[LEGACY VERSION] The Enemy of Time (Book 2 - The Kaireyeh Chronicles)

Chapter 8 - Landon

"Zivali's unstoppable!" Baron Seamus, seated halfway down the mess hall table, pounded a liver-spotted fist. "She has entirely too much power, she has exceeded all reasonable bounds of authority!" He slammed his fist down on each of the last words, and then stopped for breath.

Luc actually remembered the man from before. As a child, he'd seen Seamus in the Joppan palace corridor, dressing down a servant for gods knew what offense.

"It's a coup, Seamus," Campa said blandly. "That's what happens when you have a successful coup."

Seamus sputtered.

Seated at one end of the table, Luc glanced across at Elise Radego's impassive face, Campa beside her, and then on to the half dozen or so others down the table. These three were the only ones he recognized. No one had thought to go around with names, and he wasn't going to ask. When Campa had told him that the cell council was meeting, it hadn't been an idle comment. She wanted him here, even outsider that he was. There were empty places, too--Oji wasn't here, of course, she had barely left Alexi's side. Milla, Luc suspected, was also usually present. And then there was the matter of Damon.

Maybe it was better that Damon was not at this meeting. Not until he got a hold of himself, and not until he was ready to handle others' reactions to his appearance.

Luc shifted to ease some of the strain on still-healing wounds and focused on the holopad Elise had set in the middle of the table. The image was frozen on a newscaster, at the end of her announcement that Grand Ciren Wycliffe had been arrested as a Caelian sympathizer.

Luc had thought this meeting would be about what to do with Damon. But they had bigger problems.

Seamus stabbed a finger at the holopad. "He should have kept a tighter rule on things! Gods know I don't like the man, and he's certainly not one of us, but this is his fault. What Zivali is doing is his fault!"

"Perhaps," Luc said. "But there are always a hundred or more lines of machinations going on at the highest levels. How does anyone know which one will bring him down? This isn't like the Fall. Zivali doesn't have terrorist organizations to rally behind her. She's going about this by the book."

Faces turned toward him.

Luc drew a sharp breath. He should not have spoken. But here, with these people who were still more aristocratic than most, the habits of his last nineteen years as a slave warred with the habits instilled in him from birth.

He unclenched his hands beneath the table and placed them on the surface. The faded lines of work and fight scars etched pale across their backs.

He spoke to his hands. "We couldn't stop the last coup. Do we want another war?"

A momentary pause.

"Admiral Alyras," Elise said.

"Don't. I am Luc here."

Elise waved a hand. "Do we let Zivali take the government? What have we seen of her so far? A ruthless hand at rooting out her enemies. The--possibly by her--destruction of Hale."

Luc shook his head, but Elise continued.

"She was going to execute you, and Damon, and--" she glanced beside her at her wife, and gripped Campa's hand. "Whether we should fight her is not relevant--we can't fight her. Not now. We must first survive, and to that end--" She paused, as if gathering courage. Luc's attention sharpened. Elise Radego, tall and proud, who could command with a casual word, did not strike him as a person who frightened easily. "--I want to go to the Countess."

There was a brief, stunned silence.

Luc looked around him. Who was the Countess?

A man down the table half-rose. "Are you insane?"

---------------

Thank you for reading! If you would like to be notified of updates, please add this book to your library. If you liked what you read, please vote or leave a comment, I'd love to hear what you think!