by D.D. Chant
Chapter Thirty-Four
The room was oppressively silent, filled with the tension of what must come. Kai’s eyes focused on his Bonded wife, looking for signs of discomfort, but she seemed calm. Dam’sel Petta rested against her, as though seeking comfort and the strength to face the coming discussion.
“How did you know?” Ceadron was leaning against the mantelpiece, his back to the room.
“Observation. Benji didn’t do things the way you did. He spoke differently, and often had to have things explained to him,” returned Shin.
“There was also the fact that he treated Leda in a rather unconventional way for a sister,” interposed Rem.
Kai looked down at him sharply.
“You knew too?”
“And I thought you rated my intelligence higher than that, Kai.”
“I thought you would be a little preoccupied with your sister, but on reflection I admit that I might have known you would guess.” He paused briefly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
An arrogant smile stretched the corner of Rem’s mouth upward.
“Because I decided you must have already known; you’d spent long enough watching us.”
“Watching us?” Balak looked surprised. “How was he watching us? He hasn’t set foot in the house once since we arrived.”
“Or the garden, but it didn’t stop him looking over the hedge.”
Rem was not really answering Balak’s question, but his eyes remained on Kai, a slightly teasing light in their depths.
“What will happen to Ben?”
It was Leda who spoke, her voice subdued. Her eyes travelled from one to the other of the men’s faces, looking for an answer.
“Nothing will happen, Dam’sel Leda.” Hyun Jae Uel Ne Sen smiled comfortingly at her. “Because of his true identity, he has become a valuable political asset. Although the truth puts him in an awkward position, it also gives him a protection, of sorts.”
“A political asset?”
“Yes. He could be a means of forcing the Free Nation to cease talks with the Tula.”
“Force?” Uri Va Dic Toban shook his head. “I doubt that threats will encourage the Free Nation to look on the Una kindly.”
“You are correct. That is why Elder Headman Amajit has taken Ben to the safety of the Headman’s Palace. If this situation is handled incorrectly it could turn into the disaster that destroys my people.”
“What exactly will happen to him?” asked Ceadron.
“If Elder Headman Amajit has decided on a course of action, he has not seen fit to confide in me.”
“How did you know?”
All eyes turned to Aya. She was smoothing the hair back from Petta’s face, but as she spoke she looked up, meeting Kai’s gaze.
“How did you know that Headman Chopra knew about Ben? How did you know what he planned to do at the Justice Chambers today?”
“Because we knew that he would be searching for some way to discredit you, and through you, us,” answered Kai. “Lying about Ben’s true identity was like handing yourself over to him on a platter.”
“Why does he want to destroy you and Rem?” asked Balak. “What have you done that he hates you so much?”
“Chopra does not agree with how Elder Headman Amajit rules. Chopra wants war, he wants to attack the Tula in the same way they have attacked us all of these years. Elder Headman Amajit works for peace, he doesn’t believe that retaliation will make the world a better place for our children, but a world even more unstable than our own is.”
“Is that why he wouldn’t let you challenge Chopra today?”
Kai shrugged.
“He says that there is a time to fight, but that the time is not yet.”
“I don’t understand.”
“All the while we can continue with some semblance of unity, we remain strong enough to hold the Tula at bay. Once that unity is gone?” Hyun Jae Uel Ne Sen shook his head. “To fight a war on two fronts is extremely dangerous. All the time we manage to avoid it, we remain safe.”
Awkward silence filled the room.
“I still don’t understand how Chopra knew who Benji really is,” interjected Penn.
“That’s because you’ve got a teeny tiny Tula brain,” drawled Rem patronisingly.
“Better than an under active thyroid, pigmy boy,” returned Penn, appraising Rem’s smaller frame with lazy insolence.
“You know what they say: all brawn and no brain.”
Penn smirked.
“I’ll bet that ‘they’ are all shrimps too, aren’t they?”
Balak leaned forward and, grasping both boys by their collars, knocked their heads together.
“I’m bigger and smarter than the both of you, so shut up if you don’t want any trouble.”
Both boys scowled and rubbed their heads.
“Penn has a point: how did Chopra find out who Ben was?” asked Ceadron.
Penn cast a triumphantly smug smile toward Rem, who ignored him completely.
“Chopra has his spies,” returned Kai shortly.
“That doesn’t really answer the question,” observed Balak.
“It’s all you need to know.”
Ceadron raised his eyebrows.
