“You’ve known me longer than Isolde and not even she keeps secrets from me anymore,” he snapped.
“That is her choice and it is the right one. My reasons for keeping secrets are bigger than both of you. Trust me, my king.”
Elan realized Isolde had given him a break to talk to Tati. She was explaining neither of them had been aware of what was going on outside because they were completing the bond. She looked and felt a little irritated.
“Haven’t you been pushing for that this entire time? You must have known something big was going to happen. Swarms died and Avala found water when Elan and I felt it starting. I didn’t freeze the planet when I was angry all of you chose to lie to me about Elan. Has Elan ever lost control to the point he set the moon on fire?”
“If I had known the two of you were going to do that, I would have made you wait until all of this nonsense with The Children is over. How are we supposed to explain this?” Galih snapped, running his fingers through his hair. Elan had no idea he and Botak were together until Isolde went rooting around in Botak’s head. They both could have been burned for it, but Botak must have felt safe here. He put his arm around Galih in a comforting embrace.
“If we forced them to do it as soon as she arrived or you made them wait, you could have ruined the bond,” Botak said gently.
“Finally, you say something that doesn’t make me want to punch you.”
Botak’s lip twitched like he wanted to smile at her, but tensions were too high in the room. Elan knew Isolde had finally forgiven Botak for how he acted when she got there. Sartika looked like she had a million questions. Stretch and Viper were looking at both of them in awe.
“You still could have answered the door,” Galih shot at her. “I don’t care how good it is, afterglow doesn’t last that long. One of you could have gotten out of bed.”
Elan knew Isolde thought every single one of them tried to make the bond ugly, but he puffed up with pride at the looks Stretch and Viper shot him when she informed Galih she didn’t know how long he normally had sex, but neither of them answered the door because that’s what they were doing all night. Stretch and Viper looked impressed, like they wanted to high five him. Galih was looking at both Elan and Isolde like he wanted to strangle them.
“Maybe that was how the bond was supposed to work. You don’t know anything about it and you could have ruined it,” Isolde shot at him. “Stop getting angry at us for doing what we were supposed to. We need to be thinking about what kind of story to give out. I think we can use this with The Children.”
“Before any of you do anything, Isolde needs to call Fjola and tell her why everything is going on at Avala,” Sartika fussed.
“You call her. She can’t stick to facts when she speaks to me over COMM.”
Isolde had been sitting next to him holding his hand, but after Sartika mentioned Fjola, she ignored everyone in the room and crawled into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and tried to send her warmth. Galih seemed to find the entire display disgusting, but Sartika smiled like she found it romantic that Isolde looked to him for comfort. Sartika even agreed to call Fjola without lecturing Isolde about talking things out with her.
Fjola seemed to already know it must have something to do with the bond and had a plan, even though they didn’t. Everyone knew people would react badly to the alliance at first, so Fjola was going to set the scene that Isolde had somehow done it. People would think it had something to do with the rucksack and may take it a little easier when they found out it was Isolde the entire time, but it took Elan to clean their water.
Fjola didn’t press to talk to her this time. She didn’t even ask Sartika to aim the COMM at her so she could see her. Their last conversation must have sent a message to Fjola that Isolde had nothing to say to her unless it was in person and it would only distract her if she continued to push it. Fjola had things handled on Avala, so Sartika disconnected.
“I know you have this elaborate farce here, but we need to do what Fjola is doing with Elan. People need to see him without the padded shirts and we need to come up with a story that the freezes and the swarms dying were somehow Elan’s doing. The new moon is coming from what Elan tells me. If the members in the temple don’t know about the plot to experiment on Elan, this will have them asking questions. When we stick them all in the pit, they can talk among themselves. Some of them might not know how deep this goes and want to leave when they hear the truth. They may want to follow Elan after this.”
