Page 45 of Veil of Vasara (Fate of the Five #1)

CHAPTER 45- ELIAS

“Y ou’re in my seat.” I looked down at Audra’s Prince, who was sprawled across a chair in my chambers. His legs hung over the handles on the left and his back leant against the handles on the right.

“You’re back. Finally!” He turned slightly but made no movement that suggested he was going to stand.

“I didn’t know you were waiting,” I grumbled.

The Prince opened his mouth “I—"

“If I had, I would have made sure to prolong my stay out.”

He scoffed then raised an eyebrow. “So?”

“So?” I repeated.

“Do I need to remind you? Would you like a reminder of the events that led me here?” He narrowed his eyes.

“It’s been less than a week,” I reminded him.

“That’s plenty of time, after all, aren’t you idle most hours of the day?"

I walked over to the chair, and reached out behind the Prince, making sure to keep my distance. I pulled the jacket he was sitting on out from behind his back.

“Not anymore.”

“Really?” He leant back more insistently into the chair. “Why the sudden change?”

The man was like a scab that seemed to form over every wound in existence, yet refused to let it fully heal. His incessant questions were profoundly irritating.

“We’re not discussing that,” I insisted.

“How defensive you are,” he mumbled.

“Are you capable of having a serious conversation?” I bit.

“Of course, aren’t you capable of having a non-serious one?”

“Of course.” I smiled falsely. “Just not with people like you?”

“People like me?” His voice protested innocence.

I didn’t feel a need to reply and state the obvious.

“I’ve always felt that you and I are quite alike,” the Prince said quietly, looking up at the ceiling of my chambers.

“Ha.” I could only laugh at that ridiculous comparison.

“You don’t think so?” He lowered his head again.

“I think you enjoy all of this. So… no.”

He laughed softly. “You’re in charge of their military now, aren’t you?"

I rolled my eyes. As I suspected, the Prince was simply playing a game.

“You already knew.”

“No!” Nathon’s eyes lit up. He clicked his fingers. “But I guessed, and you’ve just confirmed it for me…so I’m much obliged to you.”

I let out a large sigh. “Can you just get to the fucking point?”

“I was waiting for you to do that.”

I crossed my arms. “I didn’t find anything particularly useful. I even questioned a tracker about it, and still, nothing.”

“That was a good idea." The Prince looked thoughtful, and for once, sounded sincere. “She didn’t tell you anything remarkable?”

I thought back to the tracker’s words, the way she had regarded me with fear and suspicion when answering my questions.

The scar on her neck.

“Nothing I wouldn’t have already suspected. Only that some of the Vessels seemed unable to heal their wounds.”

The Prince glanced out the window, a quizzical expression on his face.

“Is that…unusual?” Nathon said.

I see. He didn’t know much, or perhaps anything about sorcery. I was surprised he had openly admitted it. But then again, he probably felt no need to hide it, since such a high level of knowledge on the topic was not expected of anyone. In fact, it was seen as highly strange and perverse.

“I don’t know,” I said truthfully. “Eliel—"

I stopped when I realised my mistake.

“What about the King?” The Prince tilted his head.

“Eliel would know ,” I had been about to say. Eliel didn’t care about how frowned upon a topic was, he would learn everything and anything he could about it. In fact, he was more likely to delve into its intricacies, and seek out information on it, when it was regarded with disdain. Knowledge attracted him the way sex, alcohol, love, food, and power attracted others. And the rarer its existence, the more Eliel craved it.

“Eliel’s father would have known more about it,” I said instead.

But by the look in the Prince’s eyes, the slight smile on his face, I knew I hadn’t rescued myself, not truly.

“All I know, is that Vessels heal their own wounds fairly well, and that even those with the least power can do so, usually. But still, the point is, they don’t bleed, or bruise like us.”

“Only some of them do…now,” the Prince concluded.

Asking Audra’s Prince a question related to his motives was by any standards, an awful fucking idea. But his inquiries directly involved Vasara, and so, they directly involved Eliel.

“What do you want to know? About this centre? Why are you investigating it?” I crossed my arms.

The Prince looked undisturbed. “If you’re worried about your cousin’s safety, I can assure you it has nothing to do with that at all. My interests in the centre are purely personal.”

“Do you really expect me to believe that? What do you take me for, Prince?” I said, moving closer to him again.

