Page 123 of The Eye of the Fifth
The merking was the only one who had remained in his former, less menacing form, though his consonant voice was thick with cautioning disdain as he said, ‘Naal, control this human pet of yours before my guards take it into their own hands.’
‘Kawai, sit down,’ Naal warned.
‘Why doesn’t he remember me?’ Kawai demanded, beyond reasoning with. He pointed a finger straight at the merking. ‘What have you done to him? You’ve done something, I know you have-’
‘Kawai,’Naal said, then threw a great gust of wind at him, forcing him to sit.
Cyraneous’ lip merely curled as he lifted a hand to call off his guards. Slowly, their grotesque faces shifted back to their original state. ‘You accuse me of tampering with your brother’s memory?’ he asked slowly, his voice deep and rumbling.
Kawai only glared at him, confined to the seat by Naal’s spell.
The merking sneered. ‘Kano’s memory is as unchanged as the day you brought him to me. The control the conceited landking had over the boy has, unfortunately, forced him to forget everything he was before. He knows of no Four Mothers. No Wardens. No brothers or family. And I have fought tirelessly to keep it that way, to protect the innocence he has found since finding a home in Nevatis.’
‘You have deliberately kept him in the dark?’ Naal asked, and though her face was impassive, Kyra knew her well enough now to know that she wholly disapproved.
‘His ignorance of the world, of who he truly is, is a consequence of the landking’s hold on his mind. Kano knows not of his life before because that is what King Therion willed, should the boy ever escape his servitude. There is no power but the landking’s that can bring back his memory. Kano remains bound to him still, whether he knows it or not. So, yes,’ said the merking, ‘I have deliberately kept him in the dark, for the alternative will have the boy realising his life can never be his own. Not unless the landking relinquishes his hold on him. Perhaps, when he is grown, the truth will not be so painful. But for now, that ignorance keeps him content. Keeps him sane.’
The merking’s compassion took Kyra by surprise. Stories of the fearsome mer had always been told to her and her siblings when they’d been children, almost in the same way Dohra and her miraqni were used as a frightening tale.
Maybe that was what the mer wanted. So that thelandwalkersstayed far away, leaving them in peace.
Kawai continued to glare, though his pinched brows had softened somewhat. He’d been quick to jump to conclusions, to blame whoever held the power for his brother’s blinded mind, but Kyra couldn’t help but feel he and the merking shared exactly the same perspective when it came to Kano’s wellbeing.
His sudden silence suggested he was thinking the same thing.
‘Whispers of dangers brewing in the south reach even the depths of Nevatis, Naal Westerra,’ the merking said. ‘I know why you have come. I know what you seek from young Kano. But I must ask you to leave the boy out of it.’
‘Cyraneous,’ said Naal sternly, her voice dropping. ‘Drorianeedsits Wardens. Whether Kano remembers who he is or not, he cannot stay here any longer. He must answer the call.’
‘The boy has dedicated too much of his short life already answering the calls of others. In Nevatis, he is free to be who he pleases.’ The merking looked pointedly now at Kawai. ‘Was that notyourwish when you begged me to take him in three years ago? For your brother to live outside the realms of those who would control him?’
Kawai glanced at Naal, and there was nothing but resentment in his eyes. ‘It was,’ he said. ‘It still is.’
‘Corla brought him to me for a reason, Naal Westerra,’ Cyraneous said importantly. ‘And for that, he stays.’
Naal said none too gently, ‘You have always been blinded by your devotion to the Mother, Cyraneous. CorlachoseKano as her Warden. She did not do such a thing for him to spend his life in hiding.’
‘Do not speak for the Water Mother and her wishes!’the merking boomed, his black eyes flashing dangerously. Kyra was not looking directly at him, but in her peripheral vision she saw his face shift into that alternate terrifying mask. ‘Not in my realm.’
Naal averted her eyes down. Not in fear, Kyra knew, but as a mark of respect. ‘That was never my intention, Cyraneous. This you know. Forgive me. I am but a servant of the divine. Gallena guides me here and I follow without question. I cannot ignore her voice. Kyra cannot ignore the voice of Roheia.’ Kyra felt the merking’s eyes upon her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. ‘And Kano cannot ignore Corla’s. I come here not to undermine you, or your connection to the Great Mother of Water… but to ask you tolistento her voice through me. Through the magic that connects me to all of Them.’
The merking shifted back into his normal self. ‘What would you have me do, then, Air Warden? In good conscience, I cannot hand Kano over toyou,knowing that the landking will do anything andeverything in his power to have that boy back in his service. Even you could not liberate him without starting an outright war with that self-important fool.’
‘I ask only that you tell Kano the truth of who he is,’ Naal said, lifting her head. ‘Once he knows it, lethimmake his choice. Allow Kano to have control of his own deliverance, for once in his life. And whatever that choice may be, you and I will bear it.’
The merking surveyed Naal for a long while, with lips tight and eyes narrowed. Kyra had the wildest impulse to break the dragging silence, for it felt as though it might never end, but Naal’s face was a perfectly calm mask, patiently waiting.
‘The truth, then,’ the merking finally pronounced in a mighty voice, as if it had been he who had suggested it.
Naal bowed her head. ‘We will be on Wehyna for two days. If Kano chooses to leave, pray tell him to find us there.’
The merking deliberated for a moment. Then, he said, ‘It will be done.’
As though they had never been there, the merking and his kin disappeared beneath the water, leaving nothing behind but rippling silver moonlight on the black waves.
Chapter Thirty Five
A World Unseen
