Chapter Twenty
Kai
Saros’s little meet-and-greet devolved into an agonising conference, countless priests all eager to shake hands with Menon and hear about how She was going to handle what one of them hilariously called a Moth infestation. Mothballs, Kai had said, but only Hilo laughed.
Wards was the real answer – an easy answer; these people knew fuck-all about them – and with Saros’s faith in him so low after this past week, the Archpriest did most of the talking and Kai let him.
He bounced his leg restlessly beneath the table, feeling his mother’s disapproving eyes on him as minutes turned to hours.
And within him, Menon’s power beat like thousands of insect wings in his gut, a cold and heavy shiver.
He closed his eyes, let everything around him fade into a low hum.
A shitty comment from Nalu, a laugh; Saros’s eager promises, talks of mass drownings and vengeance.
Menon would make them pay, Moths and callous laypeople alike.
There was no such thing as innocence: the neutral third parties who had let Menon’s worshipers suffer for so long were just as guilty as the Moths who summoned the fires.
Kai ached for a cigarette, a measure of verdure, a handful of snow. A hundred-year nap. River.
River.
Want me when you’re sober. Kai’s face grew hot as he pieced together the rest of what he'd thought was a dream. River had said that, he was sure of it. He ran his fingertips absently across his lips, trying to remember the exact sensation of River kissing him, the soft heat.
Did that mean River wanted him? Or would he push Kai away again?
It was full dark by the time Saros released him, head pounding and stomach tight with nerves.
Despite that, he felt excited, almost giddy: by now, River would’ve found wherever Ione had gone off to.
Kai would talk to them both, fix everyone’s problems but his own.
But when his eyes adjusted to the low light of the hall, Kai’s heart kicked to find Cynthia waiting for him, sitting against a pillar and hugging her knees to her chest.
“Thank the gods, you were in there for hours.” She scrambled to her feet and ushered him out of the way of the rest of the priests and bootlickers exiting the meeting room. A dim lantern illuminated the fear on her face, taut and white.
“Where – where’re River and Ineen?” He motioned helplessly at the door, flanked by a pair of bored guards. “Why didn’t you just barge in if something – ”
“Archpriest Saros expressed that your meeting be disturbed by no one, Holiness,” one of the guards piped up, straightening. Uncertainty flickered in the man’s expression when Kai whirled to face him. “And – since she remains loyal to Menon’s Rejected…”
Kai clenched his fists, and as though She heard Her name, Menon seemed to uncoil within him. Stay down, he thought furiously, counting his breaths. Stay away.
Something thwacked the side of his head – Cynthia, her teeth bared, impatient. “For gods’ sakes, Kai, leave it,” she demanded. “Listen. River and I couldn’t find Ione anywhere, so we think she left the shrine to find Lina. River went after her, and – ”
“Wait – ”
“I have waited. It’s after midnight, Kai, they should’ve come back by now.” She pointed at him before he interrupted. “And believe me, if anyone in this shrine but you cared whatsoever about Menon’s Rejected, I would’ve found someone else.”
The world seemed to tilt beneath him. They’d been gone for hours, then, longer than it would’ve taken to travel to Lodestone and back. He felt someone crowd up behind him, his brothers, vying for any hint of drama, but he couldn’t move, couldn’t shove them away.
“What’s this?” he heard Etan ask.
Kai swallowed, his mouth dry. “River and Ione went to Soliz and haven’t returned.”
Etan seemed to mull that over before shrugging. “Ah. Bit stupid of them.”
Hilo appeared on his other side. “Wait – Lady Ione’s gone where?”
Cynthia emitted a frustrated groan. “Are you all slow? One of you, for gods’ sakes, wake up and go and get them.”
“What for?” Etan crossed his arms. “It’s too dangerous to risk Menon on a rescue mission. Especially for a pair of deserters.”
“The Artems might pay for their daughter’s safety,” Nalu said, nudging Hilo.
Etan jutted his chin. “You get her, then.”
“I could.”
“None of you are leaving this place,” came a new voice – Saros, emerging at last from the chamber beyond, Malia following close behind. “Etan is right, Kai. It is far too high a risk to send you into Soliz until we’ve learned how to harness Menon’s powers in full.”
Kai flared. “I’m not leaving them there, and I don’t need your permission to – ”
“Kai.” The patented smile drained from the old man’s face, leaving behind a coldness, a mean steel to his eyes. “I will not repeat myself. You will stay here, or we will keep you here.”