When I had moved within an arm’s, length I spoke again. “Why risk exposing yourself to me? You could have asked any favour, anything, but you asked me to do this. It’s true that only members of the Council have access to the centres but still, I don’t doubt you could have tried to investigate it yourself, that’s if you haven’t done so already. In fact…” I stopped myself and laughed.

“I’d be willing to bet that’s exactly what you’ve done, only to realise that getting inside was almost impossible, and too dangerous for you. You. Even you. Fuck. Everyone speaks about you as if you’re the most dangerous, venomous, calculating man in the world, but in asking me to do this, you’ve exposed yourself. I can’t understand how you think that would benefit you, and why you’re so willing to trust I’ll keep my mouth shut about it. When it comes to choosing between the safety of the King or my reputation, I will choose the safety of the King.” I lowered my voice, emphasising my intentions behind the last sentence.

The Prince finally stood. “Let’s imagine for a moment you tell the King I’ve asked you to do this. What do you think will happen? Do you think he’ll be particularly pleased you’ve fulfilled my request?”

“I could explain—"

“Ahhh, yes you could explain. ‘Oh cousin, I apologise. I was responsible for the murder of an escort during this Season and allowed myself to be blackmailed by the Prince from Audra’,” the Prince mocked.

“It’s not—"

But he spoke over me, “The King I suspect, already distrusts you somewhat, and if you reveal this to him…I can’t imagine his trust in you will ever be reborn. So, you will likely be banned from partaking in any political activities, and I will be locked up and interrogated. Unfortunately for you, I don’t tend to succumb to interrogation.” He picked up a grape from a bowl on the table next to him.

“I’ve had plen-y of pra-tice,” he said with a mouthful.

He grinned. He was enjoying this.

“Now,” He pointed a finger into the air. “You might say the King will lock up my sister and do the same to her, but she doesn’t know anything. There’s also Vasara’s relationship with Audra to consider. If they hear that Vasara has locked up their two heirs over an accusation Lord Elias made…”

He emphasised my name. He and I both knew my reputation for being a drunken reprobate was firmly cemented into the hearts and minds of the majority of people.

“I think you’ll find that public opinion works against you. So, let’s conclude.” He picked up another grape and threw it into his mouth. “You tell the King. He no longer trusts you. He confines Loria and I to absolutely no avail, placing a great strain on his relationship with Audra, and the public, and calling into question his aptitude for Kingship. This process will not uncover my motives, and will do more harm than good to His Majesty. Don’t you think?”

I tutted. “You’ve thought through everything, haven’t you?” I did not disguise the patronisation to my tone. It was true the Prince had planned and foreseen several possible outcomes. But not all.

Not that I was about to tell him.

“You should try that…thinking. It’s quite helpful.” The Prince tapped the side of his temple.

“I think …that I’ll soon find out just exactly what your motivations are.” I wasn’t even sure that was true, but it currently felt as if I was being pushed into a deep well, and was desperately clutching at the stones, to avoid falling further.

“So, you’re still not thinking then,” he said. “You and I both know one thing, one indisputable fact. That if you want to protect the King, you need to be by his side, and to be by his side, you’ll need to stay silent about this matter.”

A wild frustration imploded within my mind. This man had manipulated me so easily. This man four years my junior.

“Do we understand each other?” he asked.

“Would I be telling the truth if I said that I truly understood you?”

“You’re right…but we agree on this at least?”

“Agree? Fucking agree?” I laughed bitterly. “ We aren’t doing anything. You are playing a game and moving everyone across your board like little wooden figurines." I wiggled my fingers. “And you’re right, I can’t see your end goal, and I can’t do anything about it for now. But I can see the set- up, and I can see the players. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that won’t be enough.”

“I never underestimate anyone.” The Prince’s voice had deepened.

“Brilliant. I’m overjoyed. Now get the fuck out.”

He motioned to my chair. “But I was only just beginning to get comfortable.”

“What a shame. Leave.”

The Prince shrugged. “I look forward to seeing your next move.”

He walked backwards out of the door, closing it behind him while maintaining eye contact.

“Egotistical prick,” I muttered to myself.

I poured myself a drink.

I looked into the glass, dark red, the aroma of the beverage wafted around me, drowning out everything else.

I shook my head and swallowed it whole, reflecting on the past few days.

Eliel wouldn’t admit it, but he was still weak from his injury, and he’d probably not been too glad about his attempted assassination either. I knew that he was keeping these things to himself.

I set the drink down and made for the door. I was off to attend this morning’s Council meeting, the first one that I had attended in years.

Too early. Too fucking early.

