THREE

Daiva didn’t move again until Hassir started to converse with his fellow wolves, and after a look around the room, she still didn’t see her brother. She left quickly and started down the stairs only to find him halfway down the flight, speaking with Dola. They both looked up when they heard someone approach, but Dola gave Destin a nod and continued down the stairs alone. “I looked for you several times.”

“It appears this time you found me.” He started back up the steps with her to the hallway, but he obviously wasn’t in a hurry to get back. “How did you find the Lord of the Reef?” He didn’t seem happy that she’d gone and spoken to Hassir against his advice, but he wasn’t exactly chastising her. He sounded more tired than anything else, and she knew him well enough to see his mind spinning with anxiety behind his deep blue eyes.

Daiva didn’t know what she thought of the Lord of the Reef, since their brief conversation hadn’t been exactly enlightening. “He said he and I would discuss certain topics at a later time. I don’t know exactly how it will end up, but at least it will be a discussion.” She stepped closer to her brother and put out a hand onto his arm to stop his ascent. “I think we should convince the queen not to go to battle yet. This is not something that our fleet is prepared for right now. We need more time.”

“I agree.” He turned to look out the windows at the sprawling harbor with the ships of the fleet at anchor, and shook his head. It had been a busy few years for him, overseeing the rebuilding of the fleet after many of the ships of the Isles had been destroyed in a storm that had decimated much of the islands themselves.

There was a single great warship, which Destin commanded, but there were only about a dozen ships completed that were prepared to be sent south. The Genovin hadn’t suffered through the same storm or incurred the same losses. The subjugation of the Reef was the only thing that kept the Genovin at bay so long. “But I think Melyssa knows that too. If I suggest a delay, she’ll make it seem like a sign of my weakness in front of the other captains. She would love that.”

“We don’t have a choice, then?” She worried she already knew the answer. “Should we send Taimon and Kaia away? If we die, she might have a terrible fate in mind for them.”

“If we die, Gale will make sure they’re sent away.” He said quietly, though he knew that was no guarantee of privacy between them. “That’s part of what Dola is on her way to tell him. I’ll make sure Leander knows his instructions as well, before we leave.” He hadn’t looked away from the ships outside the window, and sighed heavily as he considered the weight of the world crashing in around them at the moment. “The queen will have her way. Until she doesn’t.”

Daiva looked up the rest of the stairs. “Let’s go hear what she has to say. Better to hear it now and plan than to wait and worry. Isn’t that what Father always said?”

“Father said a lot of things.” Destin finally turned away from the window, reaching up to brush a tear away from his beard. He was Oceanborn, and tended to show his emotions just as easily as the rest of his kind. It wasn’t something he would ever apologize for. Thoughts of their parents would always draw tears from his eyes.

He started walking up the stairs with her, heading past other captains who were watching him expectantly, waiting to take their cues on the situation from him. He knew them all, respected many of them, and trusted a precious few of them to have his back in whatever conflict would come. “If I thought ordering you to stay home would do any good, I would attempt to do so.”

“It won’t.” She almost growled as they returned to the main room. “If you die, I’m going with you.”

“Good thing I have no intention of doing that any time soon, then.” He grabbed a glass of wine on his way back into the room and sipped as he waited for Melyssa and Cadmos to reconvene. As he surveyed the room he caught sight of Hassir and his companions, standing on the other side of the floor map from him and Daiva.

Hassir looked back and forth from Daiva to her brother a few times, then glanced sideways at Melyssa and Cadmos, having a heated but private argument with one of the more foolish captains of the fleet. Seeing them occupied, he turned his attention back to Destin and Daiva, and lifted the glass in his hand toward them with a smile.

Destin wasn’t quite sure what to make of the gesture at first, but he returned it subtly after a moment’s consideration, though he didn’t return the smile as both of them drank. He wasn’t certain of exactly what they were toasting to, but the Fireborn was not a wolf Destin wanted as an enemy on any terms. He had enough of those.

