Chapter Three
Inside the wolves’ den, my father sat at a gleaming wood table in the center of the room.
Four red-cushioned chairs flanked each side, and one chair occupied the end of the table.
My father sat in this chair, which looked almost like a throne.
Its high wooden back was intricately carved into designs resembling vines.
The posts on either side of the chair’s top rail were made to resemble wolf heads, and though I could not see them now, I knew the feet of the chair were in the form of large paws.
In the middle of the table, a vase of precious tertanium held a bunch of low-stalked red flowers.
The wolves had settled before the hearth and languidly licked their fur.
I wondered why my father had not seated himself in one of the comfortable chairs or couches near the hearth.
Instead, Lord Ashe gestured for me to sit in the chair to my father’s right.
My mother sat beside me and Lord Ashe sat on my father’s left.
“Thank you for joining us, Mara,” the king said.
“I’m honored to be here, Papa.” I was honored and also a little nervous. I was accustomed to the king behaving formally when all of us were gathered in the throne room, but now that we were alone, I had thought he might revert to behaving as my father. But I sat with the king, not my papa.
“I think it time we had an important discussion,” the king proclaimed.
“Do you think that’s necessary?” my mother asked.
No one save my mother and perhaps Queen Nahla would have dared question the king so.
Across from me, Lord Ashe made a disapproving face.
Lord Ashe was one of the few men in the kingdom who did not have facial hair.
The lines on either side of his mouth deepened when he frowned.
“In light of recent intelligence, I do think it necessary,” the king said. “Lord Ashe, would you please begin?”
“Yes, sire.”
Lord Ashe folded his hands before him. “I am certain word of the arrival of a party from Zulen must have come as a surprise, Lady Mara. No doubt you thought that kingdom had been completely overtaken by the Hollows.”
“Yes, that's what I was told.” That’s what we had all been told.
When we’d trained for patrol, the instructors told us all the neighboring kingdoms had fallen to the Hollows, and we were the only people left to ward off the unholy monsters.
I’d never had reason to doubt the veracity of this claim as everyone I ever met who returned from the Barrier said the land on the other side swarmed with Hollows.
The Hollows who tested the Barrier and approached it were often dressed in clothing of the other kingdoms. The Barrier soldiers said the sheer number of Hollows they saw at times were indications of just how many people from neighboring kingdoms had fallen to the Hollows, that those other kingdoms must have been overrun.
Only our tradition of training to be warriors had saved us.
“What you were told was true,” Lord Ashe said. “But we have reason to believe there are some settlements in Zulen and even as far as Rhenia where people have survived. Your father sent out exploratory missions years ago, and those soldiers reported seeing evidence of human civilizations.”
Lord Ashe paused a moment for me to digest what he said.
Thoughts flew through my head like moths circling a flame.
I struggled to make sense of the contradictions I was presented.
I had been taught—we had all been taught—no other kingdoms survived.
Lord Ashe said that was true, but then he offered evidence to the contrary.
It could not be simultaneously true that no people outside our kingdom had survived and scouts who had traveled to other kingdoms had found evidence of settlements where people had survived.
But this was not the first time I had encountered such contradictions.
When I’d been younger, I would point out the faulty logic of these sorts of statements.
But over the years, I’d been told to trust the king, made to understand that my logic was false and I was confused. So I must be confused now.
“I take it you are not surprised to hear of a party from Zulen on its way to Highcastle,” my mother said. She was very clever and seemed to have grasped all she’d been told quickly. Or perhaps she already knew this information.
“I am surprised such a party has managed to evade the Hollows and make it this far,” the king said.
“And I am annoyed that the scouts were indiscreet with their information. The people heard of this party at the same time I did, which means I have less control than I’d like as to what happens next.
But if you are asking if I am surprised the Zuleniis exist, the answer is no. ”
For a long moment, I could not speak. I was not sure how to react to the fact that my father was actually admitting to such a contradiction.
“But this is an amazing opportunity,” I said, quickly deciding to embrace the new information and not question how it was gained.
