35. Navuh
NAVUH
"Would you like some tea?" Areana asked in a deceptively calm tone.
"If you are having some, I will join you," Navuh answered in the same way, pretending he wasn't rattled by Kian's sudden visit.
Daniel had told them on the way back from the pool that the regent planned to see them later that day, but he couldn't say exactly when or why.
They were probably doing that on purpose to keep him off balance, and it was working.
A surprise visit from Kian after weeks of nothing from him or his mother could mean only one of two things.
Either the clan wanted something from him, which was unlikely, since they had long since stopped believing he had anything worth taking.
The other possibility was that they had news they wanted to watch him receive, and naturally, that news wasn't good, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered.
Thankfully, he could rule out anything happening to Lokan or Kalugal because Areana would have been told.
He would never admit that it mattered to him what fate befell those two traitors, but it did.
For better or worse, they were his blood, his and Areana's, and he couldn't stop caring even if he tried.
He could keep pretending, though.
"Sit with me," he told Areana when she served him tea. "And don't look so worried. Whatever this is, it probably has to do with the island, and Kian wants to gloat."
"I worry about the people on the island." She took the chair beside his. "You know that."
"Yes, I do. And I also know Kian wouldn't gloat over civilian deaths, so stop worrying."
She let out a breath, and the haunted look in her eyes dissipated. "You are right. He wouldn't."
"I'm always right."
Navuh shifted his legs beneath the blanket.
The pool exercises were helping, and he was slowly regaining strength.
He no longer bothered to hide it because there was no one left to hide it from.
At first, he had guarded the secret like a coin to be spent when the moment came, but no one was asking how he was doing.
Bridget had handed him to Areana and moved on to her other patients, and the great Lord Navuh had been filed away and forgotten in a converted cell covered with drawings of Annani's beautiful daughter.
When the door finally opened, and Kian entered with his two bodyguards, Navuh was surprised to feel excitement rather than dread. He was so isolated, deprived of contact with anyone but Areana and Daniel, that even the son of his enemy was a welcome break from the tedium of his existence.
The enormous red-haired bodyguard smiled and dipped his head to Areana, while the pale, silent one didn't acknowledge either of them.
"Kian." Navuh inclined his head the precise degree that acknowledged the regent's station and mocked it at the same time. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"I thought you would like an update about what is happening on the island." He pulled out a chair next to the table and glanced at Areana. "May I?"
"Of course." She set her cup down and rose to her feet. "Forgive me for forgetting my manners." She smiled at the two guards. "Please, make yourself comfortable on the couch."
The redhead inclined his head again and sat down, spreading his thighs as if he owned the place. The blond sat next to him with such economy of movement that it seemed to cost him.
"May I offer you some tea?" Areana asked.
"No, thank you. I'm not much of a tea person."
"Your mother is."
"I know." Kian smiled. "And my sisters share her enthusiasm for it, but I'm more of a coffee guy."
"I can brew coffee," Areana said. "I learned how."
Navuh wanted to roll his eyes and tell them both to drop the polite act and get down to business.
"I'll have some," Kian agreed. "Thank you."
As Areana started fussing with the coffeemaker, Kian leveled his gaze at Navuh.
"This morning, on the island, eighteen of the Brotherhood's senior command died in a single strike. Five of them were males you called sons. Shavek, Mazlen, Horek, Koshan, and Bokev."
All juniors he didn't care much for. They were mediocre at best and not fit to occupy positions of power.
"I see," he said. "Not a great loss, but I'm curious to hear how you did that."
Given the slight widening of Kian's eyes, he hadn't expected Navuh's reaction to be so dismissive.
Navuh chuckled. "Did I spoil your fun? Should I pretend to mourn those incompetent fools so you will get what you came for?"
Kian shook his head. "You are a cold bastard, aren't you?"
At the bar, three feet to the right, Areana dropped a spoon.
"Sorry about that," she said in a near whisper.
Kian turned to look at her. "Did the news upset you?"
"I did not know these males, but I might know their mothers."
So that was what bothered her, Navuh thought. Not Kian calling her mate a cold bastard. Not that he was wrong, but still. It was her duty to protect his honor.
"None of them were the sons of your harem sisters," he said. "That's why they were inferior stock."
Areana let out a breath. "Thank the merciful Fates."
Kian shifted in his chair. "I'm glad to hear that, but the other three were probably the sons of the harem ladies."
"What other three?" Navuh asked.
"Kolhood, Hocken, and Hazok. They have been dead for a while, but it just occurred to me that you haven't been told."
Those three hurt, or rather one of them. Kolhood was a great loss to the Brotherhood. The other two, less so.
"Did you kill them too?" he asked.
"No. That was Losham's doing, with help from the Eight enhanced soldiers, and it was executed brilliantly."
Navuh was curious.
"Do tell." He leaned forward. "I'm eager to hear the details."
Again, the slight widening of Kian's eyes showed this was not the response he'd expected.
The regent regarded him for a long time, and Navuh saw the exact moment he decided to share the details.
"Since your fall, Losham has been pretending you are sequestering yourself in the harem. The Eight enhanced soldiers have reinforced that story with compulsion."
Now it was Navuh's eyes that widened involuntarily. He tried to cover his surprise. "They can compel?" He asked in a tone that implied he already knew the answer.
"Yes, and their compulsion is unlike anything previously known. It doesn't require sound to work. It travels on thralling."
How was that possible? They hadn't had that ability on the island. Or had they? No wonder they had managed to escape.
