Page 75 of Stranger's Choice
Chapter 22
Pianti abandoned Sebinthe moment they walked through the doors to the Star Room. She needed to be with Qilar; he needed not to be with either of them. It was part of their plan. Still, the instant she slid her hand free of his arm, he worried. All the uncertainties he had pushed aside over the past three days came back to haunt him.
He forced himself to continue believing that everything would work. It had to.
Then he drifted around the room, trying to take in as little of it as he could. He didn’t care, for the most part, what people were getting up to, though he had no desire to be a spectator. But not everyone was in the Star Room because they enjoyed this style of entertainment. If not for a quirk in her power, Auraelie would be subjected to this. Imagining her in the room made Sebin want to scream or punch somebody. The Emperor, probably.
He tuned out the sounds and ignored the men and women who sent him inviting glances. He shrugged off the touch of the woman who did more than look.
Even expecting it, Sebin jumped when the door to the room slammed open and dozens of people stormed in. Everyone in the room froze, staring at the invaders. An air sprite forced a column of air through the room and a path opened as revelers slid to the side. Then the rebels marched down the opening to the Emperor.
Pianti and Qilar were already by his side. Pianti held Lhashiki immobile and Qilar held a dagger to the Emperor’s throat. The Star Room was the one place the bodyguard did not wear his sword, but nobody else was armed with anything more, either. The rebels had taken care of the guards on the door, and now they were the only ones with weapons of any sort. Most of the people facing them weren’t even fully clothed at this point.
Sebin slid closer to where the confrontation was taking place, careful not to draw too much attention to himself. A few other people in the crowd were also moving forward, trying to get a better view. A few were moving backward, only to find that the door out of the room was blocked. Most stood frozen, still too shocked to even cover themselves.
Sebin couldn’t hear what was being said, which surprised him. He had expected the Emperor to bellow and shout. Then again, Qilar’s dagger was probably a good enticement not to do anything too animated.
He saw Heolin and Tjalik taking turns addressing the Emperor. He heard the rumble of their voices, but even with the eerie silence in the rest of the room, he couldn’t make out the words. Then he noticed the air ruffling Lhashiki’s hair. The air sprite must have had a way to prevent the conversation from being overheard.
Sebin wasn’t sure if the secrecy was the best decision. Giving the attendees of the night’s events time to process what was happening might have been a better choice. Then again, the uncertainty held everyone frozen, which was perhaps more important.
But with the air sprite’s shield in place, Sebin couldn’t hear the conversation and did not know if he needed to step in. He watched for some clue, but the only sign of how the confrontation progressed was that Qilar lowered his knife from the Emperor’s neck, though he kept it out and ready.
Then heads turned and the Emperor and all the people surrounding him were staring at Sebin. Whatever the air sprite had done to block sound halted and Heolin called out, “Prince Sebin, please come here.”
Sebin pretended to be confused. He took a step forward. Paused. Looked around at all the people watching him. Then he walked up and stood halfway between the Emperor and Heolin.
“What’s going on?” He eyed Qilar’s blade and looked back and forth between the rebels and the Emperor.
Lhashiki still stood beside Pianti. She was no longer restrained, but it was easy to see that Pianti did not plan to let her any closer to the Emperor. For his part, the Emperor looked annoyed rather than scared or even mad.
Heolin and Tjalik both looked triumphant.
Tjalik was the one who answered Sebin’s question. “This is a revolution.”
Sebin crossed his arms. He had to make sure the Emperor saw him as a neutral party, possibly even sympathetic to imperial power. “You mean a revolt?”
Heolin glared. “A revolution. We are not revolting against the empire, but we want progress.”
“You invade my palace and demand that I abdicate, but you don’t call it a revolt?” The Emperor sneered at the rebels. Then he dismissed them as beneath his notice and addressed Sebin. “They claim they want to negotiate for the future of Pynth. They demand that I sign over all powers of the imperial throne to them, abdicate, and exile myself from Kalitalo. They claim they will kill me if I don’t.”
The dismissive attitude the Emperor had toward the whole situation impressed Sebin. He let a little nervousness enter his own voice. “So why have I been called over?”
“We would prefer to avoid bloodshed if possible,” Heolin said nearly as calmly as the Emperor. “You will help us.”
“How?”
“You are a stranger to these lands. A neutral party. You will be our mediator.”
“Perhaps we can adjourn to a different room for these negotiations?” Sebin had warned Heolin and Tjalik that he would make the suggestion, but that he also thought it was a bad idea.
Tjalik stepped forward. “Absolutely not. No one is leaving this room until we get what we want.”
“I will not abdicate,” the Emperor snarled.
Before Sebin could say anything more, one rebel behind Tjalik called out, “Then you’ll die!”
“I’m sure we can find a compromise that doesn’t involve bloodshed,” Sebin said hastily. He turned to Heolin and Tjalik. “What is it, exactly, that you want?”
