Abide: An Awakened Fate Novella (3 page)

Granddad stared at me for a heartbeat, and then glanced around as if checking to make sure nobody else could hear. “Have you told anyone this?”

I shook my head.

His mouth tightened. “You need to talk to Ren. Now.”

“But it has to be… I mean, Niall would
never
… he couldn’t
really
be–”

Granddad held up a hand as several guards drifted by overhead. “Your brother is the king, Ina,” he said when they moved on. “No matter what you think of the information, he still needs to be told.”

I grimaced, looking away. I knew what Ren was. He didn’t have to remind me.

But this was
Niall.

And Zeke.

That was the problem, on top of everything else. Zeke and Ren had never gotten along. Not once in their entire lives. They were too similar, really – not that either of them would have seen that in a thousand years. But it was true. Protective, loyal, and strong-willed to the point of being obstinate, everything else about their personalities meant that they’d used those traits in different ways, but they were still like two sides of the same coin.

And this would just make things worse. If Zeke was wrong, the fact he’d accused his own brother of treason and patricide would be the final rites for any chance of respect between him and Ren.

“Ina, you have to,” Granddad pressed, as if reading my mind. “Whatever Niall may or may not have done, you can’t leave Ren in the dark.”

I wanted to argue, but I couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

“Come on,” he urged, his tone softening. “I’ll go with you. I want to hear what Ren has to say about this, anyway.”

I nodded. “Okay. Just…” I glanced to Tiago. “Give me a second.”

He made a noise of agreement. I swam over to Tiago again.

“My grandfather wants to go talk to my brother,” I said, doing my best to adopt a light tone. “It’s nothing major; it’d just be better if I was there. You know how it is.”

Tiago smiled. Everyone in Yvaria, and probably beyond, knew how tense it had been between Dad and my grandfather. The idea that relations between him and Ren were taking a bit to settle, and that I had a vested interest in helping smooth things out, wouldn’t be surprising to anyone.

Which was the entire point.

“Might I expect to see you later then?” he asked.

I smiled, even though the expression felt mostly like a lie. “I’ll do my best.”

He took my hand again, giving it a quick squeeze, and then swam up toward the terrace and the ballroom.

My smile died. Attempting to ignore the nervous twisting of my stomach, I followed Granddad to the main gate of the palace.

Chapter Three

The guard shift must have changed during the course of the funeral, because the men by the door seemed cautious when we swam toward them, and they eyed Granddad as if wracking their brains to recall whether Dad’s orders to keep him away remained in effect.

“Do you know where I can find the king?” I asked them as we came closer.

They hesitated. Seeking an answer to their own silent question, they twitched their gazes to the guards still trailing me like a pair of ghosts.

“The king gave me permission to be here, boys,” Granddad said dryly. “You think I would’ve made it past the palace wall otherwise?”

The men glanced to each other and then cautiously moved out of the way. “He is in his apartment, princess,” one of them offered. “He retired there about a half hour ago.”

“Thanks.”

We swam by them, the ghosts coming as well. I could feel the other men watching us till we were past the door.

Granddad sighed.

“So Ren’s still mad about how you helped Zeke?” I asked quietly.

“It’ll be fine,” Granddad said rather than answer. “Let’s just get this sorted out.”

He didn’t look at me while we continued toward the royal residences on the distant upper floors of the palace. Ren still lived in his own rooms, as he had yet to move into Dad’s old apartment. He seemed in no hurry to relocate another level up to the floor reserved solely for the king, however – despite the fact that after the official coronation in a few weeks, he’d have no choice. Propriety and the continuity of appearances would demand that every detail of his life affirm that the kingship carried on, no matter who wore the crown.

I just thought that, secretly, he no more wanted this to be real than I did.

More guards hovered by the walls on Ren’s floor, just as they had all week, and the sight made my stomach twist into a tighter knot. No one was taking any chances that Liana might not have had more accomplices, or that someone wouldn’t try to finish what she started and kill Ren as well. The man and woman by the door regarded Granddad while we swam closer, no confusion on their faces like I’d seen with the guards on the first level. Instead, they just looked like they’d decided that, though he was allowed in the palace, this side of the king’s door was the farthest my grandfather would go.

