by H. D. Gordon
Surah’s eyebrow quirked, and though there were dark feelings stirring in her, she could not be critical of this child. She felt a sudden rush of sympathy for Aria, at how lonely the girl must be, living with one foot in this world, and one foot in the others, not quite fitting here, and not quite fitting there. Living alone in this small apartment, brokering peace while writing essays to be graded by a human teacher. Following orders. Playing her part in a game she’d been born to play, though had probably never agreed to.
“I’m glad you approve,” Surah told her, and for a moment, the darkness in her seemed to subside, the light of this young Halfling girl chasing it away. Surah took Charlie’s hand in hers. “Thank you for your help, Aria.”
The girl smiled and the room lit up as if with sunlight. “You’re welcome, your majesty,” she said, with a bow of her head. “And for what it’s worth, I really hope everything turns out right for you two.”
Her cheeks grew slightly pink, and she added, “I’ve been following your story in notes and updates passed down from my superiors, and I think what you two have is amazing… I want your love to win, to rearrange the stars, if that’s what it takes.”
Surah and Charlie did not know what to say to this. Aria’s cheeks bloomed even more roses with their silence.
She cleared her throat and added, “I’m sorry. Like I told your boyfriend, most of my job is just sitting around and going through the motions of human life while I await orders. Rescuing Charlie was the most exciting thing they’ve had me do so far, and that was only because the person above me—”
She cut off abruptly, letting out another deep breath and forcing away unwanted thoughts Surah could only guess at. Surah let the subject drop. She had places to go, people to see, and a couple more questions she’d like answered.
“So what did your people tell you to do next?” she asked. “How do they intend to help stop Tristell?”
Aria bit her lip, as if she were trying to decide something. “Wish I could tell you, but to be completely honest, they don’t intend to help you any further. My orders were only to save the fugitive Sorcerer and keep him safe until the Sorceress Queen retrieved him.”
“But I thought you said you were going to help kill the Fae Queen.”
Aria nodded. “And I am. But not because the Peace Brokers have ordered it.”
A darkness swirled behind the girl’s eyes that Surah recognized well. It was the look of someone who has a personal stake in matters. She’d seen it most recently in her own reflection in the mirror.
“I see,” Surah said, considering the girl. She may not know much about the Peace Brokers, but what she did know suggested that what Aria was saying could get her in trouble. She said as much to Aria.
Again, Aria waved her hand, but just under that tough façade Surah also recognized so well, she could see that this was a concern Aria was well aware of.
“Some things are worth getting in trouble for,” was all she said.
Silence fell in the small living room, and Surah couldn’t help but feel for this girl in a way that was something like motherly. Aria reminded her so much of herself, and she remembered that not long ago she had jumped into a fight that was not her own because of a personal stake.
That fight had been a civil war within the Territories of the Vampires and the Wolves, and the person she’d come after had been Alexa Montgomery. The King of the Vampires and Wolves had convinced Surah that Alexa was responsible for her brother’s death, and Surah had gone in headfirst and challenged the young Sun Warrior to a fight.
Had Alexa’s Accursed sister not stepped in, Surah would likely have been dead, because while Surah was a hell of a warrior, a Sun Warrior was the warrior of all warriors. Everyone knew this. But grief and vengeance had a way of blinding one to things like this, the same way Aria was clearly blinded by whatever debt she had to settle with Tristell the Fae Queen.
Once Surah had figured out it was actually King William who was responsible for Syris’ death, she’d told Alexa that she would kill the King of Vampires and Wolves, and the young Sun Warrior had smirked and told her that she could get in line.
And then there was the night in the Silver City, where she’d witnessed a civil war between two of the most physically brutal races in all the realms, and also her vengeance exacted by the Sun Warrior.
She chose her next words carefully, scooting forward on the couch and taking Aria’s hands into her own with a motherly gentleness. Aria’s gaze was guarded, but she did not pull away.
“Aria,” Surah said slowly, “Tell your people that the Dark Lord will be dealt with, that I intend to deal with him personally… And you can rest assured that Tristell will suffer for everything she’s done.”
Aria swallowed hard before she could speak, and even then her soft voice came out a whisper. “You don’t understand,” she said.
Surah squeezed the girl’s hands gently, completely sure of being able to trust the Halfling now that they’d made contact. It was a funny sensation, touching Aria, because Surah had a gift of being able to tell when people were lying, and Aria had a gift for sensing true emotions.
In truth, these two abilities were not far from each other, despite being gifts of their separate races. It was something akin to Soul Searching, and while holding hands, it was as if the two were staring into the soul of the other.
All things come from one, Surah remembered her mother telling her so long ago that it seemed only a dream now.
“I do,” Surah said. “I do understand. I can see the good in you, same as you can feel the darkness in me. I would rather you keep the light in you untainted for as long as possible, as inevitable as the darkness may be.”
Aria said nothing, only stared at Surah with wide, conflicted eyes. Her voice was hardly above a whisper now, and there was such pain in it when she spoke that the fractured pieces of Surah’s hardening heart gave a squeeze.
