Page 92 of Spirit Rites
I want to reach across and touch his hand, but I don’t think he would receive it well. “What was her name?”
“Eliza. Did you know her?” He looks at me so hopefully. I want to tell him yes; I want to so badly. But I can’t.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t, but there are lots of banished communities.” I don’t tell him the survival rate is so low that she may not even still be alive. I won’t be the one to tell him that.
He nods, unsurprised. “Kaldar has looked for her a few times.”
“He has?” I ask in surprise.
“Yes, but he’s never found her.”
My heart squeezes painfully. “I don’t understand.” I don’t want to push him, but I need to understand. “If you understand how awful it is, then why are you for it?”
“Because that's what happened to Eliza. If we let others come back, then,” he shakes his head.
“Then it negates what happened to her,” I say for him.
Eldara puts a hand on his shoulder. “Halric, she wouldn’t want that. She was such a loving girl; she wouldn’t want others to suffer just because she did.”
Halric squeezes his eyes shut, and I have to look away. I don’t want to start crying, but I’m losing control quickly. It’s quiet in the room except for Halric sniffling as he tries to gain control. He finally does and turns to face me. “I will support you and the king.”
Relief flows through me hard and fast. “Thank you. And Halric? I know a lot of people in the banished community. I will ask around. If your granddaughter is still there, I will find out.”
That puts him over the edge. He closes his eyes, and his shoulders shake. I drop my head and fight against my own tears, but it’s a losing battle. The first tear tracks down my cheek and drops onto my lap. Then the next and the next. When I lift my head, Brenvar is studying me closely. I quickly wipe my tears away and try to get control. “You cried.” I startle at Brenvar’s words, even though he’s staring at me.
There’s no use denying his words; he literally watched me cry. I hold his gaze when I say, “I did.”
“For that reason, I will follow your ruling and Kaldar’s as well.” I blink in confusion. “If you can have a tender heart for someone who is against you, then you will have a tender heart for all people of our kingdom. And that’s reason enough to follow you.”
I lean back in my chair, unable to form words. Needing a break from the emotion, I turn to Jorren. “Will you help me grab food for everybody? I’m hungry.”
“It’s being taken care of as we speak, my Queen,” he says with a respectful head bow.
Chapter 44
After we eat, we spend the next few hours going over everything I need to know, and I meaneverything. By the time we adjourn, I have a splitting headache; but I feel really good. It doesn’t stop there. The next day, we meet for another ten hours. This meeting is more active, though. We get to work. There is so much work to be done, it feels daunting. But we take it one thing at a time. We assign a work force to start reconstruction on the arena. Zarreth, the captain of the guard, meets with us for a few hours to talk about the guivre attacks that keep happening. Jorren and Taren sit in on this meeting. Zarreth informs me during this time that they had a dragon sighting while we were in the Wolf Kingdom. After I nearly fall out of my chair from shock, I ask him to explain. He explained that it never landed. It only soared overhead for a while before it flew away. I only wish I’d been there to see it. We spend a lot of time on the human that turned into a guivre. Everybody in that meeting was agreed on the fact that it was absolutely terrifying, and we have absolutely no answers.
On the third day, we call a meeting in the arena. I’m so nervous, I can barely breathe. I didn’t want to do this, but the counsel insisted. And I get it. The people are scared. They know their king is gone, the guivre attacks are getting more frequent, there’s the whole human to guivre thing, there’s a new queen...it’s a lot. As I walk down the same set of steps I did only a few days ago, I can’t help but think how different this gathering is. I had no idea what I was in for then. Now, I do. I take a steadying breath and wipe my hands on my pants. I’m wearing another jade pantsuit that Rakel made for me. I look down therow where my five advisors sit. I can’t help but grin when Mae waves at me, all smiles. Assigning her as the fifth member of the board was the best decision. Even though she was only sworn in last night, I can already tell she’s going to be a huge asset. When she says something, and Eldara laughs quietly, I know it’s the right decision. Mae won’t allow anybody to not be happy; it’s simply not in her nature. Veyra brushes against me, reminding me of her presence and calming me. I rest my hand on her head, grateful she’s here with me.
