CHAPTER XIII #2
“The Council consisted of the current leaders of the Kingdoms at the time, each of them hearing and assessing my father’s request.”
Cal frowns, his face looking just as mine did when I listened to Clair and McQuoid. He’s terribly confused, and I can tell he already wants to ask questions but is keeping quiet instead.
“My father’s request of the leaders asked that the thousands year old rule not allowing humans to have access to magical knowledge and mystical libraries be broken. He asked for a single human to be able to enter those libraries throughout the Kingdoms…”
Keane looks at me without emotion, “Lady Alexis has been traveling the Kingdom of Disce with the three of you for the past two years as a result of that Council, searching for a book on behalf of my father.”
I shift in my seat again and try not to glare at the Prince, hating the way this conversation is being handled. Cal glances back at me with his brows furrowed in more question, and, I think, what looks to be a lot of hurt in his eyes.
Ancients.
“I swear I just learned of the nature of our travels myself in Red Falls, Cal,” I whisper.
Cal narrows his eyes and doesn’t say a word. He just sits back in his chair and grips his ale in more silence, turning back to the Prince.
“What we don’t understand,” Desmond continues with the twins, “is why the two of you were made aware of the Council and the travels that followed as a result of it.”
Cal scoffs at the question and takes a hefty drink of his ale, all traces of the happy mountain of a man I know disappearing. Holis and Mana glance at eachother once again before turning to look at Cal with a grimace. They also don’t like the hurt this conversation is causing him.
It’s Mana, with his beautiful and quiet Discerni face, who replies to the Master Informer. But he doesn’t look at either of the Princes when he speaks, and instead keeps his eyes on Cal as his voice pleads for understanding.
“We were made aware of the Council because we are and have always been, followers of the Ancient Hirovale.”
I quickly turn to the twins next to me in confusion.
“You knew Lady Alexis would find his Bird of Ash during these travels?” Keane inquires.
“We suspected,” Mana replies at the same time his brother answers, “we hoped.”
“Which means our father also suspected,” Desmond shakes his head, exasperation dripping from his voice, “why?”
The twins turn their heads to me in unison, their blue-green eyes holding mine.
“It is not our place to share,” Holis replies to the table, “only Lady Alexis. She would need to disclose what information she learned from the book that birthed his Bird of Ash.”
My heart drops into my stomach at his words.
Up until this moment I have pushed the text from the last page of Stormfall’s book to the back of my mind.
I’ve ignored the violent curiosity that grips me every time they choose to creep up.
Because I know that the text will only lead me to more questions…
questions that I’m not sure I’m ready to hear the answers to yet.
“Lady Alexis?” Keane prompts, looking at me with the standard Discerni features of indifference. My heart pounds as I glance into those cool features.
I truly hate that face. And right now, I’m really not liking him and his brother at the moment, either.
What were they thinking? How could they possibly have come to the conclusion that interrogating Holis and Mana was the right thing to do tonight? Didn’t Keane tell me earlier that we were just going to catch up? To exchange stories on what happened in the plains?
And he says my lies are pretty…
Can he not see the uneasiness that is surrounding the table right now?
One that him and his brother helped build?
Or does he just not care? Cal is quite literally feeling betrayed and is now questioning his friends that have been by his side for the last two years, while Holis and Mana are doing their best to answer the Princes’ questions while also trying to alleviate Cal’s battling emotions.
And now he’s looking at me? Asking me to break the vow I made in front of the Prince and Princess of Pyre?
I wasn’t lying when I told them that I wanted to speak to King Zander first. I don’t want to disclose the words from the text before I disclose them to my King… before I even disclose them to myself.
Stormfall diligently makes his way over to me, his yellow eyes noticing my discomfort.
He gives a solemn chirp and then turns his heated glance to both Princes, his wings extending at his sides in his own anger.
I glance over to look at Golem for help, but he just stands in the shadows with blank features.
“This isn’t the way to go about this,” I finally whisper to the men around me.
“Respectfully, Lady Alexis,” Desmond’s hard voice responds, “our group was set upon in foreign lands by a large group of Leviathan riders. A Prince tried taking you and almost killed one of our own in the process.”
Apparently stories have already been shared.
“The riders we met only had one objective,” the Master Informer continues, “to look for and obtain a human woman from Disce.”
