Chapter 14 #3
He swivels his head to mine. Shock widens his eyes before he’s bursting out into laughter.
“Your Majesty. What an excellent sense of humor!”
A genuine smile stretches across my face, wiping away some of the annoyance I had felt towards Lachlan’s disclosure.
I can’t help myself and glance back to where he’s following behind us to see Neva lean towards him.
Her breasts brush against his arm and my heart stops.
She whispers something in his ear and slips her hand into his.
A vice grips my heart and squeezes painfully as my feet falter.
But Lachlan rips his hand out of hers and scowls at her.
I’ve never seen him look so furious before and I’m relieved it’s not towards me.
If I’m being honest, I’m elated to see him handle her with such a firm hand.
That line drawn in the sand between them eases some of the resentment I had felt stirring.
But diplomacy wins out.
We can’t have Ashur refusing to help us with the crystal because we offended one of his assistants.
I clear my throat, garnering their attention. “Is everything alright, Captain?”
Lachlan glares at Neva a moment longer before turning softer eyes to me. “Aye, my queen. Just some discussions on boundaries.” He enunciates ‘boundaries.’
I bite my lip to keep the laughter from slipping out.
“I see.” My attention returns to Ashur, who is conversing with a passerby before leading us again.
“So what brings you to our shores, Your Majesty?”
“Did Odessa ever gift the island anything?”
Ashur freezes. “Yes…yes she did. Why?”
“That object is hindering magic. We need to destroy it.”
He strokes his long, braided beard. The gold cuffs around his wrist jingle with the movement.
“And how is our moonstone blessed by Ishtar blocking magic?” His eyes darken under the shadow of his lowered brow, and I feel that I’ve greatly offended him.
“Well, for starters—” Lachlan starts in. His shoulders square with the change of tone that Ashur exhibited towards me.
My eyes flash to his and I shake my head once.
“You remember that the Odessa from the last fifty years, wasn’t the real Odessa correct? And was being impersonated by a creature from our enemy’s realm?”
His face tightens. “Yes.”
“That creature lied about many things, including the moonstone.”
“How so?”
“It’s not a moonstone at all by quartz imbued with asphidra venom.”
He reels back, clutching the large amulet that hangs on his chest. “And you’re certain?”
I grimace, realizing this will be much harder than I thought. “We are. We’ve destroyed several others and magic has regenerated since.”
We walk again and Ashur nods thoughtfully to himself. “We keep the moonstone in the town square. It’s an important monument to the citizens of this district. After it was gifted to us, our island flourished. Businesses opened, trade boomed, and we prospered.”
My brow wrinkles with his words. “And the people believe it is because of the moonstone?” The words come out more clipped than I intended, but the meaning is still the same.
“Indeed. So you can see why I am hesitant to allow you to destroy it.”
Allow me? I choose my words carefully, easing around the anger I feel pulsing through me.
“Even if it is the very thing that is crippling our entire realm?”
Ashur grimaces. “You are undoing everything that made our realm thrive. Reinstating the training grounds takes men away from their businesses. The moonstone is a blessing to us. You can see how that looks?”
I blink, slowly. Business and wealth, not duty and honor.
“I see. But the result will be the same. The moonstone needs to be removed and training must be a priority.” My words are kind, but firm, leaving no room for discussion. Ashur bristles but doesn’t immediately respond.
I take in the busy street we’ve turned onto, leaving the smaller, quiet alley behind us. Here there are women with woven baskets leaving shops and men with sickle-shaped swords, or jewel-encrusted daggers entering taverns. Everything is a show of wealth, of power.
“I will take you to it. But we cannot remove the moonstone until the morning. Most of the men that could help us are already in the taverns after a long day—of training,” he grumbles.
But I smile at his words. Relieved that training has begun here as well. “Is training going well, then?”
Ashur strokes his beard, avoiding my eyes. “Some are extremely motivated after the events of the past month.”
“I am glad to hear that. Are the teens too tired to break curfew now?”
A smile tugs at his lips and he nods.
Warmth pierces between my shoulder blades and I turn slightly to glance behind me. Lachlan is scanning every doorway as we pass, scrutinizing each person who comes close. While Neva follows behind, her shoulders slumped and her expression clearly crestfallen. A seed of sadness grows for her.
I know exactly what it’s like to be spurned by Lachlan.