“I need to speak with the king,” I said.

The guards paused. “He has asked for privacy, highness,” the woman said.

My brow flickered down. “Is he okay?”

The pause came again. Their gazes twitched toward Granddad.

“I believe so, highness,” she allowed cautiously. “He received a call and needed time to reflect upon it.”

My confusion edged toward hope, and my heart started to pound. If Zeke had been able to reach him…

“I need to talk to him.”

“Highness–”

“It’s an emergency,” Granddad said.

I nodded hurriedly in agreement.

The woman hesitated. With a glance to the man on the opposite side of the doorway, she turned and slid past the leaves of the door.

A moment passed. She returned.

“He will see you both.”

I swam by her, and Granddad followed. The pair of ghosts remained outside with the other guards.

Ren was sitting near the relay station in his room, and when he glanced toward us, I could see him hide the tinges of a troubled expression in favor of something more controlled.

“They said you needed to speak with me?”

“Did Zeke call you?” I asked.

He paused. “No.”

The reply was cautious. Questioning. I blinked, working to regroup. “Um, okay…”

“Ina, what is it?”

I glanced to Granddad. “He called me. He, um…”

My heart was pounding. The words wouldn’t go well. I knew they wouldn’t. I couldn’t believe Granddad had convinced me to come up here.

“Ina, you’re worrying me. What did he say?”

“Niall’s a Sylphaen.”

He blinked at the rushed words. “What?”

I drew a shaky breath. “He said Niall was a Sylphaen. That he was behind Dad’s death. Him and Liana. They did it to get to Chloe and scare you and take control of Yvaria.”

For a moment, Ren stared at me, incredulity on his face.

“Zeke said this.”

I could hear the question in the statement, and his tone was so utterly disbelieving that it made me wince. My mouth moved, trying to work its way around to a yes.

“Ina, there are no Sylphaen,” Ren said. “They were wiped out a century ago.”

“Then how do you explain the rumors in the Prijoran Zone that they’re back?” Granddad asked.

Ren paused, as if weighing whether or not to acknowledge Granddad was here, let alone that he’d spoken. “Lies? Misinformation? Tribal gossip? Take your pick, Jirral. Last year, the Prijoran Zone was rife with stories that the Ivalaen tribe had tamed giant squids as weapons, and before that it was tales of how the Olicians intended to conquer us all using jellyfish hybridized with sharks – news that, I assure you, surprised Ambassador Colcoran to
no
end. Tribesmen will say anything to pass the time. You know that.”

“But Liana,” I tried. “She–”

“Was
probably
in league with Vetorian mercenaries,” Ren finished. “We’re checking it out.”

“The same ones you think Chloe was in league with?” Granddad asked, and I thought I could hear an edge to the tone.

I wasn’t alone in the impression. Ren’s face took on a cold cast. “And your evidence against that is?”

“The fact they beat the girl to a pulp before trying to smuggle her out of the capital in a
rather
small box.”

I blinked. I hadn’t heard that.

“And perhaps those injuries came from the guards getting carried away,” Ren countered. “Which means Liana and her cohorts were doing
precisely
what it appeared: freeing a fellow spy and sneaking her from captivity in the only way they could… before you interceded, that is.”

Granddad’s face darkened. “The girl said Liana and the others beat her, and from the freshness of those wounds–”

“Her
word
doesn’t absolve her of anything, Jirral, anymore than a murderer claiming innocence automatically makes them not guilty.” Ren made an exasperated noise. “I have Vetorians slipping past the borders on all sides – which means they have conspirators among our guards, if not our neighboring nations – and more hiding out in every valley and hill from here to the northern wastes. A girl with the most absurd story I’ve ever heard tries to gain access to the palace, and only hours after she arrives, my father dies. We no sooner arrest her than someone breaks her out. Yet the only explanation anyone can provide – besides the one
I’ve
given – is that a dead cult who’s shown no trace of existing for over a century has not only returned, but suddenly gained enough power to strike at the very heart of Yvaria. You tell me, which is the more plausible theory?”

