Terran startled at her speech. It was an accent we hadn’t heard in some time. Once, when humans flowed freely into Elydor, occasionally those from outside England would find their way to York and through the Gate. It happened enough that Elydorians became accustomed to a variety of different accents from the human realm. But it had been nearly thirty years since the Gate was open, and those who remained had eventually learned Elydorian.
“He deserved it.” Terran was less than apologetic. “As he admitted.”
Mev crossed her arms, unconvinced.
“I watched the two of you battle. At any time, you could have stopped to listen to your brother’s side of the story. But nooooo, you blasted him first and asked questions later. Oh wait”— she snapped her fingers, as if remembering something—“that’s right. You never asked any questions, just laid into him for?—”
“Mev.”
She spun her head toward Kael.
“What? I was just getting started.”
“I know. That’s why I stopped you.”
The king tried, and failed, not to smile. I was accustomed to their bantering and used the opportunity to actually introduce the two.
“Prince Kael, this is your brother’s partner, and now your family,” I reminded him. “Princess Mevlida.”
“He hit you,” Mev repeated as Kael gave her adon’t do itlook. She clearly wanted to continue her well-earned tirade against Terran.
“And I did abandon him, even if it was justified.”
She looked as ready to hit Terran as he had just before he struck his brother. I’d seen Mev angry before, with Kael especially, when they’d first met. But the fury she directed toward Terran was unlike anything I had seen from her.
This was not going well.
“Perhaps we should allow them to speak. Your Majesties,” I said to both the king and Mev, “I have much to relay. ’Tis pressing.” I caught Terran’s eye. “And we should, perhaps, prepare for battle.”
Terran didn’t disagree.
“Were you followed here?” Kael asked, concern etched in every feature.
“Since Father has likely guessed I took the Stone of Mor’Vallis? And four of his ships were spotted just off the Blackshore Coast.”
Everyone had stopped listening attook the Stone of Mor’Vallis. I willed them not to say any more. Thankfully, the king seemed to sense my rising panic and gestured for Mev to follow us.
“Come,” he said to Mev and me, graciously leaving his own hall. King Galfrid rarely used his throne room, except for formal and official events. Though I followed my king, it was imperative I caught Kael’s attention. When he finally glanced my way, I shook my head ever so slightly.
No, he doesn’t know we want to use the Stone to open the Aetherian Gate.
Kael understood. I was certain of it. Before we even left the chamber, he’d already begun to question Terran.
“What does she mean, prepare for battle?”
It was the same question King Galfrid asked as we entered his solar chamber. It was as different as Terran’s as could be. Windows and light made it seem like part of the sky, as it was with so many of Aethralis’s chambers. There were no regular windows, though. Each one an enchanted, and impenetrable, pane of crystal that shifted hue with the light, mirroring the skies beyond.
“As Terran said, he has the Stone. Balthor suspects it was he who took it.”
I started at the beginning, regaling my time in Gyoria and leaving out some of the… grittier details.
“So he has it,” Mev summarized, “but hasn’t agreed for us to use it? And it’s very likely either Balthor, or at least his men, are on their way here to retrieve it.”
I nodded. “It was a gamble, leaving the Gyorian palace. But without Terran’s aid, I’d not have been able to retrieve it.”
“A bloodline seal?” Galfrid guessed.
“Aye.”
