Melanctha breathed out, opening and closing her eyelids in a slow way that denoted the fact she was reeling from Cuillean's story. It was warm at least despite her chills. Her breath felt thick. "Cuill…" She did not know what to say to all that she had heard so far…She knew there was more coming too. Cuillean watched her reaction, taking care not to rush into further detail until she had absorbed it. Night was at his back through the window, but the curtains had been drawn. Dropping her crests down, Melanctha cupped her brow. "Cuill…" She sat up and pushed up from her chair. "Why hide that you are…you're…"
Cuillean stood and moved towards his wife, taking her by the hand, "…You are embarrassed I did not tell you…A mitali should know his or hers…I am regretful it has caused you discomfort…"
Placing her hands on her shoulders, looking from him to the fire, "…You would have never married me if you had not been removed of your original tierra…"
"Never say such," he pressed her hands with his, "…I love you, Melanctha…Tierra has no hold on my feelings for you," he pulled her gently over to himself. "Do not think for a moment longer what you are…" The fire crackled and crinkled with the wood burning in its hold. Cuillean's eyes shut tightly, "…My sister, however…" His eyes opened and his stare was deep, "…My father asked me to watch over her…" His face grew tense.
"She was a Tyrannus Ilori…" Her hand wavered between his folds of his shirt and her small chin, "…Cuill?" She turned with him to the fireplace. They continued to gaze at the fire in silence for a long while.
"Who do you now swear loyalty to, Cuillean?"
His thoughts on many different things, he replied without looking down at her, "…The Sousan, Melanctha."
"The Sousan are enemies of the Kratos," she lowered her eyes to his neck, "…How will you do it?"
"My father served many in his day as a thane…" Dahna's child must be kept safe.
"I wish there were a place we could go, where we would not be servants under this veil of fear and treachery, Cuillean…You are worldly compared to myself, surely there is a place for us to be free and you could become a woodcutter again…"
Cuillean had a bittersweet smile on his face. His face grew sadder, "…You could go, leave me here, find a new mitali—"
Her expression stopped him.
Melanctha pushed him back a step, then removed her mannaan. Cuillean's dark eyes gazed on her vulnerability, the skin over her belly, the folds along her curves rising to bid him closer. Her chest expanded and thinned, "…I have not been with you for many days and nights…Delay this sadness in my heart with the joy you bring home," she raised her hands to his neck as he moved her away from the fire, to a bed close at hand and a whisper of her sighs filled the air.
He was a gentle lover, Cuillean was. Careful of her condition, he could bring her yet to ecstasy. Melanctha could feel his grip on her hand tighten.
Cuillean smoothed his hands over the soft prickles of her tebral spines, moving to the curve of her belly and resting his palm upon it. His smile was returned. And yet sadness lingered in his eyes…
After a long and slow while, they rested in each other's arms. Cuillean's muscles shined with a sheen of oil, his skin dark and near black with the maturing of his body over the years since he was fifteen. Melanctha was a bright coppery brown of thread in his arms and between his legs, her lips on his chest with small grateful presses as he gazed upon her. The smell of her skin was such comfort to him. He lowered his head to collect her lips with his. "I shall have to follow you to find out where you go, Cuillean."
"Don't you dare," he gently growled, "…That would be unwise for you and our child, Melanctha." His finger caressed around her eye ridges, "…Don't entertain the idea either."
"You will need someone to watch your back, Cuillean."
"I have always lived among enemies, Melanctha, save for when I was a boy in Thorolf with my family." His finger stopped to lower onto her cheek. "Do not follow me, Mitali, please."
She whispered, "…Then leave with me." Her eyes glanced down to the trails of color leading to his and her groins, "…Leave so we can be free and safer than we are now…How will a child grow in a valley full of wuliton and other creatures…I have seen the faces that watch us, Cuillean…I am afraid for our child."
"I have considered this, Melanctha." He gripped her hand in his and kissed it.
"My sandals and shoes, Cuill…When will I be able to sell them?"
"I will take them with me when I have arranged a deal with a buyer, Melanctha, and I will bring back food and what we need that the valley cannot provide us."
"I am a prisoner too, Cuillean…A child needs other children to play with…You had a sister at least, but in time, a Drell needs a wife."
"…True." He kissed her again.
She stared at him while he lay asleep, Melanctha too worried to rest, what with being house-restricted and going only so far as the yard when she did step outdoors to the stream or to tend the flowers…She had the worst feeling that what would happen would lead to Cuillean's demise…Use the weapons for as long as they were useful, but in time even the strongest blade will break against newer weapons built stronger, or by simply being misused…A favored thane of the govannon, Bor Kratos. Anytime he stepped out she knew and prepared herself, but still…it was ice in her veins. Cupping her brow, she passed a trembling hand over her crests and looked at the fire—it was still burning strong.
They had medicines and water and cloth to swaddle the baby and clean what would be, but Melanctha had never had a baby before and only knew what to expect from what had been told by others while she worked in the Crandal…What if there were complications and she would not be able to handle the baby by herself? She did not doubt the child would be strong, but what did she know about passing a child from the likes of Cuillean's seed?
She herself was an orphan.
While Cuillean slept, for he was weary from his travels and who knew what else, Melanctha sewed shoes…There was the Kerhasla…That they had medicine, midwives, everything a Drellahna could need for a child…
She lowered her work and gazed at Cuillean…
She knew the paths through the woods, what to avoid, how to go…She sighed, lifting a needle, "…Only if worst case," she whispered.
"Melanctha, come back to bed…" Melanctha put her needle into the leather she was about to sew and rose from her seat to join him.
Melanctha closed her eyes, …The Kerhasla…Maybe the Borhala know one who is nearby…I could ask…They know better than to trifle with me, so long as Cuillean is alive… She turned her mouth towards him, hungry now and their passion rekindled. Cuillean rolled onto his back, Melanctha with the cover over her shoulders, and eased onto his lap. She whispered back to him while they made love anew. His hands were on her chest, moving down to her waist, threading through her folds and spines, rumbling with the gentle rocking they made.