Ren shook his head in irritation, as if dismissing the topic. “Ina, everything else aside, this
cannot
be what Zeke said.”

“How do you explain it then?” I asked, sort of hoping he had an answer.

“Vetorians, or whomever they’re working for. Someone is trying to undermine our family, and they’re doing a damnably good job of it. And yes, I think this girl is involved in that. One look at Zeke and you can’t deny it. She has him confused. Caught up in his damn hormones and confused. He’s accusing his own
brother
because of her, and not questioning a single thing she says.”

Granddad grimaced. “Ren, I spent four days with that girl, and–”

“And you’re lucky I don’t have you in prison for that,” Ren snapped.

Granddad paused. “I’ve met Vetorians,” he continued carefully. “I’ve spent time with the tribes of the Prijoran Zone. Chloe doesn’t talk like them, have a single mannerism like them, any of it. If she grew up there, I’d see it. I’d pick up on something.”

“Unless she was trained for this,” Ren countered. “And besides, didn’t I say that they must have accomplices outside the Zone? Liana most likely poisoned Dad, Niall and me, after all, and that didn’t require her to be
obviously
Vetorian. For pity’s sake, the woman was born here in Nyciena!”

The words were sharp and Granddad’s mouth tightened at them.

Ren ignored the expression, turning to me. “Ina, I’m just as concerned for Zeke as you. He’s behaving like a moron, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care.” He paused. “And I’m not the only one. Niall called. He’s worried too.”

I blinked. “What did he say?”

Ren grimaced. “What I told you. Zeke won’t listen to reason. The girl has him convinced half the ocean is after her, and that
he’s
the only one who can protect her. And when Niall finally started questioning that…”

He glanced to Granddad. “You wonder that I doubt her claims about Liana, when she got Niall alone and then made it look like he attacked her too. He said he’d never seen anything like it. And when she rushed back to Zeke, bleeding and crying and begging him to rescue her, that damn idiot was so horrified, he barely questioned the situation. Just left the guards and Niall and took off, same as he did from here a few days ago. Niall and the soldiers have been searching for hours, hoping to find a sign of them, but so far, there’s no trace.”

Ren’s mouth tightened. “He’s worried, Ina. After what he saw, he’s concerned Zeke might be in danger if that girl ever thinks he doubts her story.”

I shivered. Chloe hadn’t seemed that crazy. She hadn’t seemed crazy at
all
, for that matter. Out of place, conservative and shy, yeah. But not psychotic.

And Zeke had seemed scared.

I looked down, remembering the image of his face in the relay connection. Scared. That’d been the word for it. Shaken to the core, intense, and as bloodless as someone who’d just watched a nightmare come to life.

I’d only seen him look like that one other time – in the moments after Dad died.

“Zeke said Niall was behind what happened to Dad, though,” I managed, my voice weak to my own ears.

“And who
knows
what that girl told him.” Ren grimaced. “This mess is tearing us apart, Ina, which is
exactly
what our enemies would want. They’d want us suspecting one another, doubting one another, so that the royal family destroys itself without anyone else having to lift a finger. It is
vital
that we appear undivided right now, so that Yvaria’s strength remains unquestioned in this crisis – and if Zeke wasn’t acting as brainless as a starfish, he’d realize that. He’d put the good of his family – and his
trust
in his family – above his attraction to some girl who showed up out of nowhere with an insane story and wild claims of conspiracy.”

I looked away again. Zeke wasn’t an idiot. He’d never get so caught up in a girl that he’d choose her over his own family.

Except that sort of seemed like exactly what he’d done.

My stomach twisted. He’d helped her, yes. He’d left here and stayed away from home all for her, and that… okay, sure, it upset me. A lot, even – not that there was anything I could do about it right now. But it also didn’t mean he didn’t love us, or that he’d ever believe Niall was a threat just because a girl said so.

But maybe she’d made it look super convincing. And for Zeke, the idea that his own brother could have done such a thing… it would’ve been horrendous.

Maybe that accounted for how shaken he’d been. Maybe that explained everything.

And it seemed more possible than the idea that Niall had actually conspired to kill our
father
.