59. Tezya
FIFTY-NINE
TEZYA
“Why do you say that?” Dovelyn asked, her voice cracking. Savannah ran toward the table, spreading the papers she held across the wood for us to see.
“There are weird phenomenons happening in the mortal world that aren’t adding up,” she said in between breathless pants. “See look here, this island was hit by a hurricane, and it destroyed everything. Three hundred humans went missing.”
“So?” Dovelyn pressed. “We all know the planet is unrelenting. It’s not abnormal for—”
“It is abnormal,” Savannah breathed, her eyes wide and pleading for us to grasp what she was seeing. “One, we still have a couple months before hurricane season starts. Two, most people don’t just go missing during one, nonetheless hundreds. And three, there wasn’t much of a warning. This storm came out of the blue. Normally, we have days before we know one is coming. The meteorologist tracks it and states whether it has picked up speed and what category it is. But this one came fast. There wasn’t a warning.”
“You think it was because of Advenians? That air and water users mimicked one to take humans?” I asked, scanning the papers. She had ten of them. All unexplained weather related events with hundreds of people missing.
“Where did you get these newspapers from?” Dravenburg asked.
“From Ichi—”
“I told you not to visit him anymore. It’s not safe.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I did because we wouldn’t have known this was happening,” she snapped.
“Do you even know how far his restaurant is from here? We aren’t at our old camp anymore, Sav. His place is not a short walk…”
“I’m aware,” she replied, not looking up from the papers. “It took me two hours and thirteen minutes to get there.”
“Why on earth did you walk that far?”
She finally met her father’s gaze, shrugged, then looked back down at the papers. “I was bored and craving ramen.”
“Things are changing. This state could be crawling with Luxian soldiers hunting for Tezya, Sie, and Dovelyn. If they found you… if you had run into one of them…”
“Well it’s a good thing I’m just a human then,” she snapped. “They want nothing to do with me. They aren’t going to just randomly kill me because—”
“They could though!” he roared. “They could kill you in an instant, and you wouldn’t stand a chance. They’d kill you just like they had your mother for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Savannah straightened, her back going rigid. “That’s hardly the point.”
Brock added gently, “Regardless if you aren’t a target, Sav. If what you’re saying is true… if the King is capturing humans, they could have taken you too if they found you.”
Savannah rolled her eyes. “Guys, I’m fine. I made it back in one piece, didn’t I? Can we stop talking about your lack of confidence in me defending myself and instead focus on what I’m trying to show you?”
My jaw tightened as I scanned the newspapers Savannah stole, and I couldn’t shake the feeling it had Athler and the King written all over it. “We should question Arcane,” I replied slowly.
“Why?” Dovelyn asked.
“Because if what he said during the trade was true…” I shook my head.
Wells’ eyes flared. “You think he already made the mass compulsion serum?”
“I don’t know, but the only reason the King would want humans would be to experiment and run tests on them, so if he really is the one stealing them, then we’re fucked.”
We had a few hours before the big meeting would begin so Dravenburg thought it would be pertinent to start with Arcane.
Scotlind, Wells, and I were standing outside his tent—makeshift-turned-prison—when the guards went to fetch him.
Arcane arched a silver brow as he exited. Chains were loosely clamped over his wrists, but otherwise he was free to walk. “Here I thought you all forgot about me.”
Wells didn’t say anything, but I could see him fidgeting with his fingers.
“We need your help,” I said, knowing Wells was planning on not speaking for as long as possible.
“Oh,” Arcane mocked. “With what?”
“We want you to examine a ring we found.”
He tsked. “Is that all?”
“No,” I said, gritting my teeth, bracing for what he’d ask in return. “We also want to know your progress on the mass compulsion serum. ”
He huffed a laugh. “Why would I help you with any of that?”
“Because I know you hate the King as much as we do, so you will.”
Arcane smiled. “The King …” he let the word roll off his tongue slowly. “You know, I’ve been waiting for you to trust me, Tezya.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Ar?”
“It means you’ve always called him the King or my dad or Dove’s dad, but you never once referred to him as your dad.”
I stilled. He knew. With all the commotion that happened, I hadn’t thought about it. When I told the camp I was half Tennebrisian, Arcane wasn’t here, and growing up, after our mother died, Dovelyn and I thought the less people that knew the better, so I never told him.
“How did you find out?”
“You mean besides the fact that I’ve been stuck in this tent and that gossip around here has been mildly easy to come by?” He met my stare, and even though he was smiling, I could tell there was some hurt behind it. “I’ve always known, Tezya.”
“How?”
“You forget I’m the oldest. That I was around a lot longer than Dove, and I knew your father too. I was around when mom and him had their affair. I knew things changed the moment you were born.” He shrugged. “It was easy to put two and two together.”
“I…” I didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry you didn’t find out from me.”
“Me too.”
“I didn’t mean to keep it from you, Ar.”
He was silent for a minute, then exhaled heavily. “I want something for my cooperation.”
I waited, knowing this was coming. Arcane was predictable to a fault. I also knew my brother wasn’t one to linger. He rarely ever opened up, and if he wanted to keep talking about why I kept it from him, he would.
Guilt coursed through me. I should have known. He was meticulous with details and missed nothing. Of course, he would have put it together.
And then more guilt ran through me. Arcane had a relationship with him, and then was forced to watch him die on the stage during the broadcast.
“What do you want?” I asked, letting him change the subject. We didn’t have the luxury of time to dwell on family drama. And knowing my brother, he wasn’t going to open up any more than that.
“Firstly, I want these off.” He rattled his chains. “And I want a bed instead of having to sleep on the ground. And books. And it would be nice to not have people outside my tent at all hours of the night. They don’t know how to keep quiet.”
“The chains can go,” I said. They weren’t infused with Alluse anyway. It was the reason for the Advenians outside his tent. Ever since Dravenburg found out, he removed the magical ones and had Alluse users rotating on a schedule, keeping his and Kole’s powers down. “The guards are staying, but I can get you any book you want and a bed.”
“Fine. I want decent food and wine too. The stuff they’ve been feeding me is horrendous. And it better be good wine. I won’t drink anything less. I’ll also take a daily shower to clean myself and will require fresh clothes every morning.”
“Are you done yet?” I asked. My brother was more of a pampered princess than Dovelyn, and I was prepared for him to list off about fifty more demands. When he wanted to, he knew how to negotiate.
His silver eyes slid from the three of us as he shrugged. “I guess.”
“Great. Then let’s go.”