The Heir's Bargain (Of Fire and Lies)

Chapter 15

”You and Dani seem serious,”Lukas said, the pieces of thick parchment sliding through his fingers as he shuffled the cards.

”That is because we are,” I said, swishing the whiskey in the glass, the ice clinking against the sides.

It was the third day of the week, which meant Terin and I were at the Wilton manor, playing cards. We had been meeting the Wilton brothers for a game of cards for years, but suddenly, I craved ale and sticky floors.

Lukas hummed.

Over the rim of the crystal glass, I peered at my friend. ”Lukas, you have never been one to hold your tongue. Do not bother now.”

Lukas snorted. ”Perhaps you should tell Rosalina that.”

Groaning, I rubbed a hand across my face. ”I have told Rosalina many times that she and I will never amount to anything.”

”Is that so? From what I’ve heard, she’s waiting for you and Dani to end whatever you have going on so she can stake her claim.”

”The only thing Rosalina has a claim to is her haughty attitude and upturned nose.”

Across from me, Terin snorted and took a sip of his whiskey.

”Is Dani the one then?” Riley asked, his light blue eyes stark against his brown skin.

”The one?” I asked.

Riley nodded. ”You know, your soul bond? Haven”t you been searching for—” Riley jerked back. ”Ouch.”

My gaze snapped to Terin, who avoided meeting my gaze. I told him that in confidence, Terin thought.

I rolled my eyes. Leave it to my brother to gossip to his boyfriend about things that had nothing to do with him.

”Dani might not be my soul bond, but she”s—she”s different,” I said at last.

”That”s what he keeps saying,” Terin whispered to Riley, who huffed a laugh.

Lukas ignored both of them and turned his attention to me. While his brother”s eyes were bright blue, Lukas” were a sea of colors, browns and green and hints of blue depending on the lighting.

Lukas leaned forward. ”Are you telling me you”re ready to settle down? Only—what?—three or four months ago, you were talking about being with this girl and that girl. Now, you”re telling me you”ve changed?”

The previous buzz from the whiskey disappeared, the accusation sobering me up quicker than an ice bath. My fingers wrapped tightly around the glass. ”What”s that supposed to mean, Lukas?”

Lukas shrugged, apparently unaware of the shift in my tone; Terin and Riley, however, were not. They both sunk back into their chairs, drinks pressed to their lips. Terin tried to throw his thoughts down the line, but I swatted them away.

Lukas shrugged and split the deck. ”Don”t get me wrong—I admire you a lot—but you’re not the long-term relationship type. You never have been. There’s always been an end date, always something that prevents you from taking the courtship to the next stage.” Lukas began passing out the cards. ”Do you really see Dani beside you for the rest of your life?”

Parchment slid across the table as he divvied the cards.

Mine and Dani”s courtship might have been fake, but either way, I didn”t appreciate whatever Lukas was implying.

”She”s been one of my best friends for my entire life. Why would it be any different going forward?”

”But the role she plays will be different. Eventually, Queen Esmeray will step down, and you will take her place. Does Dani wish to be your queen? Have the two of you even had that discussion yet?”

I grabbed my glass and tossed the whiskey back, the liquid burning my throat as it went down. ”Shut up and deal the cards.”

With the SummerSolstice Ball less than a month away, the ball consumed the council meetings. For the past few weeks, Lord Cunningway had reassured the rest of the council that everything was in order. However, despite his reassurances, the rest of the advisors made him walk through the details of the event—the menu, the itinerary, the entertainment—at today”s meeting. All the frivolous details I couldn”t have cared less about.

But as they talked, I became painfully aware of two things.

First, my mother hadn”t once asked me whom I was attending the ball with. I supposed it was a good sign, for it meant she believed my courtship with Dani was real. But then again, I never felt reassured when my mother didn”t bring up something.

Second, I had yet to confirm with Dani that she could accompany me. There was no possible way that she didn”t assume that she would be attending it with me. However, I had been so busy that it had slipped my mind to ask her. We mainly saw each other at the tavern at the end of the week—which was quickly becoming my favorite pastime. While I assumed she would accompany me, perhaps it was selfish to think she was available. Her schedule was just as busy as mine, after all.

When I was deciding how to broach the topic, the meeting took a turn for the worse.

After the discussion of the ball concluded, my mother opened the floor to Yelsania, the Royal Seer.

”The future is wrought with danger.”

Teacups clattered atop porcelain saucers at the sound of the seer’s voice. The cheerful laughter that had previously filled the room abruptly stopped.

Only a few years older than Terin and me at five and twenty, Yelsania pushed the thinly rimmed thick glasses up the bridge of her nose, her hands trembling slightly.

The seer spent most of her time nose-deep in either books or journals belonging to the former seers. As a result, her alabaster skin rarely saw the light of day. Her skin and paper-white hair were nearly transparent in the sunlight seeping through the large windows.