Once the meeting adjourned and it was decided that their small fleet would go after the Genovin fleet by a route that would keep the element of surprise on their side, Daiva and Destin left the meeting as quickly as they could. They had a day to prepare, to figure out their own plan, and to come to terms with the idea that they could be dead very soon.

“I’m going to go meet with the Fireborn on their ship.” Daiva moved quickly, even though she knew that Hassir and his comrades were still behind them. “Should I even make a guess about where you’re going?”

“Dola’s first, then to the harbor to set the fleet in order, then after that,” he shook his head without looking over at her, since he could already see in his mind her disapproving glare, “no, you probably shouldn’t guess.”

“I suppose I shouldn’t judge a wolf on his goodbyes.” She watched her brother for a moment before she continued down the stairs. “Make sure you stop by and see Taimon and Kaia too. They always loved you more.”

“Talking about me in the past tense already? Give me just a little more faith than that.” There was a trace of his usual humor in his tone, but only the faintest trace, given their situation. “There’s nothing the two of them would not do for you. And they’d do whatever you asked happily if you were to occasionally give them the impression you didn’t want to pulverize them.”

“I am strict with them because I want them to be careful. Neither of them are ever careful.” She shook her head and continued down in silence before she stopped at the bottom and reached out for her brother when he stepped down. “I’ll see you on the ship.”

He took her arm and pulled her into a brief hug, even if he knew it wasn’t really in her nature to be affectionate. He kissed her cheek and looked her in the eye before he let go of her arm. “Be careful.” He said with more intensity behind the warning than he normally gave her. “We don’t know them. Make no assumptions.”

“I will be careful. I am always aware of the situation around me.” She liked to think that she was, anyway. “Go on.”

Hassir and his companions moved past them as they spoke, and Daiva watched them walk down the long stone paths toward the harbor at the bottom of the steep hill of the palace grounds. They moved without speaking to each other or looking to either side, with a direct purpose and no curiosity whatsoever.

As she followed, she noticed the footprint one of the Stoneborn wolves left behind on each flagstone he passed over. It was a silent and innocuous act of rebellion against the imposed order of the wolves that had built the place. The haughtiness and condescension of Hassir and his companions almost dripped from their shoulders as they walked, appearing like lords of everything they saw rather than subjects called upon by their mistress.

Daiva followed after them casually until she knew they were close to their ship and she called out to the Lord of the Reef. She knew they all must be aware she was following, but they showed no signs of caring.

“Is now a good time to talk?” She said loud enough for him to hear, though she did wonder if he would stop or even look back.

All three of them stopped when she called, and she finally got a good look to see that one of them was indeed Stoneborn, the other a Skyborn. Hassir looked her over once and nodded to his companions, who then preceded him to their ship as he waited for her.

Once she caught up, he continued along the stone pier, headed for his vessel anyway. “Any time before dying can be a good time to talk. Now is as good as any other.”

“Do you have any plans about how to avoid dying?” She started there, because any other discussion would be worthless if they were dead and unable to execute any other plan they might create.

“Against the Genovin?” He laughed, moved onto his ship, and sat along the railing casually. He indicated toward the railing opposite him, since the ship was narrow enough at the bow for them to be face to face. “They sent thirty ships north because they know we’ll decimate them the moment we lay eyes on them. If they board any of the ships of our fleet, that ship is forfeit, everyone agrees on that. But the Earthborn are as shortsighted as they are strong. If we can sink their ships without being boarded ourselves, most of us will come home alive.”

“I wonder if they regret killing my parents at this moment.” She said almost casually as she sat on the railing across from him. “Together, destroying the Genovin would be easy for them. Especially if Devon was helping.” She sighed and looked up at him. “Assuming we survive, what, if any, kind of alliance would you be interested in?”

“Assuming we survive.” He shot back with a grin, clearly amused with her manner. “No matter how long I live, I cannot imagine ever becoming accustomed to the directness of your kind. It does save time, I suppose.” He glanced up at the palace, then clearly decided he didn’t care if Cadmos was attempting to listen to them or not from the heights. “We’ve recently acquired common ground. Melyssa killed my grandmother before you were born, after she surrendered to the armies of the Isles, a portion of which was led by your mother.”