I sit in the chair reserved for me and nod at Halric. As the eldest on the board with Vaelor out of the picture, it falls on him to lead this ceremony. “Good morning,” Halric says in a strong voice. “It’s been a couple of hard days, hasn’t it?” A stillness settles over the crowd. “A lot has happened in a little bit of time. That’s why we called this meeting. We want to address some of these happenings and put your minds at ease. Before we do that, I want to deal with the biggest issue first.” My body stiffens because this wasn’t what we planned. He was supposed to simply welcome the crowd and introduce me. I was supposed to take it from there. I look down at my notes, making sure I’m not missing something.Nope.He's definitely off script. I panic a moment, wondering if I’m going to have to cut him off. I really don’t want to. My knee bounces nervously, and I rub my hands on my pants. “Nobody in our kingdom is not aware of what happened to our king.” I stiffen; I was supposed to be the one to speak of Kaldar. “And if you aren’t aware, then just look behind me. You will see that our king does not sit here. Instead, a young woman does.” My spine is so stiff, I swear I’m going to crack it. “You may notice that she’s not from our kingdom. You may also notice that she’s young. You may have also heard that she’s from the banished community.” I can’t catch my breath.What is he doing? “Now any one of those things might be enough to decide that she has no right to rule over us.” I close my eyes and dig myfingernails into my legs. When I open them, I try to project a calm I amnotfeeling. “In fact, that’s exactly how myself and the other members of the elder board felt.” There’s a definite buzz in the crowd now. I watch as Jorren and Taren both move marginally closer to me, and I can literally feel Mae’s eyes boring into the side of my head. I will Halric to stop talking, but he doesn’t. “I sayfeltbecause we no longer feel that way. In fact, each of those things are reasons she makes a good leader.” My mouth drops open in shock. “I will admit, it took us some time. But I am here to tell you that this young woman behind me isexactlywhat our kingdom needs. She’s not from our kingdom, so she has a unique perspective to add. She is young, and that makes her willing to work hard and make a difference. She also grew up in the banished community.” He pauses, and I wonder if this next part is going to be hard for him to say. “She knows what it’s like to be part of the banished, and no one should ever feel that. That is why she is a huge advocate in bringing home the banished.” The crowd cheers for that, and it startles me. I notice that not everyone is cheering, but a lot of them are. “She’s also the mate of our dear king. She loves him with all her heart.” I stiffen at his words. “And she’s the perfect mate for our king. Therefore, it is with complete confidence that the elder board presents Queen Kinsley to you today.”
Applause breaks out, but I don’t really hear it. I’m too busy trying to get over my shock. Never in a million years had I expected an introduction like that. Halric turns and smiles at me as he walks over to his seat. When he sits next to me, he elbows me lightly. “I believe this is where you stand and deliver that speech you practiced on all of us.” I jolt and stand to my feet. I give myself just a moment to compose myself and then I paste a smile on my face and walk to the podium. “Hi.” My voice carries throughout the arena, thanks to Veyra. I mentally cringe at my hi and look down at my notes. I blink when I realize I can’t see thenotes. They’re blurry, and it takes me a moment to notice why. I reach up and wipe my eyes, berating myself. Panic consumes me for a moment because I really need to see my notes. I look up at the crowd and nearly have a panic attack. There are so many of them. Suddenly, somebody shouts, “Kaldar is our king.” There’s a murmur that runs through the audience, and the words jolt me. Another person shouts the same thing. I realize I have seconds before this explodes into something out of my control. I don’t look down at my notes. They won’t help me right now. I take a deep breath and pray for strength.
“You’re right.” My words are much stronger than I thought they would be. “He is our king, and he’s an amazing king. Believe me when I say, I wish he were here to address you right now because then I wouldn’t have to.” I take a deep breath and stand tall. “But he’s not, and that means I have to. And it stinks, and no, it’s not fair. It's not fair that you have me ruling over you right now, someone you barely know. It’s not fair that our rightful king is lying in a bed right now fighting for his life.” Murmurs and whispers go through the crowd at that. “It’s not fair that a guivre nearly stole his life from him and stole our king from us.” I let my words settle a moment. “But that’s just the thing. Lifeisn’tfair. Things happen that are completely out of our control. When those things happen, it’s how we respond that counts. The Jaguar Kingdom has been dealt a heavy blow. There was a devastating attack by guivres that not only leveled some of this very arena, but it cost us the lives of eleven of our people. And that’s too many.” I swallow back my emotion. I don’t have to look at my notes for this next part. I memorized it. “It cost us the lives of Elden Marrow, Soraya Vell, Thomlin Prior, Miraen Sol, Jorah Keel, Lisse and Branik Dore, Anwen Rhys, Cael and Hester Brant, and Oren Tyll. Let us have a moment of silence as we remember those we lost.” I bow my head. I hear a sob ring out from somewhere in the crowd, and my heart squeezes. After afew moments, I lift my head. “And it almost cost us the life of our king. Kaldarisrecovering, but it’s a slow process.” Ireallyhope my words are the truth. I haven’t heard anything from Rysden, but I refuse to believe anything else. I look out at the crowd and continue. “But that blow will not bring us to our knees. You know why? Because we refuse to let it. We will come back stronger after this. We have already begun work on reconstructing this arena. We have spent hours strategizing with Zarreth on how to best deal with guivre attacks. He