There was nothing to dye their hair like the Avalians apparently did and all The Waljans and everyone in the military had been instructed to be on the lookout for teenagers in caps. Elan had even found a way to address it at the arena during the trials. He didn’t give much away. He just said there was a dangerous gang he had gotten word about and that if anyone saw a teenager wearing a cap, to alert the military. Everyone was on guard now, but the Dysdaimons were not making any type of public appearance.
That was what had Galih worried. One of them built and modified a weapon from Avalian tech. Now, they were all gathered in one place with who knew how many gods who didn’t want the alliance whispering in their ear. There couldn’t be much in the way of materials wherever they were, but Galih worried about what they were building.
He thought letting everyone meet and chat over lunch was silly. Romance could wait until every threat was neutralized. He stood on the platform like he had been doing throughout the trials. He stood with Ace and the others guarding Elan and Isolde. Ace gave him a gun and no one seemed to bat an eye that he was up there and not in uniform like the others. Most people had seen him in Elan and Isolde’s inner circle and just assumed Fia told them to have him up there.
The first man who came out, Galih had him picked for a talker and a crier. He didn’t want to hear it and had a feeling this man was going to take the entire time set aside for trials to speak and they would go on another day. The man surprised the hell out of Galih.
He took the knee and averted his eyes. He apologized for following Hikmat and said he and his family that were at the temple didn’t know. He swore to follow Elan wherever he led their people. He promised his family would take any punishment Elan felt necessary. He was different than the people that begged. This man left his life in Elan’s hands, even after seeing Hikmat, Harja, and all the men that followed him erupt into flame.
The man just silently waited, his face not betraying him, while Isolde whispered his private thoughts to Elan. Was this another plot or was this man just different than the others? Elan finally walked over to the man and pulled him to his feet. He had not touched any of the other people who had crossed the platform crying and begging.
“Djaka, you are a man of few words. Tell me, what is it you do for a living?”
“I’m a blacksmith, my king.”
“Do you have slaves?”
“Yes, because we always have before.”
“If you are a blacksmith, then you are training your sons to be blacksmiths too, correct?”
“Yes. They are eleven, fourteen, and sixteen.”
“And the slaves you have?”
“I only have one. I won him in a card game in the pub. He works in the forge with me. He’s more of a family member and I’d pay him if it were proper.”
“Why did you follow Hikmat?”
“I never liked the things he said or watching what he did with the animals. Blacksmithing is hard work, but it’s also rewarding, you know? On one week, we can turn out weapons and on the next, we can make art. Hikmat came to my shop one day when we were all upset molds we were making for a new type of armor failed. We were sitting around drinking and sweating and he came in. Maybe I only listened because I was drunk. He started in on this speech about how our people used to be able to do what my family does with their minds. We didn’t sweat over the forge because the heat didn’t used to bother us. He promised to give that back.
“Now that I know what he really had planned, he must have gotten word about the armor I was working on with Romli. We’ve been working on it for twenty years now and we were getting close. It’s still not there yet, but maybe soon. That armor would be lightweight and stop most bullets we have here. Elan, you could wear it under your tunic and no one would know. Not like the armor we have now that fits over your clothes. This would go under.”
“More like the Avalian armor?” Elan asked. Elan said it in a way Djaka wasn’t scared to answer honestly. Like Elan would burn him for thinking like an Avalian or asking one for help like they had done to the scientist.
“None of us know what Avalian armor looks like. Romli, he has a slave too. My slave is Davlin and his is named Bruno. They’ve never seen Avalian armor either, but the slaves have stories they tell each other. They talk about a hero who was given some sort of armor to wear under his clothes by a god. It was tightly woven chains of some sort of carbon pressed into resin in a mold. He was unbeatable until his shirt was torn during a fight and exposed the armor. We’ve been trying to figure out how to do that.”
Isolde must have been whispering to Elan. She caught Galih’s eye and gave him a small nod. They must really have armor like that there. If Djaka and Romli could get together with Avalian weapons makers, maybe they could come up with all sorts of new protection. But not if Elan stripped Djaka of his trade and sent him to work with some pampered high born. Galih was cursing Hikmat even more than he already had. The people that lost their jobs were essential. All jobs on Cendis were essential except maybe the pubs and courtesans.
Galih knew some of those people shouldn’t have the jobs they did if they were so easily swayed by Hikmat. They were supposed to be the cream of the Cendian crop. Their parents paid for tutors and they attended the universities. They had the proper education for the jobs they had and they should have had the intelligence to see Hikmat for what he was.
“Djaka, I’m giving you a different sentence than the others,” Elan said. Galih perked up and Djaka just bowed his head like he expected to be burned. Galih had no idea if it was Elan’s idea or Isolde’s that was going to come out of his mouth, but he had a feeling they were going to get that armor. “Several of our military defected and followed Hikmat, knowing his full plan. The armor you are working on is essential for the protection of me, my queen, my advisors, and our military. You will continue to work with Romli, but you will no longer have a slave. Your slave will continue to work for you as an employee. From what you’ve told me, he’s already been a considerable help to you.”
