Chapter 488: A Great Gathering (1/2)
Chapter 488: A Great Gathering
ARTHUR LEYWIN
It was Lord Eccleiah who met us inside the entrance to Indrath Castle, not Kezess Although I wasn’t surprised by his presence, I was pretty daardless of which asuran lord stood in front of me I had expected Kezess to shut down Veruhn’s idea—that I should be recognized as a new branch of the asuran race—ireat lords out, then he and Myre had left
Now, barely a day after he threatened towhere his peers discussed the possibility ofone of theood to see you both again,” Veruhn said, s us forward excitedly, the skin around his
I peered into those eyes, wondering just what kind of machinations hid behind the cloudy filis said My coe shadoolf, his back co up abovehis tail, and his bright eyes flicked froilant despite his flippantness
“Well of course you are You three make up a special kind of trinity, don’t you?” The old leviathan sighed, his thoughts seeestured for us to follow, turned on his heel, andthe entrance hall
There was little time to look around or consider where I was Mycould go wrong Since the effects of King’s Gambit, even powered only partially, allowed me to follow several of these threads at once, it also enhanced my ability to delve into the undercurrent of worry
Veruhn greeted several of the dragons we passed by as he led us deeper into the castle Although they were respectful to hiuards bowed deeply, and a few asuras who ht have been Indraths or courtiers from other clans see up to et that you’re such a stranger to your own people, I thought as an asura with radiant blond hair and lilac eyes tripped over his own feet as he tried to bow but forgot to stop walking first
Sylvie gave the young man an empathetic smile as alked past ‘I can’t help but wonder if that otherness was on purpose My grandfather didn’t knoho I was, really, or what I would becoth—a curiosity rather than a atively i quietly beside is looked up at Sylvie ‘The dude’s scared of what you represent Change, an alternative path, an existence outside his little bubble’ His tongue lolled out of the side of his al princess returned’ Regis snorted ‘Two princesses, in fact’
As Veruhn led us, he kept up a steady strea facts about the other inhabitants of the castle, the portraits we passed, and the history of Clan Indrath and Kezess I listened with one branch offor the following is, you could be a princess too, if you wanted,’ Sylvie thought back to our companion ‘If Arthur becomes Lord Leywin, and you are born directly to him, then you beconificent weapon of untold destruction!’ With a snort, Regis padded ahead,to walk beside Veruhn
‘That’s no reason why you can’t wear a tiara’ She glanced at me ‘Especially if you choose one that ht Sylvie’s eye, and we both smiled Some of the tension eased
Veruhn led us out onto a balcony that overlooked the cliffside Although blue skies stretched away in every direction, a carpet of white-gray clouds hid the distant ground “We’ll take a shortcut, I think” He lifted up fro slowly upward
Regis became incorporeal and moved into my core before Sylvie and I followed Despite his claiht was unhurried, like entle wind He pointed out s and turrets, statues and engravings, and even stopped to ad black and red feathers
“Mountain Wings,” Veruhn explained with a look of pure, childish fascination as hiss or cliff s They only live here, although they usually do not nest this high, preferring the cliffs of Mount Geolus below” He turned his head toward Sylvie “They were a favorite of your mother’s”
Sylvie raised a hand toward the bird in its nest, hesitated, and pulled back It watched her warily with beetle-black eyes “It’s lovely”
Veruhn drifted onward, leading us toward a high balcony in one of the htly as a feather, then turned his face up toward the sun as he waited for us to land as well “Ah A beautiful day for politics” One brow raised, he facedI knew—and the vast ocean of what I didn’t—and gave the old leviathan a tight-lipped sh”
The balcony doors,vines of silver, opened as Veruhn approached The mana and aether were so thick in the air that it nearly hid the powerful signatures of those present within the chamber beyond
It took a ht as I stepped into the tower behind Veruhn In that twilight moment where it felt like I moved betorlds, the hair on the back of oosebu me
The airy chaant white arches wrapped around the circular chamber, each one carefully carved and molded to look like the branches of thin trees These opened to similarly arched s and balconies identical to the one I’d just stepped in frolass doors reflected around the rooht within the chae charwood table in the shape of a near-full moon dominated the space Its darkness was in stark contrast to the brightness of the walls and ceiling Seven ornate, high-backed chairs sat equidistant along the rounded side of the table, while a silver and gold throne with gleaemstones floated several inches off the floor at the flat side
We were not the first to arrive
An asura with dusky skin and se hair pulled back in a bun stood fro sort of robe reminiscent of the ki thread that looked like true flaray eyes seemed to take all of ave a shallo to Lord Eccleiah: the gesture of an equal
“Lord Novis of Clan Avignis,” I said, addressing the phoenix htly deeper than that shared by Veruhn and this phoenix I hadn’t been named an asura—or the lord of an entire clan or race—just yet It was important not to come across as too presumptuous, but I also couldn’t afford to be seen as weak or timorous, either
“Arthur Leywin, a pleasure to—”
“hello!” a sharp, airy voice cut across Lord Avignis’s words
The speaker was a sht blue skin that seemed to…move, almost as if she weren’t quite corporeal She had drifted out of her chair and was floating across thearound like an apple in a shallow strea brilliantly white teeth that caray eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she did a kind ofso much as a sort of windy mist that she’d wrapped herself in, fluttered at the h white hair that similarly floated around her head like a cloud “I’ht—or Nine, but that doesn’t work quite the same—you can call me Nephele!”
