Urdaisunia by Kyra Halland

Author:Kyra Halland [Halland, Kyra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: epic romantic fantasy
Publisher: Kyra Halland
Published: 2013-02-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

IN THE DAYS after he returned to Zir, Eruz gave his report on the judgment and executions at Three Leaping Fish, argued with his father over his actions there, convinced the king – after nearly coming to blows with him – that no retaliation should be taken against Moon Bend, and sat in council meetings where he argued some more with his father, uncle, and brothers, all of it with only half his mind on what he was doing.

No matter how he tried, he couldn’t reconcile what he had done at Three Leaping Fish with what he believed was right. The faces of the three people he had killed and their grief-stricken families constantly haunted his mind. Had it been worth it? he wondered as he saw his father favoring Hazram more as the days went by. Hazram, who had conceived the murderous plot in response to Nisha’s jealous demand; Hazram, who had been committing adultery with Eruz’s First Wife for gods knew how long.

Eruz’s numbness had turned into a stabbing sense of frustration every time he saw the king agree with Hazram. If he accused Hazram of arranging the murders of Sumat’s wives, his brother would simply deny everything. If he presented Nisha as a witness, that would bring up the subject of her adultery with Hazram, which would demand a response from Eruz.

Reconciliation with Nisha was out of the question. Eruz knew he could never touch her again without thinking of the bloodshed she had caused. The very sight of her sickened him. Which left him with a choice between divorce or execution. He had no stomach for sentencing any more people to death, but in many ways divorce would be even worse for Nisha’s reputation and future prospects. He didn’t want to have to make any more such decisions about someone else’s life. He didn’t want to make any decisions at all.

If only he could talk to Rashali… Had she managed to get away safely? He hadn’t wanted to just turn her out into the desert, but there was nothing else he could have done. His efforts to delay the discovery of her escape had by themselves been enough to make Hazram and the king suspect that he had been involved in it. Oddly, once her escape was discovered, Hazram didn’t press for a search effort or for answers about what happened to her. It seemed that forcing her away from the palace and putting Eruz in an uncomfortable position was enough, at least for now.

Rashali was strong and smart. The gods and her abilities would keep her safe, wherever she was. He had to believe that.

After more than a quarter-month of this aimless frustration, a plan finally came to Eruz. “With your permission, I’d like to return to Kubiz,” he said to the king after enduring yet another council meeting in which the king had mostly deferred to Hazram. “Sumat hasn’t recovered enough from his grief to return to his duties there, and I’d like to see the current situation with the Sangh and the Urdai rebels for myself.

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