“That’s an arrogant statement.”
Kai shrugged.
“If I was to tell you the whys and wherefores would you understand the situation with any more clarity?”
“And if we are never told anything, how are we to ever gain in understanding?”
Kai remained thoughtful for a while.
“Headman Chopra is Shin’s father. Shin cast aside his claim of kinship when he was sixteen, and took the name Phoenix. He didn’t agree with his father’s political agenda, and decided to remain loyal to the Elder Headman. Due to his closeness with our family and the Elder Headman, Chopra positioned spies around him in his troops, to report on his actions. The man who reported the truth to Chopra is an officer who served in the same unit as Shin. His name is Aoi Uel Ne Kaditch, and…”
“He was there when we were apprehended,” finished Aya.
Kai saw her shiver.
“What did he do to you?” he demanded sharply.
“Nothing. He only said that Una City would be hell for me.”
Kai stiffened and looked toward Shin for a moment.
“It will be nothing to the hell he will be enduring.”
Shin’s eyes widened fractionally, and he nodded abruptly, receiving Kai’s message in full.
“Why did you stand beside us? Why did you lie and tell them that we had told you the truth about Benji?” asked Petta softly.
Kai raised his eyebrows, looking down at the girl huddling against Aya. She looked up at him with large, anxious eyes, and he realised that she was scared of him. The thought made him uncomfortable.
“Because to admit to the truth would have meant execution for all of you, and the possibility of losing our Headship. The only way the Headmen would forgive you for lying was if you had come to us with the truth.”
“We didn’t know what you would do to us, or to Benji, if you knew the truth.”
“You should have been more worried about how it would look when the truth came out.”
Petta bit her lip.
“Thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me?”
“You stood up for Astra and kept her safe; thank you for that.”
“As her Bonded husband it is my duty to protect her. I expect no thanks.”
“Whether you expect it or not, we are still grateful to you for looking after her,” returned Uri softly.
Kai inclined his head in recognition of Uri’s words. How was it possible that these Tula people shared such a strong bond with an Una woman? He couldn’t understand how they had broken through the barrier of hate that separated them, to find peace and contentment with each other. He hadn’t really thought that it was possible. He had never truly believed that all that was between the Tula and the Una could be forgotten. Ignored perha
ps, but never truly forgiven.
Yet Aya and her Tula foster-family truly loved and cared for each other. They had been willing to sacrifice everything for Aya, and in return Aya had been willing to face anything for them.
For years his father and Elder Headman Amajit had told him that the Una and the Tula were not so very different from each other. That the lives they chose to lead did not make them incompatible, that underneath they were all the same. They all experienced the same loves, disappointments, challenges, and choices.
Kai had never really understood before, but now he did. These people were good people, better than some Una people he could name. They had been more loyal to Aya than her own people had been, more loyal than he had been. He might have stood by her, but it hadn’t been to protect her, but to protect his family and Rem.
These people had stood beside her through love. They had put their lives on the line with the unselfish affection of family, and that made them more of a family to her than he had ever been. For the first time he truly understood that her loyalty belonged to them rather than to him. Strangely, that understanding brought him peace.
“Today Aya and I visited the Elder Headman, and asked him for his permission that our Bonding proceed.”
Uri Va Dic Toban nodded.
“So I understand.”
“My parents also gave their blessing,” continued Kai. “But it is customary for you to give your blessing also, as Aya's father.”
The room was silent for a while, and then Uri smiled warmly.
“Ceadron fetch six glasses, and a jug of wine.”
A faint flicker of unease worked its way down his spine.
“Wine?”
“In our culture it is customary for the man marrying into a family to share a bottle of wine with his wife’s father and brothers,” assured Uri, pouring the wine into the waiting glasses, and then passing them to his sons and Rem. As he accepted his glass Rem’s face flushed in pleasure that he was to have a part in these proceedings too.
Uri raised his glass.
“To the uniting of our families.”
Kai gazed down at the wine and grit his teeth. The taste was as vile as always, but he tried not to let his distaste show on his face. With a certain amount of horror he watched as Uri refilled the glasses, and looked up to find Rem’s amused gaze upon him.
It was harder to swallow the second glass, and he choked violently. Rem leaned forward, slapping him on the back and chuckling.
“You’ll have to excuse him: Kai has a deep rooted aversion to alcohol of any sort.”
Uri shook his head.
“Why didn’t he say? There was no need to force himself.”