“My mother was a powerful wolf.” Daiva wasn’t about to let him drive a wedge between them by talking about her parents, but she wouldn’t let him speak evil of them either. “Every wolf around here has been raised to believe that the Reef is full of dogs. Wolves so insane they can do nothing but run around in circles. I am sitting here having a conversation with you, so that must not be true. Devon warned me that you and your people were not to be trifled with. He knew more of your strength than the rest of us. How can we utilize this common ground for both of our benefits? What do you want out of it?”

“The same thing every child of a murdered parent wants, naturally.” He glanced away at his crew, and said something under his breath that got a nod from the Skyborn nearby before retreating to follow whatever command he’d been given. “The only problem is, only one of us is going to get the opportunity to see Melyssa’s face when she realizes she’s about to die.”

Daiva turned contemplative after that, since she wasn’t sure she wanted to give up that particular opportunity to a wolf she didn’t even know.

“Even if she is dead,” she continued on, since she would need to think about who would get to kill Melyssa, “there is still the matter of her mate and her children. It would also mean,” she paused as she looked over at him, “that you will have conquered the Isles.”

“I have no interest in the Isles.” He scoffed and looked around them at the harbor, with its intricate stonework and beautiful statues decorating every available space. It was meticulously shaped by those in the employ of the royal family, and the capital almost sparkled with the majesty of the wolves who lived there. It had been the home of Daiva’s family, offshoot of the royal line as they were, for centuries before her birth. It was part of her heritage, but the wolf in front of her looked like he was surveying a dung heap rather than a jewel of the world. “My only interest is in the welfare of my people and the preservation of my territory. Whatever happens beyond the Reef is none of my concern.”

“Really.” She replied flatly as she stared at him. “Somehow I find that hard to understand. If you really want to be left alone on the Reef, the only way you can ensure that happens is if you can control the forces outside of it. If your only concern is to kill Melyssa for revenge, then even if you accomplish that, you accomplish nothing and certainly not any sort of preservation for your people.” She was beginning to wonder if he really wasn’t as smart as he sounded when she first spoke with him. “Being ruthless can be a great way to rule, but being ruthless and shortsighted is not going to accomplish anything.”

“No, I can’t imagine being shortsighted would accomplish much.” He didn’t seem offended by anything she’d said, and was still grinning as he looked back at her. “How would you proceed, then, if you were in my position and were attempting not to be shortsighted?”

“The only way to get what you want is to align yourself with someone who already has a following here on the Isles, so you might have that. Then you need to work to remove Melyssa and her entire family. After that, you would need to establish a leader that you feel you can either trust or who you can scare into doing what you say while you remain on the Reef.” She shrugged as she stared across at him. “And upon further contemplation, I think that I would be willing to fight you for the right to kill Melyssa. I cannot simply give you that pleasure uncontested. I don’t even know you, and I don’t give out pleasures so freely.”

“You’re Stoneborn. As I understand your kind, you rarely give out pleasure at all.” He actually chuckled at the idea of her fighting him for the right to kill Melyssa, but he nodded. “We can do battle for the privilege of claiming her life later. For now, would you agree that a discerning ruler, being aware of the necessity for allies within the Isles themselves, might venture north to visit the Isles himself in search of such allies, even though he truly despises the sight and stink of the place, and has traditionally avoided coming here at all costs?”

“You were summoned here.” Daiva watched his expressions carefully. She didn’t really think that he actually came here to find allies. Who did he think he would find, exactly? “Did you come here with intentions to speak with someone else?” If there were others planning some kind of revolution, she certainly needed to know about it.

“There are a number of noble families on the Isles who have long been dissatisfied with her majesty the queen. Many of them connect to you or to your late parents in one way or another, but there are a few you may be unaware of.” He clearly enjoyed knowing some things that she didn’t, but he was only willing to dispense so many secrets at once. “If it were to come to a battle for the right to kill her, you and I would not be the only wolves in contention, though I imagine we might be the last two to survive the conflict.”

