Wave-Touched, page 25
“He says you do.”
Veyl startled, realizing she had once again lost track of the councilor’s presence in the room. “Do what?”
Shyall’s lips pressed into a flat, irritated line. “Do you love him?”
Of course, she loved Kyril, not that it mattered now. “I do.”
“Then perhaps this will work after all.”
The door opened, and Jaysen entered, pausing when he saw Shyall there. He retreated a few steps and held it open, giving the councilor a stern look.
“Yes, Majesty, I was just leaving.” Shyall nodded to Veyl and walked out around him.
He stood there a second longer, turning his gaze on the Feral. “If you could give us a moment alone.”
“Majesty.” Heshara offered a slight bow before leaving with the wave dancer.
When he entered, Veyl saw the mug in his hand. “No. Please, Jaysen.” Tears sprang into her eyes. “No more.” She despised him for his pitying look as he placed the mug on the table and sat on the bed next to her.
“You must know I hate doing this to you.” He cupped her jaw with one hand. “I’m just not confident I can trust you yet. It’s obvious to me now that they made an awful mess of your memories.”
“I know.” Swallowing back the rush of bile that came up with the lie, she closed her eyes and pressed into his hand, trying to imagine it was Kyril’s. When she opened her eyes, he was gazing at her with unsettling adoration. She clung fiercely to the memories she could hold on to. A single mistake would ruin everything. “But I… I remember how afraid I was in Balarus that we had lost our wonderful connection. Then I saw you in Deepwater and…” And what? What had happened then? She took a chance on a disjointed flash of memory and blurted, “You pulled me into your arms—”
Suddenly, his lips pressed to hers, and she had to focus hard not to be sick, clinging to Kyril in her mind, grasping at foggy memories of a last blissful night together on his ship. Even with that to bolster her, she couldn’t keep the kiss going for long.
Jason’s eyes narrowed when she pulled away.
“I’m sorry.” She put a hand on her stomach. “The drug… it makes me nauseous.”
“Yes. I imagine so.” He didn’t look entirely convinced when he leaned back, as if he expected his kiss should have transcended mere physical discomfort. “The winds have been in our favor. We’ll reach Sarket soon. Perhaps we can start weaning you off. How about half this time?”
Tears spilled down her cheeks in earnest. She could do nothing to stop them. Facing another day, another hour even, feeling sick, weak, and lost in a mental fog was more than she could bear. Jaysen moved over her onto the bed and bundled her into his arms, holding her as she wept from the torment he had inflicted on her. She didn’t have it in her to pull away. Maybe for the moment that was just as well. He kissed her head, and she cried harder.
“I have some wonderful news,” he said, his tone lifting with a note of encouragement. “One of the Evokers thinks that, because your ability awoke so recently, there’s a chance he could reverse your awakening. Not yet, of course. I need you to help me deal with Thrasser first, but after that, we could return to how life was before.”
How many times had she wished to be rid of her Frightener ability? Now, with him dangling that possibility in front of her, she felt only a greater sense of horror. To have him threaten to take it away when it might be the one thing that could save her.
Veyl indulged her heartache, letting her breakdown be her excuse for not responding to that revelation. She cried herself to sleep that way. When she woke later, Jaysen was gone, and a moist black nose was in her face, those bright, sea-foam eyes staring into hers. The wave dancer’s body shifted with the tentative wagging of her tail. After a glance around found the Feral dozing in a chair by the door, Veyl reached out to the beast. When the wagging grew more enthusiastic, she gently scratched behind one of those membranous ears, and the wave dancer pressed into her hand.
“Seyn!”
The shout made Veyl jump, and the wave dancer flinched, her ears dropping back for an instant. Since the woman could have called the beast with her mind, it was clear she intended to startle Veyl, who didn’t hide her glare now. The wave dancer, Seyn, turned to go to her companion, her long tail sweeping the mug Jaysen had left for Veyl off the table. The beast glanced back at the liquid that spilled across the wood floor and huffed once, looking oddly pleased with herself, before returning to her companion’s side.
