by Nhys Glover
“Can we leave today?” I asked, not meaning to ignore Redin’s fears. Were they relevant when he might not even be going with us?
Zem nodded. “I think that’s exactly what we have to do, now we know the way. If the army gets to the Godling in time, our trip will be wasted. But better to be safe than sorry. We were the Goddess’ plan for this eventuality, after all.”
I turned to look at the other three of my men. All appeared determined. They matched my mood. We might not yet be one unit, but we were all committed to this cause. And every step of the way the Goddess seemed to be guiding our path. Even if this step seemed a little shaky because of the daemon.
“What about me?” Redin asked tentatively. “I assume I will be drawn on by this hag sometime soon. How will I get the information to you if we all separate?”
“The Godling is our principal focus. You stay with us, and if you get something that is relevant to The Five... well...” Darkin petered out, seeing the problem with his idea.
“There are featherlings here at the palace,” Landor piped up. “The clerics use them for passing messages between administrative centres around Airshan. If we took Redin with us, and he got information about the Godling, we could use one of those to send the message back. It wouldn’t work the other way around though. The featherlings couldn’t fly to us. They can only fly home.”
For a moment everyone considered the possibilities. In the end, Airsha nodded.
“Are you willing to join the search for the Goddess’ key to the underworld?” she asked Redin.
The thin man shook visibly as he nodded. “If that is where I will be the most use, certainly. But I must warn you, I am not a good sailor. I get seasick.” In fact, he looked slightly green just talking about it.
My respect for him grew. This was no warrior setting out on a quest, used to hard living and taking risks. This was a dreamer, a man who’d never succeeded in anything in his life. A man who happily lived on the other planes, away from the harshness of reality. And yet he was willing to take on a sea he thought could suddenly fall away, all when he was prone to seasickness. A hero. This one was a true hero.
“Well said, Redin! We are proud to have you with us,” I told him, slapping him on the back.
The look of surprise and gratitude he sent my way was a little embarrassing. But I’d done the right thing, because Landor sent me an approving nod. I grinned back. We all liked to get those little gestures of acknowledgement. Even me.
It was barely dawn when we prepared to head out of the royal apartments, our packs on our backs. Airsha and her husbands were there to see us off.
Calun stood waiting for me at the door, his handsome face tight with tension. He pressed a small silver medallion into my hand as he kissed my cheek. ‘It is of the Goddess. Just to remind you why you do what you do.’
It was a pretty little thing on a thin piece of leather and I got him tie it around my neck. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with love for the brother I had not known existed up until a few suns ago. Now it was hard to imagine a life without him in it. He had become a dear friend, as well as a brother. The Goddess had been very generous to me, for all my many faults.
Not attempting to stem the tears running down my cheeks, I looked from medallion to Calun and back.
‘Be safe, little sister. Be safe,’ he said silently, wiping my tears away with his thumbs.
“You too. No heading off to fight The Jayger yourself, all right?”
He gave an amused little chuckle. ‘You’re thinking of Rama or Jaron, not me.’
I shook my head and kissed his bristly cheek. Those bristles were as red as my hair, though the hair on his head was a dark auburn, so much better than mine.
“I disagree,” Prior said, coming up to put an arm around my shoulder. “Yours is perfect.”
It felt odd having him being this demonstrative. It was like he’d finally given himself permission to own his softer feelings. Not every affectionate gesture or feeling had to lead to a passionate bonfire, he’d realised.
Which was good. I just had to get used to the change in him, that was all.
“May the Goddess be with you. We are all counting on you,” Airsha said as she took her turn kissing my cheek.
“And with you. Hopefully we won’t be needed.”
Airsha nodded her agreement, but from her open mind I could read that she didn’t believe it was going to end easily or well. Our task would be essential. Otherwise the Goddess wouldn’t have gone out of her way to clear the way for us.
I saw Rama giving Zem a good-natured punch in the arm, and from the chagrined expression it probably came with an unspoken message to shape up. I had no idea how the fight had gone the previous night. All thoughts of it had slipped from my mind when sleep had claimed me.
As we hurried down the cobbled streets toward the airling paddock, the air chill and fresh, I felt a lightness and excitement that seemed out of place. We faced an almost insurmountable evil, and I was happy. How was that possible? And yet, I was. I had no idea what awaited us, but I was ready for it. And happy.
Chapter Nineteen
Airsha had asked Bay to again assist us. She would carry Redin as far as the coast. The poor man looked even greener at this idea than he had at the prospect of journeying across the sea. He probably never expected to be going to sea or flying the skies when he’d made his way to the palace no more than thirty turns of the sandglass ago.
Because Shardra was so light, she could easily ride with me. Together we barely weighed as much as the heavily muscled Prior. Landor carried our packs for us.
Eastairshan was the closest kinglund to Midairshan and the country’s capital. It was convenient that this was also where the ship we had been assigned was already docked. Before midday we arrived at the small, picturesque harbour that reminded me achingly of home. I couldn’t breathe in the smell of the sea here and not be reminded of Dah.