Although Yelsania had been sitting in the Royal Seer”s seat since she had completed her training with the priestesses in the north four years ago, she acted as if every day was her first day among the council. Whenever she spoke, her voice was filled with trepidation and fragility, neither of which bode well for someone on the council. Yet, despite this, her quiet words always sent a creeping prickle crawling up my arms that I could never shake, even hours after the meeting ended.

Seers, especially powerful ones, were rare, and unfortunately, Yelsania wasn’t a particularly strong gift user. Her mental shields were also weak as if she was always too focused on deciphering the visions spinning in her mind. Unlike most people, whose minds were a flurry of words and half-strung sentences, Yelsania”s mind was filled with fog-encased images, unfinished scenes, and half-painted portraits.

With no more than a push, I slipped into the young woman”s mind.

Burnt oranges and brilliant yellows flashed across her mind. At first, I thought it was the sun setting, but on closer inspection, I knew I was wrong.

Fire. So much fire filled her mind.

I pulled back out, my hand trembling as I put it underneath the table. I sensed Graeson”s pointed stare, but I ignored him, turning my attention to the advisors.

”Do you know a specific date for when this future will take place, Yelsania?” Menides asked.

The seer shook her head. ”My visions still remain. . .uncertain,” she said, sinking in her seat.

Graeson groaned. ”What is the point of sharing them then?”

Pain laced the creases in Yelsania’s pale skin as if she had been slapped.

Graeson, however, did not care if his words hurt the young woman, for he pressed on, ”Your visions have provided us with nothing of use. We know as much as we did when my mother sat in that same seat over two decades?—”

”Graeson,” my mother hissed.

The council shifted in their seats, unsure what to do as Graeson”s burning gaze turned as bright as steel.

Graeson was not a cruel man, but he was not a kind man either. He knew what he wanted and did not care if someone got hurt in the process. He didn”t enjoy the games of politics nor appreciated the need to ask for more information. Many advisors questioned his presence in these meetings—at least, they did so within the safety of their minds.

When Graeson was younger, he lacked control over his gift. Even to this day, he struggled to keep ahold of it. But he was like a son to my mother and a brother to Terin and me. His place was here, no matter who questioned it.

But being here seemed to be the last thing Graeson wanted to do.

The muscles in his jaw flexed, and a sea of emotion swam in his gray eyes, a storm of anger, incredulity, and hunger.

I sympathized with his anger. His mother was the best seer to have graced Pontian lands, and she, like my father, had been taken from the world too soon. From what my mother told us, Lysanthia”s visions were clear, precise, and nearly always accurate.

What I did not sympathize with, however, was him taking his anger out on the young seer. Any chance Graeson could get, he questioned Yelsania.

No matter his reasons, she did not deserve his wrath.

I peered at Graeson with his hands rolled into little balls and his tan knuckles blanching. I knocked on the doors of his mind, and his gaze met mine instantly.

After a tense moment, his fists uncurled.

”Our island, once impenetrable, is changing.” My mother folded her hands in her lap as she rolled her shoulders back. ”Captain Squires and his crews have relayed that they have seen the kraken less and less on the Red Sea each passing year. It is only a matter of time before our enemy decides to try their luck and venture north.”

Graeson pounded a fist on the table, shaking the goblets filled with water. ”Then we must?—”

My mother lifted a hand. ”In time, son.”

Graeson sat back with a sneer, his anger seeping into the air. His gaze met mine, and I merely arched a brow.

Since he came of age, Graeson had been begging to take revenge on the kingdom that attacked us. How could I blame him, though? We had all lost something that night.

One day, they would pay.

Unfortunately, today was not that day.

Nor was it a month ago.

Or two years ago.

Or fifteen years ago when the enemy kingdom first attacked.

At first, I was angry like Graeson. I still was. Over the years, however, I had learned to sit and listen. To study the way my mother led. How she remained calm even when the seer brought news of yet another vague vision of fires burning the sea, of the Red Sea earning its name as its waters became tainted with Pontian and enemy blood alike.

I had learned that my mother’s calmness was not a sign of indifference. It was a sign of strength, a sign that she was calculating the perfect time to strike. But the question we were all wondering was when?

My father might have been gone, but my sister was still out there.

Last time, we had been unprepared. This time would be different.

So, maybe it was the new title or the desire to prove myself worthy of it, but I had enough of sitting and listening.

”We have spies in the southern kingdoms,” I said, cutting through the silence.

My mother nodded.

”The spies have information. That is their purpose, is it not?” I asked.

”Among other things,” Menides said.

I swept my gaze across the table of advisors. ”Then let us use them. Send a group out. See if we can gather insight into the current climate. We sit here on our island, waiting for information to come to us. Waiting for Yelsania to have a vision. For once, perhaps we should go searching for the truth instead.”