will address the crowd in a little while, but he has plans in place to make sure our people stay protected, so that each of you feel safe. We will fight back. We’re not going to let the guivres win. This is our land, our kingdom, our people. They can’t win against us.” There’s some cheering after that. “Most importantly, you need to know that your king will be back. You now Kaldar; he won’t be kept down for long.” There’s a louder cheer at that. “He will come back stronger than ever, ready to lead our kingdom. I feel like I need to warn you. He’s not going to take these attacks sitting down. He will have a plan, and we will back him. He is our fearless leader, and we will follow him. We won’t let any of these trials keep us down. Why? We are the Jaguar Kingdom. We are fierce warriors. This is our home, and we will defend against any and all threats.” Applause and cheering break out all around me. “It would be negligent of me as your temporary leader not to address the events of the attack, specifically the man that transformed into a guivre.” Murmurs ripple through the crowd now, and I can feel the tension and unease growing. “The elder board, Zarreth, Kaldar’s personal security team, and myself have spent hours discussing this issue. This is the best we can come up with. Nobody really knows where Brenes came from. From all accounts, he just showed up one day in our kingdom. But because he was with Vaelor, most people didn’t think twice about it.” I stare out at the crowd. “We believe that Vaelor knewwhat he was and invited him here. He knew he was going to challenge Kaldar for the throne and knew he wouldn’t win, so he brought a man who could shift into a guivre. That’s what we believe anyway.” The crowd is noisy now and restless. “Here’s the question you’re all asking yourselves.How?I know because we’ve been asking ourselves that too. Here’s what we know. The guivres were once part of the dragon kingdom. When they rose up against the dragon kingdom to war against them, they were cursed by the gryphons and trapped in their animal forms. With the death of Terron, one of the last remaining gryphon-bonded, we think the power that keeps the gryphons trapped in their animal forms has begun to fade.” Panicky whispers echo around the arena, but I continue. “How do we deal with this going forward? The first step is that we’re going to begin the search for more gryphons. If there are more, we will seek their help. Second, we will seek out help from other kingdoms, should it come to that. Zarreth will address the crowd on how to deal with attacks in the meantime. Let me say this before I turn it over to him.” There is unrest and unease in the crowd now, and I hate that. I’m not exactly sure what to do about it, though. And then it comes to me. “I want everyone to stand.” I wait a moment, and nobody moves. “Please stand.” The elder board moves first, and I appreciate their support so much.I really hope this next part works.
Chapter 45
I stare out at the crowd. “Release your spirit jaguars.” I swear not a single person moves, and I force myself not to bite my lip. “Go ahead. Release your spirit jaguars.” There’s movement, and I can’t help my smile when I see a few spirit jaguars begin to make an appearance. I stay still as more and more begin to make an appearance. I see movement out of the corner of my eye and smile when I see four spirit jaguars next to me from the four elders. Mae doesn’t have one yet; she hasn’t gone through the Spirit Trials yet. Soon, there are spirit jaguars all over the arena. Some of them are standing, some are walking around, others are sitting by their bonded. Some of them have even made their way onto the arena floor. I can’t even speak for a moment; it’s truly the most breathtaking sight I’ve ever seen. “Do you see that?” I ask, and my voice is not as strong as I want it to be. But people can hear me, because heads turn my way. “That right there.” I take a breath and get control of my emotions. Veyra brushes against me, and I rest my hand on her head. “Look around. Have you ever seen a more amazing sight? We literally get to see jaguars every day—the amazing creatures that they are. If that weren’t enough, we get to live in the trees or on the water. The weather is mild here, and we get to enjoy the sun all year round. We are protected, closed off from invaders. Yes, we have a guivre problem; but we’re solving that. We live in the most beautiful kingdom. We aresoblessed. We have our homes, our mates, our children, and our spirit animals. What more could we ask for?” There’s cheering, and I wait a moment. “This. Right here. It’s worth fighting for. And nobody—not any person or creature—will take that from us.” Thunderous applause shakes the arena, and I smile as I take it in. After a moment or two, I give the crowd a head nod and then step out of the way and motion for Zarreth to come take my place.
He gets into the details and the nitty gritty of preparing for more guivre attacks. It takes a little while, but it’s good. He’s thorough. When he finishes, I feel like we’re prepared to deal with the threats that lie ahead in the days to come. When the meeting finally adjourns, I make my way to the ground level exit so I can talk to people. My team stays near. Well, Jorren and Taren do, but I know Reika and Evren are somewhere nearby watching.
I’m not sure how long I stand in the exit greeting people. Not everybody gives me a warm reception, but that doesn’t surprise me. And it oddly doesn’t bother me. There are enough people that do. It’s a few hours later that I finally finish, and the last person walks away. My shoulders sag, and I am absolutely depleted. I want nothing more than to head back to the house and crash. I start out of the arena, but a voice stops me.
“Do you have time for one more?”
I freeze, and everything slows down around me at the sound of that voice. That beautiful voice. I turn slowly and take in the tall man standing just a few feet away from me. I suck in a breath as tears form in my eyes. “Kaldar?”
“My Queen,” he says, giving me a respectful head nod. “I have to tell you. If I wasn’t already a fan, I would have pledged my allegiance to you today.”
