Page 127 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
He nodded to Hallie. “I’ll allow Miss Walker to speak first.”
“The sooner we can get through this, the better. In case you didn’t realize, we have been attacked once more, and my attention is needed elsewhere.” The Stradat Lord Kapitan looked almost bored. Hallie’s information was important, yet he acted like it was all a great inconvenience.
Kase stopped his light tapping and said, “Father, I promise this is worth your attention.”
Niels sat back a little and saw Hallie’s hand grabbing Kase’s underneath the table. He clenched his jaw. She’d told him as much. He had bigger things to worry about than the relationship he didn’t have.
The Stradat Lord Kapitan flicked a glance at his son. “We shall discuss your situation soon enough, so it would be prudent to keep silent.”
A muscle fluttered in Kase’s jaw. Some of Niels’ jealousy ebbed. He wasn’t sure what Kase had done to receive such treatment from his own father, but surely it wasn’t warranted.
Hallie took a deep breath. Niels wanted to reach out and comfort her, but he couldn’t, not when her hand was still in Kase’s.
He was starting to feel foolish for agreeing to go along on Hallie’s adventure. He hadn’t done much to keep her safe. In fact, he’d probably done more to endanger her than anything else in his wounded state.
Hallie began, “General Correa is collecting Essences to defeat the ancient foe of Yalven lore called Jagamot. I’m unsure how much of this is fact and how much is fiction.”
“This we already know.”
Hallie shot a glance at Kase, and Niels shifted further back in his chair. The cold was back, climbing up his arm slowly. He caught Kase’s hand letting go of hers and settling on her knee.
Niels would kill him.
He closed his eyes to calm himself. Where had that reaction come from? Blasted stars. It had to be the Fogs. The cold had reached his elbow but seemed to pause with the outburst of anger.
Kase mumbled, “I gave him my report. He knows you also have the Essence power.”
Hallie was silent for a moment. Something in her jaw twitched ever so slightly. That was the only visible reaction she gave to the news. Niels wondered if she felt betrayed. It was her secret to tell, not anyone else’s.
The woman Fely spoke up next before Hallie could respond. “I believe you know who I am, though we have not spoken face to face, Stradat Lord Kapitan.”
Harlan’s face didn’t change as he finally looked up at her. “Yes, though I am uncertain as to why you’re here.”
Fely wet her lips. “After Glennar was killed by the General, I had no choice but to keep up appearances, and when the General and the King discovered Miss Walker attempting to use her power to create a Passage to the holy city, I went with her. The General believes me to be keeping tabs on her and is on his way to your capital in search of the second sword, Gate, and the final Essence.”
“And your betrothed? Where is the King?”
Fely looked down at her entwined fingers set atop the table. “Dead. Killed by Abram Loffler.”
Harlan stared at her hard, almost if he didn’t quite understand what she’d said, before he swore.
Kase glanced quickly at Hallie, who nodded. The cold started creeping up Niels’ other arm.
Harlan stood up from his chair and went over to his desk, scribbling something on a paper before handing it off to the guard outside the door. “Lord Stephenson. Now.”
He then returned to the table, but he didn’t sit, only leaned upon it. “Word of his death does not leave this tent.” He glared each person in the eye. “To do so could bring even more of those bombs down on our heads. The Cerls will take it as an outright act of war, which gives us very little bargaining power in any negotiations. Lady Fely, do I have your word?”
Fely didn’t seem to give any indication that she felt obliged to do anything at all. Her voice was steady. “As always, Stradat Lord Kapitan, my allegiance is to my people in the Isles. I will do nothing that betrays them, which means we are working toward the same goal.”
Something seemed to finally click in Kase’s brain, because he burst out, “You’re the one who killed Yarrow.”
Niels wasn’t sure who Yarrow was, but he was having more trouble concentrating on the conversation at hand.
“I did, but I did not relish it. Yarrow not only betrayed Miss Walker and King Filip, but also his brother, Glennar. If I had not gone along with appearances, he would have exposed me as a traitor. I was the one passing information through Glennar to Jayde.”
Kase’s thumb froze where he’d been stroking Hallie’s knee. Niels clenched his teeth. He should stop watching them, but his anger was all that kept the cold at bay.
“You were the one the Stradat Lord Kapitan was meeting in the middle of the night,” Kase rasped.
