Chapter 56
“So, this is how the path forward lies,” Zathexa observed with quiet dignity. She was taking it better than Therxian thought she would. There was not a trace of anger or sorrow, nor defeat. Just acceptance and determination in every proud line of her face.
“Unfortunately, these appear to be the options that we are currently left with,” Therxian reported grimly. “But, as of yet, we still have time.”
He cast a questioning look for affirmation as Healer Zhia and the female inclined her head with a gentle snap of her gavo.
“The high queen’s health remains stable at this time with the new treatment, so long as we avoid stressors that could inflame the symptoms and cause the poison to rapidly attack her body once more.”
His mother waved a hand dismissively at the healer, demonstrating a hint of impatience at her own weakness.
“It matters little. If we must, we will fly directly through the glatha cavern and seek refuge among the humans.” She sighed heavily.
“There will be no Uralialian cure for me, we must accept that, but I will hold on so that I can humble myself before the hunters to assure the future of the shinara.”
“Mother, if the healer is right, then we must alter our plans. We can hide you well within the caverns with your guards and we—" Therxian protested, but he snapped his mouth shut at the sharp look she gave him.
“Do not make such a suggestion to me,” she interrupted in a long hiss.
“Sacrifice has been a part of my life for revolutions. Do not ask me to cheapen it by retreating and... hiding. This is a duty I will not shirk. As much as I wish to rejoin my mate, it has already been made clear that I cannot just accept my fate and lie down and die. So, instead, I will see to the safety of my line and the shinara first, regardless of what it does to me. I will not hide,” she spat.
He looked askance at the healer, and she hummed softly to settle his mother’s agitation before responding.
“I have already discussed this with her at length. She knows the great level of pain that awaits her, and that a hasty flight from the shinara and across the brutal heat of the desert—even to the colony, though with less immediate severity than the Vir mountains—will only quicken it. She is... determined.”
“Determined is a polite way to put it,” Elder Goyu hissed in amusement.
She stretched her aged wings and gave him a knowing look.
“It is natural that you are worried about your mother. I, too, wish to keep the high queen with us for a long time still. She deserves to have a chance to fawn over nestlings like she was never given for her own young when surrounded by those cutthroats in the council. But it is impossible to talk her out of anything,” she added with a sigh. “Always has been.”
“I am not a masochist,” the queen replied drily.
“I am not seeking pain or to suffer. I am merely acknowledging that this may be the only choice that we are left with. But as we still have time, continue exploring the waterways and investigate other possible avenues—” she suddenly paused, her gaze shifting curiously to Jathella as the female entered the chamber and lowered head submissively.
“My queen,” the captain murmured, “you are being summoned to the throne chamber.”
Zathexa slowly rose from her cushion, her gavo lifting. “Summoned?” she echoed. “By whom?”
Jathella met her eyes grimly. “The council, your majesty. Noble Matriarch Zara has officially requested an audience with you before the council to discuss the matter of... the royal line,” she emphasized with no little disgust as she looked meaningfully toward Therxian.
His mother’s jaw tightened, her eyes brightening with anger. “It seems that we are out of time, after all. Very well,” she hissed. “No one is promised a tomorrow. Let us find out exactly what they intend. Escort me, Therxian,” she commanded as she reached weakly for him.
He lowered his head and took position at his mother’s side as she slowly slid from her bed.
Her hand clutched his arm hard for support, and he could feel it shake with effort, but he never would have known it from looking at her.
She remained poised as her tail curled elegantly in front of her.
Her gavo rose, and she inclined her head to Jathella.
The captain flicked her gavo in response and preceded them from the nest as Elder Goyu and the healer took their positions just behind them with Kitanara and Buosoa at the rear.
Therxian did not know what he expected to see when he arrived at the throne chamber, but somehow he had not been prepared to see females reclining casually everywhere as if it were a festival gathering for the court.
Everywhere he looked, they were feasting and laughing amongst themselves, as young males from the haga performed and played music for their benefit as they attempted to evade the attentions of the females moving around them.
They were boldly taking advantage of his mother’s hospitality without consideration of the circumstances and the fragility of the high queen’s health.
They were cavorting around as if it were a feast hosted by the high queen for their pleasure.
Just how often had this happened that they would just descend upon her with their demands while eating and drinking their fill, and demanding to be entertained?
“Mother,” he hissed, but she dipped her chin, her gavo fanning around her head regally.
“Now you truly see what we face as we enter the thick of it. Remain here, but do not let them see you squirm,” she hissed before releasing his arm as Elder Goyu came to his side to take his place as his mother’s escort.
His jaw clenched with disbelief and outrage as he watched them proceed without him.
At his side, Kitanara took position, her velkat resting at the ready beside her as her gaze also followed them.
He knew she remained by his side to serve as his guard while Buosoa and Jathella accompanied his mother, but he could not help but feel that they were equally matched in their disgust and both struggling to hide it as they watched the festive atmosphere grow as more platters of food were brought in and young males carried jugs of potent drink as they made their rounds with their heads bowed and gavos flattened.
Laughter broke out increasingly among the females, and he became increasingly aware of the licentious looks that were now being cast casually in his direction, making his scales prickle with unease.
And yet, in the midst of it all, his mother reclined on her cushions, her expression unreadable as she surveyed the chamber. Despite being forced to endure the spectacle of her court and being held hostage by them, she did so without even a hint of weakness.
And Therxian was furious. His mother should be resting, and yet the noble matriarchs insisted that she hold court and attend to their “concerns.” The whole situation disgusted him.
There was nothing noble about the females clustered closest around her.
He caught a glimmer of what once might have been, however, from observing the quiet dignity of the families watching grimly from the outskirts where they had long been pushed out to and abandoned.
“I do not understand why she indulges them,” Kitanara commented sourly at his side, her eyes sweeping over the gathered crowd of females.
Therxian hummed in agreement, his eyes narrowing.
The females were talking and putting on showy airs like normal, as if nothing had changed at all.
The corner of his mouth hitched faintly.
They were foolish to believe that they could maintain control forever over Zathexa.
His mother was far more cunning than they believed.
They thought they had won her over and merely had to bide their time to wrestle away the last bit of her control when the time was right.
They could not be more wrong.
“She is giving them a false sense of security,” he replied. “They made their demand as usual, and she capitulated so that there is no chance of even a grain of suspicion to form.”
Kitanara huffed but inclined her head, her gavo flicking. “You are right, but I still do not like the indignity of it. They want to push their ‘breeding exchange’ but the queen would not violate your bond with Alex by agreeing.”
He hummed quietly. That was a line his mother never transgressed.
Although she had cooperated more than she should have when it came to Slengral, and shoulder blame she was not responsible for in order to encourage him to move on when they believed Lori was dead, she never transgressed when it came to their mating bond or permitted anyone else to do so.
Instead, she had manipulated the council and kept them under some degree of control to protect her youngest son’s bond. She would not give them more now.
His gaze shifted to a female slowly rising from her cushions to the left of his mother.
Zara was weighed down with more precious gems and metal than even the high queen herself, and her daughter at her side, nearly as resplendent.
She patted the younger female’s arm as she rose, and Therxian’s mouth down-turned at the look of smug satisfaction on Gareiia’s face as she looked over at met his eyes.
Her eyes brightened challengingly, her gavo creeping upward as she lifted her head triumphantly.
She appeared exceptionally confident. He sneered privately to himself and turned his head away, dismissing her entirely as he refocused on her mother.
He could feel the eyes of the younger female boring into him, but he adamantly ignored it.
He refused to do anything that might encourage her behavior further.
Instead, he was far more interested in what exactly Zara was up to.