“Yes there was.” Kai spluttered again, and raised his hand to wipe the tears from his face.
Uri smiled, thumping him on the back.
“Welcome to the family.”
“Thank you, Father of Bond.” Kai choked again and stood. “If you have no objection, I would like to speak with Aya alone.”
“Of course, if she wants to.”
All eyes turned on Aya, and with quiet grace she rose from her seat and bowed.
“I am at your disposal, Senior.”
------
The clearing was beautiful, perhaps the most peaceful place Astra had ever seen. She closed her eyes, listening to the stream bubbling softly in the background. The sun filtered through the trees and warmed her chilled frame. She sat on a large boulder, set back from the pebbly shore that ringed the pool. Kai stood at the edge of the pond, his back to her as he skimmed stones across the surface. Astra found herself wondering what he was thinking.
Was he angry?
Did she try to speak to him, to thank him, or did he not wish to hear from her?
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
His voice surprised her. He was still skimming stones, and Astra had thought he had forgotten about her completely.
“Very beautiful.”
“I come here when I need time to think,” he continued. “My father showed me this place when I was a boy, Elderman Di Ye showed my father, and I showed it to Rem.”
Astra stood and carefully picked her way across the stones until she too stood by the water's edge.
“Am I to understand that you have brought me here for the same reason? Because I need time to think?”
Apprentice Headman Sen nodded.
“We both know that we can’t carry on like this. We need to form some sort of alliance. I have enough to worry about without guarding against a knife in my back, wife.”
Astra bent and picked up one of the smooth flat stones, turning it slowly in her fingers.
“And I have enough to worry about without fearing that my family will not be safe from my husband.”
She threw the stone, watching as it hit the water and disappeared below the surface.
“It’s harder than it looks.”
Kai Uel Ne Sen shook his head.
“Not really; it’s more technique than skill.”
He selected another stone and pressed it in to her palm.
“It’s all in the wrist.” He stood behind her and took her hand. “Your arm should be horizontal to the floor, one foot slightly in front of the other and the back leg bent. The strength of the throw should come from your wrist. Try again.”
Astra mimicked his movement, and the stone bounced on the surface twice before sinking out of sight.
“A little practice and you’ll be pretty good.”
As he spoke, he moved away from her again and stood looking over the pool.
“Why did you make Chopra apologise to my foster-family?”
He shrugged.
“Because I knew it would make him angry, and I wanted him to be angry.”
Astra stared at him for a moment in silence, and at length he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.
“What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”
She shook her head.
“I’m wondering why you’re telling me the truth, when you could have lied and tried to make yourself look good. You could have said that you felt they had a right to an apology, or that it was to please me. You could have said any number of things to make me feel indebted to you, but instead you chose to say something that makes you look… manipulative.”
“Would you have been gullible enough to believe any of those reasons?”
Astra shook her head.
“I don’t know. I suppose I wouldn’t have known whether to believe you or not. It’s strange but your answer has reassured me more than if you had said anything else.”
She thought that she could detect a hint of surprise in his expression at her answer.
“If we are to be Bonded, Aya, we need to have at least a basic understanding and trust of each other. I need to know that you will tell me the truth.”
“And so long as I am truthful with you, you will be truthful with me?”
Kai Uel Ne Sen nodded his head.
“Exactly.”
Astra remained silent for a long while. The breeze rose and gently threaded its way through her hair, lifting it so that it danced on the air.
“You really want to call a truce?”
“Yes. If you promise to remain loyal to me in return I will see to it that your family remain safe, and are not used as political leverage. We need each other, Aya. We might not like that fact, but it is nevertheless true.”
“Why should I trust you with the most precious thing I have?”
“The same reason I must trust you with the most precious thing I have: we have no choice.”
Astra sighed, and her shoulders sloped tiredly.
“We don’t have a choice do we?” She reached down, turning away from him slightly and lifting her skirts to free her dagger. She noticed that he looked away and gave her his back while she reclaimed the dagger. He didn’t face her again until he heard the rustle of her skirt dropping back into place.
It struck her as very gentlemanly of him. H
e could have used the moment to show his contempt for her. Yet instead he choice to offer her courtesy. Many other men would not have been so honourable.
Astra lifted the dagger between them, and Kai took her hand and the dagger within his own.