“This isn’t the way,” I shake my head, my voice trembling slightly, “I need to speak with the King first.”
“Alexis…” Keane says my name softly, eyes catching mine with that hint of kindness.
No.
No. He doesn’t get to do that.
He doesn’t get to go from cool Discerni Prince to the playful man I’m more familiar with.
I scowl at him and will my next words to come out stronger.
“I serve His Grace, King Zander of Disce, not either of you,” I flick my eyes to Desmond as well, “and will not disclose any information on the book until I’ve had the chance to speak with him first.”
“Do you deny that Prince Yiannis of Livyatan ordered his men to take you?” Desmond interjects with a hard tone.
“No,” I hold his eyes with a hardness of my own, “though I think the Prince was more interested in Stormfall than he was in me.”
“He called you human reborn,” the Master Informer retorts.
I catch Mana shifting in his seat from the corner of my eyes, reaching for his drink.
“That was the first time I have heard the phrase used,” I admit.
“But not you,” Keane glances to the twins, noticing Mana’s shift as much as I did. He looks at the brothers as the Prince of Disce and heir to the Kingdom, not as the man we have all gotten to know over the last fortnight.
Holis nods to his Prince, “we are familiar with the term.”
“In what setting?” Keane demands.
“Keane,” I shake my head, “stop.”
What the fuck are him and his brother doing right now?
This isn’t right. Their approach isn’t right. Why can’t they just wait until we get back to Bardot?
Golem openly admitted that King Zander would explain everything to us then.
What are they doing?
Are they trying to catch the twins unaware, hoping that they will provide information because they’re caught off guard?
Do they even see what they’re doing to Cal?
I’ve never seen my friend so quiet in my life.
He’s sitting sullenly in his chair and retracting from the rest of the table, and they’re causing that rift.
A rift between Knowledge and the bond we have formed over the last two years.
This is not the way.
“In what setting?” Keane demands again.
I look to Holis and Mana at my side, my voice going hard, “you do not need to answer him.”
Both Princes turn to stare at me in shock, but I’ve had enough.
I swiftly push my chair back and stand up from the table, glaring at the Prince brothers as anger courses through my veins.
Stormfall quickly jumps from the table and lands on my shoulder, his yellow eyes flashing a new gold before he turns his piercing gaze on the royals.
“We serve the King of the Lands of Disce,” I scowl at the Warrior brothers, “His Grace, King Zander Bardot. We answer to no one but him in these matters. Try this again and I’ll rescind my invitation for you to join my conversation with him when that takes place.”
Stormfall spreads his wings behind my back, adding his own warning to my words. I give Keane and Desmond one last look before walking away and into the dark courtyard of the inn.
“The fucking audacity of them,” I fume when I hear Golem’s padded feet behind me.
“Where were you, Golem? Why didn’t you speak up in there?”
Golem shakes his head quietly, giving a non-answer as we walk towards the main road.
“Do you agree with the Princes?” I ask in disbelief, “of what they were doing in there?”
He offers no response, just remains quiet at my side. I immediately stop and turn to my magical friend, not understanding his position.
“Talk to me.”
Golem has a look of sadness on his face, his head shaking just slightly.
“No?” I cross my arms in front of my chest, “I don’t understand Golem. No you don’t want to talk to me? Or no you don’t agree with the Princes?”
More silence.
“You can’t possibly be siding with Keane and Desmond right now,” I shake my head “they ambushed my friends, Golem! They made Cal feel like an outsider to a secret he was going to learn anyways!”
Golem watches me in thought, his drooping eyes darting back and forth across my face as his features remain unreadable.
“If you have nothing to say, then I want to be alone,” I sigh, “go back to the inn, Golem. I have no use for your company tonight.”
Golem’s eyes round in shock. I laugh in exasperation at the first real emotion he’s shown all night and shake my head, brushing past him in anger as I make my way down the road. Golem remains standing in the middle of the sleepy little village town, watching me walk away.
“Just you and me tonight, Storm,” I say to the bird with a shiver.
The cold blanket that surrounds these moody woods is in full effect tonight, but I’m determined to make the walk to the real Fumagalli despite it.
Daniel should be there, and hopefully him or someone else can guide me up to the Hidden City when I arrive.