“It’s full of tunnels,” she said. “I know most of them. My sister is down in the garden with her advisor right now. I…I wanted to speak with you. To warn you.”
Thealos sat back down on the edge of the window seat, bringing his eyes more on the same level with hers. She had different eyes…mud-colored with a little tinge of green.
“You’re a brown-eyed Shae, aren’t you?” he asked before he could stop himself.
Her expression clouded with anger. “My eyes are green.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve…I’ve never seen that color before. They’re…pretty.”
“They’re ugly and I hate them,” she said. The stormy look was softened a little as she started to blush furiously.
“I’m sorry I said…you’re very pretty, you know. You remind me of my little sister.”
The compliment broke a corner off the edge of her anger.
“No, I’m sorry. It’s just that everyone teases me about my eyes.” She hooked some blonde hair behind her ear and looked down at the floor. “I’m…I wanted to warn you.” Her voice was very quiet. She bit her lip and fidgeted. “My sister is really nice, and I don’t want you to be angry with her when you find out. Don’t be angry with her, Thealos, please.”
“Angry for what? What has she done?” His stomach clenched.
Lucyanna looked flustered, as if she wanted to tell him but wrestled with whether she should.
Thealos leaned towards her. “I won’t tell anyone that you told me.”
A look of relief splashed over her young face and she sighed, grinning faintly. “She’s going to send someone else after the Silverkin. She’s being stubborn, even Abtalion says so, but…”
Thealos closed his eyes. “What?”
“Don’t be angry, please! The chancellor is going to try and talk her out of it. She’s just upset, Thealos. She’s afraid they’ll make her marry…and she’s afraid that she won’t be able to choose…”
“No, it’s all right,” Thealos said, reaching out and gripping her shoulder. “It’s all right, Lucyanna. I understand. I’m not…I’m not angry.” He wanted to throw up. “It’s all right. You did the right thing telling me.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “You’re a brave girl. Did she say who she was going to send?”
Lucyanne nodded and chewed on the corner of her lip. “Silverlock. The old one.”
“The old one? Oh, but that makes sense too. I see what she’s doing.” He shook his head. “She doesn’t know me well enough yet. She doesn’t trust me yet. She will though.” He squeezed her shoulder and it brought a little smile to her stricken face. “She will.”
“I do,” she whispered.
“Because you felt the Silverkin calling you too, Lucyanna. I remember.” He twisted a few strands of her golden hair. “You are so like my sister,” he said softly. “I miss her very much.”
Lucyanna gave him a sheepish smile. “I never knew my brother. He died.”
An awkward silence fell between them.
“Let me be your brother then. If I can.” He smiled. “Can you come back and see me tomorrow morning too?”
She nodded enthusiastically.
“What’s that stone again? Show me.”
Lucyanna held open her palm. It was a little green stone with a Silvan symbol etched into it. “That’s why I came. Here, you can have the others too.” She shoved a small pouch into his hands. “There are five Stones. Each one disguises something. I think…I think they were taken from a Sleepwalker. You are the one who needs to go to Landmoor, Thealos. I know it. If she won’t let you go, you need a way to get out of the palace.”
Her little hand squeezed the pouch into his. “I’ll help you.”
*
Thealos watched the assembly while leaning against one of the marble pillars encircling the huge chamber. He had been to sessions of the Sunedrion before as they were forums that the public could attend. Standing on a balcony that overlooked the broad chamber, he looked up at the light streaming in from the upper windows of the dome and the remnants of the storm clouds that had gathered during the night. The marble pillar and the carpeted floor thrummed with the bustling motion of the hundreds of Shae gathered below, filling the seats. A thousand smells, a cacophony of coughs, throats clearing, and then silence as Laisha Silverborne stepped into view down on the floor below, wearing a regal gown made of a dark violet satin.