Of Sea and Shadow by Will Wight

Author:Will Wight [Wight, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction
Publisher: Hidden Gnome Publishing
Published: 2014-12-30T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Alsa stood on the outside of the table, watching the meeting between the Guild Heads, the future Emperor, and her son.

It wasn’t her place to speak—she was meant to keep an eye on Bliss, and to translate for her if she said anything particularly strange. But it was getting harder and harder to keep her peace.

Why wasn’t Bliss saying anything else?

Naberius, in his red suit, rose to his feet and bowed toward the door. “Well, Captain Marten, Quartermaster, I’m sure you have many preparations to make. Please, don’t let me keep you.”

Andel was a difficult man to read, but Alsa knew him well enough to notice the way his mouth tightened. He didn’t like Naberius, and he wasn’t happy with being dismissed. That attitude would not serve him if Naberius actually did ascend to the throne.

Calder, on the other hand, smiled widely. “Of course.” He dipped his head toward each member of the council in turn. “Guild Heads. Naberius. Mother.”

She had stayed quiet long enough. Alsa opened her mouth to speak, but found that Bliss had twisted around on her bench to stare her Blackwatch Commander in the eyes.

Alsa hesitated, and then Calder was gone.

Naberius continued, turning to Cheska. “Captain Bennett, you have served us well as host. Now I have a few tasks for you.”

She folded her arms. “Do you, now?”

“Trust me, I don’t have you doing anything that you wouldn’t do on your own. First, you must...”

While the Chronicler spoke, Alsa leaned down to speak in her Guild Head’s ear. “Why didn’t you tell him?”

“I implied that his wife may be alive, and that he should check for himself. I’m sure he got the message.”

“You didn’t tell him about the void transmission. That there is a member of the Sleepless on that island, that they’re in contact with the rest of their cult, and so it’s probably his wife.”

Bliss drifted her hand through the air, as though she were tracing invisible waves. “It’s all implied.”

“With all due respect, Guild Head, no it isn’t.”

“Is that so? Hm. I will look for an opportunity to clarify, then.”

Naberius was still talking to Cheska. The Navigator didn’t seem too happy—Alsa had seen her smile while throwing a man overboard, and now she was scowling. Everyone was far enough away that they shouldn’t overhear, and they probably wouldn’t bother listening to Alsa anyway, but she lowered her voice so that even Bliss would have trouble hearing her from an inch away.

“And what about Naberius? He’s obviously in thrall to Nakothi. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Bliss raised a single finger into the air, staring at it as though it contained all the secrets of the universe. “Not in thrall. Not yet. Close to it, though.”

“That’s even worse than the old Emperor! With him, we would have had a few years left, and then now what? Weeks?”

“Anyone on the throne is better than no one,” Bliss said simply. “If he can stall the Elders for a week, then that’s a week we didn’t have before.

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