Blood Solace (Blood Grace Book 2)

by Vela Roth

  Just in case the Circle needed further evidence Cassia was his Grace, the Craving chose that moment to bring Lio to his knees, then drag him into unconsciousness.

  95

  Nights Until

  WINTER SOLSTICE

  So long as Hesperines hold to these terms, they may traverse all lands under the rule of the King of Tenebra without fear of persecution. Should they in any way violate this Oath, then they forfeit the king’s protection from mages, warriors and any subjects of Tenebra seeking to exact justice.

  —The Equinox Oath

  The Vote of Blood Argyros

  The voice that guided Lio out of Slumber was warm and rich and low. He would follow that gentle summons anywhere. If he awoke now, he felt sure he would feel a desert wind upon his skin and see southern constellations overhead.

  He opened his eyes to behold Queen Soteira leaning over him. She touched a gentle, powerful hand to his cheek. Her skin was black and cool as the night sky. The adornments in her hair twinkled at him like stars, and the metallic embroidery on her black robe seemed to mirror them. Countless braids comprised the intricate tower that crowned her head, ringed at the bottom by Queen Alea’s braid. When Lio was that ancient, he wondered if he would have that many promises to keep, too.

  “Annassa, your Night Call does not sound like any I have ever heard.”

  She bestowed upon him another wonder of great beauty. She laughed. “Do not tell Argyros I said so, but he could improve in that area a great deal.”

  Lio tried moving a little where he lay. There was a bed under him. He glanced around. A row of empty beds stretched to his left and right, and floor-to-ceiling windows filled the room with soothing light. A hall in the Healing Sanctuary. “I feel better than I have in months.”

  “You were long overdue for a healer’s attention.”

  Not just a healer. The healer. She who had brought Annassa Alea and all Hesperine kind back from the brink of death.

  Although his body was restored, he felt shaken to his core. “Am I so far gone that only your power is great enough to rescue me?”

  “You had a very close call. It would have been closer if you were not so strong Willed and the child of an elder firstblood. From this night forward you are to remain on a steady diet of your parents’ blood and receive regular healings from me.”

  So he was on borrowed time. He made to sit up. “I am grateful for your strength, Annassa. It will carry me back to the Circle.”

  “Let my healing work on you awhile longer.” She rested her hands on his shoulders.

  Lio found himself lying back down. “Annassa, the vote—”

  “It has yet to be held. I have assured Apollon and Komnena my magic will preserve you long enough for them to finish their speeches before they come to give you the Drink.”

  “My parents are making speeches?”

  Rudhira appeared at Queen Soteira’s side and touched a hand to her shoulder. “Bamaayo, I will gladly wait with him, should you need to return to the Circle.”

  She stood. “I will leave you with your Ritual father for now, Lio.”

  “Annassa,” he beseeched her.

  She waited, smiling down at him.

  Lio had often asked the Queens for their wisdom, but seldom questioned it. Tonight he found the boldness to ask, “What will be your decision on what I have proposed?”

  “Let us wait and see what the Circle has to say first.” She turned and touched a hand to her son’s face, her deep black complexion a contrast to his frosty pale features. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  He stooped to accept a kiss on his cheek. Queen Soteira disappeared, leaving behind in the Union a fragrant aftermath of her power.

  The prince sat in the chair and stretched his long legs out before him. His scuffed Tenebran riding boots revealed themselves from under the hem of his silk robe. “Your parents are indeed giving addresses—in favor of your proposal.”

  Lio heaved a sigh of relief. He did have his own bloodline’s vote. And, he dared hope, the prince’s as well. “Rudhira, I’m so grateful you’ve come. But I had no intention of taking you away from your Charge. When I sent my last letter explaining the truth of my situation, I did not expect you to reply in the flesh.”

  “I came to get you. And to convince Apollon he must stay here with Komnena and Zoe while I take you to get Cassia. But I see you have devised your own solution in the meantime. Imagine my surprise when I discovered your plan is more disruptive than my own. It’s a good thing I got here in time for Circle, for you need my vote.”

