Chapter 47
This time the crowd’s reaction became too loud for anyone to hush them. Aeliana scanned the sea of faces, the mix of confusion, shock, and even excitement giving her little confidence over whether this was a good or bad thing.
Elder Algaen’s face screwed up into a murderous glare, his aqua scales surfacing, but Nori remained calm and collected.
“Do not waste your one opportunity,” her father said.
Or at least, Aeliana thought that was what he said.
As the crowd’s reaction crescendoed, she was forced to read his lips more than listen.
By this time, Nori’s mother had reached the dais, her face as white as a sheet, and Aeliana stepped closer to catch their conversation, surprised the guards let her.
“Please don’t do this,” Aquana said, grabbing her daughter’s hands. “They’re not worth it.”
“Who would be worth it, Mother?” Nori asked. “I’ve asked to use it for my own question this last year, and each time you refused. I’m tired of waiting for your approval. This time I know it needs to be done. We are doing a disservice to people who have sought sanctuary in our midst.”
Elder Algaen wrapped a protective arm around his wife. “Retract your offer now, before it’s too late. The elders will understand that you made a rash and emotional decision. They won’t force you to follow through.”
Nori lifted her chin. “I am of age to make this request. And as my elder, you are obligated to honor it.” Her confidence faltered. “As my father, I understand why you might advise against it. But this is something I must do.”
The scales on Elder Algaen’s cheeks faded, his face drooping in a representation of something much deeper inside him breaking apart. “Very well.”
He turned back to the elders, who argued in hushed voices, ignoring the crowd’s demand for a response. Nori stepped back until her arm brushed against Aeliana.
“You certainly know how to make a splash.” Velden grinned at Nori, who turned to face them. “I’m starting to see how we might be related.”
Her laugh came out choked.
“Is this why you wanted a public trial?” Aeliana asked.
“I didn’t expect it to come to this,” Nori admitted. “I actually used the opportunity to search for the starbridges. I figured if everyone was here, no one would be home to see me. But then your request gave me the idea.”
“So you have them?” Velden asked.
She shook her head. “They must have moved them. There was only a shell in the box Gaeren showed me. After hearing their verdict, I suspect my father has them in his pocket.”
Finally the elders pulled apart, their stoic faces giving away nothing. Elder Algaen raised his hands. It did little at first, but when he started talking, people were quick to quiet down for fear of missing something important.
“As you have all witnessed, Nori Algaen has requested to use her visit to the Seer. As she has requested it on behalf of the foreigners, she will be expected to travel with the foreigners to the Seer’s sanctuary, where all of them will receive judgment.”
A gasp went through the crowd, and Nori’s eyes widened.
“What does that mean?” Aeliana asked. “Why is he giving us what we wanted after he said we couldn’t see her?”
Nori swallowed hard. “He’s not doing it for you. He’s doing it for me.”
“Take them back to the hut.” Elder Algaen waved a hand at the guards surrounding the prisoners, cutting off any more questions Aeliana might have had.
Her knees grew weak as the truth sank in, making her trip as the guards dragged them away.
They were going to see Lady Merinnia after all.
It was what they had wanted from the beginning.
But now the only thing she could feel was terror.
Would the Seer judge them fairly? Would she still give them answers about the curse if they came seeking to have their names cleared?
The trek back to the hut was quicker than it had been coming to the village center.
The guards whispered amongst themselves, and Aeliana caught optimistic phrases proving that Nori’s unprecedented request was binding.
When they were deposited in the hut, their stomachs still growled, but this time her companions’ faces held hope.
Holm pulled Iris into a tight hug, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. Lukai hesitated, as if he might try to do something similar for Aeliana, but instead he sat alone, keeping his distance from both Aeliana and Kendalyhn.
Even Sylmar’s teeth showed under his beard and mustache. “Not only did she gain us access to Lady Merinnia, but she bought us time,” he said. “We owe her much.”
“We owe her our lives,” Gaeren corrected.
Velden patted him on the back with a squishy, webbed hand. “Well, you and Riveran do, that’s for certain.”
