What was I trying to say? I fumbled with the words.
“A great deal has happened between us, Nol. We’ve chosen different sides. Mistrusted each other. You... you betrayed me.”
His throat convulsed as he swallowed. He didn’t say anything. He just listened.
“But you’ve rescued me too, helped me, protected me. It’s a complicated web. And I... I don’t know. Sometimes I want to rip your head off. But I can’t stop thinking about you. When you’re in a room, I always know where you are even when I’m not looking at you. Your safety matters to me, and your good opinion. I don’t understand it.”
“Don’t you?” he asked with a trace of wistfulness. He took a step toward me, and a shiver ran through me. I held my ground and his gaze.
“I’m saying perhaps we should start fresh. A truce. A cease-fire of the accusations or fighting or...”
He was getting closer. My voice trailed off. His hand touched my wrist, and then slid up my arm to cup my elbow. His skin was hot against mine. I swayed toward him. He was a tide, pulling me in.
“A truce,” he agreed quietly. His breath tickled my skin.
I was dizzy and alert at the same time. This felt inexplicably right, as bizarre as it was that only days ago we’d faced each other in a cell, but now we were allies, and...
A sharp rapping at the door made us jump apart. Nol drew back toward the curtains that edged the windows as I went to open it.
A servant bowed. “Your mother wanted you to be informed that dinner will be served in a quarter of an hour. She says to be sure to dress appropriately for the meal.”
“Appropriately?” I was already in silks.
“I suggest something black,” he said. “As we are still in mourning. And she says we have guests.”
“Guests?”
But he had already stepped away without answering, heading to another destination no doubt. The servants in Verdus were brisk, focused. I shut the door and rested my head against it a moment, clearing my thoughts and filling my lungs with air before facing Nol again. My heart raced at my pulse points.
“I should get dressed,” I said reluctantly, and he nodded and headed for the door.
When he left, I sank onto the bed, shut my eyes, and exhaled. Then I reached for the pryor. I needed to regain my calm before this dinner.
The sparkle of light as it activated reassured me and reminded me of a simpler time, when I was just Aemi the Indentured, cleaning Merelus’s study and spending meals with Tob and Mella.
I scrolled through information mindlessly, letting my eyes play over the images without really seeing them. I was feeling Nol’s hand on my arm, his breath on my face.
I almost dropped the Pryor when a symbol I recognized flashed before me.
A circle and a triangle.
The symbol for Azure.
I squinted at the accompanying text, my heart pounding. Pryors were bastions of old knowledge and mindless trivia. What was the symbol of the secretive and elusive Azure Institute doing here?
The Eye of Trulliman, savior of the Itlanteans and founder of the nation, the text read. A popular symbol for some time, it has fallen out of use.
Trulliman? I searched deeper into the recesses of the pryor’s information banks. Who was this Trulliman?
Trulliman was the founder of Itlantis, who brought the Itlantean ancestors below the sea a millennium ago. He led the people to salvation to escape the Cataclysm. He is the founder of the first city, which was lost.
That was all.
I put the pryor down and sat back against my pillows, lost in thought. Perhaps it was just a random detail, a coincidence, but something about seeing that symbol shook me. Was there a connection there?
Why had Azure selected that symbol?
~ ~ ~
The dining hall in the Verdus estate curved round as a fish’s eye, with a floor of black and golden tiles and columns that curved up the walls and arched above our heads. The gleaming black table, made of stone, stretched almost to the double doors. My mother was already sitting at the head of it when I entered, dressed in a black gown that hugged my waist and left my upper back bare. I gave my mother a direct look—was this appropriate enough?
She took a sip of her drink. “Good evening, Aemiana. I see you got my message.”
“Where are these guests that I’ve attired myself for?” I asked. We were currently the only ones in the room.
She tipped her head to the side, and the gesture made her look like Annah. “Coming. I expect we’ll have a full table tonight. Please sit.”