  “I knew I could count on your support.”

  Rudhira raised a brow. “You knew I would leap at a chance to bring Aithourians within range?”

  “I mean no offense.”

  “None taken.”

  Lio rested his head back on his pillow. “Well, what do you make of my plan, really?”

  He gave Lio a half-smile. “As your Ritual father, I think I am supposed to spout encouragements from the font of wisdom on a momentous occasion such as this.”

  “When you and my father were in the field, did you ask him for pretty truths?”

  “Spoken like a Hesperine who has come into his Gift, and I will answer you as such. There will be many nights after this when you will ask yourself if you have done the right thing. I am ill-qualified to reassure you, for I ask myself the same about more decisions than I can count. But there is something I want you to know, for those times when you wrestle with your own judgment. You have my gratitude.”

  Lio looked at Rudhira in surprise.

  The moons’ light revealed all the lines of strain on the prince’s face. “You will not hear this outside the royal family, but I want you to know. Since Autumn Equinox, there has been talk of invoking the Departure.”

  Lio sat up too fast, and his head spun. “That can’t be. It’s never happened. It’s a contingency plan that dates from the founding, when we were still afraid the Last War might break out again at any time. Surely the Queens wouldn’t really declare an end to Hesperines’ time in Tenebra! I thought bringing everyone home and closing the borders was a temporary measure.”

  “It is a real possibility it will be indefinite.”

  “If that is the case…even if the Circle votes in favor of my proposal, will our Queens overrule them?”

  “I cannot say. You know they are sparing with their vetoes, for they wish to preserve every bloodline’s right to decide what is best for their own kin. But I can tell you that just a few hours before you gave your speech, my mothers spoke of bringing all Hesperines out of Tenebra forever.”

  “I cannot fathom it. The end of our fight for the land where our kind began.”

  “The royal family agrees no one should know how close we are to that necessity. We want to avoid spreading despair unless the Departure must become a reality. It goes without saying you may tell Cassia, of course. I take it for granted that what you know, so too does she.”

  “The secret will stop with us.”

  Every Solia who would never receive the Mercy. Every Cassia whose life would never be saved. Every Zoe who would never be Solaced. So many precious lives.

  If that was to be their new reality, to Hypnos with politics. Lio would bring Cassia home.

  “What about the Hesperites?” he protested. “Their settlement in the eastern Tenebrae won’t survive without your protection. Nor will they depart with you. They have always been adamant in their refusal to accept Sanctuary in Orthros. You have said yourself they will never abandon their purpose of keeping human worship of Hespera alive.”

  “That is the decision I do not want Hesperites or Hesperines to face. Tonight you have offered hope of an alternative, and for that, you have my gratitude and my vote. I have exerted as much influence as I can to sway others in your favor. You can count on the votes of all those who are loyal to me and some who are loyal to my status.”

  “I cannot thank you enough.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. I fear it may yet
be necessary for you and me to ride for Solorum and disrupt Cassia’s plans. I am still uncertain we have enough votes.”

  “Perhaps we can change more minds during the debates.”

  “The debates are at an end. They raged on till sunrise and recommenced at sundown when the Circle reconvened for a special session.”

  Lio pushed himself off the bed. “When is the vote?”

  Rudhira offered a battle-strengthened arm and helped Lio to his feet. “Within the hour.”

  “Cup and thorns. I have to get out of this healing robe. Where’s my formal attire?”

  “I will help him prepare for the vote, First Prince.”

  Uncle Argyros stood a few paces away in the light of a different window.

  Rudhira kept a hand under Lio’s arm. He nodded to Lio’s uncle. “Argyros.” He paused. “It has been some time. How fares your House?”

  Lio bit his tongue. Had the two of them really not spoken a word to each other since Rudhira had arrived last night?

  “Lio is our concern tonight,” Uncle Argyros replied. “I would like a word with him before Apollon and Komnena arrive.”

