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“Toste, tell them what is happening,” Wade softly admonished as he tightened his arms around Loni.
He straightened, looked at each of us. “Aamori is on her way here. As well as Ureste. They’ll be here in the morning as far as the scouts were able to discern. They’ll be arriving with a full contingent of guards to help protect the city. Or at least, that’s what I requested. With Ureste, I can never be sure what to expect. Aamori might comply, but it would only be to help her image. What will ‘Phin’ be doing?” Toste asked with a note of suspicion, like he didn’t really believe Yunez was Phin.
“Guards will come. My house would not let you lose more people than necessary because of the Fiasla realm. What exactly did you tell them?” Yunez tipped his head to the right then left to crack it.
“Exactly what Sliad shared. There was a fifth house that left Fennina because of our jealous, greedy ways. And that they were back to take over the realm, running Fennina the way it should have been ran from the beginning.”
“That’s not going to win us any favors,” Rand said quietly, leaning against the table to be closer to Yunez.
“No, Rand, I do not suspect it will,” Yunez sighed. Looks of dread papered everyone at the table. Even Loni appeared to know how this would affect the rest of us.
“They’re not going to want to hear you out.” Nato shook his head. That was my exact thought. Unfortunately, everyone had the same one. When we all were on the same page, that meant that we were most likely right, right?
I hoped not.
“They will hear you out,” Wade said, steel in his musical voice. “Toste and I will make sure of it.”
“Hold on, what happened to Sliad?” I turned to Yunez. We hadn’t had an opportunity to talk, and that seemed like a really important piece of information.
Yunez did his own ferocious impression of a growl. “The bastard got away. When the tides turned, several of his warriors attacked to drive me back. And when I cleared them, he was gone. He hung out on the edge of the property to make an escape when he needed one. I am sure he never meant to actually take over Senadia. They would have to use a considerable number of resources and sacrifice many lives to actually take over here. And this early in their endeavor, I do not believe they could afford to pay that particular price.”
Low growls erupted in the room. From Toste, Egan, Loni, and several of the guards lining the walls.
“Why here? Why my city?” Toste slammed his fists down on the table. Water and wine sloshed over the side of our glasses in the wake of his anger.
“I cannot say for sure. I can only speculate that you have the greatest stores of resources. On the off chance they did manage to win the city, they would have had gained quite a bit. But that is only a guess.” Yunez shrugged, then rubbed a long-fingered hand down his face.
Glancing at Wade apologetically, Toste squared his shoulders against Yunez. “You’re the leader here. I’ve heard you treat your Mazza and mates as equals, but your age and wisdom make you the true leader. From what Wade tells me, you’re also the mastermind behind the only chance we have to squash any resistance that comes against us.
“As much as I hate to share this, we only sustained the hold on our city because our mates, children, and elderly fought at my warriors’ sides. The powers they wielded,” he slumped back in his seat. “I believed him. When he said they were the male form of the Mazzas, then proceeded to use powers from each house, and then some. My question for you… and your Mazza,” he added as an afterthought, “is why should we believe you’re any better than them?”
“Toste!” Wade’s cheeks pinkened.
“My dear, I understand you don’t like this question, but it’s one we need to ask.”
“It is fine, Wade,” Yunez waved his concern away. “I would have the same question in his position. And I expected as much.” He bent forward, his violet eyes bright as if burning from behind. “Toste, I could give you any number of excuses. Any stories of why I believe I am the side you should bank on instead of forming your own, but I’ll instead give you facts, and you can do with that what you will.
“What Sliad told you was true. There was once upon a time a fifth house. The Manno house. They left this realm with an abundance of hate and frustration to build their own society and realm. The Fiasla realm. I think we can all agree, those are not the pillows that create a peaceful society.
“I would love to tell you that it was sunshine and butterflies until recently, but that would just be a lie. I grew up in that society, and it is full of strife and machinations. Which, I am sure you can appreciate, as that is part of any house in Fennina. However, they have an insane amount of firepower and a base where no one in this realm, save me, can access. Their loved ones are safe as they bring war to Fennina.”
Toste’s mouth turned down on one end as he listened to Yunez. I thought he was going for a short, succinct reason for why Toste should join us, but I wrongly forgot that Yunez had a secret love of theatrics. As he let his face fall into shadows from the lamps burning around the room, he was absolutely playing it up.
Our hosts, including Wade, were hanging on his every word.
“You can bank on three things. One, the Fiasla Mannos are bringing war to Fennina. Two, they will not stop until they have taken control of your lands and people, or until they have exhausted all their resources. Three, I will be here to fight at your side.”
One of the Caen men on the edges of the wall shook his head. “How do we know you aren’t part of them? As a spy? Otherwise, wouldn’t you have shared this knowledge sooner?”
Yunez rubbed his index finger down the bridge of his nose. We’d asked this of him. Something very similar. So would the other house leaders. Wouldn’t he tire of repeating the same story a thousand times? I know I was getting tired of it on his behalf.
Hell, I wanted to create a set of cliff notes to refer people to when they had questions. Or he should have gathered everyone in an auditorium to share the news. More efficient that way.
“I have always, and will always, operate on getting the best possible outcome for our people. And every time I wanted to share something with anyone, it created a ripple effect that was not in our favor. If you have any friends or family with the sight, ask them how that works. Take their word for it. As for why we are telling you now? Our hand is being forced,” he answered grimly.
The Caen men looked to each other. I could see the wheels turning in their heads. Did they believe us? Could they? Would they lose family and friends if they didn’t?
I guess I was lucky that I had come into the world with my LL from the get go. It saved me a lot of heartache.