I picked a chair in the middle, where I was not too close to her, but not so far away that I appeared to be avoiding her either.
A servant opened the door to admit Olis, Garren, and Nol. Garren, I noticed, must have been cajoled into wearing Itlantean clothes, for he was dressed like the others, in clean and simple luxury. They walked stiffly to their chairs after greeting my mother and being greeted in return. Nol carefully didn’t look at me at first, but I felt the heat of his attention all the same.
My sister entered, accompanied by a young man I didn’t know. Was this our guest? She avoided my eyes and sat near our mother.
“Aemiana, this is Ben,” my mother said of the young man. He was tall, with dark skin, curly hair, and a foppish smile that spoke of pampered wealth. Laimila clutched at his arm, but in a way that suggested to me that he was her shield for the evening and nothing more. Ben and I greeted each other, the bland formalities I’d had schooled into me by Tallyn passing easily from my lips. The Dron were introduced, and they stumbled through theirs. I wondered if Tallyn had given them pointers, or if Olis was responsible for that.
I knew Tallyn and Tob would not be joining us, since they were in service to the household and not members. Lyssia, no doubt, was still with her father. I picked up my fork.
“Aemiana,” my mother said sharply. “We must wait for everyone.”
“Who else is coming?” I asked as the door opened again.
I turned to see who it might be. My mouth fell open in shock.
Valus?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
NAUTILUS’S SON STRODE confidently into the room. I was speechless. He... he was alive? In Verdus? Not imprisoned? Not rescued by his father? My eyes followed him as he took a seat after bowing and greeting my mother, and a wave of dizziness swept through me. Valus. Here. Sitting at the Graywater table with no chains in sight.
Valus looked better than he had during his imprisonment. Most of his cuts and bruises were healing, and although one side of his face had a purplish cast to it, his skin was a better color. He’d put on a few pounds. His dark hair had been cut and dyed a coppery brown, and he wore luxurious but plain clothing, just a dark gray tunic over a bodysuit of black, with a necklace of silver dangling from his neck. Understated opulence rather than ragged prison clothing. When he took his seat, his gaze fell on me, and he stiffened in surprise.
The room was silent.
“My daughter has returned safely,” my mother said. “Tonight we celebrate her return.” To the Dron and I, she said, “May I introduce Dorian, heir to the Celestrusean Saltman estate. Since Primus’s fall, we are all taking in refugees. I have offered Dorian sanctuary in our home until he can rejoin his family. Things are still so chaotic, with people arriving from all over Itlantis.”
Dorian Saltman. He was using an assumed identity. Did that mean my mother didn’t know? Or did she simply assume no one else did?
Confusion swirled through me, tightening my muscles. I gripped the edge of my seat with both hands and tried to think as I arranged my face into a neutral and polite expression.
Valus nodded at her words, his expression equal parts stoic and sad. His eyes, however, were bright and shrewd as they met mine, challenging me.
Could she not know who he was? Was she a part of his deception? I fumbled with my napkin, still at a loss for words. He was alive. I was glad he was alive, glad he hadn’t been killed in the bombing or maimed by zeal
ous prison guards, but what was he doing here?
What dangerous game was he playing?
I’d been friends with him, but he’d been caged then. Contained. Now he was out and free and unpredictable. He was not to be trusted.
“Hello,” Valus said gravely to us all, although he continued to look mainly at me.
Nol had noticed both my utter surprise and Valus’s scrutiny. Garren and Olis hadn’t leaped up or denounced Valus, so I assumed they did not know him on sight. Garren must have had the cell numbers only when he’d been on a mission to capture him rather than a picture of his appearance.
But what was he doing HERE?
Seemingly satisfied that I wasn’t about to blurt out his identity, Valus’s mouth settled into a smirk.
Servants streamed from the doors with steaming bowls in their hands. I imagined Tob was back at the helm in the kitchen. As my bowl was set before me, I saw a small eyeball floating in the fragrant orange bisque. Of course.
