The Imperial Senate and the Regent were dead; who exactly was going to enforce anything that did not follow the protocols of succession? The Council could not be so entrenched in tradition that it could not see the dilemma being presented. A’bbni decided to try one more exploratory question. “Would it behoove us to do our best to convince him that a peaceful secession of power would be a wise course of action?” He purposefully made the end of his words sound meek, hoping the Council would think he had not seen through their manipulations and was trying to do what they asked of him.
Jin’fen smiled, Mii’ra nodded, and Ba’shea’s eyes glittered. “We believe that would be prudent, yes,” Mii’ra said, her tone light.
So, they wanted him to take the throne, and for Shi’chen to permanently sign away his claim. A’bbni could think of several reasons why, none of which were good. He gave them what he hoped was an unwitting smile. “We shall speak to him regarding this matter.”
The Council all nodded this time. “Please do,” Jin’fen said. “He will listen to you.”
Yes, he will,A’bbni thought. That was exactly what they wanted. “Does this conclude your business with us?”
“Yes, Your Reverence,” Ba’shea said, with his cold smile. “Thank you for your time. We shall plan to speak with you again when your brother arrives.” A’bbni stood up, collecting his cloak with as much poise as he could muster before giving them all a last small nod and heading out of the room, feeling the three sets of eyes burning holes in his back until the doors to the den of vipers had at last closed behind him.
He headed down the hall, his heart still racing in his chest. All he wanted to do was talk to his brother and find out what Shi’chen’s thoughts on the situation were, but that was not an option right now. He was entirely alone in this venture, and while he logically knew that dealing with this on his own was not unexpected, it still made his heart ache. He was nineteen –no, twenty,he corrected himself – barely considered an adult, shoved violently into this world of political machinations that he had never intended to be a part of, and certainly not without at least his brother, if not his Father, by his side.
As he stepped out into the bright sunlight and the crisp, cool air, A’bbni felt his stomach settle just a bit. Something was nagging at his mind, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. Not that that was unusual, his mind was usually full of thoughts, like now, but something about the Council besides just their manipulative tactics was burrowing into his brain. The black carriage the Arvay family had provided appeared in front of him, and A’bbni gratefully stepped up into it, pressing his fingers to his temples as a headache caught up to him. Perhaps when he arrived back at Lord Kella’s estate, there would be news of his brother. That was the only positive thought in his head as stared glumly at the empty spot on the seat next to him.
The troubled feeling in his stomach was still there as he replayed the Council’s words over and over in his head, trying to figure out what they were trying to accomplish and why they had made him feel so uneasy. By the time the carriage pulled to a stop at the Arvay estate, A’bbni had a pounding headache. He made his way up to his room and laid down, trying to rest, but sleep would not come. It did not that night, either.
Chapter thirteen
Shi'chen
Shi’chencouldbarelystandstill during the unloading of the ship but forced himself to focus so no one got hurt. There were way too many boxes for his patience, but he realized he didn’t have much of a choice yet. The hard work distracted him from the cold that caused his fingers, toes, and ears to tingle unpleasantly. He already hated how cold it was, and he knew it would only get colder. A’bbni had told him about “snow” that fell the closer one went north toward the elven continent, and he was not at all excited to see such a thing for himself if it only came when it was this cold outside.
After the ship had docked in Genhin’saa, the ship had been waylaid for three days while the injured crew members were examined, damaged inventory removed, new inventory taken, and the ship’s stores restocked. Shi’chen was at least glad he was kept busy helping, or he might have tried to run all the way to Csereth with how impatient he was. He was oddly grateful that Lai knew his secret, so he did not have to try to come up with some reason why it was so important for him to get to Csereth without being stopped.
After discussing it further with Lai, they decided that staying on the ship was best, as they could not be certain that the roads were not being watched; enough time had passed for a message to get to both Genhin’saa and Csereth. A waylaid cargo ship was also less likely to draw extra attention, as the captain and ship owner would be anxious to continue their journey after the delay, and the city soldiers would not originally have the ship on their docking list.