Had he lived, would he have accompanied us on this mission? I would like to think so. He would have done anything the Goddess asked of him.
Once we had our possessions stored below decks, and the hasty delivery of grasses and other supplies needed for a long journey had been loaded, we readied to leave on the turning of the tide.
Somehow, Laric and I found ourselves the only ones up on the poop deck, watching the row boats tow us out to deeper water. Once there the sails were run up and unfurled so they could catch the breeze.
Of all of us, only Laric and I had salt in our veins. Only we were truly excited by this sea voyage. I had gone out with Dah many times as a child, as useful as any son would have been when fish were in the nets.
The moment I always loved the most was when the sail first caught the wind. There would be a jerk, as if the sail was having to fight to contain the unseen element, then it would billow out as it won the battle and made use of the air to propel us on our way. The teeth-jarring shudder as the ship skipped over the choppy waves was like no other sensation on earth.
Back then I didn’t know I was an air mistress. Or would become one. But I’d always loved the feel of the wind in the sails.
I grinned at Laric, who was watching the sails billow with sparkling blue eyes. “You love it too, don’t you? The wind in the sails.”
He threw an arm around my shoulder and pulled me in close so he could make himself heard. Or share the moment more intimately. Or maybe both.
“Always the wind. It is our element, is it not, my love? You might have taken on fire for Prior, but air will always come first for you.”
What could I say? Aye, it came first, but I was glad I had fire too. Not just because of Prior, but because I now had something significant with which to fight. Reading minds didn’t have much use in a battle, except to help determine your opponent’s next move. I had envied Prior his fire, and now I had a gift as powerful and destructive as his.
“How did the fight turn out?” I asked him, suddenly remembering yet again that he and Zem had gone off to settle their
differences.
“We didn’t have our heart in it. Both of us were with you and Prior, worrying about you. Wishing it was us. Strange as it sounds, we bonded better being the odd two out last night than we would have any other way. But, aye, I had the shite kicked out of me, all the same. It’s not fair he could use his magic, but I couldn’t use mine.”
I glared at him. “Don’t you ever even think about using that horror on any of us. You hear me? I could never forgive you. No one deserves what you can mete out. Certainly not one of us.”
He kissed the side of my head to shush me. “Never fear, fiery lass. I said it wasn’t fair, I didn’t say I wanted to even the playing field with my magic. It wouldn’t have worked anyway, would it? I’d have been mashed to pulp before he even got tired enough to fall asleep.” He laughed as he rubbed at a bruise on his cheek I hadn’t noticed before.
“I think I’m coming to like you a lot,” I confided. “When you aren’t being a prick you are a decent human being.”
He laughed. “Coming from you, that is quite the compliment. Do you like me enough for a kiss?”
I groaned. Laric was never one to miss an opportunity. With a deep sigh of resignation, I turned into him and offered up my wind-chilled lips.
When his warm, gentle mouth closed over mine, I realised I hadn’t been nearly as reluctant as I made out. Laric was a good kisser, and I cared for him a great deal. Kissing him was no hardship at all.
It was the perfect romantic moment, the wind in our hair, the ship riding the waves joyously. All the while, the sun was setting over the land behind us, turning the sky a mix of brilliant, fiery colours as vibrant as any artist’s palette.
“Do you think I will ever get my chance to become your husband? My need for you is...”
“If you say you need to get laid I’ll hit you,” I warned, meaning every word.
He let out a humorous grunt. “I’m going to pay for that crack forever, aren’t I?”
“It does tend to take the romance out of the situation. I don’t like thinking of myself as just someone who can scratch your itch for you.”
“I could get laid by some lass right here and now, but she wouldn’t be able to scratch the itch I have. You are the only one I want. No... need. It is a need. And thinking of you with the others... it hurts. Not just the frustration. I can live with frustration. But knowing the others have your body and your heart and I don’t. That hurts more than I ever expected possible.”
I kissed him again then, long and deep, wondering as I did, how long it would be before I would be allowed to make him part of our marriage. My heart ached for this excluded member of my family.
The sound of great flapping wings came from overhead. I broke from the kiss to watch the five airlings come in to land on their new perches. Those great, rounded beams had been built a stride above the foredeck, well away from the sails.
This had been a chief concern when the idea of taking them with us had first been raised a quarter sun or more ago. Airlings were very accurate when landing, but a rocking deck was not an easy target. What if they didn’t have the space they needed for their landings? What if they couldn’t compensate for a bucking deck?
But what choice did we have? They couldn’t fly all the way, nor could they rest by landing on the water. And they had to come with us. If we had to get up the side of some volcano to get to this daemon—half daemon, if he was to be believed—we would need their wings to get us there fast. We couldn’t afford to waste even a moment, because it might just be the one in which the Godling succeeded in releasing our mortal enemy. And once he was loose The Jayger wouldn’t be waiting around for a celebratory drink before he began causing storms to pound the land and the seas to rise to engulf the world.
