Wave-Touched, page 4
Her father swung the gate open and stepped out ahead of them, moving between the beast and her mother. His hand sank to his sword hilt again. Ceris didn’t bolt for the exit. Instead, he remained alongside Veyl, matching her steps and placing his trust in her. Whatever compelled him to do so, she was determined now not to let him down.
When she stopped, Ceris sat next to her again, and her father blew out a soft breath before shutting the recovery enclosure.
“Beasts have always been fond of you,” her mother commented.
Was that why Kyril fancied her? Veyl smothered a smile and turned toward the exit. “Shall we commit an act of kindness before dinner and reunite him with his bonded?”
Her father glanced at Ceris, then met her eyes. “I’m not convinced this is a good or wise decision, but if your mother is willing to give him a chance, I will as well. You need to understand that we will not allow him a single misstep.”
Veyl nodded.
At her mother’s suggestion, they went to a moderately sized audience chamber in the palace. It had four black stone thrones on the dais at the front set up to accommodate the current ruling family. They shared some of the aggressive, angular design elements that made the city walls so intimidating. Each throne had a cushioned, deep purple seat and back, and sparing silver accents worked along the arms and sides, representing the colors of Vanris. Down the long walls to the left and right, with guards moving into position between them, were statues of the twelve council members who had overseen the founding of the first Vanrian settlement on Pandrea. Veyl couldn’t help wondering if they were the same people who had outlawed the zenyal bond here or who had clashed with the district of Thaelis in their homeland.
On the way to the room, her father had sent four guards to collect Ahnkreth Kyril, and an attendant to summon Arhk and Jethan to join them. Jethan, with her father’s cliff cat, and her grandfather arrived together, the dhomvalen’s three black-clad guards adding to the abundance of security already in the room. It struck Veyl as excessive, but her father was also a Feral and had accomplished impressive feats in the war with his ability. Some of them were awful, but impressive all the same. Perhaps they weren’t wrong about being cautious.
For her part, Veyl feared she might bounce out of her own skin with the mix of uncertainty and excitement at the prospect of seeing Kyril again. She stood at the edge of the dais, too restless to sit. Would it please him to see her? How could it not, given that she was freeing him from his prison? But what if that was the only reason? What if the connection between them in Dagony was nothing more than a naïve young woman’s fantasy? He wouldn’t have risked everything coming here if that were the case, would he?
“What do you think of Ahndhomen Jinau?” her father asked Arhk.
Ice raced up Veyl’s spine. If Arhk told them about the zenyal bond now, it wouldn’t put them in the most receptive mood. She glanced over at her grandfather. He caught her look, a faint tightening of his jaw the only indication that he might have understood the pleading in her eyes.
“He is strangely forthright for a Charmer.”
“Let’s not be insulting.” Jethan leaned against the side of her father’s throne. “Not all Charmers can be as skilled at deception as my cousin and me,” he added with a wink for her mother.
Arhk gave him a vaguely disdainful look, an expression no one had mastered better than he had. “The man is challenging to read, but Veyl appears to trust him, despite… We can talk more about it in the morning.” He turned toward the door at the sound of footsteps approaching. “I suppose we shall see how decent a judge of character your daughter is in the coming days.”
His callous tone stung and did nothing to soothe her screaming nerves. Next to her, Ceris stood, shifting from one paw to the other now, his fin-like ears perked forward as far as they could go. His long, flowing tail wagged, tentatively at first, then faster. When the door opened and Kyril stepped in ahead of the four guards, the wave dancer bolted across the room like a loosed arrow. The guards put hands on their weapons, but her father signaled to them to hold as Kyril sank to one knee to meet the beast’s charge.
Veyl’s breath caught. Had the ahnkreth always been this unfairly handsome? Despite what had to have been at least two weeks of imprisonment, he still looked statuesque and fierce. Black hair, with braids and streaks of deep blue worked through it, hung long around his chiseled features. In the strangest of ways, he reminded her of her father’s nightstar eagle—confident, dangerous, and aloof—even as he let Ceris lick his face and rub his head against his cheek in a distinctly cat-like manner.