Laying beside Melanctha, it was Cuillean's turn to have trouble sleeping…The govannon was known to use and throw away Drellahna, but this was someone Cuillean knew…Someone he had long wondered what had happened with, someone he cared about and was taken from…He was tormented by the idea that his sister had been abused and then submitted to assassination because her abuser had made her pregnant with a bannon hiriwa…A bannon Cuillean saved, only to give to Bor's enemy…Had he made the right choice? Where else could he have taken her body and the child?…Nelwyn herself owed him a debt, one she had turned around on him, the clever Drellahna…He stroked Melanctha's face while she slept next to him, thinking about her words…Should he have just gone to Bor with the child, told him who Dahna was to him, and that he demanded freedom for the sin?…And she was Tyrannus Ilori!…She was Serepta…Bor had to have known…Cuillean covered his eyes, seeing her gazing at him from the floor with her swollen belly…He gasped, waking Melanctha, "…Cuillean!" Maybe he didn't know, Cuillean thought as he calmed Melanctha who blotted his tears, …Maybe he did, just to remind me that I have no control over anything, that I am his slave and now Nelwyn's to do and treat as ever the high tierra shall…How will a bannon be my freedom, Dahna?… He lay back down, holding Melanctha, holding his face and silently crying with him. He would have to ask someone, or ask Bor if he knew who she was, when next he checked in with the sponsor. Or perhaps he could speak to one of the high thanes on Mercede…He hated going there, it meant a long boat ride and a cold dismal return to bad memories, but seeking out secrets there had always proven fruitful to him.
To insult and humiliate him with the blood of kin yet again on his hands. Pressing his lips to Melanctha's fingers, he wondered what he would do, if such a scenario blossomed?
MERCEDE
A boat and oars slowly cycled their way through the stormy water. A cloud had hung over the ocean's islands for days. It was two fortnights since the death of Dahna, and Cuillean was gone to see his old tormentor: Mercede, Isle of Tears.
Ropes were lashed to the rail and hauled on to bring the boat into safe harbor from the rising swells. There were echoes of water and splashing waves in the cavern.
Cuillean emerged alone from the lower deck of the kirtana, making his way passed the thanes wrapping the lashes secure. He signed to each of them before heading up a steep stairway carved into the seastone.
He had been fifteen summers when he came there first…What time had gone by had been a blur and his memory should never let him forget. There were the familiar sounds of children crying or screaming, the scolding of masters, the beatings, the echoes of pain and fear…
Such a mélange of what turned them all into killers…or the preyed for those who would become hunting them.
All he could think about was finding Narcissus or one of his mentors who had ties to Bor personally—that was most of them, but the high thanes were often busy.
Cold air pushed at his face, damp and salty.
Pushing aside a moldy curtain, he stepped into an old waiting room, where he could find some form of administration to guide him to who he needed to see. There was an old thane sitting in a chair against a wall of stone, writing in a massive book, and he lifted his rheumy eyes at Cuillean, "…Sered Kiross," he creaked, "…You have returned…You need to see your son?…"
"I am Cuillean, Sephim," he cut the old one off and could not resist a smile, "…Where is Narcissus?…"
"Are you certain you are not trying to deceive me, Eufemiusz…" The old one leaned forward to squint, "…Eufemiusz was darker…You are the youngster…"
"I am thirty years old now, Sephim…Would you tell me where Narcissus is?…"
"Probably up top stringing someone for a flogging, I'll get him…"
"I will find him, thank you, Sephim," Cuillean turned after pressing the old Drell's shoulder down to prevent him from troubling himself. He left and went right down the old tunnel.
Narcissus scowled at the presence of Cuillean atop the black cliffs of the main head of island, "…What are you doing here…You're supposed to be working, not coming home for training…Or did you miss the old back scratcher," he held up the whip in his grip before cracking it against the back of a young thane who must have offended Narcissus…
"Take a moment from your venting, Narcissus," Cuillean looked understandingly at the miserable Drell hanging between posts with his back bubbling open from the lashes…The young one had not made a sound, "…I need to speak with you about something important to me…"
"Always important to you," Narcissus snarled, flicking his whip again and taking off the Drell's skin once more, "…Drop him and bring him back to training!" he screamed across the roar of the wind, "…I must meet with my only success…" Narcissus turned and walked to meet with Cuillean at the top of the rocks, then followed him down into drier air.
"What is it, Cuillean," Narcissus glared at him from over his mug of brined tea, "…She was your assignment and you were to kill her…You did it, no more matter…What do you want from it, hmm?"
Cuillean gazed soberly at his mentor, "…I want to know if he knew who she was…to me."
"She was his hara," Narcissus hissed, "…He can do whatever he wants…He is Govannon…The only one with more clout than he has is unwilling to be of help to us, so we abide Bor and he gives us work and the funding to continue…What can you do…You wouldn't be able to avenge her if that's what you're considering…"
"I have served well," Cuillean set his hands together, pleadingly gazing at the other, "…Why have I been punished?"
"It was not punishment…Bor likes to be cruel…I have half the bodies to prove it, what he demands we clean up and hide…Did you destroy the evidence?…"
"I removed everything," Cuillean said.
"Then that is all you could do…Stop wasting my time, Cuillean, you know the work is unpleasant…Most of us have had to kill our blood mothers and yours was fortunate to have died naturally…"
"She died of the Kris…"
"Sometimes that's more merciful than driving a sword down their necks, Cuillean."
"I can see there is no point in asking for your empathy, thank you, Narcissus…" Cuillean rose from his seat, leaving the chair empty again.
"Cuillean, why don't you go roll in a hara and forget that little wife you have hidden in Alpana, forget your sister's death, be a real Drell and learn that flesh can cure any ailment…"
"Because it does not and I do not need it," Cuillean said icily…
"Mind your tone with me…I can still break your neck, Cuillean…"
"And I would welcome the opportunity to stop you this time."
Narcissus curled his lips into a smile…Age had worn streaks into his patak, and he was nastier than ever, "…I am glad we took you in and made you into the monster you are Cuillean…You are right up there with your father…"
"I could never be what he is," Cuillean looked hard at the other, "…He gave his life for me to suffer…I bring only death to those I am sent to find, people fear me, my wife yet loves me and she is alive."
"Have you told her what you really are?…That you are the slave son of a former kingly Drell family?…"
"She knows…" Cuillean's eyes hardened and he turned.
"Just be glad Melanctha is not desirable by one such as Bor…He may still order you to bring her to him if only to humiliate your love and spite you…" Narcissus laughed and began to cough he laughed so hard.
"Cuillean," he stopped in the passage outside Narcissus's rooms to turn to the female coming through the next one…She slowed in front of him, her jewels in her hands and coming down from her crests as she had been removing these while returning to her quarters, "…it's me, Ia…"
"Ia," Cuillean remembered her when she was small and brought to the isle to be trained as a hara assassin, "…you are…"
"Much bigger than you remember, I'm certain," she smiled a flawless smile, her jaw strong and feminine at the same time…Her lips fell together in a pouty pleated pair as she considered him, "…The world has been good to you, I hope?…"
"Not truthfully," Cuillean said with a slow shake, "…no, Ia…I was on my way back to the boats…" He swept by and was heading for the nearest door, but Ia's voice caught him again.