“I’m glad that you are aware of my strength, then, in the very least.” Daiva jumped down gracefully from the railing of his ship. “It is good to know that we are on the same side. Temporary as it may be.” She looked him up and down, since she knew that he couldn’t possibly be interested in much more than Melyssa’s death, despite his attempt to seem like he thought further about the entire issue. She looked around at his crew. “What happens to your Reef if you die? Do you have an heir that you left behind?”

“My Reef will do as it pleases, as it always has.” He found the question almost laughable, and didn’t leave the railing when she did, staring down at her as she prepared to leave. “As for an heir, no, I am unmated, as is my sister. But upon my death, she would be capable of administering the affairs of the Reef until she produces a Fireborn child or chooses a suitable inheritor from among our other lords.”

“Curious.” She remarked as she leaned against the railing. “Do you have something against mating as well? Is that too traditional for the Lord of the Reef?”

“Hardly.” He glanced over the rest of his crew, who filed past the two of them on their way off the ship, apparently under orders that involved a great deal of haste. Several of them, as before, were in wolf form, running in an organized kind of chaos that did not stop to hesitate or ask questions.

Soon, the two of them were the only ones left on the ship, along with a few Skyborn far away at the stern with their eyes on the bright horizon. “I have nothing against mating, but I have no tolerance for power-seeking, weakness, stupidity, or unwarranted arrogance. The number of potential mates lacking any of these traits is small, the number lacking all of them close to nonexistent, in my experience.”

“I see.” She responded simply as she thought about what he said before she looked into his eyes again. It was still a little startling to her, seeing his Fireborn eyes and being reminded in a way of the brother that she had loved and lost. “You will not have better luck looking around here. Most here are more concerned about their clothing than they are about gaining strength or knowledge.”

“So I’ve gathered. I’ve never had any intention of taking a mate from your people.” He glanced dismissively at the homes that rose from the shoreline nearby in gaudy and highly artistic edifices, each seeking to outdo the next in grandeur while the ocean spread out at their doorstep as an apathetic audience to their pageantry. “You are small, you are simple, and you have forgotten what we are.”

“Are you actually directing that at me?” Daiva narrowed her gaze on the Fireborn. “I am not the deluded wolf that most are.”

He didn’t respond to the obvious challenge in her expression and her tone, but he didn’t look away from her either. The expression in his red eyes was difficult to read beyond their inherent ferocity.

“Perhaps not.” He admitted, though his voice was so neutral it was hard to tell whether he was actually admitting the possibility that she was right or he simply didn’t care enough to argue the matter. “Convey my respect to your brother, and let him know that my people will accompany his when we depart, in accordance with the queen’s wishes. You may also inform him that you will be sailing with me, and you will be fighting alongside my people when we confront the Genovin.”

“I do not think that he will let his crew be commanded by you, Hassir of the Reef. I will convey your respect, and the two of you can decide how you will fight.” She thought it was incredibly presumptuous that he thought that he could command her brother’s people through her, and she certainly wasn’t just going to allow him to think that he could.

“I did not say his crew. I said you.” He shot back by way of clarification, looking her up and down one more time. “There are other Stoneborn who have accompanied me here. You’ll learn what your kind is supposed to be, rather than what these islands have made you.”

Daiva wanted to laugh as soon as she realized that he thought so little of her skill simply because of where she came from. “I may not know everything, nor do I have all the skill I hope to one day obtain, but do not underestimate me, Fireborn.” She blinked a few times as she balled her hands into fists at her side. “I will sail with you and I will fight beside your people, but only because I agree to do so. Not because you think you can command me.”

“As you say.” She could hear him chuckle behind her as she stepped back onto the comforting stone of the pier beside the ship. “And my name is Hassir.” He shot after her as she began to walk away, and when she turned to look at him again, he was giving her the same enigmatic smile that seemed to be a permanent fixture of his face; before he turned away from her dismissively.