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  "Reah, how old are you?" Bel held his hands behind his back. That frightened me. Edan often hid a heavy wooden spoon or a metal ladle behind him before striking me in the past. I swallowed nervously as I did my best to meet Bel's eyes.

  "Nineteen turns," I admitted, lowering my eyes and my head. If he were going to beat me, I didn't want to see his hands coming.

  Bel cursed again, only this time he was calling Chlind and Seval names I hadn't heard before.

  "Little Reah, the only reason we allowed you to stay after Delvin and I got a good look at you was the way you cook. We reasoned that no child could cook like this. No female below the age of twenty-five is allowed at any outpost. I will have to talk to Commander Aris about this." Bel whirled and strode through the back door so fast it rippled the leafy vegetation in the crates.

  I wanted to cry. Just sit in the floor right there and then and let go. I'd held it back since weeping my eyes out inside the pod. If these people turned me out, I had no place to go. Nobody to go to. That would let me live, anyway. What was I going to do? Instead of weeping, I began to peel redfruit.

  I didn't see Bel again until the kitchen was nearly clean after dinner. "Come with me," he ordered and I followed him as he strode down a lengthy hall of thick, whitewashed stone into a wing of the post I hadn't explored before. Truthfully, I'd been so busy in the kitchen I hadn't had time to wander. I was too frightened now to pay much attention to my surroundings. I kept my eyes focused on Bel's broad back and tried to fight off my fear.

  "Reah, this is Commander Aris." Bel moved aside once we were inside the spacious office, and I received my first look at the outpost Commander. He stared at me for moments as I stood before him. I was so frightened, I was afraid I'd burst into tears. Aris was a lion of a man with thick, shoulder-length dark-gold hair, swept back from his forehead. He didn't stand as his rank dictated, otherwise I think he would have dwarfed Bel, whom I thought was quite tall. The Commander's shoulders were broader, too and I imagined that he'd gained his rank by working for it.

  "Reah, how did those two miscreants bring you here when you were underage?" Commander Aris asked me after moments of silence. He sounded as if he'd just gotten his voice back.

  "They found me and told me I should come with them," I hung my head. I nearly jumped when I imagined that I heard a voice inside my head. I'm sure it was my fear—giving me hallucinations when there was nothing there. Hush, no harm will come, the voice said. I drew a shaky breath and managed to put it out of my mind. The voice didn't come again.

  "Do you have someplace to go?" Commander Aris' voice sounded almost harsh against the gentleness of the voice inside my head.

  "No, Commander. I have no family here." That was the truth, sad as it was. I didn't really have family on Tulgalan, either. None that wanted me, anyway. I had to steer myself away from those thoughts. The tears might come despite my efforts.

  "Bel, what do you think?" Commander Aris turned to the Ranger.

  "I think those redfruit pastries we had tonight were the best I've ever tasted," Bel said. "Sir."

  "Then let's keep this between us," Commander Aris said. "I'll make sure our little cook is off limits to the troops and you, Bel, will hunt down those three and make it clear to them that they are to work off their punishment, not laze about and receive better meals than the others. Reah, you have been feeding the highest-ranking officers here the past two eight-days. Did you know that? This is what the extra twelve meals were for. I am sorry I did not think to check on this sooner. I was enjoying my food without realizing where it was coming from."

  "I don't think she's had any time off, Commander." Bel offered.

  "I know this. Have meals sent to the women on last-day from the other kitchen. Reah, that day will be yours to do for yourself. I will arrange for extra clothing as well." That statement made me blush—I had three outfits and they hung off me. I'd managed to stain them, too, with this or that while I was cooking. I had no aprons to wear over my clothing to prevent it.

  "You have permission to approach me if you have problems or questions," Commander Aris added. I was shaking by that time and clenching my hands to keep it from showing. "Bel, take our cook back to her kitchen before you go in search of her unwilling help."