"I haven't seen you in forever," she said almost breathlessly, "…Stay, please?…It's been a while…"
Cuillean sighed and stopped, "…Ia, I must get going…" He could see her fancy in him, "…It is very important I make the next kirtana…"
"One drink with me," she latched onto his arm, "…Please, I promise I won't talk your teness off, silly…" She hung on him, clearly reluctant to stop…
Cuillean wanted less and less to do with her, "…Ia—"
"I knew you'd say you would!" She had a decent strength, enough to pull him along…Dressed as she was in her recent outfit for training, she was inappropriately clothed, but she might be so used to it now…
Cuillean groaned as he was taken to the hara level of Mercede and passed among the Drellahna who looked at him with irritation…Ia was unsuppressable.
"Look, Aldaum," she sat Cuillean down in her boudicea and picked up her hot pot of water to fill two mugs with its floral elixir, "…Do you remember Cuillean?"
There were at least six Drellahnas sharing the boudicea, one of which who stood and cupped her chin to study the uncomfortable thane, "…It is Cuillean…Look how big he's grown," they laughed at his discomfort.
Ia sat down next to Cuillean and raised her mug, sticking out her purple tongue at the others, "…He's blushing now because you're being rude to him…Cuillean was never mean to me or any of you…"
Aldaum waved her hips over and bent down across the table cloth to look at Cuillean hard, "…He never even slept with any of us as I recall…Didn't want to test the tools now, did he…"
Ia drank her tea and looked brightly at Cuillean beside her, crammed into her table for setting up costumes and jewelry, "…Ignore her…Tell me, what have you been up to?"
"I can't tell you anything, Ia," he glanced at the others who were dressing or undressing, talking as if he were no longer visible to them, "…Why don't you tell me what you are learning…" He realized he did not want to know, "…What is the gossip in Mercede…" He leaned back until his head could go no further into his neck as she jammed her face forward into his, rattling off as much gossip and rumor as she could say in one breath…
By the time she was done, she was laughing and laying on his shoulder, talking into his hood with a firm grip on his fringe, "…and the loyalists at the Craig have had a hard time with keeping their feet outside the haras there…We have at least six of us in the Craig a week, Cuillean…Some of those old Drell are quite disgusting in bed…They snore or make other noises…" She covered her face with her hand and giggled as Cuillean tried to make for the doorway, leaving his untouched tea behind, "…Cuillean, where are you going?"
"I really need to be on the next boat," he stopped at her insistent tug on his cloak, "…Ia…"
She held his face in her hands and kissed him on his chin, "…That's for alway being kind to me…" She let him go and slipped back behind the table, peering up at him with soft azure eyes…
Cuillean swore he would never be dragged into another hara again by anyone…
Outside, he sniffed his robes and cloak and could only smell venom from the hara and its rich, nose-cloying perfume…Silk articles had to be searched for and removed from his body, and then he realized his belongings such as his purse and his weapons had been taken off…
"I need everything you took back on me," Cuillean cornered the twenty or so Drellahnas and waited with his hands on his hips…They all lay or sat in various states of dress, one actually wearing his belt so that the pouch of monet hung heavily between her thighs.
"Come take what's yours, Cuillean," the women all laughed and gave him glimpses of his weapons.
"Ia," Cuillean called and she appeared beside him, Cuillean looking harshly at her, "…Take my weapons, my belt, my purse and my gloves from them, return them to me now…This is your fault," he said under his breath.
Ia collected everything from the disappointed Drellahnas and gave it all back to Cuillean, who set his gear back into place on himself and finally took his leave without having been more than a little molested by the hara.
Outside the school of thanes, he enjoyed the frigid air and a blast of rain spumed from the whip of a wave against the rocks. He had pressing problems, and Ia's interference with her hara sisters had not been the worst of these…He had to admit, they all had grown up and become very good at what they had been taught to do—to eavesdrop and spread rumor, to tease and deceive, to steal kisses as well as items from a body twice their size…They were all as bitter as he at what life had been forced upon them, but they knew how to abuse it to the fullest…
He hoped the smell would wear off before he returned home to Melanctha.
Cuillean boarded the kirtana bound for the Craig, "…Kiross, that you thane?…"
"Nahman," Cuillean bowed to his boat poin, "…I did not anticipate seeing you here…You are usually up north, aren't you?" They clasped hands, the beefy poin pulling Cuillean up over the rail…
"I had to pull a favor for another…Boats need poins, and Terfak suffered a broken thumb…Rigline pulled it in two directions, so he's balls deep in hara right now or seeing a proper doctor…"
"I was in the hara and saw no sign of anyone with a broken thumb…I would be more concerned the hara would cause him injury…They are aggressive…"
"Who you fancy, anyone?…I remember one of the pretties had a real crush on you, Ia or something…"
"How soon can we make the Craig with conditions?…"
"About a day still," Nahman looked inland across the water, "…Wind's blowing west so it should be good time."
"That is good to know," Cuillean pulled his cloak around himself, then thought better and let the wind clean out his clothing of the hara scents, "…Nahman, do you ever send any kirtana west?"
"We do sometimes…Those are strictly for Kerhasi orders by the govannon…Why are you asking," he lowered his voice.
"I would like to travel farther…I feel I have known this shore for far too long, and I tire of it," Cuillean turned his gaze to the poin, "…Stagnancy is an enemy."
"Aya," Nahman pouted his lips and shook his head, "…Others would prefer to master what they master, than to go into the sea and find the poison across the water…Suiaghan is no place for a lone thane…They will kill us on sight, they will…"
"Not this thane," Cuillean glanced at a flying grot carrying a silvery tail, "…I think Bor would not mind risking me."
"Perhaps, perhaps…He wants everything…Worse than Pilar…"
"Who is Pilar using these days…"
"You would know better than I," Nahman chuckled, "…But I give passage often enough to Nabetuk."
"Nabetuk," Cuillean paused, "…Eluk is usually there, is he not?"
"Eluk is being sent elsewhere I deem…I have not seen him for months."
"That is interesting to me…He must be using the land."
"Eluk is hardy enough for that, he hates the water, makes him seasick but he would never admit it…Hard to fool a trained water-eye," Nahman chuckled again and pulled down his eyelids.
Cuillean nodded and turned his sight to the far headland.
The waves pushed them along, giving ease to the rowers. Cuillean joined the Serepta below and helped them with the oars' handling. He remembered what it was like when he was finally let out and off the Isle, the long rides through water pointless but for strengthening their backs and subjecting them to greater toil.
He lit up later with some thanes in the back, smoking teresha and talking, exchanging information, moving resources and allocating deals to each other.
One's name was Resha, and he was tall and lonely in his thoughts…Cuillean was the only one who engaged him.
"Where have you been lately, Resha," Cuillean offered him another teresha to chew.