But I shouldn’t have worried. The airlings came in, one at a time, to make perfect landings.
Once they were all down, Laric and I made our way toward the bow to greet them. As we went, we met up with the others, who had come up from below deck to see the airlings safely aboard.
While we fed them sweet grasses and all the water they could drink, I watched Shardra out of the corner of my eye. She and Redin had become fast friends, just as I expected they would, although the thin man was still unhappy about the daemon in her life. But if the seer knew of his jealousy, she gave no sign of it. I expected her innocence made her oblivious to his interest in her. I understood that well enough. Hadn’t I written off Zem’s love for me as just affection between friends? And yet, all along, he’d wanted me with a passion he’d found hard to hide. From everyone else but me, that is.
As if my thoughts of him brought him to my side, Zem came over to me, smiling shyly. I knew he’d been too far away to catch my thoughts, so this had just been a serendipitous coincidence.
“It went well, last night?” he asked politely, not meeting my eye.
“Aye. With Landor’s help.”
That surprised him, though he must have wondered where Landor slept last night.
“He made sure I didn’t lose focus. I’m glad he was there.”
Zem took this in without comment, his mind closed to me. Was mine closed to him? I had been practising during the three turn journey to Eastairshan.
“You can do it then?” he said a little more stiffly.
“Make love without combusting? Aye.”
“No, block your thoughts from me. Though I have to ask why you feel the need to do so now?”
I grinned at him cheerily. “I have been practising. Your poor opinion of me has driven me to address my terrible lack of discipline.”
He groaned and rubbed at his face. “That wasn’t what I meant. I was just worried you’d get badly hurt. More than what Landor could heal.”
“Because I didn’t have the ability to school my mind, you mean.” I sniffed for emphasis.
“Flea, that wasn’t what I meant. Or not completely.”
“Flame. My name is Flame. Flea was an annoying little creature that preferred to hide from what she feared. I’m Flame, a confident warrior that most people don’t find annoying. Only people who do call me Flea anymore,” I huffed out, nose in the air.
“You’re being fraggin’ annoying right now,” he snapped out furiously.
“Then feel free to leave. No one is forcing you to share my company. You came over to me, not the other way around.”
“Fle...Flame, just rein it in for once, will you? I don’t want to fight with you. I missed you last night. It was hard being without you. Annoying or not, I miss you when you aren’t with me.”
“You mean not scratching your itch for you.”
I used the term I’d used with Laric. I had no idea why I was flaring up at Zem now. Maybe it was because I felt guilty. I’d forced Prior on him. I’d let him determine when Landor became part of our marriage, but I’d taken it into my own hands to bring Prior in. And I hadn’t wanted to have to do that. I’d felt forced into it by Zem’s possessiveness.
The trouble was, I understood. If the roles had been reversed, if I had been forced to become just one of his wives, I would have turned into a jealous idiot too. No matter what the Goddess wanted, I would have likely pulled hair and scratched out a few eyes to stake my claim.
But Zem had always been different from me. I can remember him telling me, what felt like a lifetime ago, that he’d be a part of my harem if I wanted him to. Even though, as an elemental master he was entitled to a harem of his own, he would be willing to join mine instead. I hadn’t understood him then. And I still didn’t understand what could make four men willingly share one woman for life. Certainly, a night of pleasure. But a lifetime? With just a quarter share of a woman?
If that woman was Airsha, I might understand it. Though when I first met her I couldn’t. Over time I’d watched how much each of her men gained from their connection. A quarter of Airsha was worth more than a whole of anyone else.
But I wasn’t Airsha. I wasn’t special like that. And I knew that when this crisis was over it was likely
our bond would be too. Maybe then Zem and I would be just us again.
Even as I thought it, my heart tightened painfully in my chest. One by one, I went through the men in my life, trying to imagine being without this one or that. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t imagine being without even one of them. Not now. And it had only been a half turn or a little more since all this started. How was it possible to feel the depth of connection I did with these men after such a short time?
Because time no longer had the meaning it had, I answered my own question. It was as if time was redefining itself. Or we were redefining it as we experienced it. All I could say for sure was that I felt as if I had known my men for suns. And the eternity of pain I would experience if even one left my side was impossible to contemplate.
So I wouldn’t. I would focus on our task and let the future take care of itself.
“You know that isn’t true, it’s not about sexual need, and it’s insulting that you’d suggest it is,” Zem growled out, turning on his heels and heading aft, where Shardra had wandered off to find the captain.
Not willing to let this go, I followed along behind.
“You are the one to determine our direction?” the captain was saying to Shardra as I approached.
He was a big, gruff man in his middle years, with ginger hair that had faded almost to white with the passing suns. His face was tanned and wrinkled from a lifetime at sea. But there was a youthfulness to him that defied his chronological age, whether because he loved what he did or because he was looking forward to this adventure, it was hard to determine from his thoughts. Whatever drove him, it seemed he was more than happy to be taking this journey with us and handing his destiny over to a thin wisp of a girl/woman most would label crazy.