Dragon Emperor 18, page 17
That’s exactly what I was thinking, I agreed. But how do we get them to agree?
I’m not sure yet, the spirit replied. I need to talk with my sisters.
Before I could respond, Miraya had zipped out of my spiritual sea but didn’t appear in the physical world, so I could only assume she’d traveled to the spirit world to meet up with the other sword spirits.
I glanced over to see Alyona’s face was lined with concern, and she twisted her hands in front of her as we all tried to decide what to do. It didn’t seem right to intervene in the argument-- hell, even Tecumseh was staying out of it-- but I wasn’t sure how easy it would be for Sewati and Nokomis to convince Isi to change her mind.
“Even if I wanted to change the law, how does that look to the people?” Isi demanded. “Like I’m weak!”
“It takes great strength to admit when things need to change,” Sewati insisted. “It isn’t weak to be merciful.”
“Then why are we opposites?” the queen shot back as she threw her hands up in frustration. “We never agree!”
I recognized the flashes of light that signaled a spirit’s entrance to the physical world, and a few seconds later, all five of the sword spirits stood in the center of the room.
“You were never meant to be opposites,” Miraya said with a soft smile.
“You were always meant to be two sides to the same coin,” Aine continued and glanced at Brenna and Gratia. “Always together but with different views of the world.”
“We don’t always agree, either,” Gratia said as she stepped forward to stand with Nokomis and Sewati. “But we have to listen to each other.”
“We each have our own strengths and weaknesses,” Brenna agreed. “And if we listen, they can balance each other out. Neither of us is always right.”
“Well, this time, I am!” Isi said as she glared at her brother. “The queen cannot ever appear weak, so giving in to this madness would be insanity!”
“But why?” Gratia pressed. “Because your brother and your daughter believe mercy is more important than following the old laws of your people?”
“No, because I already said Catahe would die,” the queen replied with an icy stare. “If I go back on my word now, I look like a fool.”
“Or you look like someone who has given deep thought to a situation that is made of more than meets the eye,” Sewati said.
“This is more than someone simply breaking a rule because they could,” Miraya pointed out. “This wasn’t an evil person trying to do an evil thing and hurt people.”
“But he knew the law!” Tawa growled with exasperation. “This is useless! What could you possibly tell us that we don’t already know?”
“That strength and mercy go hand in hand,” Brenna said in a calm voice. “Sometimes we need to be the fist that strikes down an enemy, and sometimes we need to be the hand that lifts up someone in trouble.”
“If Catahe thought he was in trouble, he should have asked us for help,” Isi huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. “He made his choice, and I need to make mine.”
“Well, maybe I’ll just help him escape, and you can’t do anything to him!” Sewati said and narrowed his eyes on the queen. “Then what?”
“Dear Sewati, that isn’t the answer, either.” Juniper shook her head and frowned. “Catahe must still be held accountable. His actions were dangerous.”
“Finally, someone agrees with us!” Tawa said with a triumphant grin.
“That’s not what I said,” Juniper retorted. “The law against magic prevents people from being educated, so Catahe didn’t know what he was doing, and that made his actions dangerous. ”
“I am not here to debate the law!” Isi shrieked, and her face turned a deep shade of crimson. “I’m done with this conversation! I’ll decide when I decide!”
“I’m sure it’ll be with great consideration,” Sewati sneered.
The brother and sister glared at each other for a few seconds before they both spun around and stormed out of the great hall. Isi headed for the throne room with her husband and son right behind her, while Sewati made his way toward the dining hall.
Brenna and Gratia frowned before they flashed back to the spirit world.
I’d felt like I was watching a tennis match for most of the conversation, but now my attention was focused on Nokomis, who looked devastated with the result of the family discussion. No one had come to any sort of decision, and neither the queen nor her brother was willing to admit to a compromise. And now, it looked like Catahe would sit in limbo for a while.
“I think that went well,” I said sarcastically.
“My lord, I don’t know how to get them to see the truth.” Miraya looked down at her hands and frowned. “We can normally guide people, but they don’t want to listen.”
“Maybe because they’re no longer the ones we must guide,” Aine pointed out with a shrug.
“Well, there’s no way you’ll convince Tawa to say anything that doesn’t agree with my mother,” Nokomis muttered. “He always takes her side.”
“Except about magic,” I said with a smirk. “She wasn’t very happy he agreed with us on that one.”
“But he’s being fickle,” she pouted. “He wants it for himself, but he’s not going to argue with Mother about it for Catahe. I don’t know if Uncle Sewati will ever be able to convince her to leave Catahe alone.”
“I agree with your uncle, death seems unfair,” I said. “But we can’t leave him alone completely. What he did was reckless.”
“But you agreed Catahe had good intentions,” the snow leopard princess insisted.
“Yeah, and the road to hell is paved with them,” I muttered and shook my head. “I know that may not make sense to you, but it’s something my mom used to say all the time. Even if someone was trying to do the right thing, they can still do it the wrong way.”
“That doesn’t seem possible,” she said with a frown.
“Okay, what about the Demon King?” I asked. “The gods told me I have to defeat him, right? But there were a few times I thought about just going to the Breach and fighting him before I’d finished the mission.”
