Steel And Sorrow (Book 2)

by Joshua P. Simon

  Nareash nodded. “Yes.” He sighed and examined the sea route that would take ships through a space filled with storms and rocks.

  The route would not be easy.

  He lifted his eyes to Guwan as a thought struck him.

  He had access to the greatest fighting warriors currently alive, perhaps who had ever lived. He looked at the map of Thurum in his hands and recalled the jewels all around him in the city. The rest of his plan to bring an army to Cadonia would still be possible.

  The scepter would make Amcaro powerful, but not impossible to beat.

  “Is there something you want from me in return for the map?” he asked.

  “I just wanted you to know that I’m ready to seize the opportunities available to me and that I hope you’ll remember this gesture.”

  Nareash smiled. “I believe I will.”

  Chapter 6

  Kaz’s gaze shot back and forth across the cylindrical council room. The looks of contempt didn’t surprise him. It had been months since he began attending the meetings, yet the attitude of the queen’s council had changed little toward him. If they weren’t casting stares his way, they were mentioning his name in their childish whisperings.

  He thought about confronting some of the worst council members, if only to watch their nerve dribble down their legs and pool at their feet. He restrained himself for Elyse’s benefit.

  Kaz hated that the nobles found their courage in underhanded remarks and in the company of others. When alone, many of them folded under the pressure. Kaz actually enjoyed being in their presence under those circumstances.

  Only a few councilors had the ability to pose any real threat to Elyse and even then, the queen could squash their ambitions if she chose to. However, she remained hesitant at times, not out of the fear she once struggled with, but out of caution. Though Kaz understood her concerns, he had seen her deftly handle a council member in private or manipulate the overzealous Duke Jeldor several times over. He knew she could handle herself and enjoyed watching her do so.

  I’m just the reminder to both her and her advisors that her words hold weight.

  * * *

  In the months that followed the battle of Cathyrium, Elyse had spent little time in Lyrosene. On the advice her brother gave her shortly before his death, she used her time to do something her father had neglected to do for years. She visited the cities and towns still under her control. Jonrell thought such a move would garner sympathy from those commoners prejudiced against the upper class, while strengthening her relationships with the minor lords. Like many of her brother’s suggestions, the strategy worked.

  As a pleasant side effect of Elyse’s travels, her interpersonal skills had improved significantly. She spent so much time in private audience with her subjects that over time the lessons Jonrell tried to instill in her as a child had slowly begun to make sense. She no longer felt intimidated when discussing matters of the kingdom.

  While away from Lyrosene, the council regularly sent her word about their doings and urged her to return to the capital to address their concerns.

  Where they hoped to push me around again.

  Elyse realized her council thought that with Jonrell dead, the threat of the crown held little weight to them. Her advisors had tried to manipulate her immediately upon her return, and Elyse struggled to maintain order in the first council meeting.

  That first night back home she cried herself to sleep, not out of helplessness as before, but out of anger. Despite all that she had learned in the months prior, she had discovered that the players in her court had far greater skill than the minor lords of the land.

  By the next morning Elyse had calmed herself and stiffened her resolve. She needed someone to take Jonrell’s place and help lend weight to her words while she continued to learn the ever-changing dynamics of the counsel.

  Kaz had just returned to Lyrosene for the winter, and worked with General Grayer on recruiting and training her army in preparation for the following year’s campaign. Elyse had requested that he attend the council meetings with her.

  “I wouldn’t know what to say,” said Kaz.

  “You won’t need to say anything. I just want you there,” said Elyse.

  “To scare them?” he asked and Elyse surprisingly saw something almost like hurt in his dark eyes.

  She shook her head. “No doubt you will intimidate those who are there, but it isn’t your appearance that will scare them,” she said touching his arm. “It is what you represent as commander of my army that will give them pause. More importantly, I want you there.”

  Kaz mulled over her words and after a moment responded. “Whatever I can do to help you, I will.”

  A thin smile ran across her lips as she looked down at Kaz. She had offered him a seat next to her, but he declined. At each council meeting he stood in front of her, facing outward like a statue carved from granite. She could not see his face, but knew it held the intimidating scowl he normally wore except in the presence of a select few.

  Gauge had handled the day-to-day duties of running the kingdom while she was away. However, Elyse had returned to a long list of things they needed to discuss and decisions she needed to make that he did not have the authority to handle. She felt guilty for placing so much on his shoulders while traveling. Since her return, she had done her best to relieve him of some of those duties.

  “. . . Your Majesty?” asked a voice.

  Elyse blinked and her face grew flushed when she realized that she had not been paying attention to the speaker. All eyes watched her. Thankfully, Elyse could recount Vulira’s same tired arguments by heart. “Yes, Vulira, I’m sorry but as I’ve said before, we will have to put off your pleas for stronger farming research to another day when the war is over.” She hadn’t meant to sound so put off with the woman, but she grew weary of repeating herself.

  Vulira inclined her head with a puzzled look. “Your Majesty, I was not speaking about such matters.”

  Elyse felt a lump form in her throat. She swallowed.

