Splintered Fate (7 page)

“
Would be the smartest thing we
have ever done. Nothing good is coming from leaving the code as is,
it must be modified.”

“
I agree” Maksim Laderic shifted
his weight towards the table. He was being pulled in. This was
Arkhip’s goal, start a war and worry about his control
later.

Can Dukran do
this?
Lana asked Ardin, who silently
watched the exchange.

If enough of the council agrees.
The laws were made long ago, back when the lands first fell apart
and the first treaty was forged. Our ancestors had reason to choose
one to lead all the lands. It kept each party from fighting against
each other in the decisions of war and gave the reigns to one, for
the best interest of the people. Back then the families were much
less divided. Now the council seems to have grown apart and each of
you more deeply connected with your own lands and people. If Dukran
wants war, this may be his best way of achieving an agreement from
the council.

Lana looked to the Sterlings who
have yet to voice an opinion. She watched them, trying to gage
which way they were leaning. Cyra kept her gaze moving liquidly
from one speaker to the next, portraying no emotion. Only once did
she give a slight nod of her head and her white hawk flapped his
wings and took off through the sky light at the top of the room.
Cyra didn’t even glance at her Aorra as it left. Lana wondered if
Cyra nodded in agreement to something in the conversation or to her
Aorra.

Elysia Sterling was even less
responsive to the meeting and seemed more interested in the Laderic
brothers than the conversation. She kept smiling at the brothers,
her eyes finding their way over to one of them every time she
attempted to look away. She only seemed to perk up and actually
listen when one of the brothers spoke.

We are on the
brink of war and she can’t stop making bedroom eyes at the
Laderics.
Lana muttered in her head,
returning her attention to the whole table.

The council bickered back and
forth for, getting nowhere. They danced in never ending circles.
The Laderic brothers leaned toward war. The Maddox’s also seemed
willing but more cautious. The Sterlings stayed silent, as if
weighing all options before giving a hint as to where they stood.
Valdor appeared to be the only one truly opposed to starting a war.
While the blood thirsty Arkhip Dukran pushed for full out war. No
one seemed to be going anywhere too quickly. Arkhip needed a
majority vote and for the time being he hadn’t gotten it
yet.

Cyra abruptly stood from her seat,
her chair nearly falling behind her from the force. The room
stilled at once, all eyes fell on her in the sudden silence. But
Cyra’s eyes were elsewhere, as if she were staring past the room,
at something that was not there. Swiftly she straightened, looking
at the council before her. Lana noted something odd in her eyes as
the rest of them stared at her, waiting for her to say
something.

“
They are here.” Cyra spoke, her
voice hollow. Goosebumps ran up Lana’s body, as she recognized the
look in Cyra’s eye, it was fear. The council stared at her without
understanding. “The Rami, they are just outside of Abder, they are
on our lands.”

In an instant the room erupted in
chaos. Everyone questioned Cyra’s certainty. Aorras stirred
uneasily, council members were yelling at each other in a panic.
Some of the faces portrayed fear, some glimmers of
excitement.

Lana kept silent through it all,
watching with wide eyes. She could feel her pulse in her temple
while her heart raced. Her mind tried to run off in panic as she
asked herself why the Rami had come. Were they warriors, were they
a threat, would the war start here and now? She shut off the flow
of thoughts and willed her mind to be silent, willing herself to
just listen, to not panic. For now, all that she could do was
gather as much information as possible.

“
Enough!” Arkhip’s voice echoed
off the tall walls of the room. “We all believe what Cyra’s Aorra
saw. Now we need a plan of action. One unified plan. We do not know
what the Rami know so we must assume the worst, that they know the
whole council is here.” Arkhip ended with his eyes meeting
Valdor’s. Lana was surprised at how open Arkhip seemed with coming
to a unified plan. Working together was not something the Dukran
were known for. They were lone wolves, the kind that could not be
trusted.

“
Agreed, we should proceed with
caution.” Valdor reluctantly said. Lana knew he did not want to
work with Dukran, but Madonian lives were now in danger and helping
to protect those lives was her father’s priority, even if it meant
having to work with Arkhip.

“
However we don’t know anything
about how they got here or why, they could be running from their
King and happened to land here.” Valdor added.

“
And if not? We need to attack
now. What better chance will we get!” Arkhip’s voice filled the
room, dripping with excitement while his eyes were filled with lust
for battle.

“
We could send a messenger, to
find out why they have come, offer them a chance to leave before we
do something drastic.” Valdor suggested. His was scanning the room
trying to gauge where everyone stood.

“
What’s the point? Of all days the
Rami have come today! As if it’s a sign. Our Lands thirst for
blood!” Arkhip bellowed in anger and excitement.

“
I agree that an opportunity like
this is rare. We can make a great stand. They don’t know what they
are up against!” One of the Laderic brothers chimed in.

“
Opportunity?” Cyra’s voice
finally cut through the bickering. “This is my home. These are my
people who are in harm’s way! The threat needs to be taken care of
immediately. I must first get my people to--”

“
There is no time!” Arkhip
interrupted in almost a snarl. “Some lives may be lost but the
strong will prevail, stronger than ever.”

“
You are in my home, Dukran. If
war is what you want, it won’t start here unless I am the one to
give the order.” Cyra spoke in an even tone. Her brown eyes held
Arkhip’s deadly gaze. She did not back down, making it clear that
this would be her call, not his, these were her lands, not his.
Cyra had a boldness and strength within her that was more than the
frilly pretty painted shell Lana had thought her to be. Valdor had
always seemed to favor Cyra and Lana had no idea why, but now she
understood. Cyra didn’t tremble or avert her gaze from Arkhip, she
remained strong, Valdor appreciated that.

“
Of course, your right.” Arkhip
replied kindly, though Lana could see the irritation behind his
dark eyes.

