“Threats? Here?” Arara eyed the people around them. The Kin nobles wore lace robes over thin silk pants and tops, with jeweled bracelets, earrings, and necklaces.
All the servers were pre-bloom Kin teenagers. Older servants worked in the kitchen and at more demanding tasks, leaving easy work like this to the younger ones. Today they wore wearing orange accented with blue piping. Sels had explained that each high noble family had house colors. He’d rattled off a list but Arara’s head was so packed with new information that she couldn’t recall who had orange with blue.
There were very few Jegera visible. Excluding her and Recka, there were only eight here that she had seen. Four of them were the palace guards who had accompanied them in the carriage. The others were the last four remaining Jegeran council members. Two of them were currently speaking together furtively in the corner, taking advantage of the shade made by an overhanging willow tree. It was the only dark spot in the otherwise bright garden. Arara panted hard and wished she could leave Sels to go join them.
The other two Jegeran council members mingled with the other guests in the sun; looking for all the world cheerful and carefree. Arara concentrated on the closer one, a large Jegeran male from Blue Cove. He looked familiar and after a moment of study she realized why. This was Nathira’s father. They shared a family resemblance that Arara couldn’t miss now that she’d recognized him. Anger and frustration over the council’s draconian new policies bubbled off of him in baleful waves. But his anger wasn’t directed toward anyone in particular, so Arara let her attention drift back over the crowd.
“You’re right,” Arara commented to Recka. “People watching does help to pass the time.”
“Not people watching.” Recka snorted. “Threat observation.”
“Threat from what?” Arara shot back, pointing to the closest Kin noble. He wore a sea-green lace robe over purple pants and a yellow top, and so many jewels glittered on his pointed ears that the weight of them had pulled his ears down almost to his shoulders. “Being blinded by shinnies?”
“No,” Recka cuffed her between the ears and then jerked his chin towards the crowd around Sels. “From things like that.”
Roel strode purposefully through the crowd making a beeline for Sels, her gaze fixated on the young Prince. So focused was she on Sels that she wasn’t looking where she was going. Roel’s shoulder bumped an older, distinguished Kin noble lady on the back, knocking the drink out of her hand and spilling it all over a passing server. A startled cry came out of the server girl’s mouth, and the girl looked down at the red wine staining her orange outfit with tears in her eyes. But Roel didn’t even seem to notice even as the noble lady turned around with an indignant harrumph.
Arara could only stare as Roel continued to plow through the crowd. Recka pushed her between the shoulder blades, knocking her off the path and onto the grass.
“Do your job! Go stop her before she bothers Sels.” Recka snarled. Arara gulped and scurried off. Some guard she was. She hadn’t even noticed the ruckus until Recka had pointed it out to her.
She dropped to all fours and darted through the crowd. In moments she was in front of Roel and rearing up to her back legs with a bark. Roel jerked, a surprised expression on her face.
Arara crossed her arms and looked up at the girl with as fierce of an expression as she could muster. Hadn’t Recka told her earlier that the less a bodyguard said the better?
“Move out of the way, pup!” Roel said, and moved to go around.
Arara jumped over in front of her. “Not with that attitude,” Arara growled.
“I have to see the Prince!” Roel clenched her fists and frowned down at Arara. Arara glared back.
“Let’s discuss this elsewhere,” Arara said and reached for Roel’s hand, but Roel pulled away.
A circle of silence spread out around them as people stopped talking and turned to look at them. By now it had even drawn Sels’s attention. She felt him prodding her for information through their bond but she ignored him.
“Arara, I want to see him.” By now Roel was almost shouting; her high pitched voice hurt Arara’s ears. She winced and resisted the urge to clamp her ears shut with her paws, although she couldn’t help but draw them back to lay flat against her head. In reply she bared her teeth and growled low in her throat.
Tears sprung up at the corner of Roel’s eyes.