“Do you know what’s going to happen if we say Elan was responsible for a flaming moon?” Galih snapped, throwing up his hands. “People are going to think he’s a demon. They are going to riot and try to burn him. If he can’t be burned, it’ll make things worse and they’ll tear him apart with their bare hands.”
“Are you always so narrow-minded?” Isolde snapped. “I’m not saying to tell everyone Elan set the moon on fire.”
“I’m not sure where you’re going with this either, my queen,” Stretch said. Stretch must already been on board with the alliance and planning to come with them. He would be an asset. Elan felt her relax a little when Stretch called her his queen. She was probably just as worried as he was about not being accepted. Galih certainly wasn’t helping and he plotted this.
“Think about it this way. Most people here turned to religion instead of science after they lost fire and they burned the one person who did have the answer to the swarms. Everyone knows something major happened the night Elan was conceived. You could phrase it that Elan was chosen and he hears Fia. The reason everyone thinks Elan is weak is that Fia told him it was needed. The freeze and the flaming moon was Fia announcing to Elan and the people that it’s time for him to become king and tell people the truth. Fia wanted to send a message Elan’s rule will be a powerful one by killing the swarms and she wanted to send an omen to those that would stand against him by setting the moon on fire.”
Galih was silent for once. He was scratching his chin thoughtfully. “That could work, but how are we going to explain you in his chambers? The only reason people accept it now is because they think you are playing dolls with him.”
“All you have to say is that Fia has a plan and Elan doesn’t have to explain himself.”
Galih just stared at her for a minute before finally relaxing and breaking into a deep-chested laughter. “You know, you’re dangerous. It’s not just that you could touch me and force all my secrets out and you can hear everything I’m thinking right now. You haven’t been here long and you already understand how our entire culture works. You’ve uncovered a vast conspiracy on your second day here and you’ve got an answer for everything. You’re going to make one hell of a queen.”
He could feel Isolde grin. “Does that mean you are going to get that piece of wood out your ass and stop fighting me on everything?”
Galih leaned into Botak and finally relaxed. It seemed like the two of them knew they were totally safe to show affection around Isolde and Elan without being judged or burned. “It’s hard giving up control. My family started the faction and one of us has been a leader for centuries. I know once we get to Ragnis Crystal, the faction will be obsolete. I’ve no idea what I’m supposed to do with myself.”
“You’ll be giving us council advice and helping us, like you always have,” Elan said. “And you’ll get to spend more time with Botak now.”
“Not yet. We still have to make our people believe Fia is talking to Elan and take down a cult.”
Chapter 25
Sartika knew she should have been proud the entire alliance appeared to be falling into place. After she got back to her chambers after calling an arena to speak, all she could think about was how happy Elan looked. And Isolde, for all her declarations of the bond being a trick, looked as deeply in love with Elan as he was with her. Sartika nearly dropped her COMM to clap her hands and squeal when the girl climbed into his lap for comfort at the mention of her mother’s name.
&nbs
p; The bond was more than just sealing the alliance. Elan thought it meant they were soulmates and had since he was told about it. Sartika knew Isolde thought it was some big elaborate lie to get her pregnant and she had since she was told about it. Isolde was a believer now and really did love him. The two of them lit up when they were touching and there was a subtle vibration in the air if you were close enough to them that was quite pleasant.
There was supposed to be military members going to every temple and house to gather them in the main arena for an announcement later that afternoon. They rarely used the arena to address the entire population anymore, mainly because the council couldn’t come to an agreement on anything. None of them knew she would be announcing Elan was taking the throne and ushering in his own council. The sixteen wouldn’t rule Cendis long. Hopefully, they would all be settled on Ragnis Crystal soon.
This announcement was delaying crucial plans. Sartika knew Stretch and Viper were supposed to be getting Hog to the old ship in the forest so Isolde or Dasimah could get into his mind. That was going to have to wait until tomorrow and Sartika had no idea what Hog would do at the announcement. He should have been guarding Elan and watching the crowd. She knew nothing about Hog and what he would and wouldn’t do if he thought Fia was talking to Elan.
