Page 44 of Voidwalker (Beasts of the Void #1)

Last was Yvette, head of the metal smithy, seated in their chair like a wire rod soldered to the wood. Their silver hair was tied into a long braid, pale cheeks flushed from cold, coat peppered with singe marks and a smell of woodsmoke.

Boden’s advisory council eyed Antal with hard eyes, chairs creaking under legs prepared to flee. The mayor stepped forward to address them, his back exposed to the daeyari. An opening vote of confidence. Surprised murmurs flitted around the table.

“Thank you for coming at such a late hour,” Boden said. “This is an issue that shouldn’t wait.”

Kashvi strummed her nails against the stock of her crossbow. “Because you got caught, you mean?”

Fuck, Kashvi. Fi knew she was upset, and rightly so. But this wasn’t helping.

Boden held out a hand, deferring to Savo.

“I had a late check-in at the power plant,” Savo said. “Found Boden and Fi there. With the daeyari.”

“Doing what ?” Fi pushed.

Savo considered her with lips pressed. “Repairing energy conduits, looked like.”

“Really, Fi?” Kashvi said. “You’re on the daeyari’s side?” She spoke like this was a betrayal, their common history demanding they hate this beast together.

Kashvi hadn’t seen the side of Antal that Fi knew. None of these people had. Yet his demeanor now was hard to parse. He appraised the assembly of humans in silence, sharp eyes flitting from speaker to speaker.

“This is Antal,” Boden said. “Former Lord Daeyari of this territory. Since Verne’s coup, he’s come to us seeking shelter. As many of us came to Nyskya seeking shelter.”

“Seeking shelter from him ,” Kashvi said.

A murmur of agreement passed through the others.

“I come to ask your input,” Boden pressed. “Whether the daeyari should be allowed to stay.”

Yvette answered first, eyes like polished steel. “Why would we want him to stay?”

“Our conduits are breaking down,” Boden said. “Sabotaged, as part of Verne’s coup.”

“Sabotaged?” Savo said. “That’s why the transformer keeps losing connection?”

“Ours,” Boden said. “And others all over the territory. Antal has offered to repair our equipment.”

“At what cost?” Mal demanded through the thick of his beard.

Again, that line. Antal’s expression didn’t change. The tip of his tail flicked.

“He’s offered to help,” Boden deflected. “And he’s made good on that promise so far.”

“Because he wants us to fight Verne for him,” Kashvi said.

Silence.

The attendees looked to each other. To Boden and his stiff nod.

“We have a common enemy,” he said. “We ought to consider—”

“Which is wild, don’t you think?” Kashvi laughed, the caustic hitch of a cough at the end. “Why fight for a daeyari? We ought to be getting rid of the bastards entirely.”

Yvette scoffed. “Be reasonable, Kashvi.”

“Why not?” Kashvi tipped forward on her stool. “Why not fight for our own freedom?”

“Open a space, and another daeyari will move in. Tyvo. Or another neighbor.”

“Then we fight until they stop coming!”

“Verne is our immediate threat,” Boden said, a voice of forced calm.

“And we all know how rebellions against daeyari go,” Mal grumbled. “Over a century since the Brackenport uprising in Tyvo Territory, and they’re still pulling bodies out of that bog.”

While the others argued, Fi leaned a hip against the bar. She bit her tongue against Boden’s meek defense, didn’t say a damn word against Kashvi’s outbursts.

Too busy watching Antal.

Bastard still hadn’t said a word.

A politician’s son, she connected at last. Two centuries to hone that guarded facade, to decide when speaking benefited him, and when to let the humans run their mouths.

“But those rebellions are a little bit bullshit, aren’t they?

” Fi spoke to the room, the others falling quiet at her comment, but she looked straight at Antal.

“Because it’s calculated. Daeyari keep themselves mysterious, so they’ll seem more terrifying.

They suppress stories of how to fight them.

