Chapter 21 Remember the King
~ MELEK ~
When Yilan woke up the next morning, we were curled into thick furs in one of the side-tunnels of the caves.
I’d taken her well away from the troops, partly to give us privacy, and partly because I wanted to speak with her openly, and didn’t want to risk being overheard.
I’d known we’d need to stay down here for a day or two, so had dropped our things in a spot where we could camp without being interrupted.
Now, after a long night of talking and listening, it was the next day—I could sense it, though I couldn’t see the sun—and we needed to make a plan.
If any more of the Centaurs might join us, when the rest of the Neph and Fetch troops were here, along with those they’d gathered in their travels, we had a very real army.
Albeit, one that had to be conditioned, and guided from underground for an ambush attack on an unknown land against a confident, empowered enemy.
“How do you feel about working with Hever?” I asked Yilan as we made breakfast over a small fire.
She grimaced. “I like him less than spiders,” she drawled, but her words lacked the heat she’d had the day before. Was she softening? Or just tired?
“I thought about what he said, about posing more than one problem for Lucifer at the same time,” I offered. “I don’t know if it’s what he meant, but I see a need for multiple fronts. Multiple battles to be fought, so he’s forced to choose one.”
Yilan nodded, staring into the flames as she poked at them. “It’s a sound approach, but… how?”
“That’s the hard part. I feel like Hever might have ideas that could help us—but I’m still unsure whether to trust him or not.”
“Well, before we bring him in—what options do we have? What politics do the Nephilim invest in? Or is it all just rape and cruelty by whatever opportunities present themselves?”
I looked at her flatly. She raised one brow and didn’t take it back.
“What we need,” I muttered, “Is something to undermine the Neph’s confidence in Gall’s leadership.”
“Well, that’s Lucifer himself. You really think there’s a way to make the Neph question him?”
I shrugged. “That’s the question. Anything that could get the Neph whispering and undermining…”
Yilan frowned. “Diadre and I can shadow walk and explore, see if we can find any areas of unease or resentment that we could exploit by speaking into their minds, affirming any doubts. Are there bloodlines, or leaders who might be upset that Gall was appointed and given so much power? Men who thought they’d have a shot at the crown? ”
“What you need, is to—”
The voice came from nowhere, and Yilan and I both leaped to defense, drawing blades and turning back to back, only to find Hever, his cloak hood shrouding his face, standing twenty feet down the tunnel.
Yilan hissed when she saw him, but I tensed further.
“Hever, what the fuck?”
“I chose this path to return to the city, because it comes out on the plains, which is an easier walk—I need them to see me coming,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine. “I thought I should make myself known after I heard my name mentioned.”
Instincts prickling, I gazed at the man and squeezed the hilt of my blade.
Hever hadn’t been lying when he’d said his strengths no longer leaned to battle and blade, but he was no fool—and not unskilled. I didn’t underestimate him in the least.
“Your mate is right that the Fetch can help you–if they’re loyal,” he said casually, as he started up the path towards us. “You know how superstitious our people are. Let the Fetch feed mystical knowledge to the mediums that our strongest leaders lean on.”
Why hadn’t I thought of that?
Yilan frowned, “Melek, what is he talking about?”
“I’ll explain later,” I said quietly, still watching Hever approach, his hands buried in the sleeves of his cloak.
“If you need help with names, I have servants who can provide them. I’ve often wished I could use that channel more reliably.
Bribery is so easily revealed—or outbid.
” Hever grimaced. He was only feet away now, but just kept walking.
“This seems like the perfect opportunity to actually deceive them.” He nodded at Yilan.
“After all… to defeat a supernatural enemy, it seems one might need supernatural assets?”
Yilan and I both stood, watching, as Hever continued up the path, passing us without picking up his pace, then walking on—even when his back was bared to us.
“Use the enemy’s primary weapon—deception—against him. Not about your leadership, of course, Melek,” Hever said quietly, turning his head slightly to be easily heard as he walked away. “That point isn’t a lie. We all know that.”
