Abide: An Awakened Fate Novella (2 page)

But maybe I could come up with something… something
non
-personal… that Ren could use to make him go away.

The thought was tempting.
So
tempting. I’d spent longer with Egan than I had with anyone else – a mistake I
wouldn’t
make again. But he’d been so kind, and smart, and funny, and just amazing in bed, and everything had seemed like it was wonderful…

Until he said he loved me.

Shivers ran through me all over again at the memory of those words. How could Egan have been so stupid? Why in the
hell
had he needed to bring
that
into this?

I didn’t do love.
Ever
. Not the romantic kind. None of us did. Not me, not Zeke, not Niall.

My thoughts went back to what Zeke said about Niall only minutes ago. With effort, I pushed them away again.

The point was, Egan should have known that. We had fun. Everyone did, from those of us in the royal family on down to the lowest of the courtiers. Parties, sex, hanging out on land, all of it was just
fun
, so that everything serious in the world didn’t matter and we could all simply have a good time.

Because the serious always managed to come back again, no matter what you did.

I slowed as the lines of courtiers and servants on the first level came into view. The lords wore black bands crosswise on their chests, while the ladies had jewelry of polished onyx. Dark bands likewise wrapped the arms of the servants, and from their red and downcast eyes, I could tell that some of them had been crying.

A steadying breath entered my lungs. With the guard at my side, I kept my face somber and still as we swam along the lines of people, heading for the smaller, side entrance to the throne room at the far end of the hall.

Ren was waiting.

Along with the highest nobles in Yvaria.

I tried not to grimace as I swam over to him. Ren had always sort of looked like a king to me, even when we were kids, as though the eventual transfer of power we all knew would come had been part of his bearing from the moment he was born. He wore the official crown and robe of the position now, the latter of which trailed from the jewel-encrusted mantle on his shoulders to hang in the nearly still water behind him. The nobles formed two rows at his back, dressed to the hilt in their finery out of respect for Dad. The men nearest to Ren had a bier lifted above their heads, and beneath the black cloth wrapped around it, I could see the shape of my father’s body.

My gaze darted away.

“What took you so long?” Ren murmured as I took my place three feet behind him and to his right.

“Sorry,” I managed.

His mouth tightened and his gaze flicked back to me as Orvien moved forward to lead the procession from the room.

“You alright?” he asked in a kinder tone.

“Yeah.”

Beneath the composure, I could see he didn’t believe me, but he didn’t say a word as Orvien motioned to the honor guard to open the main throne room doors.

I drew a breath as the hall came into view. I just needed to get through this. Concentrate and smile and survive the next few hours.

Then I’d deal with Zeke, Niall and the fact there was no way anyone in my family would have caused this. I’d handle it.

