Wave-Touched, page 7
There were two similar meeting rooms in the palace. This one she had dubbed the Intimidation Chamber as a child. It had black stone columns inset at intervals between panels of stormy gray marble. Dark metal sconces crafted to look like large spearheads were affixed along the walls. The floors were a patterned blend of the same dark marble intermixed with the black stone. Two curved tables of polished deep red wood sat facing each other, creating most of an oval with a separation at either end to allow entry for attendants serving refreshments and to provide a central space where someone could give a speech or stand for questioning. The massive stoneglass candelabra that hung overhead looked like a spike trap waiting to fall upon some unsuspecting victim. A room designed to intimidate. With the tethdraks in attendance, it did so today more than usual.
The attendant announced them when they entered. As they took their seats, Veyl stole a glance at Kyril, noting his intense focus on one of the tethdraks. Her father was also watching him, eyes narrowing.
“Stop it,” she hissed under her breath as the Feral ahnkreth sat on her left.
He glanced at her. “I’ve only ever seen the beasts in our history books. They’re larger than I expected them to be.”
“Stay out of their heads,” she warned in a low voice. “You’re not gaining any points with my father.”
Kyril looked at her father and inclined his head in a gesture of respect as Jinau settled on Veyl’s right. Nalika took a seat on Jinau’s other side, leaving the space next to Kyril for Ceris to nudge his way into, the wave dancer bumping aside the chair that sat there. His ears perked up when he peered across at Irith. For his part, the cliff cat shrank back a fraction, appearing far more skeptical of the new beast.
Her parents sat opposite them, facing her as the khemron and khevarin of Vanris, with Jethan alongside her father on the other side of Irith. Arhk was there, along with Kince and Darro. Ahndhomen Adnar, the Feral who had been her father’s first commanding officer, had a seat at the table next to his tehnaak, Dhomen Nevias. Adnar’s companion tethdrak stretched on the floor behind his chair. Two Evokers, Yserra and Zafyr, part of her father’s and Arhk’s personal guards respectively, were present as well as two naval officers from Delaphine who had apparently accompanied the group that Nalika had arrived with. Jaysen sat next to Arhk.
They gave introductions first, providing rank and mind-crafting ability where appropriate. Once that was done, her mother drew a deep breath, her expression flat and chilling when she met Veyl’s eyes. The ties of family faded before the duties of a ruler. As Khevarin Velara, she touched her fingertips to the agreement laid out on the table in front of her and Khemron Kasiel.
“We see no point in easing into this. It is obvious Thaelis disregarded our initial demand for the return of our citizens. Can you give us any reason not to do as we promised and use Ahnkreth Kyril’s navigational charts to travel there and take them back by force? While you are at it, we would like to hear your rationale for why we should not pass judgment on Ahnkreth Kyril and the members of his fleet for the crimes committed against those people?”
Kyril pressed his knee lightly to Veyl’s under the table. It wasn’t enough to alleviate the anguish of having her parents looking at her as an opponent, and not a very well-thought of one at that, but it helped her find her voice. “Thaelis would prefer to avoid either of those outcomes. Unfortunately…” She hesitated. To have any hope of success, she needed to present herself as one of them, not as someone acting as part of and independent of the two sides. “A recent attack by the Ukhen’kya, also known as the Unclean, if it pleases the council, rendered us unable to spare the ships necessary for transporting so many when one of our fleets was already absent. We returned four of your citizens as a gesture of our willingness to negotiate a solution amidst these challenges.”
The khevarin’s icy look didn’t thaw in the least. If anything, it grew colder. “The Unclean, while their alleged crimes against Thaelis are undeniably appalling, are not Vanris’s concern beyond the potential danger they present to the Vanrian citizens still being held hostage in your country. Regarding the people you returned to us, one is now dead because of an attack by Sarket. An incident that might not have occurred had Ahnkreth Kyril not chosen to strike a deal with King Thrasser upon his first visit to Pandrea. You have bound a khesran of Vanris to Ahndhomen Jinau using a zenyal bond that is illegal in our country, and compelled her to not only represent Thaelis, but to return there after completion of negotiations here, per the terms of this agreement.” She arched a brow. “Not the grandest of gestures in the end, now, is it?”
