This time he did glance around. Was shehopingto see him tried for treason? The last thing he needed was a witness to whisper to Mareda about a suspicious conversation held in the dark. It was enough that half the Council already believed he was involved in the Thaw.
Never mind that you trulydidplan to aid the Thaw.
He brushed the thought aside, as he’d grown so used to doing. It didn’t matter now. The pendant was gone, his people were adjusting. He had done nothing tangible, nothing but prod around the archives and privately hope that the Laune might one day thaw.
“The Laune is gone,” he gritted out, under his breath. Perhaps she would take the hint and keep her own voice down. “Eisalaan is our home now.”
Unbelievably, the Empress smiled.
“Did you know that Dhalias is a coastal kingdom?”
Kai blinked at the change of track, his mind taking a moment to catch up.
No, he had not known. The world maps had changed since the days of Old Eisalaan, new alliances built and kingdoms revealed. If he had once known the kingdom of Dhalias, he wouldn’t have known it as it was now.
“Have you considered making a home in the sea?”
He stilled, silenced for a moment longer. Yet another unexpected turn in the conversation he’d assumed they were having.
And yet, he was still unsure what it was she wanted. To sell off her ocean territory? Why? He had nothing to offer. No land, no Wielding power, no money, no army. He shook his head and stood taller, as though that would help him ground himself in the discussion.
“As I said, Eisalaanisour home. And in any case, the environments are entirely different; saltwater versus freshwater.”
“But both are habitable?”
“In theory.” He’d spent a fair bit of time sneaking off to explore the wider ocean in his youth, and would come back with his lungs burning and his tongue dry as sand. Just the thought of breathing in saltwater made his gills pucker.
“There may be basis to that theory; Dhali fisherman have long reported sightings in the deep waters just past our bay. It’s rumoured there’s a Merrow settlement beneath the current.”
Kai found himself silenced once more. The Empress inched closer, knowing she had his attention now.
“If you wanted to explore the possibility, Dhalias would gladly open its waters to you.”
At what cost, he wanted to ask. Instead he said; “Why the secrecy? If all you want is to help, why hide that from the Queen?”
The Empress gave a tinkling, graceful laugh, entirely at odds with the mischievous light behind her smile. Once again, Kai was struck with a strange sense that he had seen that smile even if the face itself was brand new.
“Selma is a dear, dear friend, but I have known her since I was little more than a girl. You may have gathered she’s rather patriotic. The suggestion that anyonemight lead a better lifeoutsidethe Silver Kingdom would surely prickle her pride.”
Her tone was a confused cocktail, dry with amusement, perhaps a touch bitter, but sweetened by fondness. This woman unsettled him more than he could fathom; he still had no clear intuition about her other than a vague idea that they’d met before.
“Why? We don’t know each other. What do you stand to gain from helping us?”
The Empress turned away, casting her eye out on the glittering cityscape. The amused lines around her eyes faded as her lips flattened. When she spoke, it was almost as though Kai were not standing beside her; as though she were murmuring the quiet, bitter words to herself.
“When it comes to the Silver Kingdom, the line between guest and captor has always been far too thin for my liking.” She huffed a humourless laugh. “Thin as a hairline crack in the perfect, shining ice.”
Kai did not know what to say. That hadn’t answered his question whatsoever, but she didn’t elaborate and he found that he did not truly want to know what she meant.
“I will think on it,” he said finally. “Thank you. For the generous offer.”
She shook herself from the dim reverie that encased her, pulling that unreadable smile back into place as she faced him once more.
“I leave for Dhalias tomorrow, but you may write to me when -”
The Empress fell silent, as the glass doors opened and music and noise spilled out to stir the silence of the gallery. He turned to see Silas stepping halfway onto the frosted deck, talking over his shoulder to an elegant courtier who laughed delicately into her palm at something he’d said.
Silas turned just as Kai raised a hand in greeting. The older man froze in the doorway, one foot in and one out, the smile sliding from his face. Then he turned heel and led the courtier back inside.
