I don't know what to say to Irei the next day. I manage to mumble 'good morning' when I pass him in the hall, but my voice is weak and my smile feels insincere. He stops in the corridor to talk, and for the first time in a month I don't stop with him. I pretend I don't see him and keep walking, shutting myself away in my office at the first chance I get. I tell myself it's because I'm so busy with the filing Tyro gave me, but in reality I'm not ready to face him.

He called me a fool. More than that, he called me a child. Like I was nothing more than a boy of eight clinging frightened to his mother's skirts. I know he meant well, know he was just speaking what he believed to be the truth, but I can't quite bring myself to forgive him. I can't make myself regret calling him faithless, even if I do feel a peculiar lonely ache when he doesn't join me for a cup of Y'xala over lunch. The heat has gone out of my anger, but a sliver of resentment remains, a splinter that aches every time I consider going to his office to clear the air.

I'm sitting in my office after dinner, filing papers, when a knock comes at the door.

"Come in," I call, still bent over the stack of Council reports I've been sorting for the past hour. I barely look up, expecting Tyro with yet more papers in his arms, but a different voice answers me back.

"Good evening, Shira."

"Ambassador," I say, quickly putting the papers aside. I wonder if he's come to apologize. I hope he has, I realize: this is the longest we've gone without a friendly conversation in a month, and I miss the companionship, even if part of me still holds on to last night's anger.

His face is very serious, almost grim. His usually ruddy cheeks are pale and his lips are drawn, and there's something uncomfortably close to fear flashing in his dark eyes.

"What is it?" I ask, all thoughts of an apology instantly leaving my mind. He's seen something, heard something, and its weight has leeched the color from his face. "Is everyone alright? What's happened?"

"Nothing you need to panic over," he says, sitting down opposite me. His brows are furrowed horribly, making him look even sterner than usual. "Everyone is alright."

"Then why do you look like you've seen a phantom?" I ask, still tense, waiting for another tragedy to spill from his lips. "Is it about my mother? Or O'otani?"

"No," he answers. "It's about you."

"Me?" I ask, bewildered. "What about me?"

"Don't panic," Irei reiterates. "But I've just gotten out of a meeting with two Yi'ili delegates, and they know you're on the island."

My eyes widen and my heart begins to beat loudly in my chest. "What?" I sputter. "But that's- that's impossible. Nobody knows I'm in Kama, we were so careful- how could they-"

"They say your mother told them," he adds, cutting through my fearful ramblings. "Apparently she's been at court in Yi'il. The delegates claim that when she heard they were coming to Kama for a trade meeting she told them the location of her son and gave them a message."

"Well, do you believe them?" I ask, full of hesitation. "I mean, theoretically my mother could have been in Yi'il, but what proof do we have? What if they've found out where I am some other way? They could be planning on kidnapping me and taking me back to Sholu, goddess knows he must be offering some kind of reward for my capture!"
"We have some proof," he says. "They gave me a message from your mother, something only she and I would know, to show they were telling the truth."

"What was it?" I ask. "What did they tell you?"

He leans back in his chair. "They message was quite short. It was 'remember when you were the King of Flat Rock, and I was the Queen of the Riverlands.'"

My brow furrows in confusion. "What in Zsavina's name does that mean?"

The ghost of a smile appears on the ambassador's lips. "Flat Rock was a hillock we played on when we were school children. Your mother declared herself Queen of the dried riverbed the ran underneath it, and every week we'd meet there to eat wild elderberries and dance like fiends."

I can't imagine my mother dancing anything other than a proper Shikkan waltz. The image of her as a girl dancing on a dried riverbed seems alien. It would bring a smile to my face if I wasn't so on edge at the idea that someone knows where I'm hiding.

"Do you believe that message is authentic?" I ask. "Could they have faked it somehow?"

"I can't imagine how," Irei answers. "Only Taís, Somitu, my brother Sohma, and I knew about those games we used to play. Sohma has been dead for years, and even if these delegates did have contact with Taís, which I doubt, there's no way she would have mentioned something that happened so long ago.

"I tried to get them to give me the message," he continues. "But they said they had specific instructions to only give it into your hands. They're waiting at the council building as we speak."

"I have to go, then," I say. "If my mother's sent a message, I can't very well ignore it."

Irei nods, but his face is grim. "I agree, but it's a risk."

"Whatever risk there is, is the same whether I go to the council building or not," I reply. "They already know where I am. If they want to turn me in, I can't stop them." I sigh. "Still, I have to have faith in my mother's judgment. She must have chosen trustworthy people to carry her message."