"Cuillean," Resha's voice plummetted when he talked, as if rocks were pulling down his throat, "…Rakha."
Cuillean and those who overheard all stared at the tall dark drell who kept his eyes closed, hood down, his arms crossed as he leaned against a pole for hauling in netting or towing, "…Quite seriously?"
He nodded.
"How are the deadlands."
"Can't talk about it."
"Why, you won't share while the rest of us have been idly passing information to one and other?"
"That's right."
Cuillean turned his head from the one who had voiced his disgruntlement, back to Resha, "…Walk with me, please."
"What do you wish to learn, Cuillean," Resha's eyes opened—he was blind, "…A drell without sight cannot describe what he sees to you besides the blackness you already know." The pale gray whites looked out from a dark gray face with old scars.
"Few wisely value what you do see, Resha…What you lack in sight does get made up for in other senses you have sharpened…You are rare, we value you."
Resha tipped his flat crests and they moved away from the others.
"Rakha is wakening," Resha said quietly, both of them looking out over the water…Resha naturally turned his face to where the land was located, his nose picking up the wind's carried scents from the distant Crandal, "…I feel a life there that is stirring again."
"How would you have proof of this…Tell me."
"The wind if you read it speaks, Thane…" Resha spat the teresha into the water and raised his hand, "…It is a language too, much as the silent ones know…"
"The morthwyl, you mean…"
He nodded, "…Helushka is long dead…A new leader has emerged and is righting things, however that may be…Cuillean, you cannot keep your secrets in the valley…"
"No, I was considering such last night and this morning," Cuillean plucked at a splinter in the railing.
"Not for the reasons you may hold in your heart…Leave Bor alone, his fate belongs to another…You must prepare for the army that will invade soon as Rakha becomes whole…It will not be long now…The land is passable, and the morthwyl will let the south move north."
Cuillean's heart beat faster and faded, "…Have you told your sponsor yet…"
"He is aware, they are making plans."
"I am troubled by this news…"
"I overhead your conversation with the poin…Seek the west, but go so far as the first isle on which the grasses bloom red…You will find my people there."
"Gruin Tiira Leeis?"
Resha was silent.
"I will consider this news and your advice…It is deeply taken, Resha, as always."
"I like you, Cuillean…Tell my family if you find them that you know my name…"
"You…have family?…"
"They will forgive me, for I left them."
Resha turned away from Cuillean and returned to the back of the boat.
At the docks of the Crandal, Cuillean departed Nahman, Resha, and the rest to head onto the white pathway leading to the Craig. He passed the waiting Kerhasi burrells watching the docks, finely colored sails and galienas tipping and rocking in the breezy wind.
The dark of the Craig's east entrance swallowed him up.
The hum of masses in session could be heard as soon as the main doors opened to the audhilde chambers, and several aides whisked by him carrying orders and summons. Cuillean stepped through the lines of speakers waiting to be heard by the courtrooms.
Nelwyn Sousan was there, guarded by several burrells and burrellas all wearing the green, gold, and white.
He made by her, pretending to ignore her, but as he went, she whispered to her burrella who left her side opposite him.
"I cannot be seen speaking with you," Cuillean said in a quiet hallway, his cloak's hood up, his body a wall to keep her hidden.
"I need you to let Bor believe my father is issuing a summons to the High Paladins, Cuillean."
"Nefen," he whispered softly as he could, "…Bor would not believe that…He is in bed naturally with Mercede…You think he is stupid?"
"Do I have to answer that," she looked up into his eyes. "Your nephew is on his feet today…"
"Nelwyn," he near strangled her, "…please…Yes, I will lie for you…"
She touched his face, Cuillean nearly jerking away…
Why did they all have to touch him?
"Be careful of your words…Not just to Bor…I like the thought of you laying down for me…" Her eyes had too much suggestion, never mind the words sneaking out of her mouth…
Cuillean straightened away and looked each end of the hall, "…Nefen Sousan, do you wish to be impregnated by a rapist…"
"You are nothing of the sort."
"You are using me for sabotage…Do not call me to your needs…That will break our deal no matter the cost to you or my nephew…"
She poked out her tongue in a childish disparagement, "…Relax, Cuillean, I am already to be bedding a mate…My father has chosen someone for me…I'm to give him an heir within the year…"
"And who would that be…"
"Are you interested because you wish to swap salacious gossip with Bor, or out of jealousy…"
He could see she was really trying to work him up, "…Right, so you also wish for me to let my master know that Pilar will wed off his daughter and a new patriarch will be brought in to learn the ways of your snotty treasach…"
"Your treasach now…When will you move your wife into our city…"
"Never."
"Go now, I can see you are upset…" She turned and slipped into a little known trap-doorway in the wall—a burrella was waiting for her.
Cuillean waited for the door to seal, and it blended perfectly with the scrub of the clay material…He turned and walked on down the corridor to a staircase, climbing it swiftly with his legs.
In Bor's rooms, the windows were open and the salt air was fresh through the window panes…
"Cuillean, you made a mess in the hara…I demand you pay for the rug you used…"
"I will have it taken out of my pay, Sered," Cuillean sat in the fur-lined chair, Bor restless and pacing in front of him. He had ordered Cuillean to sit and chased out his aides and burrells as soon as the thane arrived. "Something vexes you, Sered."
"I have had dreams lately," Bor stopped and stared at the curtains, "…Dreams of killing and death…The time is coming, I can sense something about to happen…"
"Are you able to see the future now?…Why have me if you can foretell what is to come…"
"Cuillean," Bor grabbed the armrests, trapping the thane in his seat, "…Who knows about the drellahna you killed?"
"Me?…I believe it was your order, Sered Kratos…I am merely a weapon."
Bor shook the seat, "…Don't be petulant with me, Kiross!"
"Ser…What have you heard?"
"The dreams, the dreams…" Bor muttered, walking violently away from him, "…I have had dreams that wicked white drellahna gave birth to a war…I can see her holding it in her hands, dropping it into a knife and stabbing my head in…" He turned, and Cuillean could see not rage but panic in the govannon's eyes, "…She was a hara whore! Nothing more, a witch she could not have been!"
His jaw flexed slightly at the govannon's bellow out of the insults, "…She was an Ilori…If you are cursed, we both are."
