23. Rorax
Jia and Rorax went straight from the arena to Kiniera’s room, getting directions from an Ice guard they saw on the way.
Rorax had to suppress a shiver as she climbed the stairs to the southwest tower where the House of Ice was stationed. Gods, that voice, Kiniera’s low, slightly raspy voice—it had made its way into Rorax’s nightmares occasionally over the past hundred and fifteen years.
Jia stopped at the door and knocked until Kiniera opened it.
Rorax suppressed her revulsion and unease as she gave Kiniera a nod. “Kulltoug, what a lovely surprise to see you here,” she said sarcastically.
Kiniera’s ice-blue eyes flashed sharp enough to slice them into ribbons. She said nothing as she stepped back and watched Jia and Rorax slip past her into the room, her fury palpable in the air. A deep sense of foreboding made Rorax’s stomach clench.
Emissary rooms were different from the average grunt rooms Jia and Rorax had been given. The front door of the emissary’s chambers opened into a meeting room where a long polished wooden table sat with six chairs around it. The doors to the bedroom and bathroom were at the back.
The room was cold enough that Rorax could see her breath. Ice covered the tabletop, and icicles climbed the stone walls. Kiniera motioned for them to sit, and the foreboding pit in Rorax’s stomach dug in even more painfully.
Kiniera was kind enough to wait until they both took their seats before ripping into them.
“You stupid, fucking fools. Mother of K??n. Have you two lost every shred of sanity?” Kiniera hissed, looking at each of them in turn. “Raengar and Isolde are furious, and I think they should just be done with you. They should fucking kill you. Both of you.”
Kiniera faced Jia first. “Going on a mission with your lover. Your wife.” Kiniera snorted bitterly. “We don’t allow couples on the same mission for a reason. Sahana and Volla might still be alive if Volla’s attention hadn’t been split in two with concerns for both her unit and her spouse.”
With every word, Jia shrunk lower and lower in her chair, shriveling under the truth of her words.
Rorax’s jaw got tight at the sight. “Enough, Kiniera.”
Kiniera swiveled to Rorax, and it took everything in Rorax not to flinch away. Kiniera couldn’t hurt her anymore. She wasn”t in charge of making her run “for endurance” until she vomited or train with swords until her knuckles were bruised and bleeding, or punish her for imperfections, or subjugate her to intense temperature training until she was “calloused”” enough to be a Heilstorm. That training had been the most intense, brutal, savage part of her life but it was over. Rorax had survived.
“And you, Greywood, putting everything in the world on hold for your mongrel, useless brother. I’ve never heard of anything so selfish in my life. If you would have died it wouldn’t have mattered. But if you had continued to both survive and evade the Choosing, the Choosing wouldn”t have been able to cycle through properly. The Guardian could have deteriorated into death and given Oxana and Vadik her power. Or even worse, the magick could have gotten absorbed back into the land, spawning us more monsters to fight with.” Kiniera narrowed her eyes as she looked at Rorax. “Raengar would never let me kill you, but when I found out that the missing Contestar was you I was more tempted than ever to put you six feet underground, and I’ve been more than tempted before.”
Kiniera ended her tirade in a nasty hiss, and Rorax believed her. Kiniera would have put an ice stake through her heart in an instant. She might have even deserved it.
“Why are you here?” Rorax asked slowly.
“Because even though I’m furious with you, we can”t let Alloy have a second Contestar under their thumb.” Kiniera blew out a breath, some of the anger drained away from the room, the temperature rising a bit. “And even though I want to kick your ass so hard your tailbone breaks, I also don’t want to watch you die. Losing Sahana and Volla was hard enough.”
Kiniera turned to Jia. “We couldn’t identify Sahana’s remains, but we recovered Volla’s body. It’s being moved to Morvarand right now to where Raengar is stationed. When you are released from your Blood Oath with the Guardian, go there. We were thinking about sending her body back to her relatives in Fire . . . but you were her chosen family. More than they ever were.”
Jia’s head hung down, but she nodded her thanks.
“Isgra’s resemblance to her sister is . . . uncanny, isn’t it?” Kiniera asked.
“Their faces are exactly the same. Their personalities, however?” Rorax shook her head. “They couldn’t be more different. She makes me realize just how lucky we were with Volla.”
Kiniera hummed her agreement, looking over at Rorax. “How are you holding up Roraxiva?”