Irei runs his hand through his hair. The fear in his eyes has receded some, but uneasiness it still sunken into every line of his rugged face. His own anxiety only serves to amplify my own, creating a terrible dread in the pit of my stomach.

"Well, we might as well go then," he says after a heavy pause. "They are waiting, after all."

Half an hour later we're at the council building, standing in front of a closed black door. I know I should open it, and I try, but my hand won't turn when it rests on the knob. The metal feels hot in my hand, and slippery with my own sweat. I release it and make a show of straightening my tunic, trying to neaten myself after the madness of riding on the back of Irei's great black mare.

The knot in my stomach has twisted so tightly I fear I might throw up all over the beautiful white carpet in front of me. All I can think about is the fact that the strangers on the other side of this simple black door know exactly who I am, that they could get me killed if it pleased them. And I'm here to meet them? I suppress the urge to turn around and run, to hide like a hunted rabbit. My mother's sent a message, and I intend to hear it.

"Let me," Irei says, stepping forward and grasping the handle. He gives me a reassuring smile before he opens the door, as if to say it will all be alright. I smile back, unconvinced.

"Welcome, Prince of Shikkah!" A loud voice booms as soon as we step into the room. The man it comes from is built like a tree. I take an involuntary step back: he's easily six foot six and his dusky skin is stretched taught over bulging muscles. Thick scars run over his arms, and one down the side of his face. He would be terrifying if it weren't for the broad, friendly smile splitting his face.

The behemoth stops in front of me and offers his hand. I take it and shake, wincing with the force of his grip.

"Afzul!" A sharp voice calls out. "Stop it, for Ganra's sake, you're going to break his hand!" I look to my right in time to see a woman rise from her seat in an armchair and make her way over to us. She's tall and also well-muscled, with jet black hair that hangs in a curtain down her back. Her eyes slant upwards and her skin is the warm brown of a cocoa bean. She's not beautiful in any traditional way, but I can't help wanting to look at her.

"Sorry, sorry," the man, Afzul, mumbles. He releases my hand. "I did not mean to grip so hard."

"You always try to break people's hands with that shake of yours," the woman chides. "Just like a puppy, easily excited and you never know your own strength."

"A puppy?" The giant of a man asks with an incredulous laugh. "Is that what you take me for?"

"Of course not," she quips dryly. "I take you for a fool."

Afzul shakes his head morosely. "You see what I have to put up with? Two weeks on a small boat with her for company. Imagine, Prince! I wanted to throw myself overboard by the third day."

I fake a smile, too tense with anticipation to appreciate their comradery.

"Well, I suppose I should introduce myself," Afzul says in a thickly accented voice, stretching each vowel out like he wants to savor its flavor. "I am Afzul Majaban, at your service." With this he drops into a sweeping bow. His companion chuckles. "I am the son of Yehir Majaban, a cousin of the Granjon."

"And I am Faal Farithi," the woman says. "Seventh-born daughter of Granjon Adatya Farithi. I am also at your service, though I will not bow."

I feel my eyebrows raise in surprise. The Granjon controls all of Yi'il, and here stands one of her daughters, even if she is seventh-born. I didn't expect to meet anyone so high up in the court.

"Pleasure to meet you," I reply. "I suppose you already know who I am."

"We do," the woman assures me. "Your mother talked about you often."

Faal's mention of my mother brings my mind back to the task at hand. "Speaking of my mother," I begin. "Ire- Ambassador Nara tells me you have a message from her."

Afzul nods. "We do. Hold on a minute, let me find it." He begins to fish around inside the large pockets of his long cotton vest, retrieving a letter sealed with red wax and handing it to me.

"Here you have it," he announces, "all the way from Yi'il. You'll have to forgive me if it's a little crumpled, that letter has traveled a long way."

I ignore him, fingering the thick envelope with reverent curiosity. Inside are my mother's words- the first words I've gotten from her in over a month. The first news about her efforts to rally an army and retake Shikkah. I want so badly to open it, but decorum prevents me. Besides, I don't want anyone staring over my shoulder while I read it.

"If that's all you needed Shira for then I'd like him to return to the manor," Irei says, his voice tight. There's tension hiding in the lines around his mouth. "You can understand that I want him to attract as little attention as possible. It's best if he isn't seen here."

