Chapter 67: Sacrificial Lamb (2)
The crowd fell silent with one fleeting look from Ixana. No one dared speak again while their Sky Matron and her son engaged in this little showdown.
And here Nova thought she was being introduced to his mother for this whole Nokari thing. She wasn’t quite sure if it was going to plan or if this was how they usually interacted with each other.
It was getting a little too hot up here, and Nova had zero intention of being caught in the middle of this family drama. Slowly, she began sliding one foot back in an attempt to quietly sneak away while they had their little mother-son chat. Everyone’s attention was on them anyway. She was merely a bystander- Nova tried to convince herself, hoping nobody would see her backing away.
"You didn’t look beyond the first few lines of the legend, Ixana." Vulcan gestured to Nova, halting her escape from the new spotlight. "Sacrificing the Electa grants power to one person. Binding the Electa to me..."
His hand then slid along Nova’s back, gripping her waist and pulling her into his side. "Well..." he drawled. "That strengthens the entire flock. Isn’t that what a good leader should do? Share in their wins?"
Vulcan’s words stirred the crowds into hushed chatter even after Ixana’s glare. The air was palpable with coiling tension between mother and son as they remained locked in a battle of stares. Guards, padded in armour made of monkey bones, not so subtly inched closer from their positions to control the crowd. A few glanced at each other, unsure how things would go down.
Ixana was the Sky Matron, a woman of undeniable power, but Vulcan spoke of making the entire flock stronger. Nova glanced at some of the gathered tribesmen and could almost see the cogs turning behind their eyes.
"How... would it strengthen the entire flock?" A woman asked, stepping forward. She brushed off another woman’s hand that reached out to stop her, whose eyes widened in panic as she looked between her and Ixana.
Ixana’s eyes narrowed on the woman, spearing her with an icy stare that made Nova shiver, wondering how she ruled this tribe.
Instead of acting violently towards the woman like Nova assumed, Ixana tilted her head, staring at her son with saccharine concern. "Are you smoking Kurari, boy?" A mocking smile then slipped free. "I told you to stay away from such substances..." She pointed to her head. "It messes with the mind."
That burst the tension in the air as those gathered started to chuckle, assuming he was on this ’Kurari.’