Chapter Eighteen

 

 

 

Dylan

I hovered on the sidelines, observing the bustling activity in the room. Fighting the urge to object, I listened to the council as they debated the merits of the various Teleen vying for the crown. The contenders made occasional speeches themselves, trying to strengthen their respective positions. It had already been a long day, and my head throbbed from the incessant arguing.

“Don’t want to hear the boring politics?”

Sylphi interrupted my thoughts, and I suppressed the frown threatening to form as she deepened her smile and batted her eyes at me. I pushed down a cringe and pulled away. She was part of my plan to win Shade back from Soap forever, and I couldn’t risk pushing her away prematurely. I swallowed my aversion to my ex-girlfriend and feigned the best smile I could.

“Well, it comes with the job.”

Sylphi moved as though to give me a hug, but when I didn’t respond, she settled next to me and turned her attention to the council. I knew better. She hated meetings, but this was a necessary evil if she wanted to be queen.

“I find these meetings interesting,” she whispered. “I never thought I would, but necessity demands it. I know you absolutely abhor all of this, though.”

I furrowed my brow. She could see right through me. That could be bad if she saw through my plans for making Shade jealous. It could backfire before I even started.

“You need to start participating in these debates,” I said. “There are only two left before the selection is made.”

“When are you going to teach me then?”

I rubbed my chin, sizing her up. She leaned toward me, her lips slightly parted. She was no idiot, and any man would be a moron to not notice her low-cut dress and cinched waist. Helen of Troy had nothing on her. Her charms weren’t going to work on me, but I noticed several Teleen men eying her with a hunger that could only be sated one way.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said.

She straightened, her eyes brightening. “Where to?”

“My quarters. Our dawn meeting the other day wasn’t enough. A lot has developed during the debates, and I need to get you up to speed on the politics of it all, or you’ll never beat these buffoons.”

She wilted a little but she brushed it off quickly. “Sounds perfect. Let’s go.”

In my quarters about a half hour later, I bit my lip as my frustration peaked. Sylphi got the logistics of a debate, she just didn’t have the patience to drive home her points. Pushing her was going to be a challenge. She was smart. This was boring stuff that made me want to rip my eyeballs out, but it was standard for a political debate in Teleen.

“You must be stone cold. You cannot let anyone break your mask. I’ve seen a few of the contenders get riled, and the moment that happened, they essentially took themselves out of the running, whether they know it or not. Only leaders who show no emotion at all will win.”

“Like Gretel?” Sylphi asked. For the first time since I’d known her, she looked nervous. Her presentation to the Teleen people was tomorrow, at the next debate, and I was helping her prepare her speech and coaching her on political behavior.

“Yes, like Gretel. When she became queen, she was ruthless and answered every question quickly, thoroughly, and to the point. There was never any kind of emotion, anger, confusion, sadness, happiness… nothing. No whimsical touch or hesitation in any of her speeches. I remember it well.”

Sylphi hadn’t been alive at the time of Gretel’s coronation. Neither was I, but my parents had been. Sylphi’s parents had been killed when she was young, and she had never received a memory transfer of their thoughts like I had with my parents. Gretel’s reign had begun centuries ago, but with my father’s memory of it, it felt like it’d been yesterday, even though I was starting to feel my age.

It was time to transfer some of those memories to Sylphi. It was an intimate process, to share blood memories with another, and there was no guarantee that she’d receive just the ones I wanted to share. This was concerning, for if she learned more about me than I wanted her to know, it could cause some real problems.

It was a wonder Shade had never really asked what had happened between me and this woman, but my story was long, and Shade was barely the newest chapter of it. Had she asked about Sylphi, I would’ve told her everything. Yes, Sylphi and I had been lovers. Yes, Sylphi had been under the impression that we were to be married one day.

But knowing the kind of person Sylphi was—conniving, selfish, cruel—I had never allowed myself to go that far with her. Still, there was no doubt she’d been my best friend for many years, and we had seen each other through a myriad of things before Sylphi’s greed and sadistic thirst for power had grown overwhelming enough that I was forced to sever our relationship. We had both suffered for it.