How could her mother speak of her as if she weren’t the person in question? A khesran of Vanris. Their daughter.
Frustration and hurt flared in Veyl, accompanied by that crackle of lightning in her chest. Arhk smirked. A hint of black moving into his eyes warned her he could sense her reaction. Veyl drew a breath, conjuring up the crashing of ocean waves in her mind to help her calm the storm.
Arhk gave a subtle nod, and the darkness in his eyes retreated.
Veyl looked at her mother, their ruler, keeping one hand clenched beneath the table. “Neither of our countries needs to invite greater conflict at this time. Thaelis faces an ongoing threat of attack from the Unclean. Vanris is dealing with internal strife and the possibility of a confrontation with Sarket. We—”
“Sarket might feel less emboldened,” the dark-skinned Delaphinian admiral, Ansen, interrupted, “if Ahnkreth Kyril had not agreed to dispose of the heir to the throne for them, a deed they currently believe he accomplished.”
Veyl refused to be discouraged by his interruption. “Considering how quickly he took advantage of the situation, I believe we can confidently assume King Thrasser would have tried something, whether or not the Thaelian fleet had shown up off his shores.”
“Can we be confident of anything at this point?” Kince countered. “None of us would have believed our khesran could turn traitor, yet look where we are.”
Veyl winced. The sting of such harsh words from one of her father’s tehsheyn, a man she had called uncle growing up, was like a blade in her chest.
Kyril stood, his unforgiving gaze cutting into Kince. “I will ask you not to disrespect Ahninveth Veyl. That she could earn the admiration of so many of my people and come to see the good in them enough to want to protect them, despite everything she has been through—”
Jaysen shot to his feet. “Despite everything you put her through!”
Kyril snubbed Jaysen. His gaze shifted to her parents instead. “I will not deny my guilt. What our fleets did to your people was wrong. Although Khesran Veyl lost everything when we took her, she has never stopped fighting for her countryfolk. It was the power of her conviction that convinced me to bring Prince Jaysen here to warn you of Sarket’s actions at the risk of being branded a traitor to my people. I can only hope to earn the place she has given me at her side throughout these proceedings. A place I could not be more honored to have.” He looked down at her, his gaze filling her with a warmth free of desire this time. “She is many admirable things. A traitor she is not.”
When he sat next to her, she noticed the slight tightening in his jaw, the only hint that he had wanted to give Kince a far harsher reprimand.
Veyl looked at her parents. “If I may…”
The khevarin gestured for Jaysen to return to his seat. “Continue, Ahninveth.”
She tried to ignore Evoker Zafyr, who leaned over to whisper something in Arhk’s ear. Whatever the woman had gotten from their thoughts was already out there. She hoped it was nothing damaging.
“With Delaphine’s aid, Vanris can send a fleet to Thaelis along with me and Ahnkreth Kyril’s fleet. The Thaelian council has agreed to let all Vanrians who wish to leave do so.”
“No,” her father said, contributing for the first time. “You will not be returning to Thaelis.”
Anger blossomed in her chest, and the smell of lightning filled her nose. “You would hold me prisoner, then?”
The Delaphinian general and a few others shifted in their seats.
Arhk regarded her with increased interest.
“Seh’hali,” Jinau murmured.
Veyl wrestled her unruly ability back under control again.
The khemron didn’t answer her volatile question. “What assurances do we have that if we allow Ahnkreth Kyril’s fleet to return with the ships we send, they will not turn upon us once they have the rest of their force to aid them?”
“Thaelis does not have the might to fight Vanris,” Kyril answered. “They would not dare attack, and I, for one, welcome the opportunity to make amends. I will not allow my fleet to act against you.”
