poor decisions that you’re arguing right now. I do not wish to cause more strife in your family.”
“Don’t worry about it, Lord Mefithi,” Kalon replied, eyeing his mother. “The high priestess simply has trouble understanding that she no longer controls her son. Her sons, actually. Our youngest brother might still be in her grasp, but he’ll grow out of it, too. We’re allowed to make our own destiny.”
“Speaking of which,” Zoltan said. “Lord Visentis, there is a council meeting I’d like you to attend sometime next week. It involves some administrative changes around the palace and its neighborhood. I think the high priestess has wanted you to get involved in affairs of the empire before.”
I remembered Valaine telling us that Kalon didn’t have a specific role assigned anywhere, but that he’d been groomed to someday become Lord Supreme. Of course, there were doubts that the Nasani dynasty would step down anytime soon, but it hadn’t stopped Petra from channeling all her resources into making sure that her son was more than ready for the challenge.
It was also interesting to hear about Kalon’s brothers. I hadn’t met any of them yet, but I figured that would happen soon. The family dynamic of the Aeternae was certainly part of my area of interest, from an anthropological point of view.
“It would be my pleasure,” Kalon replied after a long pause. It seemed to please his mother, who leaned back into her tall chair and took a long sip of spiced blood from a flute-shaped crystal glass.
Beryn cleared his throat, drawing our attention. His eyes were fixed on Derek and Sofia, and his expression made me feel somewhat uncomfortable. I didn’t need to be a sentry to sense the mild aggression coming off him. My instincts were quite sharp.
“So, have you found what you were looking for?” he asked.
Derek frowned, looking slightly confused. “What do you mean?”
“You can’t tell me you expect us to believe you’re just visiting. It’s a tad absurd, given that I hear you’ll be running blood tests on our people soon,” Beryn said.
Danika straightened her back, suddenly uncomfortable. Acheron’s eyes threw darts at Beryn. Hell, no one at the table liked where this conversation was headed—including our group. Maylin, on the other hand, was smiling. She and Beryn must’ve talked about this before dinner.
“Where did you hear that?” Danika asked Beryn.
“Word travels fast, Your Grace,” Beryn replied. “I see you’re not denying it.”
“We’re simply trying to understand the similarities and the differences between our species,” Derek said, calm and reserved in his approach.
Beryn grinned. “It doesn’t have anything to do with whatever made you into a day-walker then, huh? Because we all know you got it from one of our own.”
Danika rolled her eyes. “I see gossip is still running rampant.” She glanced at Acheron. “See, darling? This is why I’ve been advocating for smaller dinners and fewer guests lately.”
“I agree,” Acheron replied, raising an eyebrow at Beryn. “One of us, Beryn? One of whom, exactly?”
“Why, the Aeternae, of course,” Beryn said.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to question what Derek and his team do with the blood we give them,” Acheron declared. “You were turned. From a heritage point of view, you don’t get a say in this.”
“No, but I just want these foreigners to be honest,” Beryn replied. “I just want them to tell us that they came here for the day-walking cure. Judging by what they’ve said so far, frankly, it did not take a master linguist to figure it out.”
“Beryn doesn’t like pussy-footing much.” Maylin chuckled, thoroughly enjoying this.
Sofia exhaled sharply. “It’s true. We came here because our search for the day-walking protein brought us to Visio.”
It didn’t surprise Danika or Acheron. Zoltan seemed a tad displeased, at best, but he wasn’t shocked, and neither was Petra. In hindsight, it did make sense that they’d figured it out on their own, as much as we’d tried to convince ourselves otherwise. But I did wonder what had made them draw the conclusion, since they definitely didn’t know about our tracking magic.
“We didn’t want it to be the main objective of our visit, though,” Sofia added. “We are genuinely fascinated, in awe of your civilization and what you’ve accomplished here. For us, it’s always a pleasure to explore new worlds. As you all know by now, this isn’t our first foray into interstellar exploration.”
“I appreciate your candor,” Acheron replied. “Rest assured, we are not in any way upset or offended that you did not tell us immediately.