"Oh, I am. Sincerely. I'm bored, and you seem like an intelligent fellow, which means you are capable of engaging me in a stimulating conversation."
Kian smiled. "I can, and I will. I'm sure you will find what I have to say very stimulating, just not in the way you hope."
Navuh's amused expression didn't falter. "I can't wait to hear it."
"It's about the bargain you offered."
"Oh?" Navuh arched a brow. "Is Annani ready to discuss terms?"
"No." Kian leaned forward in his chair. "Your leverage is gone. We know where Khiann is."
Navuh's expression flickered with surprise, but he quickly masked it with his usual sarcasm.
"Do you, now?" Navuh's voice remained steady. "And where is that?"
"In the basement of your mansion on the island."
Navuh must have been ready for that because his expression didn't change. "And how did you arrive at this remarkable conclusion?"
"Tamira and Elias figured it out."
Navuh knew the shaman as Elias, and Kian saw no reason to reveal that his real name was Eluheed and why he had used an alias.
"The shaman." Navuh's lip curled. "Not many people manage to play me, but he did. I should have disposed of him when I had the chance."
"Didn't he provide you with valuable information?"
"His visions were more trouble than they were worth because he saw more than I wanted him to see."
"His visions didn't show him anything about Khiann," Kian said. "He had no idea who I was talking about, but when I told him and Tamira that we are looking for Khiann and his four immortal companions, who we believe are in stasis, Tamira remembered something important. She said that when the harem was flooded, and people were rushing to evacuate the lower levels and lives were at stake, you sent guards down, butinstead of saving the servants who were trapped down there, the guards emerged with five heavy chests. Then, when Areana and the harem ladies were moved to your mansion, you built a new glass enclosure in your mansion's basement, filled it with sand, and outfitted it with a separate climate-controlled system. You recreated desert conditions, which are perfect for preserving bodies in stasis."
"Or for preserving other things. You are grasping at straws, Kian. I've never mentioned any companions. The bargain I offered was Khiann for my freedom. Not Khiann plus four others. Where did you even come up with that?"
Kian wasn't about to reveal that he was basing that number on a drawing of a four-year-old child and his own daughter's drawing of five stars.
He ignored the comment. "I think that those five chests contained Khiann and his companions. You moved them from the harem to your mansion when the flooding made the original location unsafe and built that elaborate enclosure to ensure their continued preservation."
Navuh shrugged. "Supposition and conjecture. It's a theory. You can't prove it or disprove it."
"I agree that the evidence is circumstantial, and I don't have all the pieces of the puzzle, but I have enough to deduce the picture. The biggest piece is that you offered to trade Khiann's location for your freedom. You knew your father hadn't killed Khiann because he had gotten to the caravan too late. You found Khiann and his companions buried in the sand, dug them out, and kept them as an insurance policy in case you were ever captured by the clan."
Navuh's expression remained carefully blank. It was the face of a man who was calculating, reassessing, searching for the angle that would give him back the advantage.
Kian knew that face. He'd worn it himself often enough in negotiations.
"Interesting theory," Navuh said finally. "But theories are not the same as facts. I know the location where Khiann is buried, but that doesn't mean I have him in my basement."
"I think you do. You would not have left them in the desert and risked something happening to them. You would have made sure that they were safe and close enough for you to check on them and make sure they were not dying. Bodies in stasis become skeletal, and you couldn't tell the immortals apart from the god, so you kept all five to be safe."
Navuh's smile returned, but it was different now. Sharper. More dangerous.
"Let's entertain the fantasy you have created for a moment and assume that they are in the basement of my mansion, on my island, surrounded by thousands of my warriors. How exactly would you plan to get Khiann and the others out?"
"That's none of your concern."
"Perhaps not because I don't give a damn about what happens to you and your dear Guardians, but it should concern you. You would need my help to get them out."
He wasn't wrong, but Kian wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of agreeing with him. Especially since he hadn't admitted yet that Khiann was in the glass enclosure.
