"There's two of you?!" Dana gasped in alarm, before Rachel elbowed her in the ribs.
Alyssa had reached Irillith by this point, and she knelt next to the Maliri girl, pulling her into a hug. She shot Dana a disapproving look, and the redhead was shamefaced at her outburst.
Reaching out through Irillith's grief stricken thoughts, Alyssa spoke to her in a comforting murmur, *I'm here for you now, you don't have to hold this pain in any more.*
John walked over to squat down on Irillith's other side, and stroked her back soothingly as she cried dejectedly into Alyssa's arms. They let her cry herself out, and when her tears had finally dried up, she turned to look at John with a haunted look in her eyes.
"I'm sorry. I had no idea you'd lost a sister," John said sympathetically. "What happened to her?"
He could see the self-recrimination in Irillith's expression as she looked away distantly for a long moment. After heaving a heavy sigh, she eventually said quietly, "Tashana wasn't like me. She was good and kind, just immersing herself in her love of ancient things, and throwing herself into her archaeology. We were close as children, but we grew apart as we went our separate ways, following different careers. She had no interest in Maliri politics, and while I was trying to curry favour with our mother by embracing hacking and intelligence gathering, she spent her time on research.
She tried to reach out to me lots of times, but I rebuffed all her attempts to rebuild our close childhood bond. I ignored her completely, considering her a witless fool with all her talk of the Mael'nerak fairytale being based on real events."
Irillith's voice faltered for a moment, and she said with sorrow, "It turns out she was right all along, and I was the fool."
John placed a comforting hand over hers, and squeezed gently. "How did you lose her?" he asked softly.
Guilt played across Irillith's face as she whispered, "I killed her."
"You murdered your own sister?!" Calara gasped in shock.
Irillith gave her a heartbroken glance, and with her face etched with guilt, she replied, "Basically, yes. Tashana's research led her to all sorts of ancient sites purported to belong to the Progenitors. She found all sorts of evidence of their abilities, amongst them, the power to supposedly heal their servants. When she told our mother and me, I just dismissed her stories as fanciful nonsense, a childlike obsession that Tashana had never grown out of. However, Edraele was suddenly very interested in Tashana's research into healing powers, and now we know why.
Anyway, I grew insanely jealous of this budding new relationship between my mother and sister. I saw myself as the next Matriarch of House Valaden, then from out of nowhere, someone I had discounted as irrelevant suddenly became my closest rival for Edraele's attention. I framed Tashana, setting her up to look like she had been selling House Valaden secrets to House Loraleth, our greatest rival, in exchange for access to dig sites in their territory. I did an outstanding job, and the evidence was damning.
The penalty for treason to your house is death, and Tashana should have been executed immediately, which is what I'd been hoping would happen. My mother decided to commute her sentence to banishment instead, and Tashana was thrown out of Maliri Space with nothing but the clothes on her back."
Alyssa looked hopeful, and exclaimed, "She might still be alive, then!"
Irillith shook her head, and said mournfully, "There's no chance of that. This happened thirteen years ago, and Tashana was kind, but weak. She wouldn't have lasted thirteen days out there in the Unclaimed Wastes, not with all the pirates and slavers around."
As John listened to Irillith's dark tale of sibling betrayal, Edraele's voice suddenly appeared in his mind. *Sorry for interrupting, my Lord,* she said to him apologetically. *I overheard your thoughts, and wished to inform you that Tashana is still alive.*
John blinked in surprise, having forgotten about the new telepathic connection with his second Matriarch. *If she's been banished, how can you be so sure?* he asked her curiously.
*As a blood relative, Tashana was far too valuable a resource to waste. Had I ever needed a test subject for an experimental medical procedure, she would have been a useful asset,* Edraele said, in a neutral voice. For her to speak about these events so dispassionately, made her treatment of her daughter all the more chilling. *I had her implanted with a tracking device, which had a built in bio-reader. When Tashana came up in conversation, I checked the tracker, and she's still alive.*
Reminding himself that the new personality he was building for Edraele couldn't be blamed for her predecessor's actions, John replied, *Thank you for the information, you were very helpful, Edraele.*
*It was my pleasure!* she replied, sounding delighted to hear his kind words.
Alyssa had listened in curiously, hearing John's thoughts, and his half of the conversation as he spoke to Edraele, but she had not been privy to the Maliri's thoughts as well. For someone used to listening to multiple sides of a conversation, especially where John was concerned, it was a disconcerting adjustment to make.
John focused on the girls in the room, and saw that they were all watching him attentively. He realised he'd been so distracted by the telepathic update from Edraele, that he'd lost track of the current conversation.
"Sorry girls. Edraele contacted me telepathically, and I got a bit distracted," he apologised sincerely, looking around at them. "She let me know that Tashana is still alive."
Irillith looked suspicious, and said, "I don't believe it, it's been far too long. How does she know for sure?"
"I'll spare you the details, but Edraele planted a tracking device with a bio-reader on your sister. It's active, and your mother confirmed Tashana is still alive," John said cautiously.
A bright light of hope flared in Irillith's eyes, and she gasped, "Then we can go and rescue her! I can beg for her forgiveness, and try to make amends."
John glanced at Calara, who was starting to look worried at the possibility of a delay in their return to the Terran Federation, and their mission to root out the Dragon March traitor. He let out a big sigh, and said, "We can't right now Irillith, I'm sorry. There are too many lives at stake in the Terran Federation, and we need to expose Admiral Norwood before he causes any more unnecessary deaths. Once we've settled that business, rescuing Tashana will be our next highest priority."
Irillith looked horribly conflicted, but she eventually nodded, saying with some reluctance, "Alright, I understand. You have your obligations to the Terran Federation, and Calara's family is at risk."
