A Time of Blood (Of Blood and Bone #2) - John Gwynne Page 0,90

for over half a century, then perhaps he is not worth waiting for,” Kol said. “This is a sacred meeting and should be respected as such.”

Voices called out their agreement.

A Ben-Elim flew in through one of the large windows, gliding to Kamael’s side. A few whispered words, Kamael frowning.

“Well,” Kol said. “Will Sariel be gracing us with his presence?”

“He… cannot be found,” Kamael said.

“Perhaps he has returned to Ripa,” Kol offered.

“No. This is not characteristic of Sariel. We should search for him,” Kamael said.

“Break off the Moot to find one straggler?” Kol snapped, waving his arms. “Ridiculous. I say we cast our votes for the new Lord Protector now.”

Kol, you are so clever. Riv eyed Kol suspiciously, wondering if he had played any part in Sariel’s lack of appearance at the Moot.

It would not surprise me. She felt a sense of discomfort at that thought, another reminder of how far Kol was from Riv’s moral code.

Am I becoming like him, by ignoring his myriad dark deeds? Is this how Aphra felt? Each small step taken for a greater good, and then before you know it, you have walked a thousand leagues from where you used to be. And how do you return to that place, return to the person you were? Or if you cannot do that, how do you become the person that you wish to be?

Kamael scowled at Kol. “Where is Sariel?”

“I am not his keeper,” Kol said, his expression flat and cold.

“Nothing would keep Sariel from this Moot.” Kamael took a step closer to Kol. “Something, or someone, must have stopped him.”

Kol returned his gaze. “Are you making an accusation? If you are, you must present your evidence, else you are spouting conjecture and fancy. That is not becoming of the Ben-Elim.”

He is daring Kamael.

Kamael glared at Kol a moment, his wings trembling.

“I have no evidence yet. But this Moot should be postponed until Sariel is found, or until we have answers for his absence.”

“The fate of the Banished Lands should be postponed, with the Kadoshim stirring, because Sariel is late to a Moot?”

“We should wait,” Kamael maintained.

“It is not your decision to make,” Kol said.

“And neither is it yours,” Kamael answered. “You are not our Lord Protector.”

“Very well, let us vote on whether we should vote, then,” Kol said, rolling his eyes. “Or does that not meet with your approval either, Kamael? Would you be dictator to us all?”

Calls for a vote rang out.

A long silence, Kol and Kamael staring at each other as if the world around them was gone.

“Of course, let us vote,” Kamael eventually said, though the twitching of his wings gave away his feelings on the matter.

It did not take long, the vast majority of the gathering stood to show their desire to vote.

“I propose Kol be inducted as our new Lord Protector,” a voice called out: Hadran, who remained on his seat even as the host who had stood were sitting back down. The bruises on his pale face from his fight in the weapons-field stood out like a smudge on pale parchment.

“First, we should discuss… this,” Kamael said, waving a hand at Riv.

“There is nothing to discuss,” Kol said. “Riv was voted on before the whole of Drassil. To disregard that would be to disregard the people.”

“We rule here,” Kamael said.

Riv just stared at the white-haired Ben-Elim. He was not the same as Sariel, did not seem to have his strength or force of presence. As much as she had despised what Sariel had said, his presence had been commanding. When he spoke, it felt natural to listen.

“We will not punish the innocent for the sins of their fathers, or mothers,” Kol said. “That has been decided, agreed by the people. To go back on that would risk much, would even risk their faith in us, I fear. And let us not forget, when all of us are gathered together, there are little more than three thousand of us, whereas the mortals of these Banished Lands number in the hundreds of thousands. We rule because they allow us to rule.”

“You speak nonsense.” Kamael snorted.

“Do I?” Kol replied. “Our authority was accepted because we entered this world as the saviours of humankind, vanquishing the Kadoshim. But that was over a hundred years ago. Those grateful people are all long dead and in the ground. This new generation must accept us for what we do now, and they have already spoken on this matter. To overrule them now…” Kol left the consequences