“But… she has to pay,” Aria said. “For what she’s done, she has to pay.”
Surah nodded. “And she will, Aria. You can look at me now and know that she will… Tell me, what do the Peace Brokers do with those who don’t follow orders?”
The girl’s face darkened, her eyes going distant. Instead of answering, she only shook her head, her long red-brown hair rippling over her shoulders.
Surah nodded. “Trust me when I tell you it doesn’t matter who does the killing, as long as the killing gets done.” She held Aria’s gaze with a strength that was impossible to deny. “So let me be the one to do the killing this time. If you live long enough, there will come a time when you’ll have to be the one to do it… but that time is not now.”
Same as killing King William had not been mine, Surah thought, and could tell by the resignation that fell over the girl’s face that she understood, though it did not help ease the pain that was in her.
“I knew I’d like you,” Aria said, her eyes flipping between Charlie and Surah. “Who doesn’t route for the star-crossed lovers?”
Her lips pulled up in a half smile, but the sadness reigned in the green of her eyes. She took one last deep breath, giving Surah’s hand a squeeze. “Go, then, Queen Surah Stormsong, last of her name. See the Dark Lord and gain back control of your kingdom. I’ll sit here and await word of your tale… I’ve gotten pretty good at waiting.”
Surah nodded, but when she tried to pull back from Aria, the girl kept tight hold of her hands. That swirling darkness was back behind her eyes.
“You have to cut off her wings,” Aria said. “They hold the power, the privilege of the power she’s abusing.”
Now it was Surah’s turn to smirk, and any doubt the girl may have had about Surah’s ability to carry out the tasks ahead of her was washed away when she saw the look that came into the Sorceress Queen’s eyes.
“Sweet child,” Surah told her. “I’ll take her wings, and once I’ve done that, I’ll take her head… as well as that of anyone who should stand in my way.”
Chapter 21
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Surah
Surah and Charlie thanked Aria before taking their leave.
Night was beginning to fall, the light of the day fading from the sky as the shadows crept in to take its place.
“You’re welcome to stay here to work out your plans,” Aria said. “There’s only the one bed, but the couch isn’t so bad.”
Surah smiled, then surprised them both by pulling Aria into a hug. After a brief hesitation, Aria returned the embrace.
“As long as we’re here, you’re in danger,” Surah told her. “I’d rather not take the chance.”
Aria nodded, though she seemed disappointed by this. It was the slight drop of her shoulders that spoke of how lonely the poor girl must be. But hanging out with Charlie and Surah was about the most reckless thing one could do right now.
The Fae Queen might not know where they were, but a Dark Lord was a different story. It might take a little while, but sooner or later, he would find them. Which was why Surah intended to save him the trouble and visit him first.
“You should take a walk along the boardwalk before you go,” Aria suggested, folding herself up on the couch and opening her laptop with a drudgery all school kids of every race exhibit time to time. “Even the human world can be really beautiful, and the ocean always helps me think.”
Surah smiled at this, a real smile, despite the fact that the longer she had direct possession of the Black Stone, the darker her mood became, like the shadow of the moon slipping in front of the Earth, blackening the entire world below.
“Maybe we will,” she said, casting a spell that made her cloak appear to be just a gray t-shirt and jeans, which would undoubtedly fit better in the human world.
She and Charlie left after that, walking out of the small apartment complex near the slightly smelly back bay of this small coastal town, rather than portaling to another destination.
Surah had never bothered to visit any of the oceans in the human world, and it seemed as good a place as any to have the words with Charlie that they both knew needed to be had.
Per Aria’s instructions, they followed the sidewalk toward the direction of the ocean, the waves of which Surah could hear in the close distance, the squawk of strange seabirds flying overhead a gentle soundtrack to the scene.
The little seaside town the Halfling girl lived in was much like many of those along the eastern seaboard of what was called the United States of America. The homes here were both large and small, the yards clearly maintained by professionals, the medians decorated with fountains and trees that were just beginning to bloom with the new season.
Cars drove slowly and lazily down the streets, their exhausts pumping out pollutants, the effects of which were beginning to show even on Surah’s separate side of the world.
Overhead, the sky was painted a soft pink that truly was magical, despite the apparent lack of magic in this realm. The setting sun was a fiery orange ball, and it sank into the endless, blue ocean as if being swallowed bit by bit.
“Such a strange world this is,” Charlie said, almost as if to himself. They reached the ramp that led up to the boardwalk, which flanked the ocean with its white, ever-rolling waves. The saltiness of the air was somehow pleasant, somehow soothing to the mind.
As Surah took in the sights from the top of the boards, she saw that Aria had been right; staring out into that vast ocean, walking alongside it as it danced its endless dance, was as close to magic as anything could truly come.
She realized with a small jolt of surprise that this world was not so different from her own, and neither were the humans who called it home, as much as she would deny this if asked. There was magic all around them, the only difference was, here, they called it nature, they called it science.
