Chapter 20 #3
‘Why would you invite your enemy into this city?’ Kyor’s voice snaps into the air as though there wasn’t an entirely different conversation going on. ‘Why would you let my father even see this place?’
Muscles clench involuntarily as a nervous frisson ripples through the group. My eyes seek out Kyor’s, but the prince is looking solely at Magnus, as if there is no one else in the room. When my gaze catches Benny’s, I see he mirrors my worry.
Korvane Knavin does not feel like an appropriate topic of conversation for the dinner table, but what did Magnus expect in joining us?
Then again, perhaps he knew from Uzra that Kyor has been actively avoiding speaking of his father and assumed tonight would be the same.
But apparently, Kyor has decided he wants answers now.
As a taut silence swallows the group, Magnus leans back in his chair, calm and clear.
‘I grew up knowing war. Issen against Morathkian. It was not like it is now. The bloodshed was not so unrelenting and widespread, but the tension was constant, nonetheless. Bitter squabbles over small patches of land. A new skirmish and deaths every moon. Deaths of my loved ones, my friends, and then, eventually, my older brother.’
‘Your brother?’ I question, surprised by this announcement. It’s not as though Magnus has shared many personal details – I still don’t even know the name of my own grandmother – but since he’s the king, I naturally assumed he was the eldest son.
‘Yes,’ he says. ‘I was never meant to rule. But then Oel’s order claimed my brother’s powers for Mortidem.’
‘And you reacted to your brother’s death by wanting peace?’ Kyor questions. His tone is one of disbelief and no wonder. Kyor’s reaction to the loss of a loved one was to seek vengeance. Vengeance even on those who did not deserve it. But a lot has changed since then.
‘I wanted the deaths to end,’ Magnus says carefully.
‘And I was not going to use my brother’s life – one single Issen – to justify taking hundreds, if not thousands, of other lives.
It would not be what he wanted. So yes, I aspired to make my rule one of peace.
Korvane was just as ambitious, but in a different way.
I knew that the king back then – your grandfather – would never dream of brokering a treaty, so we sent an invitation to Korvane.
’ He sighs. ‘It’s possibly the greatest regret of my life.
’ The old man’s throat bobs as he swallows, as though he’s trying to force the rest of the words to his mouth.
‘Korvane accepted an invitation to meet once, twice, and then a dozen times, if not more. By then, I thought we were more than contemporaries. I thought we were friends. Then I extended the invitation to come here. When he arrived with a group of only one hundred men, knowing that we could easily overpower them, I truly believed it was the start of something.’ He reaches for his glass and holds it there for a moment, but he doesn’t sip.
‘For a month, he lived at the palace. He knew my people. He met my wife. My daughter.’
He glances at me, and something ripples down my spine.
My mother. My mother, who once walked the corridors and roads that I now walk.
Who would have listened to the vandsang and walked across bridges to the sacred lands.
Perhaps she looked at picture books in the soft, cushioned chairs of the vast library.
This was her home, for a while at least, and I can’t help but wonder if her choice to take gladden root wasn’t merely to protect herself from her heritage, but to erase the hurt that leaving here had caused.
‘All the time, he and his men were questioning,’ Magnus continues.
‘Much the way I see you doing.’ His eyes flicker across to Ruben.
It’s true. Ruben is our key questioner, but that’s just because he loves talking to people.
There’s nothing sinister in it, and I hope Magnus knows that.
I suspect he does, given all it takes is ten minutes with Ruben to know he doesn’t have a malicious bone in his body.
‘They were learning,’ Magnus says, ‘and I thought it was because they wanted to know about us. For some of them, it truly was. But for Korvane, it was all about learning how he could ultimately defeat us.
‘Despite their inferior numbers, we should have lost. The whole city should have been destroyed. They had the element of surprise, and we were utterly unprepared for the violence. If it hadn’t been for Uzra and some of the other men, the city would be Morathkian now.
Korvane’s plan was to overthrow us in the middle of the night, slaughter the royal family while we slept, and then let more of his men in through the ravine to kill everyone who did not abide by his new regime.
But Uzra and the other knights you have met here in the city couldn’t go through with the plan.
They gave us a warning and a chance to prepare our fighters.
A chance to get our loved ones out of the city.
And when the moment came, the knights and their dire wolves fought with us rather than with Korvane. ’
His eyes meet mine, and every hair on the back of my neck stands on end. Tears prick at my eyes.
‘My mother,’ I say. ‘You sent her away because Korvane was attacking Isthyr?’
‘My wife, she … she believed she could find somewhere safer for our daughter. In my mind, I assumed they would go to— to—’
He stops abruptly in a familiar way. Almost like his mouth was sealed shut by a vow. His eyes flicker towards Thessa before returning to mine.
The Sannings. He thought his wife was going to the Sannings. Why?
‘All that mattered was that she was somewhere safe,’ he continues.
‘That she left Isthyr and she and our daughter survived. Your presence here confirms that for me. After decades of fear, I know now that my daughter lived, loved, and married. That is a great comfort to me, and I will always thank you for that gift, Rose.’ A slight smile ghosts across his lips before vanishing as he resumes his story.
‘Once Korvane’s men were out of the city, Uzra and the others put up the pyrrhic, making the way in nearly impossible to find.
But since then, we have fought bitterly.
We have fought every year of our lives. And I am so tired of the fighting.
As I hope,’ he says, looking now at Kyor, ‘are you. And that is why I have once again let a Knavin into Isthyr.’
The air is thick, so dense I almost believe it could suffocate me.
It’s Kyor who finally opens his mouth first. Though he says only a single word.
‘Caz?’
My heart throbs in my chest. There will be no coming back from this, and every one of us knows it. Kyor looks her in the eye as if she’s the only person in the room.
We’re frozen, awaiting her answer, but in the end, it’s Benny who speaks.
‘You already know what she’s going to tell you, Kyor,’ he says softly.
‘I asked Caz!’ Kyor growls back.
Slowly, she dips her chin in a nod. ‘He’s telling the truth, Kyor. Every word he’s said has been true.’
Kyor’s body is rigid, and I draw in a breath. All eyes are on the prince, all showing the same level of wariness. But why? Kyor wouldn’t attack Magnus, would he? Not when he knows he’s my grandfather. Not when he knows he’s done nothing wrong.
A screech tears through the air as Kyor pushes back his chair and stands. The entire table flinches at the harsh sound.
‘Thank you, Magnus. Thank you for your hospitality tonight, and since we have arrived here. And for how you are helping Rose. I appreciate it. Truly. But if you don’t mind, I suddenly find myself in need of solitude.’
‘Of course,’ Magnus replies calmly.
Then, without so much as a glance in my direction, Kyor turns on his heel and leaves.