Void Born

by R. J. Metcalf

  If traveling with Lucio had been unbearable torture when Christopher had his comrades, it was pure shehalla without them. He’d known Andrew for a short time, and though they hadn’t really gotten along, he’d respected the skills of the older soldier. Derrick, he’d grown up with in military school, and Deidre ...He sighed and knuckled his eyes. How would he tell Rachel that she was dead? They were practically sisters. They’d left in such a hurry that he hadn’t been able to say rites over her body. Over any of their bodies. They’d been taught from childhood that, as Void Born, they had no souls for the afterlife, but they still followed the traditions of old. And Lucio’s belief that they, as Void Born, were from another land had filled Christopher with the strange desire to hope that he was right. That they were from somewhere. That they had souls.

  But that gave him a whole new host of problems to wrestle through. Who was his family? How did he get here? What did it mean for his fallen comrades? If they really were people, then Lucio’s actions had all but guaranteed that their spirits would be wandering that forsaken plateau for all eternity.

  Christopher inhaled through his nose, blowing it out through his mouth as slowly as he could. Murdering this walking whale spawn right now wouldn’t help their cause, and it wouldn’t bring his friends back. He had to succeed in taking down the barrier first. Then Lucio could die.

  Christopher eyed the back of Lucio’s head, where his comb-over did nothing to hide the hair that had been thinning prior to his halted aging. How to fight against a sage. That’s one thing Victor didn’t share with me.

  Lucio stopped and half-turned, his puffy lips pouted out. “There is one thing that has been bothering me since the village.”

  Christopher’s eyebrows shot up. So the man did have a conscience after all?

  “Flint.” Lucio sprouted a troubled frown. “I’m certain that I saw Flint there.”

  Of course it’s something different. No conscience. “Who’s Flint?” Christopher asked, resigned.

  “One of the seven sages.” Lucio puffed out his chest and sprawled his hand against it, striking a pose. “I was one myself, as you know.”

  Christopher did know. Lucio had been one of the seven, and he’d helped to put up the barrier, which had resulted in the magic somehow altering Lucio’s aging. Oh yes, Lucio had educated Christopher and his group on this aberration, and how he pompously thought that it made him an Elph. Like blood changed to that degree from the use of Void magic.

  Lucio’s voice dropped as he muttered to himself. “He looked different, but still like himself. How is that possible? Did establishing the keystones do something to him as well?” He looked at Christopher, madness raging visibly in his eyes. “All the other sages, I’ve accounted for. They’re dead. Well, except for Raz, of course.” Lucio waved a hand. “He was sent across the Void, so he’s as good as dead. But Flint!” Lucio shook his finger, pacing in the middle of the road.

  A chilly breeze blew from the direction of the cliffs and the ocean, and Christopher tucked his fingers under his armpits. He’d experienced much colder, but somehow this carried more of a bite than he’d expected or dressed for.

  Lucio spun, striking his fist into his hand. “And what was Flint doing there? He must have been trying to stop us, that’s what! He knows how we put it all up, he knows how to take it all down.” His chest rose and fell as he panted, eyes wild. “He knew what we needed. He’s trying to stop us! If he’d been trying to join us, he missed his chance to prove himself against those villagers.”

  Lucio stomped toward Christopher, and Christopher had to resist the urge to step back from the irate sage. Lucio’s eyes almost disappeared in folds of flesh as he smiled up at Christopher. “He’s not going to get what he wants,” he whispered. “Now come on. Stop distracting me. I need to introduce you to our ally.”

  Christopher shook his head and followed Lucio past another row of homes. Lucio picked a house with an ornate statue of the Elph god Falchion in the front. Lucio knocked twice, then slammed his open palm against the wood. The door opened to reveal a man, whom Christopher instinctively bowed to. There was no misreading his appearance. It wasn’t the slender neck, or the muscled build, but the eyes. The eyes gave him away just as quickly as the tug from the tattoo on Christopher’s arm.

  This man was an Elph, and one who held rank in the blood-bond.

  He held the door open, letting Lucio and Christopher in. Lucio led Christopher straight into a sitting room of sky blue furniture, dark green rugs, and pure white walls. Christopher sniffed at the odd, salty tang in the air.