The khevarin turned her freezing gaze on him. “You will not be returning to Thaelis either. As leader of one of the fleets that attacked our shores, you will stand trial here. Thaelis will also release the commanding ahnkreth of the other fleet into our custody for the same purpose.”
Veyl drew a shaky breath. This was going to be a lot more challenging than she had hoped.
CHAPTER SIX
Veyl sat a few feet up from the eave on the rooftop above her bedroom windows. It wasn’t the easiest and certainly not the safest climb, but she had done it dozens of times growing up. Cool evening air was welcome after hours in the stifling tension of the meeting room. The perch wasn’t high enough to have a view of more than the academy, but it wasn’t the scenery that brought her up there. It was frustration and the need to escape everyone. In all her years calling it the Intimidation Chamber, she had never imagined she would sit within those walls feeling like an enemy of her own country… her own parents.
They had resolved nothing in the session. Not that she had expected them to on the first day, but, if anything, she felt like the situation had drifted further from any solutions by the time they wrapped than it had been when they started.
When they dispersed, Arhk had drawn her aside to suggest meeting with her in the morning to help her with her ability. By the time she got away from him, the guards had already escorted the three Thaelians back to their rooms. She would get to speak with them in private again before the negotiations resumed the following afternoon, but she desperately wanted to talk to them tonight. The khevarin and khemron—her parents, they were still her parents—forbade her from visiting their personal rooms. It was unfair. Members of the Vanrian council would have any opportunity they desired to consult with one another, but she could only meet with her group with their permission.
As a khesran, she had rights within the palace, assuming her parents hadn’t revoked those. Maybe at some point she would try pushing that line. Tonight, it was all too fresh. She would wait, no matter how much she wanted to speak with Kyril and the others.
Veyl moved her hand away from the spiral shell in her hair when Jaysen poked his head over the eave where his bedroom windows were.
“Is there room for two up there?”
“I suppose,” she answered halfheartedly as he pulled himself up and came to sit cross-legged beside her.
“Since we were stuck in the meeting room for dinner, I thought you and I might have our chat up here.”
“Because you knew where I would be?” She flicked a twig that some passing bird had dropped onto the roof, sending it flying over the side.
He smiled, but the expression faded when she didn’t reciprocate. “How are you holding up?”
“A member of my father’s tehsheyn, a man I grew up regarding as one of my uncles, called me a traitor earlier. How do you think I’m holding up?” She could still hear Kince’s harsh voice, his words cutting through her.
“Then stop this. Let the Thaelians fight for their own country. You’ve already given them more than they deserve.”
She watched a bird circle in the distance, riding the higher wind currents. “You didn’t experience the side of Dagony that I did. The people were kind and welcoming to me. They didn’t know what their council had done to bring us there, and they were so excited to have us. I enjoyed helping them. I can’t let them come to harm because their council members are a bunch of callochs. If I weren’t willing to fight for them, my parents wouldn’t be giving them any chance at all. Not after what they did to us.”
“Ironic, isn’t it?” Jaysen chuckled, though there was little actual humor in the sound. “Gannon was asking about you.”
She looked at him, daring to allow herself a spark of hope. “Gannon? Really? How is he doing?”
“For once, he didn’t have it in him to mock or insult me. I’m guessing that’s a bad sign. He has his family and Iyvalin keeping a close eye on him, though.”
Veyl nodded, swallowing against the tightening in her throat. She watched the bird arc around and come their way, moonlight glinting off the silver that tipped its wings. “I’m glad. He’s going to need all the support they can give him to get past this.”
Jaysen followed her gaze, frowning as the nightstar eagle let out a cry. “And that was a brief chat.”
She reached over and squeezed his hand. “We’ll have our chance. There’s just a lot going on right now.” Letting go of him, she slid toward the eave above her window.
“Need a hand?”
Veyl smirked at him. “Just worry about getting yourself down in one piece. I imagine you’re out of practice.”