With this many people around, Arara’s mental shields had been clamped tightly shut. Roel seemed so sincere, but Arara had to be sure. Arara sighed and focused on Roel then relaxed her defenses ever so slightly. Voices roared in her head, a swirling maelstrom of conflicting feelings, thoughts, and memories from all the party goers around her.
Arara focused tightly on Roel, suddenly wishing she’d asked Ottont for telepathy tips instead of telekinesis. Roel was terrified and that fear had led her to Sels. She’d been able to crash the party because they’d recognized her from the engagement ball.
For a moment Arara was certain that Ottont had been found and the guards were coming for them next. But no, it was something else.
With all the noise in her head and the panic in Roel’s thoughts Arara couldn’t get anymore. Before the flood overwhelmed her Arara closed her shields once more. The whole thing had taken less than a breath. She blinked and growled up at Roel. “Not here. Follow me.” She gestured with a paw.
Roel hesitated for a moment. Her eyes flicked over Arara’s head, making eye contact with Sels, who nodded.
“Alright.” Roel said and allowed Arara to lead her away.
SELS SIPPED AT HIS drink and stared out across the garden, admiring the exotic lilies and flowering bushes while enjoying the sun on his skin. Thanks to Elric’s tutoring his mother had finally agreed to allow Sels to leave the palace; only to then insist that he attend this garden party with Sesay.
Arara stood nearby with Recka. Their black uniforms made them look out of place among the rainbow of flowers and brightly dressed Kin nobles. Arara panted in the heat despite her short fur and the fact that she stood in Recka’s shadow.
At his side Sesay laughed at something. Sels politely smiled. He hadn’t been paying attention, more worried about how he was going to patch things over with Sesay. She’d remained silent and withdrawn during the carriage ride here, undeterred by his attempts to make polite conversation. Even now she subtly kept her distance from him, making sure their skin or clothing never brushed or touched, despite them standing side-by-side.
He felt Arara’s attention drawn to some kind of commotion behind him; felt her running across the party. Throughout all this Sels continued to pretend to listen to the conversation going on around him. Only when he felt chaos through the bond, and realized Arara had lowered her mental shields did he look over his shoulder to see who had caused it.
Roel stood there in her green Healer’s robe, staring at him. Sels stomach felt like it dropped down to his roots.
Sels nodded and Roel looked relieved. She took Arara’s paw and Arara led her away. Sels turned back only to find everyone had stopped talking and were looking uncomfortably at him and Sesay. Sesay stared at him, her face flushed bright green and her petals all tightly pulled up against her head.
“Don’t worry, my sedyu is taking care of it.” Sels took a big gulp of his drink.
“It’s a bit hot. I think I’ll go refresh my drink,” one of the nobles said, bringing up a hand fan and waving it at her face as she moved away.
The others murmured their agreement and filed off after her. A moment later he was alone with Sesay.
“I swear I didn’t invite her,” Sels whispered to Sesay. “I don’t even know how she knew where to find me.”
Sesay blinked back tears and shook her head, turning away from him. “I’m ready to leave now.”
Sels sighed. “Alright-”
He was cut off by shouting coming from the direction of the
street, a mix of Jegeran howls and Kin yells. Conversation died down as everyone turned towards the sound. As it got quieter Sels could also hear the sound of crashes.
Recka appeared at Sesay’s side. “We need to leave. Where is Arara?”
“She went somewhere with Roel.”
“Tell her to meet us by the carriages,” Recka growled, leading Sesay away with Sels following behind.
As they made their way through the garden the rest of the guests milled around in confusion questioning each other about what was going on.
Sels conveyed Recka’s orders to Arara through the bond and cautioned her not to bring Roel, but to send her home. Arara acknowledged him and he felt her moving.
“Recka, what’s happening?” he finally asked as one of the other guards pulled the Royal carriage around. The sounds from the street were getting louder and Sels made out Jegeras chanting.
“Another riot and it's heading this way.”