“My shock cook informs me that this is a delicacy from the far edges of the republic,” my mother said. She picked up her spoon, and we all followed suit.
I forced myself not to look at Valus, and instead took a sip of the soup. The spicy flavor made me cough, and I grabbed my napkin and pressed it to my lips to muffle the sound.
“Was it frightening?” Laimila’s companion asked me.
“Excuse me?” I took a swallow of water to cool my throat. I still refused to look at Valus.
“Your imprisonment with those horrible Dron,” Ben said. “I can’t imagine. Was it horrific?”
Garren’s spoon clattered against the side of his bowl. He sat back, his jaw flexing. Nol shifted in his seat, as if preparing to intercept Garren when he tried to strangle someone.
“It was frightening,” I agreed carefully. “I was fortunate to be rescued.”
Garren was glowering at me. I returned the look with a serene smile, although I was sweating.
“And the rest of you?” Ben addressed the Dron with this question. “Was your captivity difficult? Do you have any stories?”
“This is hardly the time,” I began, but Ben waved a hand.
“Come, come,” he said. “Please, enlighten us.”
There was a brief silence. Valus scrutinized me. I squeezed the stem of my spoon.
“The Dron treated us kindly,” Garren said. “They were noble, brave, and skilled. I was quite impressed—”
Olis must have kicked him under the table.
“Noble?” My mother raised her eyebrows. “Brave? The Dron?”
“Skilled at killing, surely,” Ben added.
I wanted to reach across the table and strangle his pompous neck until his eyes popped.
Ben slurped his soup, oblivious to the sudden tension.
“I think my friend means to say that they are not as different from us as people think,” Olis said carefully. “They are people with their own needs, their own fears. They are doing the best they can. Lately, the sea has been dangerous for everyone, and if they have seemed brutal, they have reasons.”
“A generous assessment of your kidnappers,” my mother murmured, an edge of questioning in her tone.
Garren’s eyes hardened. His fingers tightened around his water glass as he lifted it to his mouth. A little splashed onto his shirt as he gulped a swallow.
Ben appeared baffled and disappointed at the lack of vitriol aimed at the Dron. He clearly wanted a juicy tidbit. “But did you see any barbarousness? Is it true that they eat their own children?”
Garren slammed down his water glass, and the water sloshed over the side onto the tablecloth. “No children were eaten,” he growled. “That is absolutely ridiculous.”
Ben stared at him.
“The rumors are exaggerated,” I hastened to say. “They were kind captors, as Olis said.”
Ben licked his lips. “But surely those barbaric—”
“This line of questioning is what’s barbaric,” Nol interrupted. “We are tired and overwhelmed from our experiences. We have a lot to process still. Surely you can all understand that after Primus. Please, let’s talk of something else.”
Garren gulped more water. Olis breathed a sigh. My mother took another sip of her soup, studying us over the edge of the spoon.
The room was quiet again except for the sounds of utensils and Garren’s frantic guzzling of water.
“What news about Primus?” I asked. “How many escaped?”
My mother sighed, and a pair of lines appeared between her eyebrows as she considered her answer. “The invasion was so swift that many were not able to get away. Some have been sneaking out ever since. They bring stories of strict rules and harsh treatment of anyone who disobeys Nautilus’s army.”
“He did not destroy the city, then?”
“No. He conquered it.”
Ben made a face. “We need to do as the people are saying in the streets. Assemble an army and fight to get it back.”
“Is that what people are saying?” I asked. My heart beat against my ribs. “Fight back? With what?”
Olis and Nol were listening intently. Garren appeared to be concentrating on keeping his tongue. A vein in his neck twitched.
“With an army we raise ourselves. What else is there to do?” Ben asked.
“Surrender,” Valus spoke up.
Everyone looked at him with either confusion or horror.
“I’m not saying it’s the right move, just that it’s an option.” He glanced down at his food. “How many more lives will be lost?”