All she wanted to do was just sit with Elan and Isolde and watch them. Seeing Elan that happy rubbed off on her and she liked the buzz the two of them gave off. She hardly knew Isolde, but she was coming to love that girl. She was fierce and incredibly smart. She had an answer for every problem they faced. She would be a good queen, but mostly, Sartika could see how much she loved Elan. She knew this could have gone horribly wrong with the lies they told her.
She mostly paced until it was time. She met the council in the room that led out to the large platform that faced their people. They all kept asking what she was going to say and if she had found out anything about the freeze. She saw Elan walking up the long corridor with Isolde. Elan was wearing a tight tunic that showed off all his muscles and fitted leather trousers. Isolde was back in her oversized hand me down clothes playing the role of a slave again. She followed Elan at a respectable distance and kept her head down. Everyone was talking at once trying to figure out what the arena was for.
“This announcement involves Elan.”
“Why Elan?” Soma demanded. His eyes followed her and landed on Elan coming closer. “What is this, Sartika?”
“It’s time our people knew the truth about Elan, Soma.”
“I don’t know the truth about Elan and neither does the rest of this council. But if he normally looks like that under those shirts he wears, you need to get that slave girl away from him before you end up with some mixed, cursed bastard,” Soma hissed, manhandling her arm.
“Let go of my mother or I’ll make you,” Elan said firmly. Elan was shooting Soma a confident, deadly look like he could easily drop him. Sartika already knew he could, but Soma looked like he was starting to believe.
He let go and moved towards Isolde, like he was going to escort her back to the slave quarters himself. Elan stepped between them. Isolde must have been able to talk to him or hear him now. “Do not lay a hand on this slave either. She will be by my side until I say otherwise and there will be no bastard children.”
Elan wouldn’t have been in earshot when Soma said that, so he must have still been thinking it. Soma knew he couldn’t have overheard that and stopped dead in his tracks. Elan’s face broke into a wicked grin. “Your entire world is about to be rocked, Soma,” he snapped, turning on his heels and leaving. Elan would have watched a lot of council meetings where it was Soma’s fault they hardly got anything done.
Isolde was still lagging behind and Sartika didn’t know why. “Soma would join The Children if he knew about them. Be wary of him,” Isolde warned before she followed Elan.
Sartika and the rest of the council went out to the large platform. They formed their standard circle behind her as Elan stood to her right. She couldn’t see Isolde, but she was sure she was behind the circle somewhere. Someone in the crowd saw Elan and it wasn’t long before everyone was talking over the other trying to figure out why he looked like a warrior and not the soft boy they were used to seeing. He was standing at her side with his feet apart and his hands clasped behind his back. He was boldly meeting the eye of anyone in the crowd who would meet his. He was assuming the military stance when they were receiving orders and it just raised more questions with the crowd.
Sartika had been trying to politely call into the microphone for silence for five minutes when Elan came over and yelled for it. His deep, commanding tone had the entire population quiet almost in seconds. She let her eyes scan the crowd hoping this didn’t end in riots.
“These people are scared and want a savior. They feel like they’ve been abandoned by your gods. Put up Elan as their champion. They are already curious. Most of them will take this as good news.”
As much as she wanted to turn around and shoot Isolde a grateful look, she resisted. She was just glad she was here with the gift to do things Sartika couldn’t.
“Most of you are wondering about the freeze and the flaming moon. I’m sure all of you are wondering why Elan looks so different than what you are used to. Elan was blessed that horrible night his father and the rest of the council died mysteriously. I shouldn’t have been pregnant, but I was. Elan is blessed by Fia. He can hear her. She has a plan for us, for all of you. It was Fia that told Elan to pretend he was weak when he was too young to protect himself. Elan kept his faith and kept pretending until Fia gave him a sign.