Etan and Nalu jumped at that, standing on either side of Kai. But Hilo hesitated. “Lady Ione is in danger,” he said. “You know what the Moths’re capable of – ”
“Ione should have considered that before she ran off,” Saros replied, impassive. “She left the safety of Caelos of her own accord, and if she thinks we will put ourselves at risk over some childish outburst, she is sorely mistaken.”
Malia’s gaze slid over each of them, landing finally on Kai, heavy enough to silence his response. She seemed to be calculating something, but whatever it was lost her interest; she spun on her heels and clacked past them down the hall.
It was Cynthia who spoke next, her voice low: “What about River?” she challenged, her sharp eyes trained on the Archpriest.
“If River was stupid enough to follow her, then…” A hint of sorrow shadowed his expression, but Saros shook his head.
A bright, searing fury overpowered even Menon’s presence. “River thought of you as a father,” Kai gritted out.
The sorrow deadened. “He made his choice. Do not be as blind as he was.”
Was. Like River and Ione were already dead. Kai stepped towards him, to do what, he didn’t know – but a hand wrapped around his wrist, pulling him back. Hilo, his expression grim; behind him, Cynthia shook her head, warning.
“Kai,” Saros commanded. “Look at me.”
He did, balking at the ice that had returned to Saros’s eyes, the predatory glimmer.
“Stay,” he said, the flat, calm tone drowning out all else. “Do not argue.”
Kai quaked, his pulse growing hot and fast. If it’d get him out of here, he’d remind them all what Menon could do.
Drown them. Freeze them. Shatter them. Wasn’t that the violence Saros wanted?
He imagined unleashing himself here, ice blades spinning, cutting down any who would stand in his way.
He saw Saros’s face in his mind’s eye, one long cut slicing his patronising smile in two.
But try as he might, he couldn’t move.
A door at the end of the hall scraped open, and in came the clacking of boots that sent a chill up Kai’s spine. His mother shot him a cross look as she sped past him to stand beside Saros.
“What now?” Kai managed, dismal.
“She was getting refreshments,” Etan said helpfully. “Mam loves a show.”
Nalu elbowed Kai hard in the ribs. “No better show than Kai floundering like a beached whale.”
Malia ignored them both. “I’m doing your thinking for you,” she snapped at Kai. “As usual.”
And then she unleashed a blinding smile and patted Saros’s shoulder. “Old friend, as much as I understand your concerns, I think this would be a fantastic opportunity. No point in letting Menon waste away without some real practice.” Her smile widened as she nodded towards something behind Kai.
Saros followed her gaze – and whoever he saw approaching finally wiped the smug little look from his face.
Not all of the high priests from the meeting, but many of them, plus Cetosi officers, financiers, some of Malia’s and even Da’s oldest backers. And at the head of the small group, Ione’s and River’s parents.
Malia beamed, her stage smile. “Two of ours have been detained by Soliz, presenting us with a unique opportunity for Menon to spread his wings, so to speak, and return them to us.” She aimed her smile back at Saros.
“And if there is any large loss of life, any collateral damage, then I’ll be more than happy to remind Lodestone’s council that House Artem’s only daughter and Menon Incarnate’s Holy Seleneschal were the ones at risk. ”
For the first time, Saros looked nervous. “They – they defected.”
River’s mother Reka advanced, tall and imposing even when wrapped in a dressing gown. “Archpriest Saros,” she began, her tone even, authoritative. “River did not desert his shrine, as you well know. My son was assuring the safety of the woman you raised him to protect.”
Penina, her hair plaited for sleep, threaded an arm through hers. “You can’t tell us you planned on leaving our children there.”
“I didn’t say that, precisely – ”
“It certainly seemed that way,” Dian, River’s father, interjected.
Penina stalked forward, her breath hitching when Ronan held her back. “What if they kill her? While you argue this, they could be – ”
Ronan patted her hand. “They won’t kill her, Penny – ”
“They’ll first offer an exchange,” Kai cut in, gaining strength when Ronan’s mouth fell open. “Fingers, limbs.”
“We’ve seen it all,” Hilo rejoined.
Reka clasped both hands over her mouth; Dian, angry and helpless, pulled her to him. “We entrusted him to you,” he said thickly to Saros. “You cannot tell us you’re leaving him there to rot.”
Saros visibly swallowed. “If Menon is taken from us – ”
“And what’s the point of having Menon if we can’t even use Her?” Ronan demanded.
The priests and officers murmured at that, a hum of displeasure. Many of them, Kai knew, had paid a great deal towards Saros’s cause, had abandoned their homes to come here.
Saros had never seemed so small before, his eyes darting to each of them, all of whom watched him right back. Kai’s blood simmered when their eyes met at the end, mutual hatred rising, and silently dared him to speak.