Chapter 15: Zyla’s Strategy

“It is strange sleeping in a bed. I am shattered but still excited. I want to sleep, but I can’t,” said Horti.

“Moksur was as shaken by what happened to us as we were. She knows what would have happened to her special forces people. I thought she would pass out when I showed her the probe holovid and how it looked like I wouldn’t make it. She was muttering and shaking her head when she went to bed,” said Craig.

“She thinks they have another firm lead. Her people are trying to verify it,” said Horti.

“She will either hold the hostages on Unglutrin in her home on Uloth, her capital in the 27th basement, or keep them on her ship. Her home is her castle, and she wants her home comfort until the end. It is a place where she has had plenty of time to set a trap for you,” said Craig, holding both Horti’s hands.

“Horti, I was going to do this after we had retrieved your mother, but tonight’s little episode has shaken me.”

Craig telepathically switched on the light. He fished around in his pack and pulled out a small box. He went on bended knee next to the bed. “This is backward, but we wanted to marry in your multiverse. This is the engagement ring. I have our marriage rings for the ceremony.”

He opened the box and handed the ring to Horti.

Horti hugged him tightly and sobbed. “It is stunning and such a unique diamond. I have never seen a ring like this.”

“I told my father we wanted to get married here with your mother present, then back there. He kept that ancient stone for me, and Philippa got the ring made by a famous jeweler in Etarsaway. My father has a collection of stones he only uses for family.”

“Where did he get the stone and this gorgeous ring?”

“The jeweler cut the stone and embedded the fragments of the diamond in the metal. The metal is platinum which is compressed into a crystalline form. My father can tell you the story of the stone. It is interesting, but it is his story to tell.”

“Goodnight, my darling, sleep tight. Let us hope we find your mother tomorrow!”

Craig yawned and fell asleep. Horti softly padded into the refresher and switched on the light to have another look at the gorgeous ring.

Time was short, and she was desperate to find her mother. There were gates to build, and the clock was relentlessly ticking. They weren’t only wasting Zyla’s time; every wasted day meant Horti lost more of her people. The burden of responsibility weighed heavily on her.

The conference chamber in Uloth belonging to Zyla Grep Vandran was lavishly furnished in orange and green the color of her hair. She was a shapeless blob of a woman, unattractive by her people’s standards, but she saw herself as powerful and imposing. Her affectation was a padded burgundy cylindrical headdress worn horizontally with a hole in the bottom for her head and a hole in the rounded front for her chubby face and small black eyes. The two ends of her hat protruded fifteen centimeters past her shoulders, narrowed to blunted points, and often touched the sides of doors and portals.

Zyla thought the hat made her imposing. Those that saw her in passing thought it was ridiculous. Her underlings were too frightened to think about her and her clothing. She was vindictive and cruel. She was a caricature of the woman she had been in her youth. Why had Agata turned on her and her father? Zyla was Agata’s best friend, and Agata loved her family. She gave Agata her most precious gift and shared her husband. Agata betrayed her and killed her husband. She was angry at the injustice of it all. They would pay for what they did to her and her family. She was their worst nightmare.

“I will acquire the princess before we leave. Where is Prof. Ilimnya Iskilsa? Ah, there you are. When is the latest we can go?”

“He is packing his laboratory,” said Adm. Sundim.