Chapter 19
ERIK
Tension flooded the room. It simmered in the space between us, making its presence known yet withdrawing enough that it was difficult to pin down where it stemmed from. Ariana had entered silently with Kole by her side. She did not appear happy, but she at least seemed more at ease.
I went around the table, introducing everyone by name to her. She smiled tightly and gave brief nods by way of greeting. The dinner began awkwardly, my brothers stealing glances at the Bavadrin while she did her best not to acknowledge any of it.
“So, how did the trip go?” Edmond asked casually, after taking a bite of meat.
“Fine,” Ariana answered shortly.
Iver released a low laugh. “What went wrong?” His gaze drifted from Ariana to me, eyes rimmed with an edge of playful intrigue. He was completely undisciplined. “Well?” he probed when neither Ariana nor I leaped to answer.
“Ariana wanted farmers to leave their city to gather food. But the way their farming is set up, many groups would need to go, and we did not have enough Lysians to accompany them all. So, Edda offered for each family to leave a loved one behind who is to be executed if any of them do not return within the allotted time,” I explained to my brothers, hoping that shining a light on the dark cloud that enveloped the room would cause it to evaporate.
“Ashes, that’s one brutal old bird,” Edmond commented. Not that he cared, but it was unusual for someone to willingly put their own in danger so easily. Iver’s mouth hung open. Thankfully, it was not filled with food.
“I think I’d like to meet this old bird,” Iver said once he stopped gaping.
I couldn’t help but sigh. “I agreed to it.”
“It seems reasonable enough,” Jorn stated in support with a nod.
“I’m sure our guest thinks otherwise,” Iver pointed out, his gaze lingering on Ariana. Her jaw clenched, and she stopped eating. She stared so intensely at the table in front of her that it would have caught flame if she had my conjuring abilities.
“She does,” I replied, earning Ariana’s gaze to cut to me.
“She isn’t really your guest though,” Ariana said, truly speaking for the first time since dinner began. “She is a pawn. She is a Bavadrin, not a Lysian. She should not be trusted.” Her eyes carved into me as she spoke. “She is nothing more than a means to an end.”
Silence spread through the room like an angry river drowning us in its stream. Even Iver made no sound. Gone was any flicker of delight he had previously shown.
“You are more than that,” I answered.
Ariana laid her fork down gently. I had not even realized she had been holding it. “Please, tell me what I am, Erik.”
“You haven’t exactly spent much time with her,” Iver chimed in, seeming to go to Ariana’s defense. Gone was any ounce of hesitation he had just shown. Back was the air of amusement.
I gritted my teeth in an attempt not to snap his neck.
Turning, I looked at Ariana. “You are someone who has been put in an impossible situation. You have endured much pain in your life, enough to ruin someone’s outlook on it entirely.
Yet, you still harbor kindness. I regret the pain I have been responsible for inflicting on you, but this is something I need to see to the end.
That does not mean that any of this will be your end. Ariana, I do not wish you harm.”
She released a huff of breath as if none of what I said surprised her, nor was it enough for her.
“We only wish to get our sister back,” Edmond stated. It was also the first time he appeared warmer towards her. Since Ariana’s arrival, he began planning her death in the event that she did not side with us when everything was done and over.
Her gaze turned to him, holding it. “So, you took me from my home, just as the Sidhe took your sister from hers. We both are held against our will, those who care for us worrying for our safety, wondering if we will survive the situations we find ourselves in. You should be ashamed for following in the footsteps of those who took your sister, for it is not noble of you. I have no idea what kind of Lysian your sister was, but I will assume she was decent for all of you to care so much about her. I wonder what she would think if she knew what you were now doing in her name.”
Her words were like an ice storm, dropping the temperature of the room.
Thankfully, she left my brothers too stunned to react, for I had no idea whether what was said would leave them thoughtful or angered.
One thing was clear: the short dinner had already gone on for far too long and Ariana was hating every moment, as was I. There was no need to prolong it.
“If you wish, you need not stay for the rest of the meal.” I offered her an escape, and she took it with greed.
“I wish I could say this was a pleasure, but I am not a liar.” Ariana stood; her gaze boldly met with each of us before she finally left with Kole.
She did not show a speck of fear despite being surrounded by Lysian royals.
Ariana’s head remained held high as she walked away, her shoulders back.
There was not an ounce of regret for the words she spoke.
Had a Lysian spoke the way she did, they would have been trembling and begging forgiveness for the rude slip of their tongue.