“Thought about?” Nike raised a sarcastic eyebrow.
“Yeah, yeah, I’d pretty much decided it,” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest. “If I’d done that, it would have been the end of the world. Literally.”
“Why?” Nokomis asked.
“Because I wasn’t ready,” I answered. “And it wasn’t the way to win this war. I had to see it for myself.”
Images of the desecrated world Aeron had shown me flashed through my mind, and a shiver raced down my spine. It had been horrible to see everything I loved completely destroyed, and I didn’t even want to think about what would have happened to my family.
“How did you--” she started to ask.
“The gods made sure I knew the consequences,” I cut her off with a wave of my hand. “You don’t want all the gory details, trust me, but the point is I had good intentions. I wanted to do the right thing and save the world and all that shit, but I wasn’t going to do it the right way, and it would’ve cost me and everyone else. Now, compared to Catahe, for all we know, he accidentally opened more rifts with the spells he tried to do, and that made things more dangerous for all of Odrein. I’m not cool with that.”
“So, you do think he should die?” Nokomis cocked her head to the side as she stared at me with accusing eyes.
“No.” I shook my head and took her hands. “I think he needs to understand what he did was incredibly dangerous, but he won’t learn anything if your mom just gives him the Queen of Hearts treatment.”
“What treatment is that?” she asked with a furrowed brow.
“Off with his head,” I chuckled and ran my fingers through my hair. “We need to come up with a counter-offer.”
“You mean a different punishment?” Alyona asked.
“Yeah, Catahe broke the law,” I mused as I began to pace back and forth. “So, he can’t just walk away like it wasn’t a big deal, but killing him doesn’t solve anything.”
“What do you think, my lord?” Rebecca wondered.
“It has to be something that lets people know the queen is serious,” I murmured. “No one else should get curious about using blood magic or anything like that again.”
“What about chopping off his hand?” Isabella suggested.
“That seems… extreme.” I frowned and looked at her.
“That’s what happens in Yrosa,” she said with a shrug. “You steal, you get your hand chopped off. There aren’t many other crimes.”
“Yeah, I’ve never heard of a place that outlawed magic before, so it’s difficult to suggest a reasonable punishment,” Alyona agreed. “My father used to have people flogged if they were found performing black magic.”
“Okay, that’s a little more reasonable,” I said. “It can be done in the courtyard, so people get their bloodthirsty need for revenge.”
“Is that really a thing?” Skye asked with a horrified look on her face.
“Didn’t you see that mob?” I pursed my lips. “They would have been cheering if Isi had beheaded him while he was in the stocks.”
“Yeah, they almost fought when she wanted to wait,” Ravi agreed. “I think flogging is a fair compromise.”
“But how do we make sure he doesn’t do it again?” Miraya asked. “There have been many floggings throughout time, and I’m sure the queen will point out they don’t always discourage the criminal from trying again.”
“That’s true,” I murmured. “I wish there was a way to make sure he can’t access any dark magic again.”
“Well, how did he know what spells to try the first time?” Alyona asked. “He didn’t pick random bones and symbols. If he had the right incantations, that setup would have done something.”
“He’s a tribal,” Nokomis chimed in as her eyes lit with excitement. “They used to practice all kinds of magic outside the city walls. The ancestral royals couldn’t do much about it being out there in the forest and the foothills, but I bet they have some kind of information they passed down.”
“Like what the shamans do,” Alyona said. “Perhaps the books should be stripped from the tribals, though I don’t like the idea of stealing their heritage.”
“A lot of this boils down to people not knowing what they’re doing,” I muttered. “If they’d just been taught how to use it correctly, Catahe might have been able to prevent the whole hellbeast attack. Maybe even the rifts.”
“My mother won’t agree to get rid of the ban on magic,” Nokomis said and let out a sigh. “She’s too scared of it.”
“Everyone is,” I agreed. “The only way to avoid being scared is to learn more about it, but she has to be open to that.”
“She agreed to let Kiona learn,” Ravi said. “Why not herself? Or Catahe?”
“That’s a good point.” I stopped pacing and faced Nokomis. “What if we offer the flogging as his main punishment and being Kiona’s servant as an additional part of it?”
“How does that help?” she asked as her furry white ears twitched in confusion.
“Well, the flogging is the physical deal,” I explained. “He messed up, everyone knows it, everyone sees him getting punished, but being a servant would give him a chance to learn what she’s learning and understand where he went wrong. Plus, it’s like community service.”
“She might be willing to at least consider it,” Nokomis murmured. “I know she likes inflicting pain on criminals, but she may not like Catahe in the castle.”
“Well, she can think of it as keeping him close since she doesn’t trust him,” I offered. “She can keep an eye on him, and he can look out for Kiona. He obviously wanted to make sure no one got hurt before. He dropped a pile of snow on me, so it’s not like he tried super hard to kill us.”
“This could work,” the snow leopard Demi-Human said, and now she started to pace the great room. “Mother likes this phrase about keeping your enemies close. I can’t quite remember it.”
“Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer,” I chuckled. “Yeah, I know that one.”