Or something.

~~~~~

“–and I can’t even
begin
to tell you how sorry we are, princess,” Siracha continued with fawning sincerity. “It’s just
horrifying
. That an assassin could reach the king, even in a place like–”

“Siracha!” hissed her twin sister, Neria.

The blonde girl blinked, seeming thrown by the interruption to her speech.

“My apologies, princess,” Neria tried. “We just feel so terrible for you, and for all the pain your father’s death must be causing your family.”

I managed a polite smile, and used a quick adjustment to my hair to cover my glance to the rest of the ballroom. Stretching fifty yards in either direction and rising over a hundred feet in the air, the room was an expanse of blue marble pillars ringed by secluded grottos. More dark marble formed the distant ceiling, while glowing chandeliers caught the flecks in the stone and made it sparkle like stars in the night sky. An archway several dozen yards behind me led to a terrace overlooking the palace grounds, and between me and that exit, countless courtiers hovered and gossiped to each other in low voices.

And meanwhile, the sisters had cornered me after I finished speaking with the representatives from Lycera. I hadn’t been able to find a polite way to escape for almost five minutes.

“So have they caught the assassin’s accomplice?” Siracha inquired, her face a picture of false innocence. “That horrid little spy Prince Zekerian brought back from California?” She caught herself. “I mean, not that the prince
knew
she was a spy, of course. The conniving tramp deceived us all.”

“Except King Renekialen,” Neria added quickly.

“Oh yes,” Siracha agreed. “Except him.”

I tugged my attention back to them. It wouldn’t help anything to say that Chloe probably wasn’t guilty of helping Liana kill my father. Or that I’d rather have my teeth pulled out than talk about this right now.

Tact and empathy weren’t the Deiliora twins’ strong suits.

“Not yet,” I answered.

Siracha made a disgusted noise. “Well, I’m certain the king will know
just
what to do with her when they do.”

While Siracha would be right there to climb into Zeke’s bed the moment she heard the news.

I kept my smile as pleasant as possible and made a neutral sound. “I’m sure. Now, if you’d please excuse me?”

Siracha blinked. “Oh, of course, princess. You know that we would never
dream
of–”

I didn’t wait for the rest. Quickly, I headed for the terrace.

Courtiers called to me while I swam and a pair of guards trailed me, watchful as always. I kept my eyes on the exit, ignoring them all, and in only a few moments, the ballroom fell behind me. Several couples hovered outside, but at the sight of me, they bowed and retreated into the palace.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in the relative quiet.

“Coin for your thoughts?”

I flinched and then twisted, looking behind me.

“My apologies, princess,” Tiago said, the words touched with a hint of his accent from Olicia, his home country in the Atlantic. “I wasn’t intending to startle you.”

He swam closer, ignoring the guards eyeing him from a discreet distance. His dark blue scales seemed almost black, silhouetted as they were by the brighter lights of the ballroom, while his copper-colored hair shone. His brow twitched up with curiosity as he regarded me.

“Of course,” I replied. I took a breath. “I was just getting some space.”

“I can leave if you’d like?”

I hesitated, wanting to take him up on the offer, even if it would probably be seen as rude.

“Perhaps a few moments in the garden,” he offered when I didn’t respond. “There’s no telling who else might try to come out here.”

I glanced to him. As attempts to get me alone were concerned, that wasn’t the most subtle. I almost didn’t mind, though. He had a point. It wasn’t exactly a secret that Egan was following me. He kept saying we needed to talk – which was the
last
thing I wanted. He’d screwed up; there wasn’t anything to talk about. But no matter how many times I explained that to him, he just wouldn’t give up.

For a mountain, the palace had begun to feel entirely too small.

“Sure.”

I flicked my tail and passed over the edge of the terrace. Tiago followed, and the guards did as well, while I swam down to the arrangements of coral, stone, and free-standing fejeria plants that made up the palace garden. An oarfish slipped away through the decorations when we came closer, while smaller eels darted into hiding between the rocks. Leaving the palace behind, we wound through the boulders and coral till the distant sounds of the reception faded behind us and the courtyard wall came into view. A protective veil rose from it to disappear into the shadows near the top of the palace, and the countless bubbles of its surface sparkled in the blue twilight.

“King Torvias would have approved of the ceremony, don’t you think?” Tiago commented as we reached the wall.

Sinking down onto a stone bench, I didn’t respond. Since Dad was the
reason
for the ceremony, I was fairly certain he wouldn’t have approved of anything. He’d have been angry as hell at the mere suggestion that this – his death when he’d barely reached middle age – could
ever
have been allowed to occur.

And as for the idea that it’d happened because of Niall…