Eventually all the crates were unloaded, the ship scrubbed, and the crew were given their compensation from the captain and the merchants whose cargo they had carried. Shi’chen almost sprinted down the gangplank as the crew members were released, Lai following him at a leisurely pace, a rapier that Shi’chen had never seen him wear before securely buckled to his side under his cloak.
“Come on,” Shi’chen insisted, trying very hard not to bounce up and down on the balls of his feet as Lai finally stepped onto the dock next to him.
Lai rolled his eyes. “You can’t go dashing through the street, you know.”
Shi’chen looked like he was going to disprove that point, but he sighed and shouldered his bag. “I know. But let’s go!”
Lai shook his head. “No. First we need to get you some warmer clothing. Your brother would not forgive me if I delivered you,” he said a word in Cserethian that Shi’chen assumed was ‘frozen.’
One more obstacle between him and A’bbni, but Lai had a point. His tunics, pants, and sandals were not designed for the colder weather of the northern city, and now that he was aware of it, he was starting to shiver, and it was only going to get colder. “All right,” he relented.
Lai smiled. “Come on.” He led him down the street, seeming to know where he was headed. Shi’chen followed after him, trying very hard not to stare. He had never been to Csereth, and while it was not entirely dissimilar from Er’hadin, there were noticeable differences. The buildings were taller, many of them more than the usual one to three stories of the buildings in the imperial city. He knew that the elves tended to build taller rather than wider, and there was definitely much more elven influence on this city, likely due to how close it was to Kendarin, just a few days’ trip further north across the isthmus, or the Coral Sea. There was quite a bit of glass used in the windows, though more of it was clear rather than colored like the stained windows that decorated most of the palace and the surrounding imperial city.
The colors seemed cooler here, as well. Where most goblins in the center of Hanenea’a favored earthy tones, warm reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks, the colors here were brighter. Vivid jeweled tones of green, blue, and purple were everywhere, on buildings, signs, clothing.
Once they had moved a few blocks from the sea, the salty, tangy smell of the water that he had grown used to faded into other, more familiar, street smells. Cooking meat and baking pastries, sweaty horses and their droppings, the occasional sweet waft of perfumes, oil from streetlamps that were not currently lit in the middle of the day. He felt a painful twinge of homesickness in his chest. It felt strange to be back on land again, and once in a while, his step faltered. He saw Lai notice it and give him a grin. “That will pass soon.”
“Good. I want to not be on a boat again for a long time,” Shi’chen replied.
“No promises,” Lai said with a shrug as he paused by a stall to buy two warm pastries wrapped in brown paper. He handed one to Shi’chen, who took it gratefully. Almost two weeks of food on the ship had left much to be desired, and his stomach growled eagerly as he took a bite, finding the inside filled with a spiced mix of ground meat and vegetables. He was sure he had not ever tasted anything so good as he followed a step behind Lai.
The mix of languages around him was distracting. Most of it was Cserethian, but he caught bits of Hanen-shii and Hanen-sha, as well as a few other languages he recognized as primarily elven, though he did not understand most of it. A’bbni would have been excited to try to decipher all of them, but he just felt lost in the sea of unfamiliar faces. This close to the docks, there were many full-blooded elves, as well as a larger than usual amount of people who obviously had both elf and goblin in their blood. He found himself scanning to see if any had ears like Lai, but none did.
Lai stopped at a corner where a small group of people had gathered and seemed to be waiting. “We’ll take a carriage there, and then to the inn,” he explained to Shi’chen.
Shi’chen nodded, finishing the pastry in his hand and trying very hard not to lick his fingers in public. “You know Csereth well?”
Lai nodded. “It is the main port for this side of Hanenea’a, so I go through here often.”
“How far is it toVayalla Oren?” Shi’chen asked, hugging his pack a little closer for warmth now that he was standing still.
