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of our Triad. And you can tell Rhyaz that!"

Stronghold, the same day

Lijou had been with Rhyaz when the call from Vriuzu came in, otherwise he'd not have heard anything till later— much later. He suppressed his anger as he listened to Vriuzu give his report to Rhyaz.

"I sensed an anger and a violence within him that should not exist in one brought up as a telepath," he was saying.

"Did he react with anger to your probe?" he asked Vriuzu abruptly.

Startled, Vriuzu turned his head, trying to see him on his comm screen. "No, Father, but I could feel it..."

Lijou let his disgust be heard. "You violated his mental privacy, I'm not surprised he was angry! That he concealed it at all is a credit to his training, considering what he's been through. How else did he react to your probe?"

"He seemed to be in great pain, Father. Then Liegena Carrie interfered."

"How?" he asked sharply. "What did she do?"

"She blocked me, making it impossible for me to reach Kusac's mind, then set up a feedback from him to me so I experienced his pain," he said angrily. "Where did she learn to do that? I thought it was a technique only used by the ablest of our Truthsayers and medics."

Lijou smiled inwardly. Vriuzu had suffered no more than he deserved. To forcibly scan one so recently released from torture was a betrayal of everything Vartra's Priesthood stood for. And for Rhyaz to summarily commandeer one of his priests for such a task without asking him first went beyond the bounds of acceptable practice! He would have words with Rhyaz about this later, strong words.

"But I know he was concealing something, Father! I felt it in that instant before the pain hit me!"

"Supposition and conjecture!" Lijou snorted. "You'd have us believe his shields were so strong you had to force a contact, yet you managed to penetrate them as the pain hit you? I think not. And you wonder he felt anger toward you for causing him this distress and agony?" He stopped abruptly as he felt Rhyaz' hand close on his knee, claws extending warningly.

"Where is Kusac now?" asked Master Rhyaz.

"He's in the sick bay, eating. Doctor Zayshul examined his wound and said we could proceed with the debriefing after he'd eaten. Carrie has T'Chebbi, Rezac, and Jeran helping her guard him from us ! I'm lucky she let me out to contact you!"

"Conduct the debriefing normally, Vriuzu. Leave the rest to us. We'll look into it further when they return to Shola."

When the screen went blank, Lijou turned on him. "You had no right to set Vriuzu— one of my priests— on Kusac! You've overstepped your area of responsibility, Rhyaz! When did I ever interfere in your realm of operations? The En'Shallans are mine! My priests, my concern, my responsibility! How dare you have Kusac's person violated in this way! Hasn't he suffered enough?"

"Peace, Lijou. I've achieved what I wanted," said Rhyaz. "I didn't expect to be able to probe his mind but Kaid and Carrie will guard him so closely that should there be any secondary programming, he won't get the opportunity to cause any harm either to the treaty or Haven."

Stunned, Lijou watched Rhyaz get to his feet and walk over to the hot plate for a mug of c'shar.

"You put Kusac through a forced mental contact in his condition, risked triggering a seizure, just to have him guarded by his own people?"

"Can you imagine the outcry from his Triad partners and friends if I'd put guards on him?" Rhyaz asked, spooning the sweetener into his mug. "This way, though Kaid will still be angry, he'll have no option but to do what I want."

"I had the matter in hand! Thanks to you, they'll have lost their trust in me!"

"I doubt it, Lijou. They know the orders came from me, not you."

Lijou got to his feet, his rumble of anger filling the room. "Next time, consult me before you take matters concerning my priests into your own hands! I could have achieved the same outcome without any ill feelings!" He stormed out of Rhyaz' office, tail flicking angrily beneath