  “Welcome to my home,” the stranger said with a broad grin. He grasped Christopher’s wrist in a clasp, pulling him in and slapping him on the back. “You’re earlier than I hoped for. I’m Kaius. And it is a sincere pleasure to meet you.”

  Christopher took a step back, off-balance. “Thank you.” He glanced at Lucio, who’d already sunk into a blue-gray chair, dirt flecks from his boots scattering over the low table he stretched his feet out on. A bowl of mixed fruits and a platter of cheeses and breads lay just beyond reach of Lucio’s boots.

  “You caught me at a good time.” Kaius gestured at the food. “I had guests over earlier, and I was still in the midst of cleaning up. Please, help yourself.”

  Though the offer of fresh food tempted him, Christopher resisted. He raised an eyebrow at Kaius. “I’m afraid I don’t know who you are, sir.” What rank are you, and why are we here?

  A small smile crossed the Elph’s face, and he nodded toward the two remaining chairs. “Please, sit. I shall explain all your questions.”

  “Yes, sir.” It didn’t feel right, having someone who ranked over him in the blood-bond treating him like a hero. What was this?

  Kaius’s posture revealed that he was either military or had served long enough in it to have form still drilled into him. His coiffed hair and smooth-weave brown robe spoke of having a station of enough influence that appearance was important.

  “I suspect you want to know how I matter in this grand plan,” Kaius started, his tone switching from easygoing and friendly to serious and direct. “I’m fairly high in the government here, and my goal is to help you achieve your goal—to take down the barrier.” Kaius crossed his ankle over his knee, leaning back in his chair with a calculating expression. “Have you had time to look around the city?”

  “Only a bit on our way here, sir.”

  “Good, good. It’s a start. Any questions before we begin?”

  Christopher glanced at Lucio, waiting for him to reply. When he didn’t, Christopher sighed to himself, turning his gaze back at the unnervingly friendly Elph. “Why are you helping us, and why . . .” Christopher faltered, trying to think of how to ask his question without insult. “Why are you treating me like this?”

  Kaius stroked his goatee. “So you noticed, did you?”

  How could he not notice such an unnatural reaction from an Elph?

  Kaius leaned forward, snagging a bunch of grapes from the bowl. “Simple. I want the barrier down, and humans to be blood-bonded as they should be.” Distaste twisted Kaius’s handsome features. “Too many Elph have intertwined themselves with the humans here, and now our city has almost as many half-breeds as Elph.” He pulled a grape off its stem and waved it at Christopher between two fingers. “You, my friend, are the Void Born who has gotten this far, and the one who will go with Lucio to see the job done. What you see here is a man who’s thrilled about the upcoming changes.” He popped the fruit into his mouth, chewing it and swallowing before continuing. “I have no qualms treating you as an equal during this time.”

  “I see.” Christopher braced his elbows against his knees and knit his fingers together. Odds were good, if Kaius had the upper-tier bond, other Elph—older Elph—in Antius did, too. They would’ve been from across the barrier, from back before it was even up. They’d had blood-bonded slaves—if they had the tattoos that allowed them control. What would their thoughts be toward him? Would they treat him like K
aius or see him as a threat to the false utopia they’d created? Would they recognize him as a blood-bonded, let alone a Void Born?

  “Any other concerns?”

  Christopher paused to see if Lucio would say anything about Flint or the airship crew that had been with the Doldran prince, but Lucio said nothing, his mouth full of bread. He waved his half-eaten roll at Christopher.

  Christopher turned back to Kaius. “I suspect we will be followed in.” He explained the situation in a short time, and Kaius nodded throughout.

  “They won’t be a problem,” he stated after Christopher finished. “We had some questionable strangers brought in, and they’re under house arrest. They sound similar to your nuisances. Now, it’ll be a few days before you can go to the island.” Christopher made a startled noise, and Kaius shrugged. “There’s a storm coming in, and the water’s already too choppy to cross safely. I’ll provide the boat, of course, but you’ll need to stay here for a few more days, until it blows over out there.”

