Chapter 42 #2
Kai shifted his weight ever so slightly.
If the room hadn’t been so still, it would have been just another random movement, but now it drew Izzy’s eyes.
His jaw was tightly clenched, and his pupils were ringed with the smoky quartz of his scales.
Kai’s gaze was locked on Iona, but the princess was still utterly focused on the queen, seemingly unaware of the turmoil within him.
Kai who’d been guarding Iona. Kai who’d told her the truth about Shane’s investigation. Kai who now seemed utterly shocked—and horrified—at Iona’s suggestion.
“Batlok is already on his way back,” Iona said softly. “He threatened us with war, and we know he wants revenge for the death of his niece… and far more than that, for the loss of the power and wealth he believes we owe him. We need to beat him back to Kwanam and see the emperor first.”
Danikha shook her head, and Iona opened her mouth to argue, but the queen hushed her with a gentle hand on her arm. “You’re right. Someone needs to speak directly to the emperor,” Danikha agreed. “Just… I don’t want it to be you.”
Iona placed her hand over her mother’s, holding them together. “I want to do this. I’m the only one who knows the treaty forward and back. I’m the only one who can negotiate this for us. If I can prevent a war, it will be worth it.”
“And if you die?” Kai rasped. The words seemed to have been dragged from him. They hung in the air as he added a belated, “Your Highness.” He cleared his throat, palpably gathering his thoughts and rebuilding his decorum before adding, “Strategically, it seems a little fraught.”
Iona straightened, her gaze locked on his and her tone chilly as she repeated, “Fraught?”
Perhaps Kai didn’t sense her ire because he continued roughly. “Yes. When I’m playing the Stone Game, I don’t send the rainmaker across the board first. Why would I do that?”
“You would do it if it was the best chance you had of infiltrating your opponent’s lines,” Iona insisted.
“And that’s not even relevant because this is not a game!
” she added hotly, not seeming to realize that Kai had compared her to the single most important piece on the board.
“Real lives depend on this, which is why I have to go!”
“Why not send Shane then?” Kai demanded. “It’s his marriage, after all. Shouldn’t he go after his bride-to-be? Shouldn’t he take some responsibility?”
Shane growled, and then Iona and Shane both started shouting at the same time, speaking over each other as if they were both teenagers again.
“Enough!” Danikha barked, her skin glittering with scales.
“Sorry, Your Majesty,” Kai muttered, dropping his eyes to the carpet. Iona and Shane glared at each other, and then they both glared at Kai before muttering something that may have been apologies to their mother.
Danikha waited until they were quiet. “I’d been thinking along these lines myself.
” Her voice was composed, her face calm, but Izzy noticed a tiny tremble in Danikha’s hands where she held them in her lap.
“We need to send a delegation… and we’ll need a strategically gifted leader.
Someone who can negotiate on our behalf with the full authority of the throne.
” She sighed, somehow looking a little smaller than before.
“I agree with my daughter’s assessment. She is the best person for this mission.
” Danikha looked around the room. “However, she will need a team she trusts implicitly, and there is no one I trust more than all of you.”
“I volunteer to accompany her,” Kai said, stepping forward. “I will….” He paused, took a breath, and seemed to reassess what he’d almost said. “I volunteer,” he said again. He nudged his best friend with his elbow. “And so does Aiden.”
“Yes, of course,” Aiden agreed. “We’ll keep the princess safe. If we hurry, we can catch up to our crown legions. We can travel with the troops, and—”
Iona stopped him with a quick shake of her head. “We need to be fast and secret. I don’t want to arrive with an army, days after Batlok has spread his poison, looking like we want a fight. We’ll travel hard and get there first. Cori can lead our forces in behind us if necessary.”
Izzy looked between them. Only two guards for the princess weren’t enough, not for what she was suggesting, no matter how skilled Aiden and Kai were.
“I’ll come with you,” Shane stated firmly. “You can negotiate, and I’ll—”
Iona cut him off. “You can’t come.”
“I can—”
“No. We can’t both go. One of us—you—has to stay here and live for many years. Help protect our country and our people and make the changes we’ve talked about. No matter what happens.”
“We need you here, Shane,” the queen agreed softly.
“I’m tasking you with reopening the temple to make it accessible to all our people.
At the same time, you will need to work with Ryland to find Dashiell, find out who the baron is, and weed out this horror.
” She met her son’s gaze with clear authority.
“We have been too focused on getting this trade deal finalized, to the exclusion of all else. We have work to do here. It’s time. ”
Izzy watched the emotions play across Luka’s face. A muscle ticked in his fully scaled jaw as he watched the debate. He was caught between two loyalties—his need to keep everyone safe and his love for Izzy. He’d resigned for her, and he would stay true to that promise even if it killed him.
I know what to do.