Heshara heaved a sigh. “I’ll have them send more.”
“It’s not urgent,” Veyl said, sitting up too abruptly. A wave of nausea hit her, but a few hours of sleep without more of the drug had given her head a chance to clear a little. Still a long way from normal, but at least moderately functional. She didn’t want to lose that. “I won’t be able to use my ability to help Jaysen if they don’t allow it to wear off.”
“That’s not my call,” Heshara countered, giving Seyn a chastising look.
“There’s Qwilki in your lineage, isn’t there?” It wasn’t really a question. Veyl could tell by the color of her hair, her darker skin tone, and the roundness of her features that Heshara’s family tree was probably fifty percent Vanrian at most. Somewhere in that percentage, some persistent mind-crafter blood had gotten through.
“I’m not here to chat with you, Khesran. You are nothing to me but a means to remove your people from Thaelis.”
“Funny how eager your councilors were to bring my people to Thaelis back when we had no say in the matter.”
Heshara scowled and got up, going to lean out the door. “Tell King Jaysen his little pet dumped her drink and will need more,” she said to someone outside.
Veyl surged to her feet. “I did no such…” The room spun around her, and she staggered, catching hold of the side table as she fell, landing hard on her knees.
Seyn stepped toward her, ears and tail drooping. Then she stopped and glanced at Heshara, who had closed the door again and stood staring smugly down at Veyl. The wave dancer shrank back to her companion’s side. “Feel free to blame Seyn. Your dear king is suspicious enough that he will doubt your words, even if he says otherwise, and he will wonder if he should let the Evoker fix your memories more to his liking after all.”
Knees stinging from the impact, Veyl glared up at her, etching the woman’s face in her mind and adding her to a list that included Jaysen, the Thaelian council, Eavara, and Erkhan. The people she would put an end to when she finally turned the tables.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Jaysen brought more of the drug himself. It took him long enough to get around to it that Veyl, with her clarity somewhat improved, had time to come up with an idea. Though his scowl when Heshara told him she had deliberately dumped the last batch made Veyl’s stomach twist into knots. Did she still know him well enough to turn this around? She had to. For Gannon and Kitria as much as herself.
He handed the new mug to Heshara and focused on Veyl. “Is this true?”
She could deny it and blame the wave dancer, which would be the truth, or call it an accident, but she could also do better. Embracing the misery of the last several days made it easy to summon a few tears.
She nodded. “It is.”
His jaw tightened. “What did I tell you about cooperating?”
“I know, it’s just…” She didn’t have to fake the tremble in her voice. So much rested on her ability to turn this to her favor. Her next words raced out in a frantic jumble. “I woke up, and you were gone, and my thoughts have been so confused. I didn’t know if you had ever been here at all, or if I had imagined the whole thing. Then I started wondering if I had seen you the night they took me or if that too was some drug-induced hallucination. I couldn’t bear the thought of not knowing anymore. Jaysen, I’m so, so sorry. I was just afraid and alone without you.”
Those last two words were the most important, and they had the desired effect. His expression softened. He came forward to pull her into his arms. “I’m the one who should be sorry,” he murmured. “I am here, Veyl. From now on, I will always be here for you.” He spoke the words as though he believed she would find them reassuring and kissed her head.
She rested her cheek against his chest and met Heshara’s eyes, allowing herself the slightest of smiles in response to the woman’s glare.
Jaysen insisted she drink some of the drug that day, but he cut it back enough that she could at least keep track of what was happening around her. It gave her the opportunity she needed to gather her wits and come up with a short-term plan to avoid having her mind destroyed by Thaelian Evokers. Her ability became more responsive too, though she was careful not to draw upon it. Until they were on land, any attempt to escape or to free Gannon and Kitria served no purpose. Once they reached the shore, she couldn’t try to run alone. Jaysen would take his fury out on the others if she did. That complicated the situation.