  Christopher stifled an internal groan. A few more days with Lucio. In close quarters. Just what he didn’t want to deal with.

  “Sounds like a plan,” he heard himself say. “And once the storm has passed, we’ll be good to leave?”

  Kaius’s eyes glinted. “Indeed.”

  Satisfied with that answer, Christopher settled in his chair, letting the soft give of the cushion seep into his body. Soon.

  Soon, the barrier would be down.

  Soon, he could follow Victor’s orders.

  And then he could return to Aerugo.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Jade

  Jade closed her bedroom door and leaned against it. The carved whorls in the wood poked into her back. She blew out a long breath. It was easy enough to say with confidence in the warm sunlight of the patio and in the pleasant after-buzz of kissing Zak that she’d made the right decision. And she stood by all that she said and did with him. But now that night had fallen, the reality of tomorrow was sinking in.

  She’d somehow have to act like nothing happened between them. That they were still in whatever the awkward limbo was that had been between them. And she’d need to continue to act as if she were planning to marry Weston.

  Krista would approve Jade’s choices. But Zak’s sister? Not likely.

  “Jade, are you okay?” Zaborah’s question cut through Jade’s thoughts, and Jade whirled, looking for her bodyguard. Zaborah sat on the couch and waved a leather-bound book, then patted at the rich burgundy cushion next to her. “You look pale.” She frowned. “Rest up. All this stress could kill a person.”

  Jade forced an awkward laugh as she sank into the seat next to the blonde Monomi. “Too true.” She turned, giving Zaborah her back and avoiding looking her in the eye. “Would you mind loosening my laces? It’d be nice to move freely again.” Jade craned her neck, trying to see past the doorway of the sitting room and into the large bed chamber beyond. “Is Krista here?”

  “She’s changing for bed,” Zaborah replied, her fingers already making short work of the knots in Jade’s corset.

  Jade sucked in a deep breath as the entire piece eased around her. She slid it off with a relieved sigh, then bent over to start unbuttoning her ridiculous heeled boots. Was she really going to have to live with all these unnecessary, restrictive garments as queen? Maybe she should make a royal edict, every other day was casual day or something to that effect.

  Someone knocked on the door, and Jade and Zaborah looked at each other, and then at Jade’s corset on the small table by the couch. Jade jumped up, grabbing the garment and her boots. “I’ll make myself scarce for you to get that.” She slipped around the open doorway to the bedchamber and bumped into Krista.

  Krista grabbed Jade’s arm before Jade could fall over onto the cushioned chest at the foot of Zaborah’s bed. She gave Jade a once-over, then grinned. “Of course someone comes the moment you start to get comfortable.”

  Jade rolled her eyes. “Don’t you know it.” She hurried to her bed and dropped her corset on it, and she set the boots on the floor. She worked off the fastenings on her skirt and kicked that off, then grabbed her flimsy housecoat and pulled it over her chemise. Jade frowned in the direction of the other room as she started buttoning the satin overcoat. “I wonder who it would be at this hour.”

  “Who knows?”

  Jade strained to make out what Zaborah was saying, then heard the door shut. Zaborah walked in a moment later, her expression utterly perplexed as she set a tray of wine and two goblets on a nearby nightstand. She pointed to it. “Francene’s butler said this was for you, and offered to show Krista and me to different rooms.”

  “What?” Baffled, Jade joined Zaborah and Krista around the gift. Jade plucked a folded paper from under a small plate of chocolate strawberries and cheeses. She moved closer to a gaslight and held it up, reading Francene’s elegant scrawl. “To finish what you started earlier.” Heat blossomed over Jade’s body, radiating from her face. Of course Francene would know already. The paper slipped from Jade’s fingers as she buried her burning face in her hands. Whales above and below. If Francene thought this, then she probably thought Jade was taking up her suggestion.

  And did everyone assume that they... Jade’s train of thought stuttered. She was literally in the house of a woman who ran brothels. Of course she and her staff would make that assumption.

  A whisper of movement by her feet dragged Jade out of her thoughts, and she slitted her fingers open, peeking out. Zaborah held the note, severe lines deepening her frown. She glanced from the wine and snacks to Jade.

