by A. W. Exley
Marjory worried at her bottom lip and she glanced to Hector. “We’ll have to tell the earl.”
Elijah rose from his seat. “Yes, in fact, you need to tell him everything. Tell him I have found Delens, which is the other reason why I can’t leave. He is chained up in the basement of the mill, and I have promised that I will release him. You and Hector should leave as soon as possible, and I will have to risk sending the raven while it is still light. The watcher can alert either me or Uncle Jasper if you encounter any trouble on the road, but you must go before the Soarers move against me.”
They moved quickly. Dinner was abandoned, but Elijah crunched another raw carrot as he helped the older couple pack their belongings and load them into the cart. Afternoon lengthened into dusk as they hitched up the placid horse.
Elijah waved the watcher to him and it landed on his outstretched arm. He met its black eyes and gave the bird its commands. It was too risky for him to accompany Hector and Marjory. If Trixie told her uncle he was a Seton, they would be after him, and he wouldn’t let danger follow his family. Better they find him at the cottage, waiting for them.
The bird gave a silent caw with its beak open wide, and then it took to the air.
Marjory folded him into a warm hug. “Be careful, love. We’ll tell your uncle everything.”
“I can use my connection to our heart to signal Dawn that there is danger. Hopefully Uncle Jasper will respond and head in this direction and meet you and the watcher on the road.” Elijah was young, but he wasn’t stupid. He had no intention of taking on the Kessel Soarers on his own. What he needed now was a plan.
He worried all afternoon and into early evening as dusk descended. He paced back and forth in the cottage. From the fireplace to the kitchen he walked, formulating and discarding plans to free Delens from the basement. If he went during the night, he would encounter the men of the night shift, and he had no idea how many of them there were. The easiest way would be to enter the basement via the riverside doors during daylight and break Delens free. He just had to wait until morning.
As full dark enveloped the cottage, still there was no pounding on his door. No salamanders set the roof on fire, nor did any slyphs appear to suck out all the air. The silence blew on the tiny ember of hope in his chest. Trixie hadn’t betrayed him.
Or the Soarers could be waiting for morning, when he stumbled from the cottage to use the outhouse, and they’d descend on him and yell “Surprise!”
The need to occupy himself sent him outside with a lantern to feed his horse and refill its water bucket. As he mucked out the stall, a shape slipped around the edge of the open door.
Manny leaned against the barn, his arms folded over his chest. “Heard you got sacked.”
Elijah shrugged while he gathered his thoughts. Who had told Manny? “Miss Hamilton and I had a disagreement, is all.”
“I heard you got handsy.” Manny’s attention went to the cat sitting on a beam overhead.
Elijah closed the stall door and tossed the fork to the wheelbarrow. “Now, who would have told you that?”
“Mr Lawson suggested it when he came and got Miss Hamilton. I didn’t see you coming out of the mill, and she said she had to let you go earlier in the day. She looked a fright, with red eyes like she’d been crying. Lawson said he didn’t like the way you had looked at her and that’s why you got sacked.” Manny pushed off the wall and walked down the aisle with slow, measured steps.
“Did Lawson also mention how he forces himself on her? I stopped him the other day in her office.” Elijah wiped his hands on his trousers.
Manny shrugged. “They’re to be married. That’s their business, not yours.”
A warning trickled down Elijah’s spine. The easy humour was gone from Manny’s eyes, replaced by a hard gleam. The other man’s shoulders were tense as he glanced around.
“What’s this really about, Manny?” Elijah asked.
“I came by the other night. Peggy was nagging about you.” The lanky lad stopped on the other side of the wheelbarrow.
Elijah shook his head. “I don’t remember seeing you.”
“But I saw you. You were out here with a dirty crow sitting on your arm like you were talking to it.” Manny grabbed a nearby shovel and swung it at Elijah’s head.
Elijah ducked under the swing and threw himself to the side. “Don’t you think this is a bit of an overreaction just because a bird sat on me?”
