by Meagan Hurst
“I am,” was the irritable reply, “I am not killing them for wanting a ceremony.” Her attention was caught as two familiar faces rounded the corner before them. One of them was supposed to be dead. Freezing in mid-step, Z felt her eyes widen in shock as Shalion met them with caution.
“I found him in the shadows,” Shalion explained in a rush. “I would have told you sooner, but there were a couple of problems…” Shalion’s eyes were orange with worry, but Z wasn’t focused on him.
Z felt the Dragon move to stand behind her, and his presence was reassuring enough that she found her voice at long last. “Sabaias?” she whispered in disbelief. Deep red eyes met hers before a small smile appeared as the immortal before her inclined his head.
“You look well,” Sabaias told her in his deep, soft tone. “Very well.” His gaze moved to the Dragon shadowing her. “And I have been informed I have much to catch up on in regard to your current status—in many aspects. I hope my absence wasn’t too much of an inconvenience?”
“The Dragon had to eat your brother, but otherwise no, you did not overly inconvenience us with your continued absence.” Z managed a slow smile as she recovered from her astonishment. “Though it would have been nice to have you arrive earlier. I’ve missed you.”
The Nialtian heir—the true Nialtian heir smiled in his mischievous way. “Somehow I doubt that.” His gaze moved to the figure standing behind her, and his eyes flickered with something she couldn’t place. “So…Warlord, the rumors must be true. I will extend my thanks for your intervention when it came to my younger brother, but I am not so certain I approve of—”
Z stiffened and felt Nivaradros grab her upper right bicep as she started forward. “If you so much as imply you have an issue with Nivaradros and I being…” she paused, grimaced, and rolled her eyes, “together, you can return to the shadows. I’m not asking for your opinion in the matter. You can have it, but I require that you have it in silence.”
Sabaias’s gaze didn’t shift position at all while she spoke, but the hostile stare he had been giving the Dragon began to ebb—probably because she was respecting the light hold that the Dragon was using to restrain her. His stare remained on Nivaradros for at least five more minutes before he returned it to her.
“And I hear you are immortal at last,” he remarked as though he hadn’t been glowering at Nivaradros. Of course, Nivaradros and Sabaias had met before, and gotten along well despite the fact their relationship had been based on one meeting, in battle, and had been basically a continual trade of insults. “Congratulations. We have all been waiting for your ascension to immortality with bated breath.”
Now Sabaias was on the receiving end of a dark look. “I accepted the change to immortality because I had to,” she informed him discontentedly. “And I am still not used to it, nor do I like it.”
“She has a great many things she doesn’t like,” Nivaradros interjected. “It has always been a long list, but it seems to be getting quite a bit longer.”
“Or you are just around her enough to learn it,” Shalion countered.
“If you three are going to start one of your verbal battles, I’m out.” Z moved away from the Dragon and started to turn away. Two hands grabbed her arms, neither hand was Nivaradros’s. She allowed it—it was a struggle—and restrained her instinct to attack.
“Wow,” Sabaias breathed when she turned to face them. “Wow.” His eyes shaded close to lavender with surprise, and while he kept the shock off his elegant ebony features, he didn’t bother to hide it from his tone.
Pulling her arms free, Z raised a brow and raised her chin. “Not. One. Word.”
“No, no, I won’t say anything more,” Sabaias agreed. Once more his attention shifted to Nivaradros. He bowed low to the Dragon, and without any of his usual mockery.
Shalion was silent, but he met her eyes with orange ones—he was waiting for her to lecture him or worse. “You did well,” she told him. “Thank you for finding and aiding Sabaias. Especially since I know you two have your issues.” Shalion inclined his head to her but didn’t speak, so she turned back to the Nialtian. “Tell me though, Sabaias, how did Crayal manage to attack you? You had your power, your skills, and your training to draw on.”
Sabaias grimaced. “We all make mistakes,” was his reply. “I should go speak with the Mithane. If you think he would consent to comment on the competence of Zyrhis’s healers.”
“Z’s healers,” Shalion corrected.
