Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [113]
"Basil, even you can't be that dense." Even the normally unflappable Cain gasped at the King's tone, but Peter forged on. This wasn't a time for niceties. "Now the people need to see us more than ever. You ignored my concerns about the Klikiss programming when I expressed them a year ago, and now everyone remembers that I blew the whistle on the Soldier compies, that I wanted the factory shut down. But you wouldn't listen."
Cain quietly interrupted. "That's true. I've heard it mentioned three times in the past hour, Mr. Chairman. The newsloops are hailing the King as a visionary and a hero."
Basil reddened. "I can control the way the media reports their stories, Peter. I don't know the identity of their ‘confidential Whisper Palace sources,' but I will find out who you've been talking to, and I'll put a stop to it." His quick smile was brittle and unpleasant. "As you know, accepting credit and blame are two of a King's primary functions in this government. I haven't made up my mind yet whether you should abdicate your throne because of recent errors in judgment that have cost innumerable lives."
Peter saw his hopes crumble. So much for making a peace offering or finding a solution to an unnecessary conflict. Cain raised his hands to intercede. "Mr. Chairman, no one in the public will assign blame to King Peter. That is nonsense, considering that he blew the whistle--"
"They will believe what I tell them to believe." Basil's tone cut off any rebuttal, and the deputy withdrew, looking both angry and troubled.
The Chairman would lash out at any target he could defeat, since he could do nothing against the real enemy. The Roamers had been painted as enemies, and Basil would do the same to Peter and Estarra. He had fooled himself that there was a chance for a reasonable solution. Maybe there never had been.
"I won't take the fall for your stubborn inaction, Basil. I reacted swiftly and appropriately to the crisis. My warnings about the compies are a matter of long-standing public record. If there is to be any resignation, it should be yours. Shall I call for it in the next formal session of representatives?"
"Unfortunately for you, I believe you would try something so stupid." The Chairman looked murderous, losing his temper. Basil never loses control! "I want you out of here. Now."
Peter backed toward the door, knowing now that Basil would never allow peace between them.
65
CESCA PERONI
Still struggling to understand and use the new powers infusing her healed body, Cesca reeled with the outbursts of elemental power ricocheting around the ice cavern. The entire grotto had become a war zone.
Karla Tamblyn regarded her son with a stony face and blazing eyes. Her reanimated body seethed with destruction, like bottled chaos. Cesca had seen her only once before, long ago, when Karla had come to Rendezvous on clan business. She had been a confident, unshakable woman who balanced the abrasiveness of her husband, Bram. Now she was something else entirely.
"Jess, I can feel the power. She's not even human."
"I know what she is," he said.
When Caleb Tamblyn called out for help, Karla turned toward the older man, extended her arm--and shot knives of ice through the air at him. Jess moved in a flash to intercept the projectiles, using wental power to save his haggard uncle. The deflected projectiles smashed against the frozen walls.
Cesca sought strength and answers from the new energies within her. The strange insistent voices shouted inside their heads. We feared a tainted wental would arise. Some of our energy trickled into her cells, separate from us. The corrupt wental reanimated her body, yet it remains imprisoned within her, unable to propagate. A terrible mutation, surging with power. Now it is trying to break free, destroying her and remaking her at the same time.
Jess staggered closer, holding out his hands, as if he could reason with his mother. His voice croaked as he called out her name. "Karla Tamblyn! Remember