Water {Elements of Power 2}

Chapter 15: Roxy

The meeting took place inside the hollow tree. Tristan marched me straight to it.

"No need to pull so hard!" I snapped as we went inside. "I'm perfectly capable of walking—especially to anywhere that takes me away from Erica."

"Well if you walk too slowly, Erica won't leave you alive long enough to reach the tree."

I laughed. "Let her do her worst."

He shot me a strange look, as if he couldn't decide whether I was brave or stupid.

My arm hurt from where he had yanked on it so hard, but I couldn't rub it with my hands still bound together. Tristan led me over to a grand looking table on a dais at the rear of the tree-hall hybrid. The inside of the hall was bare; its walls were formed of smooth wood, decorated only with thin garlands of flowers and ivy. Candles served as the only source of light inside the space, which was dim and full of shadows. There was very little furniture besides the table and its chairs, which appeared to have been carved straight from tree trunks. There wasn't even a visible ceiling above my head, although a wooden staircase ran in a spiral around the walls of the hall, reaching up into darkness. The rest of the room was empty space, perhaps to allow for maximum occupancy.

"What's Erica's problem, anyway?" I asked, taking a seat at one of eight wooden chairs.

"She's had it in for anything Helian since she escaped from your Realm—she's probably going to lose the election because of what happened."

Well that was interesting to know. No wonder Erica had lost all of her pretence of diplomacy.

My head cocked slightly to the side, I regarded the Sephan. He definitely couldn't be much older than me, but from the way he was talking and the buzz that had surrounded him on my trip to the capital, I surmised that he must have been running for President. He was so young though; how could he run a Realm, even with a co-ruler? Surely the Sephans must have some restrictions...

Then again, he was slightly older than Brae, who had more or less taken over the running of the Arcan Realm now that his father was too unwell to do so. Brae, who had been training to rule for his entire life, who had been so bold, so commanding, in the Helian Realm that even my grandfather had been taken aback. Perhaps Brae was just a special case; circumstances dictated that he had to take control. Besides, it wasn't as though there were any older Arcan Protectors left other than his own mother and one or two too ancient to be of any use. My grandfather's predecessor had seen to that...

I couldn't imagine taking on so much responsibility so quickly. I had always assumed that I would take the Helian throne at some point, but that was in the distant future; my grandfather was still healthy and my parents were young. I wouldn't choose to take power sooner, as this Sephan appeared to be doing.

Tristan's eyes glinted in the light from the lanterns on the wall, betraying his excitement. He remained otherwise composed, however, leaning on the back of a tree stump chair and regarding me with interest, mixed with something else—triumph, perhaps? He certainly thought that he knew what he was doing, even if I had my doubts...

Moments later, Erica came in, followed by four other Sephans, none of whom were Protectors. They all looked at me warily before taking seats on the opposite side of the table. Tristan took a seat beside me, surprising me, since this placed him firmly on my side.

Erica had a choice: she could either sit beside me, or on Tristan's other side. She hesitated for a moment, as if deciding which position would be most advantageous, before taking the seat beside mine. Perhaps she was worried it would make Tristan look braver than her otherwise.

"Now that all of the candidates are here—" Tristan began, but I quickly interrupted him.

"Wait a minute, where's Nolan?" The large, non-Protector Sephan who had come to the Helian Realm was nowhere to be seen.