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“One of our hostages gave us a message for you. She assures us you will not doubt its veracity. I hope she has not misled us, otherwise she will find herself in even worse condition when I return than she was in when I left.”
“Deliver her words,” Lio ordered.
“A touching message, to be sure. She says, ‘I am Nephalea, Hesperine errant, and I will remain steadfast for as long as I can. My love for Alkaios is proof that I yet live, and that I yet live is proof of my love for him. All seven of us will gladly lay down our lives for Orthros, but for the sake of those who depend upon us, we pray for Hespera’s deliverance.’”
With all the subtlety it had taken him to hide the Craving from his family, with all the determination that had kept him on his feet when he had been starving, Lio let none of his reaction show on his face.
No mortals from Tenebra or Cordium knew the secret of Grace, least of all the Aithourian Circle. This was one aspect of Hesperine nature they had always succeeded in keeping from the enemy. No Hesperines would reveal it under any torture, lest they sentence their own Graces to death. Nephalea knew Alkaios’s best hope was for her captors never to learn that killing her would end his life as well.
Nephalea’s message alluded to the secret of Grace without giving it away. There was no way the Aithourians could have contrived such words.
“Do you accept this proof?” Chrysanthos prompted.
Lio turned to Konstantina, although he knew what she would say. “Second Princess, as our legal authority, do you deem the evidence presented to us sufficient?”
“With a heavy heart, I do.”
Lio could not keep himself from looking at Cassia. For the barest instant, their gazes met, their pain joined, and he saw in her eyes a plea for Alkaios and Nephalea, even as he felt her heart swearing retribution upon Chrysanthos.
Lio’s prayers to Hespera for the prisoners’ deliverance were not words. His grief and anger were his prayers. That he turned toward Chrysanthos once more was his promise.
He would not give up. Not until every Hesperine errant was safe behind the ward.
Lio faced the mage. “For what purpose have you imprisoned our people and taken them from their loved ones here in Orthros?”
“For their crimes against mankind. Nephalea alone sent two of my brothers to Anthros’s Hall the last time she tried to lead the hostages in an escape.”
“Do not your own laws deem violence justified when someone fights in self-defense?”
“What justification brought these intruders into Tenebra in violation of that kingdom’s wishes? The Oath lapsed four hundred years ago. None of these Hesperines had the Tenebrans’ permission to enter their lands.”
“Nor has Tenebra refused us permission by revoking the last Oath we swore with their king four centuries ago. The aggressors our Hesperines errant most often combat are bandits, apostates, wild animals, and the elements, all of which bring the honest and hard-working people of Tenebra to great harm. Do you have Tenebra’s permission to hunt Hesperines in their lands?”
“Time, Ambassador. Time. Do not waste yours wondering how and why she came into our hands. Think instead of the fate that awaits her. Her fight for your goddess’s perverse cause will soon be at an end.”
Lio made his final petition to the Tenebrans. “Hesperines do not give up. When cornered, we rally. When desperate, we stand. For we would rather meet a noble end fulfilling the divine tenets we hold dear. It is something I believe we have in common with our courageous neighbors from Tenebra, the land where our own people began. What neither Hesperines nor Tenebrans do is capitulate, least of all before the Orders.”
Would the embassy unite with Hesperines against their common enemy? Or would the Tenebrans unite in prejudice with their fellow mortals?
“As determined as you are to fight for the prisoners’ lives,” said the Dexion, “you are certain to accept the Order of Anthros’s terms for their release.”
“State your terms. Present them before the firstbloods and our Queens. The vote of the bloodlines and the Will of the Annassa shall decide whether we accept.”
“You had the audacity to quote Order law to me. Let me educate you on it. Our law mandates a life for a life. The sentence for murder is that the murderer’s life be forfeit to the victim’s family.” The mage’s breathing was even now, his face less flushed, but the vehemence in his aura struck Lio with all the force of another spell.
“Take note we have admitted no fault. Of what crime do you accuse us?”
“The murder of Dalos, Honored Master of the Aithourian Circle. If you submit to justice, our Order is prepared to spare Nephalea and the other prisoners the sentence all Hesperines deserve. We will return the seven prisoners to you—in return for Dalos’s seven murderers.”
Aunt Lyta and Kadi’s ward swelled with power. Lio felt Uncle Argyros’s aura rumble like a storm. Lio was certain that Javed, at House Argyros with the sucklings, must have halted in his tracks. Perhaps even Basir and Kumeta, wherever they were in Tenebra, felt the ripples of the mage’s demand.
But it was the waves of Cassia’s outrage that engulfed Lio. In her, he felt an echo of the promise she had made to him when Dalos had threatened his life.I will not let him touch you.
“How fitting,” Lio said calmly. “It is for my own life that I am to negotiate tonight. I do not fear your demand, Dexion. But you should. For you have also asked for the lives of my family and their Ritual tributaries. For my part, I shall defend them with all I have to give.”
“What will you defend, Ambassador? Peace or their lives? You cannot choose both.”
Chrysanthos unrolled his scroll and held it up. The document bore not only the blue wax seal of the King of Tenebra. Burned upon the vellum with magic were the flame-red emblem of the Aithourian Circle and the Akron’s golden glyph of Anthros.
