He hated the cold and couldnt wait to return to Greece. Yet he couldnt govern at a distance. Nynns letter changed everything.
With his fists clenched beneath the table, he breathed calmly, using time-honored techniques. The other clans thought the Tigony preferred politics to violence. Far from true. They possessed gifts so overwhelming that control was essential. Mal fought the electrical current gathering in every cell. To outsiders, particularly the Council, his control could appear as weakness. He didnt feel weak; he was a man whose honor and will held a thunderstorm at bay.
We are here to disagree, he said, his voice practiced and even. That much is necessary before we can agree to take action. We are not here to hurl insults.
What if usurper is not an insult, but fact? This from Pendray Youth, whose expression always revealed his powers. He forever stood on the precipice of untold frenzied violence.
Usurper . That word had followed Mal for twenty years.
The Council reminded him whenever they convenednot always with outright snipes,
but with their refusal to cooperate. The previous Giva had guided the Five Clans for just over eighty years. He had been an authentic choice. Two children from each clan had looked into the churning, fiery maw of the Chasm where the Dragon had been birthed and where the Dragon had died. There, ten mouths had simultaneously screamed the name of the chosen Giva.
But Mal . . .
Hed been chosen by six whispers. Clans Pendray and Garnis were so few in number that theyd refused to condemn even two children to a mountaintop life of semimadness. For millennia, it had been considered an honor to choose the Giva. Never again wholly sane, the children grew into fierce warriors whose only duty was to protect the Fortress of the Chasm. Now it was regarded as a waste of what few children remained. Those whod chosen the previous Giva were growing old, leaving the fortress vulnerable. Their skills were dwindling, as was the population of Dragon Kings.
Mal was an obvious symbol.
Only six whispers, when tradition required ten screams.
Four crucial votes had been missing since his first day as Giva, always raising suspicion about his authority. Giva meant fulcrum. Plain and simple. Mal fought to tip the scales in an attempt to save their race, but he did so without unanimous authority.
That didnt mean he was without power. Or the element of surprise.
Pendray Youth, if you have a better solution to my standing as the head of this Council, Id like to hear it. Are you ready to assume my position? You as much as any senator know what we face, as clans and collectively. You have the privilege of speaking, arguing, making trouble, being usefulbut ultimately, youll remain one of ten. Any consensus will be my responsibility to defend, for good or for ill. Are you ready to bear that scrutiny?
Fine. Pendray Youth was the most contentious. Even Sath Wisdom knew when to back down. Just know that woe is me sounds pretty pathetic, Giva .
There is nothing woeful about stating a matter in plain speaking. Petulance, however
The young man banged his fist on the table.
Enough, said Sath Wisdom, her white brows narrowed. We speak out of turn and with a lack of respect.
From long experience, Mal knew she was quietly mocking his leadership. At the moment, he didnt care. Her intervention gave him a moment to cool his temper as Pendray Youths posture lost its aggression.
Now, Mal continued, as if the outburst hadnt occurred. As long as he kept calm, he could play any political game. Twenty years of contentious ruleand before that, years as the head of his clanhad made him a master. The letter from my cousin is our most decisive proof that the human cartels have overstepped. Were no longer talking about volunteers, desperate to pay off debts or to gamble on the possibility of a child. Human criminals are taking Dragon Kings from their homes! Im struck dumb by how easily youre letting this happen.
Because even if it can be proven, the information is from your cousin. Sath Youth lifted his chin in an obvious sign of disdain. She was banished for good reason.
She was banished because she married a human, and if were all honest, as retribution for circumstances surrounding her mother. But not because she was someone to spin tales. That Nynn bore a natural son is something we should be praising. Something to be thankful for. Youd rather dredge up what happened years ago.
Her son is only six, said Indranan Youth, with his dark, steady eyes. He always spoke for himself and Indranan Wisdom, who sat stooped and shrouded to his left. Their telepathy made whispered discussion unnecessary. No one yet knows whether he possesses a gift from the Dragon.
How the Indranan chose their representatives was a mystery to the other clans. Northern and Southern factions had been engaged in a bloody civil war for three thousand years. Mal would never know if these two hailed from the Indian subcontinent or from the wilds of the Australian outback. But he resented them because they represented all that stood in the way of the Dragon Kings survival. Ridiculous rivalries. Long-held grudges. Jealousy and hatred and all the emotions theyd long disdained of human beings.