Sure, the scars remained between us, but I had to look past our history for both our benefit. She seemed a changed person. Her new outlook on life was promising, and helping her gain the Teleen throne would benefit me the most in the end. I was glad I knew there wasn’t just a cruel and evil side to her; she’d work hard for our people as long as the malice inside her remained dormant. It had dulled significantly since she’d left Teleen. I could only hope it remained suppressed for both our sakes.

Even so, what if the Teleen people did not want her as ruler? What if they reject everything Sylphi could bring to the table?

“I’m never going to win,” she said, as though picking up on my concerns.

“You can’t think that way.”

“I’ve done too much damage; there’s too much to atone for. How will I convince them all that I’ve changed? I have changed. You know that, don’t you?”

I swallowed down the lump in my throat. For some reason I didn’t want to admit to her that I thought she’d become a better person. I felt like if I admitted that, there was a chance it could rekindle what we’d once had. “It doesn’t matter what I think. You’ll convince them. You’re good at that. Spin your words carefully but firmly, and they will listen. You know how to draw an audience. Do what you do best, and it’ll happen.”

“It does matter what you think, Dylan. If they don’t believe you truly think I’ve changed for the better, no one will back me up.”

“What makes you think I don’t believe you?”

She stepped forward and reached out to touch the cropped locks of my hair. It had grown past my shoulders since I’d cut it when I’d disowned my brother Darren after he had attacked Shade the first day we’d met. Now, I had cut it down once more to represent my mourning for my love of Shade. No one had asked about it, but when a Teleen cut their hair, it meant they’d just gone through a terrible loss.

“If you did think I had changed… if you did like me again… could there be any chance for us?”

I shook my head, exhaling slowly. She was certainly wasting no time. I hated her for that. “No. It won’t work like that. Besides, if you win this all by yourself, you’ll never need a man to hold you up.”

“What if I want one though?”

“There are many to choose from.”

“The one I want is the one who doesn’t love me back.” She stepped away, her face darkening.

“I’m sorry, Sylphi. I can’t. My heart is broken, and I’d be no good for anyone right now. I need to heal first.”

“You’ll never let her go.”

“You don’t know that. Neither do I. We’re not seers.”

She sighed, staring into the mirror hanging in my room. I’d normally remove it, but without Shade there, there was no need. I hated mirrors too; they reminded me of Darren’s treacherous magic. I wondered if Sylphi had thought of that as she reached out to touch the surface.

My insides boiled, for I knew she had seduced Darren at one point to get to Shade. She had secretly betrayed me, and I had been none the wiser. I straightened, making sure to hide my dark thoughts from my face before she turned back toward me.

“Well, maybe with time, right? We at least have that to our advantage.” She smiled as she sashayed across the room, returning to me. She held her hand out and beckoned for mine. “Shall we begin? Give me your memories, and I will become queen. In return, you can have whatever you want that a queen can provide.”

I nodded, trying to ignore the hidden motives behind her words. I closed my eyes, thinking hard on Sylphi’s proposition, but I knew there would never be anything more between us. Even if Shade and I separated forever.

“Okay,” I said, trying to focus on the task at hand. “Pay attention as you sift through my father’s memories, especially to Gretel’s techniques. She was young when she won the crown, but fierce. You can be the same.”

“I’ll pay attention, but no one wants the same old thing again. I need something more to win them over.”

Sylphi was right about that. She’d have to give them enough fire to spice things up. There were many people who would support something new, something to revitalize our culture and lineage. Gretel had not been at fault for its demise—our clan had been dying for a long time—but we needed new leadership. Our kind was slow to reproduce, and the lack of women hit us hard, killing off our genealogy far too quickly. With new thought processes, maybe we could fix it before the Teleen became extinct.

“You’re right, they’re not going to want the same thing. But there are methods that Gretel used when she became queen that will help ensure your position.”

“Like what?” Sylphi was persistent, and I could see the fire burning behind her eyes as she stared at me with a hunger for power which had tamed from before but was now somewhat wiser. This was good. The people would not see her as the wild and devious woman she used to be and more like a mature and trustworthy ruler.

“Well, let’s start the memory transfer. It’ll show you how Gretel handled her debates and her inquisitions. She’s a great debater. It’ll show you how you should answer the questions and what you should never do.”

Sylphi smiled widely, and before I could stop her, she ran toward me and fell into my arms, squeezing me tightly. “I knew you would help me, Dylan. Thank you. After all those years together, I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”