Kyril murmured to the wave dancer in Qwilki, intentionally locking them out of that part of their reunion, something she couldn’t entirely blame him for. Then he looked directly at her, his intense silver-blue eyes effortlessly unmooring her from the life she had barely reconnected with. “You have our gratitude, Khesran Veyl.”
For the briefest of moments, she couldn’t find her voice, but nothing would turn her family against him faster than seeing her blushing and stammering before him like a love-struck girl. “You are welcome, Ahnkreth Kyril.”
Her mother stood from her throne, her voice cutting across the room like a blade, cold and sharp. “You should be extremely grateful, Ahnkreth, that the young woman whose life you did so much to destroy can look past your cruel deeds and find something of worth within you.”
Kyril stood and walked forward, stopping a few feet from the dais with Ceris pressed against his leg as if the beast feared he would disappear. The Thaelian Feral kept his attention on her mother now. “Khesran Veyl is the one who helped me see the depth of the wrong in my actions, Khevarin. As I told your Evoker, she is the reason I brought Prince Jaysen to Vanris against the orders of my council.”
There seemed nothing to be gained from allowing them to engage in verbal sparring for long. The risk that he might say the wrong thing was too great. Veyl took a step back toward her throne, catching their attention with her movement and putting a little more distance between herself and the cause of her racing pulse.
“Ahnkreth Kyril, I return home with a specific task. I have agreed to represent Thaelis in negotiations with Vanris and carry the title of Ahninveth na sek Veyl, Ambassador of Thaelis, for the duration of this assignment.” The faintest hint of a smirk touched his lips for a moment, as though he found that amusing, and a flush of anger heated her blood. Or was that longing? She pushed past it. “I would like to offer you a place at the table during those negotiations in an advisory capacity. Will you accept it?”
“They did not send you to Vanris to represent them on your own.”
It wasn’t quite a question, but she chose to treat it as such, hoping that bringing up Nalika at this moment wouldn’t be enough to make her parents reconsider. “Ahnkreth Nalika and Ahndhomen Jinau will also attend these sessions.”
She caught a slight pinching of his brows and what she thought might be surprise flashing in his eyes at Jinau’s name. If only she knew him well enough to decipher that subtle reaction.
“I doubt Thaelis wants me negotiating on their behalf at this point.”
Arhk and her parents were watching her now. Why wouldn’t Kyril shut up and accept the offer? She inhaled, trying to hide her growing frustration. He was going to get himself dumped back in a prison cell. “Nowhere in the agreement I signed does it say I cannot fill in the gaps in my knowledge of Thaelis using the resources available to me, of which you are one. It looks to me as though you have no other pressing demands on your time. However, if you would prefer to return to your cell…” She didn’t bother finishing the sentence.
There it was again, that faint smirk as he bowed his head to her. “It would be an honor to represent my people and assist you in any way I can, Ahninveth Veyl.”
Her father stood now, coming to the edge of the dais with Irith at his side, the beast gazing curiously at the wave dancer, who looked equally intrigued by the slightly shorter, more densely muscled cliff cat. “This represents your one chance to earn your freedom, Ahnkreth. If you make a single mistake, trying you here for crimes against our people will become a non-negotiable term of any agreement we come to with your country.”
Kyril’s gaze flickered to Veyl, meeting her eyes for an instant. He had done what she asked of him, and now both their countries wanted him dead for it. Had he realized this would be the cost of helping her? The fact that he kept his plans from his crew suggested he had at least considered this outcome. Then why had he done it? Certainly not all for some woman he barely knew. Regardless of his motivation, keeping him alive was going to be no small challenge.
Kyril bowed to her parents. “I thank you for the opportunity to prove myself, Majesties.”
Her father answered with a curt nod. “Find him quarters and put him under guard like the other one. We will deal with the rest tomorrow.”
