Mervidia (26 page)

Kiva wondered how she would get the doors open
afterwards; the diminutive domo was not sure she was strong enough for the task, even if she was able to take out the grogstack.
There are no windows in the council chamber
, Kiva thought, looking around at the sheer stone walls, decorated with kelp tapestries that waved on their bone rods to the room’s circulating current. Her gaze left the arrases’ sweeping scenes of colossal squid, schools of brightly-colored fish, and other vapid depictions, all woven from spell-preserved kelp. She looked instead to the vents in the floor, allowing fresh water to flow through the area. Those vents were too small for her to fit into, but the return outlet was a bit bigger. She eyed that specific large vent in the wall behind Hasad’s chair. Kiva knew there was a balcony in the room on the other side.
It would be a great avenue of escape.

A measured
ethyrie voice returned her focus to the merwin around the massive stone-slab table before her. “In lieu of Regent Iago, who has been taken into custody,” Captain Raygo began, addressing the whole Assembly in front of but not sitting in the Royal Chair, which was elaborately carved out of stone and mirrored the same coral designs used in the rest of the Assembly seats. Kiva hadn’t even noticed that he was in the room, so caught up in her search for an escape route. She silently reproached herself for not paying better attention; Raygo must have gone into the chambers before anyone else had arrived. The Assembly had already agreed via the messengers to forgive Captain Raygo for his part in House Stonegem’s demise. He had been under the direct orders of Mervidia’s Regent, who had also authorized and instructed the use of the frilled shark cubs. The captain had had no choice but to obey or he would have been charged with treason and exiled. “Who will lead the Assembly today?” Raygo finished his sentence.

“I would like to volunteer,” Domo Vaschel spoke up right away.

Scheming ethyrie…
Kiva thought.
I bet they had that one planned out ahead of time.

“After all,”
Vaschel said, “I am the father of our Lord Regent. I feel it is my duty to fill in for him at this particular meeting.” Save for Iago, all the merwin in the room narrowed their eyes, distrusting the Domo of House Paua’s motivation.

Kiva noted his subtle wording.
I would wager that you would like to subtly slide your tail onto the throne, Vaschel,
the faera domo thought.
You wanted your son to wear the crown in your stead, thinking yourself too old. Maybe not
that
old you are thinking now?
The room was silent. Vaschel realized he needed to elaborate further, to make clear his intentions.

“I assure you that I do not support Iago’s order regarding House Stonegem.
I will not be making excuses for his actions,” the pink-scaled domo stated, hoping that sentiment would win over the Assembly’s favor.

“Just this once,” Uchenna said, motioning with
his hand, holding it out in an open gesture, “I would vote to allow you to preside.” Vaschel seemed surprised at the octolaide domo, head of the second highest ranking house that was always flicking its fins after the prized first rank. Perhaps Vaschel thought Uchenna might actually be offering his support, but he was soon quickly enlightened as to the octolaide’s true intention. Domo Uchenna’s formerly neutral lips curled into a savage grin. “I think I’d quite like to see you condemn your own son to the Royal Palace’s dungeon.”

Domo Vaschel sighed, but nodded.
It was a cruel thing to say aloud, but it was the truth.

“I think your offer very honorable,” Damaris chimed in, trying to buffer the blow of Uchenna’s words.
“I agree. You have my vote to preside over today’s Assembly.”

The remaining Assembly members voiced their own votes in turn, and Kiva lastly said, “I, too,
agree to allow Domo Vaschel to preside over the Coral Assembly… for today.”

Captain Raygo nodded to Iago’s father, “Domo Vaschel, you have the full backing of the A
ssembly to preside over this single meeting. Please begin.” The Captain of the Palace Guard flicked his red flukes, moving from the empty side of the rectangular Assembly table by the doors until he floated next to the Royal Chair and the guards holding Iago’s arms at the room’s far wall.

Vaschel’s chair was
to the left of the Royal Chair, being the highest ranking merwin, second to the queen when she was alive. The pink-finned domo didn’t choose to move over to where Iago had once sat in his wife’s former seat. He simply floated upwards and presided from where he was. Kiva approved of his placing and decided that the ethyrie’s wayward son, bound and gagged nearby, was an equally thought-provoking setting for the meeting.

