Page 34 of Elemental Hall: Nautica
I go to stand near him and put a hand on his arm, feeling the sharp tingle as sparks of electricity jump to me.
“Wait,” I say softly to him. “This might not come to violence.”
Darius smiles bitterly. “It’s Umbrae, Sera. Everything comes to violence eventually.”
He doesn’t discharge the power he’s been building up, though. He stands there beside me, watching with me as the great ship in the harbor pulls to a halt well clear of the shore.
A smaller boat is lowered from the side, three figures descending into it, all wearing long, dark robes. They stand in the boat rather than sitting in it, and none of them makes any move to row. Even so, the boat comes forward, the waves themselves pushing it in the direction of the shore as their magic compels the sea.
They step out onto the docks, two men and a woman. One of the men is a head taller than anyone else there, completely bald, with tattoos running over his skull. His skin is almost deathly pale. The other man is slender and looks only a year or two older than I am. He has short dark hair, deep bronze skin, and dark eyes. The woman looks to be in her thirties, with raven black hair down to her waist, ornamented here and there with silver charms. She is the one who speaks, and as she does so, I can hear the power in her words.
“We come as representatives from the great emperor of Umbrae,” she says. “We come in peace, to speak with the leaders of Nautica.”
I can feel that everything she says is true. That we should do everything she says.
“That would be more convincing without the magical compulsion,” Elemental Mistress Halan says, stepping forward.
“Forgive me,” the woman replies, and now her words are more normal. “I only wished my intent to be known. I am Mereth. These two are Jeon and Gnast. The emperor has sent us to speak with you, to try to forge better relations between Lumina and Umbrae.”
“Then why come here?” Elemental Mistress Halan asks.
“Representatives have been sent to others as well,” Mereth says, “but we know as well as you that elemental power is what counts. We need to speak to those who might decide on behalf of Lumina’s elementalists.”
Elemental Mistress Halan hesitates. For a moment, I think she might order the three back to their ship, or even command us to attack. Then she nods.
“Very well. Accommodations will be found for you, and I will see that you get a chance to speak.”
I breathe a sigh of relief, realizing that there isn’t about to be a fight. Beside me, though, Darius doesn’t look relaxed at all.
“We cannot trust them,” he murmurs.
“They’re ambassadors,” I point out. “They’re here to talk.”
“With the elementalists here?” he counters. “They are Umbran magi. They serve the will of the emperor, and they do nothing without a purpose. If they are here, there is a reason for it, and it will not end well for any of us.”
Chapter EIGHTEEN
Whatever Darius’s concerns about the presence of his people, training goes on as it usually would, building up to the last major challenges of this intake. Already, there are whisperings along the island paths about what they will be.
“They say that last year, they had everyone fight a colossal sea wyrm,” Aria says.
“Where did you hear that?” I ask.
Aria shrugs. “It’s just something everyone knows.”
Aria is good at finding out the things everyone knows, the rumors and the gossip, the things that spread like wildfire around the island. Or at least, like wildfirewouldspread if there weren’t a whole academy’s worth of trained water initiates able to put it out.
“What are people saying about Orion and me?” I ask, not because I’m so self-interested, but because I need to know if our efforts are working.
Aria looks a little uncomfortable. “Well… they’re mostly talking about you and Darius. They’re saying the two of you are cheating on Orion and… look,Iknow none of this is true. It’s just what people are saying. I know you would never cheat on Orion.”
“Especially not with an Umbran?” I say, guessing at least part of the prejudices running through Nautica.
“Darius seems… well, it’s hard to tellwhathe’s like when you’re the only one he seems to be friends with,” Aria says. “Maybe if he tried harder to be friendly, people here would like him more. Even the ambassadors are more friendly than he is.”
That’s true. For now, Mereth, Jeon, and Gnast seem to be free to walk around Nautica as they wish, although their ship stays moored in the harbor, away from the shore. Whatever discussions they’re having with Elemental Mistress Halan andthe rest, it’s taking time, and they seem to be using that time to talk with students, almost at random. Although maybe there’s nothing random about it.
“We need to be careful with them,” I say. “Maybe they’re friendly, but Darius seems convinced that this is all some huge trick.”