Gaeren and Riveran let out nervous laughs, the stress of the afternoon coming through.
“Nori said they weren’t letting us go to the Seer for our sakes, but for hers,” Aeliana said as they all found places to sit. “Does anyone know what that means?”
Velden shrugged. “My guess is that her father didn’t want her losing her chance for her own answer. If she went by herself only seeking our judgment, she’d lose out on her opportunity. If the rest of us go, we get answers for our actions and questions and she can get answers for hers.”
“Then why did her mother look terrified?” Cyrus asked.
“Because she expects Nori will see her own death?” Gaeren suggested.
Aeliana shuddered. “But she can avoid it, right? By marrying Gellen?”
“Oh, I hope so.” Iris leaned against Holm, her face stricken.
“I saw a memory within a memory.” Gaeren raised his hands in surrender. “I don’t know how it works.”
“And none of us really knows how a visit to the Seer works,” Velden said. “The crowd’s reaction is a good reminder of how little we know and that we might not like what we find.”
The joyful atmosphere shifted a hair as he pointed out the truth they’d all been ignoring.
“That was my pessimistic line,” Sylmar muttered, attempting to settle on his side for a nap. “You’re supposed to tell a joke here.”
The entire room stilled until Velden chuckled. “No, I think the uncharacteristic role reversal was much better.”
It felt like ages, but the Sun still hadn’t gone to sleep when Nori arrived accompanied by Gellen and a few others, bringing a feast in comparison to the paltry food they’d previously been served. Aeliana’s mouth swung open when she also saw blankets and pillows tied on packs on their backs.
Kendalyhn raised her eyebrows. “Are we being fattened before we’re served up on a platter?”
Nori snorted. “It’s a three-day journey to Seer’s Sanctuary, two across land and one across the water. They want you to be rested and well fed before we leave in the morning.”
Gellen scowled, his eyes constantly following Nori, making it difficult for Aeliana to ask any questions. When they’d all eaten, Aeliana managed to pull Nori back for the briefest moment.
“Why did the people react that way? When your father offered for all of us to go?”
Nori gave a guilty glance to the hut door, where Gellen had bent to collect some spoons he’d dropped. “Lady Merinnia prefers to see people alone. It’s not that she can’t assist us all at once—it’s that it leaves her agitated. It’s disrespectful for us to ask so much of her.”
Aeliana frowned. “Would the elders do that just to make sure you get your questions answered too? That was Velden’s theory, but it feels weak if it’s disrespectful.”
“It could be that my father pushed for it. But the others likely agreed because they no longer trust me. I might be on trial just as much as you are.” Her smile held a sorrow that made Aeliana’s heart ache with regret.
“I wish we’d never come. You could have gone on with your life—”
“No.” Nori cut her off, her hand slicing the air. “For years I have been waiting to start my life. Waiting for the signal that it was time. My life would have remained that way without you. This was always our path.”
“Nori?” Gellen called.
“Coming.” Nori turned to leave, but Aeliana snatched her wrist.
“Does he know you’re helping us? Has he tuned in to your mind for our intentions?”
Nori recoiled. “Never. He would never do that without my permission.” But then understanding dawned on her face.
“He freely tuned in to yours because it was an assignment. But he’s not all that bad.
” A few scales popped up on her cheeks. Perhaps an arranged marriage between the two wouldn’t be as hated as Aeliana had feared.
As Nori left with Gellen and the extra guards, the Sun slipped behind the village to the west, reminding the prisoners they needed to sleep as well.
They spread out the pillows and blankets that now felt luxurious, but despite a full belly and knowing she needed sleep, Aeliana couldn’t find rest. She shoved the blanket off, feeling suffocated instead of warm.
“It works better when you wrap it around you,” Velden whispered from beside her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Am I keeping you up?”
“No.” It was too dark to see him in the hut, but she could hear the smile in his voice. “That would be my mind, which seems to be swimming across all of Paelen’s Waters without my permission.”
She held back laughter that might wake up the others. “Will it be hard going back to Vendaras after experiencing your home?”
“I’m not sure I’m meant to have a home,” he said.
