Leyna was completely and utterly lost. Nothing made sense to her anymore. They’d spent such a calm and normal afternoon, and now everything felt wrong. There was one very important detail being kept from her; and that one detail now put her in the middle of something she wasn’t sure she wanted to be in the center of.
Pulling the hood of the cloak over Leyna’s head, Feolan guided her over to the carriage, hurrying her inside. He seemed nervous about anyone seeing them. Somehow this situation made her presence with him dangerous. His eyes remained locked on the windows while the carriage shifted into motion, searching for any signs which might indicate they were being watched or followed. What were her friends involved in that was so bad they couldn’t be seen together?
Just outside of town, they came to a stop at a small village, nestled on the outskirts of the city. A large stone house filled the view from the carriage windows. It appeared to be their destination, the coachman jumping down from his seat to open the door. Feolan wasted no time in getting Leyna from the carriage into the house, closing the heavy wooden door behind them.
“I fear we may have a problem,” he announced, seemingly to no one in particular. In a fluid motion, he turned the lock on the door, moving quickly around the room to draw the curtains closed.
The room was larger than it appeared from outside. Bookshelves lined the walls to the right and left, each one filled edge to edge with the old bindings of various published literature. A sitting area was arranged in a little nook toward the back, out of view from the door and windows at the front of the house. There in a stately high-backed chair sat the familiar figure of Thade, his face hidden behind the cover of a book held in his hands. At the sound of Feolan’s voice, he started to lower it, his words cut short at the sight of Leyna standing there at the door. “You know how much I despise hearing those words, especially – Leyna?”
Time had treated him well. He was much like she remembered him, his perfectly chiseled face looking more like a sculptural masterpiece than that of a living man. His hair remained cut short, though held in place with a more aristocratic style rather than the windblown look he’d always worn during the war. Maeri’s words floated back into her mind while she stared at him. Deliciously sexy. She hadn’t been sure what that meant exactly until now. His muscular physique was hidden beneath the fine silk of his buttoned shirt, but while his skin couldn’t be seen, the presence of his fit body was undeniable.
Nervously, she sank down into a more formal curtsy, taking advantage of the brief moment with her head lowered to hide her face from view. She couldn’t think about him like that. It was inappropriate. “Captain… it is good to see you again.”
“Captain? I have not been called that in years,” Thade chuckled, moving gracefully across the floor to stand before her. “My my – you have changed. What say you, Feolan? I believe my cloak wears better on her than it does me.”
Leyna gasped at the realization that she was still wearing it. Reaching up for the clasp, she started to unhook it, pausing only at the gentle pressure of Thade’s hand over hers, preventing her from removing it. “I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed it…”
“Mind? Why would I mind? You may remove it if you like, but do not do it simply on account of my mention of you wearing it.”
Securing the last of the curtains into place, Feolan moved over to where Thade and Leyna were standing, his expression solemn as he caught Thade’s eye. “We need to talk. It is of the utmost importance.”
“Then let us talk. Did something happen at the masque?”
“No. Well… yes. But that is not the issue,” Feolan stammered, glancing uncomfortably over to Leyna. “That trouble was bypassed in Leyna coming back with me. The current trouble involves something more sensitive.”
“We are among friends. There is nothing that I find necessary to hide from young Leyna, here.”
“It has to do with Zander and Gislan –”
“Yes, except maybe that…” Thade said suddenly, the soft expression on his face hardening with concern. “We can step into my study for a moment, Feolan. Leyna, if you do not mind, you may wait here. Make yourself comfortable.”
“With all due respect, Captain – Consul… I was just manhandled like a lowly slave in front of everyone at Malic’s Tavern. I understand that you clearly have your secrets these days, but after that humiliation, I will follow you into whatever private room you attempt to retreat to in order to discuss this matter, so I recommend you spare that uncomfortable scene by simply discussing it here in this room, in front of me.”
Thade stared hard at Leyna, his brow furrowed in concentration. “Is this true?” he asked, turning to face Feolan sternly. “Did someone touch her?”
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Feolan sighed. “When Gislan entered the tavern, I left in order to avoid suspicion. Leyna remained behind with Zander, but what occurred after I stepped away, I am not privy to. When they came out of the tavern, Zander had a hold of her and requested an emergency meeting with us tonight. Something happened.”
Both men shifted their gaze to Leyna. It was all on her now. She was the only one who knew what had happened, and yet she didn’t know at all. None of it made enough sense for her to begin an explanation. “Zander said the woman couldn’t be allowed to know of any connection between him and… you both. I realized that the cloak I was wearing bore the insignia of the Consul. That left me with little choice but to remove it or risk her seeing it.”
A whispered curse slipped from Feolan’s lips, his face twisting into a frustrated grimace. “How could I have been so foolish? I did not even think about that, or I never would have left you there.”
“Our leaving together would have only drawn more attention. Why can’t you just tell me what this is all about? I am involved now, whether you like it or not. I have a right to know.”
“I am not comfortable with the thought of involving you in this, Leyna,” Thade frowned. The joy that had been in his eyes at the sight of her was now diminished. She wasn’t going to give up, though. She had to know what was going on.