Rorax looked back at her, blinking. This was probably the first time in all the years Rorax had known Kiniera that she’d asked how Rorax was doing. “I told myself I wouldn’t think about it until the Choosing is over.”
Kiniera gave her a small nod, the corner of her mouth tipping down as her eyes assessed Rorax’s face. “I’m sorry . . . for both of you. About the loss. I know you two were close, and Sahana will be nearly impossible to replace.”
Rorax nodded and almost subconsciously rubbed her palm over that spot in her chest that grieved and ached whenever she thought about her commander and Volla.
That beautiful idiot should have left her to die and ran with her wife.
Kiniera sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I wish I could pull the plug on the other Contestars so we can just go home. The competition is a waste of time.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that even though I want to gouge your eyes out and slap you on the back of your head, after doing my research on the rest of the girls here, I would be happy to call you Guardian, Rorax.”
“Oh.” Warmth tugged at Rorax’s heart, but she tried to push it away, rubbing her thumb over the top of her bird skull ring. “Thank you.”
“That being said, Raengar and Isolde don’t believe they should claim you as their Contestar . . . officially.”
“Officially?” Rorax’s eyebrows furrowed. She hadn’t thought about what House she wanted to take her on as a Contestar, but subconsciously she’d been counting on the House of Ice. A part of her felt abandoned at the thought of her own country, of Raengar and Isolde, not wanting to be her Protectorate. They must really be furious with her for not telling them about the mark. “They want me to win, but they also don”t want to be my Protectorate?”
“They want to be your Protectorate, but they think it will be safer for you to choose a different House, Rorax. House of Ice’s public choice of a Contestar will be entirely separate from their ‘private’ choice. Publicly they want someone who isn’t so entangled in our House’s bloody history; they want everyone to forget that House Ice led the charge during the Death genocide. They want you to appear to be fighting for another House. They would be happy to give that House the benefits of being the Guardian’s party, too. They don’t need it.”
Rorax frowned, not thinking clearly about the hurt.
Kiniera’s already tight skin around her sharp facial features seemed to grow tighter as she grimaced. “They want you to win, Rorax. Raengar gave me the authority to do whatever I need to ensure your victory, but they think the Council of Houses will balk at a Heilstorm being led by House of Ice when it comes to vote. And they’re right.”
Rorax finally understood. The power balance between Ice and the rest of the Realms was already starkly imbalanced. The Council of Houses wouldn’t want to see an Iceborn with Ice-Born Protectorates. It was too much. “I understand.”
Kiniera sighed deeply. “I should probably warn you, Rorax. Raengar and Isolde are disappointed that you didn’t tell them you were chosen.”
Rorax opened her mouth to respond, but her words stuck in her throat. Disappointed was probably a laughable understatement regarding how Raengar really felt about her deceit. If they didn’t come to blows the next time they saw each other, it would be a miracle.
“Before you two leave, you need to know two things—”
Rorax cut her off. “Do you have any news on Darras?”
“No, nothing on Darras. And I’ll get to that, it’s the second thing on my list.”
Rorax bit the inside of her cheek to keep from snapping at Kiniera. Rorax knew Kiniera well and Kiniera would tell her at her own pace or not at all.
“In my opinion there are only a few Houses that will be able to handle your influxes, Rorax. I trust you to get a feel for what you need, but I would recommend starting with Air, Dark, Death, and Fire. They each brought their best warriors to the Choosing. Some are only here to compete in the Tournament of Houses, but some will stay. Raengar didn’t give me anyone remarkable to compete in the Tournament except you and Jia. If you should wish to participate. His best men remain with him to help keep the Death border secure.”
Rorax nodded. “Okay.”
“The Fire Emissary has been sniffing around about you. There isn’t much for him to find, but we could feed him some information.” She shrugged one bony shoulder. “Start there. His name is Elios Delgata, and for all intents and purposes he seems to keep his nose clean.”
Rorax and Jia both nodded their agreement.
“You two also need to be informed that Raengar saw a minotaur on one of his Guard tours.”
That had Rorax sitting up straight in her chair almost bounding to her feet. “What?”
“Calm down, Rorax. He is fine. Don’t forget everything else I just told you. It’s important.”
Rorax nodded numbly, but she was already mentally past that. “Raengar saw a minotaur? Where?”
Kiniera sighed in defeat. “He saw one but was unable to get any proof of its existence.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s fine, but I expect both of you know what this means.”
It confirmed that Lyondrea had reopened the Pits.
It meant they were going to war.