  Rudhira nodded again and strode toward the door. As he passed, Uncle Argyros bowed, but he did not meet the prince’s gaze. Before Rudhira reached the exit, he stepped out of sight.

  Uncle Argyros went to stand by the window. Cursing his own weakness, Lio sank down to sit on the edge of the bed. Goddess, why did he have to have this confrontation now, like this? If he must face the breach with his mentor at last, why could circumstances not leave him at least a little dignity?

  The moment was really at hand. His bond with his uncle, which had lasted his whole life and survived the Summit…it would never be the same after this.

  A sense of loss knocked the wind out of Lio, and he felt he needed air like a mortal.

  He looked at the back of Uncle Argyros’s braid and tried to think of what to say. The Blood Union ached. Uncle Argyros ached.

  Lio had hurt him.

  His uncle spoke at last. “How expertly you have used everything I taught you to shake the foundations of my paradigm.”

  Lio opened his mouth to ask for forgiveness. But he had sworn he would not. It was not his proposal he must apologize for.

  How could he apologize for hurting his uncle without recanting?

  Uncle Argyros turned to face him. “You and Cassia have perfectly positioned yourselves to revolutionize Hesperine and Tenebran relations, and the Circle wishes to thank you by tucking you both in behind the ward with pats on the head. My peers have wasted hours going up one side of your proposal and down the other. They could have spared us all the agony and summarized their blather with a simple ‘not till Corona freezes over.’ They busy themselves with convoluted counter-arguments so they can ignore the simple truth: everything you said tonight was right. I quit the amphitheater during Hypatia’s third address. I would not dignify their so-called debates with a single remark of my own. Which is why I will speak tonight before the vote, so I may have the last word.”

  That made Lio find his voice. “You are going to make the final remarks on my behalf?”

  “I shall not tolerate anyone else presuming to do so. Besides, you are in no condition to make another speech.”

  “Does Aunt Lyta agree with your position? Is she willing to commit the Stand to safeguarding us while the Tenebran embassy is inside the ward?”

  “Your aunt agrees there is no better place for the mages who hunt Nike than here, where the Stand can keep an eye on them. Lyta finds your proposed security measures well-considered and is prepared to implement them to her satisfaction. She has no patience with the Circle’s hysterics. She has made it clear to them that any mage who behaves less than diplomatically will not survive long enough to be a danger.”

  Lio had the vote of Blood Argyros. Surely that meant victory. “Uncle. How can I thank you?”

  “There is nothing to thank me for.”

  Why was Uncle Argyros wearing his stone face? If he did not disapprove of the proposal, what could be wrong?

  How long would it take for this fresh wound in the Union to seal? Would it ever?

  “Uncle,” Lio began.

  Uncle Argyros held up a hand. Lio’s formal robes landed beside him on the bed.

  “It is time,” Uncle Argyros said.

  The Future of Orthros

  Lio would never forget his uncle’s address. He had spent his life aspiring to Silvertongue’s mastery of words. Tonight, he listened to his uncle devote all that eloquence to promoting an idea of his. He listened to his uncle work language like magic and felt the pain they had left unresolved in the Union. But that pain did not temper the power of Uncle Argyros’s speech. Somehow it was the force behind his every argument.

  When Uncle Argyros concluded his oratory, he stepped back to his seat to rejoin Aunt Lyta. Lio stood alone in the center of the Circle. But he wasn’t alone, not at all.

  Princess Konstantina frowned, but continued the formal proceedings. “The Goddess hears all of us, from the mightiest firstblood to the smallest child. Let any who are not empowered to vote for their bloodlines come forward if they wish to show their support for the proposal in question.”

  Lio’s Trial brothers were the first to come out onto the floor, and Kadi with them. Mak and Lyros lifted their speires in their hands for the Circle to see, then placed them on the podium before Lio. Kadi showed the crowd Nike’s abandoned speires before adding them to the stand.

