“Everythingis important to me—I’m the Pasha of Iluul in everything but name. The security, history, and survival of our people are my priority. Which includes educating myself on potential threats both to and within the territory.”
“And what threat would that be?” I asked, taking a delicate sip of my own coffee. Flavor unlike anything I’d tasted recently burst across my tongue, and I closed my eyes briefly at the taste.
“You. Your . . . girlfriend? Wife? Current concubine?”
My eyes shot open, and I nearly spat my coffee across the table. I swallowed roughly, barely contained a cough, and my surprise.
“But . . . how . . .” I sputtered, trying to wrap my head around Hosmunt’s casual admittance.
He waited with smug expectance for me to gather my thoughts. I sat the espresso cup down with a heavy thump.
“How do you know of her?” I asked evenly. A threat of violence underscoredmy words as my magic fought to breach the surface at his blatant attempt to goad me with derogatory insults directed at my wife.
“There have been whispers, rumors. It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together that the Lord of Iluul was the man with four powers and that the girl meant something to you.”
I stared in numb shock, processing his words, as Hosmunt casually reached for the flatbread and cheese.
“If that weren’t enough, Solace came to warn us. Well, first, she wanted us to ally with her and, when your father turned her away, she promised revenge on Iluul and the south. As soon as your father’s health . . . declined, I took it upon myself to reopen that line of communication.”
I was dumbfounded, completely speechless, all previous forms of unaffectedness and pretenses dropped.
“Why?” My voice cracked. “Surely you’ve seen the destruction that she’s ravaged? The pain she’s caused?”
Hosmunt chewed slowly, the glint in his eyes indicating he liked having the upper hand in this conversation.
“Of course I have. She’s left Iluul alone, eradicated opposition in the remote farmlands. It’s been quite helpful.”
“Eradicated opposition?” I whispered. “They’re your own people!”
“But that’s where you’re wrong, Torin. Where both you and your father misstepped. They’renotour people. They were, once, when we were an empire with a sultan. Now they’re just small trading and farming villages.”
“You owe them protection!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands wide.
“I owe them nothing!” Hosmunt roared, his fist coming down onto the table, making the silverware and cups jump.
“I owe them nothing,” he reiterated more calmly, even if rage bubbled beneath the surface. “Perhaps, if they were more inclined to join the Iluulian Empire, they’d still be standing.”
“What?” I asked with a sad shake of my head. “You can’t possibly mean to conquer all of that free territory.”
“I do. I can. I will. What’s to stop me? I have the protection of a nasty, vengeful goddess.”
“Me,” I said with a vehemence I hadn’t felt in some time. “I will stand in your way.”
Hosmunt threw his head back and laughed a loud, caustic sound that shook the table.
“You cannot possibly want to ally with them. She will only come to claim the land you’ve taken, your people’s lives, once it’s all said and done.” I spoke loudly over his mirth.
Eventually, his laughter subsided, and he wiped the tears from his eyes.
“With what army, Torin? What can you possibly offer me that the gods can’t?”
My mouth tightened as I thought of my father’s words from last night.
“You don’t even have the ability to call yourself Pasha, let alone Sultan,” I stated and watched as his eyes darkened with a storm. “Not while I still live.”
“Then perhaps I should just kill you,” he hissed, and I felt his Fire Magic pulse in his hands. With little effort or concentration, I pulled his power away from him until it rested in my outstretched palm. Hosmunt’s eyes bulged as he watched his fire dance along my fingers before I closed my hand, snuffing the flames completely.
I offered him a smug grin. “And how do you propose you do that? After all, I am a godling.”
