Below the Peak (Sola)(48)
Then it hit her. Where is General Tatu, and the mage? They were not anywhere to be seen.
General Tatu and the mage, the two most influential people whose absence could not be substituted for half of the individuals in the room. Even the General’s second in command Barra was not here to say he stood on behalf of him. A wave of alarm settled slowly in her gut. What the heck is going on?
“I am quite disappointed” Lorenz’s grumble had everyone directing their heads at him. “I was certain the food will be good, loosen you and put you to comfort with each other. My deductions were wrong.”
He frowned, then quickly his expression lit up. His sudden change was so strange, Nara narrowed her eyes.
“Well since all of you are tongue tied and none wishes to make small talk. I will volunteer to start” Lorenz straightened his crown and sat more upright. Every other person stopped what they were doing and directed their attention fully on the king. “I’ll skip the report dealing with Kalil attack since many of you are familiar with the situation by now. However, another important factor has come to light, Amahle has also ceased trading with us. They have also seized our trade ships in their harbor, holding our people captive” he rested his arm on the on the armrest and paused, waiting for his words to sink in.
Everyone chanced a glance at Nara and her family and focused specifically on her mother. Her mother had initially married her father over the trade deal between Murisa and Amahle. Once a marriage based on political deals turned into more between the two human chest pieces.
Wait! What?
Nara expression hardened as a coldness so unsettling creeped to her bones. What’s he implying?
Lorenz flashed a wounded look as he spoke again. “Abasi’s betrayal has struck me greatly. An action none of us could’ve predicted. The queen and I grieve for the ones we lost in Latrell” His face flushed with fury, his nose flared. “I swear the only way to heal this great wound that he has caused to our people is only through retaliation!” his voice boomed, rising a few angry shouts from the lords and ladies. “But this new revelation of Amahle. What do we make of it? Someone tell me?” Lorenz asked with pleated anger.
Nara’s stomach sunk. Bewildered and confused, her eyes sought her parents for an explanation… truth.
Their backs were stiff as a rod, a grim expression sat on her father’s face while her mother had an angry look. Her gaze drifted to Ingrid who sat beside mother. Her chest tightened at the sight of her little sister. A frown mixed with confusion marred her sweet young features.
“Isn’t Amahle part of Kalil now?” a lord of a lesser title voiced, Nara had not seen before.
“In all things, alive! It can’t be Amahle too is associated in this treachery” a baroness exclaimed in extreme disbelief. Murmurs accompanied with accusatory glares and words were thrown toward her and her family.
Nara couldn’t believe her ears. They were blatantly accused of being conspirators without proof. And the keep watched all these playout in silence, he didn’t command them to shut up. The lords were doing his work. He only needed to rouse suspicion for the gullible men and women to believe and accuse her family.
Fury washed her as fused together with the hurt of betrayal constricting her chest.
Bastard! She jerked her brown steely gaze to the king, let him see the anger and hatred he caused. She found it to be a curse being related to this man. Glaring at him, sitting with his chest puffed up made her want to beat the smugness from his face.
Nara ground her teeth. She and her family were no sitting ducks to be used as a scapegoat.
“Your Majesty, my family, have no part in Abasi’s actions,” Nara protested.
“How can you prove it?” the king snarled, then turned to her father sending him a sour look. “Explain it to me, why was Thani demanding we should call a truce with Kalil?”
Shock sliced through her. Was this what her father had been reluctant to say? Is this even true? Nara wanted to ask her dad. Still, she knew just turning looking at him, would only give the king satisfaction and provide more room for suspicions that her family was involved in this conspiracy.
“Wouldn't that be a good solution than going to war with them and endangering us all?” Nara spoke, keeping her emotions in control. The king scoffed, his face beet red and his raging eyes boring into her as he spat. “You are no better than your father. Do you possibly believe a self-ruling Kalil would do well for us? Our commerce would crumble. Who would supply us cheap labor to build our ships and sell crops to us for minimum payment?”
“Nara!” her father’s voice held a warning. Nara paid him no attention. If he wasn’t going to defend them, she will. The lid on her temper shot out and like a volcanic mountain that had been asleep for eternity and had come to wake, her anger erupted and exploded. Her chair moved and groaned from the quake to her abrupt stand. The royal guards present in the room took their stance, ready to apprehend her.
“Do you not see that it’s your unreasonable demands that have turned our greatest ally to our biggest enemy? You are the one who brought this upon us!”
The king glowered. “Kalil is mine! They will serve me as they did my forefathers.”
Nara sneered, her words dripping with sarcasm. “Who dares forget Einarr’s treaty. The tyrannical king who enslaved our people and subjected them the worst of horrors, the Dark War. It’s only fair to carry retribution upon his generation until to the last heir of his bloodline regardless of time which passes by. No family relation of the despicable king should be forgiven; they should all bear his crimes to their dying breath. Isn’t proper Your Majesty?” sarcasm dripped heavily in her words. She was past manners, knowing talking to the king so brazenly as she just did could possibly earn her treason. She couldn’t see the rage even not hear how the room had become deafening silent.