It was well-known the Solarian Houses murdered each other out of tradition, and yet, their empire still stood. If anything could unite the Houses, though, Honovi rather thought encroachment on their right to rule would be it. And that wasifDaijal could muster an army capable of taking on the Solarian Legion. A ground fight would be a bloodbath, as much as an aerial battle against E’ridia’s airships and aeroplanes would be.
The countries of Maricol weren’t meant to be united as one. The Age of Starfall was proof of that. The Great Separation during that Age had been inevitable back then, and they thrived now because of it. But Honovi couldn’t ignore the pinprick of unease his father’s words brought him, if only because the star gods rarely interfered with their children so blatantly. Whenever they did, history made note of it.
“Daijal is building an alliance with Urova and has done so since before the Inferno. They’ll find support, not a fight, in the north,” Alrickson said.
Urova lived in winter more than spring, its people scattered about thick snowy forests and icy tundra. They traded with E’ridia in the eastern coastal towns, traveling by submersibles through the ice floes and ocean rather than by air over the mountains. That country had held up its side of trade treaties, but Honovi wondered about the future.
“All of this is why you set the closed-door meeting today, isn’t it?”
His father nodded slowly. “Gathering at night is too indicative of wanting to hide something. TheComhairle nan Cinnidheanhas a history of holding closed-door meetings. It’s not out of the ordinary, and we had Mainspring arrive early to wait in a private office. They weren’t seen by anyone.”
“The otherjarlswill need to be told,” Honovi warned.
Alrickson shifted on his seat, adjusting the plaid that fell across his left arm. “They will be notified when necessary. You would have been as well.”
The pointed reminder that he should not have stayed for the meeting made Honovi straighten up. “I was not going to let Blaine face this alone.”
“You will need to.”
The words were said pragmatically, but they hit like a blow to the head. Honovi curled his hands into fists, having nothing to say to that because his father was right. Mainspring had come for Blaine and no one else.
It didn’t matter that theComhairle nan Cinnidheanwas seemingly interfering in another country’s sovereignty by giving tacit aid to a rebellion. He could see how that could be explained away—by sending Blaine away with no support, despite the marriage vows between them. Honovi’s position asjarlmeant any decision, any travels he embarked on, carried the weight of theComhairle nan Cinnidheanwith his presence.
E’ridia could not be seen as supporting rebels in another country.
Which meant Honovi could not follow Blaine down this road as he was.
It left a fiercely sour taste in his mouth, like unripened cloudberries high on the peaks, the knowledge that he might have to give Blaine up. That Honovi’s next flight might have a new chief engineer manning the engines and standing beside him on the decking.
“He is my husband.”
Alrickson’s gaze held a kindness that skirted too close to pity for Honovi’s comfort. “He belongs to the star gods. You knew that when you married him.”
Honovi clenched his teeth together so hard his jaw popped at the hinge. “Blaine gave his vows tome, not the star gods.”
“And theComhairle nan Cinnidheancannot ignore the threat Mainspring hints at. Blaine is clan, that will not change, but he must walk this road without you.” Honovi wanted to argue, but Alrickson raised a hand, cutting off his words. “Blaine will keep us informed of what happens in Ashion. I do not trust the Clockwork Brigade to be truthful if that truth aids us more than them. Blaine knows his duty, the same as you know yours.”
In this instance, Honovi’s duty was to stay, and Blaine’s was to go, and he didn’t know when their roads would cross again. Part of beingjarl, of beingceann-cinnidh, of one day sitting where his father did, was to know that clan and country came first over everything else. It had to. They wouldn’t have survived the poisoned land or revenants if the clans hadn’t banded together all those centuries ago.
But he’d given vows; he wore a torc; he shared a bed with someone he’d promised forever with. Loneliness was a terrible gift for doing one’s duty, and his heart hurt at the thought of letting Blaine go.
“How will you explain Blaine’s absence from my side?”
“Mainspring has her story for him to follow. Ours will be we have sent him to join the diplomatic corps in another country while you remain here. Think of it as additional training he needs so as to aid you when you take up the mantle ofceann-cinnidh.”
“The stars will guide us,” Honovi said, the prayer rote on his tongue after years of flying beneath the night sky.
Alrickson nodded assent, and Honovi stood, flexing his fingers wide. He left the office, finding Blaine waiting for him on the wooden bench outside, flicking the lid of his pocket watch open and shut.
“Honovi?” Blaine asked, rising to his feet.
Honovi drew him in for a fierce kiss, holding him close. “It’ll be all right.”
They had precious few hours left to them. Honovi had paperwork still to file and a meeting with the Eastern Winds Trading Company representative, but he left it all by the wayside to take Blaine home one more time.
Six
HONOVI
