Kingdom of Sea and Stone

“Thank you, Roan, for bringing the Ilareans to us,” one of the women said. She had a shorn head, save a two-inch long strip of red hair down the middle. “I trust they didn’t give you too much trouble.”

“Not too much,” he said, then had the nerve to glance at me.

The woman gave a satisfied nod. “Good. And Ceren?”

“He turned away at the border, once we killed two of his guards. He sent another later that night, but we captured him quite easily.”

“What?” Talin and I exclaimed in unison.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Talin asked.

“Because we captured him,” Roan said.

“Alive?”

Roan turned to him, a disgusted look on his face. “I don’t consider it capture if the prisoner is dead. Do you?”

“I would like the opportunity to question him.” There was a deadly calm in Talin’s voice that even I didn’t recognize.

“Considering you’re a prisoner here yourself,” the woman said, “I hardly think that would be appropriate.”

At that, Osius and Grig both placed their hands on the hilts of their swords and rose to their feet. “I’d ask you to mind your tongue when speaking to Prince Talin of Ilara,” Osius rumbled.

The woman scowled. “He’s no prince in Galeth.”

Roan held up a hand. “I don’t believe they mean us any harm, Yana. Nor believes Ceren has captured the Varenians, and Talin is clearly their ally.”

“Nor?” Yana asked, arching one red brow.

I rose and stepped forward. “I’m Nor. Zadie’s sister, and Samiel’s friend.”

“Ah yes, one of the twins we’ve heard so much about.” Yana gestured me forward. For a society that didn’t have leaders, she certainly seemed to do a lot of the talking. “Explain.”

Zadie held Sami as I told the council about Ceren’s attack on Varenia, but I could see him trembling with rage from the corner of my eye.

“What does Ceren want with the Varenians?” Yana asked.

Talin and I exchanged a glance, and he nodded for me to answer. “We’re not sure,” I admitted. “It could be he’s holding them hostage to get to me.”

“And what would the King of Ilara want with a girl like you?”

I hesitated. I wasn’t sure if I should tell them about my blood. I didn’t even know for certain that was what Ceren wanted. Talin had believed me about the visions, but these people didn’t even know me.

“Ceren was betrothed to Nor,” Talin said. “Nor tried to kill him. He wants revenge.”

Yana looked to Roan. “A pity, then, that he didn’t take her at the border. We could have washed our hands of this matter.”

Yana’s cold detachment made it hard to take her words personally, but I could see that Talin’s composure was slipping. “This matter involves everyone,” he ground out. “It would be very dangerous for all of us if Nor were to fall into Ceren’s hands.”

I gently touched his arm to calm him, silently reminding him that he was hoping to enlist the help of the Galethians, though I had to admit that seemed unlikely.

“In the meantime,” Yana continued as if Talin hadn’t spoken, “we must decide what to do with the men.”

A chill crept over my scalp and I pressed closer to Talin. They had referred to him as their prisoner, after all, and I had no idea what Galethian treatment of prisoners was like.

“You,” Yana said to Talin. “Ceren is your brother, correct?”

“My half brother, yes. We share a father, the late King Xyrus.”

“And Ceren is king now?”

“He believes he is. The rightful ruler is my mother, Queen Talia, whom Ceren tried to murder four years ago. She survived and gave birth to my sister, Zoi, who will be ruler of Ilara when she comes of age. Ilarean succession runs through female lines, or did, before the males began killing off the female heirs.”

This caused quite a stir, and I felt a swelling of pride. Talin was the only male Ilarean royal who had dared to admit this for hundreds of years.

“Are you sure?” another councilmember asked. “Is there proof?”

“My mother is proof,” Talin said. “As for the murdered female heirs, no, I can’t prove that. Not yet, anyhow. But there is no denying that my sister is the rightful heir.”

“Why are you here?” It was the eldest councilmember who spoke, a gray-haired man who looked to be in his forties, though Roan had told us he was sixty-three.

“To find Samiel,” Zadie said, the first time she’d spoken since the meeting began.

The man turned to her. “I know that’s why you’re here, and I respect that you came for your man. Rest assured, he is not a prisoner. But I’m talking about the princeling and his guards. They want something from us. And I can almost assure them they aren’t going to get it.”

I knew Talin wanted to ask for the Galethians’ help, but it was clear to me that this wasn’t the time. He would be swiftly denied—and potentially kicked out of Galeth. As far as we knew, Ceren had guards waiting for us just outside the border. Talin needed more time to make them understand the severity of the situation.

Talin cleared his throat “We want—”

“To stay in Galeth,” I blurted, cutting him off. Everyone in the room turned to stare at me.

“What?” Talin asked, along with the old man and several of the other councilmembers. I could feel Roan’s eyes on me, and I had a very annoying feeling he was smirking.

“We’ve had a difficult journey,” I began, “and our horses need rest before we can ride out again.” I figured if the Galethians would respond to anything, it was the welfare of our mounts. “If Ceren took the Varenians to New Castle, we will need a strategy to rescue them,” I added, glancing at Sami. “Varenians aren’t legally allowed on land, and Talin and his men are fugitives. Ceren was pursuing them as much as me. We are so grateful that you allowed us to cross your border to safety. All we’re asking for is a day or two to figure out our next move.”

Yana and Roan exchanged a glance.

“Leave us,” Yana said. “The council will vote. We’ll call you back in when we’ve made our decision.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and hurried out of the room, the rest of our group on my heels. When we’d reached the little antechamber, Talin and Sami rounded on me.

Talin’s feathers weren’t easily ruffled, but it was clear I had angered him in the meeting. “We can’t stay here, Nor. You know that.”