For a moment, the govannon looked mildly pleased, "…Yes, I did nothing wrong…You killed her, I only made the order…" Bor went to his drinking chest and pulled out a bottle of white ceramic—Cuillean could see his hand and fingers shaking as he reached for it…
The dreams must really be hitting him…
Cuillean stood, "…Sered, I have some interesting news that would distract you from your fancies, the Sousan are selecting a mate for the hiriwa…Perhaps by the end of the year if not next…And Pilar has been reaching out to High Paladins on Mercede…"
"He has?…" Bor's wrath for the treasach leader seemed to put the calm into his hands, "…That's laughable…I would know before you just breathed such a tale…"
"Of course, it is only a rumor…"
"But what if it is true…" Bor's red eyes narrowed, "…What if Narcissus is turning against me…Does he know about the drellahna?…"
"I would think he knows everything, Sered Kratos…"
"I would like you to find out who exactly the daughter of Pilar is to marry…That might prove beneficial to us if we can propose to the intended a deal what would pry between the two betrothed…Maybe even eliminate all new heirs to come if you understand me…"
"That would be a wise decision, Sered Kratos," …The damn drellahna, Cuillean thought… She knew he would react that way…and now I must spend more time away from Melanctha…The baby is due any month now.
"Get along with you, Cuillean," Bor motioned he leave, "…Send the rest back in."
"Of course," Cuillean stood, signed and bowed, leaving for the doors.
So Bor had not made the connection as Narcissus had cackled on about…Cuillean swept through the corridors of the Craig, stopping in and taking notes on everything that was said or being passed to him personally by his collaborators…He moved silently down the halls and under sconces, stopping in to check on hara who would have some news to drip.
He could at least continue to work for Bor without the insult aggravating his killing hands…Bor seemed genuinely punished by the nightmares invading his slumber too…
Dahna's death, he hoped, would drive the govannon mad.
There were skims waiting outside, and inside one waited Nelwyn with her entourage…She waited impatiently, checking the time by the pole over the Craig's western entrance.
She looked up at her burrell's trill, indicating she look east, "…There you are," she smiled at the drell coming from the Craig, "…We have a schedule to keep, why don't you spare yourself the footwork and come with us in one of these," she trailed her fingers on the polished edge of blue metal over a white chassis and body, "…I remember you admired them when you were younger."
Cuillean scowled, "…You have been waiting for me," he could see her smiling and he wanted so much to turn the other way and walk, "…You are using me…"
"I have a new tool," she said, "…I obviously have needs for him."
"I am going to leave another way," he stopped and turned from the skimmer, hoping whoever was intended to see their interaction would think Cuillean was avoiding her, "…Please stop whatever you are doing," he was the one in charge of the mind games, but the Sousan evidently had the ball already rolling on this one, "…Goodbye, Nefen."
The skim pulled away, leaving a blowout of dust that covered his cloak…Cuillean lowered his arm and nearly lost his patience…
He could understand Bor's hatred of the Sousan, now that he was being frustrated personally—and intimately with what secrets he shared with the heiress…
He would have to foot it through the desert instead.
Cuillean walked along the shoreline, taking salt and water onto his clothes and face…It weighed him down little, but he needed to cool off from being humiliated in the Crandal under the flagpole his father had been hung from.
He had much on his mind, the whole morning had been full of developments…All rumor so far and playing setup of the game, himself a pawn…Nothing had happened yet…Only Dahna's death by her own hand and his nephew's birth.
And Melanctha now knew about his past…What would she do while he was away?
He worried about her more than anything.
The waves reached his boots, his steps immediately washed away…It was the easiest way to hide his comings and goings if he were to move frequently to and from Nuru…The water also discouraged the beasts from hearing him as he made his way over their territory…He could go through the desert to the safe points of entry, but that would be blatantly clear he was familiar with the treasach and it was just enough he had orders by Bor to go and learn what he could of the Sousan…
Any other path he might be pulled into the ground by the beasts the family kept quiet about, but from which they made much of their metals and thus were ever ready for war, boosted by wealth.
It would not be a terrible fate to have Nelwyn as a mate, even if she chose him for making an heir with…He froze in his footsteps and cursed.
Of course!…There was no mate in the works! They had not found anyone suitable for Nelwyn! She had a daughter-in-training, but that was to be a stewardess if something were to happen before she selected anyone with her father's approval!
Curse Nelwyn!…This was blackmail!
Cuillean could feel himself being sucked into a trap…He was in one and found another, really.
He had to go on…At the least, Melanctha would be moved into Nuru and have their son there…Could he hope that Nelwyn would not force him into bed with her?
He rubbed his brow in vexation…Why was he so cursed with women?
Dahna aside, he had taken a wife which was stupid of him to do…Nelwyn saw this.
Had Ia's approaching him in Mercede meant to test him?…Was Nelwyn receiving messages from other thanes on that kirtana?…Had he done well?…Of course, for Melanctha he had done well…
Or was he to be prepared for a much harder obstacle in Nuru…He would have to mind his drink and food.
"He is here, Sered," the burrell poked in and left, widening the gilt doorway at seeing his master's permission, and the thane was presented to the chamber.
"Sered Kiross," Cuillean met Pilar Sousan, patriarch of the Sousan treasach in Nuru, eye to eye, "…I've been expecting you…You keep your knives sheathed and you will be treated as an honorable guest," the copper-gold toned drell turned partly and offered a hand to the majestic chamber riddled with expensive and detailed blue metal and sunlight through reflective windows…The interior was cool and comfortable despite the heat outside that day.
Cuillean let himself be led to a star-shaped compass in the middle of the room, and to his left stood the patriarch, taking a lens from a magnifier and attaching it to a giant contraption that looked like a hollowed vase bottom plunged through the ceiling of glass and Durriya framework, "…Have you ever admired the stars during broad day, Sered Kiross?" Pilar set the lens into a channel among a series that collected in a tube that widened with each progressively larger ring.
"The suns you mean?…"
"No," Pilar set his copper eye to the first ring on the end of the tapering cone, "…the rest of them…" He was quiet a moment, then, "…If you trust me, put a glance through the scope here and see Kahje…"
"Kahje…" Cuillean was curious…He weighed turning his back to the papir'aya, "…What will I see…" His eyes widened, "…Is that a work of deception?…There is a blue marble on a black background…"
Pilar leaned away, "…That is to be our sister planet, and no, it is not a marble…It is in space, the kosme, Sered Kiross…"
Cuillean pulled his eyes away and looked to the end of the machine, then back through the eye connector, and he did this several times…
Nelwyn chuckled from the doorway.
"Nelwyn," Pilar stepped back, turning his breadth of body draped in tucked gold, green, white silks that flowed and kept shape with his triangular torso, "…Stop spying for once and come in, you gave yourself away," he raised his arm as Cuillean watched her approach…
She had changed in advance of his arrival, a dress that touched her feet in sandals and that let her chest of gold be seen halfway down her middle, "…I told you he would be here," she looked smugly at her father.