“But…I would have been doing that this entire time if it was allowed. I thought I was meant to repent?”
“And you are. You are designing a new armor and when it’s done, I’ll expect great things from you and your family. Where does your slave sleep? You’ll have to provide him a bed now.”
Djaka actually looked a little offended. “He has a bed now. How is Davlin expected to recover from a hard day of work on a straw pallet?”
“A very good question!” Elan said, turning back to the crowd. “We have to do better by everyone here. The trials are now concluded. I will be making several new announcements and changes soon. As I said before, I will not take anything that’s yours unless you force my hand. Slaves are another story. They are people, even if they do not look like you. They’ve lived here long enough they might as well be Cendian. The announcements to come may shock some of you, but please, hear me out. Everything I’m planning is for the betterment of the Cendians.
“For the time being, after breakfast, spend time with your families. We will still hold questions after lunch, but the trials are over. A great evil has been destroyed and now we rest. Celebrate if you feel the need. My council and I will be in meetings until it’s time for us to come answer your questions again.”
The crowd didn’t riot. If anything, they seemed excited about whatever Elan was planning. Galih was sure they were going to start chanting to burn the girl when Elan told them he was marrying Isolde, but they took that in too. It seemed like they even liked her at this point. Maybe they wouldn’t totally riot when they found out where she was really from and what Elan had been planning this entire time.
Galih followed all of them back inside and it looked like they all intended to go to the hall with their COMMs to meet the Avalian sixteen together. Galih joined them on the floor pillows. The people that brought their food in were all Cendian’s who followed Hikmat. Galih wondered if there were any slaves left in the palace. The Cendians bringing fo
od were pleasant and remembered the favorite dishes of those they were serving.
Ratna, a tall, thin Cendian woman who was high born and was used to having people serve her, set a bowl in front of Isolde and smiled at her gently.
“You like your food so spicy,” Ratna commented. “I’d be drunk from wine to put out the fire in my mouth with an upset stomach if I ate like you.”
“How do you normally like your food? The spices give it that extra kick,” Isolde said, laughing.
She was charming Ratna. Galih didn’t think it was possible for her to charm anyone based on the things he heard come out her mouth, but Ratna was eating it up and telling her all about her favorite foods. Isolde promised to try them and asked if she could bring them in soon. Isolde caught Galih glaring at her.
“We don’t have spices on Avala at all. Only salt. Talking about your food is common ground because I enjoy it. Would you rather me berate her for following Hikmat, remind her of her fall, and have her join the Dysdaimons? They will eventually start recruiting,” Isolde snapped in his head.
He didn’t reply. She knew he was thinking about the Dysdaimons because she could hear everything. She was actually sitting on her own pillow instead of Elan’s lap now that they weren’t in his chambers, but Elan thought it was just a matter of time before the former Children members saw her in his lap in his exact hall. Sartika thought it was sweet, but Galih thought the two of them should focus.
After all of the new servants had shuffled out, the time must have arrived, COMMs started buzzing and everyone was talking over each other as they answered. Jaka must have found the girl in his visions because he kept saying she was even more beautiful on his screen. Sartika said someone on Avala also had visions and she found Eros right away. Galih had no idea what the bloody hell a string bean was and didn’t listen to her explanation because the room was way too loud.
Sartika told him what Viljar thought about who got paired up and why and that seemed to be correct, at least from what he could hear over all the noise. He couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes when he realized now that the servants were gone, Isolde was back in Elan’s lap and he was feeding her dessert. Even if Galih and Botak didn’t have to worry about getting burned, they were never that obvious with each other when they were alone. They would never have sat in each other’s lap and fed the other because they were both capable of eating on their own and it would have been awkward trying to eat with someone sitting on you.
He thought this display was going to go on all night instead of them discussing this new enemy. Apparently, he was wrong. Elan and Isolde’s first meeting had gone horribly wrong and they all thought she was going to take her pod back home. She even slept on a straw pallet because she refused to share Elan’s bed. But the others, they all seemed to recognize their mates over the COMM screen and wanted to get to know them in private.
Galih made all of them leave their COMMs up and connected after they exchanged codes to contact each other when they were alone.
“Am I the only one taking the threat of the Dysdaimons seriously?” Galih snapped.
“Of course, we all are,” Karta said curtly. Next to Isolde, she was the next in line with the biggest mouth on her. “We’ve all been talking to our bond animals about them. They won’t give us much information, but they aren’t going to come for us yet. They are far away and they can’t come for us or even plot because they are all going through painful changes.”
“What does that mean?” Galih demanded.
“Don’t you think I’ve been screaming for that answer since Halah showed up?” Isolde snapped. “All Soelva will tell me is that they were created by some minor gods to be our adversary and stop us. Don’t you think these gods know everything we can do? Those kids are probably becoming fireproof and my ice dagger won’t pierce them anymore.”
“Stop scaring everyone, Isolde,” Elan fussed. Galih was surprised. It was the first time that boy ever thought she had done something wrong this entire time. He wondered if they’d both be explaining black eyes and busted lips the next time they addressed the people. Sartika told him how they intended to settle their fight. He saw how Isolde fought on COMM and he wouldn’t put it past her to break his nose just to prove a point.