By the time they approached the coastal city of Taro in Sarket, a little farther south than she had hoped they would make landfall, she had convinced him to let her stop taking the drug, despite Heshara’s insistence that they couldn’t trust her. In a contest of influence, no matter what conflicts had occurred between them in recent months, Veyl still had years of friendship and her former tehnaak bond with Jaysen to draw upon. Not to mention the ability to leverage the fact that he believed he loved her, even if he showed it in the most appalling ways.
Veyl stood on the rear deck of the ship beside him now, appreciating the brisk coastal breeze that cleared her mind and carried with it a spark of hope. “Jaysen.”
He didn’t respond, glancing instead toward the Sarketi ship to their right, one of several escorting the six Thaelian vessels to the docks. The admiral in charge of the Sarketi fleet had been astonished to find the supposedly deceased crown prince alive and well on the deck of the Thaelian flagship. Even more so upon hearing, with the councilors supporting his claim, that Thrasser had made a deal with the Thaelians, sacrificing the combined community of Deepwater in order to eliminate him. The man, expressing admiration for Jaysen’s determination and his resourcefulness in making allies of the people sent to kill him, swore the forces under his command to the service of Sarket’s rightful heir.
Though it made her skin crawl to do so, she slid her hand into Jaysen’s, finally capturing his attention. “I wanted to ask you for something.”
His hand closed around hers, and the tightness in his jaw relaxed a fraction. “What is it, my love?”
She swallowed. He had been right about one thing. If this escalated to war between their countries, a great many lives would be lost. None of her ideas for escape would allow her to prevent that, and still save Kitria and Gannon. The unfortunate reality she faced was that she could only accomplish those goals if she took her own freedom out of the equation. “I was thinking, since we’ve sorted matters out between us, maybe I could write that letter to my parents when we get to shore.”
A smile curved his lips. Lips that had touched hers far too many times in the last few days. “I would appreciate your doing so, but that wasn’t a question.”
“No.” She would have to endure much more than his kisses if she followed through with this. She drew a bracing breath of cool, salty air. “I had hoped you would consider sending Gannon and Kitria to Vanris with the messenger, as a show of goodwill. There’s no need to keep them here now.” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, doing her best to feign affection.
His slight scowl and shrewd gaze sent a chill through her. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll be in Taro for a few weeks at least, possibly much longer depending on how quickly I can gather support. Write the letter. If I’m satisfied with it, I will consider sending Gannon back to Vanris with the messenger.”
If he was satisfied? The condition sent a chill through her. What would happen if he wasn’t? “What about Kitria?”
“It would make no sense to send her to Vanris. She is Thaelian, after all. I thought you might like to keep her as a lady’s maid, but if you have no use for her, I’ll let the council decide what to do with her.”
Veyl pivoted abruptly. She couldn’t trust the council any more than she could him. If he assigned Kitria to her as a maid, at least then she might have a chance of protecting her until she found another way to send her home to her brother. “No. In fact, that’s a lovely idea. I think she would make an excellent attendant.”
“Lady’s maid, darling. You’ll be living in Sarket now. You need to learn to use our terminology.”
Veyl wrestled down the urge to spit in his face and forced a smile. “You’re right, of course. I just need more practice.” She turned to watch their approach, struggling to ignore the churning in her stomach when he extracted his hand and slid it around her waist.
Taro was a large city set south of where the Kilden Mountains curved out toward the ocean, northwest of Andaro, Sarket’s capital. The range loomed up just north of them now, sweeping around the backside of Taro to continue south farther inland. Clouds hid the highest mountaintops from view—the shape of their snow-capped peaks left to the imagination. Evergreen forests covered most of the steep slopes, bathing the horizon in a dark blue-green. The landscape was breathtaking, and as unlike Vanris as Thaelis was, though in an entirely different way. A view she would have loved getting to see under much better circumstances.
The city itself, stretching toward the hillsides beyond the oceanfront, was attractive as well. Streets lined with buildings built of light-colored stone and wind-worn wood. Rooftops on the houses and businesses came to sharp peaks, and at least three tall bell towers marked churches of Havaad. Hundreds of round-eared Sarketi people went about their daily lives, unaware of how significantly the arriving ships could alter their futures.
