“Pretender.” Turnia addressed me as she set down her bowl of fruit. “What clan are you from?”
“I am not from any clan, Turnia,” I said.
“How did you reach this world?”
“I believe that my friends imprisoned me in a Radicle, but my memories are unclear. Then the humans of this world awoke me.”
“Who are your friends?” Her blue eyes narrowed.
“Shlara, Malek, Alexia, Gorbanni, and Thayer.” The three O’Baarni women snorted in unison and shook their heads.
“Why did they imprison you?” Turnia’s lips turned up into a slight smile that suited her angular face. The woman was beautiful.
“I murdered Shlara.” As soon as the words left my mouth I felt my throat close off and tighten. There was a brief silence while the women studied me.
“Do you realize it is a crime to pretend to be the Betrayer?” Turnia asked.
“I didn’t when I first awoke. I probably would have used a different name had I known.” I smiled at her but she didn’t seem to find any humor in my words.
“What was your birth name? What world were you born on?”
“My birth name was Kaiyer. My father’s name was Kai. I was a slave in the Laxile tribe. I don’t know what world I was born on, and I didn’t even realize there were other possible worlds to visit using these Radicles until recently. My home had a single green moon.”
The woman’s pale blue eyes stared into mine while silence draped over the room. I returned her gaze and prepared for her next question. Finally the servants laid out the next course of the meal and cleared the plates. This gave Turnia a reason to divert her eyes to the new dish: a small bowl of rice topped with soft fried eggs. The yolks were a bright, glossy orange, and so big they must have been from a bird larger than a chicken. The women began eating and I was thankful my stomach did not growl when the scent of butter reached my nose.
“Pretender. Do you understand what will happen to you once we return to the Clan Council?” Turnia asked after she had taken a few bites.
“Kannath explained that there will be some sort of trial and that I will be executed.”
“Torture will precede your execution. Torture that will leave you grateful when it comes time for your life to be taken,” she said plainly, without malice. If she was angry at me for killing her brother, she did not show her feelings.
Perhaps she didn’t believe the empress’s story.
I suddenly wondered if Turnia was outplaying Telaxthe. So far the questions I was being asked could have been done in private. The empress did not need to be in the room and neither did Dissonti. Turnia had not looked at the empress while she questioned me, but one of her generals was carefully watching Telaxthe and Dissonti.
“I understand.” I couldn’t think of what else to say, but I realized she was leading the conversation somewhere.
“I doubt that you understand given the calmness that you exhibit. Alexia’s clan handles the proceedings and they are considered to be quite horrific.”
“I understand,” I repeated. Turnia nodded and then picked her bowl back up to savor a few more bites. I watched her eat and wondered what it would have been like to work with her back when I was battling the Elvens.
“This was delicious.” Turnia set the bowl down after she had finished. “My compliments to your staff. If the other courses are as wonderful as the last, I fear I’ll never want to return to my own world.”
“Thank you for your praise, Turnia,” the empress said pleasantly. Even Vernine smiled at the compliment.
“What is your plan, Pretender?” The sharp-featured woman turned back to me.
“Plan?”
“Yes. Your strategy for your current situation.” She took a sip of the beverage a servant set in front of her.
“I am unsure I understand your question, Turnia. I plan to return with you and meet this Council.” I started to guess where she was heading with the conversation and I realized too late that I might not be able to escape the predicament without lying.
“How will you explain yourself to them?”
“I will tell them I am actually Kaiyer, I did betray the woman that I loved, and I have served many lifetimes of imprisonment for my crimes.” One of the tall women seated next to Turnia seemed surprised at my statement, but her leader made no change to her expression.
The servants had laid out a small bowl of mint leaves that smelled of balsamic vinegar and oils. The women all followed Turnia’s lead and waited until she speared a mouthful of the leaves with her fork before eating.
“Telaxthe, is there enough food for Kaiyer to eat?” Turnia asked after she had finished her first bite.
“Yes,” the empress answered after the male servant nodded to her.
“I have changed my mind and want him to eat with us.” The women sitting next to Turnia did a poor job of hiding their surprise, but they made no noticeable objection to their leader’s request. Telaxthe nodded to the servant and he quickly returned with a bowl of mint salad and a glass of dry wine. I knew once I started eating my stomach would demand more food, but now that I had the bowl in my hand it was impossible to resist.
“I would like to help you.” Turnia watched me eat the salad. At the first taste of the mint leaves my stomach growled angrily and I guessed the noise was loud enough for the guards outside to hear.
“What do you mean?” I asked after I finished chewing my third bite. The mint was sharp and the balsamic vinegar surprisingly mild. It paired well with the oil that the chef had drizzled on top.
“I am required to take you back to the Council. You will be tortured and executed. These are realities I cannot change. However, there are still many weeks of travel involved before we reach them. I can provide you comforts during that time.”
“What do you mean by comforts?” I tried to calm my heart while my mind raced. This conversation was going in the direction I feared.
“Comfortable sleeping arrangements, better food, perhaps you would enjoy some conversation or companionship. These luxuries would be easy enough to provide to you while we travel. I might even be able to speak to the Council on your behalf. Perhaps if I tell them of your cooperation, they will skip the torture.” Turnia smiled and I realized that she was also very charming. Her words came across with the perfect timbre and inflection. I believed that she was actually being sincere with her offer.
“I would appreciate that. Thank you.” She wanted me to ask her what she expected in return, but I did not take the bait. Instead, I focused on my salad and then drank the rest of the wine.
“It would have to be worth my efforts, of course. Nothing is given for free.”
“I have nothing to offer you.” I wished the next course would arrive so I could delay answering under the pretense of eating. I also wished it would arrive because I was famished.