A man like that will haunt your dreams for a lifetime.
“Ah, here we are! Istanbul!” Ashur stops in front of a stone building with large, lancet windows. Strings of lights are wrapped from the building to the tall lantern posts outside.
Inside, tables are crowded with diners enjoying heavenly-smelling food. The aroma of roasted lamb, pita bread, and decadent spices greets us as we walk through the door. He leads us to an oval, white cloth-covered table at the back, just large enough to fit the four of us.
“This is one of my favorite restaurants on the island, Your Majesty. Do you enjoy Mediterranean food?” Ashur asks, flapping open a napkin and draping it gracefully over his lap.
“I do very much. My parents’ favorite restaurant was a small Mediterranean place on the coast of California.
Actually,”—I look around at the jeweled lamps that hang from the ceiling—“this place looks exactly like the one we frequented.” So many similarities between this world and the places we would stay at in the human realm.
It’s obvious to me now my mother was homesick.
A woman with a tightly coifed bun and brightly colored eye shadow places plates piled high with food on our table.
“Thank you, Leyla,” Ashur murmurs as he forks roasted lamb and zucchinis onto his plate.
I smile at the woman as she places a basket of pita bread right in front of me and my eyes widen with excitement. “Thank you so much.”
Lachlan rolls his eyes, reaching for the basket. “Ye and your bread,” he teases.
But I snatch a slice from his hand before reaching out to dollop some hummus onto my plate.
Neva sits silently as she eats, not even uttering a thank you to Leyla. I’m undecided if it’s from sadness or rudeness. But I feel my heartstrings being pulled if it’s from the former and decide to swallow down my jealousy and befriend her.
“Neva, what exactly does an assistant to the Ishtar councilor do?” I ask, before taking a bite of a slice of lamb.
“Whatever he asks,” she snarks, patting the side of her lip with a napkin. Okay, that was slightly rude.
“Oh, I see.”
Ashur either doesn’t notice her tone towards me or doesn’t care. Lachlan’s mouth parts as if he’s about to come to my defense, but I speak before he can. “And how do you know Captain Freysson?”
Her fork screeches against her plate and she throws a glare at me. Lachlan coughs, grabbing my thigh under the table and squeezing.
“We did some, um, training together. Before he left for the human realm.” There’s an even more noticeable edge to her words as she slings them at me and my kindness towards her immediately evaporates.
I take a sip from the wine Leyla placed before me. “Did you train together long?” I lean back in my chair, swirling the wine in front of me.
Lachlan’s jaw crackles with tension as he stares me down. Neva shifts in her chair. Her spine is as straight as an arrow as she avoids my gaze. But Ashur is oblivious, nodding along to the conversation as he shovels bites of food into his mouth.
“Long enough,” she murmurs, her eyes darkening as she looks at him, batting her long lashes.
“Your Majesty,” I finish for her, and her brow creases as she swivels her gaze back to me. “You meant to say ‘long enough, Your Majesty,’ correct?”
Lachlan’s eyes widen in shock at my brazenness, but Neva does not respond. She merely dips her chin. Satisfied that I’ve, albeit insecurely, secured my position, I turn to Ashur.
“We’ll need to remove the moonstone first thing in the morning. I’m not sure how big it is, but I trust you can supply the needed men to assist us so that we can be on our way?” My tone is not abrasive, but it is firm. I suddenly have zero desire to stay here any longer than necessary.
Ashur places his fork down with slow intention and swallows. “Are we sure there isn’t any way to leave the moonstone where it is?”
Neva slides her gaze to Lachlan again and licks her lips.
My dwindling patience vanishes.
“I’m not sure, but we don’t have any time to waste.
We will find a suitable replacement for the moonstone after we restore magic, finish training, and stop a war.
” I ball my napkin up and toss it onto my plate.
“I don’t think you realize the precarious position we are in at the moment.
The realm will cease to exist without magic.
The moonstone is, for lack of a better word—cursed—and prohibiting magic. ”
Ashur stares down at the plate in front of him in shame or—willpower not to argue further.
But the sight of one of my people reduced to such a state has my rapidly rising anger evaporating. I sigh, realizing what this situation needs is patience.
“I can make any kind of statement necessary to the people of this district before the moonstone is taken down. This will not be a slight to Ishtar, but it is necessary.”
He grimaces but nods. “Thank you for the consideration, Your Majesty.”