Under Fallen Stars - Mel Odom [146]
The words stung Laaqueel.
"Because," Iakhovas snapped, "her faith is stronger even than your thick-headedness."
T'Kalah swam up from the flier's deck, cutting through the water swiftly. The currents he started slammed against Laaqueel.
"Most Sacred One," Iakhovas said softly, "don't kill this one yet."
T'Kalah arrowed toward them, disregarding the prince's commands to return to the flier.
Summoning her power, Laaqueel shot out a hand, praying to the Great Shark that her control be strong and sure.
Little more than halfway between the vessels, T'Kalah's smooth stroke suddenly shattered. His arms and legs twisted in a vicious convulsion. He flailed out against the sea as if it was closing in on him.
Laaqueel held the sahuagin warrior in the spell's thrall, knowing the pressure she'd created was so great he wasn't able to breathe properly.
"Enough," Iakhovas said.
Silently, Laaqueel dismissed the spell, feeling terribly fatigued. It was one thing, she knew from experience, to unleash a spell, and quite another to attempt to curtail it and shape it once it had been loosed.
Released from the crushing pressure, T'Kalah finned weakly in the ocean, barely able to control himself. Weakness showed in every move he made. Angrily, he retreated back to his flier.
"What do you want?" Maartaaugh asked.
"If your king is dead," Iakhovas asked, "who leads?"
"The remaining princes. We serve as council. For the moment."
"How many are you?"
"Five," Maartaaugh answered.
"Then I will speak to them."
Glints of anger stirred in Maartaaugh's black eyes. "Why should I allow it?"
"You would be foolish to try to stop me," Iakhovas declared. "I've come from an ocean, a world away, and I've come here for one thing only. I've traveled to Seros to free you from your prison."
* * * * *
Laaqueel stood at Iakhovas's side as he spoke at the public forum he'd demanded. She felt the currents eddying around her, tracked by the lateral lines that ran through her body. She watched the five princes gathered at the makeshift table that had been hastily cobbled together by laying a section of flat rock over two stacks of rock in one of the cleared areas in the center of Vahaxtyl. The table was more a show of authority than any furnishing. The princes wore their halters of rank and held their tridents.
All of the princes were grim-faced. They didn't even talk among themselves at Iakhovas's announcement.
The malenti priestess knew they were of one mind. Maartaaugh had already spoken to them. Even then, Iakhovas had agreed to come to their offered meeting unarmed, with only Laaqueel and a dozen Black Tridents as a token show offeree.
If the princes voted against Iakhovas's offer, Laaqueel had no doubt that they would all be dead before the sun stabbed down into the water again. She averted her gaze from the princes' table out of deference, and more nervousness than she wanted to admit.
Most of the populace of Vahaxtyl ringed them, sitting on broken terrain over the underground sections of the city.
Huge gray lava rocks piled high all around. She knew Iakhovas's voice carried well in the water, but messengers were on hand to relay what was spoken. She heard Iakhovas's words passed on again and again.
Most of the sahuagin crowd's body language registered disbelief and anger. They knew that the outer sea sahuagin had come through the exploding volcano and had emerged unharmed while so many of their city died. That crowd was only a step away from reaching out for vengeance. The rubble of the city lay scattered around them, and the twilight gloom of the depths filled the water above them.
Laaqueel didn't know what Iakhovas had been thinking to agree to the princes' terms. She drew water in through her gills, held it for a moment, then flushed it out again.
Steady, my priestess, Iakhovas stated calmly in her mind. Trust in your faith. Everything is going to be as it should.
As it should for them, or for us? she asked.
Iakhovas didn't answer.
Toomaaek stood at the center of the table. He was tall and thick, his body covered