front of the shawl so that Juneya could see Zarrenia. The cat turned and faced the Landstradt. She gave out a loud bleat to the offending people and then turned her back to them, sitting down testily on Junelliya's shoulder. Many of the women on the floor burst out laughing at the antics of the little animal.

Soon enough, Zarrenia finished nursing and cuddled in with her mother, the shawl removed. Juneya moving down to curl into a ball next to the baby. Those closest could hear the rumbling from a Cat content to be with a child.

The remainder of the afternoon proved to be a riotous session for the Landstradt, with much being bantered about. When the Chair had had enough, he called an end to the day's session and announced a recess until the next morning.

Aurelia had to decide who she would move in the air limo and who would follow in The Trine. She had only so much room in the aircar.

As it was decided that the six prisoners would be in the back of the limo, that meant six of her people had to be moved out. Junelliya offered them a lift in The Trine, which they all gratefully accepted. That left Aurelia with only a couple of people to help carry in Sgt. Wilder on her stretcher. She ruthlessly commandeered several people to assist her.

As the group moved to the main door, they found their way blocked by several men.

"That's a long-knife on your hip, right?" one of them asked of Fayad.

"Oh, you don't want to do that," Kim stated.

"Why, I have my champion here to fight for me, if he decides to have you fight for him," the man stated.

"My husband does not use proxies in his battles," Junelliya informed the group of men. "You should know who you are dealing with. My husband's full title is Fayad Piscium Sai-Ro.

"A Ro is a male warrior of the Pod-Drran. A Sai is a title that is given to a warrior, either Ro or Rai, who, in single combat, defeats another warrior while protecting a member of the Imperial family.

"My husband stood his ground and defeated three Rai of the Pod-Drran one after the other. The females of the Pod-Drran are larger, faster, smarter, and just plain meaner than the males. They expected that Fayad would fall easily to their swords but Fayad was protecting me. I was somewhat occupied at the time as we were involved in protecting the royal pair from a palace coup.

"The Pod-Drran favour a sword they call a Kaldar. It is a type of long-sword. Using only the long-knife at his hip, Fayad defeated each of those three Rai in single combat and earned the title 'Sai' from the Kumar-Pair, the Empress and Emperor of the Pod-Drran.

"Fayad would not use a proxy in a fight against you and that would mean you would not be allowed to use a proxy either. You would fall to Fayad's long-knife as the three Rai did not so long ago, and when I say fall, I mean permanently. He killed those three Rai, in single combat.

"Now, if you still want to make a challenge against Fayad, at least you will do so in the full knowledge that you are challenging a Sai-Ro, a man who has killed in my defence and in the defence of the Kumar-Pair, the Imperial Couple of the Pod-Drran, and killed warriors who were trained from infancy in single combat.

"Do you still wish to challenge my husband?" Junelliya asked sweetly.

The men looked around nervously. They didn't know what to do. Junelliya called up an image on her comp, showing Fayad during the palace coup, fighting against one of the Rai. He was hard pressed by her Kaldar, which she used to good effect but Fayad slid inside her guard and slid his knife into her brain from her throat. He didn't have time to respond as he was set upon almost immediately by another Rai. Junelliya cut the vid.

The men decided to move away from the door and allow the group to proceed, unchallenged.

"A wise decision," Junelliya stated as she passed the men.

They moved to the two vehicles and got everyone aboard as quickly as possible, the air limo and the ship jumping into the air and heading for the Adenomere estate...

End of chapter forty-one.

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