“Let’s get right to our most pressing matter,” Domo Vaschel said, placing his fingers gently on the edge of the table and leaning
forward. “The first order of business is to vote on our regent being stripped of his title.” The head of House Paua glanced toward Captain Raygo, summoning him forward with Iago. The Palace Guard’s captain complied, ordering the guards holding the regent to stand down, and pushing Iago until he was at his father’s side. The captain removed the regent’s gag, unwinding the sharkskin strap from around the ethyrie’s head and taking out the large stone that had been placed in his mouth. Iago spat, trying to get the filthy taste of it off his tongue.

Domo Breete handing over Gene confirmed
the faera’s guilt in assassinating Queen Beryl, but Iago would have to be officially proven guilty before he was punished for his crime. He was too much of a figurehead, holding too much regard amongst the High Houses, to be convicted without some semblance of a trial.

“Regent Iago,” Vaschel stated, looking directly into his son’s eyes.
Kiva noticed he had left their shared house name out, not wanting to be associated with his son’s crime. She had to hand it to the ethyrie domo; he was handling himself well, ensuring House Paua would be excluded from any ramifications, arising from House Stonegem’s slaughter. “The Coral Assembly has placed you under arrest for the needless slaughter of innocents and acting without our consent,” he continued. “We have two witnesses
on the Assembly
that can attest to your guilt,” Vaschel said, nodding to Domo Penn and Damaris. “One of the council members watched the incident, and both merwin heard you issue the order to eradicate House Stonegem if it refused to name the house that hired Queen Beryl’s assassin. Do you have anything to say in your defense?”

Iago stared defiantly at the Assembly.
“I took action in the way I thought appropriate, when the murderer of
our Queen
was revealed,” Iago firmly stated, obviously still confident that he had done the right thing.

It was all Kiva could do to not launch over the table and slice Iago’s throat open then and there.
You are the murderer!
The faera inwardly screamed, thinking of House Stonegem’s defenseless children and eggs, devoured in their cribs by the Divine Family’s frilled shark pups.

“Yes, I gave the command.
I had hoped that my swift and decisive action would have been seen by all of you as strength, that I have what it takes to be king and wear the Fangs,” Iago stated proudly. “Mervidia needs a new type of leader… one less compassionate… one that makes an example out of those who would dare conspire to kill its queen.”

“You deserve worse than death!” Kiva yelled, unable to keep her mouth shut any longer.
To her credit, the faera did not dart across the table and attack the Regent, but her lips had opened despite her best effort to keep quiet. “You had children slaughtered!” she screamed, unintentionally floating further upwards in her tirade. “I would
never
vote for such a monster to become king.
You
are the murderer!” She shook her tiny fist at him, not caring how silly she probably looked. As a small merwin, Kiva guessed she appeared like a defiant child acting out to an adult.

A momentary flicker of sorrow passed over Iago’s visage at the mention of the fries, but it was gone just as quickly.
He was clearly convinced that he had been justified in his actions.

“Iago does speak some truth,” Damaris said, causing all the merwin in the room
to regard her with repugnance.

How could she side with Iago in this matter?!
Kiva thought.
He was clearly out of line!

“Mervidia has become a twisted version of its former glory,” Damaris continued, trying to e
xplain the reasoning behind her sympathetic words. “I do not support Iago’s actions today, but we should not act as though this was the first time a merwin house has been wiped out.”

“It was the first time our acting
king openly ordered it though,” Nayan supplied, giving her friend a look of warning. Damaris could go down with Iago, if she kept talking along those lines.

Kiva was so upset
that she felt like she might vomit. Her stomach churned and her throat was sore, as she choked back angry tears. She opened her lips to rebuke the Queen Mother but stopped when Domo Vaschel raised his arms to the Assembly. He slightly lowered his right hand in Kiva’s direction, wordlessly requesting that she calm herself. When the faera representative floated back towards her seat and her usual placement, Vaschel said, “I think we have heard enough,” he said, turning his gaze to his son. “Iago, you have stated your guilt in this matter, in addition to two Assembly members witnessing you give the order that led to the butchery of House Stonegem. Leading up to this meeting, the Coral Assembly has already discussed what your punishment should be.”

Addressing the Assembly again, Vaschel summed up, “Iago admits that he gave the order to have Queen Beryl’s assassin arrested and House Stonegem destroyed
if Domo Breete did not reveal the house that hired Gene. My fellow members of the Coral Assembly, it is time to cast your vote on this matter. Iago clearly exceeded his authority and chose poorly in the use of his temporary powers as regent. The general consensus called for Iago to be stripped of his title and sentenced to live out the rest of his days in the palace’s dungeon. He is to be imprisoned in the cell next to Gene of House Stonegem, as a constant reminder to both of them of their crimes. As is dictated by the Mervidian Scrolls for the crime of murder, Gene would normally be put to the sword and his head set on a trident in the marketplace for all to see. However, we discussed that the sentence of imprisonment next to the merwin who slaughtered his family would be much worse than execution. All in favor please raise your hand.”

