Sweep of the Heart (Innkeeper Chronicles #5)(37)

Attendants appeared, deposited tea and snacks on a side table, and withdrew silently like brightly colored wraiths.

Caldenia scrutinized Lady Wexyn, who sipped her tea and fluttered her eyelashes.

“You look like your mother. Has she spoken of me?”

“Yes, Letere Olivione. At length.” Lady Wexyn nodded, her expression earnest and devoid of any subtlety.

“Then this will be quicker and simpler. If you interfere with my plans, I will kill every creature within your little Temple and explode the planet on which it perches.”

Okay then.

“Oh my goodness!” Lady Wexyn opened her eyes as big as they could go.

Caldenia narrowed hers.

Lady Wexyn gazed back at her, a picture of innocence.

A few moments passed.

“Dina,” Caldenia said. “Please leave us.”

I looked at her.

“I won’t harm her,” Caldenia said.

Great. Now if I refused, she would take it as an insult. Caldenia had never broken a promise to me, but there was always the first time.

“Do you wish to allow Her Grace to remain in your quarters?” I asked.

“Yes,” Lady Wexyn said. “It is a blessing to be in her presence.”

Blessing was one way to put it. “Should you encounter any difficulties, call my name.”

“I shall,” she promised with a solemn expression.

Why did I get a sense that I was being humored?

The two of them were looking at me. Both guests requested privacy for their conversation. Not much I could do.

“Very well.”

I walked away from the pavilion. Whether she liked it or not, Gertrude Hunt was Caldenia’s chosen sanctuary. I just had to hope she remembered that.





The Pit of the Dushegubs was 50 yards across and 200 yards deep. Even if they stood on top of each other, they couldn’t climb out. Three feet of murky water enriched with nutrients flooded the edges of the hole’s bottom. In the center, a small mud island offered a bit of dry land. Above, a high-powered light source simulated the lavender sun of the Dushegubs’ planet, cycling between red in the morning, violet-blue during the day, and a deep purple in the evening.

It was night now, and the light had dimmed to an indigo glow mimicking the native fluorescent clouds. In this diffused light, the Dushegubs were mere shadows, a tangle of roots and branches slithering over each other like black serpents. Luckily for me, Gertrude Hunt had excellent sensors, and the view on my massive screen was crystal clear.

I leaned back in my chair, trying to relax. Everyone else was safely in their quarters for the night. I had locked them all in so nobody could wander. My feet hurt, and my head buzzed a bit, as if a swarm of bees was trying to settle inside my skull after a busy day of flying and collecting honey. Beast napped in her dog bed by the wall. She’d rolled onto her back, and her four paws lay limp, sticking out in the air.

Even my dog was worn out.

Sean slipped into the room and wrapped his arms around me. I leaned my head against his warm muscular forearm.

“Problems?” he asked.

“They should have formed a copse for the night.”

Sean glanced at the screen. The Dushegubs were treading water in small groups, three or four trees in each one.

“They’re up to something,” I told him.

He let me go and stepped aside. My chair grew wider, flowing into a couch. I really enjoyed the extra power the guests brought to the inn. Reshaping furniture on the fly took barely any effort.

He sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. I rested my head on his bicep. We watched the wandering Dushegubs. They would slither a few feet, slide their branches and roots against the reinforced walls of the Pit, then slither a little further.

“They’re testing it,” Sean said.

“Yes, but why? It’s concrete layered with space-grade flexi-steel. They’d need a high-powered drill to get through it. What could they be planning?”

“Shenanigans,” Sean said in a somber voice.

I turned to look at him. “What?”

“Hijinks, mischief. They’re up to no good.”

I laughed softly.

“How is Caldenia doing?” he asked.

“She visited Lady Wexyn and promised her that if Lady Wexyn interfered with her plans, she would blow up her planet.”

Sean raised his eyebrows. “Plans? What plans?”

“She didn’t share that with me.”

“That’s concerning.”

Two of the Dushegub groups came together by the far wall. I adjusted the angle so we could see them from the side.

“Why that wall?” Sean murmured.

“I put a dummy camera on the opposite side. They saw it and now they’re trying to shield their plot from view.”

“Sly dog, you.”

“Thank you.”

I snuggled closer to him. I hadn’t seen him since dinner. After leaving Caldenia and Lady Wexyn, I headed back to the Ocean dining hall, but the Kai delegation informed me that one of their members had developed a twitch in his middle left limb, which was a matter of grave concern to the entire delegation, so I detoured to their quarters. After an hour of medical scans, it was confirmed that the twitch was a stress response, so I created a sensory respite area in their quarters where they could destress.