“We need to warn them,” Sels pointed back to the party and the rest of the guests. A few had followed the Prince and Princess out, but most had returned to their party games and conversation.
“We will, but we needed to get you and the Princess to safety first,” Recka said as their carriage pulled up. “I cannot risk a stampede blocking the driveway.”
As soon as the door opened he lifted Sesay up and through it, not even waiting for the ramp to unfurl. He turned and wrapped his paws around Sels, hoisting him up after Sesay as if he weighed no more more than a leaf. Arara raced up and hopped in a moment later. Recka closed the door from the outside.
Sels was thrown back into Sesay as the carriage jolted to a start before the door even latched. “What about Recka?”
“He’s riding on the roof, so he can watch the road. We haven’t gotten reports of rioters on this route yet, but things change.” Sesay said, pushing Sels off of her and onto the seat next to her. “We left behind the rest of the guards, so that they could protect the other guests.”
Arara scrambled onto the seat, her eyes wide. Sels took her front paw and squeezed it, sending reassurances through the bond. In his sleeve he could feel the box with the star-metal. After his lessons with Elric he’d gotten much better at his magic, but he still felt a bit helpless during the day. Having the box with him served as a bit of reassurance, although he’d not had to open it yet. Plus, it kept it from being found by a curious servant or maid.
“Why was Roel here?” Sesay leaned forward so she could look around Sels at Arara.
Sels clutched tighter at Arara’s paw as the carriage lurched to the side, swinging around a corner without slowing down.
“Sesay, I don’t think now is the best time-”
“It’s the perfect time,” Sesay snapped back, then caught herself and sat back in the seat to wring her hands in her lap. “I need to distract myself from worrying about Recka, alone on the roof, or the fact that we are surrounded by rioters and without any of our guards. Please.”
Sels reached over, laying his hand over top of Sesay’s balled fists. She relaxed fractionally, but didn’t move to take his hand.
“She came to see Sels about her clinic,” Arara cleared her throat. “She sent him a message the day after the ball, which I know Sels never got. Anyway, she also tried to visit him yesterday but was turned away by the guards. There was a riot in the Jegeran district the day after the ball. Her clinic took some damage and she doesn’t have the money to rebuild. Plus, she was worried that she hadn’t heard from Sels.”
As she listened, Sesay relaxed a bit more under his hand and by the end unlaced her fists in order to twine her fingers through Sels’s.
“How did she know to find him at the party?” Sesay asked softly.
“In the marketplace this morning, she overheard someone talking about the Antimone House and that the Prince and the Princess would be there in the afternoon for a party.”
Sesay frowned and chewed on her lower lip, like she did when she was thinking hard.
Sels started and looked at Arara. “Wait, you gave the warning to Recka about the riot heading this way? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to worry you.” Arara ducked her head and her ears went back.
Sesay looked at Arara sharply. “You were able to keep that from him?”
Arara nodded.
“Your trust in each other is essential. I fear your bond may not remain intact if you continue keeping this level of distance from one another.” Sesay said.
“I know...” Sels leaned back into the plush seats. Having a sedyu bonded was much more effort than he’d expected it to be. Both his mother and Sesay had described it to him before his trip as a best friend who you could share all your secrets with. But it was so much more than that. It exhausted him.
After a few moments Sesay lightly touched his arm. Familiar landmarks sped past outside. They were approaching the palace gates, but from Sesay’s expression something was wrong.
“Recka tells me that the protesters have blocked the gates. We can’t turn around because they’ve moved into the streets behind us as well. We’re hemmed in.”
Sels pulled his hand away from Sesay and reached into his sleeve, wrapping his hand around the star-metal box. “I might have a way to get through them.”
Sesay looked out at the midday sun and shook her head. “No, we can’t wait until dark. I can use the Royal Magic. That should calm them down; at least long enough for us to make it through the gates or perhaps even get them to disperse entirely.”