“What of his beast?” Arhk asked.
Veyl looked at her father, and he met her eyes, shoulders rising and falling with a deep breath. “He may keep his companion with him. See that their needs are provided for and add a few extra guards.”
Kyril’s eyes flickered to her once more, and he nodded, recognizing her silent input in her father’s decision before he turned to leave with the guards. She watched him walk away, wishing there was some way she could justify going to him, to talk to him, and thank him for what he had done. For what he had sacrificed. One brief exchange to tell him she would find a way out of this for him, though she wasn’t sure how yet. But she stayed silent on the dais with her parents, accepting that she had at least gotten him out of the prison cell and reunited with Ceris. One battle at a time.
When the doors shut behind them, her mother arched a brow at her. “Who is Nalika?”
This would be her one opportunity to head off the irritation rising in her parents’ regard. “She’s a subordinate ahnkreth in his fleet who is traveling with the twins and Iyvalin. She has proven more resistant to the idea of negotiating with Vanris. Having someone with his rank and willingness to cooperate involved should help keep her from obstructing the process.”
They didn’t look entirely satisfied with the explanation, but neither chose that moment to berate her for her earlier omission.
Her father came to put an arm around her shoulders. “You say you asked Ahnkreth Kyril to come here and warn us about Thrasser?”
Veyl nodded.
“Why did he do it?”
A few potential motivations came to mind that she couldn’t share, which didn’t leave her with much. “He just admitted to realizing what they did to us was wrong. I don’t think he appreciates what the Thaelian council sent them out to do and wants to make amends for it. I suspect there may be more to it, and I hope to figure that out in the coming days. Once I do, I will share that information with you.”
Her mother came up on her other side. “Be careful, Veyl. I am not convinced we can trust him.”
“Of course, you’re not. He kidnapped your daughter. But good people sometimes do bad things while following orders. That doesn’t make it all right, but he may try that much harder to make up for those wrongs.”
She moved out from under her father’s arm and turned to face them. “The agreement we can leave until tomorrow, can’t we? I’d like one night to just be your daughter.”
“Yes.” Her mother’s fond smile held an edge of sorrow. “We will settle nothing tonight. We can simply enjoy the opportunity to be together again as a family.”
“Thank you. You know what I would really love right now?”
Her mother arched a brow at her. “What?”
“I would love for you to send me to my rooms to clean up for dinner.”
Her father chuckled and pulled them both into his arms. Veyl closed her eyes, letting the rest of the world slip away for a moment to lose herself in that loving embrace.
CHAPTER FOUR
A hot bath was exactly what Veyl needed, though it was hard to relax when she yearned to spend time with her family. Some bruises and scrapes from her encounter with the kel’inuk were still healing. When she had undressed, her attendant, Lanis, panicked and was ready to run to her parents to tell them someone had beaten her, which led to the first recounting of that story for the night. The second came at dinner. She attended in one of the simple dresses with an open skirt and fitted pants beneath that she had acquired a preference for from her mother. Seeing her out of the Thaelian uniform seemed to put her family a little more at ease, though she still wore the shells Kyril and Nagi had gifted her in her hair, setting the third aside to give to Kyril.
She spent most of the alternately tearful and joyous dinner answering questions about everything that took place since the day she and the others arrived in Deepwater. As much as she didn’t want to relive many of those experiences, she recognized both the genuine parental concern and the need to understand the opposition that drove their interrogation. Hoping to change their adversarial view of the Thaelians and help them make sense of her desire to protect them, she leaned into tales that might nudge them in that direction. Besides her daring rescue of Nagi, she told them of the confrontation with the Unclean on the voyage to Thaelis, and what she knew about the Devastation and other torments the Ukhen’kya had inflicted upon the people of Thaelis. As the evening wore on, she reluctantly told them about losing control of her Frightener ability with Gannon in Dagony, and the Sarketi attack on their ship coming home that cost Lorek his life.