"Of course," Faal agrees smoothly. "But there's one more thing we need to ask him before he goes." She turns towards me with a smile. "My mother wants me to personally invite you to come stay in Yi'il. We could bring you there in two weeks on a safe ship, and provide you comfortable lodgings at court."

I blink, shocked into silence for a moment. "You want me- to come with you to Yi'il?"

"Absolutely not," Irei breaks in. "Shira stays here. In Kama. With me."

"This is not meant as a reflection on you," Faal explains to him patiently. "We mean no insult. But Kama isn't safe for Shira, and his mother approved of the idea of him coming back to Quar'assam with us."

"Absolutely not," Irei reiterates. "You- you can't just come here and whisk him away to the Yi'ili capitol! Even if I did trust you with his care, which I don't, he's safe enough here in Kama!"

"Is he?" Faal questions. "Hidden in a manor because the Grand Council would never grant him sanctuary if they knew he had set foot on Kamai soil? In danger of extradition at all times?"

"I've kept him safe," Irei says defensively. "He stays in Kama."

"That's not your decision," I cut in. "Either of yours. You're talking about me like I'm a child who will just go along with whatever you decide! I have a will of my own, you know!"

"I apologize," Faal says diplomatically. "Of course it's your decision."

"What is your decision?" Afzul asks, still smiling despite the tension in the air.

"I- I don't know," I mumble, my head in a fog of confusion. I break open the letter in my hands and read the signature. Somitu Amarin. It's her handwriting, too. So the letter's authentic, and I can probably trust Faal and Afzul. My mother did, anyways. "If I go to Yi'il, you'll take me to my mother?"

Faal grimaces. "I'm afraid that's impossible. Your mother is on board a boat heading for the east as we speak."

I tense, the letter crumpling in my hands. "That's impossible."

"She left shortly before we did," Faal continues. "She intends to try and rally the eastern monarchies behind her cause. I believe she's heading to Raclen first."

"That's impossible," I repeat, my voice rising. "There's no way she would sail east without me. You must be mistaken."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not," Faal says quietly. "I saw her board the ship myself."

"That's- she couldn't have," I mutter, feeling a sudden dizziness. "She wouldn't just leave me like that. Not when she told me she'd come for me, not when she promised me Kama was temporary-"

"I'm sure she's just trying to keep you safe," Faal offers, trying to be reassuring. "What she's doing, sailing across the world to ask for an army, isn't exactly safe when there's a price on her head."

"Keep me safe!" I burst out, startling them all. "Damn keeping me safe, she's treating me like a child! Like I'm good for nothing but sitting around and filing papers while she goes off and tries to save our family singlehandedly!" My voice turns plaintive. "I could help. I'm not useless, you know. I'm her heir, damn it! I should be with her, by her side!"

"I'm sure you will be soon," Faal offers.

"She'll be gone for a year or more," I answer in a cold voice. "Maybe two. No, I won't be with her soon. She's abandoned me on this goddess-damned island to rot waiting while she does everything herself because she's always, always underestimated me!"

"Shira," Irei says quietly. "This is not the time or the place."

"What?" I snap. "All I said is true! She's- she's- I hate her for this!"

"Shira," he repeats, laying a hand on my shoulder. The touch serves to settle me somewhat. "I think it's time we leave."

"I- you're right," I mutter, schooling my features back into a veneer of calm. Faal and Afzul are staring at me now and I blush, ashamed of my outburst.

"Thank you for the message," I tell them as coolly as I can. "And thank you for the offer. Please tell your mother I am forever obliged to her for her hospitality. But," I say, looking at Irei significantly. "I will stay here until my mother returns."

"Are you sure?" Faal presses. "We would keep you safe-"

"You would try," I answer rather dryly. "Nowhere is safe for me now, and besides, I like it here. I see no reason to move myself to a foreign country for the second time in two months if my mother is sailing east. I'll wait for her here."

Irei smiles, looking satisfied.

"Well, the offer is good until sundown tomorrow," Faal tells me. "That is when we sail. If you reconsider, don't hesitate to find us."

"Thank you," I answer, "but I will not reconsider."

"Well then," Afzul booms out. "Best of luck to you, Prince of Shikkah. I sincerely hope you survive."

_____

Sooo this chapter was kind of slow but I swear it's important. There's one more Shira chapter left before we get back to O'otani and all that drama.

In the mean time, how is everyone liking part three so far? What do you think is going to happen? And as always, if you liked this, please consider leaving me a comment! I love to hear from readers :)

- Swpoet