As they finished mooring the flagship to the dock and prepared to unload, she glanced at Jaysen. “Do you think Kitria could begin working for me here? I expect she would be amenable to the arrangement if it earned her some measure of freedom, and it would be nice to have the company of another woman.” She added the last with a sharp look at Heshara standing a few feet away.
The Feral narrowed her eyes in return.
Jaysen didn’t look at her. “We shall see.”
Veyl followed his distracted gaze to the deck, where a group of six Thaelian soldiers were bringing someone up from below. Her chest constricted, breath catching in her throat, when she recognized the figure stumbling along with two Thaelian soldiers supporting him.
Tangled and matted with blood, Kyril’s long hair obscured much of his face until he glanced their way, revealing so much bruising and swelling he was almost unrecognizable. She clung to her resolve to stop herself from pulling away from Jaysen. When they turned Kyril toward the gangplank, she sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of raw, bloody stripes over his exposed back, where someone had whipped him. Ice moved through her veins. Without considering what she was doing, she reached up to touch the place in her hair where the spiral shell had hung. Given everything else, the missing shells had been low on her list of priorities.
Unfortunately, Jaysen was looking at her now. “Ah. Yes. I threw those trinkets overboard. You are free of them. I had the councilors bring the former ahnkreth along as a wedding gift. I figured that, once your memory cleared, you would be delighted to see the man who attacked Deepwater and upended our lives so horribly put to death. His execution will also serve as a gesture to acknowledge my alliance with the Thaelian council.”
It took all her willpower to hold back a sob. Gannon and Kitria she might have a chance of getting out of this, but Kyril too? Jaysen would never agree to let him live. And even if she could break him free, whether they had drugged him or simply beaten him that badly, he appeared barely able to walk.
Seyn let out a soft whine, and Veyl glanced over at the wave dancer, noting how her gaze followed Kyril’s stumbling progress on the gangplank. The beast shifted from one front paw to the other, falling still when Heshara glowered down at her. Was the animal reacting because he was a Feral, like her companion, or was there something deeper to her distress?
Veyl swallowed against a painful constriction in her throat, fighting to keep her voice steady and her ability silent. “Did you bring his wave dancer?”
“No. The council deliberately locked the beast in a cell next to him, so they could leave it there. It would have only gotten in the way.”
To be separated from his bonded companion like this was one more form of torture, but at least they left Ceris alive. This changed everything, though, adding significant complications to this situation that she had been unaware of until that moment. The weight of despair that fell over her made the simple act of standing upright feel like an overwhelming feat.
Mind racing, she turned to Jaysen, doing her best to pretend a lack of interest in the group now descending to the dock. “Why did we come here?”
“I need to meet with Wavelord Kronach and secure his support. He holds substantial sway over the coastal communities in Sarket. I’m hoping he will grant me use of his messengers to spread word of my return and Thrasser’s betrayal.”
“Wavelord? He’s Eydarith?”
“Yes.” His weary tone and the roll of his eyes told her how he felt about that.
“But there are several churches of Havaad in the city. I thought the Eydarith considered Havaad worship to be blasphemy.”
“Kronach is the second wavelord of Taro. His predecessor took the city in an honor duel thirty-three years ago from the lord it had been granted to by my father, King Roald Lodmund,” he added emphasis to the man’s title and name, as if he felt a need to remind her, or perhaps himself, that he was the former king’s son. “My father agreed not to challenge the rule of the wavelords here so long as they adhered to certain conditions, one being that Havaad worshipers be allowed to continue practicing their religion unhampered within the city.”
“That strikes me as unusually tolerant, given what I know of your father.” She looked out over the city toward the tall castle at its heart, also stealing a glance at Kyril’s group where they had stopped by the end of the wooden dock. His guards had forced him to his knees, the hang of his head hiding his face within the fall of his long, tangled hair. An ache throbbed through her chest at the sight of him.