“Fia is ready for Elan to rule. She sent you all signs. She sent the freeze to kill the swarms that have been plaguing our people for so long. She knew this might frighten you and you might still want to hurt Elan, so she sent an omen to those that would try to hurt her chosen. She set the moon on fire. Fia is ready for Elan to rule and bring our people to a new era. She told Elan to show you his true face. I will step down as regent and Elan will take his rightful place on the throne. Fia has already told him who his council should be.
“Changes are coming. Some of our old ways will be challenged. Elan and his council will bring new and fresh ideas to better our people, guided by Fia. This has been planned since his birth. It’s his birth rite. It’s time to bring Cendis into a new age!” she yelled throwing her hands in the air.
The crowd erupted into applause, but there was a commotion behind her. Sartika turned in time to see Isolde fly at Elan and knock him to the ground. Permana, who was right behind him, flew back as the bullet that was meant for Elan tore through his body. Whatever explanation Elan was going to give for having Isolde with him all the time was no longer needed. She saved his life in front of everyone and they would think Fia told her to save him.
Sartika hit the ground and crawled towards them. Elan was stunned, but unharmed. “It was Hog,” Isolde yelled over the screams of people running. “I could hear him over everyone. He wanted to hit Elan in the shoulder, injure him. He was going to kidnap him when he was injured and bring him to Hikmat. He believes Fia is talking to Elan, but he thinks if Hikmat has Elan, Fia won’t risk him and will give them fire.
“He waited until the crowd got loud so no one would hear the gunshot. None of you know this. I overheard it when the others were talking about how he can’t get promoted. He barely made it into the military and the reason he never gets promoted is that he’s a rotten shot. He was more likely to kill Elan than wound him.”
“Where is Hog now, Isolde? The two of you need to get somewhere safe.”
“Out cold. I can’t hear him anymore unless I touch him. He had a partner. Hog waited until his back was turned, but he was close enough to hear the gun go off. He saw me push Elan out the way and your council member go down. He knocked Hog on the back of the head with his gun and called for help with his COMM. Hog is being moved to a military cell before he’s burned for treason. Is your council member dead?”
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“Yes, and before you and Elan follow him, you need to get back to Elan’s chambers now.”
She could hear chaos, screaming, and crying under the platform. She saw three pairs of polished boots in front of her and before she lifted her eyes, she hoped they were her friends and not Hog’s. She was relieved when she saw Ace, Boomer, and Crash standing in front of her with guns.
Ace crouched down. “I’ve managed to arrange it so that it seems like Elan is questioning Hog. Boomer is going to disable the cameras, and Crash will stand guard. This is going to be dangerous. We don’t know how many people are like Hog and if they’ll fight to free him. Come, we don’t have much time.”
Chapter 26
Ace thought Hog must have been dumber than any of them thought to try to shoot Elan in the middle of a full arena. Guard duty was always done in pairs. Maybe his plan would have worked if they were in singles and scattered. Hound was his partner and obviously not a member of The Children. As soon as he realized Hog had taken a shot at Elan, he pistol-whipped him and started screaming on COMM Hog had finally lost it. Hound hated being Hog’s partner, but he knew he would eventually get promoted and Hog wouldn’t.
Hound was the size of an enormous tree and just threw Hog over his shoulder and carried him out the arena like a baby. The crowd saw someone had taken a shot at Elan and the people around them saw Hound smack the gun down on his head. They were too scared of Hound to swarm Hog and tear him apart. They left a wide berth for Hound to carry him out.
Hound was going to be a problem. He loathed Hog and wanted to be there when Elan questioned him. He was hoping Elan did it with his fists. Hound had no idea the slim slave that had knocked Elan out the way could do all that and Hog wouldn’t have a choice about spilling secrets. Hound was still arguing with Stretch about wanting to be in the room when Ace brought everyone down there.
Child of Fire, Child of Ice-A Sci-fi Romance Series Page 19