To ease the sorrow that hung over them after that, she shared her experiences working in the fish market and helping people around Dagony with Kitria, and all the gifts they had lavished upon her in return. Stories intended to clarify how she came to care for the people there. At some point, she realized her parents now knew she had met with Jaysen in Deepwater, but they didn’t call her out for it. Perhaps it struck them as less important now.
By the time they parted ways for the night, Veyl could barely keep her eyes open long enough to appreciate the hugs they gave her. Arhk, her parents, and their tehnaaks retreated to a study to talk. It stung a little to realize that they would be picking apart her every word and action from the evening while she was trying to fall asleep. It made sense, though. Right now, the Thaelians were still the enemy, and she was representing them. Everything she did would be under scrutiny.
Her brother and Ellaris wandered off to their own rooms. Veyl followed familiar hallways back to chambers she hadn’t spent a night in for some time to find Jaysen waiting outside.
He opened her door for her. “After you, Khesran Veyl.”
The energy in his smile leeched away what little she had remaining. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I have anything left in me tonight.” She strode partway across the sitting room before turning to face him.
He walked up and placed a hand on her shoulder, his gaze sinking briefly to her lips. He was still the handsome young man who had long been her tehnaak and best friend. The man she had willingly kissed in Deepwater. That spark of romantic curiosity was absent now, smothered by a much more potent flame. An entanglement even less appropriate than her brief intimacy with Jaysen had been. The sorrow caused by that truth only amplified her longing for the Feral ahnkreth’s company.
“I hated leaving you in that place,” he said, his voice soft and thick with emotion.
He was going to try kissing her. She could see it in his expression and feel it in the forward energy of his stance. Taking a step back, she looked up into his bright blue eyes. “Jaysen, I am truly overjoyed to see you, but I’m thoroughly exhausted. Can we talk tomorrow?”
For an instant, disappointment broke his smile, but he rallied quickly, his gaze warming again as he moved in to brush a lock of hair behind her ear. “We can.” He placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “Get some rest.”
Veyl took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Thank you.”
It was a long time before she fell asleep after he left. She couldn’t entirely blame him for not supporting the Thaelians. They never gave him an opportunity to see the side of their world that she saw. On top of that, knowing Thrasser tried to have him killed, and his people believed him dead, had to weigh heavily upon him. He couldn’t simply declare he was alive and return to Sarket without a plan for dealing with the king regent and whoever was working with him. That would be suicidal. However, the longer he hid away in Vanris, the harder he would have to fight to regain the support of his people and the more time Thrasser would have to secure that same support. She needed to figure out how to help him deal with all of that while discouraging the intimacy he appeared to still want.
That was only one of many challenges she had to tackle, but the ones that kept her up the longest as she lay in bed were two terms in the agreement she had signed that the Vanrian council would review the next day. Specifically, the zenyal bond and her commitment to return to Thaelis when negotiations here ended with no clarity regarding what would happen after Kyril’s trial, beyond her personal plan to keep his head attached to his body. Neither of those terms was going to sit well with her parents. By the time she finally drifted off, she at least had an idea of how to get ahead of the zenyal problem. That bond, as much as she disliked it, was serving an unexpected purpose.
When morning came, she went to dress and noticed the Thaelian uniform she had hung upon the wardrobe was missing. Wrapping a satiny robe around her, she stepped out into the sitting room to find Lanis arranging a breakfast plate for her from the tray of food that she had brought in. The scene was strikingly ordinary. At once familiar and yet newly made foreign by the part of her that had despaired of ever being in this place again.
Veyl burst into tears.
Lanis ran to her as she sank to the floor sobbing and knelt beside her.
“Oh dear. What can I do?”
Veyl grabbed hold of her, clinging to her as she had so many times in her childhood, the tears coming in a flood. Lanis held her close, murmuring softly as she stroked Veyl’s hair. It was absurd to break down over something so mundane, but it was merely the catalyst for the realization that, after everything that had happened, after being torn from her life and thrust into a world of fear and chaos, she was finally home safe again, reunited with the people she loved.
