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“We must assume Seeher doesn’t realize her efforts were unsuccessful,” Citrine said.
“She should have known! She assured us he was cured. Her report was emphatic.”
“We will find her,” Nadir said. “In the meantime, I’ve summoned Judika Ospra to come speak to you. She might know something.”
“Ospra?”
“LOP Special Agent Ospra. She is leading the team investigating what happened on Aurelia. She had hitched a ride on the ship that had come to take the New Terran females home. She came to interview me and Millie again. Ospra and the remaining human female were going to leave tonight, but I caught her before they departed.”
I cocked my head. “One female? Weren’t two supposed to leave?”
Nadir started to answer, but Citrine cut in. “Brainwashing reversal is not Ospra’s specialty, is it?”
“No, but she is familiar with his case and might provide useful insight. She might be able to help locate Seeher.”
I eyed my beloved bond-mate and my most trusted advisor. The glance they shared revealed they had knowledge I did not. But I could guess. Did they think I didn’t notice how much time my son had spent with the human named Kat? That he’d brought her to a family dinner?
First, Aeon had taken a human bond-mate. Then, Nadir. Now, Lomax had intended to do so. What allure did these alien females have over normally rational people? Of course, rational no longer applied to Lomax. If bond-mating with a human was the worst act he committed, I should consider myself lucky.
Once, the notion of anyone bond-mating with a human had been anathema, and stars forbid one of my offspring or a favored member of my royal staff should do so. But objections withered in light of recent events.
My second-born had lost his mind. Citrine had suggested contact with Kat Whalen might buoy his spirits during the deprogramming. But the deprogrammer had thought otherwise, requesting we keep Lomax away from the human until the process had been completed. “Contact with the human is a distraction,” she’d said.
Of course we’d listened to her—she was the expert.
If the human could save Lomax, I’d gladly hand him over to her with my unconditional blessing. My son’s mental health and well-being were the only things that mattered now.
A footman admitted an alien woman with a feathered head and avian features. “I am Judika Ospra. You wished to speak to me, Your Majesty?”
Anger and worry surged to the surface, and I snapped, “What the zigqat happened with Prince Lomax’s deprogramming?”
If she was shocked by my outburst, her feathers remained unruffled. “Nothing has happened yet,” she replied calmly. “Were you not informed it would be at least a month until a deprogrammer would be available?”
The league was so compartmentalized, its left hand had no clue what the right hand was doing.
“Yes, but then a deprogrammer arrived. She has been working with him since last week,” Citrine explained with far more patience than I could muster.
“But it didn’t work! We were assured he was cured, and then he went berserk and kidnapped a human!” I glowered at Ospra. Reason told me she wasn’t personally responsible, but I needed somebody to blame. She represented the LOP.
Under feathery brows, Ospra’s raptor-like gaze narrowed. “What deprogrammer? What are you talking about?”
I snorted in disgust and signaled Nadir to get this ignorant agent out of my sight.
“Your son has been reporting to Aster-Rah for monitoring, but he’s a case manager, not a deprogrammer,” Ospra continued talking even though Nadir motioned at the exit.
Her forehead scrunched with concern, Citrine moved to my side. “Not him. A female. A Quadran.”
Ospra went still. Only her beak-like mouth moved. “You’re saying someone claiming to be a mind-control-reversal expert showed up here? And has been working with Prince Lomax?”
“Yes.” Citrine nodded and looked at me. “Do you recall her name? It was on the report. Sand? Seeh?”
I shook my head. “Alien names are too hard to remember.”
Feathered brows shot up in alarm. “I’m the supervising agent on Prince Lomax’s case. Aster-Rah reports to me. I’ve been waiting for His Highness to have his memory restored so I could interview him and close this investigation. If your son had begun working with a mind-control-reversal expert, Aster-Rah would have been the one to coordinate the visits and would have notified me the process had begun.”
Citrine fluttered her hands then touched her horns. “What are you saying?” It wasn’t often I saw my beloved so flustered.
“I am saying that whoever attended to your son isn’t with the League of Planets.”
