Selediel
“Sweetheart.”
The events of the night before were such, I immediately opened my eyes.
It was early morning. I knew this because it was still dark, though the room was dimly lit.
And Tanyn was sitting beside me on the bed, fully dressed, his hand forming circles over the covers on my hip.
“I’m sorry, my love,” he murmured. “We have company, and Laura’s already up. I ordered coffee for you. It’s on your dressing table in the closet.”
I pushed up to sitting, and the instant I did, he pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms warmly around me.
Our lovemaking last night hit me like a stream, and I gazed up at him.
“I have things to tell you,” he said.
He sure did.
“Would you like me to come back in fifteen minutes after you’ve had a shower and some coffee?” he offered.
“No, I’d like to know them now,” I told him.
And I braced.
Because I was sure it would be avowals of love.
I wanted to remember every second of it.
And I was scared out of my brain he was actually going to say it.
Because that meant I would say it back.
I might be feeling it.
But that didn’t mean I was ready.
“We haven’t had time for me to brief you on what happened in Gehenn,” he stated.
This was not what I expected to hear.
But I wanted to hear it, and it felt like a reprieve he was going to talk about it, so I urged, “Go on.”
“Although all those who were involved in the attack were traced to being Arnaud and Tatra sympathizers, the survivors weren’t in good shape to talk. However, we did talk to them, and they refused to say anything. This wasn’t surprising.”
He paused and I nodded.
So he kept going.
“Now, I don’t know if you know, but the use of truth serum, as it’s the same in Night’s Fall, is illegal to administer unless the person getting it concedes to taking it.
They did not. We had to draft a petition to a magistrate to get permission to circumvent that order. This was granted this morning.”
“Oh. Good.”
“Yes. It’s good. They’ve also fully healed, so they’re in better shape to be more thoroughly questioned.
Thus, I’ve decided to take this opportunity to get Bainon and Cormac out of Berg and away from their females so you can do your magic to sort them out before we return, and we can all sit down to dinner and calmly discuss things. ”
My…
Magic?
“They’re keen to find out what’s happening, and Bain sees the wisdom of giving Aleece some space,” he continued.
“I think you got through to Cormac last night as well, so he sees this for Gayle too. They’ve agreed to go.
But so you know what you’re dealing with, Bain has told Aleece they’re fated mates.
He has not released her from the spell yet, however. ”
I sat up straighter in his arms and asked, “Why the hells not?”
“He wants her to have her reaction to what he’s done free from the binds in which fate has tied them. He feels, rightly, he deserves whatever that response is before its tempered by their connection.”
Well…
That was nice.
I supposed.
“Is he doing this jacked-up shit because of whatever is happening?”
“We males have discussed it, and yes. There’s some kind of…something that’s triggering a protective instinct that is significantly advanced from what we normally feel.”
Crap.
“There’s more,” he said like it was a warning.
“What more?”
“There are a variety of reasons Aleksei dragged Laura up here. And one of them is that he needed to talk to me about Arnaud.”
Great.
Ar-fucking-naud.
“Okay,” I said so he’d go on.
“After Arnaud took the truth serum and it confirmed his innocence, the prosecutor’s case to try him for the murder of Tula Longshot fell apart.
All the physical evidence points to him, but it’s impossible to circumvent the serum.
It trumps even physical evidence. In the past, this has exposed frame jobs, and it’s seeming that’s what this is.
Arnaud was framed. And it would appear this was done by his own mother.
As hideous as that is, it makes sense, because, even if it’s his sickness, all reports were, he loved that girl. ”
I felt my stomach curdle at this.
I still nodded.
Tanyn kept on, “The same thing has happened around the Center’s case against him for the troll attack. Therefore, now, there are murmurings they’re going to be forced to release him.”
“Oh no,” I whispered.
“He’s no threat to my crown,” Tanyn assured quickly.
“The succession was proved clear, and the Assembly has ratified it. But among the many other irons I have in the fire, we’re investigating a number of issues around Arnaud’s reign.
Misuse of funds. Bribes he may have accepted.
Disreputable or even perverse associations he may have made and entangled with the crown.
Pretty much anything I can use to continue to limit his liberty, because regardless if he is innocent of the crimes he’s been accused of, he’s still a predator. ”
He was that, for certain.
