Above the Storm

by JMD Reid

  She clutched the jar of candied pineapple to her breast. “Thank you.” She kissed the tip of his beak before striding away with a dance in her step.

  Wriavia clucked his beak in amusement. “Silly hatchling.”

  ~ * * ~

  Aernoa 16th, 399 VF (1960 SR)

  Vel’s heart beat faster as Chaylene strode up, dressed in those wonderful linen trousers that hugged her curves. She held her light-blue scout’s jacket over her arm, a smile lighting up her ebony face. Jwiaswo’s crimson light shimmered on her blonde hair. The red moon was half-full tonight. Summer would end in little less than a month. When Jwiaswo became full, autumn would arrive. His brother, the blue moon, was dark. Riasruo never shined her love upon Twiuasra in the middle of a month.

  “Hi, Vel. I wasn’t sure you’d be here,” she smiled.

  “I took a gamble that you’d want to take a walk after your training flight,” he shrugged, leaning on the slats of the fence that separated Chaylene’s camp from the administration district.

  This was their fifth meeting. The first half of Aernoa had passed so slow. Vel sometimes spent days without seeing her. Then she’d appear out of the night, stealing his breath. Between his ship’s extended training flights and hers, they were lucky they’d had these five nights.

  Vel’s heart beat faster. Every night, he felt her slip a little farther from Ary. The desire in her eyes promised him such hope that tonight she’d finally be his. She feared it, a nervousness keeping a distance between them. But he kept his patience. He knew she wanted him. Why else would she keep coming to see him? Wriavia’s advice was working. Every time he saw the merchant, the Luastria gave him another nugget of advice. Last time, he said, “If she’s fighting with her husband, then ridicule the man for hurting her. Be on her side against him. Her ally. Let her vent her frustrations.”

  “I’m glad you came,” she said. “I missed you. I was cooped up with all the same people. A little variety is nice.”

  Vel’s heart beat faster as he climbed over the fence and dropped onto her side. “You have no idea the downyheaded fools who serve on my ship. There’s no one that I can talk to about anything interesting.”

  “Poor you,” Chaylene mocked, balling her coat into a pillow and stretching out on the grass between the armory and the fence. The building protected them from the gossiping eyes of her crewmates. Vel feared Ary discovering these meetings.

  He lay down next to her on the grass, using his left arm as a pillow, and looked up at the starry sky stretched out above them. Hidden from the world, he felt like they were in their own world of glittering night.

  “How are things between you and Ary? Still fighting about dirty clothes?”

  She let out a frustrated moan. “His nightmares are increasing. They’re almost every night. They’re growing in intensity like . . . like they’re building towards something. And he refuses to tell me anything. I just want to help him get past . . . whatever it is he dreams.”

  Vel didn’t care what it was. “He doesn’t want to share his secrets with you.”

  Her face fell. “I have secrets from him.”

  “This is different. You need someone to talk to, a friend. And Ary’s showing his true nature. He’s not the man you thought he was. I’m shocked by his behavior. I really thought he loved you, but the more I think about it, the more I fear he doesn’t.”

  “He has to love me. Right, Vel?”

  “You’re fighting.”

  “Just because we’re fighting doesn’t mean anything. Married couples fight. Your parents argue all the time.”

  “But they don’t love each other.”

  She flinched. “Don’t they? Why else did they get married?”

  “Not sure.” Vel paused, an idea blooming. “My pa always said it was a mistake to marry my ma. He regretted tying himself down with a family. Maybe Ary regrets it, too. He is in the Navy because of you.”

  “You think he resents me?” Her voice cracked with pain.

  “Maybe. That’s why he won’t share with you. I mean, he thought he loved you, but now he’s realizing he doesn’t. But he’s stuck with you. Stuck in the Navy. That has to make him mad. Make him bitter. And then you’re prying at his secret. It’s only making it worse.”

  “I can’t believe that. I don’t want to.” She turned her gaze skyward, taking deep breaths, a crystal star sliding down her cheek. “You know why I love looking up at the stars?”

  “No.” Vel frowned at her change of subject.

  “Because I can lose myself in their stories.” She pointed up, her hand reaching towards the sky, fingers grasping.