  Mak’s voice carried as if he were rallying a vast army on the field of battle. “We of Hippolyta’s Stand are ready to face any danger at the ward—or inside of it. It is nothing to us to ensure a few visiting warriors and mages are not a threat. It is Hesperines errant like our own Master Steward Pherenike who face real danger Abroad, shedding their blood every night with honor and courage. We would be derelict in our duty to our errant forces if we did not offer them every possible support from our fortified position at home. We will fail them, if we do not take this chance to draw off the enemy.”

  Lyros looked around, studying the grave, considering faces of the firstbloods. “I am the first Steward in centuries who is not of Blood Argyros. Since bloodborn Atalanta gave her life in service to the Stand, no Hesperine but Hippolyta’s own children sought her training. When I chose the battle arts over my own bloodline’s arts of painting and sculpture, I made a vow to protect Orthros. Not to keep myself safe, not to choose the safest course of action, but to face any foe, to accept any risk for the good of our people. The Stand has never been afraid to shoulder the burden of violence for Hesperine kind. I trust that the firstbloods are not afraid to shoulder the burden of this vote. Do not choose the safest course of action. Instead, protect Orthros.”

  Kia marched out next and planted her small statue of Alatheia on the podium. She turned the bust so it gazed at her mother. “Orthros was built on heresy. Our scholars questioned every stricture and our mages pushed every boundary. Our founders dusted the ashes of the old epoch off themselves and created something entirely, wonderfully new. I am looking at those very scholars, mages and founders right now. And yet I scarcely recognize the heroes from my history texts. I ask you, are you still heretics?”

  Offense disrupted the Union, rippling outward from Hypatia. Lio bit his tongue. Kia might antagonize their elders rather than win them to the cause. But it was her right to have her say.

  “Who are we, if we are afraid to question?” Kia demanded. “Who are we, if we establish boundaries? What is to become of Orthros if we stop creating it and let it become old? The only truly Hesperine course of action tonight is to be bold and vote in favor of the Solstice Summit.”

  At last came Nodora with one of her hand-carved ocarinas. She played a strain of her ballad about the Equinox Summit before committing the instrument to the podium. Her gaze sought and found her Ritual mother in the Zephyran section. Matsu pressed a hand to her bright red lips and held out her palm to Nodora. The stain of lip color on her fi
ngers resembled blood, as good as the promise of a vote. Matsu’s Grace also put her hand out on the railing before them to show her support.

  With the iron calm of a consummate performer, Nodora spoke. “All my human family perished in the attempt to see my Ritual mother and me escape the Archipelagos and arrive safely on Orthros’s shores. They dared to breach the isolation of the land of our ancestors and paid with their lives. When I allow myself to imagine what might come of even one Summit between the Archipelagos and Orthros, the possibilities astonish me. However, the Archipelagos have never sought diplomatic engagement with us, and they never will. Not so in Tenebra’s case. We have an opportunity to shrink the rift between their people and ours. If there is even the slightest chance Tenebra will accept, we must invite them. If even a small step can be accomplished, we must take it. After what my loved ones and I endured, I will never support any decision to isolate Orthros from other lands.”

  Nodora’s declaration garnered applause from many young Hesperines. Lio clapped with their peers, sending his Trial sister his admiration. The elders acknowledged her family’s sacrifice with a wave of condolences through the Blood Union. Whether or not they agreed with her, they honored her losses. They recognized this was her argument to make, as only she could. She had moved them.

  Once Lio’s cousins and friends had spoken, to his astonishment, a procession of other Hesperines followed them down to the podium. Most were his own age, others from Kadi’s generation, and he quietly gave thanks to each of them. He knew their families and suspected how their parents would vote. He knew what courage it took for them to show their support against the Will of their firstbloods.

  Princess Konstantina watched the last of Lio’s partisans resume their seats. “Let the firstbloods speak for those they have given power and life, and cast their votes on behalf of their bloodlines.”