“I take the vow of peace with you, Kai Uel Ne Sen. I swear to you that I will never raise my hand against you, or conspire to do you or yours harm. This is the word of Aya Uel Ne Singh, third daughter of Jaym Uel Ne Singh, sister to Rem Uel Ne Singh, Headman to the people of New Athens.”
“I take the vow of peace with you, Dam’sel Aya Uel Ne Singh. I swear that I will never raise my hand against you or conspire to do you or yours harm. This is the word of Kai Uel Ne Sen, Apprentice Headman to the people of New Paris, son to Headman Hyun Jae Uel Ne Sen, and heir to the family line of the House of Sen.”
Kai made to release her but Astra grabbed his arm and pulled him closer.
“If you break your word to me, Senior, be warned that I will kill you.”
Kai twisted in her grasp so that she no longer held him captive, but he held her.
“And if you betray me I'll do much worse than just kill you, wife.”
------
Aya nodded composedly in recognition of his words. Kai frowned, searching her face for any sign of nervousness. The blank mask of her features told him nothing, but he somehow felt that she was uneasy. There was something about her that was strangely unsettling. The stillness and calm that emanated from her was unnatural.
“We understand one another well, I think.” Aya pulled away from him slightly.
The gesture contained no panic; it was simply that she seemed to dislike the closeness that his hold on her arm had forced on her. For a second he had an image of her embracing one of her Tula foster-sisters, or touching her foster-father’s hand in passing.
Was her distaste just for him?
Had he been that unkind to her?
The thought was unwelcome, and immediately followed by a recollection of the night Rem had brought her to Sen House. Rem had held her hand, but even then, Kai had sensed that she had been uncomfortable with his familiarity.
Her seeming equanimity brought a frown to his face. He had never been threatened by a woman before. If it hadn’t been for her composure and soft tone, making the statement sound so serious, he might have found the threat amusing.
He watched her face sharply for any sign of emotion, but there was no reaction. He remembered the many other times she had unflinchingly accepted threats. It bothered him more than he liked to admit. She made him uncomfortable and he resented it. Why should he feel ill at ease?
Why should she have the ability to make his ever-rational mind cloudy with bitterness?
With the thirst for revenge?
With the impulse to evade his duties?
Perhaps that was, in truth, what he hated. Maybe it wasn’t her at all, but the situation hemming him in that he found so abhorrent. It made him want to forget the principles that his father and Elder Headman Amajit had taught him to follow without deviation.
He’d started to long for a life without the encumbrance of Headship, a life where he was not watched for his smallest mistake. He hated himself for the weakness of those thoughts. They were unworthy feelings, the pitiful yearnings of a pathetic fool.
He was an Apprentice Headman, born of a long line of Headmen who had stood upright and strong for generations. His purpose was to fight for truth and right, to protect his people with the power he wielded. He had no right to indulge in useless bitterness and anger.
He released her and stood irresolute, and suddenly he regretted his harsh words. He had spoken them to make it clear to her that he would not allow her to do anything that might harm his family. He had wanted her to know what was at stake.
She needed to realise that every time she made trouble, it was not just herself and her foster-family that she was risking, but also his family, Rem, Shin and anyone else he called friend. Not to mention threatening the collapse of the entire Una nation.
Yet now he realised that it was the people she trusted least on earth that had threatened her, and he had a sudden uncomfortable suspicion that she associated him with them.
How could he expect her to trust him when he tried to intimidate her at every turn? He must seem to her like every other person in her life that had persecuted and used her.
Aya slipped off her soft slippers and, hitching up her skirts a little, waded into the shallow waters. He knew that she was hiding behind a façade of impersonal politeness and unconcern. Rem behaved in the exact same way when confronted with someone that he didn’t trust, but could not afford to anger.
He realised how on edge she was, and felt a rush of sympathy for her, the same impulse to protect and comfort that he felt whenever he saw suffering.
“What was it like in the Strongholds?”
Aya shrugged and moved a little deeper into the pool.
“What would you like to hear about?” She asked, pulling the thick length of her hair over one shoulder, and bending so that she could look at the stones on the river bed.
“I don’t know… how were you treated?”
She bent and groped for something below the glassy surface.
“Some of the Tula were unpleasant, others just ignored me.” She broke off, lifting a stone out of the water and studying the glittering vein that ran through it interestedly. “Some were kind to me and others too scared to have anything to do with me at all.”
“That sounds lonely,” observed Kai.
“I had my family; I didn’t need anyone else.”
“Were they treated the same as you?”