When she stopped, Ceris sat next to her again, and her father blew out a soft breath before shutting the recovery enclosure.
“Beasts have always been fond of you,” her mother commented.
Was that why Kyril fancied her? Veyl smothered a smile and turned toward the exit. “Shall we commit an act of kindness before dinner and reunite him with his bonded?”
Her father glanced at Ceris, then met her eyes. “I’m not convinced this is a good or wise decision, but if your mother is willing to give him a chance, I will as well. You need to understand that we will not allow him a single misstep.”
Veyl nodded.
At her mother’s suggestion, they went to a moderately sized audience chamber in the palace. It had four black stone thrones on the dais at the front set up to accommodate the current ruling family. They shared some of the aggressive, angular design elements that made the city walls so intimidating. Each throne had a cushioned, deep purple seat and back, and sparing silver accents worked along the arms and sides, representing the colors of Vanris. Down the long walls to the left and right, with guards moving into position between them, were statues of the twelve council members who had overseen the founding of the first Vanrian settlement on Pandrea. Veyl couldn’t help wondering if they were the same people who had outlawed the zenyal bond here or who had clashed with the district of Thaelis in their homeland.
On the way to the room, her father had sent four guards to collect Ahnkreth Kyril, and an attendant to summon Arhk and Jethan to join them. Jethan, with her father’s cliff cat, and her grandfather arrived together, the dhomvalen’s three black-clad guards adding to the abundance of security already in the room. It struck Veyl as excessive, but her father was also a Feral and had accomplished impressive feats in the war with his ability. Some of them were awful, but impressive all the same. Perhaps they weren’t wrong about being cautious.
For her part, Veyl feared she might bounce out of her own skin with the mix of uncertainty and excitement at the prospect of seeing Kyril again. She stood at the edge of the dais, too restless to sit. Would it please him to see her? How could it not, given that she was freeing him from his prison? But what if that was the only reason? What if the connection between them in Dagony was nothing more than a naïve young woman’s fantasy? He wouldn’t have risked everything coming here if that were the case, would he?
“What do you think of Ahndhomen Jinau?” her father asked Arhk.
Ice raced up Veyl’s spine. If Arhk told them about the zenyal bond now, it wouldn’t put them in the most receptive mood. She glanced over at her grandfather. He caught her look, a faint tightening of his jaw the only indication that he might have understood the pleading in her eyes.
“He is strangely forthright for a Charmer.”
“Let’s not be insulting.” Jethan leaned against the side of her father’s throne. “Not all Charmers can be as skilled at deception as my cousin and me,” he added with a wink for her mother.
Arhk gave him a vaguely disdainful look, an expression no one had mastered better than he had. “The man is challenging to read, but Veyl appears to trust him, despite… We can talk more about it in the morning.” He turned toward the door at the sound of footsteps approaching. “I suppose we shall see how decent a judge of character your daughter is in the coming days.”
His callous tone stung and did nothing to soothe her screaming nerves. Next to her, Ceris stood, shifting from one paw to the other now, his fin-like ears perked forward as far as they could go. His long, flowing tail wagged, tentatively at first, then faster. When the door opened and Kyril stepped in ahead of the four guards, the wave dancer bolted across the room like a loosed arrow. The guards put hands on their weapons, but her father signaled to them to hold as Kyril sank to one knee to meet the beast’s charge.
Veyl’s breath caught. Had the ahnkreth always been this unfairly handsome? Despite what had to have been at least two weeks of imprisonment, he still looked statuesque and fierce. Black hair, with braids and streaks of deep blue worked through it, hung long around his chiseled features. In the strangest of ways, he reminded her of her father’s nightstar eagle—confident, dangerous, and aloof—even as he let Ceris lick his face and rub his head against his cheek in a distinctly cat-like manner.