Pilar bestowed Cuillean an empathetic nod, "…You must be wondering why she is so smart in herself…She is rightly a Sousan heiress, and she dabbles too much in conspiracy…She and I have been keeping an eye on you, and you are here in my inventions laboratory today because you have been welcomed into it…" He released his daughter's shoulders and turned, gesturing for them to follow him through the glassed rooms, "…Your father and I worked closely together."
"I have learned that."
"He was a good man, and I believe he meant for you and your sister to have lives away from what he and I helped build together…He was a Tyrannus, that you know, and you were both tierra Tyrannus and Ilori due to Talaith, who also helped win my battles…"
"Did you wipe out her clan?…"
"No," Pilar turned to look solemnly at the thane who had stopped walking, "…Talaith lives, Cuillean, as do all of the Lela…Your mother went north, the clan went south for reasons I will explain…"
Cuillean narrowed his eyes, "…I have been everywhere this shore, spoken to everyone high and low, and Lela is a legend if anything but alive…My mother left and fell to disease when she was with the Kerhasla, my sister lies now in peace, and I have nought else but a bannon you now harbor…" He looked at Nelwyn.
"Lela is alive," she supported the claim, "…so is Talaith."
"I do not believe as easily as you may think I do," Cuillean drew himself up, "…I came here not to learn history either, but to know who it is you intend to marry…Bor wishes to supplant your betrothed with either a challenger or to beleaguer him with offers, changing his intentions…I am telling you because I am sworn to your treasach in addition to your keeping our part of the bargain."
"We understand your irritation, Thane Kiross," Pilar collected his own hands together, "…Your nephew has great privilege awaiting him…I am intending that he become my daughter's heir, and you a steward of the city…If you accept, you will be mitali to my daughter and raise not only your future son with your wife, but your nephew together…It is an alliance of enemies, and it must be done."
Cuillean's face was blank…He had been prepared for part of that plan, but for all of it…
"I cannot," he whispered, his eyes moving further back from them, "…I will not…" He looked around, his head whirling, "…That…"
"Cuillean," Nelwyn glanced worriedly at her father, "…Cuillean, there is a seat over there…"
He was already tottering over, "…I cannot breathe…"
He looked up and above him his eyes could see spinning a strange windlass-like object high in the ceiling below the glass cupola…
His body hit the ground before he was aware he had lost consciousness.
"Cuill…Cuill?…"
"Melanctha…Melanctha," his eyes came open.
Melanctha lay on an unfamiliar bed beside him, in an unfamiliar room…A very lavish, intricately embellished room with fine pieces of furniture and mirrors and…
He had to be in Nuru, the Sousan cottus…
He sat up, his hand tight on Melanctha, "…How did you come here?…Did someone find you?…"
She appeared apologetic, "…Cuill, no, I left Alpana…"
His eye ridges sloughed together, "…You left?…On your own?…"
"The Borhala helped me, but it was not like I could not do it myself…You and I know the way because you showed me…I was brought to a boat and then I came by the sea to the Sousan…Nelwyn—"
"Where is she?" He was aggrieved, he was confused, and he was feeling mildly hostile, "…She's taken you prisoner—"
"I asked to be brought by the Borhala to the Kerhasla…Nelwyn Sousan is one of them and she has already helped you and made true on her word to protect us, you know this, I know you are just waking…"
Cuillean caught her hand on his face and held it…He sniffed her and sought for any chemical, "…Have they poisoned you?…Made you drink anything?…"
"I've had food and water, and I tried some granwen…Cuillean—"
He was crossing the floor from the bed, stripped of his custom robes and cloak…He realized this, his body dressed in white and gold silks with green plummeting along his chest and into a hatach…Hitting the doors, he swung them open and searched the next wings spreading left and right…
"Cuillean," Melanctha hurried after him, holding a hand to her belly, "…are you angry?…"
He turned and looked at her, she being dressed in a gown with a cut slightly higher than Nelwyn's, "…The baby?…"
She placed both hands on the lump, "…He's well, Cuillean…" She turned slightly, "…You look unsettled…"
"You are supposed to be in Alpana, I am supposed to be working for Bor Kratos, not living here with you!"
"Stop sounding so angry," she stepped away from him, "…It was my idea to have you moved here with me…I could not raise a child alone in Alpana, and you were playing with a shortening wick, burning at both ends…I sought help, and Nelwyn agreed to bring us here…You will work for Pilar and you will take Nelwyn as a mate—if only for the impression of it," she added at his look, "…Your nephew will have someone he is related to to grow up with, Cuillean…Dahna sacrificed herself to free you—"
"I am a Serepta!"
"You have been taught to think of yourself as nothing more than a slave…You were born an Ilori Tyrannus, and the law is: Ilori shall be the one Tierra that may cross towers, Cuillean…Your father, Pilar, and every one of those liars you have been working for and among know that…It is why your father did what he did…"
Cuillean gaped at his wife…His head felt the rush again and he stumbled.
"Oh, Cuill…" Melanctha tried to hold him up but he was a large man, "…Cuillean, I did it to save you…I want you to be a father to our son…Pilar will send you places where you will not encounter Bor or any other thanes…It will be safer, and you can come back and see your heirs grow."
"Melanctha," he shook his head in her lap, "…You did all of this?…"
"Well, not everything, but I've had a hand in the planning…There's not much to do in Alpana besides worry, you know…so I did the next best thing and I acted on my ideas…I think Nelwyn is brilliant, and her father speaks highly of you…You've never been able to kill him, but I think that's because you admire him—so that works out, doesn't it?…"
He blinked in stunned silence at her.
"I think I made a good risk when I met you, Melanctha," he let her kiss him.
"I was very nervous about you," she smiled, "…What drellahna marries a thane?…"
"A very clever one," he murmured, rising up, the blood rushing somewhere new other than his head, and scooping her up, he carried her back to the bed.
They joined the families at dinner, Cuillean and Melanctha finding their seats waiting at the end of a row of many tables, up a dais at a table surrounded by four more, and among them were seated the burrells and burrellas, poins, Pilar, Nelwyn, and a number of faces Cuillean recognized.
Pilar stood and gestured for them to sit beside him, with Nelwyn on his right, Cuillean at her right, a small child sitting between Cuillean and Nelwyn and another queenly-in-appearance drellahna.
Cuillean looked uncomfortable and focused his attention on Melanctha, but Pilar made him stand with a motion to Cuillean, and beside him Nelwyn did as well, giving her fingers to Cuillean's nephew.
