The ikara followed her across the chamber, and when she slipped out the door, she still felt the ghostly pinpricks of their white, pupilless eyes, measuring her.
CHAPTER 60
ELENA
I have wandered so far that I have forgotten the smells of home and the warmth of goodness freely given.
—fromThe Odyssey of Goromount: A Play
The last rays of the sunset seeped in from the windows, catching the river of pearls and seashells. Her attendant glanced nervously over his shoulder, but Elena did not slow, her sandals slapping against the tiles with a resounding clack, her pallu billowing behind her like a blazing flag. No rulers without a seat were allowed in during a vote, but Elena did not mind if it meant avoiding Samson. Or her own guilt.
Instead, she focused on how the guards snapped to attention, how the attendant waved for the doors to open, how a low, heavy groan echoed through the hall as the doors swung in and she entered the cold council room once more.
Syla, Risha, Bormani, and Kysha were already seated, talking quietly. She did not see Farin, but they still had a few precious minutes before the vote began.
Elena slid into a seat beside Syla, who broke from his conversation with his attendant and turned to her.
“Did you meet with Bormani?” she asked softly.
He nodded. “He’s convinced. Risha?”
Elena looked across the table, catching the gaze of the Tsuani queen. Risha did not smile, but she gave a singular nod.
“We have it, Syla,” she said.
Before she could say anything else, the doors opened to reveal Farin and his retinue. She tried to decipher his expression, to look for clues on how he had spent the last few hours, but the metal king’s face was cold and remote as he took his seat. He met the eyes of no one, spoke to no one. He dismissed his attendants with a wave of his hand, and they shrank back like kicked shobus.
He’s pissed, she thought delightedly.
“Now that we are all settled, let’s start,” Risha called. “Let the records state we begin at five past the sun’s zenith, in Tsuana with Queen Risha presiding. We will take attendance…”
As each ruler answered for attendance, Elena observed, noting how Kysha’s gaze kept sliding toward Farin, how Bormani tapped the table in an uneasy rhythm, how Syla sat with his shoulders tensed, as if in anticipation. They all knew what was coming. Like sharks in water, they could smell the iron-rich promise of blood.
“Ravence?”
“In attendance,” she said.
“Then we have all members of the council here today,” Risha said. She paused, as if now realizing the sudden gravity in the air, the compressed charge building around them. The attendants shifted nervously too. For a moment, Risha closed her eyes, steeling herself. Then she turned to Elena. “Queen Elena, we left off with a… proposal from you.”
Proposalwas a delicate way of dressing up a threat, but Queen Risha was nothing if not diplomatic.
Elena slowly pressed her hands on the table. “Thank you, Queen Risha. Like I said in today’s earlier session, I come with three demands: one, the removal of all Jantari troops from Ravence and Seshar; two, the nullification of all Sesharian labor contracts in Jantar; and three, the head of Farin’s youngest son.” She paused then. Her father had always taughther the value of silences. Elena used one now to give them time to consider the implications of her demands, and she saw them all stir in unease. “I understand it is a lot to contemplate, so I have a new proposal. I motion that we add a new seat to the council. Another king, to help us evaluate and understand the stakes.”
Farin snarled. “I am not going to allow some Sesharian scum—”
“On the contrary,” Elena said sharply. “I propose adding a new seat not for Seshar, but for another kingdom. A prudent and powerful one. A kingdom that will play a critical part in the future of the second continent.”
“And who would that be, young queen?” Kysha snorted. “A kingdom of the Sky People?”
“No,” Elena said, as the great doors groaned open. “The kingdom of the Yumi of Moksh.”
Daz entered, flanked by two Yumi warriors with unbound hair that prickled and shivered like a weapon unsheathed. Gasps sounded around the room. Kysha grew alarmingly pale, and Farin stared, his mouth hanging agape. Bormani looked as if he were about to faint.
Daz stopped just a few feet from the table. He had cleaned up well. Gone was the blood on his wrists, the tears in his clothes. He wore full regalia, the trident of the Goddess flashing gold above his chest as he carefully inclined his head.
“Esteemed members of the council,” he said, “I humbly offer my request to join your ranks. For too long, the kingdom of the Yumi has ignored the affairs of her brothers and sisters of the second continent. But with such conflict abroad, we believe it is our duty to help steer the future of the continent.”
Farin made a strange choking sound. The attendants closer to the Yumi soldiers shrank back as their hair twisted in the air, tasting their fear.