Not that it mattered. I hadn’t been able to sleep the night before, and had wandered around the Palace grounds for a while.

Which is when I had returned to find the Prince entirely comfortable in my room.

I needed to start remembering to lock my door. I supposed beforehand, I hadn’t really cared if someone had walked in and skewered me in my sleep. Maybe I’d even welcomed it.

But now, things were different.

As I walked into the Council room, Eliel was informed I’d been appointed to my new post. Fargreaves looked as if he’d been force fed horse shit when Trenton uttered those words aloud.

Since the trackers had returned empty handed, I had waited until the others had left, and the rest of the meeting had been concluded before I said to Eliel, “I’d like to look for them myself.”

Eliel leant forwards, resting his chin on one hand. He looked so still, so calm.

But I knew that underneath that veneer, delicate, and made of glass, was a fire that could shatter everything around it, whenever it chose to do so.

“Are you sure?” he asked after a few moments of contemplation.

“I’m sure,” I confirmed. “I’ve found the tracker who picked up their trail. I’ll take her with me.”

“Just one?” Eliel said. He sounded neither surprised, confused, or doubtful. He spoke like that often, with no emotion, no sign of judgement, or opinion.

“I don’t need the others, and it will be easier to travel in smaller numbers.”

The true reasons for my decision were first, that a class four Darean was the only kind of sorcerer I would ever accompany, for theirs was the only kind of sorcery that couldn’t forcibly be used on, or against an individual. And second, that I preferred to travel with, and be in the presence of, as few sorcerers as possible. If the task truly warranted more assistance, then I would have accepted that, but taking more sorcerers on this journey wouldn’t help me fulfil my task any faster, and would only make me feel uneasy.

“Very well. It is your decision how you conduct yourself in your new role.” Eliel closed his eyes over, a slight dusting of purple circled them underneath.

“It’s supposed to be your decision, isn’t it, Your Majesty ?”

“I’d not be foolish enough to think you were entirely within my control, Elias.” His eyes were still closed.

I thought about the words that Audra’s Prince had uttered.

“You don’t trust me, do you?”

Eliel’s eyelids slowly lifted. He looked at me for a long time. I was beginning to regret asking. What good could come of an answer, no matter what it was?

“I trust your intentions,” he said softly.

“Just not my means of acquiring them. If that’s true, then why are you giving me such free reign? Why let someone you cannot control, and do not fully trust, help you?”

Eliel frowned. “Are you upset?”

“Yes… But not with you,” I replied, looking down at the table.

Eliel sighed. “I do not expect you to be anything other than you are. Nor do I wish it. You are reckless, and you can be unfocused, but you are loyal, and when the situation demands it, you are bold. You may not be able to plan and plant seeds with words and schemes, but that matters little to me. I have plenty of people who can fulfil such tasks, and none I trust with my life as much as you.” He smiled at me slightly but genuinely, with meaning.

I nodded. “Then that is enough for me. That you trust me with your life.”

“I do.”

“Do you…trust anyone else with it?”

I didn’t ask because I wanted him to say yes, but because I was afraid there was nobody else he felt assured would protect him. I was afraid the answer was no.

“What do you think?” He leant further into his hand.

“I think it’s a shame that we do not have more allies,” I groaned.

“It is the nature of things.”

I thought for a moment. That didn’t strike me as true. Yes, holding power naturally meant you would have enemies, that you would have no shortage of people who wished for your downfall, who tried to plot against you.

But why should that mean you had nobody who was loyal to you, who was willing to, and proud to work for you? Why should that mean you be deprived of those who would be glad to stand beside you, to help you rule, and achieve your goals, to advise you, to care for you?

“You’re quiet. That’s unusual.”

I decided to keep my thoughts to myself.

“You will not marry the child, or Jurasa’s heir,” I stated instead.

Eliel blinked hard once to indicate, “I will not.”

“So, which of the others are you considering?”

“I am considering them all.”

“But you like Audra’s Princess, don’t you?”

“Do I?”

“You bet on her, didn’t you?”

“That’s because she was about to win.”

“There’s no fucking way you could be sure of that, and you don’t even need the money.”

“No. But I do need the Court to be talking, spending their time ruminating, and prattling on about the Courting Season, and who I am taking a favour to. The more I give them to speculate over, the less time they will have to speculate about other affairs.”

I laughed. “There’s nobody else here, cousin. You can just tell me if you’d like her to be your wife. Come on, tell me the real reason.”