"Continue," he said.
"Kolhood, Hocken, and Hazok did not buy the story and wanted to see for themselves that you were indeed in the harem.
They entered the harem grounds, which everyone on the island knows are forbidden to immortals, and they met someone they thought was you at the cliff's edge.
It was one of the Eight wearing your robe.
Long story short, the three ended up at the bottom of the cliff, and the story was that you killed them in a fit of rage because they defied your orders. "
"Brilliant." Navuh clapped his hands. "Losham is an exceptional strategist. So everyone on the island still believes I'm in the harem?"
"They do. But I guess Losham doesn't need to hide behind your authority anymore. He has no opposition left on the island, and after the strike, everyone thinks he commands a secret army."
Navuh grinned. "That's my son. Not by blood, but in spirit. He makes me proud."
Kian chuckled. "I've just told you that you lost eight of your adopted sons, and all you can think is that you're proud of the one who orchestrated it?"
"None of them were mine," he said, not sure whether he said it to Kian or to himself.
"They believed they were."
"Belief is not blood." Navuh picked up his teacup. "They were no more or less dear to me than any other warriors in my army."
"Here is your coffee," Areana said, setting a cup in front of Kian. "Would you like cream and sugar with it?"
She was doing it again, pretending none of this had touched her, but Navuh knew her too well to fall for it. She was upset.
"Thank you," Kian said. "I take my coffee black unless it's a cappuccino."
Areana sat back down and lifted her teacup to her lips.
"If we are laying it all out, there is more you should know. Khiann is awake."
Navuh forced a smile. "Congratulations. I'm sure your mother is thrilled."
"She is. The four guards are also doing well. All five have emerged from stasis largely intact."
Navuh arched a brow. "Largely?"
"Memory is an issue, but it's slowly coming back."
Navuh had held those five for five thousand years as his insurance, his last get-out-of-jail card, and in the end the clan had retrieved them without his help.
"You kept them buried to break my mother's heart, and you almost succeeded. Now she has her truelove mate back despite your best efforts."
That blow Navuh felt, but not where Kian was aiming.
His father had spent the last of his madness trying to destroy Annani, and he had failed.
An earthquake had achieved what Mortdh could not.
A chance, a natural disaster, and yet Navuh had found a way to benefit from it.
He'd gathered up the pieces and kept them.
Now even that was undone, and the little heiress who should have been erased from history five thousand years ago had won.
It should have enraged him, but the truth was that he no longer cared.
He had never truly hated Annani. She had been a convenient enemy to dangle before his army, uniting them behind the banner of destroying her and her clan.
His fight was with what she was doing for humanity, not necessarily with her and her people.
That being said, she'd always been a thorn in his side because she supplied humans with technology and ideas about personal freedoms that stood in direct opposition to what he needed them to believe.
Humans were slaves, created to serve gods and immortals, and their only path was submission, so he had no problem using her as the despised catalyst for his army.
Navuh looked at Kian and smiled. "You delivered all of this without gloating. I'm impressed."
Kian grimaced. "My mother asked me to be merciful. She thought you would mourn your adopted sons and didn't want me to be cruel to a grieving father. But you don't give a shit about anyone, do you?"
Navuh sipped his tea. "Is there anything else, or have you finished emptying your bucket over my head?"
"We control Losham. He has to do what we tell him."
"How?"
"Compulsion, of course."
"Annani?"
"My mother is not our only compeller."
"I see." Navuh took another small sip of his tea and pieced together the puzzle Kian had dropped in his lap.
Losham had been handed a collapsing island and a leash held by the clan, and he'd used it.
He'd manipulated his masters into doing his killing for him and had come out the other side with every rival dead and a myth of his own power spreading across the island.
An outside force that answered when he called.
It was a lie, but a magnificent one, and it could hold for hundreds of years.
No one had taught Losham that. He'd simply been born brilliant and figured out how to make a knife he did not own cut on his behalf.
What a shame Losham wasn't his blood.
His two real sons, Lokan and Kalugal, his true blood, had betrayed him and switched sides, walking into the arms of the clan, but the son of a harem lady and a human servant had turned out to be the only one worthy of the title.
Losham was cunning where Kalugal was merely clever, and ruthless where Lokan was merely capable. Losham could look at a compulsion pressing on his mind and find the seam to slip through. He had done it to Navuh more than once.
The Brotherhood wasn't lost in Losham's hands.
Kian had come down here believing he was going to crush Navuh's spirits, but instead he had handed him hope.
His army still stood, ten thousand strong, and at its head was the most dangerous male Navuh had ever created.
That male wasn't going to remain the clan's instrument forever.
It was only a matter of time before Losham found a way out.
"Now, for some good news," Kian said.
Navuh smiled. "For you or for me?"
"For you. You can't stay in this cell forever, not because anyone cares where you rot, but because of Lady Areana and the resources needed to guard you, which could be utilized better elsewhere.
We're going to build you a house at the edge of the village, fenced off and watched.
A mini compound for you and Areana. You'll have a life of sorts, but you'll never leave that compound, and you will never again be within reach of anyone you can bend to your will. "
Navuh kept his expression impassive, but inside, something uncoiled and stretched, slow and patient.
He had endless time to figure out a way out of the new cage they were building for him, and eventually, they would grow careless, and he would escape.
"That is generous," Navuh said. "I am grateful."
"You don't know the meaning of gratitude," Kian said. "But you'll take it."
"Indeed." Navuh raised his cup a fraction, a toast to nothing. "I will take it."