” Her voice dipped in accusation. “And you’re holding back technology from us, aren’t you? ”

Antal didn’t balk at her attack. She did spot a flicker of surprise, a low twitch of his tail that suggested he’d not expected her to fight against him. But Fi was no fool. She’d not stand at his side if he promised her change but only spoke in half-truths, deflecting rather than—

“The conduits we give you are rudimentary,” he said. “Inefficient. Daeyari have had better technology for decades.”

Every human in the room flinched at his voice. Then fell very quiet at the implication.

The truth. He was finally telling the truth.

“Why?” Fi didn’t care about the startled eyes of the others, the creaks of their chairs. She only spoke to him. “To keep us afraid of you?”

“Daeyari have metered mortal technology for centuries,” he said.

“Kept territories separate so governments can’t become self-sufficient.

Buried any knowledge of how to fight back.

You’ll say it’s because we think little of you.

Or perhaps we miss the days of hunting you wild through the forests.

But the truth is much simpler than that… ”

Antal hesitated. Drew a stiff breath.

“It’s because you learned how to kill us,” he said.

The room hung on his words. Still silent.

“Your species started out defenseless,” Antal said.

“Easy prey. Then you grew stronger at Shaping. You developed metallurgy, weapon making. The first daeyari fell to your hands. This was unacceptable.” He paused.

Images of reincarnated beasts flitted through Fi’s head, hollow red eyes and feral roars.

“So my kind brokered peace with yours. Humane treatment, in exchange for sacrifice. A raw deal… for you . The daeyari offer boons, but they’ll never allow you to threaten us again. ”

Still, silence.

Until Kashvi slammed a fist to the counter.

“You knew this?” she hissed. “You knew this, you went along with it, and you still expect us to help you?”

“It’s a wretched system,” Antal said with a flash of fangs. “On that, we agree.”

“Then why didn’t you change it?”

“I did what I could. I kept my distance, let you rule yourselves. Took barely what food I needed to survive. Daeyari are free to rule our territories as we wish, but the sacrifice system stays the same. If one territory allows its humans to lose their fear, we risk your entire species becoming emboldened again.”

“So you won’t change,” Yvette accused. “We help put you back in power, and everything will stay the same?”

Fi braced for his evasion. For him to prove his oaths to her were flitting words.

“No,” Antal said. “Help me reclaim my seat as territory lord, and I vow to never take a living sacrifice again.”

If the room was quiet before, it fell deafening now.

“Half measures did me no good,” Antal finished. “Verne saw me as weak for my lenience. My people loathe me for the flesh I’ve taken. If I’m allowed to return to my post, I’ll do so with a system that won’t perpetuate fear.”

He wanted to do the right thing—he was doing the right thing.

Fuck Fi in the Void, they might really have a chance at this.

“Daeyari must eat,” Mal countered. “They must eat humans. Or is that also a lie?”

“That one is true,” Antal said with a grimace.

He looked to Fi.

It took her a moment, snared in the glow of those crimson irises, to realize he was waiting for her to speak on his behalf. Asking her, with that brief softening of his gaze, if she would stand with him. Not as combatants.

As partners.

“Corpse donation,” she said. The plan they’d sketched out the night before, Fi sprawled on her couch and Antal dangling in her rafters.

“Most humans get cremated anyway. What do they care, what happens to their body once they’re dead and energy gone to the Void?

They could volunteer. A victimless exchange, in return for daeyari aid. ”

A wave of wide eyes crashed onto Antal.

“You agree to this?” Yvette asked. Their words tinged with intrigue.

A shifting tide.

Antal bowed his head. “I will accept the dead, if you see fit to offer them.”

“And in return, you still offer energy production? Defense against other daeyari?”

“Wherever it’s needed. As much as I’m able.”

“Because he needs us!” Kashvi cut in.

“I do,” Antal said without hesitation. “I need you desperately. I can’t remove Verne on my own. But whatever you think, rightly, of my kind, you must know we’re good to our deals.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “I have always been good to my deals.”

