Under Fallen Stars - Mel Odom [145]
"Silence, T'Kalah," the prince commanded without looking at the warrior.
TKalah swung on the other man, displeasure evident in his body language. Laaqueel knew if the prince had noted the movement he would have punished the warrior for insubordination.
The prince studied Iakhovas with his measured gaze. "You are a king."
"Yes," Iakhovas answered shortly but politely.
Laaqueel watched T'Kalah, feeling that if any attack was launched it would come through that sahuagin first. During her inspection of the royal guard, she noted the fact that the anterior fins on the sides of his head flared back over his skull and merged with the dorsal fin on his back. The anterior fins of the sahuagin in the outer seas didn't connect. His different coloring had already been noticed. Even as strange as the Serosian sahuagin looked to her, she knew they fit in more securely with her own people than she did despite Iakhovas's influence.
"Among your own people, perhaps," T'Kalah growled, "but not here."
Iakhovas pinned the sahuagin warrior with his glance. "I made myself king through blood, three-arm, and if need be, I will remain so by spilling more. Make no mistake about that."
TKalah's black eyes burned with hostility and he stared hard back at Iakhovas. It was not something most sahuagin would ignore. Instead, Iakhovas looked back to the prince, dismissing the sahuagin warrior as if he were nothing. Laaqueel watched the muscles bunch across T'Kalah's chest, and the amputated stub of his arm jerked involuntarily.
"No," she stated forcefully. She held her hands up before her, feeling the power of her gifts. "I am a priestess of Sekolah, warrior, and you would do well to heed my calling and the authority of the Most Exalted One."
The prince looked at T'Kalah as well, then moved his trident to face the other sahuagin. "If you move, you shall have to get through me as well."
"I seek only to protect you," TKalah argued.
"Then do it by serving me," the prince ordered.
Angrily, T'Kalah held his trident upright in one hand, then folded his other two arms across his chest. "These are ill currents, Maartaaugh."
"If so," Maartaaugh said, "we shall swim through them." The prince turned his attention back to Iakhovas. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see your king," Iakhovas said.
"King Kromes is dead. He died when the volcano exploded."
Iakhovas remained silent.
"His death," Laaqueel stated to fill the uncomfortable void that followed, "was by the will of Sekolah."
"Liar!" T'Kalah cried. "He's dead by your hand! Killed when you came through the volcano!"
Maartaaugh looked at the royal guard. "They couldn't have come through the volcano."
"I tell you, Exalted One," T'Kalah stated, "it is as I say. Would you call me a liar?" He took a step away, setting himself into a fighting stance. "I won't take such an accusation without demanding blood honor."
"We came through the volcano," Iakhovas told them.
The sahuagin prince faced Iakhovas again. "How?"
Laaqueel heard the uncertainty and fear in the prince's voice. She knew Maartaaugh was thinking of the magic involved with such a thing. "We were brought here by the Great Shark's will."
"They spout still more lies," T'Kalah said. "All true sahuagin know that Sekolah doesn't meddle in the affairs of his chosen. He expects them to fend for themselves."
Maartaaugh's face grew stony. Laaqueel felt the prince slipping away from them, saw it in the way he folded his arms and closed in on himself.
"Why," Maartaaugh asked, "would Sekolah do such a thing?"
Laaqueel stepped forward, taking her place beside Iakhovas. She lifted her voice and made it strong. "The Great Shark has established certain currents within Most Exalted One Iakhovas. Sekolah started a ripple within the Claarteeros Sea, and through the strength and forethought of Iakhovas, that ripple has spread even unto Seros."
"Brave words," T'Kalah snarled, "but words are cheap."
"He brought an army here," Laaqueel said.
"And killed our king." T'Kalah stepped toward her. "Tell me why the Great Shark would choose a malenti