  Bel nodded to the Commander and herded me from his office. I wasn't sure how I'd come out of that meeting alive. Not just alive, either, but intact and with an open invitation to come to them with problems. My cooking skills were finally being recognized and for now, they were keeping me alive on an alien world.

  Chapter 4

  My three helpers showed up clean and on time the following morning to prepare breakfast. I learned quickly that they didn't have much in the way of cooking skills. I set them to cracking and beating eggs with dry milk for the egg dish I was preparing. The cooked egg would be folded around chopped meat and vegetables. It was a good, healthy breakfast, made better with the bit of sauce I ladled over it at the last moment before sending it off to be eaten. I worked on bread dough while my three cleaned up the dishes and countertops after breakfast. I let them eat first and they liked what they received very much. They weren't talking—I'd curtailed their small vacation, somehow, and they resented it. That didn't keep them from eating, though.

  "Where did you learn to cook?" The youngest of the three ventured to ask over the evening meal that we shared, sitting around a tall counter on stools.

  "I learned from my family. They're all gone now." That much was true, in a certain sense. They were gone from me—most likely forever. Mandil was non-Alliance and didn't look to join during my lifetime. Mandili shared the same sun as Tulgalan, but always held themselves separate. What little I knew about them said they condoned slavery, had wizards with real power among the population and many other, unusual facts. Information from non-Alliance worlds tended to be spotty at best, so I had no idea whether any part of what I remembered from my classes could be counted as truth. I didn't want to tip my hand, either, by asking about any of it. I had to keep my eyes and ears open, just so I could learn as much as I could.

  What made me most curious was why the outpost was needed. I didn't get the idea that any of the surrounding desert villages were staging uprisings. There had to be some reason the troops were stationed here. And the Rangers? They went out to scout the local areas—Bel had come and gone several times during my stay—I'd overheard the women discussing it. They liked Bel and Delvin quite well, it seems. What were the Rangers scouting?

  "Reah, what do you have in the way of extra food?" The old soldier who'd shown me the kitchen came through the back door as we were finishing up.

  "I can put something together—how much do you need?" I asked.

  "Enough for these three." The older man, whose name was Galdi, told me, leading in three children. The oldest couldn't have been more than nine turns.

  "I can certainly find something for them." I slid off my stool and pulled two more stools over. Galdi helped get the children settled on the stools as soon as we'd helped them wash small hands. I pulled leftover food from one of the keepers—it hadn't had time to chill completely—and served roast fowl with a gravy and baked potatoes. A bit of fresh juice was provided, too—I used the last of the citrus fruit brought in with the redfruits. The children ate hungrily, eventually chatting with Galdi and my three helpers.

  "Their parents handed them to us—their headman wouldn't let the adults leave but they were frightened for their children," Bel came in moments later. He'd been speaking with Commander Aris, I learned. Bel had sent the children off with Galdi to be fed before sitting down with Aris.

  "What will you do with them?" I whispered urgently. Why were they in danger? Was there something in the desert that I should worry about?

  "They'll be taken back to Crown City," Bel replied. "We have fresh troops coming tomorrow, so the transports will take the children and a few of ours back with them. They'll be cared for." Bel patted my shoulder lightly. I stiffened when he did that. Bel noticed and
dropped his hand quickly.

  * * *

  "I don't know what she was more afraid of—what's hiding in the desert or my touching her," Bel paced before Aris' desk later.

  "Just be careful around her, I think she's afraid of any man. It isn't you," Aris attempted to calm his Ranger.

  "What caused that? Do you have a guess?" Bel turned his gaze to the Commander. Aris did have a guess but it wasn't something he wanted to discuss, even with his second-in-command.

  "I don't wish to speculate," Aris replied instead. "Don't worry; I'll find a reason for this, eventually."

  * * *

  The children ended up spending the night in the women's quarters down the hall. They were taken right in by several, hugged, kissed and put to bed. It made me sigh. That had never been my due, growing up in a large family that should have known better. I crawled into bed after cleaning the kitchen a second time. I'd wanted to ask Bel about the danger in the desert, but that would have revealed my ignorance. Most likely, the others knew all about it; they just hadn't discussed it within my hearing. Sleep wouldn't come right away as it normally did and I tossed for hours before the voice visited me again in my exhaustion. Sleep, little love, the voice whispered. I slept.

