A terrorist group backed by Enomenos? Marietta bit back her questions, understanding that Keyain’s lies ran deep.
“If I’m being honest with you, most thought you were a rumor—a bad one at that. One of the most influential elves in Satiros married to a half-elf?” Amryth said, shaking her head.
Marietta tapped her fingers against the table. None of it made sense. Before the night she was taken, she hadn’t seen Keyain in a couple of years. Why would he use her as an excuse?
Unless they had no other reason to attack.
Anger flooded her body as she imagined her friends slaughtered in the streets of Olkia. Keyain was despicable. “Do people believe Keyain deserves his position?” she asked, pretending to be half interested in the question.
Amryth narrowed her eyes at her. “Yes and no. You’ve heard the stories, right?”
Marietta avoided eye contact and took another bite. “Oh yes, the stories. I’ve heard them.”
Amryth sighed. “Get better at lying if you’re going to survive as a lady.”
When Marietta said nothing in reply, she continued talking. “Being close friends with King Wyltam since childhood helped get him a position, but the biggest qualifier is his legacy. Keyain Vallynte is one of Satiros’ greatest warriors of all time.”
Marietta inhaled as she sipped water, causing herself to choke and spill water down her front. Amryth handed her a napkin. “You’re lying. What war even occurred that gave him that notoriety?”
“The Orc Skirmishes,” Amryth implied as if Marietta understood.
“That wasn’t in the history books in Enomenos.”
Amryth laughed. “Of course not. Syllogi only protects the entire Akroi Region from southern invaders, but they leave that out of your histories.”
Marietta furrowed her brows. “Orcs were exterminated centuries ago.”
Amryth laughed again. “That’s a lie. For hundreds of years, the southern orc clans would barge through The Queen’s Pass and lay ruin to the Syllogian countryside,” she explained. “A century and a half ago, the Syllogi Council united to put an end to their raids. Thus, The Orc Skirmishes.”
Marietta imagined the map that hung from Keyain’s wall, thinking out loud, “The Syllogi Council is just the different elven courts?”
“The ruling families. King Wyltam and Queen Valeriya represent Satiros. The rulers of Amigys, Kyaeri, and Chorys Dasi are also on the Council. Did you never learn this?” Amryth asked.
“History was never my strong subject,” Marietta said with a shrug. Not that she ever paid much attention to the lesson on Syllogi. Never had she thought they’d be useful to her.
“Of course, it wasn’t,” Amryth said, unimpressed. “During The Orc Skirmishes, the former Queen Olytia roused the army to bring greatness to Satiros over the other elven cities,” Amryth paused. “Keyain was a captain in the army. It’s said he took her request to heart, killing more orcs than any other soldier in all of Syllogi.”
The night she met Keyain, he had left her attacker unconscious in the street. “I knew he could fight, but was he that great of a soldier?”
“Keyain was the best,” Amryth answered wistfully. “And very young, for an elf at least. His parents’ position helped him rise in the army, but it was his skill that made him stand out.”
“How did he get to Minister of Protection then?”
“If you stop asking questions, then I’ll get to it,” she scolded. “When the orc clans set a trap for the elven armies, General Mykilo of Satiros fell, leaving Satiroan soldiers without guidance. That’s when Keyain took the mantle, devising a plan to trick the orcs and lead the assault himself. It was the last battle of The Orc Skirmishes, the one that made the orc clans flee Syllogi.”
That sounded like Keyain, taking control of the situation and making a plan. Back when they traveled together, his judgment had gotten them out of troubling situations on the road.
“What helped Keyain get to his position,” Amryth continued, “was after the battle, when he placed his sword at Queen Olytia’s feet in front of the Syllogian Council. He dedicated everything to her, claiming it was through her greatness that he found strength.”
“Sure,” Marietta mumbled. “Keyain isn’t that flowery of a person. I would love to hear him admit his greatness was because of someone else.”
Amryth laughed. “He can be quite arrogant. Yet Queen Olytia rewarded him for his actions. The Queen promoted him to General of the Satiroan Army, the youngest elf ever. He had been close to his fifth decade.”
“Of course he was,” she mumbled again, shaking her head.A security job of sorts.That’s what he would tell her all those years ago—nevergreat war hero of Satiros.The bastard’s lies ran deep. “How did he go from General to Minister of Protection?”
Amryth watched Marietta’s reaction through narrowed eyes. “You would think his wife would know more about his past.”
Marietta avoided her gaze. No, she learned very little of his life before she met him. “He kept his past close to his chest. It’s not like a half-elf like me would know the history of Satiros.”