“But-”
“No, Sels,” Sesay stood and pressed her hand to the wall of the carriage. They slowed down to a crawl and the door began to open. Wind whistled through, ruffling Sels’s robe and blowing Sesay’s long petals into her face. “You and Arara stay inside. Recka can protect me while I cast the spell.”
Before Sels could protest Sesay twisted around and leaned over, kissing him full on the lips for a heartbeat. She slipped out of the half-open door and raised her arms, her fine robe streaming in the wind. Two black furred paws caught her at the elbows and hauled her up and out of sight.
SELS LUNGED FOR THE door, catching it before it could close. The carriage vines whipped past him as they moved down the road at a steady pace. In front of them Sels could see the gates, normally left open year round so a constant stream of couriers, nobles, pages, and others could come and go as they pleased. Now the gates were shut tight and a large knot of people, mostly Jegera, with the odd Kin among their ranks, ranged in front of it pelting the carved wooden surface with debris.
Wide, flat leaves sprouted from the top of the carriage’s pod and they blocked his view of above. All he could see of Sesay was a flap of yellow fabric.
“Sesay!” he shouted. A snatch of chanting came to him on the wind. Sesay had already started casting.
Sels ducked back inside, cursing under his breath although he could see Sesay’s point. Even if he did open the box and use the star-metal - which Sesay didn’t know he had - his powers were likely to hurt people. Despite his dislike of the Royal Magic, which he felt amounted to mind-control and manipulation, it gave them the best chance of getting back into the palace without harming any civilians.
His skin tingled as Sesay released the spell. He was getting better at recognizing magical energy, although he still couldn’t see or feel most Sun Magic. He and Arara climbed to the front seats and peered through the window. The last of the rainbows were fading away and the crowd had ceased throwing projectiles at the gates and now milled around in confusion. As the carriage crawled towards them the crowd parted to let it through. The gates groaned open just wide enough to allow the carriage to pass then closed behind them. Sels sighed in relief and sank back into his seat.
The pod slowed and sank down. Sels opened the door and jumped out before the ramp could unfurl. Recka lifted Sesay down from the roof and as soon as her feet touched the ground Sels rushed forward and threw his arms around her, pulling her in for a tight hug.
“I was so worried!” Sels said as they broke apart.
Sesay flushed. “I’m glad things worked out; especially after going through all that trouble to get the Queen to allow you to leave the palace again.”
“What? That was you? I thought Elric had told Mother about my progress...” Sels swallowed, hating to bring it up. “I’m just surprised, I mean, after what happened at the engagement party.”
“Let’s not talk about this in the courtyard.” Sesay said and took his hand.
They walked hand in hand through the halls, ascending the walkway to the second floor. Sesay led him to the parlor a few doors down from her suite. The vines hanging over the entrance to the balcony had been pulled back and afternoon sunlight flooded the room. Two chairs sat off to the side.
Sesay slid her hand from his and settled into the far seat, gesturing for Sels to take the other. He perched on the edge of the cushion, surprised to find himself wishing that she’d chosen a room with a couch instead so that they could sit side by side.
“What is it you want to talk about, Sesay?”
Sesay laced her hands together in her lap and looked out the window. “What happened at the ball was what made me suspicious.”
Sels furrowed his brow and stared at her, not sure what kind of a response she expected.
“The Queen kept insisting that you and your Yaka sedyu had to have been involved in the escape of the prisoner. I didn’t believe her, at least not at first.”
“Oh.” Through the bond Arara sent a probing question. She must have felt his discomfort at Sesay’s line of thought. “Should I have Arara join us?”
“No, this is a conversation that the two of us need to have alone.” Sesay shook her head and bit her lip. “I keep defending your behavior to your mother. I convinced her that Roel was just a boyhood infatuation, and to not punish you for sneaking out to see her.”
“You knew about that?” Sels flushed and wilted back into the seat.
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