  Annoyance soured Vel’s stomach. It was going so well, and now she wants to talk about the stars?

  “What stories are in the skies?” he asked. Her sudden detour down this new topic’s path confused him. This night’s careful work to lead her from Ary was ruined. More of Wriavia’s advice rose in his mind: “Pound wedges between her and her mate. That’s the key, Vel.”

  “Every one of those constellations is a story. Our history.” She drew in a breath, retreating from her fear, fleeing into her talk of stars.

  Vel couldn’t see a way to stop her. He had to let blather on or risk driving her away. He needed patience. Soon he could reopen her wounds, forcing her to realize she couldn’t love Ary. Because she loves me!

  “All the stories stretch back one by one, reaching in an unbroken chain to the Beginning when Priopii, in her loneliness, sang Riasruo and Theisseg into being. Then the Goddesses created our world with the harmony of their song before jealousy split them apart.”

  Vel had heard the legends before. He nodded his head, putting on a smile as he endured the trite.

  “If the Goddesses had stayed loving sisters there’d be no Storm below us,” she continued. “We’d all still live on the ground.”

  “But Theisseg’s jealousy ruined everything.” He kept the boredom out of his words.

  She nodded. “Everyone loves the warm sun, but who loves the storm cloud that brings the wet, cold rain?”

  “No one.”

  “Ary always hated it when the weather controllers made it rain when we were kids.” Her voice held affection.

  Vel soured. Why did she have to bring him up? He didn’t want the conversation to turn to the brute in a positive way. He pointed at random into the sky. “So what’s the story behind that constellation?”

  “That’s Coajyii,” she answered. “Surely you know who that is?”

  “It sounds familiar. I’m sure my ma told me some tale about him.”

  “He was one of Riasruo’s five sacred beasts.”

  “That’s vaguely familiar. They all taught our ancestors stuff.”

  Chaylene nodded. “Lsaapsu, the Golden Hawk, taught hunting. Hruvv, the Alabaster Ostrich, taught domestication. Let’s see, there was Shian, the Azure Songbird, who taught music, and Xiadwul, the Rainbow Peacock, who taught Isame how to farm.”

  “So what did Coajyii teach?”

  “Coajyii, the Vermilion Roc, was Riasruo’s favorite beast. He went to her favorite race—the Luastria. Coajyii taught them how to fly. That was when the world was peaceful. But Theisseg grew jealous of her sister’s creations and birthed four beasts of her own.”

  “I’ve heard of those.” Vel, unlike Ary, knew things. “Theisseg’s children. The beasts who ravaged the world during the Sisters’ War.”

  “Yep. When Theisseg saw all the world reviled the four monsters she’d birthed—Wuasril the Wind Wyrm, the Hydra, Neiddar the Great Shark, and Dread Mehnet the Five-Tusked Boar—she sent them to kill Riasruo’s sacred beasts.”

  Vel stared into her gray eyes as she spoke. Losing himself in her eyes drowned out her words. His hand shifted, almost absently, and brushed hers upon the grass. She didn’t pull away; her fingers caressed his. Warmth burned inside him.

  “When Wuasril breathed a typhoon at Coajyii, the fierce gale crashed him into the earth. He died. In her grief, Riasruo placed him in the skies to
forever fly free. His death was the first blow of the Sisters War. It didn’t end until Haashwil had trapped Theisseg atop the highest mountain.”

  She fell silent, staring into his eyes. He scooted closer, his heart beating. He could feel the fair breeze pushing him towards her. He sensed it. The moment of her surrender to him. He licked his lips, his heart thudding faster. Every blessed moment, they drifted nearer. Her hand tightened on his. Hot breath brushed his lips. He smelled her earthy scent over the grass they lay on. The sun shone through him. His eyes closed. His lips puckered.

  He braced for rapture.

  It didn’t come.

  His eyes opened. Chaylene stared skyward again, a wide gulf between them. She yanked her hand from his to scratch at her neck. The connection broken. Fear and affection for Ary held her back.

  He tried to keep the disappointment from twisting his face. Patience.

