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sure you wanted her to
know. And to be honest, I’m not comfortable with the idea yet
myself.”
    “ There should be no secrets
between mates. Not secrets of this caliber at least. This will
affect your children, should you be so blessed. Della needs to
know.” Theos frowned at Alex in disapproval.
    “ Yeah, King Alexander. What
haven’t you been telling me?” She meant it to sound smart-alecky,
but her little joke got quite a different reception.
    “ Why do you call him that?” Theos
thundered.
    “ It’s just a joke between us. He’s
always been the King of Cups in my mind. It corresponds to the King
of Clubs, which represents an ancient king in human history called
Alexander the Great. So many coincidences there, I couldn’t resist
teasing him with the name ever since I met him. It means
nothing.”
    “ It means more than you know.”
Theos subsided, sitting back in his chair. He watched them with
measuring eyes. “What is this King of Cups?”
    “ You know I deal cards, right?”
Della began. She wondered what kind of mine field she’d just
wandered into. “We play with the standard playing deck.” She
reached into her pocket and took out the deck she always carried.
She’d had it in a small purse that had been returned to her along
with the clothes she’d been wearing when she’d been gassed. She
spread the cards expertly on the table, explaining as she went.
“There are four suits, similar to the cards your people use. What
few people realize is that our modern deck is based on a much older
deck.” She reached into another pocket for the tarot deck. She
placed this on the table, spreading it above the standard deck so
that all the cards were displayed in two fanning lines over the
surface of the table.
    “ I have not seen this one before.”
Theos leaned forward to look at the more colorful cards, each with
a different scene depicted on it.
    “ This deck is called the tarot. It
is used by some to foretell the future.” Theos’s gaze jumped to
meet hers. She selected the four kings out of the spread and placed
them face up in front of Theos, adding the four corresponding kings
from the standard deck. “Each king represents a famous king from
human history. Charlemagne, King David, Julius Caesar, and
Alexander the Great.” She pointed to each in turn. “See how much
the image on the King of Cups resembles Alex? Right down to the
aqua eyes. Plus, he owns a bar. Naturally, I teased him about it.
It didn’t mean anything. It’s just a joke.”
    “ This is no laughing matter, my
lady. There are few coincidences in life. The aqua eyes of your
mate are due to my DNA. Your scientists remade him in my image. He
is almost half jit-suku now. Enough to be—genetically speaking—my
son.”
    Alex had told her about Theos’s past as emperor, but
neglected to enlighten her about where Alex’s modified DNA had come
from. This changed things. Della sat back, stunned.
    “ Now I see why you’re scrambling
for a solution,” she admitted after a moment.
    “ Precisely,” the old man
agreed.
    “ What can I do to help?” The
question seemed to surprise both men at first. Then identical
cunning smiles lit their faces.
    “ You can help him study and learn
of the Lady while I hone his fighting skills. Between the two of
us, we should have him ready for the novitiate by the time we get
home.”
    “ And becoming a novitiate will
protect him?” She wanted to be sure.
    “ More than that, it will protect
my brother and his heir, Tren, from any future questions about
their right to the throne. Alexander will become a novitiate first,
then perform the renunciation ceremony. The word of a Zenai is
never doubted. Once he is proven worthy of the Zenai, his oaths
will carry all the weight that is necessary.”
    “ All right. I’ll do everything I
can to help. Your beliefs are similar to mine, but not the same. I
will have to study as well.”
    “ Good.” Theos looked inordinately
pleased. “I would like my