”But that”s not—” Lord Cunningway began but stopped when my mother held up a hand.

”My son is right. We have hid inside the safety of our kingdom”s walls for too long. This is not Yelsania”s first vision of war. As Graeson noted, Lysanthia also had visions of darkness sweeping our kingdom. It is time for the tides to change,” my mother said. ”Menides, arrange for a squad to go south. Have them follow the standard protocol, for the treaty is still in effect. We cannot afford to make any mistakes. We will send a message to one of our contacts to arrange a meeting.”

Chairs scratchedagainst the pine floor as the advisors stood.

The letter to one of the spies had been written and sealed, sent off by way of messenger. It would take time to get things moving, but at least it was a start.

Graeson and Terin stood, the goblets on the table rattling in their wake. As I pushed myself up to follow them, my mother”s cool hand landed atop mine.

”Stay a minute.”

I hesitated, staring after Graeson as he headed for the doors without a second glance back. His eyes may have always been forward, but his mind was always stuck in the past.

I swallowed. ”I really should?—”

”I got him,” my brother interrupted.

”I am fine,” Graeson growled as he exited the room.

”Have fun with the beast,” I whispered, sitting back down.

”Always do.” Terin nodded. Then, after squeezing our mother”s hand, my brother left, too.

”Airos, would you mind waiting outside?” my mother asked, turning to the man beside the door.

”Of course, Your Highness,” Airos said, bowing to my mother. Although Airos had been the captain of my mother”s guards for over two decades, he never dropped the formalities. But sometimes, when he didn”t know others were watching, he looked at my mother with something other than formality lingering in his blue-grey eyes.

Airos hadlost his wife twenty or so years ago. When we lost my father, he helped my mother navigate the pain of losing a soul bond. I was glad they found solace and comfort in each other”s company.

Once the door shut behind Airos, my mother said, ”One day, Graeson will work through his past.” She sighed, the first sign of exhaustion flashing across her face. She shook her head. ”Just as soon as he is honest with not only everyone around him but himself as well.”

She stared at the closed door, her brows knitting together and concern covering her soft features. She cleared her throat and straightened. The previous emotion cleared from her countenance as if it had never been there in the first place. ”You and Danisinia have been spending a lot of time together lately,” she said.

I blinked. ”I wouldn”t say once a week is a lot, Mother.”

Her eyes narrowed, the sun streaming in from the window, making her blue eyes even more piercing. ”It seems she finally spoke up.”

”What do you mean?”

”For years, she followed after you boys—you in particular, as if you held the world in your palms.”

My brows drew together. ”I—I”m not following.”

My mother sat back in her chair, her fingers tapping the armrests. ”You don”t mean to tell me that you never noticed?”

”Noticed what?” I asked.

”That Danisinia has had a crush on you since you were children.”

I snorted, leaning back in my chair. ”Impossible.”

My mother cocked her head to the side, and the laughter died in my throat.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Her nails clicked against the twisted oak.

”Is it? Or did you not wish to see it?”

”Why would I?—”

”The mind is a strange place, Fynneares,” my mother interrupted, her bright blue gaze boring into me and causing me to twist in my seat. ”You more than anyone should know that.”

Her stare was too heavy to bear, so I fixed my gaze upon the grain of the wood, the twisting lines and knots that ran throughout the table”s surface.

My mother was wrong. Dani hadn”t liked me. As a friend? Sure. But nothing more.

What did Dani say when I kissed her nearly a month ago?

You”re like a brother to me, after all.

My mother”s dainty hand entered my vision, her fingers flexing in the air. ”I can show you if you need me to, son.”

I stared at my mother”s outstretched hand. For a second, I debated on saying yes. But there was no way she was right. If she was right. . .

I shook my head.

”Very well.” She stood, smoothing out the wrinkles that had formed on the lavender fabric of her skirt. ”Danisinia has always been strong. There”s no question about it. But despite all that armor she wears, she still wears her heart on her sleeve. Do well to take care of it, son.”

Before I could give my mother a response, she was already walking out of the room.

Guilt swam in the pit of my stomach. This deal was supposed to be simple. I had suggested it because Dani and I were friends. Since we had no feelings, we didn’t need to worry about anyone”s heart breaking once the arrangement ended. But if my mother was right. . .

She wasn”t, I told myself.

She couldn”t be.

Dani and I poked and prodded each other, but that was because we were best friends—nothing more.

Surely, if Dani had harbored feelings for me, there would have been more to the kiss we shared. It would have been more than a simple peck.

Still, a small voice at the back of my mind wondered if my mother was wrong, why did Dani always lock me out of her mind then?

I scoffed and grabbed my tea, sipping the lukewarm liquid. Herbs melted on my tongue, but for some reason, the ginger tea left me craving something else.

Something with cinnamon.