The horse snorted in its stall at the commotion, then decided it was human business and returned to its dinner.
Manny bounced the shovel in his hands and feigned left before swatting to his right. “I asked myself what sort of man talks to a filthy raven? Mr Hamilton says he has enemies and that there’s another mill family who are trying to destroy him. They’re the ones who make the ravens do their bidding.”
Elijah ducked again and looked around for his own weapon. He doubted the light pitchfork would be much good, and he didn’t want to run Manny through. “You’ve got things wrong, Manny. I’m just a mill worker like you.”
Manny laughed and darted to one side, blocking Elijah’s exit. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Sniffing around Miss Hamilton to find out how to destroy her family.”
That was a little close to the truth, but Manny looked as likely to hear his explanation as Trixie. At least Trixie hadn’t revealed his secret, but Manny would. He needed to put an end to this quickly. Rumours in a small village could spread faster than fire.
“Wonder what Hamilton’ll pay me for bringing him your head?” Manny spun and ran at him, but Elijah held his ground.
His former friend grinned as he swung the shovel high over his shoulder and then grunted as he brought it down on Elijah’s head.
Elijah threw his hand up above his head and shifted form at the same time. Relief flowed over his body as he finally filled all his cramped spaces. His body stretched and groaned as though he had been playing sardines and hiding in a kitchen cupboard for a week.
Manny’s eyes widened as the shovel clanged against stone.
The shift started in Elijah’s hand, turning his fist to granite as he blocked the shovel. Pebbles and rocks materialised in the air and swarmed around Elijah like bumblebees. He grew taller and broader as he changed to his Elemental form. As soon as his wings sprouted from his back, he let them unfurl with an audible sigh of pleasure.
“What are you?” Manny shouted as he struggled to free his weapon.
“Nothing for you to worry about, Manny. It’s magic.” Elijah tapped the side of his nose in an echo of Manny’s response when he’d asked how the Soarers extinguished the mill fire.
He opened his palm and pushed the blade of the shovel to one side, pivoting the handle in Manny’s grip. Elijah bared a fang and snarled as he lunged at his fake friend. He flapped his wings to add to his speed and to work out the last few kinks.
Manny squeaked and tossed the shovel to the ground. He only managed to turn before Elijah grabbed hold of the back of his shirt. To the other lad’s credit, he wasn’t going down without a fight. He whirled his arms as though he were a windmill and tried to hit Elijah behind him.
Elijah wrapped his stone arms around Manny and clamped one hand over his mouth and nose. “I’m sorry it came to this, Manny. Things didn’t have to end like this. But I can’t let you leave, because you’re quite right. Hamilton is the enemy of my family.”
Manny struggled on. His arms were pinned to his sides, but he kicked backwards with his boots. He tried to wrench his head from side to side, but Elijah was too big and too strong. Words bubbled up in his throat but couldn’t escape.
As the seconds ticked by, his struggles lessened until he went limp in Elijah’s arms. Elijah immediately released his hand. He wanted the youth unconscious, not dead. He laid Manny on the ground and watched his chest. A rise and fall reassured him that Manny still lived.
Elijah picked up a length of rope and carried Manny to a central post. He propped the other man up agains
t the wood and wrapped the rope around and around, binding Manny’s arms to his sides and to the post. Next he fetched a scarf from the cottage and twisted it into a loose, but soft, rope. He prised Manny’s teeth open, placed the rope scarf in his mouth, and tied it at the back of his head.
“That should keep you out of trouble until I figure out what to do with you,” Elijah said. He glanced at the barn cat and the horse. “Let me know if he wriggles free.”
23
The clock on the wall mocked him and counted the seconds in double time. The hands ran a race as they swept away his last few hours in Kessel. Manny would be missed, and that would send people looking for him. Elijah had to leave, but he couldn’t make his feet obey the order.
He sat in near dark, the only light a single lantern burning on the side table. He stared into the growing shadows, mourning what would never be. When it became too painful to remember the feel and scent of Trixie, he turned his mind to Delens.