“Z’s healers?” Sabaias frowned. “Shalion, what haven’t you been telling me.”
The Ryelention shrugged. The motion was graceful enough to be a natural act of nature. “I wasn’t about to inform you of all the events in your absence—you are a rival heir after all, and certain things are not my place to discuss. You may, of course, ask around to find out more, or you can ask Z, or the Dragon, come to think of it.”
“It bothers me to think of the Dragon and Zimliya in the same sentence,” Sabaias admitted, but he glanced at Nivaradros. “Well?” he demanded.
“Zimliya holds the reins to Istuion,” Nivaradros said with a brief shrug. “And one other kingdom, but that is not important yet as she will have to claim that kingdom through a trial of war. There is also the possibility of a third, but it is not official.”
“And it doesn’t matter at this time,” Z inserted before the Dragon could continue. She was so over this conversation and all its paths. Plus, she needed to speak with the Mithane, the Islierre, Shevieck, Dyiavea, and anyone else who wished to speak with her. “Nivaradros, Crilyne, I need you both with me. Sabaias, Shalion, we will have to catch up later.”
Moving out of the hall as though Midestol had appeared, Z was aware Crilyne and Nivaradros followed, but she paid them no heed. At least not until they had gone down ten halls, two flights of stairs—which Nivaradros found irritating and snorted smoke over their design—and through another three halls. Even then, she would have continued to ignore them both, but Nivaradros touched her shoulder and she spun to face him, hands touching the hilts of her daggers as she did so.
“Easy,” Nivaradros breathed. “I only wanted to know if you intended to stomp through the castle for much longer, or if we could get something accomplished?”
The desire to argue with him was powerful, but the knowledge that she would have to work to win one against him caused the desire to fade. “Sorry…I just…sorry,” she growled.
“Yes, that makes perfect sense. What is bothering you this time?” Nivaradros demanded to know.
“Nothing.”
“What is it with humans and that word? It is never nothing, and you have been stomping through the castle since we ran into Sabaias—whom I thought you would be happy to see since we thought he was dead—and yet you wouldn’t talk to him when he pressed for information. Z, I cannot help you if you don’t give me some insight here; what is it?” The Dragon, to her astonishment, really wanted to know. She could see he was worried about her, and she realized she just wanted space.
And yet, if she said that, the Dragon, at least, would be offended. Closing her eyes, she inhaled and exhaled before finding the words she needed to use.
“I’m alright, Nivaradros. I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed. I’m not used to being so crowded for so long, and there is the immortality, the fact I have been unconscious and out of the loop for more than half a year, and…I have a lot on my plate right now with not one, but three kingdoms to look after—”
“Four,” the Dragon corrected.
“Four—what?!” Z felt herself begin to panic, but she forced it down. “How…?!” she sputtered.
“Tezérac,” Nivaradros answered. “You should have taken the crown when the new kingdom was formed, but instead you handed it off. The kingdom has declined, albeit slower than I expected, since you left, and the Mithane, the Islierre, and several other of the rulers wish for you to either exterminate the humans, minus the Rangers who live there, or take control of the kingdom yourself. Knowing you
as little as I do, and I think that’s your fault, Z, I figured you would be more inclined to rule the kingdom than to wipe it off the face of the world. Though if you would like my opinion—”
“I believe I can accurately conjecture what your opinion on the matter is,” Z told him as exhaustion threatened to take over for fear. “What have they done this time?” she wanted to know.
“Other than refusing to send aid when it was requested, being on a path to bankrupt the kingdom, making deals with Midestol, refusing aid to injured travelers who have gone through there, falling through on their end of the bargain in trades— Shall I go on, or have you heard enough?”
She flinched at his words and closed her eyes with a shiver. “How could they have already bankrupted the kingdom? It was set up to…” Inhaling in a hiss, she let the Dragon step close once more. “Damn them to the hells,” she whispered before grabbing a fistful of magic and sending it out as a shockwave.
