Page 56 of The Seeker
“Don’t.” Meera’s expression hardened and she turned away from her mother. “Just don’t.”
Rhys knew he needed to tread carefully. He was getting a picture of what might have put the reluctant look in Meera’s eyes when it came to a relationship with him, but assumptions were dangerous.
“I’m pleased and honored to work with your daughter.” He directed his words to Patiala. “It’s clear her work on language and cultural preservation is very important, and it will likely create a bridge for us with the Wolf. We are asking her for a favor, so Meera’s work will assuage any suspicions Atawakabiche might have about us merely using her for her magic.”
“Pragmatic too.” Patiala sipped her tea. “But you do intend to record her martial magic if you are able.”
“Absolutely. The singers in Vienna need it if they’re ever to regain their leverage over the council and be seen as equals.”
“I like your thinking,” Patiala said. “Yes, equality is what we need.”
“Equals in war,” Meera said. “Equals in violence. Equals in destruction. This is the equality we strive for?”
“Equals in a language the scribes’ council currently understands,” Rhys said. “After the elder singers regain status, then we can work on changing hearts and minds.”
Patiala set her tea down on the table. “Ireallyapprove of him.”
“I wonder why,” Meera muttered.
Before the conversation could get any more fraught for Rhys, he rose. “I hope you don’t mind if I try to find Roch this morning. I’d like for him to be our guide, and I think I may have a way of convincing him.”
“You are excused,” Patiala said. “Thank you for your candor, Rhys of Glast.”
“You’re welcome.” He turned to Meera, nodded, and walked out of the room, feeling like he’d just passed a test.
Chapter Ten
“You think you have all the time in the world.” Patiala set her teacup on the table and folded her hands. “But you do not. Every day we live in a world that is not our home. Every day the sons of the Fallen stalk us. This is a good man who is your equal. A man who would stimulate your mind and, if I am reading both of you correctly, every other part of you as well.”
“Mata!”
“Why do you hate my counsel? Why do you rebel like this when I only want what is best for you?”
“Because everyone wants what is best for me!” Meera said. “Everyone thinks they know what I want. Everyone coddles me and guards me and sends for favors from the other side of the world so that I can meet a manyou thinkis right for me!”
“He is right for you!”
“I want to decide that.” She pointed at her chest. “I do. I didn’t even get to pick my first lover. Everything in my life was prescribed. Everything.”
Patiala said, “You had no complaints at the time, and Dalvir was a good friend.”
“This is not about Dalvir.” Meera closed her eyes and tried to banish the memory of her first lover from her mind. “It’s not about that.”
She would never forget his pure joy when he informed Meera that he’d found hisreshonamong the healing singers of Udaipur. They hadn’t been lovers for over five years—her sexual education had been deemed complete after two—but she’d still felt fondness for him. More, she’d felt jealousy that she would never know the joy that Dalvir and Simrat shared.
She’d never know it because a mate would be picked for her, a mate who was not herreshonbut a partner who couldn’t threaten the higher calling of Anamitra’s heir. A partner who would know his place.
“He’s not who you think he is.” Meera stared at the intricate pattern on the table linen. “He’s not someone you can manipulate. Not even with good intentions.”
“I know he’s not,” Patiala said. “He’s a man with his own mind. That’s why I like him for you. He will be a strong ally. Your best ally.” Her mother shrugged. “And he comes from a very good family, but that is secondary.”
Meera swallowed the bitterness in the back of her throat. “His voice…”
“What about his voice?”
Meera remained silent, staring at the intricate swirls of red and blue paisleys.
“What about his voice?” Patiala stood. “What are you talking about?”