Before I could respond, the sylph did a flip in the air, flew to the room’s third occupant, and wrapped her arm around the extremely tall woman’s shoulder “And this is Mads!”
The woman stood stiffly, her features practically carved of wood As I looked ht I could see faint lines in her skin that did, in fact, remind me of tree bark “Please, Lady Aerind, show so sideways to break free of the grinning sylph “Greetings, Arthur Leywin I am Lady Mapellia, representative of reat clans of Epheotus You are…welcoested quite strongly that I was not, in fact, welcoh lady of the hamadrayds There was no flicker of hostility in her butter-yellow eyes despite the severity of her expression and attitude Outwardly she would have been inti to her reedy figure and volulets down over her bare shoulders served to undercut this impression
I repeated my careful bow “Thank you, Lady Mapellia”
“Mads!” Lady Aerind said in a stage whisper before bobbing back to her seat
“My name is Morwenna, Lady Aerind,” the hamadryad said in exasperation
At this moment, another asura appeared froht-colored wood and bound, like ht he must be a servant or attendant, mostly because of the fact that he took the stairs instead of flying or siistered hie shi+rt that stretched over his broad chest and bulging muscles, the belt that kept up his leather breeches was inlaid with gold and studded with strange,and bushy but otherell maintained, and he wore dia very solid about the nature immediately re as always,” Veruhn said, putting his hand onnis introduce himself to Sylvie
“So this is the pup, eh?” The man—Radix of Clan Grandus I no—strode forward and shook Veruhn’s hand roughly I had at first taken him to be a few inches shorter than row By the tiht
I shook his hand, which was rough at stone His fingers clasped th to shatter bone if thened by aether Whereas the other lords had so far focused entirely on is His flint-black eyes narrowed
“Is that the signature of Wren of Clan Kain, fourth of his na for confiris, atched him warily My co his is’s ht inspect a horse
“His behind the ear, and finally tossed him what looked like a piece of dried meat that had appeared as if froely violated yet flattered,” Regis said while chewing the ood What even is this?”
Radix slumped into his seat and kicked one booted foot up on the table “That’s a special treat usually reserved for our guardian beasts”
‘When you’re an asuran lord and et that recipe,’ Regis thought desperately ‘I don’t care if we have to go to war over it’
One of the balcony doors opened of its own accord, and shadow condensed within it From the shadow stepped a thin man in black battlerobes His dark red eyes flicked around the roo on me He fiddled with one of his horns, which sprouted froain, pointing at uard by the basilisk’s sudden appearance I had known, logically, that Clan Kothan represented the basilisks in the Great Eight, but I had failed to consider that he would actually be present
Making a snap decision, I strode around the table toward him The basilisk watched ht, but uncertainty about me or my intentions I stopped before him and extended my hand, just as Radix had done Lord Kothan’s deep red eyes flicked past nis stood Are they allies? I wondered It made a kind of sense; both the basilisks and phoenixes had lost their great clans in the Vritra and the Asclepius The part of an dissecting this information
After a beat of hesitation, the basilisk took my hand Despite his sorip “Arthur Leywin The hurona Vritra” Suddenly he released my hand and went to one knee The air in the chaht of the others’ attention threaten to bring me to my own knees “I, Rai Kothan, representative of Clan Kothan and all the basilisks of Epheotus, owe you a great debt” He looked up toand wrathful and dark swam just beneath the surface of his blood-clot eyes “The Vritra clan nearly destroyed our race in their selfish pursuits You have brought us justice That will not soon be forgotten”