The ground rocked with the force of her power, and Z heard cries of alarm and surprise. Ignoring them, she began to walk again as though nothing had happened. “Crilyne, summon the rulers who are currently living here to the hall we were in earlier today. They should be waiting for you, but if they are not, insist that they accompany you. If they continue to fuss, use your magic to get their attention. We do not have time for this!” she snarled before dismissing him with a nod.
He bowed to her, and Z realized her tone had demanded nothing less of him. “Nivaradros?” the Shade called as he turned to leave. The Dragon offered him a stiff nod, but it was more than Crilyne expected. “Find the heirs if you will; they are still rather put out with me.”
“I will summon the heirs,” Z said in a dangerous tone. “If they are so foolish that they decided to ignore the message I just sent out. Crilyne, go.”
The Shade bowed to her again and was gone with some speed. Turning to Nivaradros, she found his eyes were bright with anticipation. She scowled at him before beginning to once more walk the halls. Istuion’s store of power began to coil like a cobra that was about to attack, and Z grimaced as she felt it respond to every step she made. Clamping down on her anger and hiding the small amount of power she had let surface, she felt the ancient tree begin to quiet, but it was still willing and ready to attack anything and anyone she wanted it to. She was going to have to work on that—she didn’t want that level of connection with the tree. The connection was unavoidable, but perhaps she could change some part of it.
If not, she would have to learn to accept the tree’s willingness to aid her, but Istuion was one of the four more powerful kingdoms; the Alantaion, Nialtian, and Ryelention kingdoms were the other three. The castles of the four kingdoms had either an awareness or a massive buildup of magic to draw on, and Z only trusted the Alantaion kingdom’s awareness to assist them when the time came to restore the Mithane to his position of power. As for the tree, time would tell if she could adjust to added power it wanted to offer her.
Shalion, Shevieck, Sabaias—the three ‘S’ heirs as she sometimes called them since they often got along well and were the closest in terms of age—were the first to answer her silent demand. Dyiavea showed up next, dragging her younger sister Balsish along with her. Z tensed for a moment and met the younger immortal’s eyes with a neutral expression, but like Dyiavea, Balsish only displayed guilt over what her father had done.
Zyrhis showed up with Kriien, Psitin, Jaskerye, and Casya bringing the total up to ten immortal heirs, or former heirs, and Z inclined her head to them all as she paused in her walk. Nivaradros stayed at her left looking every inch like the ruler they needed at this time; she felt like a pretender. Still, all of the heirs were hers—not even she could deny that any longer—and while they had accepted the Dragon to a point, she was uncertain they would follow him. Well, Zyrhis, Shalion, and possibly Shevieck would, but they knew Nivaradros well, and they likewise knew her; if she asked them to go with the Dragon, she knew they wouldn’t question her. She wasn’t sure how the others would react.
“Do I even want to know why you called all of us?” Jaskerye wanted to know. His light green eyes were clear for once—meaning they were relaxed—without any of the streaks that would appear when his mood changed. “Congrats on the return of your Dragon by the way,” he added as he inclined his head to Nivaradros. Nivaradros returned the nod but remained silent. “Are you going to make us wait and guess, or will you at least give us some warning?”
“We’re going to the war room,” Z explained. “It’s time—past time—that I thwart Midestol’s plans by regaining the kingdoms that have been overrun, and it has been brought to my attention that we will once again have to decide a course of action for the utterly stupid humans who seem to be unable to keep their new kingdom afloat.”
“And you’re surprised…why? The Rangers who volunteered to keep an eye on first Tenia, and now Tezérac, were not even able to prevent what occurred. It does not surprise me in the slightest that they have already come into problems a scant two mortal years after being handed their new home.” Jaskerye frowned for a moment and his eyes began to gain streaks of brown. He was worried, undoubtedly about her reaction to his coming words. “Why don’t you take control of your kingdom? Aren’t you the legal heir?”
“I disowned that part of my family,” Z reminded him through gritted teeth. “Besides…I’m immortal.”
“Yes, well the old Tenian King was well into his tenth millennium when we wiped the world clean of his existence, so your immortality shouldn’t be an issue for them.”
“They didn’t know he was immortal, Jaskerye.”
