Eradicate (Manipulate, Book 3)

Chapter 9

Herayung suites

Planet: Selta

The Diarena gargled with salt water to restore her throat. Her performance had, of course, been superb, but in the last year her singing had begun taking a harsher toll on her body. And she must preserve her voice as long as possible. It was one of the distinctives of her reign as Diarena, and unlike the Pontifex, she could be deposed at any time should her husband so choose. At the moment, he showed no such desire, and she planned to take care that he never did.

She had been the Diarena for eleven years, but she never forgot the precarious quality of her position. She gestured mutely for her servants to go (she refrained from speaking for several hours after each performance), and began to groom her feathers while she pondered the human's words.

Faal was definitely the largest threat to her current position. Their feud cost her sleepless nights, and yet it was impossible for her to end it. In fact, it was her feud with Faal that brought her to the Pontifex's attention in the first place.

Eleven years ago, during his last Unity celebration, he'd been surreptitiously looking over the daughters of all the high families for a new Diarena. It had not been known that that was his intention at the time. She and her father thought they had merely been invited for the sake of their ancient lineage.

It was the second day of the party that Faal had tried to speak with her.

She knew what he might say, as her parents had confided to her about Faal and his family. She'd allowed him to get her alone, once, to find out for sure, and he had uttered the mad threats they'd told her to expect. She'd decided then and there that the only way to avoid being manipulated and blackmailed by Faal for the rest of her life was to make him her enemy immediately.

It seemed counterintuitive, but everything in Merith high society was dominated by intrigue and manipulation.

So the next time she and Faal had been together in company, she insulted him. She implied that he'd tried to offer for her, but was a criminal thug too barbarian for the likes of polite society. Rudely, publicly, and irrevocably, she'd made him her enemy.

He'd been livid, and responded in kind, having then a furious temper and less control than he had now.

The shocked guests at their lower table, several removed from the Pontifex, had looked first at her, then at him, wondering how she dared insult one of the most powerful Merith faals. At that time he was still a relatively new faal, fresh from his transition from smuggling to politics, and still solidifying his place in the Merith hierarchy. She was from an old family and already much admired for her beauty, and they could readily believe that he had offered for her. A tense silence had come over their table, lasting until the entertainment for the evening, a Spo gymnastic event, had begun.

He'd waited until she left the table and then followed her out into the dark, hot night.

"Are you a fool?" he demanded, roughly pushing her into a stone alcove shaped like a large beehive. "I will ruin you."

She'd laughed, shaking on the inside, but also filled with her own fury. "Just try. Try to tell your lies to anyone now. Tell them I'm descended from ingrates and assassins. Will they believe you? Or will they think you bitter at my refusal and scorn?"

For a moment, she'd seen the realization of defeat in his eyes, and then his expression hardened into fury. By making everyone think she hated him and scorned his offer of marriage, she'd also made everyone think he hated her. Now if he said anything negative about her, at least for a while, it would be considered a jilted lover's angry retaliation. He'd been out-maneuvered by a young girl, and in such a shameful way.