The irony of Iago and Gene in neighboring cells was not lost on Kiva; Iago would have to live beside a member of a house he ordered slaughtered
and
the merwin who killed his wife. Gene would have to reside next door to the spouse of the merwin he murdered, who also ordered the destruction of his house.
Maybe in a few decades they will be able to finally forgive each other,
Kiva thought.
Probably not.
It was a harsh punishment for Vaschel to go along with. Perhaps he did so in retribution for Iago ruining a generation of planning and preparation to put House Paua on the throne.

Every single Coral Assembly member raised their right hand, even the Queen Mother, albeit
hers was the slowest to rise. Nayan nodded to her ethyrie friend, as if silently praising her for her wise decision to side with the Assembly on this matter. Kiva’s hand had shot up first, of course.

I would have voted for that monster’s head to be severed from his pretty neck and served to the frill
ed sharks on a platter too,
the faera thought.
I hope your scales grow dull in your filthy cell, buried under Mervidia until you grow old, die and rot there!

“It is decided then,” Vaschel said and sighed heavily, weary to speak the official sentence, knowing what he must also do for the future stability and well-being of House Paua.
“Iago, you are hereby stripped of your title as Mervidia’s Regent, banished from House Paua, disowned as my son, and sentenced to spend the rest of your life in the Royal Palace’s dungeon. Gene awaits you there in an adjacent cell.” Domo Vaschel managed to keep his composure, as his son was taken away by what had been, just that morning, the ethyrie regent’s Serfin.

Chapter Twenty-S
even

As soon as Iago was escorted out of the Assembly chamber, Kiva was able to relax. In fact, she was beginning to enjoy herself, seeing Domo Vaschel gesture to Captain Raygo, who in turn signaled for the Palace Guard holding Cassondra in custody to swim forward. The Domo of House Perna grinned as yet another royal was brought forward, bound like a common criminal.

If this keeps up, we will be rid of the Divine Family for good,
Kiva thought.
Mervidia can move forward into a new age.
For generations, the Divine Family’s foresight had warned the city of imminent misfortune, but the faera had never thought of House Lumen as actually divine, worthy of the worship Mervidia bestowed upon its members.
It is just magic they use, after all, and magic is accessible by many who are not kin of House Lumen,
Kiva brooded, as Cassondra was brought to one side of the stone Royal Chair and Druitt placed on the other side.
Mervida can be ruled by another race, and we would still receive warnings from the machi seers. There are not many left, granted, but there are some.

Kiva glanced at
Vaschel, Nayan, Slone, Thaddeus, Penn, and Damaris in turn.
There are still too many traditionalists on the Assembly. Those six still hold the majority of our eleven Coral Assembly seats. They will strive to preserve the Divine Family’s legacy
, she thought, pausing on Damaris’ white face, paler even than her usual alabaster-colored skin. The Queen Mother was obviously troubled; her eyes betrayed worry, despite how dressed up she looked with her hair neatly fixed into a pearl-adorned net and a black-striped, yellow eel-skin shawl around her shoulders.

Your
precious family is disappearing more and more each day, Damaris
, Kiva thought with no small amount of resentment.
I wonder how you will fare in the days to come? One Assembly member changing his or her tune, or swayed from those wishing to preserve the current institution… combined with a new king with more
broadminded
motives, and your family will be cast out of the palace.
The faera narrowed her eyes, her mind full of possible schemes, but her attention was brought back by Captain Raygo swimming to Vaschel’s side and nodding his head that all was ready.

“Cassondra of House Lumen,” Domo Vaschel stated,
presenting the second prisoner to those around the table, “you have been taken into custody and charged with the murder of your brother, Flinn. A witness has come forward to testify to the truth of that fact.”

Kiva felt giddy, although most of the Assembly wore sour frowns.
None seemed overly surprised at such a betrayal amongst kin. Merwin vied for power within their own houses just as often as the houses competed with one another for position. The fact that she was caught was most likely the cause of their discontent. Cassondra’s ineptitude in concealing the crime meant that Mervidia would lose two members of the Divine Family instead of one.
Which does not bother me in the least,
Kiva thought.
I would not mind if House Lumen disappeared completely. Mervidia needs new blood on the throne.