“We have had no contact with other kingdoms for almost a century. Think how much we could learn from them. If they can travel safely here, perhaps we could travel there and—”
“Mara, do not get ahead of yourself,” the king said.
“Zulen and the other kingdoms are our enemies. In my father’s time, we fought many wars, including conflicts involving the Zulenii.
The Claiming Rite was designed as a measure to ensure peace between our kingdoms. If the Zulenii come to demand the rite now, they must still consider us a threat. ”
“How do we know they will ask for the Claiming Rite? Mayhap they come to ask us to join forces to defeat the Hollows. Defeating the Hollows seems much more important than fighting each other.”
“We know the Zulenii come for the Claiming Rite,” Lord Ashe said, “because they informed the patrol they encountered of that desire. No doubt they know demanding the Claiming Rite grants them safe passage through our land.”
I opened my mouth to ask why they wouldn’t be granted safe passage anyway, but my mother put a hand on my knee under the table and squeezed. I tried to remind myself I had been asked here for a reason and it was not to argue and question.
Lord Ashe spread his palms on the table.
“We cannot deny them the Claiming Rite, not now that word has spread through the kingdom. The people will soon be nostalgic for the age of royal weddings and state banquets. We can mitigate the nostalgia if we keep the foreigners contained in the castle and away from our people. We don’t want them mingling with the population and stirring up curiosity and questions about Zulen or the outerlands.
That sort of inquisitiveness is dangerous. ”
“I agree,” my father said, which was unsurprising. He had often said that one of my many faults was my tendency to be too inquisitive and ask questions, especially illogical questions.
My mother squeezed my knee again, but I couldn’t help but speak. I had been asked to join this meeting, and this might be my only chance to learn something about the world beyond our borders. “What danger is there in learning more about the Zulenii?”
“Too much knowledge is dangerous,” Lord Ashe said. “It causes confusion and chaos.”
“The Zulenii are our enemy,” my father said. “But the more dangerous foe are the Hollows. I need my people focused on that threat.”
I did not understand why he seemed to think the existence of the Zulenii a threat. “Isn’t it possible that the Zulenii people are coming here to seek an alliance?”
“We want no alliance with them!” Lord Ashe said.
“Why not?” I turned on him. “We need help!”
“Lady Mara,” Lord Ashe said in a warning tone.
But I would not be silenced. I stood and held up both hands to ward off more interruptions.
“Sire,” I said, addressing my father directly, “I have been out on patrols for a decade now, and what I have seen the last couple of years concerns me. More Hollows have been invading the outerlands. Somehow, they are escaping the Barrier or going around it and making their way deep into our lands.”
“Dealing with the occasional Hollow who evades our Barrier is the reason we have patrols,” Lord Ashe said.
“I know, but it’s no longer an occasional Hollow. Ask Finnrey or Broga. We see packs of them on every patrol. Sometimes multiple packs. We do not want to return to the time when we were fighting for every day of survival.”
“Daughter, you have not been to the Barrier,” my father said, “but I have. You must understand there are millions of Hollows on the other side. Of course, some will manage to elude our defenses.”
“But there have always been millions.” All the questions I’d been pushing down seemed to jump to the surface like a bar of soap pushed under the bath water.
Morll and Gaz and Finnrey silenced me when I speculated on patrol.
Finally, someone was talking about the situation, and I felt a small bubble of hope.
“Sire, why are more Hollows coming into Earsleh now? And how can we ever be safe if we don’t completely eradicate the Hollows?
If we could work with the Zulenii, we might be able to make progress in destroying the Hollows. We might be able to finally be safe—”
“We will not work with the Zulenii,” the king said, pounding his fist on the table once to emphasize his point. “They are our enemies. They cannot be trusted. For the gods’ sake, Mara, they are coming to take you away.”
I recoiled. “Me? He won’t choose me. Not when he can choose any of us. I’m too tall.”
Lord Ashe waved away this protest. “The Zulenii are known to be grotesquely tall,” he said. “Your height will make you more appealing to them.”