  I felt off the following day but decided it was due to a late night and lack of sleep. I had difficulty rising the day after that. Feverish best described the third day and I ached all over. The youngest of my three helpers, Stef, asked me if something was wrong after a while. I stared at him stupidly before dropping to the floor as blackness enveloped me.

  * * *

  "One of those three that brought the vegetables and fruit had the fever—Galdi remarked on it," Bel said later. Reah had been brought to the outpost physician who'd placed her in his tiny hospital. She was his only patient at the moment.

  "I didn't even think to ask if she'd been inoculated—all the others were," Bel added.

  "Chlind and Seval," Aris growled angrily. Bel worried whenever Aris growled. That low, threatening sound was a sign that Aris was extremely angry.

  "I'll be happy to knock their heads together if we see them again," Bel agreed.

  "I'll knock their heads together." Aris stood outside the door to Reah's hospital room. The physician was administering fluids through an IV. Poor Reah hadn't wakened since fainting in the floor.

  "Do you think she'll be all right?"

  "Bel, we will make sure she's all right," Aris muttered, stalking away. Bel stared after his commander, wondering how it was that he could be so sure about something that had killed many villagers already.

  * * *

  "The IV is fine, we'll leave that," a voice sounded beside me. At least that's where I thought it was. I felt awful and my headache was an agony. Perhaps it was more hallucination—more voices inside my head. I was ill—I knew that much.

  "Hold still," the voice came again. It was one I didn't recognize. Cool hands were placed on my heated forehead. Pain lessened immediately. "It will not last much longer. The healing will come quickly now." The hands were removed. I felt their absence when they were taken away. I might have moaned, I don't know. Other hands were on me, then, gathering me up. I was helpless to resist. My little love shouldn't suffer so, the voice came inside my head. More fingers stroked my cheek. I slept as soon as the kiss was laid against my forehead.

  * * *

  I knew I'd been hallucinating—the post physician informed me that my fever had gone quite high and he'd been worried that I might not survive. "You're still with us," he smiled at me when I opened my eyes to look up at him. "If we'd known you hadn't had the inoculation, I would have given it to you the moment you arrived. Next season, don't forget to have it done, hear?"

  My head still felt as if it were stuffed with cotton so I nodded, not trusting my voice. A sore throat came with this illness; it was a terrible chore to swallow the painkill the physician gave me. I wasn't up to solid food either, so I received broth, water and juice for three more days. Something else happened during that time; my kitchen was combined with that of the regular troops and I was put in charge of the menu and asked to show the four head cooks how to prepare some of the dishes. This turned out to be a very good idea—my three miscreants were outranked by everyone else in our combined kitchen and they weren't able to shirk their duties again. They were getting used to me, too and often looked to me to see how I wanted something done. That made me feel good.

  I wasn't allowed to work for more than three clicks at a stretch before taking a rest break. The physician said no more long days for me and that was that. Breakfast was something we portioned out among the cooks. That meant that I only had to rise early two days out of the eight in every eight-day. Sleeping in was a luxury I hadn't had since I was small. Of course, the late risers did the dinner menu and supervised the late cleanup, but it was a good trade-off.

  More vegetables had come in from one of the villages and Widnal, the oldest cook and I were in the yard outside the large kitchens, inspecting what had been brought. Bel, who'd come out to speak with the villagers walked over, grabbed my arm and pulled me inside the kitchen.

