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Engèli chuckled before diving back into his plate.
"Bari can be our go-between or..." I paused. Jabari lifted his eyes, curiosity clouding his irises. "A distraction if needed."
Jabari choked on his cider. "Rotting no?—"
"Nya can learn everything about the palace. Ins, outs, all of that."
Nyala nodded, her mind already plotting.
"And..." I paused, again. They looked at me, waiting. "We'll also need Aisha."
Nyala practically flipped the table, shooting out of her seat, slamming her wings together. Jabari choked on his food, fists flexing, while Engèli snarled like a mountain baere, ready to fight.
"Her brain is bigger than Avari and Azizi combined," I cried out. "She has connections down there and without her perfect memory of all the waterways, we won't make it to Azizi. We need her."
"She's a sellout," Nyala hissed, eyes flashing.
"That's a bit far, don't you think?"
Nyala sucked her teeth long. "One of these dawns, you'll listen to me. I promise you, you will."
"It'll be fine. What we need now is to nail how to do it. Stealing the stone and sneaking out alive... I haven't gotten that far yet. All of my ideas end one way." I blinked at them. "With all of us dead."
"Bully a sea angel to help us?" Jabari suggested.
"No," we all answered collectively.
"Go in disguised, find it, leave with it."
"And the moment Aziziens learn of its absence, their hunt will begin," I countered. "So, no."
"Break in with a monseriö, reign down mayhem, nab it in the chaos, and swim off?"
"Really, Jabari, just shut up," Nyala rolled her eyes.
"We create a duplicate."
We all fell silent, blinking at Engèli. He shrugged, cheeks flushing, eyes on his plate as he pushed his food around.
"Aisha..." He stumbled on her name. "Aisha can learn exactly what it looks like. Bari and I can find what we need to create it. Nya can make it. We set sail, enter as your guests, use some kind of diversion, swap at out the stones, and as the Aziziens party, we get the rot out of there."
"Well, I'll be rotting burned," Nyala smiled prettily, making Engèli blush.
"I have more than just marbles for brains, you know," Engèli says, sheepishly, his enormous hands slapping more food onto his plate.
"Rot, Gèli. You've nailed it," I beamed.
Engèli lifted his chin in pride.
I thought of what it would be like to find the stone. Hold it. Bring it to payè. He would be so proud of me. He'd...
I shook off the emotions. My need for payè's affections was intoxicating. If I got the stone for him, I would never compete with Ishaèli again.
I took a deep breath, reined myself in, and put on my easy flare, as if nothing happened. I looked around and found Engèli watching me.
He saw.
He always did.