“
I will try and get my people to
safety, leave if you wish or you can stay and help, the choice is
yours, but I must go meet with my General at once.” Cyra Sterling
spoke to the Madonian council as she rose from her seat, Elysia
mirroring her mother.

Arkhip turned to Cyra, placing a thin cold
hand on her shoulder, “I will stay and help you and your people, we
all are Madonian, and a threat to you is a threat to us all.” He
spoke in a surprisingly calm voice.

“
Thank you.” She said as she and
her daughter walked out the wooden doors.

A chair screeched against the
marble floor as Valdor stood. “I will stay too.” He spoke to the
council left in the room.

“
As will we,” the Laderic brothers
added.

“
We will move outside of the
city.” Iria Maddox voiced, “We did not bring a lot of our forces
nor do I wish to lose unnecessary troops unless war is the path we
decide.”

“
War at this point is our only
option!” Arkhip yelled out.

“
It is too soon to know that
Dukran. I’m going to go help the Sterlings get their people to
safety.” Valdor began to turn away from the table. His eyes glanced
to Lana and she silently stood, following her father. She could
feel Arkhip Dukran’s heated stare on her way out.

Once in the hallway Valdor turned to his
daughter and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder “You and Ardin are
going to go with the Maddox’s”.

Lana’s eyes grew wide, “What? No! I
have--”

“
This is not up for discussion.
These are my orders. Arkhip is an uncontrollable man and this very
well may lead to war. I will see what I can do here but you are
leaving this city at once.” Lana knew opposing him would do more
harm than good but she could not agree either. So she just looked
at him with hard angry eyes.

“
Now go, I will tell the Maddox’s
to wait for you.” Valdor said pointing down the darkly lit
hall.

Chapter

Three

As Lana walked
through the halls to her room she could feel Ardin pulling the
anger from her in an effort to calm her.
Your father is trying to protect you. With the way things
were going and Arkhip’s pushing, this will lead to war. There is a
chance the Rami here are refugees but if they are not, if they are
an army, your father is trying to protect…

I don’t need his protection. I
understand I was out of line this morning, but to be thrown out
like a child!

Ardin came to a stop and sat down in the hall.
Lana reluctantly turned to face the handsome white wolf.

He didn’t do this only to protect
you, Lana. He did it to protect your people. If the decisions made
today cause a war and the Council’s firsts fall then the next in
command for the Selvirian lands would be you. You are the one to
lead your people and getting you away now, keeping you away in this
moment will keep you safe for your people’s sake. That’s why you
were taken out of the equation. If something were to happen to both
you and your father what do you think will happen to your people?
Arkhip or any of the others would be more than happy to swoop in
and make things worse.

Lana stood there
a moment, looking into Ardin’s large gray blue eyes.
I didn’t even think of our people in this. How
could I have been so thoughtless?
Then
another realization came over her.
If
father is sending me away then he must think that we are going to
go to war today and that there is true danger for us, true danger
for him.

Ardin’s ears
sagged as his voice calmly entered Lana’s mind.
That’s a safe assumption.

Lana’s green gaze fell from the
great wolf to the floor. Her chest tightened, causing her to feel
suffocated and trapped. After her mother’s death, it was just she
and her father left. Leaving him now, to stand on his own against
Arkhip and Kirill didn’t feel right. It felt like she would be
running away while the world would be left to burn. She couldn’t
just leave things like this.

“
We know nothing of what’s going
on with the Rami people. Cyra won’t send her Aorra for fear of them
noticing and acting before her people are safe and Arkhip won’t
want to wait to find out anything he will grow impatient and…” The
sound of approaching footsteps silenced Lana.

She turned to see a blond man
approaching, cape blowing behind him in his wake. Making eye
contact with steel eyes, her pulse jumped. The bite of Kirill’s
words still stung, resonating in her mind. He seemed to slow when
he got closer, as if he may stop. But then his steel eyes moved to
something further down the hall and he walked past her without
taking another look in her direction. Lana could feel the air
shift. It seemed to move out of his way, blowing at her when he
strode past.

They will not
wait to kill.
Lana spoke to Ardin,
regarding the Dukran who just strolled by.
For all we know these could be innocent refugees fleeing
their Lands for their king is horrible and the Dukran are looking
to massacre them all. He will never allow anyone to find out the
truth before they attack. Something must be done to prevent the
start of the war.

NO!
Ardin’s voice rang in her mind before she was
able to even clearly think her thoughts.
Absolutely not! Lana are you crazy? This is madness! How will
you ever get close enough to find anything? Your
Father—

My father and
all of the Madonian people will be safer going in to this if I find
something out. I cannot just stand aside and wait for something
terrible to happen, allowing Arkhip Dukran to start a war. He will
never allow for this to go any way but the way he wants it. He will
push until all Rami are either killed or enslaved and he is made
the dictator of all the land.
With that a
mental wall was put up in her mind. She cursed herself for thinking
so openly, allowing for Ardin to understand her intentions before
even she had.

“
You can stay here in the hall or
come with me. I’m going to change.” Lana said calmly to her now
furious Aorra. “I can’t just do nothing.” She gave the wolf a
pointed look, before turning to head to her room. Ardin reluctantly
got up and followed her, unaware that her plans involved for him to
stay behind.

Lana threw her wardrobe door open
with a thud, her head was pounding from Ardin's persistent attacks
at her mental wall. He hated not knowing what she was thinking,
especially in this moment. Usually when Lana wanted to be alone
Ardin would let her be, however this time it was grueling. She
constantly had to fight him off. He kept trying to slip in, to hear
her. Lana strained to act as if holding her mental wall was
effortless, while it was anything but. She was careful to allow
Ardin only enough room to speak to her but no more then
that.