Kingdom of Sea and Stone (Crown of Coral and Pearl #2) - Mara Rutherford Page 0,44

way of answers,” Roan said. “Not unless we plan to use torture. We should send for Adriel. She might have a better idea.”

I glanced questioningly at Roan, but he didn’t respond.

Yana murmured something to a young Galethian woman and she dashed off, seemingly to send for this Adriel person.

“We’ll consult with the council,” Yana said. “The outsiders can wait in the antechamber.” She walked away without another word.

I stared after her, wondering where she got the nerve to speak to people that way.

“You don’t like her, do you?” Roan asked as he escorted us to a waiting room. I noticed that his rider hadn’t left, but he was staying as far from Yana as possible. “Why not?”

“She’s abrasive,” I blurted. “And rude.”

“She’s forceful. It’s an important quality in a leader.”

Talin and his men were conversing across the room, while Zadie and Sami were whispering into each other’s ears. Judging from the blush creeping up Sami’s neck, they weren’t talking about the bloodstones. “I thought you were all equal,” I said, genuinely confused. “But she seems to be in charge.”

“We are all equal when it comes to voting, but Yana is the best rider in Galeth. That garners a certain amount of respect around here.”

I tried to imagine what my mother would make of a woman like Yana. She was not feminine by any Varenian standard; most of her hair was shorter than Roan’s, and her arms were as muscular as Sami’s. There was nothing soft or demure about her. But she was clearly well regarded, a respected leader with the battle scars to prove it.

“What does that look mean?” Roan said, studying me.

“That I’m learning, I suppose.” I smiled ruefully. “She despises me, doesn’t she?”

“Yana?” He patted my arm. “Yana doesn’t like anyone. But if you speak your mind, she just might come to respect you.”

We all turned as the Galethian Yana had sent off entered and asked us to follow her to the meeting room, where the rest of the councilmembers were waiting for us. Another young woman had joined them. She wasn’t dressed in riding clothing, like almost everyone else I’d seen in Galeth, but instead wore a garnet velvet dress with split skirts. She had a spattering of dark freckles across her nose, in stark contrast to her pale skin, and her black hair was loose around her shoulders.

“You’re lucky you caught me.” Her voice was throaty and rich, an interesting contrast to her wide blue eyes and small, pert nose. “I was just about to head home.”

Yana inclined her head. “Thank you for joining us. We know how busy you are.” She was being genuine, I realized. Whoever this Adriel was, she was in Yana’s good graces.

“I’d like you to meet our new friends,” Roan said. “Talin, Osius, Grig, Sami, Zadie, and last but not least, Nor. She’s the one I told you about.”

I glanced at him. When had he had time for that, and what could he possibly have told her about me?

Adriel turned to me and smiled. Something about her clear blue gaze was disarming. I felt as if she was seeing directly into my head, gleaning thoughts I wasn’t even conscious of. I smiled back, but she didn’t look away, and my smile faltered. Why wasn’t she looking at anyone else? What had Roan told her about me?

“The guard refuses to give up the bloodstone,” Yana said, finally taking Adriel’s focus away from me.

“That’s hardly surprising,” Adriel remarked as she approached the Ilarean, who had been brought into the council chamber, with a slow, swaying stride. She was curvaceous in a way I suspected many women in Varenia would be, if it weren’t for the lack of food. “The bloodstone has him under its control. Well, under the control of the person who wields the stone.”

“Ceren?” I asked. Several heads swiveled toward me.

“Is he the Ilarean king?” Adriel asked.

“For now,” Talin grunted.

“I’ve never seen a bloodstone in person before.” Adriel stopped just in front of the guard. He dragged his eyes up slowly to hers, but his expression remained dazed and unfocused.

Adriel made no move toward the stone, just leaned down until she was at eye level with it. “I only know the information that was passed down to me by my teacher. But my understanding is that only the Ilarean royals can wield them, since the stones are infused with the power of royal blood. Whoever wears a bloodstone given to them by the royal is under their command. If the king