"Fellow clan and treasach," Pilar announced, his voice carrying through the thronged halls, "…We host our newest member in Nuru society…Once a Tyrannus, always a Tyrannus…Cuillean Kiross is here to become the next steward of Nuru and our treasach…" There was clapping, thunderously with the transfer of sound through the domelike spaces, "…Nelwyn is to be mitali with our new steward, and a new heir is selected," he gestured to the child standing with Nelwyn's help—and Cuillean's— "The future of Nuru is in good grant to a Sousan heiress and a strong bloodline of kingly men and women…I bless this union, this ritual I now make to be tradition in these walls…The alliance will continue, and we will continue to prosper…Now Cuillean," Pilar set his hand on his back, "…Take Nelwyn and walk together around the tables of each hall, it will complete the marriage…"
"Sered," Cuillean stared at Pilar, "…Mel—"
"Melanctha wills this, Cuillean," Pilar looked at the drellahna who had moved her chair back to go collect Cuillean's nephew with the other drellahna, and Nelwyn was waiting for him by the rear of the dais.
Cuillean walked backwards, staring at Melanctha who ignored him and was already talking to his nephew as the hall stood and so did the others attached to it…It was to be a very long walk.
Nelwyn took his arm and smiled at him.
"I do not know which way to start," he murmured, and Nelwyn guided him right.
"It does not matter," she said as they stepped off the dais and walked around the first of the clapping tables, "…It is all symbolic of the treasach's unity…I'm probably embarrassing my father because this is not something I know absolutely…He and I made it up…"
"This is all a farce?" Cuillean muttered under his breath.
"I don't think it will be a farce when we meet in your bedroom tonight."
"That is not happening."
"You have to make it seem real, Cuillean…You are steward now of Nuru…This has been my father's hope: to have a tradition that is outside the Kerhasi's demands, that no one can interfere with…You think I would bed with anyone?…I have high principles…"
"I am not sleeping with you," not that she was unpleasant to look at…Cuillean had much admired her the first time he saw her in the Crandal, "…You will have to sit on the other side of the wing from mine."
"Melanctha is fine with one night of sharing you…Your life is more important to her…I am open to sleeping with you or not…" She turned her eyes from nodding and smiling at the people they were making way along the perimeter of…Cuillean's eyes were fixed ahead, but he was seeing everything up to the arching supports in the domes above.
"I said I am not open to sleeping with anyone but you know who," he allowed so as not to let anyone overhear, "…How much of this city knows about what Melanctha has done?…"
"Nearly all will in time, but let that roll as it goes," she switched her arm as they turned down the perimeter to the next hall.
Cuillean took stock of the entire dining and engagement facility…It was immense…The halls they walked took them an hour, and by the time they were back to the table, many had sat to eat and already departed to their duties or cottis in the city.
Melanctha had disappeared with the drellahna and his nephew, and Pilar was speaking with his poins and a thane Cuillean had been talking about with Nahman…
"Sered Kiross," Eluk turned his bright green eyes towards the other as they came up onto the dais, "…or is it Sered Sousan now," he shared a smile with Nelwyn and a wink.
Cuillean had always liked Eluk like most of the thanes he met through Mercede, but he found the drell's mannerisms odd.
Instantly he could detect Nelwyn and Eluk had an affinity for each other.
He let Nelwyn go to embrace the thane, who ducked his broad shoulders into her arms and kissed her on the cheek.
"I will see you soon, Cuillean," Nelwyn surprised him by walking away with Eluk, taking the thane's arm and looking up at him as they started a lively conversation and went down the dais and into an archway off the main square they were in.
"Eluk seems welcome here," Cuillean said, watching Nelwyn lean against a pylon of blue metal in the next room from his view, Eluk putting an arm over her crests and leaning towards her with his body open, "…Is there more that I should know?…"
"Eluk is a bannon," Pilar said, looking appraisingly at his new steward, "…if you are implying they are romantically involved, you best silent that thought…"
Cuillean glanced at Pilar…Pilar and his captains started to laugh.
"You jest…"
"Eluk is my son…You know Nelwyn is only related to me by half-blood?…Her mother lives in Suiaghan, thus the crests and the soft skin…She is a mix of both cultures…Eluk is my heir as she is, and they are brother and sister, nothing more…" He chuckled softer, the captains moving off to do their night tasks, "…You were concerned…"
"I should be protective of my wife as well as the master…I did pledge myself to her service…Yours, Sered…"
"Melanctha is your wife, now so is the master you swore yourself to…Nelwyn is yours and you will need to protect her…Through Eluk and Nelwyn exist a very special bond with the people below us…"
"The people below…The…beasts?…"
"They are rachnids, they are people if slightly different in shape and design…You will one day meet the one named who cannot be mentioned yet…You give Nelwyn a daughter or son, that will happen."
"But I have Melanctha…"
"You are a Tyrannus…It is good to have alliances with other families, Cuillean…Stop thinking that you are a Serepta…Even Eluk pretends, but I suppose he has the excuse he was raised by myself and knows how to play an act well…Come with me, we should talk about your future responsibilities."
"I cannot believe all that has happened…One morning I wake up in a palace, the same night I am in charge of a city…My sister died, my wife connived a ludicrously brilliant plan…" Cuillean looked lopsidedly at the blue-tinged glass in his hand, "…I think I am drunk."
"Have another, it will make it easier," the golden hands moved the glass from his fingertips and slipped in and formed his fingers around a new one, full of liquor.
"Where is my wife?…"
"Nelwyn is tending to business and Melanctha is treasuring your nephew like her own…They are inseparable," the drellahna that had been at the tables beside Nelwyn took his empty glass and moved it next to the empty series on the table nearby.
"What did you say your name was again?…"
"Nothing important to know, you'll rest now and wait for Nelwyn."
Cuillean took a seat on the balcony attached to his quarters and Melanctha's…Apparently he was to wait there and be greeted by his new "wife".
He looked in the direction of the smooth line of cupolas that signified the inventions lab…Some lights were on in the glass housing of the halls…Pilar was likely down there working on ideas.
He tilted the liquid inside his newest glass…He had been plied with alcohol after Pilar brought him to learn his "responsibilities"…The hara at Nuru was some of the best dancing he had seen.
He allowed himself a giggle…It was ridiculous…Him, a Serepta…No, Pilar said he had to start thinking like a Tyrannus once more…Maybe an Ilori…He was an Ilori after all…Able to cross towers…Able to kill and spy and be a traitor…Was he still working for Bor?
Bor would want to kill him for this transgression…To Hekla with him, Cuillean thought, downing the glass into his mouth and throat, …He ordered me to kill my sister! To kill my nephew!—His bannon!…My "son" with Nelwyn…
It would be difficult to make a real son with Nelwyn, Cuillean looking down at himself…
I have had much too much to drink.
Resha's words came to him, …Cannot stay in Alpana…
Melanctha must have spoken to Resha…Had to have been…Boat brought her this way.
Teetering away from the balcony, Cuillean belched and sat in the inner space by the breezy curtains.