A grin tugged at his lips as he slid toward his window.
Veyl took hold of the edge and lowered herself down onto the sill, climbing inside to find her father waiting, watching her. She turned her back on him to shut the window and hide the unexpected sting of tears. “What do you want?” she asked, emotion giving her words a sharp edge.
“Today wasn’t as fun as you hoped?”
She turned on him, a crackle of energy rising with her anger. “I never expected it to be fun! All I want is to get our people home without hurting theirs. Why is that wrong?”
Irith growled low in his throat, his ears lying back. It was the first time the cliff cat had ever growled at her with any seriousness. Her father eyed her warily, retreating a step. A loud roar sounded out across the city from the kanodrak habitat, Niskenya reacting to her bonded companion’s alarm.
Facing the window again, Veyl gripped the sill and closed her eyes, imagining the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks and Dampener Erkhan’s forced darkness surrounding her. She wrestled with the energy that raced through her, flickering out to her fingertips and threatening to reach beyond.
“I’m sorry. Your mother retired early so no one would see her crying. Kince and I nearly came to blows a few minutes ago over his calling you a traitor today. This is difficult for all of us.”
She drew a trembling breath, finally wrestling her ability back under control. “Kince was just being Kince.” The rawness in her voice undermined her dismissive words.
“He was out of line,” her father said, anger in his tone that turned to concern when he spoke again. “I appreciate that Ahnkreth Kyril defended you today, but he risked a great deal for you by coming here. I’d like to understand why. What’s in this for him?”
Struggling to keep her tone and expression neutral, she turned to face him. “I told you, he protected me on the voyage to Thaelis and tried to help me with my ability…” she trailed off when he shook his head.
“And I don’t need to hear all the other things he’s done for you again. I want to know why he did them.”
Far too many potential missteps lurked within this conversation. “At first, he defended me because I was everything they were hoping for. A powerful mind-crafter of royal Vanrian lineage. But he’s not the awful person you think he is. I believe he genuinely regrets what they did. When the council told him to come back here, he tried to make up for the wrongs they committed by helping me. Look at how devoted that wave dancer is to him. You of all people know a Feral bond that strong requires true empathy.”
“You’re not a beast, Veyl.”
She grinned. “I’ve been called a little beast by you plenty of times.”
He cracked a smile. “And so you can be, but no changing the subject.”
She blew out a breath, latching quickly onto a different approach. “He is also like Ahndhomen Jinau, almost more Qwilki than Thaelian. The Qwilki, because of the things I told you about, believe I am special. Seh’hali ne Kunua. Daughter of the Ocean.”
“You are special, but I prefer to think of you as my daughter.”
She took a few steps closer, and Irith walked up to meet her, rubbing his head into her hand, no longer defensive now that her ability was quiet. “It’s comforting to hear you say that after today.”
His gaze sank to the cliff cat as she scratched behind the beast’s ears, coaxing forth a loud purr. “We can’t be gentle with you just because you’re our daughter. Not in that room. Right now, our responsibility is to ensure the safety of all Vanris.”
She lowered her gaze. “I know, and I would expect no less. I just… I didn’t realize how hard this was going to be, but I swear to you that the people here are still my priority.”
He nodded. “It pleases me to hear you say as much. Now, back to the subject of our guests. One of them in particular.”
Dread coiled in Veyl’s gut. She had to get him off the line of questioning he had fixated on, and the only way she could think of doing so was to hint at the truth the others had asked her to hide. If she approached it carefully, she wouldn’t be entirely betraying their trust. “Please don’t mention this to anyone yet, because I’m uncertain myself, but I’ve gotten the impression that the three of them may not want to support their leaders. The Thaelian council doesn’t represent all the people of Thaelis. They only allow those with pure lineages traceable back to the original Vanrian homeland to sit on the council, but the populace is far more mixed. When I was there, I noticed that the council members appear to have lost touch with the people they lead. I’m trying to earn enough trust to convince the others to speak openly with me about it.”
