Chapter Nineteen #2
“Have the healers said anything different about Zayvier?” Kiyun asked once he stood in front of Malachi.
“No. They’re being useless,” Malachi said.
Kiyun cursed.
“I’ve set Trystin to searching for a rune that may speed up his awakening if it lingers,” Malachi told Kiyun to ease both of their nerves.
“If anyone can unearth something of that manner, Trystin can,” replied Kiyun confidently.
Malachi nodded and then shifted topics, lowering his voice so that what he spoke was only heard by the two of them.
After he passed along the conversation he’d had with Kadeesha about Leisha interrogating the warden’s daughter, he asked Kiyun, “Can you coordinate what’s needed for it to happen so I can remain here? ”
“I’m on it,” Kiyun said, his voice as low, “but as for you staying here … we have a problem that needs to be addressed and you can only do it yourself.”
“And that problem is?” Malachi asked tightly.
“I understand you want to remain at Zayvier’s side.
We all do. But you can do nothing for him here, and Cassius, at present, is leveraging the explosion to his benefit.
He is at the attack site, standing atop the ruins, and he’s pointing your absence out to all who will listen.
He has pledged to help with restoration efforts and people whisper that you have done no such thing yet and you disappeared right when it happened. ”
“Because one of my inner court was gravely injured!” Malachi cried, not believing what he was hearing.
“Surely those whose Cassius’s speech reaches the ears of will reflect on that.
It is no secret where I am. And I am taking care of the rest of my people too.
I’ve tasked Trystin, our grand duke, to act in my stead and do whatever needs to be done. ”
Kiyun laid a hand on his shoulder. “The fact still remains, friend, that Zayvier is one person, and you are the Apollyon Court’s sovereign.
The people, and the lord primes, expect you, their monarch, to place the needs of the whole above the needs of one and they expect to see you doing it. You know this.”
Fuck the lord primes! Malachi bit his tongue so as not to bellow it and create more talk for people to pass around.
A black haze overlaid his vision. Kiyun’s touch was the only thing that kept him grounded, thinking rationally, and from descending fully into the rage.
However, it was a hard-won effort. “Cassius is a snake,” Malachi hissed.
“I wouldn’t put it past him to have had knowledge of or been directly involved in the blast to weaken me prior to the challenge, and now he stands before the court pretending otherwise.
Acting as if he gives a damn about anything other than his little power grab. ”
“Cassius is the lowest form of scum,” Kiyun agreed.
“But he is charming and has a silver tongue and excels at presenting himself as savior, not serpent. You will kill him during the challenge and be rid of him. But prior to that, you need to play Cassius’s game.
Rather, you need to best him at his own game,” Kiyun impressed upon Malachi.
“Which means you must force yourself to step away from Zayvier’s bedside and show yourself to our people.
You must let them behold you, this court’s king, leading efforts to render aid to those affected by the blast and to restore the palace wall.
Do not let Cassius be the sole face that offers support and empathy and shows up for our people after catastrophe has struck. ”
As much as Malachi loathed having his strings pulled by the tiresome games of court instead of just tending to what needed to be done, Kiyun was right.
“Come here,” he instructed a healer who was passing by.
The woman approached Zayvier’s bedside and bowed.
Once she’d straightened, he pointed to Zayvier and told her, “This man is essential to me. I want him cared for during every moment of every day. I also want updates at sunrise, high noon, and sunset about his state.”
The woman bowed again and replied, “Of course, Your Grace.”
Before departing he looked over at Kadeesha seated beside Samira and added, “That same order goes for the Aether woman who is being cared for by healers in this infirmary. Work to get her awake and fully restored to health as speedily as you do with Zayvier.” He issued the command because there was no question that he owed Kadeesha a debt—two, actually—following the blast. He’d seen Kadeesha fling herself atop Theo, the defenseless green stripling, and provide him safety when the palace wall had been blown apart.
She wasn’t an Apollyon fae, and she held no allegiances to Malachi or any member of his court.
She didn’t have to help the boy, and perhaps, if she’d ignored his peril and aided her own people first, Samira wouldn’t have ended up buried under stone.
Then, there was the needling matter that while he knew he hadn’t directly violated his oath that no harm would befall her people while in his court, one of them had been injured.
He’d expected Kadeesha to express both points when she’d approached him.
He was a mighty fae king, and most others wouldn’t have passed up the golden opportunity to remind him that he owed them fresh boons.
But she’d offered her aid to him instead.
He shook his head because it was a mystery as to why she chose one route and not the other.
He didn’t have the time to press her about it, though.
Making himself content with having repaid one of his debts to Kadeesha, he made a mental note to gain answers about everything later and then prowled toward the exit to play his cousin’s infuriating games.