“Perhaps Nautilus could be made to surrender,” I replied. “If the right pressure was applied. It seems he has been seeking his imprisoned son. He might want him back.”
Now it was Valus’s turn to almost spill his water. He raised his head, and we faced each other across the table. There was no sign of his smirk now. “I highly doubt he would surrender simply for his son. I think he wants more than that, given that his son was not imprisoned when he set out to take over the republic in the first place. I think he doesn’t care about the missing son as much as other things.”
“What kind of things?” Nol asked. He had not missed the tension in Valus, or my tone. He narrowed his eyes at me, but I didn’t give him any indication of what I was thinking.
Valus toyed with his soup. “Things that will solidify his power. Things that will fulfill his thirst for vengeance.”
“What could Nautilus possibly want vengeance about?” I demanded.
Valus just shook his head.
The servants came to take away the soup bowls, and they placed a dish of noodles and an indecipherable meat before us. I lifted my fork like a weapon. I wanted to stab someone with it.
“Let’s speak of pleasanter things,” my mother suggested. “We will be hosting a small gathering to celebrate Aemiana’s—”
“Is there a memorial set up for Primus?” I asked abruptly.
“In the garden sphere,” my sister said. It was the first time she’d spoken at dinner.
“I’d like to see it. I’m sure my fellow travelers would as well.”
My mother studied me. “I’m sure that can be arranged.”
“Thank you.”
My gaze cut back to Valus.
He and I needed to talk. Immediately.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
WHEN DINNER WAS over, I slipped away from the others and lingered behind a column in the hall until I saw which way Valus took to get to his chambers, and then I followed him silently. He took the stairs up to the upper wing of the house. He stepped around a corner at the top of the staircase, out of sight, and I hastened after him. Hands yanked me forward when I turned the corner. Valus. He pinned me to the wall.
“What are you doing, Mermaid Girl?” he drawled. “Following me?” Despite his lazy tone, his grip was strong, and his eyes serious as they bored into mine.
He was nervous.
“Me? What are you doing?” I countered, trying to shake him off. “Why are you here, pr
etending to be someone else? How did you escape? What is going on?”
He didn’t loosen his grip on my arms. “I had to do something. When the attacks happened, the prison lock system must have been damaged, because the cell doors opened. I fled, disguised myself, and got a place on a departing passenger ship to Verdus.”
“I’m shocked you didn’t wait around for your father’s rescue.”
Valus barked a laugh. “You think I want to cast my lot in with him? You think he cares about me?”
I didn’t answer that. I looked at the fading bruises on his face.
“How do you explain the face?” I asked. “You look like you’ve been on the losing end of a dozen fights.”
“Falling debris. An explosion. The answer doesn’t really matter; it was an invasion. People were injured.”
“Does my mother know who you are?”
“No. She was willing to take in an heir though.”
I hissed in frustration. “So the household has no idea that they’re harboring Nautilus’s son?”
“No one knows but you, and you aren’t going to betray me.” His hands tightened on my arms as he spoke the word betray.
Anger swelled in me at the confidence in his tone. “And why not? Why do you think you can trust me?”
“Because I am an asset, and you’re smart enough to see that and want to take advantage of it.”
“How?” I demanded. “What kind of an asset?”
His eyes bored into mine. “I have information that can help you.”
I struggled, and he let go and stepped back.
I straightened my shoulders. “What are you talking about? Explain clearly.”
Valus sighed and rolled his eyes as if I were mentally slow. “My father wants something very badly. I know what it is. If you could get to it first, well, you’d have a better chance of defeating him.”
“I said clearly. What is this thing your father wants, Valus?”
He shook a finger at me. “I’m not that stupid. It’s my bargaining chip, and I won’t just give it away.”
My head hurt. Was he telling the truth? I needed to talk to Tallyn.
He brought his arms up to trap me against the wall again. “Don’t tell this to anyone. Don’t use my name. I’m Dorian, remember?” He gave me an impish smile that only served to irritate me.
For Wreck and Remnant Page 11
