Name of the Neví - Chapter 2

2

(Muranaday, cont.)

Towani City – A’mara Complex lounge

Jilia sat next to Jerreck in the high-backed easy chairs. Murin, Cyanus and Nina sat on a sofa next to Jerreck while Zarma sat on the sofa next to Jilia, presumably reserving the space for her chola who approached with a man who lagged half a step behind her.

“Go ahead, Arya,” Zarma encouraged the nervous teenager.

“May I present Hamian Yase, Peer Councilor for Towani,” Arya began. She took a deep breath. “PC Yase, please allow me to introduce Cyanus and Nina Ivald; Murin Colí, chola to Cyanus; Jerreck Mastin, Terrenden Abári; Jilia Thule, First Adviser and Zarma Eris, Towani Abári. I am Arya Cobar, chola to Zarma. Please have a seat, PC Yase.” Arya sat next to her maqla who smiled her approval at a job well done as Hamian pulled up a chair.

Watching Arya made Jilia want to take a chola again. Maybe she could persuade Jerreck to look around one or two of the orphanages for any missed A’mara children. She wasn’t completely sure she wanted to adopt a child though – she’d had so little experience with children herself. She’d somehow always imagined having children with Jerreck, but that had never happened. Zarma’s understanding of him had put the abári in a new light.

Jilia had known about the death of Y’mera, of course. It had been headline news for months and consumed Skÿl for months thereafter when he became abári. Y’mera had been made to suffer the loss of her husband first, and later tortured and killed. Something about being A’mara, but also about that ill-fated Dellan family who threatened the Uugli for their power in X’lea until the A’mara were forced to close down their Hailu complex and relocate their members.

“I wish you guys were still in the Council!” Hamian was saying.

“We do too,” Jerreck assured. “It made it a lot easier to keep up with what was going on in Parliament.”

Jilia nodded, making sure her flyppad was ready for note-taking. “So, what’s got you concerned?” she asked.

“I’m planning on introducing a bill to modify the restrictions. To make the main ones only applicable in the cities,” Hamian said. “People are finding it difficult to work, Abári.”

“Please, just call me Jerreck,” he requested. “What have been the results so far?”

“Towani, we’re doing okay, at least here in the capital, though some of our villages are finding it difficult to conduct trade. But it’s places like X’lea and Tephsa. Their industries are crashing. They can’t get what they need to operate. Just last week, the Hailu Hoverbil factory closed its doors in X’lea, putting 5,000 people out of work. They have nothing to fall back on, Jerreck. It’s a disaster! And I feel partly to blame because I supported the restriction bill.”

Jilia nodded her understanding. It wasn’t the first dire report she had heard.

“It is true,” Murin added. “My mother was telling me this past week about all the jobs lost at Tephsan Works – if these restrictions are hitting the largest manufacturers in the Free World, then what’s it doing to everyone else? My father was also talking about the problems out in Joton, their shipping is getting hit harder than expected, even with the alterations that have been made to their ships. And the promised increase in buses has not happened.”

“Thank you, Murin,” Jerreck said, nodding at the teen boy. “What are you proposing, Hamian?”

“I still need to work with a couple of other PCs, but I’m thinking in the form of minimum capacity of vehicles, or else a minimum distance of travel in a hoverbil. We should be encouraging paper again – which is, at least renewable, maybe even subsidizing paper tree farms in the worst hit countries.”

“All good thoughts,” Jilia said. “My suggestion is to make sure your proposed bill has more in it than you are hoping for. You’ve spent a couple of seasons in Parliament now. You know that whatever you send to them will get hacked and slashed until it’s a fraction of what you put in there. Make sure you have plenty of wiggle room, okay?”

“Good thinking, Jilia,” Jerreck said. “There’s always someone in that Council who wants to put their mark on everything, even the best bills.”

Jilia couldn’t help feel the warmth for the man again.

“Especially see if PC Chestnut and PC Bicorn have ideas for you. They’re caught between a rock and a hard place right now,” Jilia added.

“I know what you mean,” Hamian said. “With X’lea losing their hoverbil factory and Atrua losing a lot of their mining, they both have reasons to be uptight with Çtaráña and Shayanda right now.”

“Hamian, please come back if you need any help drafting the bill,” Jerreck said. “Feel free to talk to Jilia or me when we’re back on Irola.”

“How long do you expect to be in Towani?” Hamian asked.

“Not long, just to do the official opening of these greenhouses,” Jerreck replied.

“I plan to be there with our other PCs,” Hamian said.

“I expect to see you there tomorrow then,” Zarma said, standing. “I need to acquaint these two with our greenhouses so they know what they’re opening!”

“Thank you for your time,” Hamian said.

Zarma nodded at her chola. Arya escorted Hamian out of the room.

“That’s a good chola you have there,” Jilia admired.

“Thank you. She’s a good one for sure. She has a lot of spirit though!” Zarma said.

“Comes with the hair,” Jilia replied. She found herself wondering what kind of child Jerreck had been – when his hair was all golden-red and not streaked with gray.

“I owe you guys a tour!” Zarma said cutting through her thoughts.

♥

Cerástes Trodon stood with Talina Kree at the top of their own complex not so far away from the A’mara buildings. Snow continued to pour wildly around them.

“It’s so cold up here!” Talina said, rubbing her swelling stomach with her dark hands.

Cerástes wrapped his dark cloak around her. “This is a Towani winter,” he reminded her, placing his olive hand on hers. “Maybe next winter can be spent in Çtaráña.”

“Or Joton,” Talina countered. “I missed Vestharya this year! I never miss Vestharya.”

