“I’ll come and find you later,” Ruby said.
“Okay.”
I said goodbye to Ash and then hurried out of the room. I was desperate to see Tejus—maybe together we could work out a way to speed up his recovery. I would need him tonight.
I entered his living room, calling his name. Only Lucifer appeared when I called, and apart from the moody lynx, Tejus’s chambers were completely empty.
Where is he?
Tejus
The room was full. Most were seated, but some had needed to stand—mainly the guard superiors, though Varga’s lieutenant had taken up my friend’s empty chair. While I’d waited for them to all file in, I’d been transfixed by my father’s portrait on the wall. I had seen that painting thousands of times, but tonight the sense of foreboding that usually accompanied it was absent. I realized that I pitied him. He had lacked foresight and the ability to relinquish control, that much was evident from his actions in removing the stone from the entity lock. He must have been desperate for Jenus to rule—the one sentry in all of Nevertide, with the possible exception of Queen Trina, who was wholly unworthy of the title of emperor.
I felt sick at the reality of what I was about to do. But it would give me one thing—the chance to fix the mistakes my father had made. Hopefully, that would sever any last ties I had to the man. No matter how hard I tried for it to be otherwise, he was a dark shadow looming over me, and I wanted to be rid of him once and for all.
“Before you begin, King Tejus, pray tell us what Memenion is doing here?’ Lithan asked angrily, glaring at the king, who in turn was too perplexed by my request himself to look affronted.
“Don’t question me, Lithan,” I snapped. I wasn’t entirely sure why I’d asked the king along either. I supposed I just wanted him to hear the news from me—and if I was completely honest with myself, he was now one of the only people I trusted, and, in a way, a link to Varga. My friend had thought well of him, and so now would I.
“I apologize for the late hour, but thank you all for coming.” I hesitated.
Are you really going to do this?
I swallowed, trying to find the courage to continue.
“I am afraid I will no longer take part in the imperial trials. I also need to relinquish my position as Hellswan king. I rose to power through the trials with an advantage that would not have been permitted had any of you known about it—I had in my possession one of the entity stones. It gave me an advantage, one that I am not convinced that I would have succeeded without.”
I had said my piece. There was deathly silence for a few, long, moments—and then the room broke simultaneously into raucous complaint.
“This is insanity!” Lithan cried. “Why are you doing this?”
“How could you have defiled your family name in such a way?” the minister of ceremonies demanded. “It is pure scandal!”
“Your Highness—Your highness! Tell us all this is some gross misunderstanding. You are our rightful king, no other, Tejus!” Qentos quivered. “It is Varga’s death! It has affected your mind—you need to rest, your highness!”
Other shouts exploded forth in the same vein, and I waited for the commotion to die down before I spoke again. I wasn’t sure how I felt. My gaze met the eyes of King Memenion. He was the only one not protesting. Instead he wore a speculative expression, and I imagined he was trying to understand my motives. I wasn’t sure even I understood what they fully were—there was the injury of course, but I struggled trying to convince myself that it was that factor alone.
“I understand that you are all confused. And I will try to answer your questions as best I can.” They all clamored to be answered at once, and I raised my hand to silence them before continuing. “However, there is a more pressing matter. The trials will continue tomorrow, and we need to find a replacement for the Hellswan champion. I suggest Ashbik, whom I believe might well have bested me were it not for the stone. I ask you to consider him as my replacement.”
“Madness! Sheer madness!” Lithan cried.
“Why?” I asked him. “He is an adequate replacement.”
Lithan spluttered some more before he could respond.
“Well, for one, he is currently the advisor to Queen Trina—he is a betrayer!”
“No, he’s not!” A voice sounded out from the far end of the room. I sighed. I really should have asked one of the guards to keep an eye on her.
“He’s here!” Hazel exclaimed, scrambling out from the minister’s office that she’d been hiding in at the last council meeting. I had been so preoccupied with what I was about to tell the ministers that I’d completely failed to detect her.