  “It was Kaltein who freed Theisseg from her prison, starting the Wrackthar War,” she continued, voice tight, cracking. She cleared her throat. “See. It’s all connected. Kaltein sacrificed gentle Hruvv—the only Sacred Beast to survive the Sisters War—to free the Storm Goddess. And when Iiwroa succeeded in receiving Riasruo’s Blessing, turning the tide of the Wrackthar War, Kaltein summoned the Storm and covered the entire world in darkness. Theisseg’s jealousy continues to this day. Riasruo saved us from her Storm, so Theisseg sends her Cyclones to attack us.”

  “What a sow,” Vel muttered, trying to keep his frustration out of his voice. “So selfish. Not caring about anything but her own desires.”

  She nodded. Then a yawn split her lips, forced, contrived. An excuse to flee. “Oh, wow, I’m tired. I should probably be going. Ary’s waiting for me.”

  Panic squirmed around Vel’s heart. “Don’t go just yet.” He reached out to catch her, but missed as she pulled away. “You were telling me about all the stars.”

  “Sorry,” she said. She gained her feet and retreated.

  Vel kept his face from tightening. Why won’t she just surrender? Doesn’t she understand how much I love her? How much longer will she make me wait? I should seize her. Kiss her.

  Wriavia’s advice held him back: “She has to be ready to leave his nest for yours. You’ll know it when she makes her choice. Too aggressive, and she’ll fly back to her mate for protection.”

  “Yeah. So, um, when can we talk again?” he asked, battling his fires.

  Her face blanched. “We’re shipping out again tomorrow. Around midday. Captain Dhar is letting us sleep in, but we’ll be gone for seven days.”

  “A week?” Vel blurted.

  “I know. So I need to get back to Ary.”

  “Yeah.” Vel tried to keep his anger out of his voice. “I understand.”

  “Goodnight. I’ll be going for a walk when I return. Hopefully, you’ll be in camp.”

  He nodded. “Okay, I’ll be here. And Lena, you should think about what I said. If he really loves you, he would share the dreams.”

  Her face fell. “I will, Vel.”

  He watched her disappear into the darkness. He had to go seven days without seeing her. The disappointment almost crushed him.

  But I planted the seeds. She’ll be mine next time.

  ~ * * ~

  Chaylene hurried through the dark camp, her cheeks burning.

  She could still feel Vel’s hand on hers. So possessed by the excitement of talking about the constellations, she hadn’t realized she’d grabbed his hand. When she did, the surge of boiling blood almost overwhelmed her will. She still trembled at how close she had come to surrendering. She knew it was dangerous seeing him, but with Ary so cold, Vel gave her the heat her blood craved. The love she thought Ary would always give her.

  But didn’t. Because of the dreams.

  She hated his dreams and dreaded sleeping beside him and waking up to his mumbling, to more rebuking silences when she inquired about them. She wished she could ignore them, but they seized her husband, frightened her. The more he refused to talk, the more desperate she became to understand, to help him.

  And the more he pulled away, withdrawing into himself.

  Chaylene hated her heart. She thought to sail across smooth skies in her marriage. What problems could they have when their hearts burned for each other? But Vel’s words dampened one fire while kindling another. Did she love two men? She couldn’t deny her desire for Vel. It quivered through her nethers, that wet heat brimming in her. Almost kissing him tonight had enthralled her. Excited her.

  Frightened her.

  It would mean she didn’t love Ary like she’d thought. And maybe he didn’t love her.

  But he joined the Navy for me. That’s how much he loves me. Right?

  Unless he joined out of pity, confusing his emotions.

  She didn’t want to believe she’d so misjudged the man with whom she united her life. That she could so foolishly mistake his emotions, his intentions. But I missed Vel’s emotions. I didn’t realize he loved me until he kissed me. Am I as blind to Ary’s?

  She had to know if he loved her. The desires Vel stoked in her made her walk faster. If she brought this passion to her marital bed, stared into Ary’s eyes as they writhed together, she would know the truth. She would know if he loved her.

  Because if he didn’t she’d surrender to her blood. Vel did love her. Her marriage vows felt as tenuous as a thread of Sowerese silk.

  “Enjoying your walk, Vaarckthian?”

  Chaylene started at the jeering voice. Xoshia leaned against the rope manufactury, a smirk on her tan face illuminated by the red moon.