Originally, he’d thought to rescue him in the morning, but he didn’t know how much time he had left. A nighttime sortie created the problem of going to the basement while the night shift was active. He finally decided he would have to take the risk. At least the large sliding doors would be open for the carts of dirt to be removed. If he watched for a while, he should be able to time his run into the basement while the men were behind the closed doors.
The chain around Delens’s ankle would be no issue if Elijah took his gargoyle form. He only had to worry about Delens not wanting to be removed and wiping his memory. How embarrassing to find himself wandering a corridor with hours, days, or weeks erased from his mind.
That left him with two other limbs to his plan—destroying the parts from the Esmeralda being used to drill into the earth and finding a way into the Hamilton home to their phoenix. Admittedly, the latter was a near-impossible task. What he needed was someone who knew where the bird was kept in the sprawling mansion. Even better if it were someone with an ability that could counter fire. Like Kruos.
He glanced up at the clock. If only he had more time to achieve all he wanted to do in Kessel. But at least he had information to pass on to his uncle. Together, they would figure out a way forward and how to handle Kruos.
Elijah ignored the first knock that sounded, assuming it was a tree branch tapping on the side of the cottage. The second, with its regular beat on the kitchen door, pulled him from his silent contemplations.
He stared at the solid piece of wood. Who would be visiting him, given word must have spread that he had been let go from the mill? His gut clenched. What if it were Reuben and John looking for Manny?
He grasped the door handle and let his element simmer beneath his skin in case he needed to shift in a hurry. Cracking the door a fraction, he found Trixie on the doorstep.
Elijah pulled the door fully open and drew a steadying breath. She might be a lure, sent to draw him into the open where her family could attack.
“I thought we were done,” he said. He cast around the yard, looking for any sign of an ambush.
She crossed her arms and hugged herself as though chilled. Her eyes were hauntingly sad when she met his gaze. “I need your help, please.”
Part of him wanted to pull her to him and shelter her against his body. Another part whispered that it was a trap. Ava had played her part in snaring his father and then drained his essence to leave him vulnerable to his attackers. Like father like son, if he allowed Trixie to deliver him to her family.
“To do what?” It tore him apart to leave her standing outside, but he’d be disappointed in himself if he stepped out only to have a sylph drop on him from above.
“To help me escape. Unlike Manny, who looks like he won’t be going anywhere until morning.” She tried to smile and it squeezed a tear from the corner of her eye.
Elijah swallowed the lump in his throat. “Manny tried to take my head off with a shovel. I don’t want to hurt him, and someone will free him once he’s found in the morning.”
She nodded and squeezed her arms tighter around her torso. “You’re right, Eli. Our creators have paired us for a reason, and I don’t want to deny the feelings in my heart. I cannot go through with it.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, unimpeded by her usual warmth that would have evaporated them in whispered puffs.
Elijah reached out and brushed her tears away with his thumbs. He decided to tell the voice in his head that whispered a warning to be quiet. He pulled her inside and shut the door. She was cooler than usual against him. “What do you mean by escape?”
She looked around the cosy kitchen and a shiver ran down her body. “My aunt is the spirit of our clan and she is dying. Some time ago, it was decided that I would replace her on my marriage to Archie. A Soarer spirit is imprisoned, just as our phoenix is kept chained to a pillar. Once I am married to Archie, I will never be free again. Only death releases us from our obligation and duty.”
Her words resonated deep inside him and the words bubbled free of their own accord. “Fire must be free.”
The same theme kept repeating over and over. If he could understand what it meant, he would finally know the truth behind events.
“Yes. How do you know that saying?” She looked up, searching his face for the source of his knowledge.
How much should he tell her? He didn’t want there to be any secrets between them. If he were a fool for trusting her, then so be it. His father could spend eternity chastising him when they met again in Gaia’s embrace. He took her hand and drew her towards the fireplace in the parlour. “I know someone whose father said that. He was a salamander, and we have puzzled over what it might mean.”