  “Ha,” came a booming voice. “I think the queen has become so accustomed to your repetitiveness and lack in originality of thought, that like most of the council here, she has learned to tune you out.”

  Laughter erupted and Vulira turned red in embarrassment, then anger, as she eyed Illyan. “I have the floor.”

  “And dare I say, you’ve had it long enough.” He rose from his seat and made his way down to the center of the circular chambers. “You have raised a good point, but perhaps I can do a better job of summarizing your question, rather than making us all late for lunch again.” He slapped his thin frame and laughed. “Some of us cannot afford to skip another meal.”

  Laughter continued and Vulira, thoroughly embarrassed, did not have enough fight left in her to continue arguing. She walked back to her seat, fists tightened into balls.

  Elyse noticed the smirk on Phasin’s face, but most of all she noticed the ease with which Illyan had handled Vulira and the reaction from others in attendance. The short man had come a long way since that first council meeting after her father’s passing. Then, no one had dared to agree with Illyan. But since Adein’s and Vicalli’s acts of treason, the council had been searching to find figures to lead them again.

  Phasin and Illyan had eagerly stepped into those vacant roles. Illyan’s rise to power made the queen uncomfortable.

  “Your Majesty, I believe the gist of Vulira’s question related to some of the crown’s plans for the upcoming campaign. There has been an increasing amount of talk that you and your commander,” he nodded to Kaz, “plan to bring Olasi’s forces into play.”

  Those plans were not talked about openly. Do we have yet another spy among us? Jonrell suspected as much.

  “We could very well be planning for such a thing. But then again, it could all be a ruse to throw off our enemies.” She paused, allowing her voice to remain calm and void of the hatred she had for the little man. “Just as my brother once told you, I do not in
tend to seek military advice from this council.”

  Illyan smiled in a way that gave Elyse a chill. “A wise policy, Your Majesty. And to your point, I think I speak for all of us when I say that we do not intend to lecture you or your commander on troop placement. However,” he said, raising his voice and pausing for dramatic effect, “where policy is concerned, I feel we have a responsibility to advise Her Majesty. And there have been murmurings—”

  “I do not care about murmurings,” said Elyse, her voice suddenly filled with agitation.

  I am tired of these games.

  Illyan appeared surprised by her interruption and after a moment to collect himself began to argue. Elyse opened her mouth to fire back, but before the words could come, a gavel slammed onto the black marble. Gauge shot from his seat faster than she thought possible for the older man.

  “Is this what you now waste our time with, Illyan? Murmurings? Nothing more than hearsay and gossip?”

  The edge to his voice took Elyse off guard. However, once the initial shock wore off, anger replaced it. Gauge seizing control of her conversation with Illyan cast her in an unfavorable light. She calmed herself.

  I’ll speak with him in private later. He deserves that. Anything I say or do now to address the issue will only embarrass him, and regardless of how I feel now the fact is I would be lost without him.

  “I agree,” said Phasin. “He is quick to poke holes in the arguments of others, but what proof does he ever bring before the council other than some cryptic message meant to stir us up.”

  “Yes,” agreed Gauge. “What do you have to say for yourself, Illyan?”

  Elyse brightened at the chance to see Illyan made to look incompetent.

  Illyan remained confident. “My lord, please have your seat. I did not mean to upset you. Or you, Phasin,” he said turning. “Make no mistake that the only agenda I push, the agenda that takes precedence above all others, is the one that ensures our great country will be whole in peace once again.”

  Phasin snorted. “That is debatable.”

  Gauge leaned forward. “Lord Illyan, I will not allow you to continue without revealing where you’ve heard this murmured since you only seem to be aware of it.”

  Not allow? What has gotten into him? I’m sitting right here.

  Illyan must have thought the same thing as he cast a look in her direction. “Your Majesty?”

  Elyse cleared her throat, forced to go along with Gauge lest she make the man look like a fool. “Please answer the question. Are you withholding information from the crown?”

  “Withhold is such a strong word. I simply prefer not to reveal information that might implicate my contacts,” said Illyan and for the first time Elyse saw him lose a bit of his composure.

  “Since you believe that your informants are better than the crown’s, perhaps you could be convinced to bring those contacts in so that Her Majesty might have use of them,” interjected Gauge.

  “No,” said Illyan. His smile had vanished.

  “But didn’t you just say that you were only interested in the well being of the kingdom?” asked Phasin.

  “That is why I refuse to expose them. They might be corrupted or compromised from outside influences.”

  Elyse felt a shift in the room with those present. Many of those who had in the past several months slowly supported Illyan looked around at each other. Slight nods followed.

  They see him struggling and wish to change sides before it’s too late.

  “Are you making the accusation that the crown’s contacts are corrupted?” asked Phasin.

  Elyse watched Illyan shrug nonchalantly. She grimaced.

  That was the wrong move Phasin. One Illyan expected you to make.

  “I would not be the first to make such an accusation. After all, the queen’s own brother proposed and proved the same thing just over a year ago,” Illyan said.

  Elyse quickly judged the reactions of the other councilors and saw that Gauge and Phasin had lost some of their momentum.

