Good, they still respected him. Respect was all-important.

     Still his mind was awash with glimpses, glances, and full-throttle gapings of the Green Robe he'd slept beside all night. Ty pushed his meal from one side of his plate to the other noncommittally. He’d sent a servant into Cia’s room while she'd slept to deliver her breakfast, and he hoped the Green Robe had a better appetite than he did.

     The second thing on his mind was that dress Cia had worn at the restaurant. It had clung to her every curve. She’d made it near-impossible to keep his mind on Joren’s plan, but Ty hoped he’d covered it well.

     Something was wrong with him. Ty had spent years bedding giggly women and walking away, had never before given his conquests a passing thought. Actually, it had been much more of a sport than a pastime. Rhontaians were famed womanizers and he'd once been proud of that! But it wasn't going to happen this time, according to Joren’s eleventh-hour warnings. Now, Ty was haunted with thoughts of Cia Anize and not getting to bed her. And that upset him.

     What reward could there be for a man who wants a woman, to lie throughout the night with her scantily-clad body pressed next to his and not give in to touching her all over? Surely, some Supreme Being was keeping score of such minor yet profound victories. Where was his medal for that? Ty couldn't keep from the thought of what might have happened if he'd kissed her cheek, smoothed her ruffled hair with a gentle hand, slipped a hand along her form ...

     Oh, yes, now he remembered. Another black eye would have happened.

     "Buddy!"

     Ty grimaced at the familiar voice. Draycie had been hoping not run into him.

     Soon Kade Quil was setting his breakfast across from Ty's and throwing a leg over the wooden bench, scraping its feet noisily. "Well, what was she like?"

     Ty squinted at Quil, at a loss to name his subject. "What was who like?"

     "The little Green Robe. What's she like in the sack, Ty? Are these Pygrians worth chasing? How about some good, experienced advice?"

     Ty just threw him a dirty look.

     "Come on, Ty," Kade prompted, his enthusiasm for the subject rubbing Tybalt the wrong way. "You always tell me everything. Are they hellions or wet noodles? Do they fall for the easy lines? Was she loud? I love loud women. Louder the better."

     Ty only ate his breakfast, concentrating on the mounds of starch on his plate, along with a slab of moobeast and gravy.

     Ty’s ignoring of Kade set the man into a brooding frown. "You know, Draycie, I can remember when you were fun."

     "So," Ty wiped his mouth with his napkin, fully expecting to meet up with the thick beard he'd sported for twenty years, close to half his life, then he tossed the white linen onto the tabletop. "I am no fun anymore because I'm not going to tell you what it's like to bed a Pygrian." Not that he knew. Only Prince Joren knew what that was like.

     "Relax, Ty. Jeez, she's only an alien piece."

     Miffed at his colleague's disrespect, Tybalt thrust a warning finger into Kade's face. "Don't call her that. Do you hear me?"

     "Calm down, Ty. What's got you in a knot? If the little Green Robe has you in a grip, pass her to me, Draycie. I'll keep her until she sees the wisdom in obeying her conquerors."

     "You'll not lay a paw upon her, Quil. I mean it. The Pygrians are not conquered by us, you dimwit. It is a negotiated peace. They are not slaves."

     Kade's snickers tested Ty sorely. "Call it what you will." The head of Rhonta's intelligence force turned to his breakfast and began to shovel food into his copper-bearded mouth. "Let's not let some fly-by-night little alien wench steal our friendship. Tell me of Joren's plans."

     "He's not told you?"

     "No."

     Ty gulped his glass of citra juice, stretching his answer as long as possible while he examined his friend feeding upon his breakfast. "Then I've no clearance to tell you."

     Kade stopped eating, scratched his head, his countenance now gravely set in an image of reflection. A rare sight, indeed. "Ty, I know something hot is brewing around here with the Watch, and it isn't just the note. Things are changing every day. Blind transfers have been ordered for an unknown number of officers. Who's calling the shots, the prince or Panertill?"

     "We shall see in the end."

