Page 55 of The Exile's Curse

Irina nodded absently, watching her sister. "Lady Cela. Over there in the pale blue. But she won't tell you how she did it. Some of the patterns are used by certain houses. It's bad manners to copy."

"What house is hers?" Chloe asked, trying to sound casual.

"Reynavik," Irina said. "Well, her husband's house. She was a Daskyev before she married." She frowned. "She's Silya's cousin. Their grandmother was an Elannon." She almost whispered the last word. "But that's not her fault."

If she thought it was strange that Lady Cela had used colors that skated close to House Elannon, she didn't mention it. So maybe Chloe was being paranoid. But she made a mental note to keep an eye on Cela. Hopefully she was friendlier than her cousin. She had the same silvery blonde hair, the pale blue of her dress and vest setting it off nicely. The embroidery on her clothes had no colors resembling those of House Elannon. Only the hint of a pale orange in places and a leafy green that didn't have the same acidic edge to it as the Elannon green.

But Chloe couldn't shake an edge of unease, even if Irina seemed unconcerned. She looked for Honore. The colonel was currently talking quietly with Katiya's mother, and they both looked serious. Not a time to interrupt. Time enough to tell Honore later.

She turned her attention back to the tscherov and hoped she wouldn't make an idiot of herself when it came to her turn.

It probably wasn't a good sign that the meeting had only been underway for a few minutes and Lucien already wished it was kafiet, not tea, in the cup before him. He’d been told his initial meeting with House Elannon would only include a small number of people. So he'd brought only Lieutenant Plesse and Ensign Bretain with him for support.

Apparently the Andalyssians had a different interpretation of small. Or maybe they were putting on a show of strength. He didn't know. The king seemed genuine in his desire to resolve this matter, but Mikvel was only one man. He sat at the head of the table with Roland opposite him. Three men in Surayov colors, who had not been introduced, sat against the wall behind Mikvel, notebooks at the ready. Lucien and his party were seated to the king's right, and across the broad granite table were no fewer than four representatives of House Elannon, the current senior Ashmeister from House Reynavik, Sejerin Silya, and two men in deep green robes who had been introduced as Patrarch Federov and Svasya Meloskya, the two ranking priests of the kingdom.

If they'd thought to overwhelm him with numbers, they shouldn’t have bothered. He didn't need anybody else in order to exercise his powers, after all. If he wanted, he could know within seconds if anyone in the room was lying. But he wanted to start the meeting in good faith despite the fact that, so far, the behavior of House Elannon was not reassuring. Their expressions were stony, and they had wasted five minutes in determining who should sit where until Mikvel had given them an exasperated look and told them to take their seats. To their credit, they had followed that order. Not ready to outright defy their king, it seemed.

Mikvel lifted a hand. "All right. We all know why we are here today. Major de Roche, why don't you begin?"

Go first before his people could start ranting? Lucien squared his shoulders. "Of course, Your Majesty. The emperor received the king's request that House Elannon be restored early. While he is respectful of your beliefs, he wishes me to reiterate that there was a reason for the conditions imposed on House Elannon and that he needs to be satisfied that the house has learned from its past before he will agree to lift them."

He watched the faces of the Elannon men. While the two younger men, one of whom—Andrej—was the current head of the house who would have been the Ashmeister, were Elannon still afforded one, looked serious and attentive, the older two were more remote. The oldest, Uli Elannon, was the youngest brother of the Ashmeister who had led them into disaster. He hadn't been part of his brother's plot, but if Lucien had to pick someone who might still hold the seeds of rebellion in his heart, he would choose him. His eyes were ice green and showed no hint of remorse.

Lucien pointedly turned his attention back to Andrej. "Which is why His Imperial Majesty has sent me. He wishes to see true change, not platitudes and pretense of reform. Now, do any of you wish to deny the emperor's authority in this matter? Because that would shorten this process considerably."

No one spoke, though Uli's mouth tightened fractionally.

"No? Good. Then we can begin. Now, today is just a preliminary meeting. I will need to speak to a number of people from House Elannon and the other houses and—"

The patrarch held up his hand. "If I may, Major. We must make sure that you understand the ramifications of this decision. The kingdom must be in balance for the king's wedding to be blessed by the goddess. While the Ashmeisters are not whole, the balance cannot be whole."

He'd been prepared for this line of argument. Which was prevarication at best and religious posturing of the kind he had little time for at worst. After all, they'd crowned their new king without the full council. In fact, they’d done everything for the last thirteen years without a full council, and the country had not yet fallen off the side of the mountain, lack of balance or not. He bit back the urge to say just that. "I am clear. But merely restoring House Elannon is not the path to true balance. Unless I am mistaken, for there to be balance, there cannot be treason at the heart of the kingdom. Treason against the emperor is treason against your king as well, as it can only harm him."

The patrarch looked like he had bitten into something sour, but he didn't offer a counterargument.

"The emperor forgives treason which he chooses," Uli Elannon said. His voice was low, gravelly. It had been that way when Lucien was last here, and age had only added to the effect.

"Does he?" Lucien asked.

"There is one among your party who was married to a traitor, isn't there?" Uli continued. "Clearly the emperor has forgiven her."

Lucien's stomach tightened. Chloe? He was bringing Chloe into this? For what reason? "If you are referring to Lieutenant de Montesse, she had no knowledge of her husband's actions. She is in no way a traitor and continues to serve her emperor faithfully."

"Convenient," Uli said.

"Uli—" Andrej began in a warning tone, but Lucien held up a hand.

"My lord Elannon, I will answer, if I may." He stared at Uli while Andrej nodded and sat back in his chair.

Lucien leaned forward in his. "It is truth, sir. Not convenience. I do not serve convenience, and I never will. I do, however, serve the truth. As I am sure you remember. And, like Lieutenant de Montesse, if House Elannon has done as it should and removed those who would place rot and dissent over the well-being of its members and its country, then you have nothing to fear from the truth."

"Are you so sure of the daughter of ravens, then? Trouble likes that one. It’s not finished with her,” Sejerin Silya said.

What in the name of the goddess did that mean? But he didn’t want to get into an argument with the seer. "Lieutenant de Montesse is loyal. I know that to be truth."

"So certain. Those the goddess touches are not so simple, Illvyan."

He flattened his hand on the table to stop it curling into a fist. "I know, I am one of them, Sejerin. The goddess gave me my magic. I use it at her will." Hers and the emperor’s. So far, she hadn’t objected to anything Aristides had ever tasked him with. Or as far as he could tell. He still had his magic, after all. "The lieutenant is not part of this matter."

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