Wave-Touched, page 3
She nodded. “I ask you to trust me, Jin. I will do everything I can for both our countries. Please believe that.”
“I am linked to you, Seh’hali, so I know when your heart speaks true. I also recognize that these people have a powerful, and justified, hatred for my country right now.”
She realized suddenly what he was really getting at. If they did something to him once they had him away from her, he wanted reassurance that she would still follow through for Thaelis.
“Dhomvalen.” She paused until Arhk turned to her, aware of Jaysen stopping in the doorway to listen. “Please ensure Ahndhomen Jinau is treated as a political guest and not a prisoner.”
Arhk cast a glance at her parents, waiting for a nod from each of them before responding. “Of course, Ahninveth.”
“Thank you.” She wasn’t sure she liked the way he spoke her new title, but she inclined her head in a gesture of respect, first to Arhk, then to Jinau. “I will seek you out when we finish here, Ahndhomen.”
“Ahninveth.” Jinau offered her a partial bow and left the room, Arhk accompanying him with his personal guards and a few of the dedicated palace ones following.
The moment the door closed behind them, she turned to her parents. “I am sorry if I’ve made this more difficult.”
Her mother pulled her into a hug, and her father wrapped his arms around them both.
“You are home,” she murmured, placing a kiss on Veyl’s forehead. “That’s what truly matters. We can figure the rest out together.”
Veyl drew back from them. “What were you saying about conflict in the north?”
“You know that, before your disappearance, there was a growing movement demanding that your mother and I step down and let you take the throne. They want a leader who better represents most of the population. Someone who is not a mind-crafter. Although if what Jaysen told us is true…” he trailed off, inviting her confirmation.
“It is. I am a Frightener, which will make me exceptionally unpopular, I’m afraid. But Grandfather has agreed to work with me on controlling it.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “As extraordinary as it is to have two mind-crafter children in one family, it also means you are no longer what these people hoped you would be. After your disappearance, they spread rumors that we had conveniently disposed of you so we could make Tavin our heir and keep a mind-crafter on the throne. There were demonstrations that turned violent. We put most of our Evokers and Charmers to work trying to weed out malcontents who were using this as an excuse to promote chaos. We’ve faced many challenges in your absence.”
He shook his head then, his gaze sweeping over her, lingering on the tokens in her hair the longest. “You can’t truly mean to argue on behalf of a country that violently attacked two of our towns and took innocent people—took you—captive?”
Her parents looked faintly hopeful, as if they suspected she might have merely said those things because Jinau was watching. How she hated having to be the one to disappoint them, but she couldn’t abandon the people of Thaelis any more than she could her own.
“I can. I signed an agreement with the Thaelian council stating as much. The residents of Thaelis have suffered terrible losses. What their leaders ordered done to us was reprehensible. I won’t try to deny that, but the populace is not to blame for their actions. I intend to see our people returned to their homes here, but I do not want the citizens of Thaelis hurt in the process. For their sake, I will represent Thaelis as agreed. They need someone whose voice carries weight here to do so.”
Her father’s expression hardened a fraction. “Veyl, you can’t—”
“Save everyone? I know. I also know that back when Arhk told you that, you didn’t listen, either.”
Her mother arched a brow at him, and he gave a tired chuckle and shook his head at Veyl. “This is a lot to process. I’m still trying to move past the fear that I’ll wake up in a minute and find that having you back was all just a dream.”
“As am I, my love,” her mother said, taking his hand and twining her fingers through his.
Veyl drew a deep breath, hoping they would take her next words as well as they had taken the previous ones. “There’s more. I would like Ahnkreth Kyril released to assist with negotiations.”
Her mother yanked her hand free, using it to cut the air in a sharp gesture. “Under no circumstances!”
Her father’s jaw tightened, a dark, predatory anger rising in his eyes. “Jaysen told us what that man did to you in Deepwater and during the voyage. I will not permit him to be anywhere near you.”
“Jaysen? He witnessed very little of what happened on the crossing. They barely allowed us to be around each other during that time. Ahnkreth Kyril brought him here to warn you that Thrasser was up to something after I asked him to. If he hadn’t, you still wouldn’t know where to find me, and I would certainly not be standing with you now. He risked everything because he realized what they had done to us was wrong and wanted to help me protect my people. All of that aside, as a higher officer of Thaelis, he possesses a knowledge of Thaelian culture that could help expedite the negotiation process, and it would provide Thaelis more representation at the table.”
“You have the ahndhomen to assist with that,” her father countered.
“Ahndhomen Jinau doesn’t have the extensive knowledge of their naval complex that Ahnkreth Kyril does. Thaelis is an island country. That information could be invaluable.” Technically, Nalika shared that knowledge, but she was Kyril’s subordinate. Besides, her parents didn’t know about Nalika yet. She hoped they wouldn’t hold the omission against her later.
“Veyl.” A ready argument hung in wait behind her mother’s tone.
