The Wielder Trials. Franca Ogbonnaya

nature of their calling, they lived as hermits far from Light-Under-the Sea, the cousins’ underwater home. And they only appeared to deliver dire warnings to the king. There was a saying in their culture: “To see the blind, all-knowing Sisters is to know doom is around the corner.”

      “That’s right, they also knew about it. At least that’s what I got from the little they said at my sentencing.”

      Mat scowled. “You mean our sentencing. I wouldn’t be in this mess if you hadn’t used the information I gave you.”

      Kahl held up a hand. “Yes, that’s on me. I apologize for using you to get what I needed. But I had no choice.”

      Mat shook his head. “Wrong. You had a choice. You could have told me what was going on!”

      “And considering how much you hate the humans, you would have helped? I didn’t think so.”

      “So, now we’ll never know because you didn’t ask,” said Mat through gritted teeth.

      Kahl looked away, feeling guilty. He knew there was strain between them now. Growing up, they had been as close as brothers, and now that relationship was at risk.

      “I’m sorry. I betrayed you. Of that I’m guilty. I just wanted to help them, and I didn’t think I could risk telling anyone my plans for fear they may try to stop me. Even my mother was unaware.”

      Mat sighed and shook his head. “Damn. With commitment like that, it’s no wonder you were able to involve the Alkynaia and still escape without being eaten. You would have made a great marine.”

      His cousin’s praise made him feel uncomfortable. “Um…about the Alkynaia. It was Britea who ended up bargaining with the sea serpents and getting us out of that mess.”

      That caught Mat’s interest. “So, Britea is her name. That reminds me. I never did get the full gist of how the encounter with the snakes and the Namirans went down. Start from the beginning.”

      Mat was silent as Kahl recounted the desperate race between the Windrider and the four Namiran warships and the unbelievable conclusion when the Alkynaia had sided with he and Britea.

      Silence filled the hold for several moments after Kahl had finished his story.

      “Britea sounds like a very brave…human and a strong wielder,” said Mat reluctantly.

      “She is.”

      Mat chuckled dryly. “She wanted to fight the others and I when we came to arrest you. I thought she was insane…maybe she is insane. Bargaining with the Alkynaia? That takes guts. Most of the time, the snakes come out on top with a full belly.”

      “True,” agreed Kahl.

      The cousins mopped the cargo hold in silence for several moments.

      “I’m still mad at you though.” But the heat was lacking from those words.

      “I know,” said Kahl with a small grin. Mat saw his expression and wielded a bubble of dirty, soapy water at him.

      “Hey!” protested Kahl as he retaliated in kind. Before long, both Dyhaeri were wet and laughing at themselves.

      “This is absolutely ridiculous,” said Mat smiling for the first time in days. “I can’t believe we’re cleaning the hold of a human ship. If someone had predicted this a month ago, I would have called them a lunatic.”

      “Makes you wonder why the king sent us here, doesn’t it?”

      Mat’s smile disappeared at the mention of their sovereign. “He’s just punishing us, Kahl, forcing us to learn more about humans.”

      “No, I don’t think that’s it. Remember it was the Sisters who suggested this, not him. And he even brought us here, personally. ”

      Mat sighed. “What are you trying to tell me?”

      “I don’t know. I just feel there’s more to the captain and the Peacekeeper than meets the eye. He’s different.”

      “Hmm, I thought so too. Every Weltonian I’ve ever met has been a bit…scared of us. Almost reverent in some cases, but Lanead is a different fish. He was angry at the king, and he definitely wasn’t afraid of him—or us.”

      “Care to ask him about it?”

      Mat snorted. “And get my head taken off? Nah, let’s just finish this assignment and go home.” His tone indicated he still had doubts about the authenticity of the assignment .

      “But what if we don’t get to go home? Lanead said he’s preparing us for the royal court.”

      “All right, let’s pretend that’s true. There’s only one court we could be going to.”

      “Malaquey Royal Court,” added Kahl.

      More than forty years ago, the Dyhaeri could swim in both Malaquey and Namiran territories. But ever since Queen Kallesa had ascended the throne in Namira, the Dyhaeri had been warned by King Jahlaniin to avoid Namiran territory. Only specially trained marines ever snuck in, and at great risk. Over the years, some had even never made it back to base.

      “And how much do we know about the Malaquey royal family?”

      “Their king is Wilhem of House Taros; he’s a direct descendant of the monarch who agreed to the peace treaty offered by Queen Zaleria over two millennia ago.”

      “Well done, I’m glad to see someone was paying attention in class,” said Mat dryly.

      Kahl rolled his eyes. “The question is, why would King Jahlaniin want us at the royal court?”

      “To gather information, perhaps.”

      “No, there’s more it. We stand out, so everyone will just gawk at us, and they’ll be too afraid to speak around us.”

      “Oh, you’re so wrong,” disagreed Mat. “You’d be surprised at how talkative humans get once they get over their initial fear. I bet there’s a lot we could learn in just a few hours at court...that is if we’re really going there.”

      Kahl shook his head. Mat still thought the assignment was fake. Why would the king lie? The younger cousin looked at the empty stairs leading out of the hold, and even though he knew they were alone, he still lowered his voice.

      “Have you noticed the Weltonians on this ship aren’t very talkative?”

      Mat nodded. “I’ve noticed it on other Weltonian ships too. They also stayed out of sight whenever I came around. I always found it odd how quiet they were. Now, on the other human ships? They couldn’t stop whispering and making remarks they thought I couldn’t hear.” He shook his head. “Some of what I heard was quite…” he struggled to find the right word.

      “Interesting?” added Kahl helpfully.

      “No, disturbing.” Mat saw the question on his cousin’s face. “And I’m definitely not going into detail!”

      “Fair enough.” Now Kahl was curious, but he decided not to probe. The two Dyhaeri mopped in silence for a bit before Mat sighed.

      “You need to work on your offensive stance.”

      “Huh?”

      “All you did was defend your position. You didn’t attack once in the last three sparring sessions.”

      Kahl blinked. “Excuse me, but you seemed determined to take my head off!”

      Mat shrugged as he smiled calmly. “Perhaps, but that doesn’t excuse you from not landing a hit now and then. From tomorrow, our sparring will be different. Take note.”

      Kahl gave his serene-looking cousin a troubled look. Why did he feel like he was going to have more bruises and sore spots in the coming days?

       #

      Lanead