I watched, dumbfounded, as the man walked on, until he was out of sight around a corner.
Neither Yilan nor I moved for a full minute.
Then Yilan blinked out of sight—which always startled me.
But I nodded. She’d make certain he’d kept going.
He knew she had the ability and he’d assume she was checking, I had no doubt he’d stay on the move.
The question was, had the timing of his approach been fortuitous… or had he been out of sight, waiting?
Yilan didn’t return for almost fifteen minutes. Then she reported that he never slowed or turned back at all, just kept on his way. “…The man is a walking nightmare,” she muttered.
I nodded, but scratched the back of my neck. “He’s… an enigma.”
Yilan snorted. “That’s one word for it.”
“His idea is a good one,” I said carefully.
Yilan glanced at me, her lips twisting. She nodded reluctantly. “Who are the mediums? Are they human or Neph? Are they simple con-artists, or—”
“Human. And no. They’re human slaves, servants, merchants—or they once were.
They all belong to someone now. Most of them aren’t fakes.
They clearly have some kind of connection to something beyond this realm.
They’re unreliable, though. I think they’re often paid off—like Hever said. Bribery has its downsides.”
Yilan sniffed. “I wouldn’t know.”
I rolled my eyes. “In any case… if we can find the right ones to target, we could feed them any kind of rumor or dissension we choose.”
“It can't be random,” she said, shaking her head, her eyes growing distant, in an expression I recognized from when she’d advised me on the strategies to get the Nephilim through the ravine against the Zaryndar and Tuskarrians.
“You need to target the weakest and most easily exploited insecurities of the Neph. What are your leaders likely to listen to? What will make them fear?”
“The Neph aren’t given to insecurity,” I drawled.
Yilan shot me a look. “Choose a different word then—what makes them doubt?”
“That’s the problem, as long as the leader shows strength, they’ll follow almost blindly—and no one appears stronger than Lucifer.
He appeals to everything the Neph want,” I muttered darkly.
“The only question is, why he hasn’t just stepped into the throne himself.
Why is he bothering with Gall? As I think about it, why did he bother with Gault?
Why bother with any of us? If he can breed with a woman himself.
He doesn’t need us. He’s always remained distant until now. So, what’s changed?”
“You?” Yilan asked quietly. When I gave her a look she plowed on.
“The only thing that’s changed since Gault died is you.
Your leadership, calling to resist. The Neph’s willingness to follow…
That question of why is the right one, and we could plant it in the minds of the Nephilim.
Lucifer used that shitshow the other night to show everyone that he’s the true power and leadership behind the crown.
You’re right though. Since he obviously is, why doesn’t he simply take the crown for himself? ”
“The Neph would never question him,” I said.
“Which only begs the question further. And that means the place of doubt is Gall.” Her brow furrowed, and she sat down heavily on the rock where she’d been earlier.
“That means… Melek… you told me that a Neph leader has to be fierce and strong. Ruthless. Someone they’re afraid to cross. Yet, here they’re following Gall.”
I frowned, uneasy about where this was going. “Gall isn’t presenting as he used to. At least, not always,” I said carefully.
Yilan nodded, her eyes pleading with me. “That’s precisely my point. They’ve so quickly forgotten who he used to be… We should remind them.”
My head jerked back, away from the slap of those words. “You want to humiliate him?”
“No,” she breathed, her face sad. “It’s the last thing I want to do, but it seems like the only recourse here.
They need to be reminded who they’re following, and question that.
Then those questions naturally lead to more questions about why.
If Lucifer is so strong, and so powerful, why is he bothering with a simple-minded bastard? ”
I growled.
Yilan glared. “I’m using the words they’d think of, not the ones I use. When we’re working with minds, we have to communicate as they’d think themselves, or else they’ll figure out something’s wrong.”