She knelt down on the hearth and held her hands out to the flames that grew taller to greet her. “There is a subversive movement within the Soarers who believe that the phoenix should fly free. They are the most beautiful creatures, but we destroy them by keeping them chained up, which is why one of us represents the spirit, even as it is crushed in the bird. Others believe that the phoenix must stay confined, because if it flies away, it would take our prosperity with it.”
While the idea of any creature being chained in the dark horrified him, he didn’t know if letting a phoenix loose on the world was a good idea either. He dropped to the sofa. “If a phoenix were free, wouldn’t it set fire to everything?”
She smiled and reached into the fireplace, letting flames dance over her hand. She withdrew her hand with a single flame swaying in her palm to silent music. “Do I? The phoenix is a bird of fire and air, but it has the same control as we do.”
She stretched out her hand, and as though the flame were a living creature, it jumped from her skin back to its fellows consuming a piece of wood.
At long last, Elijah had some understanding of what Zadoc had died for: freedom for the phoenix and perhaps a new way of life for Soarers. “How big is this freedom movement?”
Trixie left the fire and sat next to him on the sofa. She lifted his arm and dropped it around her shoulders so she could rest her head against him. “Not many that I know of. It is only spoken of in whispers and is suppressed by those in charge if they find a supporter.”
Elijah held her and cherished the quiet moment, storing it away deep inside him in case events yet to unfold ripped her away from him. “Do you trust me?”
She glanced up at him, a faint frown crease on her brow. “Yes. Why?”
He kissed her forehead. “I need you to meet someone. Her father died, and we think it might have had something to do with freeing the phoenix. But I need you to keep an open mind.”
“Another Warder?” She whispered the words, her eyes wide.
“Yes.” He stared at the beautiful woman in his arms. She was his gift. How could he ever let her go again?
She swallowed and then nodded.
Elijah closed his eyes and focused on the silver strand that connected him to his home and the heart of their clan. He tugged on the link, like ringing the bell in a parlour when you wanted tea brought up. Th
en, he imagined a point halfway between Kessel and Alysblud. If it worked, Dawn and Jasper would meet them there. Hector and Marjory would still be on the road, or perhaps they might have found a roadside tavern to stay at for the night.
Trixie closed her eyes and nestled against him. She was silent and unmoving, apart from her gently drawn breaths. Then she placed one hand over his heart. “I’m sorry about earlier. I wasn’t ready.”
He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “I told you, you don’t have to apologise or explain. I shouldn’t have done something you weren’t ready to do. I’m not Archie.”
A shudder ran through her frame. “He planned to force himself on me as soon as we were married. He seemed to take great delight this afternoon in telling me what he would do and asking if I would scream loudly.”
Elijah rested his face against her hair and breathed her in. He vowed to protect her for as long as he lived. No one would ever hurt her. When he’d had Kruos before him, he’d realised he wasn’t a killer, but he was inclined to break that pledge in the case of Archie Lawson.
“Was that what changed your mind? You seemed so adamant that you wanted nothing to do with me.” His throat went dry at the thought of the Soarer forcing himself on Trixie. Such men should be expunged from the earth.
“No, it was my aunt who made me see reason. I spent the afternoon with her, and we talked about many things. She said if she lived her life over, she would refuse my uncle and travel the world. She’s a sylph, and all she ever wanted to do was be a dancer. She’s so sad and longs for death to escape her captivity. She told me that if the chance to escape ever came my way, to grab it with both hands and run.” Trixie drew patterns on his chest as she spoke. The Cor-vitis appeared to be sulking and was only a tiny glowing spot on her palm. “I realised I didn’t want to spend the next thousand years without you, roaming the house and never able to step beyond its door. I came straight here, hoping you hadn’t left and that it wasn’t too late.”
His heart swelled and pressed against the confines of his chest. “Have you thought about what this means, though? Can you leave your family and everything you know here behind to be with me?”