Vanya resisted the urge to frown. That was far fewer than he had hoped for, with only a handful of minor Houses and the possibility of one other major House outside Amir’s. “Joelle has been busy.”
“You see now why I requested the aid of yourvalide.” Amir slanted him a look, wineglass raised to his lips to hide the shape of the words that left them. “You would fare better with a spouse.”
“I will not be responsible for the death of my daughter.”
“Raiah is not yet here.” The emphasis on the wordyetproved Amir was aware of what transpired in his House back in Karnak. “Her absence aids you not. They think the assassination attempt successful.”
“They can think what they like, but I will not remarry. If that is the price of loyalty the Houses expect from me, they will be sorely disappointed.”
It would, logically, be the correct road to take. Agreeing to a marriage with someone from a major House that could bring their influence to bear upon other Houses would tilt support his way during the Conclave. But marriage contracts could take months, and Vanya knew the price of such an agreement would be Raiah losing her rightful place as heir, something Joelle would rage about.
Vanya loved Raiah too much to take her birthright away from her. He loved her too much to want to lose her. “I’ve buried enough of my family and my House. I will not bury my daughter.”
“The Houses will dislike that, but we shall find a way forward down this road. Let us start now.”
Vanya took the lead this time, guiding Amir into the swirling conversation of the Houses presiding together under the Conclave. This was the opening salvo,vezirsand those who spoke for them representing every House in Solaria as they politicked the accusation Joelle had levied at him and considered his own.
“Are theserionetkastruly mindless?” an older man asked, the ranking necklace he wore indicating he was a voice rather thanvezirof the House of Tsui. It was a minor House, having never managed to claim the Imperial throne in its entire existence, but Vanya would never hold that against them.
“No. They act the same as they were before being changed, but their thoughts are not their own. Whatever mind magic that binds them to the magician in control, whoever that master might be, makes it so they cannot speak of their situation. They cannot disobey an order from their master. Thepraetorialegionnaires who attempted to assassinate myself and my daughter were not acting of their own free will, but they were not mindless like a revenant,” Vanya said.
“And howisthe Imperial princess? Purportedly, no one has seen her since the attack,”vezirSuresh Gevorgyan, of the House of Gevorgyan, asked. His tone was just the right shade of curious and worried, but his gaze was cool in a way Vanya knew not to trust. The House of Gevorgyan had not favored the House of Sa’Liandel since Rixham had been walled off by Vanya’s mother. Vanya knew winning Suresh to his side was a losing battle.
“I would think any parent would wish to keep their child out of sight and as safe as can be after an attempted kidnapping.”
“The broadsheets state it was an assassination attempt.”
Vanya offered a smile of his own, attention caught on movement in the crowd behind Suresh. “Oh, therionetkasattempted to murder me, but their orders were to spare my daughter and flee Oeiras with her. One wonders why the eradication of my House wasn’t the goal.”
“I’ve sent thankful prayers to the star gods that my great-granddaughter survived. We only have your word, after all, that theserionetkasspared her and not you,” Joelle said as the knots of people shifted to let her pass, Artyom beside her.
It was the first time in over an hour that Vanya had seen a member of the host House. Ill manners indeed, but the pointed slight was not unexpected at the start of the Conclave.
Joelle wore a light summer gown in pale gold with black accents, a match to the finely cut onyx hanging from gold links on the headdress she wore. The subtly raised spikes were meant to mimic sun rays, but all Vanya saw was an imitation of the crown he wore.
“Is my word not enough?” Vanya asked mildly.
Joelle released the hold she had on her son’s arm to fold both hands over the top of her cane. “You know it is not.”
“I would say the same of your own.”
“I am not the one who betrayed our ways to the wardens by taking one as a lover after murdering a member of my House.”
Vanya bared his teeth. “I trust the wardens to do right byallof us, which is more than I can say for you. Nicca died in childbirth, and Raiah nearly followed her into the stars. There was no murder to be had in that tragedy.”
“Yet you deny me blood rights to see my kin.”
“I have never barred you from Calhames.”
“No, you merely forbid she visit her House.”
“The Imperial princess has a House,” came Taisiya’s raspy voice as she approached with Amir by her side. “The House of Sa’Liandel, which rules yours. You were never barred, Joelle. You just chose yourvasilyetand its ills you beget over Raiah.”
Joelle’s eyes narrowed as Taisiya settled herself at Vanya’s side, lips pressed into a thin line. “My border iskept.”
“Yes, you do keep it. Well enough that you bar wardens from your land and refuse them entry to your city. It begs what you hide, though I know what you burned in that quarry,” Vanya said.
Joelle lifted her chin. “You speak more lies. Will you use them the same way your mother did to destroy Rixham? Your brother was not worth a city. One wonders if you think your daughter is.”
