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СКАЧАТЬ days as a Gatherer were on hold for quite some time, if not permanently. Asia had seen to that in more ways than one.

      “If this is the case, why did you not approach us with this? You ought to have shed the defective girl immediately. These types of distractions are the last thing our Gatherers need. We have rules and bounds for a reason, Julian.” Sydelle shifted in a rare show of irritation. “Companions are assigned to ease your cares and needs, not compound them. We will have her ejected from your living spaces immediately.”

      “You will not.”

      Few dared to countermand the Ampliphi, least of all in such a resounding and dire tone of voice. The chamber fell quite quiet, energy ebbing away from Julian now as his own surplus flared hard with his temper.

      “You will allow me time to gently and thoughtfully prepare a longtime Companion for her transition to retirement. She will not serve me so long only to be dismissed in shame at the very end. She deserves better, for, despite her weaknesses, she has done her service well and thoroughly. It is not Ariel’s fault that her trainers did not see the flaws in her confidence that made her unsuitable for a role as Companion. She hid them well, even from her own awareness, I assure you. It was years before the cracks became large enough for me to see them. This transition will be done with respect and in private. I will not force her to keep composure in front of you all even as she helps to carry the end of life as she has known it into her own home. She will be rejected, evicted, retired, and obsolete in all of an instant. That instant should be between her and me alone.”

      Julian did not wait to see if they agreed or disagreed with what amounted to a command. Despite his position and power, he risked much taking authority with the Ampliphi in such a manner. He doubted anyone else would have been allowed to get away with it.

      He knelt again, this time in all steadiness, because so much balanced so precariously on his strength in that moment. He lifted Asia tight and close to his chest and rose smoothly to his feet. He exited the chambers in a few sharp strides.

      “He was ever willful,” Sydelle mused.

      “His unflagging confidence is what made him so ideal for the role of Gatherer,” Kloe said with no little amount of smug pride. She was the one who had insisted on his training, grooming him from the first day. She would not let them revise all her hard work at this late date.

      “He should be checked for this,” Rennin grumbled. “It does not do for him to think he can get away with—”

      “He will be more powerful than us all one day,” Christophe interrupted sharply and definitively, quelling the debate before it began. “If any of you doubted that, those doubts must end with the taking of his kindra. Without her, he would be formidable. With her, he will be nigh unstoppable. There are no limits to what he will accomplish.”

      “He needs to win her first. Stealing her from her life will not make an easy way of it,” Rennin mused. “To be his match, her will must be equal to his own. They could just as easily destroy one another.”

      “Do not look so eager for the prospect, Rennin,” Christophe warned. “You may fear your future if you must, but you ought to fear all our futures if something significant does not happen soon to interrupt the disaster we are rushing toward. Losing Julian will only make it happen all the quicker.”

      “God forbid it,” Sydelle whispered with the dreadful respect their situation called for.

      “God may yet grant your wish,” Christophe sighed. “But until then…”

      He reached for the bell. He fed energy into the ring, sending out a distinctive frequency. Every being among them had their own toned signal. They knew it instinctively, felt the pull to answer the call of the Ampliphi whenever it was sounded. They were born with it, their auras resonating it. Only the six bells in the chamber could create the match. It could not be duplicated any other way.

      Within a moment, the Ampliphi’s call was answered, a rush of energy displacement at the center of the chamber rolling off the newcomer in dark, overwhelming waves. It was so different from Julian’s righteous and bright abundance of energy. But then, Julian spent much time feeding from human energy.

      This one was from the very bottom of the energy food chain.

      Greison narrowed all of his energy on his Gatherer, studying him silently for a long space of time. The others waited patiently as he ordered his thoughts.

      “We have a task for you,” he said, the gravelly resonance of his voice echoing throughout the Hall.

      Julian entered his home quickly, closing the door against curious stares that rankled so easily. He didn’t even bother to locate Ariel, knowing she would be on him in just moments once she sensed his arrival. He swiftly made his way to the second level of the structure and carried Asia into the unoccupied room he maintained for visitors. He had no sooner set her down than the excited greeting burst along the walls.

      “Julian! Julian!”

      Ariel ran into the room as he turned to face her. She rocketed her soft, rounded little body up against him and hugged him until he was throttled by her strength and her excitement. Her hair hung damp against her back and wrists, telling him she had been bathing. Her robe, in fact, was damp, as if she’d leapt straight from the bath and donned it.

      “You’re home! I wasn’t expecting you at all! No one warned me. I will ready your things as soon as I—”

      “Come now and be easy.” He chuckled softly against her temple. “There is time for everything. Mostly there is time for you to take a breath.”

      “Then you aren’t leaving again right away?” she asked eagerly as she clung to him and looked up into his eyes.

      Julian hesitated. He didn’t mean to be evasive, but he didn’t want to lie to her, and the bald truth would be like slitting her gut wide open. In the time it took him to struggle for the right words, Ariel’s head tipped to the side and she caught sight of the woman in the bed behind him.

      “Julian, who is this?” she asked, her enthusiasm bleeding out of her swiftly and suspicion creeping into her voice—along with an instant emanation of jealousy. She gripped at him a bit more strongly as her eyes narrowed on Asia. “You’ve brought home a guest? A Chosen? Shouldn’t she be with the Ampliphi receiving residence?”

      “Ariel, let’s go inside and talk for a moment,” he invited her gently.

      “No.” She bit her lip and stubbornly drew back to cross her arms over her body. “Tell me here and now, why is she here?”

      “Because this is my home, Ariel,” he reminded her a bit sharply as her petulance boded ill for the coming conversation. “She is my guest because I choose her to be. But also…she is a special woman.” He turned slightly to look at Asia, unable to help reaching out to touch her foot.

      “I’ll just bet she is,” Ariel hissed with her entire being, the lash of her fury laced with pain. “The only reason for bringing a Chosen home is so you can bed her, Julian! I can sense the lust on you already! You reek of her!”

      “Enough!” he said harshly, turning back to her with a hard motion.

      “No! How could you do this?” Ariel’s warm, tragic eyes filled with tears. The energy of her emotions sank into him. Julian found himself already overfilled with Asia’s vitality, so it didn’t СКАЧАТЬ