Glancing over at Charlie, she got the feeling he was thinking the exact same thing. And both of them were avoiding the real issues at hand. They walked on a little longer in silence, passing by an older couple on a double bike who offered smiles as sweet as the colors of the setting sun painting the sky.
“It’s funny,” Surah said, “All the races fought so hard over the Territories… We’re still apparently fighting over them, but we left one of the greatest realms, the greatest Territories, all to the humans… and what do they do with it? They drive machines that stink up the air, fill their fearsome oceans with plastic and trash, dig up their ground to fill it with more.”
There was a sense of something foreboding to what Surah was saying, an air of prophecy that was too terrifying to consider in its implications.
Charlie took her hand, pulling her to a stop, forcing her to look at him. His brilliant eyes stared at her, his strong form silhouetting the rolling waters behind him.
“Surah,” he began, “I—”
“Just tell me I’m not a fool for loving you, despite it being the absolute craziest thing a woman in my position could do,” she said, cutting him off.
Charlie pulled her to him, his arms going around her waist and settling there as if that was the very purpose for which they’d been created.
She leaned into his embrace, wishing she had the power to stop time, to freeze this moment, this moment just before the Scales of Balance tipped in whatever direction they were destined to tip.
But that was the thing about time; all the magic in all the worlds could not stop it.
Charlie held her close, looking deeply into her eyes. When he spoke, his deep, slightly accented voice was as sincere as a man’s could be.
“I can’t tell you that loving me isn’t foolish,” he said, “but I can tell you that hearing you say that has made me the happiest man in all the realms, no matter what happens next. I don’t have any regrets as far as that goes. None at all.”
Surah was not aware of it, but her arms had tightened around him, her hands clutching tightly at the fabric of his shirt as if at any moment he could be ripped away. And, in truth, she supposed that was so.
“But it’s like Aria said, Charlie… To be together, we’d have to rearrange the stars.” Her voice lowered, her words nearly lost in the gentle sea wind. “Aren’t you afraid?” she asked. “Because I am. I think I’m more afraid than I’ve ever been in my entire life.”
Charlie held her tight, his breathing steady and deep, the strong pace of his heart beating under her fingers. “Of course I am,” he said. “I’ve never had something so worth living for.”
Surah did not miss that for the first time she could recall, Charlie had referred to his brother as Black Heart, rather than Michael, but it seemed poor taste to mention it. It would’ve spoiled the moment, and Surah knew enough to know that these types of moments did not come along often.
She found she had to swallow twice before she could speak, and that the words were harder to say than perhaps any she had ever spoken.
“So then tell me you love me, Charlie Redmine,” she whispered. “Tell me you love me and you’ll do whatever it takes to help me untangle the stars that have crossed themselves against us.” She held his green gaze with her violet eyes. “Whatever it takes.”
They both knew what she was really asking; the exact question need not be spoken. She hated to ask it of him, but before she let this thing get on any further, she had to know.
She had to know that if it came down to it, Charlie would choose her over his brother, because Black Heart was beyond saving now, and they both knew it.
Surah found she could not breathe in the small space between her question and his answer, and despite it being exactly what she’d hoped it’d be, it still made her slowly freezing heart ache in her chest.
“I love you, Surah Stormsong,” Charlie told her. “Like the moon loves the night and the sun loves the day, and I’ll take on the stars with you… Whatever it takes.”
Chapter 22
Surah
Rather than risk returning to their world, Surah and Charlie agreed that finding a hotel here in the human world to prepare themselves for their next steps was the safest option.
The
y passed by several quaint and charming bed and breakfast places dotting the seaside, and Surah chose one where the units looked like tiny log cabins built beside the sea.
Charlie commented that they reminded him of home, and Surah smiled at this. It reminded her of his home as well, which was why she’d chosen it.
Using some magic, she’d conjured some of what passed for money in this world and went into the office—which was an even smaller cottage unit in the center of the others.
After securing a room, she left the office, the small bell on the door chiming above her head, and her stomach tightened as she caught sight of Charlie, still standing on the boardwalk that flanked the charming, if out of place, cabins.
This would be the first time she’d been alone in a bedroom with him since, well, the last time she’d been alone in a bedroom with him.
Suddenly, her heartbeat picked up in pace. She wondered if this man would ever stop making her feel this way, and simultaneously hoped the answer was no while fearing the possibility that it was yes.
She climbed the wooden ramp that led back up to the boards, and said nothing as she stepped up beside Charlie. For a moment, the two of them only stared out at the vast ocean in this strange world.
Gulls cried overhead and the churning waters danced their endless dance. It was easy to feel small standing here, no matter how big the problems resting on one’s shoulders. Surah could see why the Halfling girl loved it so.
After some time had passed, Surah took her lover’s hand in hers and led him toward the cabin she’d secured for them. He followed her with a certainty she’d only ever seen in the eyes of her tiger, and the pace of her pulse kicked up to a near hum.