Aliisza smiled sheepishly in spite of her pounding heart. "I know," she said. "I was angry with you. I wanted to punish you."
Kaanyr raised that single eyebrow again. "Punish me?" he asked. "I don't take too kindly to punishment," he said. "From anyone," he added. His voice carried a dangerous edge to it.
Aliisza did allow herself to slip into that familiar role of temptress then. She sauntered over to Kaanyr. "Perhaps," she said, and she was almost surprised at how smoky her voice had become, "but I do." She closed the distance until she was standing directly in front of him. She cocked her hips to one side and rested her hands on them. "Aliisza's been a good girl," she said softly. "Make her bad again."
She held her breath, wondering if it would work.
Kaanyr sat very still, though the alu could see the muscles of his neck working as he swallowed several times. She knew she was getting to him.
"Why are you still here?" he asked, his own voice soft. "You can flee whenever you want. So why remain, be that angel's lackey?"
Aliisza cast a glance toward the open balcony, saw the roiling storms beyond the opening, and returned her gaze to the cambion's face. Don't think I haven't thought about it, she thought. Almost every second since we got tossed back in here. "Because I want to stay with you," she answered, and it was the truth.
Kaanyr nodded. "And who are the other three?" he asked.
Aliisza fought not to show her fear. What will you do when I tell you? she wondered. She took a deep breath. "One, I love like a mother. One, like a daughter. And one no longer even lives," she said. "But the only one that matters right now, I love in the most mischievous way possible."
Kaanyr smiled then and reached for Aliisza at last.
CHAPTER FIVE
"But this is a matter of honor!" Tauran argued, his voice rising. It echoed throughout the hemispherical chamber, reverberating back against Kael as he and the deva stood before the Council. Its members sat arrayed in a semicircle, nine solars in all. Each one rested upon a thronelike chair arranged on a raised, curved dais around half the chamber. Kael never liked having to peer upward to face the members. Their silvery faces and golden eyes were inscrutable, and it always left him with the feeling of being on trial.
Perhaps we are on trial, he thought. The whole House has lost its senses. They've never questioned Tauran like this before.
Somewhere beyond the chamber, muted rumbles reverberated from the growing chaos sweeping the plane. Kael could feel the power of the storms in the stones beneath his feet. The entire Court of Tyr shook with the energy of the gods' argument.
So much anger, Kael thought, dismayed. So much energy wasted. Surely they should be-No. Do not think that way.
Do not try to fathom the depths of the gods, he told himself. Serve them well.
Tauran continued. "I made a bargain with the two of them, and I gave them my word."
"That may be," said the High Councilor, sitting in the very middle of the assemblage. "But in this instance, it might not have been yours to give. There is much occurring here that we do not yet understand, and you risk not only your own reputation within the Court, but the well-being of many that dwell within the House."
"They agreed to be bound by obligation," he said, as if that answered all the Councilors' doubts. Kael suspected it did not, and he wondered why. What has Tauran ever done to make you doubt? he wondered, frustrated.
"One of them agreed, Tauran, not both," the High Councilor said. "The cambion is an easy read. He is as manipulative and cunning as he is corrupt, and he will cause you trouble. She, on the other hand, is an unknown factor in all of this, and she has already violated numerous laws as our guest."
Tauran nodded and spread his hands in supplication. "I cannot defend all of Aliisza's actions to this point, Councilors, but I can also see how our influences have begun to affect her. She has behaved with more compassion than even I would have imagined. She risked injury to herself in order to save a pair of young petitioners in that village today. I believe she has started down a path to redemption."
Kael frowned while listening to Tauran describe Aliisza's selfless act. Redemption? That did not fit the image of her in his mind. Would she have saved them without the protection of your bargain? he wondered.
"This is the third time you have come before us concerning this being, Tauran," another of the Councilors said, her feathered wings fluttering behind her to show her impatience. "Each time before, you have asked us to accept your wisdom, to trust you in these matters, despite our better judgment. In both cases, events did not play out as you expected."
Kael saw Tauran shift from foot to foot, saw the deva's own wings flutter in agitation. He had never seen the angelic creature seem so… ruffled before. They're not buying it either, he realized. Maybe trying to sell everyone on her good points isn't the best way. Torm knows it's hard for me to see her good side. But you know her better than anyone here, he thought. Convince them so we can go.
"Now you stand before us again, pleading for more leeway," she continued. "It is not a pattern that lends itself much to confidence and optimism on our part."
Tauran spread his hands again. "As I have said before this court in the past, I believe our best hope of gaining her trust and ultimately turning her to a path of goodness is to give her some room, some freedom. We must allow her to feel her way through this on her own."
"Such a course is risky."
"My plan involves more risk, to be sure, but I believe the greater rewards are worth it. The less we interfere, the more likely it is that she will embrace this new outlook. The more we restrict her, attempt to confine her actions to that narrow path, the more she will resist and turn against us."
The High Council was quiet for a long moment. Kael wondered if they were silently conversing or merely thinking. The half-drow caught himself wanting to pace and had to force himself to remain still.
He could see both points of the debate. On the one hand, Aliisza was willful and impudent. She was not bound to serve anyone and could wreak havoc on Tauran's schemes at any inopportune moment. And Kael detested the idea of relying on immoral fiends, full-blooded or not, in order to hunt down Zasian. The holy power of Tyr and Torm should be enough!
On the other, Tauran's arguments about the extraordinary nature of the circumstances made for compelling testimony. Members of the Triad were arguing, fighting even, and the entire Court seemed paralyzed, unable to come to any consensus on what to do. All the gatherings, all the proceedings-where little more than debate ever occurred-were growing tiring and irksome. The loyal champion of Torm wanted action.
Even if it means being near her? he asked. As if to answer, Kael felt a strange, uncomfortable sense of curiosity invade his thoughts. He did want to be near her. Why? he wondered, struggling to understand such strange emotions. You have Tauran already. What else do you need? Kael thought again of Aliisza risking herself to save those two children. Would she have done that for me? a tiny part of him wondered. No, he decided, trying to push that thought away. You only want her near to prove to yourself once and for all that she was the uncaring fiend you've always imagined, he scolded himself. And you cannot let that jeopardize Tauran's plans. You have duties.
Still, the image of his mother lingered.
"Here is my fear in all this," the High Councilor said at last. "That you-and we-are being manipulated by these fiends in ways that we do not yet understand, and we will be filled with regret when we do, when it's too late. You yourself have admitted to such once already, the second time you stood before us, after the alu escaped your custody."
Several murmurs of agreement arose from the other Councilors gathered there. Kael scanned them all, studied their faces, and saw nothing but grim countenances and disapproval. They reflected Kael's own suspicions. Vhok, Aliisza, and Zasian had pulled off a most extraordinary trick in order to breach the House's defenses.