“What I can’t do,” Tanyn went on, “as he’s a citizen of the Edge, is disallow him to return here if he’s released by Night’s Fall and the Center.”
“Oh shit.” I was still whispering.
“Agreed,” he replied. “Fillion and Aleksei have made it clear they want him out of the Fall, and although we have open borders, they can revoke permission for him to be there. They’ve done so.”
“Don’t blame them,” I mumbled.
“Anyone can go to the Center. But Arnaud won’t go there. He’ll come here.”
That male was such an ass.
“No doubt,” I agreed.
“I must say, underlining all of this, I just don’t trust him.
I’m not sure he was aware of all his mother was up to.
But he is not a good and decent male. I can’t retrospectively have him charged with sexual assault of underage females, since he made what he’d done before lawful, even if it’s now changed.
But I don’t want to wait to catch him out doing it again. ”
“No, we absolutely don’t want to wait for that.”
“And again, I just don’t trust him.”
“I think you’re right in that, however that might come about.”
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
I rolled a hand to invite him to get on with it.
“Those three advisors of Arnaud’s I told you about?”
I nodded.
“Dagsbrun and Niall have had them brought in. They demanded representation immediately. Didn’t answer that first question. Now, we’re in the process of going through the motions to have them extradited here for questioning. This will certainly take days. It might even take weeks.”
“Fabulous,” I mumbled.
“And again, we have to wait for the results of paperwork and investigations. Like we’re having to wait for every bloody thing.”
Oh, my poor male.
This was all too farging frustrating.
“Things will begin happening for us. Soon,” I encouraged.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he muttered.
Yikes.
“Now, we must go to Gehenn so we can do what needs to be done and be home by dinner,” he concluded.
I nodded.
But he didn’t get up and put me on my feet.
He sat there, holding me, his gaze roaming my face.
“Tanyn?”
His gaze caught mine. “Thank you for talking to Camaryn and Barret yesterday.”
“We’d discussed that. You knew I was going to do it.”
“I know.”
“So…” I tipped my head to the side. “I’m not understanding why this feels like a big deal.”
“Because there’s only one of me. And it feels unbelievably fucking good to now be part of a team.”
A team.
Shivers tingled all over my skin.
“What?” I whispered.
“The protests have calmed down, but the economic boycotts have gained traction. The Assembly’s decision on the tax issue not only remains unpopular, but this unpopularity is increasing.
Edgians are connecting dots. Identifying assemblybeings who went along with Arnaud’s tyranny, and in so doing, hung them out to dry.
We’ve had a record number of new candidates announcing their campaigns against incumbents.
And there’s a demand for a general election that’s so vociferous, it can’t be ignored.
In this, there’s a burgeoning cry to sweep the Assembly clean and give me a fresh one to work with.
This means all the seats are in jeopardy, and the representatives are feeling it. ”
That would be mega.
I didn’t have a chance to share that, Tanyn was still updating me.
“Currently, this is being characterized as frustration and disgruntlement among the population, rather than unrest. But the Assembly is nervous. They’re pushing now for tax reform.
It just doesn’t go far enough because ‘far enough’ would make their contributors angry, and they need hefty contributions because their seats are being threatened.
In turn, this is feeding the overall frustration of the populace. ”
“Okay,” I said, because I wasn’t all that sure why he was telling me this.
“They’re also drafting legislation at an accelerated rate. This to right the wrongs they all blithely signed off on when Arnaud and Tatra were reigning.”
“Is this a bad thing?”
“No, but it’s taking a good deal of my time, along with trying to understand whatever Tatra is up to and attempting to find something that will clip Arnaud’s wings.”
“Oh. Right,” I mumbled.
And again, my poor male.
He had a ton on his plate.
“So I have no time to sit down with the castle steward and head housekeeper to understand why I see so many servants,” he said.
“To know the crown underpays essential staff. To learn that beings working right under my nose were going about those duties with residual fear that they’d be mistreated while simply doing their jobs.
No time now, and no time in the immediate or even distant future.
Not that this isn’t important, just that I’d not have the headspace to notice it and do something about it. ”
I was understanding what I did to earn what happened last night.
Sort of.