Selma watched him, and when he glanced her way she inclined her head. Offering him the choice, just as she had when Mareda questioned his power to Wield. Once again, he understood that it washishistory to discuss, and she would respect his decision either way. Kai gave the barest nod, then turned a smile on the Empress. “Of course.”
She beamed and those laughter lines fanned out deep around her eyes.
The Empress suggested they find some spiced wine and speak outside in the warmed gallery, away from the din of the ballroom. Queen Selma excused herself, gliding off toward another dignitary, and the Empress swept toward an attendant with a tray of drinks. When Kai turned to follow her, Os grabbed his arm. His eyes were troubled beneath his furrowed brow.
“I don’t want to leave it like this –”
“It’s fine. You’ve said your piece, consider it heard.”
He shook Os off, consciously loosening his tight shoulders and fixing that faintly polite smile back in place on his way to the door.
The gallery was dim and quiet after the bright bustle of the ball, host to just a few hushed conversations held around wide silver firepits of softly burning logs that stood dotted around the deck. The Empress stood by the furthest fire with a goblet in each hand, gazing out on the Queen’s Village and the city beyond.
“It is quite lovely, isn’t it?” She handed him his wine and turned back to the snowy view, cupping her own warm goblet in both hands. “In a very…cleansort of way.”
It was too dark to be certain, but Kai thought her nose might have wrinkled distastefully at the wordclean.
He side-stepped her comment, much as he agreed with the overall point of view. The Silver Kingdom was lovely to look at, until you had to keep looking at the same glaring sweep of snow and frost, blank and white, day in and out. No signs of life beneath the ice, not a hint of vibrant, budding green.
“Eisalaan was beautiful in a very different way before the Frost,” he said instead. She had wanted to hear his memories of Old Eisalaan, after all. “Where the village now sits, these lands were fields. Green and lush. And the forest was overgrown with wildflowers in the summer –”
The Empress turned to face him fully, and Kai stopped mid-sentence at her expression. It was not quite sheepish or regretful, but something a little more imperious. Almost proud.
“I must confess, I didn’t drag you out here to discuss your country’s history.”
Kai stiffened.
“I see.”
“As fascinating as it is,” she amended, eyes glittering with her own unspoken amusement. “But that’s a conversation that can wait. Your future, on the other hand, seems rather more pressing.”
Kai sipped his wine, waiting, willing his tense brow to smooth. He had obviously been more distracted by his talk with Os than he’d thought, if he’d allowed himself to be led away by this stranger with no clear reading of her intentions. He cursed himself silently for his carelessness, but did not speak aloud. Until he knew what the Empress wanted with him, he would give her nothing at all.
“Selma tells me you plan to make a home here in Eisalaan. On land.”
“Well, yes. The Laune is lost to us, along with any life we once led beneath the waters.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And you’ve accepted that?”
Kai took a deeper sip of wine, trying to ease the warning prickle at the base of his skull. He did not like this particular line of questioning.
“What other choice do we have?”
Something fleeting lit her eye in the dim glow of the fire. “I hear Eisalaan is thawing.”
A simple enough statement.
Yet alarm rose the hairs at the nape of Kai’s neck. He resisted the impulse to look around for a glimpse of golden-blonde hair or steel grey cloaks – resisted reacting at all. This was not a conversation he could afford to have, certainly not in a public place.Certainlynot with this enigmatic stranger.
He forced himself to hold her gaze firmly. “The Queen’s Wielders are doing their best to rectify the situation,” he said, voice steady. “You would be best speaking to the Commander if it’s the Thaw that troubles you, my lady.”
He turned away, but she called out to him, calm and commanding.
“I am not here to accuse you of anything, Your Majesty. I want to help you.”
“Queen Selma has been generous. We have everything we need.”
“Youneedwaters to call your home.”