  I need to do something.

  Gauge started to speak again when Elyse reached out to silence him. She had enough. Illyan had made a good point, just enough to save some credibility. She sensed that he was on the cusp of regaining complete control and she did not want that to happen.

  He is too intelligent to fall all at once. She stood. “I wish to hear no more about murmurings, whisperings, gossip, hearsay, or anything else unsubstantiated. This meeting is adjourned.”

  The sound of Gauge’s gavel reverberated on the chamber’s walls.

  * * *

  “What did he want?” Elyse stared daggers through Illyan’s back as he left the chambers.

  Trying to smooth things over with Vulira after the meeting, Elyse had watched as Illyan pulled Kaz away to speak in private. By the time she pried herself away from Vulira, Illyan had scurried off.

  “He wanted to discuss the logistics involving the army’s supplies for the coming campaign,” said Kaz.

  “Is that all? It seemed more important than that. Couldn’t that snake have waited until later?”

  Kaz scowled. “Why do you hate him so much?”

  “I don’t hate him.” She suddenly felt embarrassed by Kaz’s choice of words. The One Above teaches us to hate no man. I must be in better control of my emotions. “I just don’t trust him.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he is constantly looking to serve his own agenda.”

  “Name me someone here who isn’t?” said Kaz, folding his arms.

  Elyse frowned. “Gauge isn’t.”

  Kaz raised his eyebrows and gestured with a nod. “Then what do you think he’s doing now?”

  Elyse looked over and several of the council members who had been in support of Illyan clamored for Gauge’s attention. Her most trusted advisor smiled as he accepted each compliment for a job well done today. She found herself angered by the scene. She shook her head. “He’s only being polite. It comes with a position of power.”

  “Perhaps you’ve given him too much power,” said Kaz, his voice low.

  Elyse whispered. “What? He’s served me well since my father’s death.”

  “I’m sure he has.”

  “That’s ridiculous. You tell me I should watch out for Gauge, but you want me to consider the ramblings of a weasel like Illyan.”

  “Jonrell trusted Illyan. Without him supplying the army, we wouldn’t have been nearly as successful against Tomalt,” said Kaz.

  Elyse’s anger grew. “Jonrell also trusted Mal and Glacar. Look where that got him.” She regretted her tone immediately, but could not take back the words.

  Kaz scratched his goatee. “And he also trusted us.”

  The remark stung. Before she could apologize, Crusher ducked inside and called Kaz.

  “Your Majesty, if you don’t need me here any longer, I have other duties,” said Kaz.

  She nodded. He took a step away and Elyse grabbed his arm, solid as the marble in the room, thick as the branch of a tree. “I did not mean to . . .”

  “I know,” he whispered.

  Kaz hurried from the room. The Ghal followed him.

  Elyse stared after Kaz until Gauge came up beside her. “Is everything alright, Your Majesty?”

  Elyse blinked. “I was just thinking.” She paused for a moment, recalling what Kaz said. “What were you talking about with the others?”

  Gauge gestured toward the door and the two started to leave. “Oh, just some gossip. Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Your Majesty.”

  “I see,” said Elyse. His carefree tone reminded her of her earlier thought. “There is something that does concern me.”

  Gauge inclined his head. “Your Majesty?”

  “The way you took over the council meeting in the midst of my discussion with Illyan.”

  He blinked and sputtered. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do so. I promise that my intentions were—”

  “I know you didn’t mean any harm by it, but
the fact remains that I can’t have that happen again. I’m still trying to erase the impression everyone has of the bewildered queen I was when I took the throne. What you did today makes that harder.”

  Gauge worked his jaw and frowned. “I understand. I’ll be more mindful of my actions in the future.”

  Elyse touched his arm as they walked. “Thank you. I knew you would understand.”

  Chapter 7

  “Will that be all?”

  Odala scanned the lavish room she shared with Tobin. Two dresses she selected from the tailor rested on her bed and the third, she wore. An assortment of fruit and fresh bread lay on the table next to her.

  “Yes.” She responded without looking at the servant, too busy admiring her new dress in the mirror. She loved the turquoise color and the way the fabric accentuated her curves.

  The door closed.

  Odala broke her fast on a piece of warm bread as she strode to the window and gazed out over Juanoq.

  Even in the early hours, the city bustled with life. Wagons rolled down the main thoroughfare and disappeared into side streets. Most people moved in one of two directions—toward the market or the waterfront.

  Odala relished the view she knew no other woman enjoyed. She finished her meal, and took one last look over the space and smiled. Tobin took care of all her wants without her ever having to ask.

  She left the room, not wanting to waste the beautiful day indoors. Watching people scurry toward the market had enticed her. Though she and Soyjid technically remained captives of the Blue Island Clan, they essentially had the freedom to go where they pleased so long as they took a personal guard along for their protection. The contradiction in freedom no longer bothered her as much as it once did. She understood from the way Tobin treated her that the restriction was more to keep up appearances with his men rather than a lack of trust in her.

  Perhaps while I’m at the market I can pick something out for Tobin. He rarely does anything for himself.