This time, Antal looked to Boden.

“He has,” Boden agreed. “He told me he’d leave Nyskya untouched, and he has.”

“I don’t ask you to forgive,” Antal said. “I don’t ask you to like me. I ask us to work together, for our best interest.”

And he claimed he wasn’t a politician.

This time, the murmurs through the room rang less of outrage, more uncertainty.

“Verne would be easier to face,” Mal mused, “with another daeyari’s help.”

“So long as he doesn’t eat us, first,” Savo countered.

“Are you all mad?” Kashvi snarled. “You can’t be considering this.”

“We need to do what’s best for Nyskya,” Boden said.

“By allying with one of the creatures who used to hunt us through the woods?”

“Verne’s already coming for us,” Fi shot back. “This is the best ally we’ll get.”

Yvette strummed their nails along the tabletop. A thoughtful lean in their chair. “So long as we’re making deals, I want more daeyari technology for my metalworks. Better technology.”

Again, the mood shifted. A spark of opportunity.

Antal considered. Nodded. “You’ll have it. I’m familiar enough with the technology, I can teach what I know.”

“And updated energy conduits?” Savo added.

“Of course,” Antal agreed.

Fi drank in the exchanges with forced calm, heart racing.

“Well hold the fuck on!” Mal said. “If we’re all making demands? I want better stock for my general store. Summer Plane strawberries, year-round .”

“That’s…” Antal paused. Sighed. “Consider it done.”

This was working. It was actually working.

“How about a better governing council for the territory?” Boden added. Because of course he did. “Not just a governor. Input from all the settlements.”

“A fine proposal,” Antal said. “I’d be glad to have your input, Mayor Kolbeck.”

As the deal came together, Fi wondered if the others saw the shape of it like she did, the immensity of it.

For millennia, deals with daeyari had always looked the same: a sacrifice of flesh, in exchange for aid.

This was something new. Two sides working toward a common purpose, not coerced by fear.

A pact that might actually benefit them both.

Next came Kashvi. As everyone looked to her, she scowled with renewed vigor.

“I want my dead sister back, fucker. Until you figure out how to pull that off, you can move right along.”

Well, maybe not a benefit to everyone. Still, a start. Antal’s jaw feathered, but he didn’t argue.

Last, he looked to Fi.

“And you, Fionamara? What would you ask of me, to have your aid?”

Fi straightened. She opened her mouth, but to her dismay, nothing jumped to her tongue. That wasn’t right. She ought to be ready to haggle at a moment’s notice.

But the way Antal looked at her. That crack of exhaustion and relief pulling his brow. The way she could almost see the shape of “thank you” in the curve of his lips…

“A favor,” she said. “For me to call on when I wish.”

Antal nodded without hesitation.

A fool. He was a fool to trust her that easily, to grant a deal so broad.

And they were partners in this.

“Well,” Yvette said, an enterprising glint in their eye, “I’d like to hear the daeyari out.”

“How many in Nyskya will fight?” Savo said.

“How many can fight?” Mal amended.

“We don’t need many.” Fi took the floor. “We only have three targets. A small force will be enough to clear a path, then…” She glanced to her side, locked eyes with crimson irises. “Antal and I will take care of Verne.”

Antal nodded, though there was a grimness to it. Couldn’t fault him for that.

“We don’t have many fighters in Nysksa,” Boden said. “But perhaps they’ll be eager to learn. If another daeyari is willing to teach?”

“And weapons?” Mal pressed. “Where will we get those?”

“We can smith weapons.” Yvette strummed their fingers again. “Though we’ll need better metal, conductive alloy. Not easy to come by.”

Fi lit with smug anticipation before anyone even said it. A wicked grin, by the time Boden looked to her.

“How fortunate,” he said dryly, “that we have an accomplished smuggler at our disposal.”