Luminous

109 - Aynor

"Only smithies given rights by royal decree can mint coins. Women have burned for shaving a handful of gold faces. For Freda's sake, what is it between you and the pyre that you just can't stay away?"

"Fine! Fine! I won't do it no more. Happy now?" Meya threw up her hands then crossed them over her bosom. She rammed her back against the barge's wall, venting her temper.

"Meya, listen to him!" Arinel scolded in an unprecedented show of solidarity with Coris. Meya cocked an eyebrow at her. She glowered back.

"You take this matter seriously, or it may very well be the last thing you'd ever do." 

Those unblinking, ice-clear blue eyes delved deep into hers. Meya gulped words down her contricted throat, reminded of the last time she had failed to heed the Lady's warning. Still, Meya Hild was nothing if not tiresomely pigheaded. Especially when it came to the law.

"'Tis but a pocketful of coins. I ain't plotting to kill the king. What's with high treason and all that?" 

Grumbled Meya. Coris and Arinel turned and met eyes worriedly.

"I reckon it's high time you teach her about the coin," said Arinel. Coris weighed it briefly, then shook his head.

"She won't learn in this state." He said brusquely, then nodded at the pouting Meya, slapping his leg, "Sleep. I'll explain tonight."

"Say, if we reveal Greeneyes can absorb and secrete metal, how do we stop them doing this? Say even if the majority didn't, how can we trust our money from now on?" 

Zier finally broke his silence. Coris froze, then sighed heavily.

"My fears precisely." He admitted, for once agreeing with his brother, his eyebrows furrowed, "We may have no choice but to plate our coins with Lattis. I wonder how Nostra tackled this issue."

Lattis?

Coris hummed as he caressed his chin, his eyes unfocused, lost among possibilities. Meya could hardly believe her ears, her eyes. She scrambled to her knees and bolted back, wanting nothing than to flee as far from this heartless creature as Freda would allow.

"I can't believe this!" Coris spun around, nonplussed, then jumped out of his skin at Meya's scream—

"HOW DARE YOU! D'YOU WANT ME TO DIE SOONER!?"

A flash of comprehension crossed his eyes. Meya realized Coris must have simply forgotten, and her rage subsided—only to surge into a wall of flames when his fleeting guilt gave way to the familiar cold determination.

"And what other solution do you have?" He asked, a hint of derision in his voice. Meya had none. Her fear must have poked through her fury—Coris caught himself, then. His taut lips unwound. His frown melted away. He blinked, and his eyes were gentle gray once more.

"Latakia wasn't built with dragons in mind." He began, "If we were to share this land in peace, compromises must be made."

Meya didn't deign to, she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. Compromise. Sacrifice. Goodwill. Whatever. They were all facades for one and the same—Burden on the Land. He simply hid it better than Lasralein. Desperate, Coris reached out his hands.

"I'll consult Gillian. We'll find a safe balance. Together." He held her hands as he clung onto her eyes, pleading, "I would never knowingly harm you, Meya—"

"Unless you really had to? Until your precious babe is safely out of me—"

Meya cursed so vulgarly Arinel clutched at her heart. Zier belatedly clapped his hands over Frenix's ears.