Page 58 of Heir Of Sun And Moon
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Bahira
“Whydoyouthinkhe’s summoned you?” I ask my father, peering at where he sits across from me, my mother still on his lap. The mage who had come to inform us of the shifter king’s message waits in my room with his hands clasped behind his back. My father cants his head, watching as my mother stands, before standing himself and reaching his hand out to me to help me up.
“I do not know. We haven’t had communication with the Shifter Kingdom since before the Spell was put into place. Though they recently crowned a new king, young by their standards. Perhaps he will be willing to form an unlikely alliance with us,” he ponders, holding Nox’s latest letter up. “Come, let’s go meet the new king of the shifter isle.”
I follow my parents down the stairs to the first floor, the unsteady beating of my heart matching our quick steps. I turn to go into the throne room where I expect the meeting to take place, but my mother grabs my hand and tugs me back into the main hall.
“We should have this meeting in the council chambers,” she says, looking over to my father who nods his head in agreement.
“Tomas, has the council been told of this?” When Tomas shakes his head, my father sends him off with instructions to find all the council members and tell them to meet us in the council room as soon as possible.
My eyes flare wider as we enter, the new addition conspicuous from its place near the head of the table. The oval mirror stands tall at eight feet and is framed by dark brown banya wood. Tree bark twists around the edges almost as if it had grown that way and was cradling it. The current sigil of the Mage Kingdom, an ancient albero tree under a sky full of stars, is carved on the bottom curve of the Mirror while the old celestial sigil of the last Void mages—who ruled before us—adorns the top. Possessed by the ruler in each kingdom, the Mirrors are spelled objects given their power by the magic of the continent, allowing every ruler in Olymazi to communicate with each other. Normally, our Mirror is kept in a small, closed-off area attached to the throne room. A guard stands outside to both sway anyone from attempting to mess with it and to listen in case a voice comesoutof it. Looking over the rippling silver of its center, I notice that the glass looks liquid and pliable. I move to step towards it, but my father halts me with a hand on my shoulder.
“The image will start to clear as soon as I, or someone of my bloodline, step near. We should wait until everyone from the council is here.” I nod my head and step back in line with my parents.
Within a few minutes, every man and woman sitting on our council is here, none of them actually taking a seat. They all spread out in the room, but stay close enough to make sure they can see the Mirror. There’s a nervous energy as I look around and see lots of shifting eyes and feet and hands tucked into pockets. And then at the last moment, another mage comes in and shuts the door behind him quietly. He lifts his head, his gaze meeting mine briefly.Daje.I frown slightly as I stare at him, trying to read if the tension lining his body is because of the situation or because of me. The trickle of sunlight flowing in from the windows at the front of the room makes the space between us glow brightly, while we are cast out in the dark edges. It feels symbolic. My father clears his throat, and I turn forward again, though I can feel the skin in the middle of my back prickle from Daje’s stare.
“Ready?” My father asks the question quietly. I nod, looking at my mother who does the same, and together we step up to the Mirror. It is unusual for him to ask me to be a part of this, only in the sense that I generally avoid any matters that are political in nature. Yet something deep within me recognizes that this is an important historical moment and that I need to be here even if only to witness it.
The cloudiness of the Mirror begins to dissipate as we move closer, two blurry figures taking shape.
“King Kai Vaea, it is a pleasure to meet you,” my father speaks, his voice dignified and his posture that of regality.
On the silvery surface, one of the men takes up nearly the entire image. I can’t tell if he’s just that large or if the Mirror is making him appear bigger than he really is. His dark brown eyes stare intensely at all of us, wild and predacious, but he doesn’t respond to my father’s words. Black tattoos cover nearly all of one arm, the ink stark against the light golden tan of his skin. I can’t decipher their designs.
“This is my wife, Queen Alexandria, and my daughter, Princess Bahira,” my father continues. My mother executes the most perfect curtsy, while I simply dip my chin slightly in respect.
The shifter king smirks at my display before gesturing to the man standing next to him. “This is Tua, my advisor. Thank you for answering my summons,” he says, his deep voice lilting with a light accent so different from our own. This is the first time I’ve ever seen or heard someone from the shifter isle. His hands clasp behind him as the advisor, who is about six inches shorter and twenty years older, holds his own in the front. One is a stance of command and dominance, his broad chest flexing with his hands behind him, noticeable even in the slight distortion of the Mirror. The other stance is more diplomatic and peaceful. I also notice both the king and Tua have the same colored hair and eyes.
“Are you interested in my advisor, Princess?” the king asks sardonically. “I’m afraid he is already married. But if the Mage Kingdom is lacking, perhaps a visit to our isle is in store. There are a few males here who would be more than interested in playing with a princess.” King Kai mocks me—his shoulders relaxing a fraction, while Tua suddenly loses all color.
“Tempting,” I reply, shifting my weight onto one leg as I tilt my head to the side. I dramatically drag my eyes down the shifter king’s body. It’s more of a way to let him know that he doesn’t intimidate me and less because I find him pleasing to look at.Though he isn’t terrible.
“But I onlyplaywith males who have the intelligence to see me as more than a royal commodity. Is your kingdom so boring that you find accosting females entertaining, Your Majesty?” I add. The slight gasp from my mother and low grumbling from the mages behind me reminds me that I’m not acting veryroyalduring a time when tensions are high.
King Kai chuckles, the sound powerful even from where we stand an ocean apart. “What makes you think I was talking about myself?” he practically purrs.
My eyes narrow, and I’m about to let my temper get the best of me when my father and the island king’s advisor clear their throats at the same time. I hold the shifter king’s gaze for a few seconds before my father starts talking and he is forced to look away. I childishly grin at him for breaking contact first. It’s a move he notices and clenches his jaw at.
“We are curious as to why you have reached out,” my father intervenes, clearly trying to diffuse the situation. “It has been many decades since our kingdoms last interacted.”
The island king crosses his large arms across his chest, taking a deep breath before answering, as if calculating exactly how much information he wants to provide despite being the one who reached out.“We know your secret.”
The voices behind me quiet immediately. My eyes dart to my father, who stops his nervous tapping on his thigh and states calmly, “I’m not sure I know what you mean, Your Majesty.”
The king of the shifter isle glares, his stance preternaturally still, before growling, “Let’s drop the pretenses, King Sadryn. I know that mages are not susceptible to the same consequences of crossing the Spell as the other peoples of Olymazi are.” A ringing sounds in my ears as utter silence descends upon the council room. “I would like to propose a deal—a service in exchange for our silence on yourspecialability.”
How the hell does he know?
I grit my teeth together, my anger flaring at the casual way he is holding our kingdom’s safety in his hands. If any of the other kingdoms discover that we can cross through the Spell unharmed and unchanged, who is to say what sort of chaos would ensue? How could we even begin to predict the repercussions of that?
Daje’s father clears his throat behind us, my father briefly glancing at him over his shoulder before turning back to face the shifter king and asking, “King Kai, what is your price?” I can feel my annoyance and frustration building with each second that passes in which he doesn’t respond.
Finally, after a glance from his advisor, the island king speaks. “One of your mages.”
I gawk, releasing a wholly undignified sound as my hands fist at my sides. My father holds his hand up towards me in a rare show of his dominance as king.
“Please explain,” he demands, gesturing to the tall, arrogant ruler that I’m beginning to absolutely despise on the other side of the Mirror.
