“I must consult with the elders. Until then, we invite Her Majesty Loran to stay here. I bid the rest of you be careful of what you speak and guard the holy silence.Ayula.”
A chorus of “Ayula” answered him, and the gathered crowd began to exit the room.
Rakel said to Loran, “Your Majesty, we have a room ready for you. Kesaya will show you the way.”
A woman in red and white, who looked to be in her twenties, came forth at the mention of her name and curtsied. Loran nodded her head in response, stood up, and smiled at Emere once again.
“Two whole years since we last met, and here we are without even a chance to have a drink. Once affairs are settled here—or not settled, as it were—I do wish to hear about your time since our last meeting.”
“I as well.”
He was staring at Loran’s back as she followed Kesaya out the door when Rakel laid her hand on Emere’s arm.
“I don’t know if this is a good idea.”
“Making an alliance with King Loran?”
Rakel nodded. “I also think we need to stop the Office of Truth from taking control of the Empire. And any other time, this would’ve been impossible, like trying to stop an earthquake or a tidal wave…”
“But now we have King Loran.”
“That’s what I worry about. Emere, Ahmus will do whatever I advise him to do. I need to know what you think. If we interfere in Imperial politics, what happens after? That tiny army in Arland defeating a single legion among a hundred has made the Empire this hostile, so what do you think would happen if we were found responsible for blocking the transition of power that the Senate approved in all but name?”
They stared at each other. The Rakel Emere knew was always calm in the face of danger, like the surgeon she was. She had beenhis source of stability in their travels together. Now, he could not read her expression.
“Rakel, I don’t know what would happen either. But I do know one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Whatever happens, it never ends. There’s always something that follows, a new chance, a new decision to make.”
Rakel grinned. “Except for us.”
For the first time in a long time, Emere reached out and swept his fingers through Rakel’s hair.
“When we parted ten years ago, I thought so, too. But here we are, together again. We might not be the way we were, but this is a wonderful next thing.”
Rakel floated a faint smile and turned her head just enough to avoid his gaze. Emere stood there waiting for her to say something back, but Rakel’s lips never parted.
32
ARIENNE
Far away, against the gray sky, a vague mountainous shadow loomed over the wasteland. According to Noam, this was where Eldred had resided as he ruled over Mersia.
“It will be another two days or so from here,” said Noam, and Arienne’s heart began to thump. What monstrous things, what secrets must lie there. In the tower inside her mind, Arienne mentioned this to Noam, sitting down on the large leather bed that she had claimed as her own. Noam, who had his own room now but preferred to spend time with Tychon in the evenings, rocked the cradle while the baby slept inside.
“I think you’re imagining some kind of ruin full of puzzles,” he said nonchalantly, “but the Imperials refitted and used that place for their legion for almost a hundred years. They’ve taken everything they wanted and thrown away the rest. I’ve been inside a few times to help them with their generators. There is no mystery left there.”
This was dispiriting. “Oh? Then I’ll depend on you for directions when we’re there.”
“The Hundred and Seventh Legion was garrisoned there when I was alive. Led by a Legate Havtamu, who was a really impressive man, by the way. More popular among the people of Danras than the prefect who was a Mersian native.”
Since leaving Danras, Noam had begun to talk more. Only a few days ago, he could only remember his name, but something had changed about him. Noam went on for a bit more before sighing. “I suppose they all died that day.”
The Star of Mersia had indeed devastated Danras and all other cities, the rich grasslands, and the entire Imperial legion stationed in Mersia. But this was the biggest mystery—a legion would include thousands of personnel, a fort, and valuable provisions and equipment. Was the Empire so eager to get rid of Mersia that they would sacrifice all of that? Eldred had said they wouldn’t, that Mersia had never declared independence, that the Empire had no intention of destroying Mersia.
“Noam, what do you think? Would the Empire have done that on purpose?”