It was easy to want to give in and relent to the comfort and safety of the life she had once known, but the people of Thaelis would suffer if she did so. Kyril and Ceris would suffer. “We’ve all gone through a lot of unnecessary misery because of what Thaelis’s council did here, using Ahnkreth Kyril and his fleet as one of their weapons, but I believe this can have a peaceful resolution. Perhaps one that is even beneficial to both sides. We’re dealing with Sarket and internal conflict in Vanris. They are recovering from massive population loss because of illness and the threat of attacks from hostiles in the region. Neither side needs more problems.” She ran a hand through her hair, reminding herself not to touch the spiral shell. “Please don’t force me to let everyone down without at least giving me a chance to prove that I can make this work for all of us. Please.”
Her father let out a heavy breath. “It’s moving on toward evening. We can set a time tomorrow afternoon to bring everyone together to look over this agreement and open discussions. Tonight, I would like to put it all aside and have dinner as a family for the first time in far too long.”
“That sounds amazing.” Veyl smiled, though she still wasn’t finished yet. “Before we do that, can I at least check in on the wave dancer?”
Her father narrowed his eyes slightly. “The ahnkreth’s companion beast?”
She nodded.
He looked at her mother, who exhaled softly and said, “I don’t see any harm in it, do you?”
“No.” He narrowed his eyes at Veyl. “Though that mostly makes me wonder what we’re missing.”
CHAPTER THREE
Before going to see Ceris, her father left them to return Niskenya to the kanodrak canyon. Veyl stayed with her mother, who called upon a few attendants and gave orders to begin preparations for a special dinner. Tonight, they would limit family to Veyl, her grandfather, her parents, her brother, and their associated tehnaaks. Once again, she found herself without a tehnaak, though with Arhk there, she wouldn’t be the only one. With that arranged, once her father returned, the three of them went out into the evening city with an accompaniment of four guards. Veyl and her parents were all capable fighters, but recent events inspired greater caution, even within the walls of their own city.
They strolled to the cliff cat habitat, where they had the wave dancer locked in a smaller enclosure used for separating out injured or sick beasts during their recovery. Along the way, Veyl told them what she had learned about the amphibious canines, starting with how tribal Qwilki on Thaelis revered them much as people in Vanris revered the kanodraks. She recounted her experience watching Ceris communicate with the whales and seeing him chase off the beautiful but deadly serpents, though she amended that tale to leave out her own interaction with the creatures at the time. Those stories and the resulting questions kept them occupied along the way to the enclosure, as she had hoped they would. By controlling the conversation, she ensured they didn’t have time to inquire about other subjects that might lead to more challenging conversations.
Given that cliff cats were naturally alpine creatures, the canyon habitat they resided in had plenty of overhangs and rock shelters for shade and more water than the tethdrak and kanodrak areas. Since the wave dancer also wasn’t a desert animal, they had placed Ceris there to give him more options for escaping the baking sunlight, with a stone pool to provide additional water. But, for all their efforts to make him comfortable, they had still separated him from the ocean and his companion, and it showed.
The wave dancer lay panting in the shade of an outcrop, his glossy black coat and scales dull and dusty. Those bright sea-green eyes, when he raised his head to watch them approach, had lost their brilliant shine.
Veyl walked to the bars and crouched there. “Ceris.”
He stood, peering at her, and she thought she felt the faint touch of his presence within her, the way she had when she was zenyal to Kyril, though it shouldn’t be possible in the absence of that connection to his companion.
“He hasn’t expressed an interest in anyone other than his bonded companion,” her father warned.
“You separated them and locked them up. Did you expect him to love you for that?” She held a hand through the bars.
“Veyl.” Her mother sounded worried now.
Ceris padded over and stopped before her, his long drooping tail drifting tentatively from side to side, sweeping the sandy ground. Reaching his nose out, he licked her hand, then shifted his weight back and regarded her expectantly.
Veyl stood. “Unlock it.”
“I can’t control him,” her father stated, as though he expected that to be adequate to deter her.
“You mentioned that earlier.” Veyl fought back a somber smile. How it must frustrate him, the most powerful Feral in Vanris, to encounter a beast other than a kanodrak that he couldn’t influence at will. “He won’t hurt anyone. I promise you. Ceris was my one comfort aboard the ship to Dagony. I can’t bear to see him locked up like this. Look at him. His coat’s dull, his eyes listless. He’s miserable.”
Her father walked up to the gate, digging a key from a pouch at his belt. “The stupid things I do for love of you,” he muttered. When it was unlocked, he stepped back and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, something he hadn’t often worn around the city before her abduction, back when there weren’t threats coming at them from so many quarters. “If he attacks, I will not hesitate to cut him down, even as magnificent as he is.”
“You won’t have to.” She placed a hand on the gate, wary of her ability reacting to her nervousness when she opened it and stepped through, but the moment she looked into those sea-green eyes again, she calmed. “Ceris.”
Her father followed her in, and she heard him lock the gate behind them.
The tall canine walked up to her and pressed his head against her hand, emitting a melodic, sorrowful whine that reminded her of his interaction with the whales that she had been telling them about. Heart aching, Veyl sank down next to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders the way she had the night he slipped his head between her shackled arms to comfort her. It was her turn to do the same for him now.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “This is my fault.”