“To a degree,” returned Astra, reaching up to tuck the curtain of her hair behind her ear. “The Va Dic Toban family is very influential, that was part of the reason why Ladron was so angry when they took me in. He had spent years stirring up unrest against the Una, and then in a single move the Va Dic Tobans opposed everything he had built up.”
“Why did he let them challenge him?”
“The Va Dic Tobans carry a great deal of political clout. However much he wanted to censure them, he could only go so far. He didn’t want to push too hard and have other influential families unite with them against him, so he stood aside and waited.”
“His revenge was to take you as his subsidiary?”
Aya paused, turning toward him with an unreadable expression on her face.
“It was one of the many reasons that prompted his action.”
“Killing two birds with one stone.”
A faint inflection of surprise crossed her features.
“Yes, that’s exactly it.”
For a moment they stared at each other.
“How did Ladron treat you, Aya?”
She shrugged uneasily.
“Like the servant I was to him.”
“Did he threaten you?”
Amusement creased the corners of her eyes.
“No, he requested politely.”
“Did he ever hurt you?”
She flinched and Kai watched the easiness in her face disappear. He could feel the tension running through her body, as if she were recalling unpleasant memories. He wanted to help her, to pull her back out of the mire of her thoughts. They were sucking her down, swallowing her alive, and Kai knew exactly how that felt. He wanted to draw her back into his world, into a place where her fear couldn’t touch her, and where he could keep her safe.
“Aya, tell me: did he ever hurt you?”
She had lost all of her colour and Kai was suddenly very aware of the dark circles that ringed her eyes.
She didn’t answer him, but seemed to retreat within a protective shell.
Kai didn't need her to respond. Whether Ladron had hurt her physically or mentally, he had still left scars upon her. Kai moved forward, heedless of the water seeping through his shoes and clothes, and came to a halt before her. She didn’t retreat, but regarded him from dazed and pain numbed eyes.
; Gently, Kai took her hands in his and chafed them lightly.
“It’s all right, Aya; you’re safe. You’re here with me in the Una territories, where Ladron cannot reach you.”
A sad smile curved her lips.
“You don’t understand,” she whispered, her composure dissolving. “There is nowhere that is safe from him.”
Kai felt his heart perform an uncomfortable double beat, and slowly pulled the shaking girl in to his arms.
It felt strange to hold her close, to attempt to give her comfort. Yet at the same time he felt that it was the right thing to do.
Aya remained still in his embrace, accepting the reassurance he offered but not returning his hold. He remembered suddenly the discomfort that she had shown on all the other occasions he had been near her, and dropped his arms making to step away and give her more space. Aya's hand shot out and she took a firm grip on the lapel of his waistcoat holding him in place.
“Just a little longer… please.”
He pulled her closer again, and she rested her head against his shoulder.
“It’s the strangest thing, Senior, but I feel somehow safe, as though I can rely on you. Please don’t turn out to be one of those people that I can’t trust after all.”
Kai felt a surge of compassion.
“You will always be able to trust me, wife.”
“This is the first time since I was nine years old that I’ve actually believed those words when they were spoken to me.”
Kai smiled and looked again at their peaceful surroundings.
This was not an end. He knew that there would be more trouble to come, that one day there must be a reckoning. Yet he also felt that, whatever came next, he could rely on Aya to keep her word.
The Houses of Singh and Sen were strong once more.
The End.
Severance
(The Chronicles of Discord)
Book 2
The Head Families are at war. Those who oppose Elder Headman Amajit view Astra’s acceptance into the House of Singh as an abomination, a pollution of the pure Una bloodlines.
Duty and honour ought to be clear, still Kai and Astra must learn to overcome their past and rely on each other, or face death.
Senator Burton remains trapped in the Tula Strongholds with no word of his son. Should he compromise, or seize the chance to stop Ladron?
Ben seems safe under Elder Headman Amajit’s protection, but time is running out and a man accustomed to influence finds himself a pawn in a play for power.
The separation has begun…
Also by D.D. Chant
Broken City Series
Post Apocalyptic/Adventure/Romance
Broken City
Broken Truce
The Lady Quill Chronicles
Historical/Adventure/Romance
The Promise
The Vow
Claire Series (Short Stories)
Contemporary/Comedy/Romance
Claire and the Party (Approx 3500 words)
Claire and the haircut of Doom (Approx 3200 words)
Claire and the Big Bad Bunny (Approx 7900 words)