Kyril murmured to the wave dancer in Qwilki, intentionally locking them out of that part of their reunion, something she couldn’t entirely blame him for. Then he looked directly at her, his intense silver-blue eyes effortlessly unmooring her from the life she had barely reconnected with. “You have our gratitude, Khesran Veyl.”
For the briefest of moments, she couldn’t find her voice, but nothing would turn her family against him faster than seeing her blushing and stammering before him like a love-struck girl. “You are welcome, Ahnkreth Kyril.”
Her mother stood from her throne, her voice cutting across the room like a blade, cold and sharp. “You should be extremely grateful, Ahnkreth, that the young woman whose life you did so much to destroy can look past your cruel deeds and find something of worth within you.”
Kyril stood and walked forward, stopping a few feet from the dais with Ceris pressed against his leg as if the beast feared he would disappear. The Thaelian Feral kept his attention on her mother now. “Khesran Veyl is the one who helped me see the depth of the wrong in my actions, Khevarin. As I told your Evoker, she is the reason I brought Prince Jaysen to Vanris against the orders of my council.”
There seemed nothing to be gained from allowing them to engage in verbal sparring for long. The risk that he might say the wrong thing was too great. Veyl took a step back toward her throne, catching their attention with her movement and putting a little more distance between herself and the cause of her racing pulse.
“Ahnkreth Kyril, I return home with a specific task. I have agreed to represent Thaelis in negotiations with Vanris and carry the title of Ahninveth na sek Veyl, Ambassador of Thaelis, for the duration of this assignment.” The faintest hint of a smirk touched his lips for a moment, as though he found that amusing, and a flush of anger heated her blood. Or was that longing? She pushed past it. “I would like to offer you a place at the table during those negotiations in an advisory capacity. Will you accept it?”
“They did not send you to Vanris to represent them on your own.”
It wasn’t quite a question, but she chose to treat it as such, hoping that bringing up Nalika at this moment wouldn’t be enough to make her parents reconsider. “Ahnkreth Nalika and Ahndhomen Jinau will also attend these sessions.”
She caught a slight pinching of his brows and what she thought might be surprise flashing in his eyes at Jinau’s name. If only she knew him well enough to decipher that subtle reaction.
“I doubt Thaelis wants me negotiating on their behalf at this point.”
Arhk and her parents were watching her now. Why wouldn’t Kyril shut up and accept the offer? She inhaled, trying to hide her growing frustration. He was going to get himself dumped back in a prison cell. “Nowhere in the agreement I signed does it say I cannot fill in the gaps in my knowledge of Thaelis using the resources available to me, of which you are one. It looks to me as though you have no other pressing demands on your time. However, if you would prefer to return to your cell…” She didn’t bother finishing the sentence.
There it was again, that faint smirk as he bowed his head to her. “It would be an honor to represent my people and assist you in any way I can, Ahninveth Veyl.”
Her father stood now, coming to the edge of the dais with Irith at his side, the beast gazing curiously at the wave dancer, who looked equally intrigued by the slightly shorter, more densely muscled cliff cat. “This represents your one chance to earn your freedom, Ahnkreth. If you make a single mistake, trying you here for crimes against our people will become a non-negotiable term of any agreement we come to with your country.”
Kyril’s gaze flickered to Veyl, meeting her eyes for an instant. He had done what she asked of him, and now both their countries wanted him dead for it. Had he realized this would be the cost of helping her? The fact that he kept his plans from his crew suggested he had at least considered this outcome. Then why had he done it? Certainly not all for some woman he barely knew. Regardless of his motivation, keeping him alive was going to be no small challenge.
Kyril bowed to her parents. “I thank you for the opportunity to prove myself, Majesties.”
Her father answered with a curt nod. “Find him quarters and put him under guard like the other one. We will deal with the rest tomorrow.”
“What of his beast?” Arhk asked.