“How…? Never mind, they’re humans, enough said.” Jaskerye’s eyes were a small show of color as his mood shifted from worried to irritated. The streaks of brown shifted to streaks of light red, which would darken in shade if his irritation slid into anger.
“I’m human,” Z murmured as the Ksyrnian chuckled and shrugged as though he couldn’t respond to that. Since he was both immortal and a bit of a trickster, she was surprised when he didn’t add to his words. “Well then,” she replied with a roll of her eyes as she began to lead them to the war room. “It’s nice to know where I stand.”
Sabaias shook his head once and took a position on her right after, she assumed, he came out on top of the small non-vocal battle for power she knew had occurred between the conversation. “You stand much higher than humans do, higher even than your Rangers. Which reminds me, is Kitra here?”
“Yes, she is,” Z said with a small smile. “If you want to see her, I am certain she would be interested in seeing you as well. Crilyne should have asked her to join us, but if he hasn’t, I will summon her directly.” For reasons Z still couldn’t grasp, Sabaias and Kitra were something more than friends, and Z was certain Kitra would be relieved to find Sabaias had not—as they had all feared—been killed. A sudden thought occurred to her and she glanced over at the Nialtian. “Have you spoken with your father since you disappeared?”
“Not a word,” the Nialtian remarked with far too much delight.
“Oh dear,” Z muttered as she glanced at Nivaradros. The Dragon raised a brow with a silent question and she nodded to confirm it. Surprise registered in the way of a grass green, but Nivaradros said and did nothing more. “Well, this ought to be interesting,” she murmured as she continued to lead the group back through the halls she had so recently walked.
Crilyne was waiting for her. She could feel his discomfort before she reached his side. His unease was apparent; she heard the Mithane, the Islierre, and a couple of the other immortal leaders harassing him about her condition while they waited for her arrival. It was to be expected since none of them could see the war room until her arrival. She felt Crilyne’s apprehension growing the closer she came to rounding the final corner leading to the hall. When she and her entourage of heirs became visible in the hall, however, the voices ceased and the Mithane was only the first to bow to her; everyone else followed his lead. She was going to have a chat w
ith him about that later.
“If you are all finished?!” she asked in a disgruntled tone.
Her tone was greeted with a few sly smiles, and Z was tempted to hit someone. The problem was she couldn’t decide who she should hit. Nivaradros wasn’t a possibility since he hadn’t done anything this time, and she wanted to encourage non-annoying behavior, but he was also conveniently close and since she knew he was more accepting of being struck than some, she considered hitting him regardless of his innocence.
He was, however, an immortal. “How is this my fault?” he inquired, though his eyes didn’t even shift in shade. Glaring at the immortal leaders before him, the Dragon snorted smoke. “If she hits me, I will bite one of you.”
The Mithane, Shalion, and Crilyne all shifted a touch in stance. Since they knew he couldn’t act on his threats, it was to be expected, but they did not voice that thought aloud. Z wasn’t certain how many beings were aware of Nivaradros’s inability to change his form, but she preferred to keep the number as small as possible. Nivaradros—aware of their movement as much as she was—challenged the three of them with a cold stare. If a fight broke out over this, she was going to kill someone.
A touch of magic on her senses alerted her to the arrival of the door she had been waiting for. Though she understood why the defenses had been built, she wished the door could be more punctual.
“If we could move this inside…” she drawled with a nod at the door. “I would appreciate it.”
There was a brief pause before Nivaradros glanced at her and nodded in support. After Z touched the door to open it, she stood in the frame, allowing the others to file past her first. The Mithane paused in the doorway and met her eyes. His condition was much improved since the last time she had seen him.
“If you have time when this meeting is concluded, I wish to speak with you,” he requested.
Startled, Z nodded as the Mithane finished entering the room as though he hadn’t stopped to speak with her and Z allowed the door to close, seal, and vanish behind her as she took a seat at the main table. The maps, reports, and images from before were all absent, and Z noted the placement of the rulers, and the heirs, as she took a seat next to Nivaradros. She also noticed two parties were missing.