  "Stay inside," he hissed at me and took off at a run down the corridor toward the Commander's office. In very little time, the Commander was rushing through the kitchen with Bel at his heels. I watched them through the open doorway as the Commander began speaking with one of the men who'd brought the food. Time slowed for me as I watched the Commander pull the blade he wore at his side and swing it faster than I could see, beheading a man who stood nearby. What was even more shocking than that came immediately; the headless man exploded. Not as bits of flesh and blood, though—it looked to be black sand or small pieces of rock. I'd seen vids of sandstorms in my classes, and this was what one looked and sounded like, only on a smaller scale. The Commander, Bel and Widnal knew to duck and shield their eyes. The villagers didn't and they bore the full brunt of that exploding force.

  Failing to understand the villagers afterward and still recovering from the extreme shock of the incident, I listened while they all gabbled at once. Bel and the Commander herded them toward the post physician's hospital so their eyes and skin could be examined and treated.

  "Little cook, that is one of the things we guard against," Widnal spoke quietly at my side. "Many of the troops have never seen it. Try not to let it frighten you—the Commander is quite adept at recognizing these things."

  Slowly turning to blink at Widnal's kind countenance, I almost wasn't able to form the words to ask my question. "What are those—those things called?"

  "We call them demons. Commander Aris calls them spawn. If one of those creatures bites any of us, that is what we become. We no longer have control over our actions; at least that is what I hear. That one could have bitten any one of us while we stood there and the Commander would have had to kill us as well."

  That thought made me shiver. "Bel—he recognized it too," I muttered.

  "Yes—all the Rangers are good at that. That is why they go out often. All our Rangers have wizard abilities and that's why they are sent on scouting trips. The other troops would be searching blindly."

  "I've never seen a wizard before," I admitted without thinking.

  "Most likely you have, young one, you just weren't aware." Widnal nodded to me and together we hauled in the vegetables and began cooking.

  * * *

  "You saw a dusting?" Stef sounded awed and jealous at the same time. He was working with me, drizzling a sweet glaze on the fruit and pastry dessert for dinner.

  "Stef, it was awful," I mumbled, working faster to keep the image out of my mind. That poor man—or demon—being beheaded so swiftly. The explosion and the black particles slamming into the side of the stucco walls outside the kitchens would likely remain in my mind forever.

  "We always hear about it but we never see it," he grumbled. "Somebody else always gets to shoot the ranos rifles."

  "The ones who have the marksman's pay," Widnal slapped the back of Stef's head to retur
n him to his task. "Keep getting into trouble and you'll never have the opportunity."

  "Don't remind me," Stef whispered and went back to drizzling glaze.

  * * *

  My night to supervise the late cleanup had ended and I was ready to find my bed on the other end of the post. The last of the kitchen help had already left to get some sleep. Bel found me alone in the kitchen.

  "Commander Aris wants to see you," he beckoned with a hand. I settled the kitchen towel over the edge of the sink and worried my lip while I stared at Bel. Bel was a wizard. I hadn't expected that. Was it his voice I heard in my head at times, or was that just a hallucination as I'd thought before? It didn't sound like his voice, but then it didn't sound like anyone I knew or had met since bouncing onto the surface of Mandil. I nodded at Bel after searching his face briefly with my eyes. Following him down the now-familiar corridor, we eventually reached the Commander's office. Bel knocked once, then opened Aris' door and led me inside. Aris was sitting at his desk as he usually was when I came there.

  "Please sit," he nodded to me and signed another paper that lay under his hand. It amazed me that Mandil still used paper instead of the comp-vids and other electronic devices common across the Alliance. I had to remind myself that Mandil wasn't Alliance.

  "I know you saw that today," Aris finally looked up at me. I sat directly in front of him in a chair carved of dark wood. Something else the Alliance used little of nowadays—wood was extremely expensive and there was a huge tax for cutting trees—they had become a scarcity in some sections of the Alliance. I could only nod at the Commander. The image of the dusting still appeared in my mind, unbidden and horrible.

  "We have guards posted and there are wards set around the post at night. We just never expected spawn to walk up in daylight," Commander Aris sighed. I watched his eyes—they were a golden brown, lending to the lion-like appearance he had.

  "The ones he was with didn't think to question why the demon wasn't speaking," Bel snorted at my side.