“Do you...” He paused. “Tell me the real reason for everything you do?” He looked down at my palm. “What happened to your hand?”

I thought about Audra’s Prince, the dead escort, the choice to have only one tracker assist me.

“Fair enough,” I gave up, deflecting his question. “I’ll set out tonight.”

Eliel’s eyes lingered on my bandaged palm for a few more seconds.

“It was glass,” I stated. “I was…not…fully alert,” I fibbed. An easy enough lie to believe.

Eliel’s focus travelled from my hand to my face.

“Report to me, when you return,” he said.

“I will.” I hesitated before leaving. “The other thing, which…” I coughed awkwardly.

“My sacrifice? Yes, I was wondering if anyone would mention it.”

“Wh…” I sighed. “You know what I want to know.”

“I have my reasons,” was all he said.

“You’re ending our bloodline. How does any reason make sense Eliel?”

Eliel looked slightly irritated. “You had no intention of prolonging it yourself. Why is it suddenly so concerning to you?”

I internally groaned. My reputation, my desire to take a step back from responsibilities, my enjoyment of…well, my reliance on alcohol, and revelry. It seemed it would constantly be brought up by everyone, very frequently, until the end of time, until my body lay cold in the ground. Fucking brilliant.

What a wonderful way for people to instantly discredit my words. The worst thing about it, was such a method had been provided to them by my own machinations, in part.

It was a foolish reason to discredit me, but most people here only needed foolish reasons, they didn’t think, or look hard enough for valid ones.

Swallowing back my frustration I spoke, “It concerns your safety. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I refer to.”

“I have my reasons,” Eliel repeated.

Which, we just established, he would not be sharing.

Yes, he trusted me with his life, but not with information. What a strange sort of trust that was. How did that make me any better than the guards standing at his back?

“I’m worried about you,” I admitted. “You know that.”

Eliel smiled. “Yes, I know your questions come from a place of genuine concern. It is more than I can say for the others. It means…a great deal.”

“What fucking good is that if you’re out there putting your life in danger? I don’t want it to mean a great deal. I want you to think about it and be careful. Far more careful.”

Eliel rubbed his face. These gestures were things he did not permit himself in front of others, I had noticed. I had only ever seen him do this as a child, when we were alone, or when he had been in the company of his parents.

“It is your prerogative how you conduct yourself in your role and it is mine for my own,” Eliel stated coolly.

“Why is everything so binary with you? So light and dark? So left and right? Why don’t you let others help you?”

“Elias,” he said abruptly. “I appreciate your concern, but I must ask you to let me carry out my plans. You will soon see their purpose.”

I breathed out and stood. “That’s what I’m concerned about. Your purpose.”

Eliel clasped his hands together. "I have dreamt of it."

His voice was listless. I narrowed my eyes at him. Thoughts of my own dreams swarmed through my head. 'Dreams' was a generous description. Night terrors in fact.

"The sorcerers come to end us. We are powerless to stop it,” he explained.

I took a slow breath in. I couldn't tell him they were just dreams. I knew better than anyone what power the tapestries of sleep held.

Though mine were memories, and Eliel's...

"You are working too hard," I replied. "Besides” —I scoffed —"there's not a person in Athlion who hasn't had such a dream."

Eliel's eyes flicked up. His gaze had always been probing, but now it was even worse, like he was searching for my own dreams, buried in my brain.

"What?" I asked, in an effort to end the analysis swirling in his eyes. "You know I'm not lying."

His gaze dropped, yet still he glanced at the table thoughtfully. Still he calculated and drew conclusions from thin air. How exhausting it must have been, for him to be constantly supposing something. I wouldn’t wish to look at my own thoughts for long. They were hideous, fragmented, fucking chaos.

“In a few days,” Eliel said quietly, “Come and inform me of your findings.”

I pushed my chair back. “Get some rest, you look pale.”

He nodded. I knew that nod meant nothing. He’d likely ignore my advice.

On my way back to my chambers, I found a servant, and instructed them to send word to the tracker that she was to meet me outside the Palace's Southern Gates tonight, at sundown.

Less than an hour later, that same servant returned to my room.

“My Lord, Shadae is currently not in the Palace. I was informed she is conducting a task with the Commander and some others at present.”

“When will they return?” I asked, not looking up from the book I was reading. I was refamiliarizing myself with some military texts and records.

“It is not certain. The duration of their missions varies greatly. It could be hours or days.”

I turned around “Where did you say they were?”