Lukys frowned at the elderly man. He’d expected Zayaan to lead the resistance against them, being the queen’s personal advisor. Indeed, it seemed others in the room had thought the same, for with his words came an uncertain calm as the other nobles looked from Lukys to the elderly advisor.
Lukys drew in a breath. “We have received…word of a new threat to the south, of a creature beyond even the powers of the Gods. The ancient enemy of legend has returned—and your queen plays politics while the world burns.” He shook his head. “Her tyranny has gone too far. You speak of the renegade king Nguyen, but the man did not start this war with your kingdom.”
“Nguyen broke the alliance,” Zayaan said matter-of-factly, as though he held no position on the events of which he spoke. Alongside him, Wallace whimpered. “Amina’s invasion was retribution for that betrayal.”
“You can’t do this!” Wallace interrupted, pushing himself to his feet. Puffing, he swung on Zayaan. “You don’t understand, it’s impossible, she’ll—”
“Nothing is impossible,” Lukys cut the man off, leaning forward and pressing his hands to the table, eyes still on Zayaan. He sensed this was the man he needed to convince if they were to take this room without bloodshed. “If my presence here proves anything, it is the truth of those words. In just a few short months, I have witnessed Gods come to life, seen lost magics and the rise of creatures long thought to be extinct. I have…” he hesitated, glancing at Sophia before drawing fresh breath.
“If all that can be possible, if the Gods themselves still live, then we humans can find a better way. If only we can stand together, as one, we have a chance for peace, for unity amongst the kingdoms. Can you imagine, a world without war, without needless death? A world of peace.” He drew in a breath. “Even with the Tangata themselves.”
Finally the old man’s face showed a change in emotion, as he frowned at Lukys’s last words. Lukys could sense the tension building in the room, the doubt in the eyes of the men and women at the table. Peace with Gemaho and Perfugia was one thing, but these people still saw the Tangata as monsters, the enemy they had fought for ten long years to subdue.
But Perfugia was the Tangata now. He could not turn from that.
Lukys, are you sure? Sophia’s words whispered into his mind, drenched with doubt, with fear.
Fists clenched, eyes still locked on Zayaan. Lukys nodded. He sensed movement alongside him as Sophia reached for her veil, but he did not take his eyes from the queen’s advisor, did not so much as blink. If the man signalled for the guards to intervene, Lukys would be ready.
Gasps came from around the room, and Lukys watched the colour drain from Wallace’s face. Only the queen’s advisor remained steadfast, though his eyes did flicker in Sophia’s direction, widening a fraction as he registered the grey eyes of the Tangata.
“I thought it odd,” Zayaan said at last, a quiver in his elderly voice despite his mask of calm. “The creature’s accent…changed from sentence…to sentence,” he hesitated, eyes flicking momentarily to Sophia before returning to Lukys. “Might I ask how you tamed it?”
“I needed no taming, sir,” Sophia snapped, reverting fully to her singsong accent. “I grow weary of saying it, but my people are not the monsters you think us.”
“One can be uncivilised without being a monster,” the queen’s advisor said softly.
This time a growl came from Sophia’s throat, and Lukys sensed the anger building in his partner at the old man’s words. Quickly he reached for her hand, seeking to calm her. There would be time enough for repudiation later. For now, they needed the people in this room on their side.
Probably shouldn’t have brought us along if you wanted that, Keria’s voice carried from where she stood across the room.
They would have realised the truth sooner or later, Lukys replied, before focusing his attention back on the queen’s advisor.
“Sir, I would advice you to remember with whom you speak,” he admonished. “Tangata or no, Sophia and I are the new Sovereigns of Perfugia. We will not hear you insult our people.”
To Lukys’s surprise, Zayaan chuckled. “In that case, might I assume you slew your predecessors yourselves? Is Perfugia burning even now, Ashura lying in ruins?”
“No,” Lukys shot back, looking from the man to the others at the table. He noticed several of those on their feet edging towards the door, but Dale had thankfully already moved to bar their exit. “The rest of our people are on their way here, in fact, with King Nguyen.”
“I see.” Clasping his hands behind his back, Zayaan stepped out from behind the table.
Lukys tensed and the man paused, one grey eyebrow lifting towards the fringe of his failing hair, as if to ask: ‘may I?’. After a brief delay, Lukys nodded, allowing the advisor to wander around the table. As he did so, Lukys sensed a distant call, as though one of the Tangata were reaching out to warn him of something. The horns began to sound from the city a few seconds later.
“I suppose that would be your fleet then?” Zayaan asked as he crossed to the window and looked out over the harbour.
Heart hammering in his chest, Lukys joined the old man and saw the blue and yellow sails marking the horizon. On the streets below the citadel, men and women scurried like ants, a steady flow making for the walls. Fists clenched, he looked to Wallace and Ewan and the others at the table, but none of them made any move to act. They all looked to Zayaan.
“It’s not too late,” Lukys said softly, his heart pounding. This was there chance, the moment they had been waiting
