Fantasy of Fire (The Tainted Accords #3)(27)

“No.” Jovan sets his jaw. I wait for his reason. He usually has a good explanation for saying no.

It doesn’t come.

“You can’t survive an attack on two fronts, Jovan.” I remind him. “I could leave under cover of a meeting with the Ire.” I sit back in my chair and fidget with the hem of my tunic. Jovan continues eating. The ignoring tactic might work with his subjects, but it won’t work with me. Time for a countermove.

“There is something else I’ve been meaning to speak with you two about. Adox has now seen my face. The number of people who’ve seen my face is growing—even if they don’t know my name. It only takes one person to figure out who I am, and then everything is out of my control.” I turn to Olandon to make sure he’s listening. “I want to get an idea of a larger reaction to my face,” I say.

Olandon looks at me with confusion.

Jovan lowers the goblet from his mouth, looking around. Only Jak and Gerden remain up here, and they’re several seats away.

“You want to show people?” he asks. There’s no mistaking the eagerness in his voice. I tuck away a smile as I nod. Jovan has made his view on my veil clear, time and again.

He continues. “I mean, it’s always been a matter of when someone would find out, rather than if,” he agrees. “But I’ve several ideas on the subject. I think it best if you show those closest to you first and build a small support group.”

I blink a few times. I knew he wanted the veil gone, but how long has he been planning this for?

“What if this group you show do not react the way you expect?” Olandon asks. My heart beats rapidly at the thought.

“That risk has long kept me quiet on the matter. But I won’t know how to proceed if I don’t know how people will react. I believe this is necessary, whatever the outcome.” Olandon doesn’t agree with what I am saying. But he won’t say more here. A small part of me wonders if he’s embarrassed about the plan. Ashamed to have a mixed sister.

“You seem very … calm about this,” Jovan speculates. I don’t blame him. In the past, any talk of removing my veil has resulted in a panic attack. I’m not calm about this to any degree. But it’s easy to control when I can think of removing the veil as some distant event. And I walked around without a veil for a whole sector. Part of my fear in removing the material was always based on what people would think. After my time in the Outer Rings, I knew the reaction to my appearance. I knew I looked the same as others. The part which still terrified me was their reaction to who I was. My position.

“Let’s just say I had a moment of clarity,” I say. “Plus, soon both worlds will find out an entire mixed race exists, i’m not alone anymore. And I know I can go to the Ire—if all else fails.”

I frown at a faint growling noise from Jovan and I go in for the kill now that he’s distracted.

“I’ll want to show the delegates. But I also want to show the members of the barracks.”

“The poor people?” Olandon says incredulously.

“They’re richer than you or I will ever be,” I say with a bite.

Jovan changes position, sprawling back on his throne. This time it’s not a dismissal. He’s contemplating everything I’ve said. He won’t talk until he’s ready.

Several minutes pass before he leans toward me, knuckles resting on the table. “Well played, Tatuma. You can go and collect your friends. Though it goes against my instincts to tell anyone not within my reach. These people from the Outer Rings will be much harder to kill than the delegates,” he says.

“Jovan!” I reprimand. The thought of my friends dying makes my stomach churn.

“You’d be surprised what I’d do to keep you safe,” he says. My mouth snaps shut. My mind is screaming at me to check Olandon’s reaction, but I resist.

Jovan continues. “However, it’s your secret to tell, and I’ll help you if you deem them worthy.”

I blink back a few tears, wondering if I’m not more emotional about this than I thought.

“I’m sending men with you,” Jovan decided.

I’m shaking my head before he’s finished. “They’ll expose me.”

The king’s hand shakes. He’s seconds away from slamming his fist on the table. “Dammit, Olina, don’t be so stubborn.”

“I’m not—”

“My sister is fully capable of protecting herself,” Olandon interjects. I groan inwardly as I feel the Jovan’s anger

“A fact I’m constantly made aware of,” the King says coolly. “But I don’t think you realize the current dangers waiting for your sister in the Outer Rings.” It’s the scary voice. I lower my head into my hands, staring at Kaura underneath the table. She tilts her adorable head to the side, whining slightly. She always knows when something’s wrong. I scrunch my eyes closed at the angry comments passing over my head, chuckling when Kaura buries her face under her paws.

“I know, girl. Believe me, I know.”

It looks like I’ll be going back to the barracks.





Chapter Six


I duck out the back of the house before day has broken.

Fiona’s aware of the sneaking I’m about to do. Jovan spoke to her briefly—well, ordered her—to let her know that I’d be using her house to ditch my watchmen in order to carry out “official” business. If all went according to plan, my guards would soon be experiencing a timely distraction.