Iver laughed when she finally exited the room. “Brother, you have royally messed everything up with that girl.”
“Do you ever shut that gaping hole you call a mouth, Iver?” My voice lowered in warning. “Your need for drama and amusement is insatiable.”
Iver shrugged a shoulder and reached for the glass in front of him. He must have noticed my thinning patience, for his only response was the small smirk on his irritating face.
“You need to fix this, Erik.” Edmond leaned back in his seat.
In his hand, he held a glass of water, moving it just enough that the water kissed the edge of the glass without spilling over.
Then, with a frown, he set the glass down and looked up.
“Her words have validity, but so do our concerns. Unfortunately, we find ourselves at this crossroads. This is the situation we are in. You need to bridge our differences into one single goal that we may unify behind, the Lysians and Bavadrins.”
“She wants to be freed,” I stated. There was an easy way to unify when she desired to be let go and trusted not to betray the Lysians. But, unfortunately, it was a risk that I would not take.
“Of course she does. Does that matter to you?” Jorn leaned forward in his seat to better view me as if he were uncertain of my answer. He asked one question, but truly intended for another.
“Clearly.” Iver answered with a small chuckle. “Our King sent one of ours to seek out the Oracle for answers regarding the girl.” His gray eyes danced around the table before settling on me. “Unfortunately, the poor thing got himself killed and no answers.”
I bared my teeth at Iver before turning to Jorn. “I do not like that she continues to suffer due to my decisions, but I will not release her because of that,” I answered, and Jorn leaned back, pleased to know that I would not free her just because I felt sorry for her.
“She will not back down,” Iver stated. “There is a viciousness to her, beneath her docile exterior. In her heart, I believe she is a beautiful savage.”
Edmond rolled his eyes.
“You’re saying she is not to be trusted and to be put down?” Jorn raised a brow in question at Iver.
I did not like the insinuation.
“Not at all.” Iver turned to Jorn. “I only mean to say she is not a simple Bavadrin. She will not be easily controlled, but I do not necessarily see that as a fault, for if it’s difficult for us to control her, then it would be the same for the Sidhe. I do not think she works with them.”
“You would bet Iona’s life on that?” Edmond’s words held a dangerous edge.
Both he and Jorn shared the common thread of mistrust of the Bavadrins, something that all Lysians were born with.
However, my thread appeared to be frayed, losing bits of that warning strand.
To my surprise, it seemed Iver stood closer to me than our other two brothers on that.
Rarely did Iver and I ever agree on anything anymore.
“Of course not.” Iver lazily turned his head to face my brother.
“I choose our kind over any other.” Though he said the correct thing, and I believed him to be a proper Lysian in the sense of not being capable of betraying our kind in favor of another, he harbored a softness towards our Bavadrin guest. He hardly knew her yet was already giving her the benefit of the doubt.
“What makes you so qualified to entertain such opinions of Ariana?” I asked.
Iver shrugged, jutting out his lip. “Nothing at all. I only know what I think. And I think you know her enough to agree with my assessment.” His gaze narrowed, challenging.
“Well,” Edmond’s voice broke the stare between Iver and me. “The fact is, she is stuck here, and you, as King, need to soften her a bit more towards our cause. Our army is nearly ready. We need to figure out how we wish to spread the Bavadrins amongst our forces before we make a move on the Sidhe.”
My brother was not telling me anything I did not already know. Despite hardly eating a thing, I found myself feeling nauseatingly full.
“Consider it done.” I stood from my seat, tired of both the conversation and the company.
Though I was not confident that the company I was trading theirs for would be any more welcoming.
Ariana’s anger likely remained, yet there were things we needed to discuss.
Time was not something either of us had to waste.
“Good luck. I expect you will need it.” Iver smiled mischievously, and it took a great deal of self-control to turn and walk away instead of landing my fist in his smug face.
Edmond leaned over towards our youngest brother. “Careful, Iver. You keep pushing him, and our King may snap your neck,” he warned.
I could hear Iver’s smile in his voice. “He would have to catch me first.”
It irritated me that he was right.
Iver had always been incredibly fast. No one was ever capable of catching him if he did not wish it, not even our father, and he was the most powerful Lysian I had ever known.
What Iver could do, it went beyond physical capabilities.
It bled into the realm of conjuring. My gut was certain of that, even though Iver never admitted to such things.
My little brother had secrets, and I allowed them—for now.