Sapphire by the Sea

Chapter 4 | RENEVELDA

Chapter 4 RENEVELDA

Renevelda glanced at the grandfather clock Eviliv insisted on keeping in the hall, even though it chimed every hour, and an invisible hammer struck her behind the temples every time it did. It chimed now, just three strikes.

The woman was supposed to have arrived thirty minutes ago. If there was one mortal thing Renevelda hated most, it was others wasting her time.

She was about to call for her guards when someone knocked at the door.

“Yes?” she called, not bothering to keep the irritation out of her voice.

Her guard cleared his throat. “A miss Suha Mahsa is here for you, mistress.”

“About time. Send her in.”

A short woman—girl, really, as she couldn’t have been more than nineteen—with a glinting blue stud in her nose and closely cropped hair entered the room.

“So?” Renevelda started.

“I’m sorry I’m late. The tides were rough.” She bowed low and kept her eyes on the ground.

“I should think you would have adjusted your schedule, then. It’s not as if the tides have just arrived.”

Suha’s shoulders tensed, but she didn’t comment on the jab.

“Well, you’ve come all this way. What is the purpose?”

“I come on behalf of my people. We need aid, mistress. The Isle of Salire faces difficulties with the unstable tides.”

Renevelda lifted one eyebrow. “And you think it appropriate to ask the crown to choose favorites? We do not meddle in the affairs of the Seer Sects.” That wasn’t strictly true. King Eviliv often played the four Seer Sects against each other to test their loyalty to him. “Furthermore, and most importantly, the Isle of Salire is sovereign by its own choice. It is neither the territory nor responsibility of Viltresor.”

“We are desperate, mistress. The unstable tides have upended our agriculture, fishing, trade, everything.” Suha lifted her gaze, maybe hoping Renevelda would see the pain in them and grant her compassion. Instead, she had given the sorceress a doorway.

The inside of Suha Mahsa’s mind was a jumbled mess. It didn’t take long sifting through the fear for Renevelda to find what she had been looking for these past many years. Curious where they’d kept it. Maybe they didn’t understand its power. Whatever the reason, it seemed fortune finally smiled on Renevelda.

She released Suha’s thoughts, traveling out of them as easily as she had climbed in. The girl in front of her would never be the wiser. She would think the sorceress had found a spark in her heart, had wanted to help the people. By the time she figured it out, it wouldn’t matter, anyway.

“I will talk to the king,” Renevelda said. “There might be something we can do to ease your discomfort that wouldn’t suggest to the Urtharians, Dunamarians, or Ceserites that Viltresor has chosen sides.”

The woman nodded once. Relief relaxed the tension in her sharp jaw. “Thank you, mistress. The Katamians of the Isle will not forget your kindness.”

“See that you don’t,” Renevelda said. “When it is time.”

Suha bowed again, and one of Renevelda’s guards led her out.

The sorceress rolled her neck and moved to the large desk under the blue banner. She checked the moon phase chart that covered the surface of the desk. By the star reader’s calculations, the tide would be high enough in less than one month at the April full moon. Renevelda had confidence that she’d have what she needed in time. Then, both she and Eviliv would get what they truly deserved.