Page 13 of Dark Shaman: Love Found
When the discussion wound down, Annani rose to leave. "Thank you for the distraction. It was helpful."
"Mother." Kian stood to escort her out. "Areana's strong. She'll be fine."
"Strength doesn't make us invulnerable," she said. "Sometimes it just means we break more quietly."
5
ELUHEED
"This is killing me." Tony scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Not knowing if Tula's okay."
Eluheed finished buttering his toast and reached for the jam. "They're safe." What else could he say when he felt the same gnawing worry for Tamira. "And they are treated like royalty. You've seen how the servants acted around them. Lord Navuh values them highly."
"Values them like property," Tony said bitterly, then caught himself. "Sorry. I know that you're in the same position. We're all just assets in his collection."
They were, but saying so aloud in the hotel restaurant with many ears around was dangerous.
Eluheed lifted the coffee carafe. "Do you want a refill?"
"Sure." He pushed his half-empty mug toward Eluheed. "Do you believe in fate?"
The question surprised him. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, you're a shaman, right? You must have an opinion on the flood, the displacement, everything. Is it random, or does fate have a hand in this?"
Eluheed thought of the vision he'd summoned for Navuh—fire and destruction that he'd later interpreted as the flooding of the harem. Now he was pretty certain that it had nothing to do with that and everything to do with the enhanced army Navuh was creating.
The enhanced soldiers were coming. Not today, perhaps not even this month, but soon. And when they turned on their master, the island would burn just as his vision had shown. The question was whether anything could prevent it, or whether fate, if such a thing existed, had already written the ending.
All Eluheed could do was what he'd always done: survive, protect those he could, and hope that someday he'd find redemption for the lies that now stained his soul.
In either case, though, he couldn't share his musings with Tony.
Everything that transpired between him and Navuh needed to remain a secret. Otherwise, the lord would realize that his compulsion didn't work on Eluheed, and his one advantage would disappear.
"I believe in patterns," he said. "Events that seem random often reveal design when viewed from a sufficient distance."
"Very shamanic of you," Tony said with a weak smile. "Speaking in generalities and riddles and never giving astraight answer because you are just as lost and confused as the rest of us mortals."
He was about to retort when a guard walked over to their table. "Lord Navuh wants to see you."
"Of course," he told the guard. "Let me return to my room and change my shirt for something more appropriate."
The guard nodded curtly. "You've got five minutes."
In his room, Eluheed quickly changed into the more formal shirt he'd been given, one that wouldn't look too out of place in Navuh's mansion. His hands moved automatically as he buttoned it up, his mind racing with what had been troubling him since his conversation with the scientist.
Navuh would probably want to know whether the flood was sabotage, and Eluheed needed to find a way to steer him toward his previous vision about fire and blood.
The question was how much to reveal, and how much to fabricate.
His stomach turned at the thought. His people considered lying a grave affront to their god, and as a spiritual leader, Eluheed was supposed to lead by example.
Except, he was a long way from home, and his people were probably gone, annihilated by their enemies.
As despair washed over him, his fingers trembled on the last button.
The Precepts of Truth were no longer relevant, and if he needed to lie to the despot to protect Tamira, so be it.
