Page 70 of Dark Voyage Matters of the Mind

Aru could see the queen's plan working. The more she talked publicly about her project, the more believable it would be.That would cover her side, but he still needed to figure out obstacles on his.

I see one more problem that the queen might not have taken into account. If I need to stay near Annani and be available daily to her, I can't continue searching for the missing pods, which is the official reason for my presence here.

Well, to call it official was a misstatement. The public wasn't aware of the galactic patrol ship stopping by the forbidden planet and dropping off scouts to search for the Kra-ell. It was a secret mission authorized by the king.

How am I going to explain that?

Give me a moment,Aria said. I need to consult with the two most important ladies on Anumati.

As he waited for Aria to return to him with a solution, he wracked his mind for ideas as well. Even if the queen or the Oracle managed to change his mission on Earth to something that would require him to stay put, how was he going to explain it to his teammates? Also, how was he going to excuse his daily visits to Annani?

More than a moment had passed until Aru sensed Aria's presence again.

I have some questions, Aria began.The communication device you use to get in touch with the clan, does it come with global connectivity?

It does. Kian gave me one of the clan phones, and they are connected to the clan's satellites. They work from anywhere in the world.

Excellent. The queen says that there is no need for you to be in the heir's presence while they converse through us. You can talk with her via the device.

That is not going to be easy to explain either. Kian knows, and obviously, the princess would have to know as well, but we cannot let anyone else know about our telepathic connection.

Give me a moment,Aria said.

This time around, it really did take only a moment for Aria to return to him.Here is what you need to do: you will explain to the heir that she must publicly demand that you call her daily and educate her about Anumati, its politics, and the Eternal King. The princess should repeat the request in front of your teammates, so they won't question it. Even if they overhear you talking about those things, they will have no reason to suspect that you are being fed the information. They will assume that you are talking from personal knowledge.

Our queen is brilliant.

Aria chuckled.Thank you. That was my idea.

You were always the smart one, sister.

Dagor

"Ihave good news for you, Frankie." Gertrude entered the room, pushing a cart with various medical equipment. "Hildegard has convinced Dr. Bridget that you can be discharged on two conditions. One is that Dagor watches you for the next twenty-four hours, and the other is that I check in on you from time to time."

Dagor rose to his feet and pushed his stool against the wall to give the nurse room to maneuver.

"That's awesome." Frankie pushed up on the hospital's elevated bed, forgetting that she needed to pretend to be in pain.

When Dagor lifted his brows as a reminder, she affected a wince and slid back down a little. "I feel so much better that I keep forgetting that I should limit my movements."

"On the contrary," Gertrude said. "As long as you don't do anything to pop the stitches, which is difficult to do even if you try, you should move as much as you can to encourage circulation."

Dagor hadn't known that, and given Frankie's surprised expression, neither had she.

"That's good to know. In fact, I should have known that. My cousin Monica was encouraged to walk within hours after her C-section."

"That's right. Back in the day, it was believed that bed rest sped up healing. But today, patients are encouraged to walk as soon as they can." The nurse smiled. "Not while receiving blood, though."

Frankie lifted her arms, which were free of tubes and wires. "That's done."

Slanting a glance at Dagor, Gertrude lifted a brow. "Are you squeamish?"

"I don't think so. Why?" He was when it came to Frankie's injury, but he wasn't going to admit it.

Besides, it should be mostly healed by now.

"I'm going to change Frankie's dressing and check on her wound."