Sands of Deceit by Janeal Falor

Author:Janeal Falor [Falor, Janeal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Janeal Falor

Chapter Twenty-Four

Though I wasn’t sure why it was so awful that the high priest was coming to town, I tried to comfort Nikon by rubbing his back. Tewy lightly thudded over and moved his hand along Nikon’s back alongside mine. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who wanted Nikon to feel better.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.

“No.” His tone was firm. “But I should.”

Yet he stayed silent.

“I’ll go back to my room,” Husani said.

I nodded. I didn’t want to be rude, but it’d be for the best. Nikon had a hard enough time talking in front of Zoe; I couldn’t imagine having a practical stranger around would make things any better.

As Husani’s footsteps faded, Zoe said, “I’ll do the same. Come get me if you need anything. And send Kaius in when he gets here.”

“Will do.” I listened to her close her door. When I spoke again, I kept my voice low. “What happened while you were out there? Is there a reason to be so upset over the high priest’s coming to Sirya?”

It was strange, yes. He usually stayed in Peka Tower, at the southeast edge of Eppla, but that didn’t mean his visits were unheard of. More than that, it wouldn’t make a difference. The high priest wasn’t a huge part of the everyday person’s life, despite being an intermediary between magic and the people.

“He can only be coming because there’s a problem,” Nikon finally said.

I still didn’t see how that affected us. I trailed my fingertips around his back, trying to think of what to say. Tewy had no such problem, and yammered away while we both rubbed Nikon’s back. The tension in his taut muscles slowly released, leaving him more relaxed.

Though I was anxious to hear what was going on, I didn’t want to cause more stress if I didn’t have to. Instead, I sat with Tewy, letting Nikon feel that we were here for him. It was peaceful, touching him and listening to Tewy jabber. My monkey had a lot to say.

When Tewy finally finished speaking his monkey language, Nikon gave a great, shuddering breath and sat back. He took my hand in his, and I rested my head on his shoulder. It was a good position to talk in. We were close and could keep our voices low, plus I had more contact with him so it’d hopefully be easier to read him.

“Sorry,” he said. “It was just a shock. With the high priest here, there’ll be more elite warriors outside than ever. They’ll want to make certain there are no problems arising. I used to be around the Reding more. A lot more. The high priest would come around sometimes, but more often the Reding would visit the high priest in Peka Tower. The two correspond often, but they never see eye to eye. Although they’re supposed to both work for the people, they are greedy and demanding things of their own. I can’t imagine how the high priest’s arrival would have anything to do with us.

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