     A copper brow rose. "The end of what, civil war?"

     Knowing Kade’s penchant for sleuthing out his answers, reading body language, Ty gave him an answer for mysteries. "No, my friend, if Joren did not tell you his plans, I cannot."

     Kade leaned closer, his hostility detectable. "It goes much further than command, doesn't it, Ty? You no longer trust me."

     Ty shook his head, not wanting to admit he'd lost faith in his best friend. They'd attended the Academy together, gone to war together, chased women together. Kade and he had history. And Quil hadn't actually done anything to get on his bad side.

     "You're wrong, Kade. I trust you." Ty offered his hand and they clasped forearms in brotherhood, gave each other hearty grins and manly grips, then returned to their breakfasts.

     "I could order you to tell me, for InterAgency's sake."

     "Yes, you could," Ty confirmed, and nodded. "You'd have a fine time trying to beat the truth from me."

     "I expected as much, now," Kade settled back into his resident grin after having sucked down five eggs and mountain of meat. "Tell me all about the little Green Robe."

     "She's off-limits to you."

     "Come on, Ty, have a heart. She's cute."

     "Find some other poor soul to vent your sexual attentions upon."

     Kade laughed, pointing at him in ridicule. "She's got you. Just like that little Pygrian witch has Joren by the royal oats."

     "Change the subject."

     "Done," Kade declared, flipping back to his alternate subject with slippery ease. "What of Joren's plans? I can't keep an ear to the ground if I don't know what I'm listening for."

     "Listen for the rebels."

     Ty lifted a dripping starch biscuit to his mouth and took a big bite. Without bothering much to chew, he said, "Quil, you're so transparent. When Her Highness goes into labor, Lala and Joren will be out of the city. Transport will take them to the Sand Tower, an entire province away," Ty added slyly, knowing any attack on the Sand Tower would have come from Quil.

     "East of here."

     "Yes." Ty nodded. "We expect a chemical threat on government offices from Panertill. The Black Watch will not let an opportunity for chaos pass by unaddressed." Kade nodded, knowing that it would likely be the case.

     Tybalt sopped up his moobeast gravy with another starch biscuit. "When Panertill and his expatriates are in custody, I will signal Joren with the receiver to return his family from hiding."

     "The receiver I found in your desk ..."

     "Yes."

     "Good plan." Kade's white teeth gleamed like a predator's. His moss-eyed gaze was intense.

     Leaning over the width of the table, Tybalt reached for his friend's wrist to impress his seriousness. "Remember, Kade. High confidence."

     Quil scoffed at Draycie for what he saw as a condescending attitude. "Secrecy is my job, Ty. Sometimes you forget to whom I am truly loyal, my friend. ConsulateRhonta will always come first for me. I am sworn to Her. Will She always come first to you?"

     Tybalt wanted to break every bone in his body, wanted to feed his buddy his spleen. How could someone who had been as close to him as Kade had been, ask such a question? The royal house was his family, and he would always be loyal to them. Would Quil choose to separate the House Deauxdaytryx from the rule of Rhonta? Did Kade dream, as last night’s note would suggest, that Ty would step forward and take the throne from Joren, the high seat of the House Deauxdaytryx?

     Considering what Kade Quil might think was disturbing, but there would be plenty of time for friendly violence and lesson impression later.

     "Now, about the Green Robe ..."

     "Don’t you have someone to arrest?" Ty volleyed, as he stood away from the table and saluted the triple blue-barred high commander before him, then walked away. Ty hoped the lie he’d told his friend about the royal couple’s hideaway would keep Quil’s sleuthing talents at bay ... until Ty and Joren felt fully confident as to where Quil’s allegiance lay. Funny how Kade had mentioned an allegiance to ConsulateRhonta but not to the House of Deauxdaytryx, which should have been in his mix of vows.

     Behind his back, Ty heard Kade shout to his friend for all to hear, "Take care, High Commander Draycie, that the same Pygrian affliction that presses the prince does not curse you as well."

***