Without looking to his side, Vaschel said, “Captain Raygo, I
yield the floor to you. You may now question the witness, so that the Assembly can come to an informed decision as to the future of this young merwin.”

What a marvelous drama this is becoming,
the faera domo inwardly snickered.
All I need are some sea cucumbers to pop in my mouth, and this really would be a grand spectacle.

“Please state your name, house, and occupation,” Captain Raygo requested in a formal tone of the black-scaled
ethyrie, sweeping his hand in a broad gesture from Druitt to the Assembly.

“My name is Druitt.
I am a member of House Laminariales,” the black-finned merwin said, nodding to Hasad. The seifeira’s Assembly representative returned the gesture, the head lamp protruding from his blue-skinned forehead bobbing as he inclined his head, confirming Druitt’s claim. “I am a frilled shark trainer and handler, employed by my distant cousins, House Lumen.”

“Druitt of House Laminariales, you approached me last night, after first sp
eaking with Domo Kiva. The Coral Assembly’s faera representative instructed you to come to me, so that I could issue an order for Cassondra’s arrest.” Captain Raygo paused, letting the sequence of events settle with the Assembly, before continuing. “Would you please share with the Coral Assembly what you told me, so that they might hear first-hand.”

“Of course,” Druitt said, looking very nervous with so many eyes on him.
He fidgeted, plucking at some unseen speck of grime on his ebony hips. He momentarily lowered his head, possibly gaining courage and contemplating how to begin his tale. When he raised his eyes again, the crossbreed looked to Domo Uchenna with the briefest of glances. It took only a fraction of a second, but Kiva caught the exchange.
Very… interesting.
I do love a good perfidy
, Kiva grinned, unable to help herself.
This particular scheme seems to involve multiple houses, all of which have openly argued for a change in leadership
. Other than the strangely colored ethyrie approaching her with his information, the faera had had nothing to do with Druitt coming forward, so the subtle interchange between him and Domo Uchenna was intriguing to her. Kiva loved to see the other races being just as conniving as the faera, though clearly not as skilled.

“My wife was feeling ill, so I arrived late to work, having spent most of that day caring for her,” Druitt finally began his recounting of the events, speaking to the Assembly with an occasional shy fleeting look around that focused on no one in particular.
“As a result, I knew I would be staying longer to finish my duties at the pen. Well into the night, I was almost done tending to the tackle in the loft of the stable, when I heard sawing coming from outside. I went to the loft’s window and witnessed Cassondra using a serrated stone
blade
to saw at the bone gate of the coral shark pen. The tool appeared to be spell-crafted, given its ability to cut through bone. She then used some kind of adhesive to keep the bones from separating entirely, probably a fat composite. She swam away after that. I left the loft and went down to inspect her handiwork. Seeing that the sharks were none the wiser and seemed content to circle within the pen as they always did, I left immediately in search of a bone-crafter to replace the weakened gate.”

“Why,” Captain Raygo pointedly asked, “did you not search out a guard or some kind of off
icial first?” Druitt cast his gaze downwards again. The witness let his mouth drop into a frown and his tail momentarily went limp, the withered look an unusual appearance on such a muscular and physically capable merwin.

A tough exterior,
Kiva thought,
yet at his center, he is weak. Maybe, …unless this is all a well-preformed ruse, and Druitt wears his humiliation as a brilliant deception.
As much as the faera studied the ethyrie witness, her eyes quite enjoying roaming up and down the attractive merwin, she could not tell if he was lying.

“The frilled sharks are my first concern, sir,” Druitt replied meekly.
“The larger pen is for adult sharks, so they know well to fear the touch of the painful fire coral. Even the newly added adolescents learn after a couple run-ins with the stinging cage walls to give them a wide berth. Being the simple beasts that they are, they seem to think the small bone gate will also cause them pain and avoid it as well. The sharks always stay put so long as they are not somehow drawn out. They seemed content, so I went to the bone-crafter first to ensure that the sharks would not escape.”

“And when you returned to the frilled shark pen later?” asked Captain Raygo.

“I returned to cleaning the tackle,” Druitt said plainly. “The sharks were still content, and the new gate would not be ready until the next day. I figured I’d mention Cassondra’s odd behavior to the Palace Guard in the morning. As I was working, I saw Flinn enter the stable. He sometimes works with the sharks alongside us trainers. I was about to greet him, when I heard the gate bust open. I… I hid,” the translucent-tendriled merwin stuttered, seemingly ashamed. “I didn’t also want to be eaten, Sir. The sharks were in a frenzy as though there was blood in the water.”

