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With difficulty, Nero turned back to Nina and nodded. “Of course. But you’ll visit soon, I hope? My piano sits empty and longs for you at the keys.”
“Perhaps.” Nina smiled coyly as Caius teleported in, followed swiftly by Ezekiel.
Cursory greetings were exchanged before everyone took their seats. As they were in Nina’s territory, they looked to her to lead, as was customary.
“Shall we get directly to the point, then?” A brunette eyebrow rose before the lone female turned to Isaiah. “Jacob challenged you, and you killed him.”
Her callous words ripped a gaping laceration through his chest, an invisible pressure compressing against his lungs with such force that he temporarily saw spots in his vision. “Yes.”
Across the table from him, Nero swallowed harshly, obviously still feeling the reflection of Isaiah’s emotions.
“Pray tell, Isaiah,” she charged, “why a sovereign of more than thirteen hundred years would challenge his own protégé.”
No sense in beating around the bush. “He desired to seek the Light and he hadn’t been challenged in more than four centuries. Before he spoke the words against me, he asked me to challenge him for his clan. I refused. In response, he forced my hand by doing the opposite and vowing he’d never yield.”
Shock registered in the faces of the sovereigns around the table, their surprise tempered only by outrage at the brazen abandonment of their most sacred codes.
“Why did he ask you?” Caius questioned without malice.
A quiet sovereign by nature, Caius was several hundred years his junior. Similar to Derikles, the man much preferred his solitude and the company of his clan to anyone else’s. He staunchly rejected any involvement in the original Peace Accords summit. While Caius had signed the Accords, he’d never agreed to host an ambassador, nor participate in any larger gatherings.
“His reasoning was that he didn’t trust anyone else with his people.” Isaiah held Caius’ eye contact, challenging the other man to refute him. Caius wisely kept his silence.
“And you did nothing to provoke such an attack?” Ezekiel asked.
Isaiah stiffened as unmitigated fury coursed through his blood, his temper spiking at the insinuation. But before he could reply, Nero did.
“I trust what Isaiah said.” A calm statement of support. “There is no deception in him.”
But Isaiah couldn’t let the impertinent remark go. “Why the hell would I challenge my own previous sovereign? He was the only true ally my clan had.”
“Yes, but now your clan has grown by fifty Raeths,” Ezekiel said, pensive. “Quite a change.”
“What are you implying?” Isaiah spat, venom on his tongue.
A casual shrug. “Changes the balance of power. An easy win.”
Isaiah exploded out of his seat. “There was nothing easy about it! My former sovereign challenged me for my own clan, and then he made me kill him in front of both my people and his! His blood will be on my hands for the rest of eternity, and I must look into the eyes of his people—my people—and assure them of my benevolence. Don’t tell me it was easy!”
All four Raeths in the room had shifted to the back foot in light of his atypical outburst. Nero alone had the poise to speak into the pregnant pause.
“I’m sorry about Jacob, Isaiah.”
Throwing him a malicious glare, Isaiah fought back the rising tide of animosity that’d rushed through his veins. He took a deep breath, and slowly lowered himself into the conference chair. “I would never have challenged him. I didn’t want him dead.”
Nina’s face softened infinitesimally. “Granted.”
“Agreed,” Nero nodded. “Will your new clansmen assimilate into your existing territory?”
“What business is it of yours?”
Nero smiled, taking no offense. “None, really.”
Rolling his shoulders, Isaiah shot Zeke a look. “In the interest of full disclosure, Jaden challenged me days ago. Obviously, he was unsuccessful.”
“Two challenges in three days.” Zeke inclined his head, his emerald eyes appraising Isaiah with a scrutiny that felt distinctly uncomfortable.
“And more than enough for this decade.” Isaiah was eager to be done with this. “I have territories to oversee, people to kill. Are you done with the inquisition, Nina?”
