Chapter 29
“Ido wish you had notified me about your meeting with Haman before you went off alone with him,” Iannis said as we walked back from the breakfast buffet.
I’d told him over a large and very satisfying meal what had happened last night—by the time we’d returned to bed, I’d been too tired to go over it with him then.
“But I am glad he shows some fatherly concern, and that he has agreed not to interfere with our union.”
“I am too,” I said, squeezing Iannis’s forearm gently. “I wasn’t trying to shut you out, you know. I just felt like it was something I needed to handle alone.”
Iannis sighed. “You are a grown woman,” he said eventually. “I cannot dictate your every move; I can only advise you as to what I think is best. At least you asked me to come along for this next meeting.”
Haman had sent a servant to our pavilion this morning with a message for me, asking me to meet him at the same koi pond at nine o’clock.
I could have gone without Iannis, but I felt like doing that twice would have been a betrayal of sorts.
I was gradually getting accustomed to thinking of myself as part of a couple, a team.
I imagined it was even harder for Iannis to get used to the idea, since he’d been single even longer than I had.
Hopefully one day, we’d both learn to include each other in all our schemes and problems. It wasn’t a matter of trust, but more of habit—we were both used to relying on ourselves.
Haman was waiting beneath the tree, dressed in cream robes with a gold-and-black pattern.
His thick, curly dark hair hung free, brushing his shoulders, and there was a hint of stubble around his strong jaw.
I tensed a little at the troubled look in his green eyes—he had bags beneath them, as if he’d been up all night.
“Good morning, Lord Iannis, Sunaya,” Haman said to us, offering a strained smile. “Thank you for coming so promptly.”
“Good morning, Lord Haman,” Iannis said, sliding an arm around my waist and pulling me a little closer. “We are more than happy to meet with you, although I am not sure you should be addressing my fiancée with such familiarity.”
“I would never do so in public,” Haman said stiffly. “However, she is my daughter. Unless you would rather I not?” he asked, his eyes softening ever so slightly as he looked at me.
“No, it’s all right,” I said, sighing a little.
It was strange—all these years I had hated my unknown father, expected to hate him even worse if I ever met him face to face, but I could not help rather liking Haman ar’Rhea.
Perhaps because he had so much of me in him.
“Just don’t expect me to start calling you dad.
” I wasn’t ready for that. Not by a long shot.
“Why did you call us here?” Iannis demanded. “Sunaya says that you have an idea of who might have attacked her. Do I guess correctly that it is someone close to you?”
“Yes.” Haman’s expression grew chagrined.
“The knife Sunaya described sounded much like a knife that belongs to my son Malik. I questioned him about it last night. In the end, I had to use magic to get the truth out of him. He is a stubborn young man.” I could sense Haman’s exasperation.
He was still very upset, and no wonder. “Malik finally confessed that he was indeed trying to kill you. He was acting on behalf of Lord Ragir, his grandfather and the former High Mage. Not that I’m trying to minimize Malik’s guilt.
He is old enough not to have gone along with such a murderous scheme behind my back. ” Haman’s voice was heavy.
“Your son and your father-in-law?” I gaped. “But why—what have I done to them?” Iannis, beside me, did not seem particularly surprised. I remembered that he had warned me of the man’s ruthlessness when we’d talked about the ar’Rhea family back home in Solantha.
“You don’t know Ragir; he is ice-cold, an absolute terror,” Haman said.
“It was Ragir who dictated that letter Isana wrote to you. He hoped to place an assassin in her entourage if she was invited to meet you, but when he guessed you might be coming to Garai, he roped my son into helping him instead.” His expression darkened.
“That he subverted my own children like that is unforgivable. I shall forbid him all further contact with them when I return to Castalis.”
“Why does he want me dead so badly?” I asked, trying not to sound too hurt about it.
After all, I had expected something like this, but still, to actually hear it…
. At least Ragir is not related to me by blood, I consoled myself.
But that excuse did not apply to Malik and Isana.
I was glad of Iannis’ warm, steady presence beside me as I contemplated how my half-siblings wished me dead.
“Ragir considers you a threat to the family honor, for all the reasons that you would imagine,” Haman said gravely.
“I would be stripped of my office should the truth come out, and my family’s reputation would be in ruins.
I suppose in his twisted way, he saw it as a necessity to protect his daughter and grandchildren. ”
“I assume that you are going to punish your son for his crime?” Iannis asked, fury simmering just beneath his cool tone.
Anger radiated off him in waves, and I squeezed his arm a little tighter.
The last thing I needed was for him to attack Haman, though I knew Iannis probably wouldn’t do that.
He very rarely lost his head over anything.
“I would hate to have to take matters into my own hands,” he added in a tone that made it very clear that he absolutely would do so if he felt he had to.
“Of course,” Haman said tightly. “I cannot allow such insubordination, never mind the fact that Sunaya is my flesh and blood.” His expression softened as he looked my way. Iannis tensed slightly when Haman reached into his sleeve, but relaxed when he only withdrew a small velvet box.
“Please accept this, as a token of my regret,” he said, handing it to me. “It will not make up for my absence as a father, or for my son’s deplorable behavior, but I believe you’ll find it quite useful.”
“T-thanks,” I said, opening the box. Inside rested a gold ring with a square-cut emerald in the center. The gemstone flashed in the morning sunlight as I held it up, and the scent of magic tickled my nose. “What does it do?”
“Aside from looking pretty?” The corner of Haman’s lip briefly curved. “It will help you tell friend from foe. When an enemy is near, it will grow warm, and when one approaches with killing intent, it will grow hot.”
“So it’ll scald me in an attempt to save me?” I asked dubiously. With the kind of life I led, I might have burn marks on my finger in no time at all.
“No, it won’t get quite that hot,” Haman said.
“This ring is a family heirloom, said to have belonged to the First Mage’s daughter, our ancestress.
As it is clearly designed for a woman, it has not been used in my family for some time.
I intended to give it to Isana, but in light of recent events, I think you could use it more. And you are my first-born child.”
“Oh. Well, thank you.” Touched, I slipped the jewel onto the ring finger on my right hand. It fit perfectly, as though made for me. “I will wear it always.”
“Good.” Haman smiled briefly, then grew stern as he looked at Iannis. “Take good care of my daughter, Lord Iannis. I may not be able to claim her publicly, but I won’t allow harm to come to her if I can help it.”
“I will,” Iannis said, something like respect entering his voice for the first time. “She is mine, after all.” He pulled me a little tighter against him.
“I can take care of myself perfectly well, you know,” I said, a little cross now. I didn’t like the way the men were talking about me, as if I were a possession.
“Of that I have no doubt,” Haman assured me. He bowed to us both. “Good day, my dear.”
As Iannis and I watched Haman walk away, I leaned against him and smiled a little. His possessiveness might be a little much at times, but Iannis wrapped me in his love and was unafraid to stand by me openly in the eyes of the world.