Veyl looked at her father, and he met her eyes, shoulders rising and falling with a deep breath. “He may keep his companion with him. See that their needs are provided for and add a few extra guards.”
Kyril’s eyes flickered to her once more, and he nodded, recognizing her silent input in her father’s decision before he turned to leave with the guards. She watched him walk away, wishing there was some way she could justify going to him, to talk to him, and thank him for what he had done. For what he had sacrificed. One brief exchange to tell him she would find a way out of this for him, though she wasn’t sure how yet. But she stayed silent on the dais with her parents, accepting that she had at least gotten him out of the prison cell and reunited with Ceris. One battle at a time.
When the doors shut behind them, her mother arched a brow at her. “Who is Nalika?”
This would be her one opportunity to head off the irritation rising in her parents’ regard. “She’s a subordinate ahnkreth in his fleet who is traveling with the twins and Iyvalin. She has proven more resistant to the idea of negotiating with Vanris. Having someone with his rank and willingness to cooperate involved should help keep her from obstructing the process.”
They didn’t look entirely satisfied with the explanation, but neither chose that moment to berate her for her earlier omission.
Her father came to put an arm around her shoulders. “You say you asked Ahnkreth Kyril to come here and warn us about Thrasser?”
Veyl nodded.
“Why did he do it?”
A few potential motivations came to mind that she couldn’t share, which didn’t leave her with much. “He just admitted to realizing what they did to us was wrong. I don’t think he appreciates what the Thaelian council sent them out to do and wants to make amends for it. I suspect there may be more to it, and I hope to figure that out in the coming days. Once I do, I will share that information with you.”
Her mother came up on her other side. “Be careful, Veyl. I am not convinced we can trust him.”
“Of course, you’re not. He kidnapped your daughter. But good people sometimes do bad things while following orders. That doesn’t make it all right, but he may try that much harder to make up for those wrongs.”
She moved out from under her father’s arm and turned to face them. “The agreement we can leave until tomorrow, can’t we? I’d like one night to just be your daughter.”
“Yes.” Her mother’s fond smile held an edge of sorrow. “We will settle nothing tonight. We can simply enjoy the opportunity to be together again as a family.”
“Thank you. You know what I would really love right now?”
Her mother arched a brow at her. “What?”
“I would love for you to send me to my rooms to clean up for dinner.”
Her father chuckled and pulled them both into his arms. Veyl closed her eyes, letting the rest of the world slip away for a moment to lose herself in that loving embrace.
CHAPTER FOUR
A hot bath was exactly what Veyl needed, though it was hard to relax when she yearned to spend time with her family. Some bruises and scrapes from her encounter with the kel’inuk were still healing. When she had undressed, her attendant, Lanis, panicked and was ready to run to her parents to tell them someone had beaten her, which led to the first recounting of that story for the night. The second came at dinner. She attended in one of the simple dresses with an open skirt and fitted pants beneath that she had acquired a preference for from her mother. Seeing her out of the Thaelian uniform seemed to put her family a little more at ease, though she still wore the shells Kyril and Nagi had gifted her in her hair, setting the third aside to give to Kyril.
She spent most of the alternately tearful and joyous dinner answering questions about everything that took place since the day she and the others arrived in Deepwater. As much as she didn’t want to relive many of those experiences, she recognized both the genuine parental concern and the need to understand the opposition that drove their interrogation. Hoping to change their adversarial view of the Thaelians and help them make sense of her desire to protect them, she leaned into tales that might nudge them in that direction. Besides her daring rescue of Nagi, she told them of the confrontation with the Unclean on the voyage to Thaelis, and what she knew about the Devastation and other torments the Ukhen’kya had inflicted upon the people of Thaelis. As the evening wore on, she reluctantly told them about losing control of her Frightener ability with Gannon in Dagony, and the Sarketi attack on their ship coming home that cost Lorek his life.