Why was he drinking so much…Yes, to be unable to perform for Nelwyn when she demanded he do so…
Eluk was her brother?…By another mother…or was it the other way around?…Eluk had always struck him as odd…and Suiaghan?…They were all traitors…
He fit in!
"Where have you…"
He looked to the doors opening and closing behind Nelwyn who strode over and slapped him across his patak.
That was not what he had been expecting…
"You are drunk."
"Very…Would you like to join me?"
"We are supposed to be mated tonight," she stripped off her silks and stood before him.
Why does this keep happening to me…
Cuillean stood and shook his glass at her, "…No…I said no babies…Melanctha, is all."
Nelwyn pulled the glass from his hand and threw it out the window…
"That was very expensive…"
She glared at him, "…Strip."
"I am not sleeping in you, but I will do as you (hic!) command."
She dragged him as well as she could to a bed separate from Melanctha's and his they'd shared earlier, "…Lay on your back or sit, I'll take care of it myself."
Cuillean felt himself land on something spacious and soft, and ran his fingers through fur, "…Another bed…How many in one room are there?…"
She pulled his hatach loose, "…Cuillean, shut your mouth."
"I thought this was optional," his eyes locked on hers.
Nelwyn stopped, his hatach in her hand, "…You're not as addled as you feign, Cuillean."
"I am not a breeding stud," Cuillean sat up, taking his hatach from her, "…Step off, Nefen."
She smiled, then frowned, and he felt the tip of a needle near his neck, "…We can do this voluntarily or you can lay out cold while I finish the job."
Cuillean lay back onto the bed and removed what was left after his hatach had been taken.
"That's better," she put the needle in her mouth and spoke over it, "…It's nothing personal, Cuillean…We have plans, us Kerhasla…I said I would give them an heir and I intend to do it…It keeps us all on good ground, you know…"
"I gather Eluk has been tutoring you on what he has learned in Mercede…"
"You would say that wouldn't you…"
"Is he really your half-brother?…"
"No and yes…We're cousins…He's illegitimate, I am not."
She pulled down his pant silks and worked on the wrap of his undinia.
"You need only order me to sleep with you, Nefen," Cuillean said, watching her progress, "…You can lose the needle…"
"And trust a lowly thane to keep his word?…I think not…" She stopped moving when he had her on the floor, one hand under her throat.
"Lowly…" He smiled, "…The truth is ugly, but I prefer it that way instead of pretty lies."
She felt the needle leave her lips.
Cuillean let her up and threw the needle onto the table with the glasses, "…I will not hurt you, Nefen Sousan…You are my fake wife, and I am sworn to your protection regardless of the charade you and your father are trying to pull…Needlessly you drew Melanctha into this plot…My nephew was already here," he turned and looked at her behind him, "…Why are you doing this to me?"
She was under his nose, looking up at him.
"We have backup measures, Cuillean…You wanted to protect your family, I swore to help if you protected mine…I give you a bond that I know you won't break because family means everything to you, doesn't it…"
"This is not what I meant…I will not be trapped into such a farce…You will only have to command me, but some things can be done differently."
"Kiss me."
"No."
"I command you to kiss me."
He lowered his face and brushed her lips with his, "…Done."
"Kiss me like you would Melanctha, I command this."
He hesitated, then looked away.
"I order you."
Sliding his hand up her arm, he pulled her close and firmly against him, turning his lips to hers, and kissing her slowly, letting his mouth imagine the borders of Melanctha's face and mouth.
Nelwyn shook under his touch, her hand jumping to his bare chest.
"Make…love to me," she whispered when he stopped, "…like you make love to your real wife…" Her eyes looked up at his, "…I order you."
"No."
"You disobey me?"
"I do not disobey anyone…I am Tyrannus…Now go from my chamber and return my wife and nephew to me, Nelwyn."
She stared at him.
"You and your father said I need act more the Tyrannus…Well, here I am."
"You are insulting me…"
"No, I am asking you to respect my wishes."
"Eluk said you would be hard to break," she turned and went to the table, picked up the needle…By the time she turned back, Cuillean was behind her and slapped the needle out of her hand.
"Is this what love is like behind the walls of Nuru?" he asked.
She smiled, and she was terribly lovely when she had that cold smile on her golden features, "…Do you see a Nefen Sousan matriarch anywhere present in the halls, Cuillean?…It's just me, Eluk, and the half-breed drellahna that helps me with your nephew."
"Pilar's wives?"
"Hara whores or women he has seduced and lain with…He gives only housing to those children of his that have either gold skin or green eyes."
"The drellahna is also a sibling of yours?…"
"Her name is Kama."
Cuillean made sure she had no other weapons on her. He checked her crests and places that will not be mentioned. When he was satisfied she could not surprise him with any more needles or poisons, he let her go and began to search the wing.
He suddenly straightened, "…Why is Melanctha here?"
Nelwyn was running to the door.
Cuillean chased after her, slamming the door shut as it came ajar.
Forcing her onto the bed, he turned her around, "…You will answer me…or you will get what you sought so hard to take from me, not in the way you expected it," he squeezed her arm with such strength she cried out, "…I am a weapon, not a toy, Nelwyn."
"I command you to stop—"
"Why is my wife here!"
Resha was right, but it had not been he who found Melanctha…Nelwyn had put that all together, Melanctha was of a copper-brown color that would make golden skin once a child was made with two such parents…It would not happen for himself and her, but that was unimportant…
His son was at risk…
"Where is she!"
"She's in the labs with my father!"
Resha was right…He should have moved Melanctha long before Nelwyn or her spies found her!
He pushed Nelwyn onto the bed's middle and ran for his clothing, pulling on all he could…He saw the needle on the floor of the balcony and grabbed it, considering it before running for the doors.
Nelwyn was already at the doorway, holding onto a handle and standing before him, "…Cuillean—"
"Get out of my way!"
"He will treat her well!"
"No," Cuillean seized her arm and wrenched her away as the door opened…
"Sered Kiross," Eluk grabbed hold of his shoulders, "…have you consummated your marriage to my sister yet?"
Cuillean ducked and thrust his elbow backwards into Eluk's waist—Eluk backed off but kicked out with a well-placed boot into Cuillean's cross of wrists.
Sliding across the floor on his back, Cuillean rolled and ran to the balcony as Eluk took out a knife and ran after him.
Grabbing a curtain, he wrapped it around Eluk as he ran through the doors, then kicked him from behind to propel him over the balcony with the momentum of his running to catch him. He missed the knife that went over the railing of blue shimmery metal, the white curtain going taut.
Cuillean looked to the inventions laboratory in the distance.
He patted the needle he slid through his silks and leapt with two long strides, falling free from the balcony towards the next stepout below, its banners of green, white and gold pale and dark with moons' light and lifting with an ocean wind west.