“How about you explain to me what I stumbled into, and then I will decide how comfortable I am with being involved.”
Thade heaved a sigh of defeat, knowing there would be no persuading her otherwise. Motioning absently toward the little nook, he made his way back toward his chair, discarding his book unceremoniously onto a small end table nearby. “I know better than to argue with you. Come have a seat.”
She followed Thade over to the neatly arranged chairs, sitting stiffly down on a small settee across from him. Their reunion had been far from what she’d hoped it would be. Her whole trip back, she imagined it filled with joy and excitement. This was more like a funeral than the reuniting of friends.
“A few years back, Queen Vorsila became aware of a small group of people thought to be working in conjunction with the Ven’shal on some unknown conspiracy. I was put in charge of arranging a network which would bring information from the inside of this group in order to determine its motivation and intent.” Thade paused for a moment, looking Leyna over carefully before continuing. “I have two men currently ingratiated within the group. From them, we have learned that there are three people involved in the leadership of this traitorous lot. Gislan Deboriac is one of those three.”
“And Zander is one of these… spies – for lack of a better word?” Leyna asked. It certainly made sense to her, given his behavior. He was too intelligent to have been a mere servant.
Drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair, Thade nodded. “They prefer the more shady sorts, which is why he masquerades as a slave dealer. To my knowledge, however, he has never had to actually provide proof of it. Gislan is too fond of him at this point. Our other agent is still working on getting in closer to Gislan’s sister, Oksuva. That task is made more difficult because of her husband, Mikel. He does not let very many people near to his wife.”
“Mikel?” Leyna pondered. It rang a bell in her mind. The
woman, Gislan, had mentioned it to Zander. “That is the name of the man Gislan said she wanted Zander to sell me to.”
Feolan’s head shot up from where it hung miserably, his eyes glancing at Leyna curiously. “Sell you to him? That could certainly be fortunate for us.”
“You are not seriously considering allowing that to take place, are you, Feolan?” Thade raised an eyebrow in his direction. The tone of his voice was all it took for Leyna to know he disapproved of the thought. “It is far too dangerous to get her involved. These people are ruthless and they would do anything they could to corrupt her. Do you really want to expose her to that?”
“No. I was just thinking that she would have a better chance at gaining the information we needed than Kael…”
“I think the bottom line here is that I am already exposed to this,” Leyna sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingertips. “If I do not play along, there is a chance it could ruin Zander’s cover. Sure, he could claim I got away, but then I would never be able to show my face in Siscal without them wondering why he does not take me again.”
Thade rose from his chair, pacing along the floor between the seats. In one afternoon they had managed to jeopardize a mission which had been in the works for years. The only way they could avoid possible disaster was to bring her into it. Strangest of all was that she didn’t mind. A part of her was excited by the idea of being involved with such espionage. It would be a drastic change of pace from the monotony of the life she’d endured for the last decade.
“Thade,” she said quietly, the sound of his name forming on her lips feeling foreign to her after knowing him by his title for so long. “If it will assist our people, and serve our Queen, then I am willing to do it. Whatever you ask of me.”
“I could never ask this of you.”
“Then do not,” she said flatly. “Simply tell me what needs done and I will do it, if that will ease your conscience.”
At her words, he paused in his pacing, lowering himself slowly down onto the settee beside her. The look in his eyes was painful for her to see. “Leyna, you do not understand. These people are evil, and they associate with people who are even more so. If they were to discover your position, they would kill you. There would be no saving you from it.”
Death held little meaning to her after her time in the war. She had looked death in the face with three arrows lodged into her body and came through it. Her time ever since then felt borrowed to her. Like the gods never intended her to still be alive. But she was. She just had to figure out what they were keeping her around for. “Trust me, I understand. Just tell me what I would be looking for. If it starts to feel over my head, I will find a way to back out. They do not even know my real name.”
“Zander told them a false name?” Feolan peered at her, his eyes reflecting more interest now than at the start of the conversation.
“Yes,” she nodded. “Gislan thinks my name is Eleni.”
Feolan smirked to himself, leaning back in his seat. “Clever boy. That could very possibly work to our benefit. My concern was that they would recognize your name from stories of the war. If they don’t know it – they can’t put two and two together.”
“Trouble does tend to follow you, doesn’t it?” Thade frowned, standing back up to leave Leyna alone on the settee once again. Resuming his thoughtful pacing, his shoulders drooped forward in defeat. “If you really truly desire to do this, I will not try to stop you… but I want it to be very clear to you that I disapprove. It is not willingly that I concede.”
“You want what is best for me, I know. But this is what I want. You and I both know there is little in the way of other options at this point. The gods seem to have thrust this upon me for a reason. They spared my life once before. I owe them at least to try.”
Returning to his seat, Thade leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands in contemplation. She felt bad putting him in this position again. Before she had asked him to allow her to fight, knowing she was ten years too young to even be considered to do such. Now she was asking him to place her in the line of danger yet again. She couldn’t blame him for being hesitant after seeing how her last request had ended.
