The Water Howlers - Book II ✔

Chapter 31 - Ki

Ki stared at Luka from across the table. He still hadn't objected to what she had said, which confirmed her suspicions.

"I suppose Heredis is just a cover up then? Your real name is Luka Victari."

"Actually, Heredis is part of the name my mother gave me. It means 'heir'."

Ki tried to wrap her head around all of this. The Victari heir was a real threat to the Belisar regime. If the Eslean people believed him, there could be uprisings in the cities, just like what they had seen when they had arrived, but much worse. They could demand that Luka be crowned the rightful King of Eslea and from the brief time she had spent with the Belisar royal family she was fairly sure that King Edmond would not step down without a fight.

"Why me? Why are you telling me this? We have nothing to do with your internal quarrels," Ki asked watching the man in sitting in front of her very closely. He hid his emotions very well, keeping his face in an unreadable mask. His dark brown eyes were hard, but Ki suspected that it was due to the situation. Ki had no idea what this man was capable of or to what extend he would go to get what he wanted, but she figured that with the stakes being so high, he'd go far.

Luka Victari smiled at her. "You are the perfect distraction. When I learned from our rebel sources inside the palace that a delegation from Aethorin would be arriving to take Princess Isadaya with them as part of a treaty, it was the perfect opportunity to set everything in motion. Things I have worked on for years. My revenge on the Belisars."

Ki stood up abruptly, her chair clattering to the floor behind her. "If you think we'll stand aside and let you murder Isadaya and other innocent people you are sorely mistaken."

Luka remained seated. He gazed up at her, calm and collected, his face not portraying any clear emotion. "My dear Kianna, I have no intention of murdering innocents. If I did, I would be no better than the current ruler. You are free to sail home with the princess, but not until she renounces any claims to the Eslean throne. She can keep her title if she wants, but do not expect to come back here with an attempt for Aethorin to take these lands."

Ki met his hard gaze with one of her own. "We don't want your lands. We want peace and unity."

"As do I. Perhaps King Raegar will be interested in dealing with a Victari royal instead?"

Ki took a deep breath, trying to remain under control and somewhat diplomatic. "I cannot speak for my king on such matters."

"No, but I'm sure his advisors that came here with you could. However, you can't go blabbing to them just yet. I've worked too hard for this to fail because of the meddling of another country. I also know I cannot keep you here because of your significance, but another set of eyes and ears, especially this close to the royal family wouldn't hurt." The smirk on Luka's face annoyed Ki immensely.

"You want me to spy for you? I doubt that you need me if you figured out, we were coming. It sounds to me like you already have spies in high places." But who? Ki wondered this and made a mental note for herself to try and sniff out whoever it was within the palace. Perhaps she could get a better sense of just how likely Luka and his plans were to succeed.

"My friends will be wondering where I am," Ki said then, knowing she couldn't stay here any longer. Luka nodded, slowly rising from his chair.

"Thank you for being so calm about this, Kianna. I am counting on you to keep my secret."

Ki bit her lip. If she could keep this from her friends, then that would be a miracle on its own.

"I will be in touch."

"I don't doubt it," Ki muttered in reply as she turned to leave but stopped by the door. She turned back to look at Luka who watched her with a raised brow.

"That day, by the harbour with all the people in the streets. Hadira wasn't about us, was it?"

Luka smiled, taking a step towards her. "Like I said, you've provided a perfect distraction. No one had mentioned 'Hadira' in so many years, but I thought it was an ideal way to see how the people would react to this prophecy coming back to life. Many of the older generations still remember my family and their greatness. Many of those are still faithful to the Victari and have remained hopeful that the whispers of my mother's survival and her bearing a son were true. And sure, they didn't know that the chant was actually aimed at me standing in their midst. But I needed to make sure that they were ready. Ready for the changes that are to come." He shrugged before continuing. "So, I planted some people in the street to start the chant and it worked better than I thought. Well, you were there, you saw what happened."

"Using people's faith to further your own mission." Ki shook her head, but suddenly Luka was in her face, pressing her up against the door, his hands placed on either side of Ki's head.

"Do not mistake my actions for cruel, Kianna Arynn. If walking up to the palace doors, announcing myself and my claim to the throne was all I needed to do then rest assured, I would have done so a long time ago." His breath hissed into Ki's ear as she remained completely still though her gift surged within her, begging for release to push him away. "I do not wish to use these innocent people, my people, but do not think for a moment that I will not use you and your fellow Howlers to my gain. As I said before, I already have, and I will do it again."

Ki tilted her head and met Luka's stern gaze, his face mere inches from her own. Despite his outburst his breathing was calm and collected. He had patience, but she didn't want to test his limits. The best thing to do was to not engage or get in the way of his plans. To get Isadaya and leave before everything came crashing down around them. But she knew that King Edmond hadn't planned for them to leave for several days still, but perhaps they could hurry it along somehow. A revolution and killing of kings would mean many casualties, chaos and disruption of everything. They needed to be gone by then. Seconds passed in utter silence as Luka's eyes bore into hers until he finally stepped back, releasing Ki from his hold. He smiled and shook his head walking back to the table. He grabbed his cup, downing the content in one swift move.

"Do not worry, Kianna. I will not be distracted by something as trivial as a frivolous flirt when so much is at stake. Your virtue is quite safe in my presence."

Ki's cheeks blazed and she refrained from spitting something back in his face. Instead she turned, throwing the door open and practically sprinted from the room. She rushed out through the tavern and back into the sweltering heat. Coming from a windowless room her eyes needed time to adjust to the brightness of the sunlight. Hundreds of voices assaulted her ears and she shook her head to clear her mind. Despite Luka's warnings she knew she had to tell the others. Not necessarily Isadaya because even though she just wanted to leave, Ki couldn't be sure that the princess wouldn't go telling her father to protect her family. No, she had to keep Isadaya out of it and Ansira as well. She would tell Emmie, Ori and Thatch when they had a moment alone. Or perhaps more than a moment because this was big. With their shared link she could show them Luka so they could recognise him if he ever decided to show himself to them.

But first she needed to find them in the mass of people at the market. She began walking, not looking back at The Dirty Owl. If she did, perhaps she would spot Luka watching her. She tried to regain her focus as she scouted the throng of people in front of her for familiar faces. She walked on, passing stall after stall of people selling everything from pelts to daggers to beautiful silk dresses.

"Ki!" She turned at the sound of her name and spotted Thatch. She made sure that the bracelet she had lied about was back on her wrist before Thatch made his way through the masses to reach her.

"There you are. You took forever. Did you find your bracelet?"

She held up her wrist as evidence and tried to smile without a worry in the world, but something on her face had Thatch narrow his eyes ever the slightest.

"Where are the others?"

"They are waiting up by that tree. We're starving but wanted to wait for you."

"I'm famished. Let's go then."

It was only after they'd started walking that Ki realised Thatch had come from the same direction as her.