“Thank you for your testimony,” Captain Raygo said.
“For the sake of clarity, please look at the merwin beside you.” Raygo pointed at Cassondra. “Can you confirm that she was the particular merwin that you saw sabotaging the shark pen gate that night?”

Druitt looked at Cassondra to his right.
She regarded him coolly. In fact, the female ethyrie had been calm and collected for the entire accounting of the tale, not once protesting or even acting surprised. Kiva studied her face, but it was blank, detached and unreadable. Druitt looked taken aback by her lack of emotion, making him appear even more unsettled and nervous. He quickly replied “Yes, Sir,” confirming it was she whom he had seen at the pen. The crossbreed looked down at the floor again.

“Thank you, Druitt,” Captain Raygo said.
“One last question, one whose answer I am sure would interest the Coral Assembly. Why did you not come forward sooner?” There were several nods around the table from the Assembly members.

“I was in shock.
It is not every day you see a friend ripped to pieces before your eyes,” Druitt’s gaze grew distant, as if reliving the horrible experience. Having never been through anything similar herself, Kiva couldn’t even imagine what that might be like.
Sure, I have assassinated many merwin in my lifetime,
the faera though,
but my technique is always quick and clean
.
My victims never suffer.
She figured what Druitt felt was similar to what the distraught survivors of House Stonegem were going through, those who had been out of their home when it had been overrun. Returning home to find your family massacred would drive many to madness. Anger churned in her gut again. She felt sympathy for Druitt, if indeed his tale was true.

“I admit that I was also protecting myself, feari
ng retribution,” Druitt added.

“Considering the diminishing state of House Lumen, I felt it was safe to finally come forward.
I felt it the right thing to do. While I am a distant cousin to House Lumen, its actions have caused enough suffering these past few days. They should be held accountable like the rest of Mervidia.”

Well played, Druitt
, Kiva thought,
well played
. A vote of distrust from within the Divine Family bloodline, no matter how far removed, was exactly what the Assembly needed to hear, especially the traditionalists. Thaddeus, Domo of House Tenebris, had a noticeably darkening expression on his face. Kiva wondered if the octolaide might be changing sides, willing to embrace a new reign, one that did not involve House Lumen.

Captain Raygo turned to Domo Vaschel,
as if to inquire if there was anything else he wished to ask the witness. The Domo of House Paua waved his hand in dismissal, apparently having heard enough.

“Thank you, Druitt,” Captain Raygo said.
“You are excused and may return to your duties. Before you depart though, I would personally like to add that it was some task you and the other trainers pulled off corralling the beasts the night of Flinn’s death. We needed them back, more so now since their pups are all dead, thanks to Zane and his Red Tridents.”

“That would be Captain Zane,” Domo Slone corrected Raygo, who turned and scowled at the
neondra representative. The House Tigin domo had his hands calmly held together, his fingers steepled on the table in front of his chest, and seemed unshaken by the captain’s look of disdain. As much as the ethyrie and neondra sparred together in the palace’s training yard, the neondra were still protective of their own.

“Just because he calls himself a captain, doesn’t make it the truth,” the
ethyrie snapped back, his words sharp with anger at Slone’s unruffled demeanor. Kiva added Raygo’s obvious dislike of the leader of the Red Tridents to her mental catalog of tender informational morsels stowed away for later use. Across the table, a deep voice drew Slone’s and Raygo’s attention, breaking the tense glares that they had fixed on each other.

“His merwins’ loyalty is what makes him a captain,
Captain
,” Domo Penn stated, backing up Slone. Penn grinned when Raygo flinched at the emphasis put on his final word, enjoying the discomfort it caused the ethyrie.

Most of the other members of the Assembly looked perplexed, not expecting Penn to speak
in support of Zane. Penn was a respected merwin, who lead Mervidia’s perimeter defense against the dangerous beasts of the Deeps and was also the Domo of House Yellowtail. Zane, on the other hand, had left House Ignis to start his band of merwin mercenaries, throwing tradition to the sharks like a dead fish. But, few knew or recalled that the two neondra had experienced their Culling together. Kiva remembered though.

“We are off topic,” Captain Raygo said, narrowing his eyes at Domo Penn, but not daring
to speak out against the influential merwin. The red-finned ethyrie turned his full attention back on Druitt, letting the matter drop and returning to the issue at hand. “Again, thank you for your time, Druitt.”