brother Caswallon. He had succeeded in taking Gwynedd, jailing his brother the King, and murdering Sorcha when she would not submit to Cadferâs intent to claim her as his own. Maelgwn, with the aid of his fatherâs champion, Sir Tiernan, and the High Merlin of Briton at the time, Taliesin, defeated Cadfer and freed his father.
âWhy, in heavenâs name, would Avery be researching this period?â Fallon wondered, but then most things about the man were a mystery to her â thatâs what she found alluring about him.
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Brian was disappointed to be forced to leave his daughterâs inaugural celebration before the festivitieshad even begun. He considered that he should have known that some major disaster would rear its ugly head and prevent him from enjoying the momentous occasion when the government of Nugia was finally handed from the Leonine leader, Tyrus-Leon, to Bast, their daughter.
In order to introduce the immortality gene into the gene pool of the Leonine race, Brian Alexander had artificially fathered the child of Tyrus-Leonâs wife, Samara. For Tyrus-Leon was a living mortal incarnation of Brianâs soul-mind, just as Samara was a living mortal incarnation of Brianâs own wife, Candace. Thus, Bast had always known two sets of parents â as, indeed, did Sparrowhawk â one set belonging to the Leonine race and the other set belonging to the Chosen breed.
As Brian prepared to leave Nugia, he felt consoled by the fact that since Tyrus was remaining for the ceremony, all Brian need do was a little past-life regression and he too could bear witness to the ceremony he was about to miss.
âIâm so proud of you, princess.â Brian hugged his daughter in parting. âI know you are going to be an outstanding Governor to your people and Iâm so very sorry that Iâm going to miss your big moment.â
âNo, you wonât.â Bast held him at armâs length as her eyes turned to Tyrus-Leon who was standing close by. âYouâre always with me, in one body or another.â She smiled, doing her best to suppress her disappointment.
âAnd yet, youâd do just as well without me.â
âPerhaps.â Bast was flattered. âBut I like having the ruler of the known universe behind me for support. Itâs very confidence building.â
âLike your confidence needs any boosting.â He kissed her cheek and turning his thoughts homeward, he served Bast with a wink of encouragement and vanished.
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In the conference room of Government House on Kila, Brian found his wife and Vice-Governor very pale in appearance as they spoke with his sister, Tory, and the historian, Noah Purcell. After hearing the news of the missing Aten and the suspicions they were entertaining about the identity of the thieves, Brian himself paled.
He stood, gripping the edge of the table and staring hard at it as he assessed his own feelings on the matter. âAll those who knew my ruling on the children of Dumuzi was going to come back to haunt me, please raise your hands.â
Tory was the only person present who did not raise her hand, thus Brian looked to her. âEthnic cleansing is never an answer, as it stems from intolerance, ignorance and fear. If the children of Dumuzi are set to oppose us, then it was meant to be. I feel we made a mistake leaving them to their own devices, though. They should have been educated in the secret mysteries and encouraged towards taking up the cause of the Logos.â
âThey didnât want to be integrated into our society, Tory,â Brian defended. âThey just wanted to continue as they were.â
âBut they had no idea of their hidden potential,â she argued. âWith the proper guidance ââ
âIt looks as though they do know of their hiddenpotential and intend to activate their immortality without any guidance or permission from us.â
âBut we