“I can never be fully Sayhleen. Coming here and spending time with these people has shown me that. I relish learning their culture and applying what I can, but I could never live underwater like they do, and so I will always be an outsider. And in Vendaras, I’m a freak of nature. I can never fully fit in there either.”
His words resonated deep within her, voicing things she hadn’t been able to share. Just like him, she straddled two continents, two cultures. “Do you think maybe I’m not meant to be Vendaran either?” she asked.
He took his time answering, and her anxiety built with the silence.
“I think you are meant to be Aeliana, daughter to the high priestess, wielder of powerful magic. Wearing trousers or dresses and having short or long hair is irrelevant because there is so much more to you than your identity as a Vendaran or Lorvandan. If you stop trying to be one or the other, you might discover who you really are.”
She toyed with a loose thread on her pillow.
“It feels like I need to focus on being just Vendaran if I’m ever supposed to belong there, though.
Kendalyhn hasn’t been training me in history or culture for a while, not since…
well, not since we found my magic shifted.
” Saying the words out loud made her wonder if they were really true.
Was the magic training what took up her time?
Or was it the awkwardness over the revelation that Kendalyhn and Lukai had been—or maybe still were—in love?
“I suspect Sylmar will want me learning it all again once things go back to normal.”
Velden snorted, which startled Holm out of his snore with a choke. The larger man rolled in his sleep, starting a round of everyone shifting their positions in the cramped space. Aeliana and Velden smothered their laughter in their pillows.
“I don’t think there ever will be a normal,” Velden finally said.
“Even if we find this curse and help your mother. Even if we find all the starbridges and save the world in whatever mysterious way Orra wants. You don’t need to try to fit in to whatever expectation Sylmar has.
Your mother is destined to lead, and you are, too.
“But a leader brings many experiences to the table. If you try to get rid of your human side, if you try to be less Lorvandan, you’re shoving down all the things you have to offer the people in Vendaras.
Maybe they need a different perspective.
Maybe they need exactly who you are. Today you offered yourself as sacrifice for your people.
The kings and queens of Elanesse would never do that.
That’s the kind of leadership Vendaras is craving. ”
Aeliana stared at the faint traces of the hut’s ceiling, the bits of twine she could make out in the darkness. “Are you giving yourself this same speech?”
He sighed. “I suppose I should. At least the bit about trying to meet expectations. The problem is when we try to fit in one culture or the other. We’re not meant to.”
She considered his words, wondering how they might change her approach.
Instead of rejecting the potential role of leader, instead of denying whatever authority she might have as the high priestess’ daughter, perhaps she could use it for good.
Perhaps she could accept it on her own terms like she had today, when it gave her a chance to stand up for those she cared about.
“I always thought my mother was waiting for me to be ready to come to Sayhla Island,” Velden added, “but now I think she always knew they wouldn’t accept me. She was trying to get me to find my own way.”
“I’m sorry, Velden. I didn’t realize how far back or how painful your secrets were when you told me you had them.”
“And that’s not even the half of them,” he muttered.
His words surprised Aeliana, and for a moment she was tempted to place a hand on his arm, to try using the noetic skills Gaeren had been teaching her to tune in to his memories. It likely wouldn’t work with Durriken being so far away.
“I might not have dark secrets like Sylmar or Mayvus,” Velden added, “but there are parts of my history I keep to myself. Not out of shame or fear, but to hold them close. Keeping them safe feels like a way to honor them.”
“You don’t have to explain.” All temptation to tune in to his past receded, leaving the initial thought like bile in the back of her throat.
Aeliana had had enough secrets of her own over the years; she wasn’t about to pry any from Velden.
“I’m so sorry for all you’ve lost, including the things you keep secret and safe. ”
“Thank you,” he murmured.
As Velden’s breathing shifted, Aeliana tried to fall asleep too, but the things he’d said swirled in her mind, mixing with her fears and doubts over their plans to see Lady Merinnia. Orra had said she didn’t have to ask Lady Merinnia a question, that she could choose to remain ignorant.
Now it was less a matter of whether or not she’d ask the Seer a question and more a matter of which question she’d ask.