“I’ve missed you.” Babel admitted.
“I’ve missed you. Now, do you want to talk? Because I had something else in mind.”
In response he met her lips with his own. They made love then in the way that only couples who have been apart from each other can. Babel poured all of the emotion from the day into his passion for her. The fear and the anger and the sorrow poured through into the passion he had for her. Then, at the end it all slipped away.
They separated, her body heat radiating next to him as they lie in the moonlight. Their fingers were intertwined completing the connection of energy that passed between them. Triana rolled to her side and Babel felt her naked body against him. She raised her chin to speak into his ear and Babel awaited her sweet words.
But the words didn’t come. What came was a sharp pain that was a surprise to Babel and he didn’t react at first. It wasn’t until he saw the glint of moonlight on steel that he recognized that all was not as it seemed. He felt warmth spreading down his chest and even in the shadows, the crimson color of blood was revealed.
Babel reached up in vain to stop the flow of blood that streamed from his lacerated neck. Moments later he was dead.
Triana had been given the gift of ajándék by the Keeper. She had not taken the gift willingly but it had been given to her nonetheless. As such, she opened herself to programming by the Keeper. Even after his death she remained his weapon.
Now, the weapon had completed its task. And it was not just the death of the Chokka for which she had been programmed. With her ability of feeling touch, she could feel the new life within her. That life was less than an hour old but she could sense her son – Babel’s son – within in.
She slipped away from the bed, washing the blood from her body. Then, she passed through the hallway undetected back to her own room. She passed into a deep, dreamless sleep as the night slipped away into morning. The light of that morning would reveal what had occured and bring upon them the next stage in the Keeper’s plan.
CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT
It was determined that Babel would be buried in honor with his family. The Chokka had been buried for years in unmarked graves, known only to exist by a few. Quentin was one of those select few.
A distraught Triana insisted to her uncle that Babel’s mother in the other world be informed. Such was the emotional state of Triana that Quentin relented and allowed the request. Triana thanked her uncle and left an unsuspecting Jims and Quentin alone.
“Poor girl.” Jims commented. “She has been through so much and now this.”
Quentin nodded silently. “So who will go to the other world to inform Babel’s mother?”
“Are you kidding? Do you really think Triana is going to let anyone but herself go?”
“Do you think it’s safe?”
“I was planning on going with her. Does that make you feel better?”
Quentin agreed that it did. “Who do you think killed Babel? I can’t imagine any of the Klopph surviving their inferno.”
“Could be a Keeper loyalist. There were those who benefited personally from the Keeper and someone like that would have lost much with the Keeper’s death. You’ll need to keep an eye out while I’m gone.”
Quentin sighed. “There is much to do to rebuild this world.”
“Yes, there is. And now that you are the Császár, people will look to you.”
“Will I be accepted as the Császár? There has not been a Császár who was not a Chokka.”
“It is a new time. Besides, your successor has already been picked out.”
Quentin smiled. “My great-nephew. Imagine, the line of the Chokka now part of my family.”
“Triana is going to need a lot of help to raise him the ways of the Chokka. I can’t think of anyone better than you to train him.”
“I’m glad you have confidence. Anyways, you can see for yourself who I’m doing when you get back.”
Two days later, Quentin joined Jims and Triana on the grounds of what had been the Erőd and was now once again called the Palātium. Quentin bid his farewells and called the Bejárat.
Through the angry clouds, Quentin saw Babel’s world. He witnessed the damage that could have only been done by the Klopph as a pile of scorched, broken marble that had once been the Taj Mahal.
Jims and Triana walked forward into the portal. And then they were gone.
CHAPTER FIFTY NINE
Some months later, Triana’s taxi pulled up to the house. She had finally made her way to the home of Babel’s mother.
Jims had not made the journey with her. His corpse was rotting in a drainage ditch not far from the Taj Mahal a far as Triana knew. She had left him in that ditch after she slit his throat.
Alicia threw her arms around Triana and cried on her shoulder after Triana convinced her of who she was. Triana followed Alicia inside. “Are you hungry?” Alicia asked.
Triana smiled. “I’m not but I would love a glass of iced tea.”
Alicia relished in the company of Triana. Her hands shook as she poured the tea. She was horded with a mix of emotions. “I have so many questions for you. You said my son could not come back with you. Where is he?”
Triana lowered her head and tears filled her eyes. “He was killed.”
Alicia faltered but then stood to her feet. “What do you mean?”
“I couldn’t tell you until I was sure that you believe who I was and where
