Page 3 of The Night Prince 2

“You… you lived in the Night Elf city?” Shonda’s eyes widened.

She couldn’t help herself. Illithor was said to have been abandoned ages ago. That meant that Sorisana was far older than she had ever suspected. And no Aravae ever admitted to any connection with the Kindreth! But it would give her a far more cosmopolitan view of other species to have lived among the Aravae’s dread enemy.

Sorisana nodded. “My mother was Councilor to Sun King Ailduin.”

“So King Ailduin visited Illithor?”

“Visited?” Sorisana laughed. “Oh, my dear, he lived there! He built it with King Vex! There was no other place he loved more. No place he considered more home. Illithor. Glorious Illithor. I shall never forget it.”

Shonda blinked again. “That’s… My son, Finley, will be all agog to hear this! He’s fascinated with Aravae and Kindreth history.” Sorisana nodded again as if this was a sensible thing to be fascinated by. Finley was sensible, if nothing else. “But I had no idea that there was such a deep connection between the Aravae and the Kindreth. There is so much… animosity now.”

The Aravae Councilor sat down on the bench nearest the bubbling, burbling fountain. Shonda sat beside her, feeling the cool press of stone even through her silk dress.

“Ah, but that should have clued you in that we were close once. No greater hatred can be borne than out of the greatest love,” Sorisana said.

“I suppose that’s true, but it makes it even more sad.”

“Infinitely sad. What Finley will find in no books nor spoken of by any of our current scholars is that when the Aravae collaborated with the Kindreth and, quite frankly, all the species in the Under Dark and beyond far more, we had our greatest renaissance. Our differences were what inspired us, challenged us, and made us… better.” Sorisana was gazing into the distance speculatively.

“And you think humanity can bring the same kind of renaissance?” Shonda guessed.

A nod. “If we focused on your strengths and saw your weaknesses as an opportunity to innovate, just imagine what we could do together? Humanity shaped this world all on its own without magic.”

“Many would say we did a bad job of it.”

A shrug. “You are young. And every species can be greedy and shortsighted. Trust me on this. But, in your case, the Leviathan took away the chance to see clearer and do better. Unless we give it back to you. Or you take it back.”

“Duke Rohannan is all for taking it back,” Shonda replied dryly.

A small smile from Sorisana. “He is not just smarting from the loss of what he sees as humanity’s greatness, but his own place in that scheme of things.”

Shonda knew what she meant. How many times had she been the only woman in the room, let alone the only person of color, and found herself the odd person out in the pre-Leviathan times? Too many times to count. Though it had been unfair and infuriating, she had persevered and persevered and persevered against the senseless sexism and racism she experienced. Shonda was certain that Rohannan likely hadn’t had it easy either with many of his own crosses to bear, but his race and sex had given him a leg up in ways he likely hadn’t fully realized in the old world.

Or maybe he had realized it, but coming up against the fact that this new world not only wouldn’t give him any respect whatsoever, but automatically saw him as “human” only and that meant “lesser” had beaten him down in ways that it hadn’t her, because of her lived experience. She remembered meeting his eye after a meeting in which Vesslan had been, as always, downright insulting about his desire to save Chicago. For a moment, there had been an understanding between them that might not have been there before. But then he’d turned away from her and the Council. Too stung and angry to tolerate being treated unfairly. And she understood that well too.

“In any event, my understanding of what we all could gain from humanity’s entry into the Empire is colored by that past, that knowledge that our scholars would ignore now,” Sorisana said softly.

“Do you think King Aquilan feels the same way you do?”

Sorisana’s expression brightened for a moment. “Well, he is rather the spitting image of Ailduin so I have hopes. Great hopes.”

“You said earlier that Bloom had reason to be annoyed with Vesslan for something other than his usual terseness. Is he why Aquilan didn’t come to the palace tonight?”

A nod then a rather impish smile. “It seems that King Aquilan met Duke Rohannan and your husband on the road to Tyrael.”

“Michael?!” Her husband had made no mention of seeking out the king on his own. She’d have been annoyed he didn’t ask her to join his plot.

“Yes, it is my understanding that the king, Lord Neres and your husband are having a rather wonderful time at The Sudden Dawn Inn this evening rather than a stuffy Council Meeting,” Sorisana chuckled.

“They’re at the Dawn?”

Shonda now really wished she had her phone. Michael would have immediately informed her that he was holding court with the king! He’d have asked her to come. She’d get her chance to really talk to Aquilan, not likely about matters of state, but to befriend him, to get to know him and for him to get to know her. These moments were invaluable for later when he would seek counsel from her. Or whether he would seek counsel from her at all.

“Indeed. Apparently, Aquilan did not like what he was hearing from either the Separatists or the Loyalists about Vesslan’s rule in his absence,” Sorisana explained. “So he wanted to hear directly from the people what’s been going on and told Vesslan to sock his plans.”

“And what better place to hear from the people than the Dawn.”

“Indeed.”

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