Page 186 of Salt in the Seas
“For the past several moons, I’ve been working with Sylmar and Velden, who can vouch for my support of the Recreants. I fought alongside them against Mayvus in the Myndren Mountains, something my parents only approved of when they realized they were on the losing side.”
“I won’t kill you, then,” Smits offered. “Doesn’t mean I’m willing to work with you.”
“He has a plan,” Riveran said. “Something that requires help from the inside. Help that only he can give.” His pointed gaze rested on the second stranger, making Gaeren more wary. Who was that man?
Smits leaned forward, giving Gaeren his first full glimpse of the Recreant’s face. Deep, ugly lines pulled his brow into a frown, the hatred in his narrowed eyes palpable as his lips pursed in disgust. “Unless you plan to murder your own family, I don’t see what you could offer us.”
Gaeren repressed the shiver threatening to run through him. “My parents have been grooming Enla to take their place. She might have done it by now if I’d been around as her throne warden. I’m stepping into my role so I can help her step into hers.”
The unnamed man shook his head, the glint of metal flashing from under his hood. An earring? “They won’t step down. Not yet. Enla is losing her mind to her power as a pneumatic.”
Gaeren sat back, stunned. That was the information he’d hoped to give them to prove he was truly defecting and to get them on board with fighting Mayvus in exchange for his help. “How do you know that?”
Riveran raised his eyebrows, his gaze never leaving the fourth man. The silence remained unbroken until Gaeren couldn’t stand it.
“Does all of Elanesse know it?”
“Just the highest level of Recreants,” Riveran reassured him. “Even Sylmar and Velden aren’t privy to it, though they might be now after staying with you.”
Gaeren ran a hand through his hair, letting his mind race through how this might change things. Except it didn’t. “The point is that if I’m by her side, I can convince my parents she’s improving. I can get her to back off on her magic so she actually does improve. And because my father has reigned for over twenty years, I can invoke my right as throne warden to demand he hand over the title.”
Riveran frowned. “That’s a thing?”
“It’s an obscure right that’s only been used twice in Vendaran history. It still keeps the throne in the Elanesse line, but it keeps a king or queen from ruling past their prime. It wouldn’t have helped a year ago, but now Enla is malleable. I could convince her to step down.”
The fourth man chuckled, drawing all their attention. It started out low and soft, then rose until Gaeren feared what sort of attention it might draw. But it also sent a familiar rush of despair through him. He’d heard that laugh before. And it was always followed by an embarrassing defeat in the training field.
The man pulled his hood back, and Gaeren gasped as Danton winked, his gold earring glinting in the light. “It appears you listened to some of my throne warden lessons after all.”
“Uncle Danton?” Gaeren whispered, then glanced around nervously even though none of the drunken men could have heard, let alone paid attention. “What are you doing here?”
“Same as you, it seems.” He leaned forward. “Fighting from within the palace.”
Smits pulled back his hood as well, his smile wide enough to reveal several gaps. Gaeren had passed some sort of test, and while half of him knew that had to be good, the other half couldn’t fathom his loyal uncle as a Recreant.
Gaeren nodded slowly. “And did some of that fight include grooming me to despise my parents?” As he looked back, he realized his lessons had always held double meaning. They served their sibling as throne warden because their sibling shouldn’t do it alone. They protected them because the people rightfully despised them. They stood beside them so they could be in position when the time was right.
And that timewas now.
It left Gaeren feeling like a pawn all over again.
Danton’s eyes flashed with remorse. “Your parents made themselves unlikable. What I’ve done is no different from what Larkos, Riveran, or even Father Fernandus did to an extent.”
“Father Fernandus is a Recreant?” Gaeren choked out.
Danton nodded. “We fed you information and watched as you dissected it, pulling it apart to find the truth. You may be a noetic, but you have the heart of a pneumatic.”
Gaeren thought of all the times Danton had been alone with his parents over the years. “Why didn’t you just take them out? You could have done it years ago.”
“Hear, hear,” Smits said, gaining an elbow in his side from Riveran.
“Could you take out Enla?” Danton asked softly, but his words left Gaeren convicted. “The man is still my brother. Even when he was branded by Mayvus, I held out hope that he could change. I thought he had when the brand was revealed and he was broken by his failures.”
Gaeren let out a snort, remembering how quickly his father had returned to his old ways.
Danton leaned forward. “Like you said, the timing has to be right. Killing your parents might have been a quick solution. I won’t argue that. But it was never a long-term plan. Even if we killed Enla too, the nobles would just put someone else in their place. A bloody war would ensue, and with finances on the nobles’ side, it wouldn’t end well. I never wanted Enla’s mind to break, but I’ll admit it will make it easier to convince her to step down.”
Gaeren grimaced. “So the plan I thought to present you with has been your plan all along.”