The wave dancer leaned into her embrace, and she closed her eyes. All this suffering, heartache, and loss. All this separation. And why? Because a few people thought they could take whatever they wanted and not pay a price. She would never be one of those people.
Veyl released him and stood, turning to face her parents. Her father specifically this time, where he waited inside the gate, his hand now drifting away from the sword hilt. Ceris stepped up beside her, and she set a hand on his shoulders.
“You understand the torture you’re inflicting on the two of them, keeping them apart like this. Reunite them and let me offer Ahnkreth Kyril a place in the negotiations. When that is done, I can tell you over dinner the many reasons I am willing to represent the people of Thaelis in this process.”
“The man has a dangerous bearing, Veyl. There’s something about him that’s…” he trailed off as though searching for the right word.
Dark and beautiful. She kept that thought to herself. “Confident and somewhat predatory. He moves a little like a wild animal.” She smirked and glanced at her mother. “Remind you of someone else, Mother?”
The barest hint of a smile touched her mother’s lips when she looked at her husband. “Your words hold truth, darling, but perhaps those similarities lead you to trust where you should not.”
“Please. Let me offer him a place in the negotiations. If he accepts, we can keep him under guard just like Ahndhomen Jinau and give him quarters in the palace as we would any foreign dignitary.” The resistance in their eyes faded a fraction, so she leaned into the one factor that might nudge them in her favor. The problem of finding time to handle all the issues vying for their attention. “I believe his knowledge could significantly expedite this process.”
Her father shook his head again. “Veyl, Jaysen told us how the ahnkreth nearly strangled you to death the night they took you prisoner in Deepwater. We didn’t put him to death because we thought he might be useful for bargaining with his people, and I was loath to do that to his companion. Even then, it was sorely tempting.”
She bit back her frustration. “But did Jaysen explain to you that I had just broken the mind of one of Ahnkreth Kyril’s crew members with an ability I told him I didn’t have? Did he tell you that the ahnkreth had lost his tehnaak, his parents, his brother, and the woman he loved in recent years to a sickness that killed nearly half their population in Thaelis? He had legitimate cause to react violently to losing someone else, especially when he had every reason to believe I had just lied to him. I don’t forgive him for what he did, but I understand why he did it.
“And,” she continued, holding up a hand before either could speak, “when everyone else on board those ships pressed him to kill me because my ability was too dangerous, too unpredictable, he refused to do so. Instead, he tried to help me control it, despite my attempts to kill him. I do not excuse the wrongs he and his people committed through their actions in Deepwater, but I would not have made it to Dagony alive if he had not been willing to fight for me.”
Her mother was watching her father now, who was considering Veyl with a stern gaze. “It is hard to be comfortable hearing you defend the man who took you from us while you stand before us dressed like one of them with his beast waiting willingly by your side.”
“I know how painful this is for all of us.” She walked a few steps closer, Ceris matching each step. “But I am still your daughter, and I love you both so much,” her voice cracked, and she swallowed. “I want your guidance, but I also need you to see that I am not the same person I was when we parted ways outside Deepwater. I hope you can both still love me as I am now and recognize that you can trust me.”
He walked to her, pausing a step away to look down at the wave dancer. Veyl closed the remaining distance, and he put his arms around her, pulling her close.
“Of course, we love you, but this situation makes everything harder. Knowing how terrified you must have been when those bastards attacked Deepwater, then hearing some of the awful things they did to you from Jaysen. All we could do was wonder what else they might have done in the time since he last saw you. It’s a lot to work through.”
“It is.” She hugged him tighter.
“If you two don’t come out of there and let me partake in this, I will never forgive you.”
Veyl drew back from him and smiled at her mother. “With pleasure.”
He cleared his throat when she headed toward the gate. “You can’t take that creature out of here.”
Veyl glanced down into the trust-filled, sea-green eyes gazing up at her. “He’ll be fine. I imagine he knows this is his chance to see his bonded again. Wave dancers are extremely intelligent beasts.”
“He is remarkable, I’ll give you that. I never dreamed I would encounter another creature as incredible in its own way, and as headstrong, as Niskenya.”
Veyl kept her hand on Ceris’s shoulder as they approached the gate, eyeing her father expectantly. The wave dancer sat patiently beside her, his attention riveted on the lock.
Her father walked up next to them, the key in his hand. “I think I preferred you in your younger days, when you let us lead the way more.”
Her mother cleared her throat softly. “You may be confusing her with Tavin, love.”
One corner of his mouth quirked up. “You may be right.”
A jittery energy surged through Veyl. She believed Ceris understood enough to recognize she was trying to help, but what if she was wrong? What if he attacked someone or simply bolted the moment the cage opened?
The wave dancer nudged her hand. His coat didn’t feel as sleek and smooth under her fingers now. How much of that was depression because of his separation from Kyril and how much suffering from being subjected to the dry desert region? She hoped it was mostly the former. That she could do something about. The latter might not be solvable for some time. Simply convincing her parents to humor her and let both Ceris and the Feral ahnkreth out would be an extraordinary achievement under the circumstances.