“I know you think if they were going to make anyone impervious to fire, it would be me and the others that were going to bond with the Cendians, but I can’t hear you either. I think when everyone starts to meet up, they are going to find their mates are immune to them too. They created them to stop us. That’s going to mean more than me not being able to get into their heads. Their hair is turning a color that only exists on Avala from dye. It’s the color of blood!”
Isolde seemed to be the only one as worried about the Dysdaimons and angry the bond animals weren’t talking. Someone talked from the COMM in Eros’ hand.
“Viljar told us about the assassin and the experiments they did on him. Aside from the additional lens in the Cendian’s eyes that make it reflect red, we’re all still human. Halah and the rest of them, their hair might be changing and their minds are off limits to us, but I don’t think these gods can make them not human if they had to piggyback off your bond instead of making their own cosmic event.”
“You have a point, Palina,” Isolde said. “But here’s something all of you aren’t thinking about. I’m carrying twins and I shouldn’t be. Tati knew and she already knows their names. How do they already have names? Whatever happened that night, it could have done anything to the Dysdaimons. And the scientists have only done tests on that assassin. None of us know if we are human. We might not be.”
Jaka’s COMM lit up and an Avalian girl who was as small as Karta was projected from the screen. “Would it make you feel better if I asked my cousin to run tests on me? She’d keep it a secret if we brought her in on the alliance. She’d go with us too.”
“Lusinda, is your cousin really going to keep it a secret or is she going to keep you in a cage like the rats if something in that test is not human?” Isolde asked.
“Isolde!” Lusinda yelled, stamping her foot. “Why do you always have to say things like that? Are you going to say that to people’s faces when you’re queen? My cousin isn’t like that!”
Eros’ COMM lit up again and Palina came up again. “It’s a good idea. I know Lusinda’s cousin. I think both Lusinda and I should go to see if there are any differences between those of us with defensive skills and those of us that can do other things with our minds.”
“She has her own lab, Isolde. We’ll be alone with her,” Lusinda said.
“Lusinda can handle herself,” Jaka swore. “I’d get snippets of her training sometimes. She doesn’t fight like you, but she’s strong. You’ve trusted so many people here on your secret. Trust her cousin.”
“Yes, yes. We need to know this,” Isolde sighed. “Ask your cousin to see if any of the Dysdaimon have committed any type of crime we would have a DNA sample on file. It wouldn’t hurt to have a baseline.”
Galih had no idea what any of that meant other than they would be using some strange Avalian science to figure out if they were some sort of alien now. Isolde started giggled and had already forgiven Elan.
“DNA tests aren’t going to show if we’re aliens. It’s only going to show if some of our genes have mutated. It’s like evolution, not that we are from a different planet. All of us, even the Dysdaimon, we’re still human even if they’ve gone in and fiddled with our genes somehow. I know they did with the Dysdaimon if their hair is coming in red. You have a map inside you, Galih. It tells scientists why you look the way you do.”
Everyone left, probably to talk to their mates over COMM. Galih still didn’t know what the hell she meant by a map inside him, but he certainly wasn’t going to be volunteering to give anyone access to it like Lusinda and Palina were.
Chapter 42
Isolde was grateful to see more faces from home, even if she didn’t train with the others. They had most of their school lessons with
each other, so they were on friendly terms. She hunted with Finn sometimes, but they never talked about their training or what they were meant to do. She preferred it that way. She and Finn mostly pretended like they were two totally normal teenagers who hunted when they went out. For a while, she thought she had a crush on Finn and thought she would prefer him to Elan when all she knew was lies. She knew now she must have been pretty obvious and Fjola did something. Finn stopped hunting with her and avoided her after they both turned fourteen. She knew now Finn had gifts similar to Dasimah and he would bond with Karta. Karta would probably keep him in line.
Now that the trials were over, she and Elan spent half their time trying to demand information from Tati and Soelva and the other half meeting with everyone trying to figure out the right way to break the news of the alliance. She’d lived in Avala her entire life and hadn’t been in Cendis that long, but she was actually starting to think these Cendian who burned people alive so they didn’t catch their evil were going to be more accepting of the alliance than the Avalians.
They still hadn’t come up with the right way to tell everyone, but all the advisors on Avala thought she and Elan should be there in person when they did it. They could use her pod and it was big enough to take the Waljans on Cendis too, but what if they got there and the Avalian soldiers shot all of them? Elan showed her the Cendian armor and their laser guns would burn straight through it. They would have to say something to the Cendians about all of them not making public appearances too because Elan’s question and answer period had now become some social gathering where everyone was joking and laughing. The people liked seeing she and Elan were one of them and could get down or up on any level.
Lusinda’s cousin was actually quite excited to hear about their gifts and why Lusinda and Palina had volunteered. The tests showed both Lusinda and Palina had certain mutations. It was standard knowledge that intelligence was part genetics and part environment, but they had already identified several of the genes that determined intelligence and brain function.
Child of Fire, Child of Ice-A Sci-fi Romance Series (The Waljan Chronicles Book 1) Page 32