“Very well,” he said calmly, successfully hiding the concern from his voice that she could still see in his eyes. “So far, the intelligence we have gathered suggests that Oksuva has ties to the Ven’shal. She claims to know of one who is capable of utilizing magic similar to that used by Arcastus before he was killed centuries ago. Their intentions appear to be leaning toward finding where the ancient Ven’shal buried Arcastus’s body so that they can use this power to revive his corpse and wage a new war on the Vor’shai people like that in the past, only stronger. I am sure you can see why this cannot be allowed to happen.”
“But your other spy… Kael, you said? He has yet to be able to get close enough to Oksuva to learn the name of this Ven’shal or any other details regarding their plans?”
“That sums it up quite right, yes,” Thade nodded, straightening his back against the cushion of his chair. “You should also know that Kael is not aware Zander is working for me. It is important things remain this way. I am trying to avoid any possible connections between the two of them which might draw suspicion.”
A sudden knock at the door caused them all to jump, caught off guard by the sound. They were on their feet instantly. Realizing what the sound had been, Leyna lowered herself back down on the settee, pressing her hand against her chest to try and ease the pounding of her heart. Could it be the sun had already set? It hadn’t seemed so late when they left from Malic’s.
Feolan cracked the door open just enough to see who was standing outside. With a nod of his head, he pulled the door open further, allowing Zander to step in out of view of any watchful eyes that might be on them. “Consul,” he greeted with a deep bow. “We have some matters which need to be discussed…”
“I suspect that these matters have already been discussed and decided upon. You are late, if that is the case,” Thade replied. Leyna couldn’t help but admire the way he carried himself, filled with the air of dignity despite the doleful look in his eyes. She wondered if Zander or Feolan could even see it there.
Zander’s mouth opened to speak again, his words barely having a chance to form on his lips at Thade’s response. “Already discussed? How is that – ah. Leyna. I did not see you there.”
Inhaling a deep breath, Leyna rose from the settee, turning around to curtsy gracefully to him. “I believe that is Eleni to you. Master.” The word was harder to speak than she expected. She’d never done well with submission. It would make things much more difficult on her part to get used to taking orders from others. If she did not learn to do it, then she would be wasting her time trying to convince them that she was a slave.
“You are going to allow her to continue the charade?” Zander asked, making no attempt to hide the disbelief in his expression. “You do realize just how dangerous –”
“I realize exactly what this is,” Thade cut in, spinning away to face his back to the room. “I will toil forever in the deepest pit of the underworld for allowing this to transpire. But, as it would seem, I am outnumbered and my duty will not allow me to exercise my full authority in giving up an opportunity. Especially knowing that if I give it up, we risk losing twice as much, if not everything.”
“Well, well. Leyna, you seem to be the lucky piece of the equation for everyone to take advantage of today. First against Teagan and now this?”
If she had been closer, she would have found a way to cover his mouth to keep Zander from speaking. Now was not the time to mention Teagan. She knew this – but there was no way for Zander to know. He lacked the social graces to recognize that the mention of it was inappropriate, given the circumstances.
At the mention of Teagan’s name, she could feel the tension flare up in the room, Feolan’s breath coming to a stop while Thade’s body grew taut, fists clenched at his sides. “Teagan? In reference to a woman, the words ‘take adv
antage of’ and ‘Teagan’ never bode well in a sentence together.”
He was losing control of the situation. Nothing anyone could say now would change that. There was already enough going against his desires that to hear of the incident with Teagan would be the icing on the cake for him. Everyone seemed against him. Leyna wished there was some way she could ease his mind, to assure him that she would be safe, but even she knew it to be an impossible reassurance to make. “It is nothing. At least for now. We should all get some rest and take time to think on things…”
“Zander, I very rarely give direct orders, but as you are the one who brought it up, I am going to give you one more chance to enlighten me on the details of your comment before I am left with no choice but to sink to forcing my hand.”
“I assumed, Consul, that Feolan had already told you about it as well, given that you seemed aware of everything else which happened at the tavern,” Zander shrugged. Leyna could see Feolan’s head lower from where he stood at the door. The tension between them was suffocating to her. He knew as well as she did that the topic should not be brought up; though he looked to be more nervous about it than she was.
Turning back around to face them, Leyna could see the strain in Thade’s features. “No, the mention of that name was conveniently left out.”
“Consul, I believe that would be better discussed between you and I after Zander and Leyna have safely gone for the evening,” Feolan said quietly, casting a disapproving glare in Zander’s direction. “For everyone’s sake.”
Zander peered in turn at Feolan and Leyna, then shifting his gaze back to Thade in confusion. The minute his lips parted, Leyna knew it was pointless to fight him about it anymore. He was going to say it whether they were prepared or not. “You both act like it was something grander than it was. Teagan was being his usual charming self. He gave the ultimatum that either he would kiss the lass or Feolan would. Feolan did, Teagan was pissed that his brilliant plan to take advantage of the lady had backfired, and everyone went their separate ways.”
The Myatheira Chronicles: The Vor'shai: From the Ashes (Volume 1) Page 22
