Page 74 of Pawns of Salistya

‘How can I trust anything that’s coming out of your mouth? How do I know that the minute I leave, I’m not going to be killed instantly? Ilovedyou Valare. I wanted to havechildrenwith you. Create a life together. The person I’m looking at – my wife – who I’ve loved for the past year is a stranger. I don’t even know you,’ he said, pointing at me.

He wasn’t to know that he was splitting my heart in two as well. I may not love him as a romantic partner, but I had come to love him as a friend, to see him as my family. It wasn’t only his future that was changing with every minute that passed.

‘You do know me. I may have held things back from you, Eliasson. The purpose of my being here may be a lie, but the person you’ve come to know in the last year is still me. I don’t expect you to trust me, or to even like me, but I’m begging you. Please. Fyrel needs to know this, and you deserve to have a choice as to how this will go down,’ I pleaded.

‘You’re coming with me. I’ll be damned if you go missing before I get back and I sure as hell need your protection to ensure I keep my bloody head on my body,’ he said gruffly, fury infusing his movements as he grabbed my arm and pulled us out of the quarters towards Fyrel’s rooms.

I let him drag me across the palace, attempting and failing to hold in my tears. When we arrived at Fyrel’s rooms, he banged on the door and barged in. He paid no attention to what was very obviously Meredith and Fyrel having heated sex fuelled by, undoubtedly, a healthy dose of anger. She would’ve had to reveal some secrets to him as well.

Eliasson stomped over, pulling Fyrel off Meredith as she scrambled from all fours to dive under the cover to hide her naked body.

‘Get changed, you’re both coming with us,’ Eliasson demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and staring down at the couple expectantly.

They rushed to get changed before looking between us. Eliasson’s stance was full of anger while I was trying to stop the tears falling down my cheeks.

‘Teleport us back to my room,’ he ordered. I grabbed Fyrel and Eliasson’s hands and nodded to Meredith before whisking us away. Meredith landed behind us a second later, rushing towards me and placing a supportive arm around my waist.

‘Where were we, Valare?’ Eliasson pretended. ‘Ah, that’s right. You were up to the part where my life was in danger.’

‘What –’ Fyrel swivelled to face me, bloody murder emanating from every pore in his body.

‘Shit,’ Meredith whispered.

‘You know about this?’ Fyrel sneered at Mer. She swallowed loudly, refusing to answer and instead looked to me for guidance.

I took a step back, dragging Meredith with me, to create some distance between the raging Arlomans. ‘Eliasson’s life is in danger,’ I confirmed as I looked at Fyrel. I could feel the tears still drying on my face. ‘I wanted you to hear it from me firsthand. I know we don’t deserve your grace, but I ask that you remain calm while I explain what’s happening.’

Fyrel looked at Eliasson with dread. They had both seen what I was capable of at the beach and knew they had no real leg to stand on. My diplomacy of not reminding them of it was my own form of grace.

‘I take it you’ve caught Fyrel up on what it means to be a physical mage and the gifts of the Isles?’ I asked Mer.

She sheepishly nodded, casting her head down as tears began to fall down her face.

‘It’s okay, Mer. I know this has been hard for you to keep from him,’ I soothed, rubbing her arm up and down. ‘For what it’s worth Fyrel, she really does love you. Please remember that this is out of her control. As you should understand being in your position, she’s duty bound to her Queendom.’ I saw Fyrel soften. He too had tears in his eyes as he nodded in understanding, his gaze unwaveringly fixed on Meredith.

‘I’ve come to understand that my father agreed to a union between our Doms to train more physical mages and create a bigger army. Despite what Slaviya says, the breeding programs are not as fruitful as she would lead you to believe. The army is suffering, and the beasts are growing in strength and size. They’re becoming a formidable force that the Salistyan army alone clearly can’t conquer. Granting Arlomans access to the Isles allows for more physical mages and thus a stronger front on our coastal lands. However,’ I cleared my throat, ‘It was never my father’s intention to have an Arloman rule over a Kingdom which held physical mages. They’d always planned for you to be assassinated, Eliasson. This would lead my sister – now me – to be the ruler of Arlom. It would also create a strong force against Marlyst and Nyarelle, who we all know hold a strong alliance.’

Fyrel moved to place himself protectively in front of Eliasson.

‘I’m not going to hurt him, Fyrel. If I was going to, I would’ve done it well and truly before now. Be thankful it was me that married your king and not my sister. If it were Slaviya, Eliasson would have died a year ago, consequences and implications be damned.’

‘What changed your mind?’ Eliasson asked, stepping to Fyrel’s side to look at me.

‘When my parents and brother died and Slaviya became Queen, I naturally became heir. I knew how much she detested my father’s plans to marry her off, so I naively thought she would put a stopto talks of marriage. I hoped that Slaviya, as a female ruler of a Queendom that had oppressed women for as long as it has stood, would change our Dom for the better. But she hasn’t. I’ve come to see the same cunning look in her eyes as I did my father’s. When I found out that I was to be married and the plans I was expected to carry on, I was furious. But I also had no way to stop it from happening. I was a Salistyan and required to be loyal to my queen, even as the next in line for the throne. I was bound by duty.’

‘Arlom is a lot like Solista. People are free. Happy. Alive. It amazes me to this day that the Solistans are under Salistyan rule. In all honesty, it would be more fitting that they were under Arloman rule.’ I shook my head.

‘Living in the Isles opened my eyes to a different way of life. In truth, I wanted nothing to do with Salistya. And then I was sent on this mission.’ I took a deep breath. ‘Living in Arlom, getting to know you, your people, the culture. It wasn’t what I was expecting. It made me second guess whether seeing the mission through was the right thing to do. I stalled, made up a plethora of excuses to Slaviya to get her off my back while I sifted through my thoughts. It took me a while to realise that I’m no longer under my sister’s reign. I married an Arloman and that made me loyal to the Arlom Kingdom. I realised I don’t have to be a pawn in all of this. I don’t have to assassinate a king who is so loved by his people and rules with his heart on his sleeve. And I also don’t have to play into whatever it is my sister is planning after you’re supposed to be dead, Eliasson. I never really trusted her, even when we were younger, but now I absolutely don’t trust her motives. Wedon’t trust her motives.’ I looked at Mer as she nodded in agreement, standing in solidarity with me. ‘Fyriane was once a united continent under one ruling couple. I fear she’s trying to rule Fyriane alone and taking it by force. Arlom and your assassination, Eliasson, are the first pieces of the puzzle.’

The men digested my words.

‘So why are you here, Mer?’ Fyrel asked softly, love and understanding shining in his eyes.

I nudged Mer, giving her the green light to answer freely.

‘I’m a part of Valare’s Sol. I’m a trained assassin along with Amire, Mazyr and Rynelle. We’ve trained together since we were gifted our magic. As a group, along with Valare, we assist in assassination missions. This was, or is, our first mission together. We’re under strict orders by our queen.’ She swallowed nervously and added, ‘Slaviya, that is.’

‘So …’ Eliasson started. ‘If you’re not going to kill me. What’s the plan?’

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