  Krista touched the tag on the neck of the bottle and let out a low whistle. “This is some of the finest red wine I think I’ve ever seen.” She leaned against the bed and rubbed at her forehead, touching one of the two goblets. “I am so confused.”

  Zaborah handed the note to Krista without a word, then crossed her arms and stared at Jade. “I have a small idea as to what this could be, but I’d appreciate some clarification right about now.” She pointed at the note. “Finish what?”

  If Jade could just fall into the barrier this moment, she wouldn’t begrudge it. She sucked her cheeks in, avoiding Zaborah’s glare and Krista’s curious gaze. Jade ran her hand down her housecoat and traced the design painted on the floor with her toes. “My guess?” Her voice cracked, and she winced. “Maybe Francene saw us earlier?”

  “Who?” Zaborah’s tone brooked no argument or dodging behind the condenser coil. “Finish what with whom?”

  Jade swallowed and forced out a breath through tight lungs. “Zak.” She looked at Krista through her eyelashes, mentally begging her friend to somehow save her from the growing wrath of Zaborah’s darkening countenance. “We, uh, kissed earlier.”

  “You kissed my brother. Here. While engaged to the prince of the nation we are currently trapped in.” Zaborah spoke with a clinical detachment that sent a shiver down Jade’s spine. Her blue eyes pierced Jade. “Are you mad? Do you not understand what is at stake?” Zaborah’s voice rose at the end, as close to a shout as possible while still terrifyingly calm.

  Krista snapped her fingers. “That’s why you had to change this afternoon! You—” she shrank back as Zaborah turned to her, her eye twitching. Krista shot a look of pure panic at Jade. “Sorry. I, uh, got excited for a moment there.”

  “You got excited?” Zaborah threw her hands in the air. “Both of you! No. This cannot happen.” Zaborah waved a finger under Jade’s nose. “Zak is your bodyguard. He’s not in this equation for anything else.” Her eyes squeezed shut and she pinched the bridge of her nose. “I know you two have been close for your entire lives, but not for this purpose. He needs to protect you. Even if it’s from himself.”

  Jade found her voice. “And who would protect him from me?” She lifted her chin, squaring her shoulders. “He and I are in this together. I choose him over Weston.”

  A low whistle sounded from Krista. “It’s about time.”

  Zaborah’
s jaw trembled, and she lifted her hand to look at Jade. “Where, exactly, were you two? And what, exactly, were you two doing?”

  “The outdoor patio.”

  All emotion drained from Zaborah’s voice. “Which one? The private one, or the one by the gardens?”

  Jade winced. “By the gardens.”

  “You kissed my brother in the patio that everyone who works in this villa passes. We’re doomed.” Zaborah abruptly turned, pacing away from them to grab onto the bedpost. Her knuckles turned white. “Did it ever occur to you what would happen if Lord Everett—or your betrothed—were to drop in, unannounced?”

  Jade bit her lip, silent. Krista shot her a tight-lipped, wide-eyed look. Zaborah shook her head.

  “Please tell me it was only one small kiss,” Zaborah pleaded.

  Jade’s toes curled, and she fiddled with the sleeves of her housecoat. The room felt impossibly hot. She coughed. “It may have been a bit ...more.” She hugged herself, daring to look up at Zaborah. “Please don’t say anything about this to anyone right now. Maybe not as many know as you fear.”

  A sharp, rough laugh tore out of Zaborah’s throat. “Part of Francene’s job as the Mistress of Pleasures is to gather information. You can bet that everyone here knows some detail of what you two did.” She covered her mouth with a tan hand as she shook her head. “Unbelievable. I cannot believe the sheer irresponsible stupidity of you two.” She closed her eyes and tapped a hand against her belt, then spun, pointing at Krista. “You keep her here. Do not open the door for anyone. I need to talk to Zak, now.” Zaborah shot a sharp look at Jade. “I only hope I can clean up this mess of yours before it’s too late.”

  Jade didn’t move from her spot as Zaborah slammed the front door. Jade heard the slight click of the lock. She eased herself onto her bed, rubbing at the tension starting to throb in her forehead.