To ease the sorrow that hung over them after that, she shared her experiences working in the fish market and helping people around Dagony with Kitria, and all the gifts they had lavished upon her in return. Stories intended to clarify how she came to care for the people there. At some point, she realized her parents now knew she had met with Jaysen in Deepwater, but they didn’t call her out for it. Perhaps it struck them as less important now.
By the time they parted ways for the night, Veyl could barely keep her eyes open long enough to appreciate the hugs they gave her. Arhk, her parents, and their tehnaaks retreated to a study to talk. It stung a little to realize that they would be picking apart her every word and action from the evening while she was trying to fall asleep. It made sense, though. Right now, the Thaelians were still the enemy, and she was representing them. Everything she did would be under scrutiny.
Her brother and Ellaris wandered off to their own rooms. Veyl followed familiar hallways back to chambers she hadn’t spent a night in for some time to find Jaysen waiting outside.
He opened her door for her. “After you, Khesran Veyl.”
The energy in his smile leeched away what little she had remaining. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I have anything left in me tonight.” She strode partway across the sitting room before turning to face him.
He walked up and placed a hand on her shoulder, his gaze sinking briefly to her lips. He was still the handsome young man who had long been her tehnaak and best friend. The man she had willingly kissed in Deepwater. That spark of romantic curiosity was absent now, smothered by a much more potent flame. An entanglement even less appropriate than her brief intimacy with Jaysen had been. The sorrow caused by that truth only amplified her longing for the Feral ahnkreth’s company.
“I hated leaving you in that place,” he said, his voice soft and thick with emotion.
He was going to try kissing her. She could see it in his expression and feel it in the forward energy of his stance. Taking a step back, she looked up into his bright blue eyes. “Jaysen, I am truly overjoyed to see you, but I’m thoroughly exhausted. Can we talk tomorrow?”
For an instant, disappointment broke his smile, but he rallied quickly, his gaze warming again as he moved in to brush a lock of hair behind her ear. “We can.” He placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “Get some rest.”
Veyl took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Thank you.”
It was a long time before she fell asleep after he left. She couldn’t entirely blame him for not supporting the Thaelians. They never gave him an opportunity to see the side of their world that she saw. On top of that, knowing Thrasser tried to have him killed, and his people believed him dead, had to weigh heavily upon him. He couldn’t simply declare he was alive and return to Sarket without a plan for dealing with the king regent and whoever was working with him. That would be suicidal. However, the longer he hid away in Vanris, the harder he would have to fight to regain the support of his people and the more time Thrasser would have to secure that same support. She needed to figure out how to help him deal with all of that while discouraging the intimacy he appeared to still want.
That was only one of many challenges she had to tackle, but the ones that kept her up the longest as she lay in bed were two terms in the agreement she had signed that the Vanrian council would review the next day. Specifically, the zenyal bond and her commitment to return to Thaelis when negotiations here ended with no clarity regarding what would happen after Kyril’s trial, beyond her personal plan to keep his head attached to his body. Neither of those terms was going to sit well with her parents. By the time she finally drifted off, she at least had an idea of how to get ahead of the zenyal problem. That bond, as much as she disliked it, was serving an unexpected purpose.
When morning came, she went to dress and noticed the Thaelian uniform she had hung upon the wardrobe was missing. Wrapping a satiny robe around her, she stepped out into the sitting room to find Lanis arranging a breakfast plate for her from the tray of food that she had brought in. The scene was strikingly ordinary. At once familiar and yet newly made foreign by the part of her that had despaired of ever being in this place again.
Veyl burst into tears.
Lanis ran to her as she sank to the floor sobbing and knelt beside her.
“Oh dear. What can I do?”
Veyl grabbed hold of her, clinging to her as she had so many times in her childhood, the tears coming in a flood. Lanis held her close, murmuring softly as she stroked Veyl’s hair. It was absurd to break down over something so mundane, but it was merely the catalyst for the realization that, after everything that had happened, after being torn from her life and thrust into a world of fear and chaos, she was finally home safe again, reunited with the people she loved.