“All I want from you is your honesty.”
“I am being honest, Turnia.”
“So far.” She nodded and turned to Dissonti. “Do you agree?”
“Yes, Turnia. Kaiyer has spoken what he believes to be the truth.” The green-haired woman nodded slowly and then turned her jade eyes to me.
“Good!” Turnia’s smile brightened and I knew the trouble would soon begin. “Then I will continue to ask my questions, and you will answer truthfully.” A group of servants distributed a plate of sausages accompanied by pickled green vegetables. A new drink was poured: a sort of orange and lemon juice mixed with yogurt and chilled to a pleasant temperature. Turnia took a forkful of the meat, scooped up the vegetables, and then devoured the ample bite. The woman’s eyes did not leave mine while she ate and I guessed that she was about to ask the question I dreaded.
“Who killed my brother?”
“I did.” I had the words ready on my lips and they came out as easily as I had rehearsed.
“No.” She shook her head and the smile faded from her pretty mouth. “You did not. But perhaps you believe that you did.”
“Why don’t you believe that this man killed your brother?” Telaxthe asked from her pillows. The empress looked calm and comfortable but her amber eyes flashed and I wondered how worried she was by Turnia’s questions.
“He believes that he did, but that explanation does not make sense. Kannath is one of the most powerful warriors in my clan, perhaps in all of the clans. He came to this world with six of his closest friends. Each of them was a master of combat and absolutely fearless and undefeatable in battle. And yet, you expect me to believe that a single, scrawny man killed all seven of them and Fehalda’s entire unit?” She shook her head and chuckled.
“Yet that is what happened, Turnia,” Telaxthe interjected calmly. “He does not look it, but he is powerful. Incredibly so.”
“Let us say I would believe that claim, and this man is strong enough to destroy half a dozen of my best.” Turnia smirked. Her attention turned back from the empress to me. “If you killed Kannath to avoid being taken back to face the Council, why are you now accepting your fate so calmly?”
“The empress offered to give me something in exchange for going with you peacefully. Otherwise, I would not be leaving this world.”
“What did she offer you?” Turnia set down her fork and fixed me with a stare.
“Information about my daughter.” I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t know if the empress wanted me to divulge this fact, but I could not think of another way to answer. The lie I shared with Telaxthe was composed of mostly truths and we had not discussed this particular pivot point.
“How does the empress know of your daughter?” She glanced between the two of us with a raised eyebrow.
“It is no secret that I have extensively studied the history and lore of the Destroyer. He had a single offspring that we know about.” The empress took a bite of her meal after she was finished speaking.
Turnia sighed and shook her head. Then she took a few bites of food and seemed to be considering what to say next. I continued my meal and wondered if the worst of the questions had been asked. I decided to preempt the next question and hope that I could gain some control over the conversation.
“I regret killing Kannath and your clan folk. I regret that I killed that man in my tent this morning. I’ve killed thousands of Elvens, and after I murdered Shlara, I did the same to many of my own kind. I never had a chance to meet my daughter and it is my last wish to know more about her.”
“You believe that the empress will actually tell you the truth about your daughter?” Turnia asked.
“Yes. She has kept her word to me before, even after I have gone against her wishes and killed her people.” I hoped Turnia believed me.
“So this is why you were willingly returning to the empress after murdering my brother?”
I nodded. “And you intend to tell him what you know?” Turnia asked the empress.
“Yes. I am willing to do almost anything to remove this man from my world.” Telaxthe turned to me and her beautiful face communicated the sincerity of her words.
The servants cleared the plates and then distributed another bowl of fruit accompanied by dark chocolates and coffee. I guessed that this was the last course, and my stomach was telling me I could have eaten two dozen more plates of the sausages and still would have felt hungry.
“I have a proposition for you, Kaiyer.” Turnia took a sip of the coffee.
“I am listening,” I said cautiously.
“Would you like the empress to tell you of your daughter now?” She smiled and raised an eyebrow.
“That is unwise, Turnia. This man is dangerous, and once he has what he wants, he will escape. He will kill more of our people.” Telaxthe was normally calm, but I could hear the edge of desperation in her voice.
“But you were fine telling him right before he left your world? So he would be my problem?” Turnia’s tone darkened.
“He won’t be able to escape you once he is on your world, Turnia.”
“I will have the same number of warriors escorting him when we reach our home planet. We are safer here as I have your assistance.” She turned back to me. “Do you want to know now?”
“What if I refuse to tell him?” The mood in the pavilion changed instantly with the empress’s question. Though she asked calmly, I could sense the tension building between the Elvens and Turnia’s warrior women.
“Do you forget who aided you with the clans? Do you forget who persuaded them to grant you your own world? This very world?” Turnia’s voice became a growl of outrage. “Do you even realize the danger you and your people are in right now, Elven? You’ve been playing war here while the clans decide how to enslave you. The price of Ovules has increased and it will only be a matter of time before they come for your heads.” Turnia rose to her feet like a panther. “Of course, you probably do know this. You aren’t as stupid as you seem. That was why you killed my brother, despite everything he did for your kind. You knew that if he came back with a Pretender it would be an open invitation for the clans to decide this world was unfit for you. Then you would be right back where you started.” Turnia’s mouth turned into a venomous grin.
“I have not forgotten the assistance you and your brother gave me. That is why you have not been killed for speaking to me in such a manner!” Telaxthe hissed the words through a tense jaw. Vernine and Dissonti had both laid their hands on the blades at their hips and Turnia’s women gripped their own curved swords. The four servants who had delivered the meals had emerged from their work station and flanked Telaxthe protectively.