  “It was pleasant.” Chaylene’s eyes grew wary. She wished she’d worn her knife for the walk. Seeing Xoshia made her nervous. She looked around for others, but they were alone, cloaked by the night.

  “I bet it was,” the woman sneered. “A pleasant diversion away from your husband.”

  “What are you intimating?” The anger flared inside Chaylene, fueled by guilt. “I was just looking at the stars.”

  Xoshia’s smile turned mocking. “Of course. Just some harmless star watching. You’re not even wearing your jacket. I guess that hot Vaarckthian blood keeps you warm.”

  Chaylene’s fists clenched. She wanted to pummel the woman, exhausted by Xoshia’s barbed tongue. Anger roared in her, a mix of outrage and shame. “Do you want something, Xoshia?” snarled Chaylene. One more word, and I’ll roughen up that pretty face. “Because your sow’s snout is churning my stomach.”

  The woman pushed off from the whitewashed building, her hands clenching into fists. Chaylene slipped into a fighting stance, heart exulting. One foot slid forward as she pivoted on the ball of her other foot. Scouts weren’t as well trained as marines in hand-to-hand combat, but that didn’t make her helpless.

  Xoshia licked her lips. The fear in the woman’s eyes gave Chaylene pleasure. Sailors learned how to tie knots and received only rudimentary lessons in swordplay. The only weapon they’d trained heavily with was the crossbow.

  “I’ll give you a taste of the drubbing Zori gave you.” Chaylene raised up her arms, her body tense and her heart pumping with excitement. It would feel so good to bloody the woman’s foul lips. “What are you waiting for, sow? I’m not going to go away just because you oink at me.”

  “You’re not worth fighting,” Xoshia shrugged before walking, with haste, towards the barracks. “You’re just a Vaarckthian trollop.”

  Xoshia’s words stayed with Chaylene as she walked back to her house. Inside, Ary’s snores rattled. She stripped quickly before slipping into bed and pressed herself against his strong flesh.

  “Wake up,” she whispered.

  “I’m not dreaming,” he muttered.

  She kissed his cheek. “I know. I just . . . I do love you, Ary. Okay? Even if you won’t share with me.”

  She trembled, waiting for his words, fearing, hoping.

  He rolled over to face her, and swallowed. “I love you, too, Chaylene. I just . . .”

  What, Ar
y? What is so special about these dreams? She bit back the question, not desiring another fight wearing her down to a raw nub. She needed love tonight.

  “I don’t like thinking about them, Lena.”

  “Then let me help you forget,” she purred, her desires stronger than her curiosity.

  Their lips met. His hands caressed her curves as she grasped him, stoking his flames. She blazed for him as hot as for Vel. And he responded. She gloried in the heat as he entered her. No fighting, no rebukes, the gulf between them vanished.

  His eyes . . . She saw it. Love.

  She loved him.

  She loved Vel.

  And she didn’t know what to do about that. Because come tomorrow, Ary would still deny her his dreams. He’d ignore her, he’d tell pathetic lies, he’d flee from her and the cold space would yawn so wide between them.

  But tonight, she reveled in their love and prayed for him to finally open up. Then . . . Then she wouldn’t fear her walks and where they might lead.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Aernoa 21st, 399 VF (1960 SR)

  Chaylene’s eyes felt like grit. She’d spent the night on watch in the crow’s nest, and just when she’d crawled into her hammock to get some sleep, an action drill had sounded and she’d had to climb all the way back up to her post. When it ended, Ary had met her at the base of the mast. Now she leaned against him.

  On the Dauntless’s training flight, an unspoken truce came between her and Ary. Aboard the crowded ship, she didn’t needle him about the dreams. They ignored it. Maybe it was finally sharing their fires the night before departing, rekindling the intimacy between them. Maybe the lack of privacy on the ship kept them both from throwing wide the curtains on their relationship for the entire crew to witness.

  Either way, leaning against her husband reminded her of all the reasons she’d married him.

  “I’m so glad this is the second-to-last day of this deployment,” she sighed. Seven days would make this their longest training flight so far. They’d left the morning after her last meeting with Vel.