29. ABSOLUTION #2
The library was cool but cozy, well lit by caged lanterns.
The scent of dust and parchment lingered on the air, along with something deeper and earthier that called to mind the caverns below Zal Fel.
Neri hunched beside a parchment-strewn stone table, and with him stood the last of the demon priests.
Kanan Var Mondral slouched against a bookshelf with his arms crossed.
Dacil Var Solai was showing Neri a large rock.
The two could not have been more different—Mondral a grizzled warrior never seen without his armor, Solai a round-faced former schoolteacher—but their bright amber eyes marked them both for what they were.
“Ashek,” Solai said to Neri, indicating the rock. “The sacred weapon of the valak. It will not respond to anyone who does not bear a demon.”
Neri touched the rock. It vibrated and began to warp as though melting. White light sparked from its core. Neri dropped it like it had burned him. It rolled across the floor, once more appearing as only rock.
“Careful, my lord!” Solai exclaimed.
Neri mumbled an apology, then caught sight of Eneva first. The Gatekeeper knelt and began to make some sort of pronouncement, but Neri exclaimed, “Uncle Seth!”
“Neri.” Seth pushed past their hosts to catch his nephew in a tight embrace.
He clutched Neri’s head to his chest, his thick arms almost burying the boy.
“I had a plan, I was going to get you out of there—thought I’d lost you—” They broke apart, enough for Seth to cup Neri’s cheek and meet his red gaze. Seth’s voice cracked. “I’m so sorry.”
Ysira had to look away, because for some insufferable reason, her eyes had gone watery.
“It’s all right,” Neri said. “My— Ysira did what you asked. She saved me.”
By the bookshelf, Mondral cleared his throat. “Var Naktis. These are the allies you promised us?” His amber eyes lingered on Jacen, who skulked near the door as though he hoped no one would notice him.
“You have one of the best swordsmen in Zivora,” Ysira said, “who has done more in his life to educate and protect my son than the rest of us put together. And you have a Sixth Tier telepath who’s sacrificed everything to join our cause.”
Jacen muttered, “There’s no need—”
“He’s right,” said Mondral. “No need. We know who he is and what he’s capable of.
” He paced toward Jacen and stopped in front of him, looking him up and down with overt disgust. Jacen had several inches on him but seemed smaller nonetheless.
“Give me any cause to believe you mean Var Naxal harm, and I’ll break your fucking neck. ”
With that, Mondral stalked out of the room.
Solai broke the ensuing awkward silence. “You all must be exhausted.
There’s a meal ready in the hall, unless my lord would prefer to dine in his quarters?”
Neri appeared startled she’d asked his opinion. Ysira would need to have a word with him about that later.
“We’ll have it in my quarters,” he said at last.
Solai departed with another bow, Eneva close behind her. Ogden made to follow with Urien.
The leaders of the Shrouded City had not reacted to Urien’s presence. He appeared to be known and at least tolerated among them, but Ysira could not look at him without being reminded of her experience on the station. She tried to find reassurance in the way Ogden spoke of him, but . . .
The old man owed her answers. She managed to make eye contact as he exited, and frowned at him. Ogden’s shoulders rose and fell with a heavy sigh, and he gave her a short nod. “Tomorrow.”
When all but Seth, Ysira, and Jacen had gone—the latter still hovering by the door in palpable discomfort—Neri turned back to Seth.
“I heard what’s happening in Zivora, and—” He broke off, distraught, in stark contrast to the stiff expression he’d taken to wearing lately. “What happened to my cats?”
Seth nodded and squeezed Neri’s shoulder. “As soon as I thought trouble might be coming, I took them to Suna’s. You know her, right? She brings me seeds from the agricultural district. She likes those cats. She’ll take care of them.”
Neri’s posture sagged with relief. He let out a long, shaky breath, as though he’d been holding it for days.
“I don’t think they enjoyed it,” said Seth, “but I did manage to catch all four.”
“Four?” Neri repeated.
“The four who shit in my flowerbeds.” Seth frowned. “There’s the black one with the ear, the little striped one—”
“Dusty and Sparrow.”
“—the orange one, and the patchy-looking one that hisses when I come near it.”
Neri looked mortified. “Those aren’t mine.”
“. . . Ah.” Seth scratched the back of his neck with a grimace. “Shit.”
Before he could apologize again, Ysira stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
Neri was loved. Despite the circumstances of his birth and upbringing, despite everything Ged had inflicted on him . . . Even now, in the midst of this impossible situation, Neri was loved and always had been. “Thank you,” Ysira whispered, as for a moment Seth stood stock-still.
He returned the embrace and patted her back in a gesture of vague confusion.
“I just kidnapped a pair of feral cats,” he muttered against Ysira’s hair. “You’re the one who saved his life.”
She held him tighter. “So did you.”