“Well, she believes whole-heartedly in it,” Nokomis said with a smile. “I think it could convince her, though I wouldn’t want to try it right now.”
“No, I think it’s probably better to wait until after dinner,” I agreed and grinned. “I know I always feel better after I have a full belly.”
“Does your belly ever actually get full?” Nike smirked.
“Sometimes,” I chuckled.
“I’ll go see if the kitchen staff has prepared enough for all of us,” Nokomis said before she headed for the dining hall.
As she disappeared around the corner, I turned back to the rest of my group.
“Do you think this will work?” I asked.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Miraya answered with an encouraging smile.
“Queen Isi seems rather stubborn,” Aine pointed out and grimaced.
“Yeah, but so is Tawa,” I said. “And he mostly agrees that magic isn’t a bad thing. He just doesn’t think Catahe should get away with using it, which I understand. I’m just not on board with the whole killing him part.”
“I don’t really understand why he took her side,” Alyona murmured. “He knows magic can be used for good things now. He even said it’s more about the person than the power.”
“It’s his mom.” I shrugged. “I mostly get it. He already upset her once by taking my side about the whole magic thing. He probably didn’t want to do it again about Catahe, especially not in front of everyone else.”
“I suppose,” my wife said, though she didn’t look convinced.
I considered the fact that her mother had died a long time ago, so they never had the kind of relationship that would let her understand how Tawa felt. I knew upsetting my mom was in the top three on the list of worst feelings ever, so I just figured he didn’t want to disappoint her more than once in a day. He probably wasn’t used to doing it at all since they both had been claimed as the Noble of the Sword of Strength.
I could only imagine how much they had in common.
“Dinner’s ready!” Nokomis called out from the dining hall.
We filed into the room, and it seemed odd to sit around the table without the king and queen present. Sewati sat in the chair furthest from the head of the table, and he already had a plate in front of him, though it looked like he’d only picked at his food. The plate was still nearly full of baked chicken, mashed potatoes with a dark-colored gravy, and pale-green veggie stalks.
“I suppose you’re here to continue to tell me why we need to kill Catahe,” he muttered as we walked in the room.
“Nope,” I replied and sat in my chair. “We’re here to eat some food. You should, too.”
“My appetite seems to have vacated since my sister wants to kill a man over an honest mistake,” Sewati grumbled before he set his fork on the table with a dramatic sigh. “I’ll never understand her.”
“And this is why your swords moved on to the next generation before you were ready to give them up,” Aine said in a stern voice that caught even my attention. “You and Isi never tried to see both points of view.”
“I understood she was strong,” he argued. “But she never wanted to see how to use kindness to win battles.”
“Because you can’t always use it,” I interjected. “Sometimes, yeah, you don’t have to kill someone to prove a point, but sometimes you do. Trust me, I’ve been put in the position more than once to decide someone’s fate, and it’s not always death, and it’s not always mercy.”
“Lord Evan is right,” Miraya said with a fond smile toward me. “He has learned a lot over the past year, but it takes patience, even when he thinks he’s lacking in that area. You and your sister did not put in the time or effort to connect with each other.”
“How do you know?” Sewati asked and arched a doubtful eyebrow. “You don’t even know us.”
“Our sisters do,” the sword spirit scoffed. “They can already see a difference from you and Isi to Tawa and Nokomis. They try to bond and talk about their disagreements instead of fighting until you have to be separated.”
Sewati pursed his lips as he glanced over at Nokomis, who quickly dropped her gaze to her plate and shoved a bite of chicken into her mouth.
“If you spend your whole life thinking you’re always right, you won’t end up with many people who agree with you,” Aine declared. “The fact the gods allowed the two swords to be together is a miracle that can’t be denied.”
“It means they should always be used together, not be at arms with each other,” Juniper added.
“Are you sword spirits always so philosophical?” Sewati asked with the ghost of a smile on his lips.
“Yes,” I laughed. “They’re guides for us, and they know a hell of a lot more than we do. Maybe it’s time to talk to your sister and figure out some common ground. Hell, Nokomis and I found a compromise for Catahe that we think Isi might actually agree with.”
“That would be another miracle,” Sewati chuckled.
“Uncle, don’t be so negative,” Nokomis chided him. “Mother isn’t unreasonable. She just needs to know her voice has been heard.”
“Do you and Tawa fight all the time?” he asked.
“Not all the time,” the snow leopard princess giggled. “Sometimes, but we usually work it out. I know where we get our tempers from, though.”
“I suppose I might know, too,” Sewati said with a playful sigh. “Okay, I’m curious. What is this plan you think your mother will agree to?”
“Okay, so--” I started.
Then a blood-curdling scream echoed down the hallway.
Chapter 12
We dropped our forks and raced out of the dining hall as the screams continued. I could smell the blood before I saw the source, and I mentally prepared myself to see another bloody crime scene like the one at Ubira’s house.
Then we rounded the corner to the entryway and found the screams coming from a guard.
And he was still alive.
The royal guard was a musk ox Demi-Human, and he’d been stabbed in the arms and the belly just under his breastplate. His wounds bled profusely, but he was still breathing, and that meant I could still save him.
