***
Kohau hurried through the temple. He was running late for his meeting with the High Lady. After a rather short and mostly tense meal with Yelve, he had lost himself in a novel to try and ease the knot of tension he could feel burning between his shoulders. It wasn’t the best tale of adventure he’d ever read, but it had been entertaining enough to help him forget for a few hours. Perhaps a touch too long, as he hadn’t realized the fourth bell had tolled until it was finished. He paused to straighten his robes and take a calming breath before entering the room.
The High Lady gave him a quick nod and gestured towards a chair as she signed a few last documents. Her assistant scurried out after slipping the pages in a leather folder, the door swinging shut with a soft click behind her.
“I apologize for my lateness High Lady.”
“Were you late Scholar? I hadn’t noticed.” Her lips curved into a teasing smile. “You were no doubt lost within the pages of a very interesting book.”
“I’m not sure it was that interesting yet.”
“This is a misuse of writing implements.”
Kohau jumped at the snarling voice coming from his right. He felt rather foolish that he hadn’t looked around the room yet to see the other occupant. Yelve stood leaning against the wall near the window when he entered the room. Brown eyes flicked towards him before returning to the stack of parchment in her hands. What light filtered down through the window gave a strange glow to her bronzed tawny skin. A few strands of dark blonde hair had escaped from being tied back and softened the strong angular lines of her face.
A soft cough from his left brought his attention back to the High Lady. Kohau ducked his head in a clumsy attempt to hide the heat rising in his cheeks as he was caught staring. Yelve was either nice enough not to react or she hadn’t noticed in the first place. He expected it was the former, no matter how much he hoped it was the later.
“I wasn’t expecting anything of great import from Elder Tara. She didn’t want me elected in the first place.” The High Lady sighed and rubbed her temples. “The fact that she even brought this much to me shows that she and the other elders are worried.”
“May I?” Kohau tilted his head towards the papers Yelve had waved about. “The news has reached the pass already?”
“Traders are a great source of rumor. Sometimes they even have useful information.” Yelve dropped the stack of reports in his lap before slumping into the chair next to him. “I didn’t think the elder had been paying attention.”
“Of course she would be paying attention. Anything that would help her drive me from my position here would be of interest. Except the people keep voting for me to stay, so unless she kills me or stages a revolution somehow, I won’t be going anywhere until Leistros is done with me.” The High Lady shuffled some papers around her desk. “Elder Tara has little support amongst the council. Not after the rumors of her ties to General Leon became more rooted in fact. She has strayed, and some fear she is no longer a friend to the great serpents' speakers.”
“The southern guards have been quiet. At least, they’re quiet around me. I don’t think I’ll learn anything new if I go back.”
“These reports from Elder Tara don’t contain anything new. There’s still a group hiding in the shadows making trouble for followers of the scale. Half of the council is off chasing their tails around the Vilgat Isles hunting witches while the others fuss over Logarth’s ruins. Meanwhile, Kurdal’s true followers are vanishing or having their homes burnt around them.” She sighed and rubbed her temples. “Guard Reana didn’t bring back anything helpful either from her visit north.”
Something resembling a muffled growl came from his right. “Reana couldn’t find her fupahs if her hands were nailed to her chest. No one is going to volunteer information to some uppity bitch who thinks they’re below her.”
“Then you won’t mind volunteering to do this for me, will you?”
“You should have sent for me when the reports first started coming in, High Lady.”
Kohau wasn’t sure what he was suddenly in the middle of, but it felt like the times his eldest sister and his mother had gone toe to toe in the sitting room. He had usually slipped out before their voices reached fevered pitches and hidden away with his books in his room.
“If I may make a suggestion?” He swallowed as both women turned their attention to him. “Wouldn’t it make sense to send someone to survey the damages caused by the attacks so you can plan how much aid will be needed? The people of Leistros trust the High Lady to care for them, but they also don’t like to just show up and ask for help. Not that I’ve observed anyway. If you send someone, they’ll know you haven’t forgotten about them.”
“I would have to bring the council together before I could do anything. But if I have a plan already put together for them to approve things would go that much smoother.” The High Lady nodded, her fingers steepled under her chin. “Thank you Scholar Tanlar, for being more coolheaded than either of us right now.”
Yelve simply grunted as she sat back in her chair again, her arms folded across her chest. Kohau turned his attention back to the High Lady.
“Then your mission is thus – Scholar Tanlar, I would like to request of you a thorough report on all damages and missing citizens so I can hit the council over the heads and remind them of their duties to our people. Guard Yelve, you will be his escort and conduct as quiet as investigation as possible into who is behind these attacks.” She scrawled her signature on a few bits of parchment. “These will allow you to draw some coins from the vaults for your journey, as well as take whatever supplies you may need.”
“When would you like us to leave?” Yelve straightened in her chair.
“In the next few days. If anyone asks, I am simply sending you to double check the harvest reports for the season.”
Kohau frowned. “But don’t people here already know of the attacks on the outer holdings?”
“Something Elder Tara said tells me things are amiss here at the temple as well. Some know, but others are blissfully unaware of anything past their own noses.”
“Then I should stay here. You could be –“
“I will be fine Yelve. Or have you forgotten what happened the last time someone made an attempt on my life?” A warm smile lit the High Lady’s face. “I need someone I can trust out there to protect our people. Even if these events cause me to lose their favor and vote me out, I will never stop worrying about them. Besides, Shara returns tomorrow, so I will be more than protected in your absence.”
Kohau glanced up as Yelve shifted in her chair again. “Someone tried to kill you, High Lady?”
“Someone was hired, but in the end they refused to do their job.” Her gaze flicked towards Yelve before returning to him. “That is a tale for another time.”
“They haven’t bitched about Shara turning your ear yet?” Yelve’s grin frightened him a little.
“I do not talk business in the bedchamber. And as he was chosen by the council to be trade ambassador, I hardly see why they would complain about my current lover. Now, off with the two of you.” The High Lady shooed them towards the door. “You’ve a trip to plan and I have more random reports to slog through before dinner.”
Kohau felt like he’d just learned more than he ever expected about things he didn’t really need to know. Yelve took the papers the High Lady had handed him earlier from his numb grip after she led him out into the hall.
“I hope you get along better with the tragols down in the vault than I do. I’ll see about horses and supplies.” She handed him back one of the papers. “You have been on a horse before, or do we need some quick lessons before we leave?”
“I can ride.”
“Good. Pack light; we don’t need to haul the library around with us.”
He scowled at her back as she moved away down the hall. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means leave room for food in your packs between the books. Unless you like th
e taste of parchment.”
Diversity Is Coming Page 26