“Still, you’re asking me to let you tell the Neph that my son has no value, and shouldn’t be followed.”
“No, Melek… You know I don’t see him that way,” she said softly.
“Gall’s value is in his soft heart, and his compassion.
He leads others to the defense of the weak and…
we both know the Neph don’t follow that.
I’m asking you to let me—and Diadre, and other suitably skilled Fetch as they arrive—tell the Neph who they remember Gall to be.
What they take from that… that’s on them. ”
“You and I both know what they’ll remember.”
Her face was pained. “I don’t see him that way. I don’t. I never have.”
“You were ready to abandon him when you thought he’d given over completely,” I muttered.
“I was ready to abandon anyone who hurt my sister,” she whispered, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
“I still have to fight every day not to snatch her away. But that’s not the point.
The point is… what Nephilim want from a leader.
And Gall isn’t those things. He’s what you and I want.
And if we remind them of that—and point out that Lucifer chose that for them, then it’s Lucifer they start to question… and perhaps, resist?”
I hated it, but she was right. I nodded.
“Then, when the questions have taken root, we remind them of the kind of leader you are, and how closely that aligns with what they want. That Lucifer is drawing them away from that.” She stared, and it felt like she looked into my soul.
“You’re the One, Melek. I told you from the beginning.
Even the ones who like Lucifer, even the ones who don’t give two shits about honor.
They followed you willingly. We need to remind them of that. ”
I winced, but nodded, clawing a hand through my hair. “You’re right.” I hated it, but she was. “It’s perfect.”
“Damn right it is. We should have been doing this the whole time!” Yilan sighed, shaking her head.
“I agree. It never occurred to me. But now it has. So… make it happen, Love.”
She nodded, but her eyes drifted off to the side of the cave as she thought about her plan. Then, “Is there any chance Hever is setting us up?”
I grimaced. I had the same question. Yet, I didn’t believe that he was.
“I don’t think so, but would we abandon the idea if he was trying to?”
Yilan thought about it, then shook her head. “No. Because he can’t control what we say, or to whom.”
“Exactly. So, you make this happen, and you tell no one. And you make sure Diadre tells no one. You only bring in Fetch that you know have the skill, and are steady enough for this. And you make sure they tell no one, either. So, even if Hever hears about it, and knows it’s you, he can’t trap any of you.
Because he never knows where you’ll be next. ”
Yilan nodded. “You're right.”
“Damn right, I am.” Then I smiled. “The really perfect part is, they’re going to believe you because you’ll be a miracle. A voice from God.”
Yilan huffed. “I doubt the Neph’s mediums are interested in listening to God.”
“Of course they aren’t. But they won’t know it’s you, because you’ll sound like one of theirs. A voice out of the dark. It’s fucking hilarious when you think about it. Exactly the kind of deception and misdirection Lucifer uses, and you’re going to use it against him. The irony is delicious.”
Yilan snorted. “It is kind of funny—we’ll use the light to subvert the dark… while they think they’re listening to voices out of the dark.”
“Brilliant.”
“I wish I thought of it.”
“So do I.”
Yilan tipped her head. “Maybe the first ear I need to whisper in is yours.”
I was confused. “What do you mean?”
She got to her feet and walked to me in that lithe, catlike movement she had, her eyes brighter than I’d seen them in weeks, then she laid one hand on my chest and the other on my face.
“I think you need to be reminded that you are the king, Melek. Divinely appointed, and chosen by the queen of birthright.”
“That’s for your people—”
“Our people. And no, you were the choice of your people before I even showed up. I just listened to them when you refused to do so.”
“Don’t start on that again,” I growled.
Instead, my mate smiled and patted my cheek. “I guess we’ll see. Because this is only one battle, Melek. We still need other battle fronts to force Lucifer to face—and those will be in your hands, I’m afraid.”
I nodded and pulled her against me. “Thank God you’re here to help.”
She smiled, and she kept smiling, even as I kissed her.