“Maybe we can make the trip next year. I could even compete. That would be fun. We can’t let only the young participate,” Cerástes replied.

A couple of meters away, Elið Seyri stood with his girlfriend Edina, looking through a pair of binoculars. He seemed to be absorbed, but Talina knew that he perceived everything that went on around him. Talina smiled at the teen who was warmly wrapped, but still shivered. She was a frail thing, prone to every illness and chill. Towani hardly seemed a good place for the girl. Talina shivered.

“So, why is the abári here?” Elið asked, watching the group cross the Triangle. “Do you think he’s heard about our project yet?”

“Supposedly just to open the greenhouses,” Cerástes answered. “But I have never heard of an abári making such a trip for only one reason.”

“There’s a reason we built outside of town,” Edina said, shivering as she joined in.

“How powerful is the abári?” Talina asked.

“Not as much as you might think. But it’s probably better for us to lay low. He brought his girlfriend with him, after all,” Cerástes replied.

“He does not consider her his girlfriend,” Talina said.

“Perhaps not, but her feelings for him are not well hidden. Perhaps this is a weakness we can exploit when the time is right,” Cerástes replied.

“Girlfriends have the habit of causing… errors in judgment,” Elið said, looking at Edina, putting his arm around her. She giggled like the teen she was, Talina realized afresh. Maybe the girl could use some extra help learning to handle a ranked member of the Uugli. Elið’s little trophy had become an object of his affection and she seemed to love him in return. Just as Talina had grown to love Cerástes.

“We will have a chat with the Curator this evening,” Cerástes said. “He will have an idea of how to handle the abári and his girlfriend.”

“Let’s go inside,” Talina begged, shivering again.

Cerástes kissed her possessively. “Yes, my precious bribe,” he said affectionately.

Talina knew he thinking of Tasp Yaiver, the drunk guardian he had stolen her from, a bribe for his secrecy regarding Edina. The man was drunk too often to deserve anything nice, like a ward or a bride. She accepted Cerástes’ hand and gratefully went back inside.

♥♥♥

NEXT CHAPTER

If you have enjoyed this book, I would be grateful if you could put your thoughts as a review on Goodreads for me.

Other Chapters of this set

Birth of the Neví - coming soon on Whaleshares - otherwise, scroll way back on Steem (like summer 2018.)

Name of the Neví - Chapter 1

Maps and Guides

Terrenden Atlas Pages (six maps of Almara and Kranisis.)
[characters, pronunciation, glossary and image credits](https://steemit.com/writing/@viking-ventures/name-of-the-nevi-character-guide-calendar-glossary-and-credits-a-mara-books

PLEASE CATCH UP!	LINKS TO BUY! (in chronological order)
	Brighid's Blood 2006 and 1200 B.T.C.E. Katja and Rachel are so desperate for love that they cast two love spells one night. But the Guardians do not consider spells "fun", but rather as cries for help from the very depths of your soul. Certainly Katja and Rachel could not have possibly imagined where these spells would take them!
	Birth of the Neví 829 T.C.E. It is a tumultuous period of Terrenden history. As is all too common, there are those who wish to profit from the misfortune of others. Some of these come together in a new "charitable organization" and step on the toes of the notorious Uugli. Combine this with draconian new measures to combat pollution and Terrenden has a situation ripe for a power struggle. Book 1 in the Rise of the Neví series.
	Rebound of Power: 850 T.C.E. Collection of Romance Terrenden is being terrorized by a previously underestimated Neví who, through the mysterious “Curator,” have been controlling elections all over the planet. In this collection, we meet some interesting women. Iyva - a homeless teenager in Irola whose untrained power leaves her close to death in Rebound of Power; Marc’la - a breeder of prized caballus in Kasago whose heart lives in the past in Friendship on Fire; Zukie - an abused widow whose heart is afraid to try for future happiness in Courage to Trust; Jenna - an elections assistant manager and masseuse who has a prejudice against A’mara in Elect to Change; Kami - a chola student in Varkevand who has been assigned to protect Ardin, a man who has his own reasons to distrust A’mara in Ocean of Empathy.
	Acting the Part - 851 T.C.E. Collection of Romance The Neví have infiltrated the Terrenden Freedom Party. Dr. Jarly is on the run and the Curator still dominates the Terrenden stage. Famous actor, Derick Aiden has released his Neví expose film and now the Neví want him dead... In this collection, we meet more interesting women. Kauri - a simple receptionist who doesn’t realize one of her wildest dreams has come true; in Acting the Part Tirry - an elections manager who is always the bridesmaid and never the bride; in Building on Promise Zara - a chef who has all but given up on finding love for herself; and D'zani - who isn’t even looking, but has to chaperone her more vulnerable roommate; in Spice of Strength Soala - an heiress who is expected to marry, but refuses to marry someone she doesn’t love; and Moxara - one whose past griefs have locked away her heart in Sands of Survival. We also get updates on some of the lovely ladies we met previously.
COMING SOON	TO AN EBOOK STORE NEAR YOU!!!
	Rise of the Neví - 830 T.C.E. In this series, the Neví begin their rise in power with the completion of several large housing projects that seem totally charitable, but also hide a great evil within. The draconian measures brought in the previous year has caused major distress throughout the world, perfect for giving the Neví a further foothold on the Terrenden stage. Will the A’mara, now removed from the Council of Peers, be able to shut down the Neví? Titles to include: Name of the Neví, Head of the Neví...

Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
verified author on Goodreads
find me on Twitter
also on: Whaleshares, WeKu