I pushed the thought away. It wasn’t possible. It just
wasn’t
.

“What can I do to help, princess?” Tiago asked as he joined me on the bench.

I glanced to him, though it felt like my brain took a moment longer to catch up with the words than my body. And I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t tell him what was going on. No matter how trustworthy Tiago might or might not be, the barest
chance
that whispers would get out about Niall somehow being responsible for this made my skin crawl.

Tiago reached out, taking my hand. I tensed.

His brow furrowed, and I grimaced. I needed to calm down, because this was silly. I couldn’t keep rumors from spreading if I jumped at every little bit of normal contact. Besides, Tiago and I had spent time a whole
hell
of a lot closer than holding hands after the fallout with Egan a couple weeks ago, and the last thing I wanted was him asking questions about my sudden tension now.

“What is it?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Nothing. Just… long day.”

He nodded, though he still looked unconvinced. “Makes sense,” he allowed.

I looked away.

A moment passed in silence.

“Listen.” He glanced to the guards several yards off, confirming they were both out of earshot.“A few of us are getting together tonight, if you’d like to come with me?”

Exasperation hit me. Seriously? I’d thought he was smarter than this.

“Don’t you think that’d be a bit tacky?” I snapped before I could stop myself. “I mean, my father just–”

I couldn’t finish.

“Or understandable,” he suggested.

Somehow, I doubted that. I was supposed to be mourning. Running off to some party on the tail of my father’s funeral… oh yeah, wouldn’t
that
look good?

Even if on some level, it was almost tempting. Forcing myself to forget about this, forget what Zeke maybe said or what Niall might have done, forget assassins and Sylphaen and some weird girl who’d thrown our lives into utter chaos – even if it
maybe
wasn’t her fault…

Honestly, tempting wasn’t the half of it.

“It’s not going to be anything raucous,” he assured me. “Just a few friends getting together in memory of the king. We won’t even give the palace busybodies anything to talk about – for once.”

In spite of myself, a small laugh escaped me.

“Come on.”

I hesitated. “Who’s going to be there?”

His lip twitched up in a smile. “Well,
me
…”

The laugh came again, and it was sort of nice, everything else aside. I felt like I hadn’t laughed in days.

His grin widened. “The Ryairan ambassador’s daughters are coming, along with a few of my friends from Olicia, some people from Midrarca… it’s not a huge thing, but it’ll still be a break from all this.”

I sighed. I shouldn’t go. I knew I shouldn’t. Raucous or not, it’d still look bad and people would talk, and though he never really said anything – to me, anyway; the whole
palace
knew what he said to my brothers, especially Zeke – Ren wouldn’t appreciate the gossip.

But then,
everything
caused gossip, no matter
what
I did – and it’d be better than what people
could
be talking about.

I wished Niall was home so I could just ask him about this.

“Princess?”

I drew a breath. “I–”

“Ina?”

I turned at the voice from behind me, and then my brow climbed. “Granddad?” I rose from the bench. “I didn’t know you were here.”

He swam up to us. Never one for dressing up, even at formal occasions, he still wore the vest I’d seen him in the other day.

It occurred to me that he might not
have
anything fancier.

The idea brought a twist of pain. I hated how things were between him and the rest of the family, and that it meant he lived out in the middle of nowhere, rather than here with us where it was safe.

Normally safe.

I pushed the thought away.

“Ren had the sense not to try keeping me from coming,” Granddad said. His gaze twitched to Tiago.

I blinked, politeness catching up to me. “This is, um…”

“Tiago Colcoran, son of the Olician ambassador,” Tiago cut in smoothly when I trailed off. He gave my grandfather a small, reserved nod. “My condolences, Lord Jirral.”

Granddad returned the nod and then looked back to me. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but may I speak with you?”

I could hear the tension in his voice, and it set my heart pounding. “Yeah, sure,” I managed.

Giving Tiago an attempt at a smile, I trailed my grandfather farther along the wall.

“What is it?” I asked when we were out of earshot.

“Have you spoken to your brothers?”

I hesitated. “Why?”

“Niall left for Santa Lucina over a day ago, and Zeke’s been gone for nearly that long as well. One or the other of them should’ve called by now, and before I start getting concerned, I wanted to check with you.”

I swallowed. “Um…”

My gaze darted back to Tiago, who was hovering by the bench, watching us. The guards were studying us as well, distrust for my grandfather clear in their eyes. I swam a bit farther away. Granddad followed, his brow furrowing.

“Zeke called,” I said, my voice low, “just before the funeral. He, um…”

“What is it?” he asked warily.

“I don’t know if it was him. I mean, maybe it’s a trick or something. Like, a horrible setup of some kind, but…” It was hard to get the words out. “In the message, he said Niall was a Sylphaen. That he’d been behind Dad’s death. Him and that physician, Liana.”