Yes. Izzy lifted Luka’s hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles. Then she turned to the queen and smiled. “I volunteer.”
Danikha spun toward her, a gleam of hope in her eyes, just as Luka drew in a rough breath. “What about your shop… your life?” he growled.
“I’d like to make sure the clinics run,” Izzy admitted, “but the shop… it’ll still be there when we get back.”
“Are you sure?” Luka whispered.
“Am I sure I want to protect our princess—our friend—and keep our country safe with you?” She kissed his knuckles again. “I’m sure.”
“Gods.” Luka leaned forward to rest his forehead on hers. “You are magnificent.” He leaned back just enough to turn his head and face the queen. “I volunteer.”
For the first time since Iona suggested her plan, Danikha’s lips twitched into a tiny smile.
“Thank you. All of you.” She stood and walked across to Luka’s side and laid her hand on his shoulder.
“I accept your resignation, Commander, and I promote you to knight of the realm.” She looked down at him with pride and warmth. “Keep your coin. It’s yours.”
Izzy gasped as Luka sucked in a shocked breath. Knight of the realm. It was the highest honor the queen could give, recognizing his courage, his skill, and his loyalty.
Luka brought his hands together in an Infinite Circle over his heart. His fingers trembled as he bowed. “Thank you.”
Danikha spread her hands to encompass them all. “You will be the Steel Vanguard. Luka will lead, Iona will negotiate, Izzy is your healer. Aiden and Kai, I promote you both to full captain.” She dipped her chin in acknowledgement. “Please stay safe.”
Aiden and Kai both rose and bowed, but Kai’s scales glittered especially fiercely as he swore to do everything in his power to bring their small company home unharmed.
Danikha returned to her seat. “Ryland, I’m promoting you to knight commander of the castle. Please work closely with Captain Lydia.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Ryland bowed deeply.
“Together, we will make sure the clinics run. Nolan can help.” Danikha’s lips twitched into a smile.
“Melo and Sarwin are going to be very busy with the chores we’ve set them…
starting with cleaning both clinics, here and in the city.
But they can add their skills too.” She sobered. “There is much to do.”
“Tell them all of it, Mother,” Iona said softly. “They need to know.”
The queen looked around the room, her gaze searching, as if she was looking into each of their hearts.
Eventually, she seemed to reach a decision.
“We are a small kingdom, but we have bountiful fields and oceans, our steel, and our mountain with its sacred heart. We have the drakes that live inside us, and our own personal strength.” She lifted her chin.
“But we have lived too long with a growing separation between us. Between castle and city. Between those with plenty and those with little. I had planned—once the treaty was signed and the threat of war lifted—to begin to hand power to the people. Now, I think waiting was a mistake.” She leaned forward, eyes sparkling with her beast’s fire.
“Each district in the city will nominate a speaker to attend a weekly Circle of Fire. They will raise issues, make suggestions, and choose a leader to sit on the new Council of Voices. The council will meet monthly, here in the Burnished Hall. We’ll work together to make the right decisions for our people. ”
Gods. This was a fundamental shift in the way their entire country was run.
There’d been signs. Danikha had initiated programs to uplift the most disadvantaged people in the kingdom since the moment she became queen, and when the king died, she’d worked hard to change the rigid hierarchies and elitism that he’d favored, but this was a whole new level.
“There’ll be those who hate everything about this,” Shane admitted.
“Our neighboring kingdoms may see this as a threat—especially Kwanam with its centuries of imperial rule—and there will be some of our own people who blame us for the reduction in their power.” He met each of their eyes.
“But we believe this is the right thing to do.”
“You were going to marry Kaliska and then tell her?” Kai muttered. “You were going to lie to the woman you’re supposed to love?”
Shane glared at him. “I never lov—” He stopped, cleared his throat, and started again. “I never lied to her. We were friendly, and I told her we would be making sweeping changes… just not exactly what those were, not if she was going to report them back to her father.”
The queen stood, ending the discussion and saving Shane. “We’ve all made mistakes. It’s time to move forward. Time to start setting things right.”
Cori should be here. She would have stood by his side and helped make this real, Izzy’s beast muttered.
Cori would have been the best person in the world to help Shane. She was honorable, authentic, and deeply committed to every single person in Hugaeb. Wealth and power meant nothing to her. But he’d made his decisions. He was going to have to face the consequences alone.
“It’s time to move forward,” Iona agreed. She tucked a loose strand of silvery hair behind her ear and went to stand beside her mother. “We need to prepare. We leave at sunset. Steel Vanguard, are you ready?”
“We’re ready,” Izzy confirmed, standing.
Luka stood at her side, his hand still gripping hers. Their beasts hummed together as their claws made tiny pinpricks on each other’s hands. They were united. They loved each other. And they were ready.
It was time to change the world.