Angel Blessed (Angel Caste Book 5)

by K S Nikakis

  Viv watched the new day dawn as they walked beside the Scinta rill’s bright rush. The sky was cloudless and the first of the bird-chimes sounded in the forests. Yep Vivi, a picture-perfect day. What could possibly go wrong?

  ‘Why did you discard the tryst-bracelet?’

  Viv kept her eyes on the water. ‘If I stay with Poss in your sett, I won’t need trade for a roof over my head, or if being in the sett doesn’t work out, I can beg a room from Baraghan in Astraal, or go back to the Kama-ril.’ Her answer was true, as far as it went. She’d originally kept the bracelet to avoid transference and later to goad him, a piece of grit in his oyster shell that had produced more pain than pearl. But if she were to share his sett, she wanted to remove as many causes of tension as possible.

  ‘Is that the only reason?’

  Shit! Being able to lie now would be really handy. ‘I want to be rid of things that anger you, for Poss’s sake, as much as my own. The last thing she needs in her life are arguments and ill-feeling. I want her to be happy.’

  The val broadened as the day drew on, and Viv’s tension rose as a freshly constructed yard came into sight, and then a group of men who worked on what looked like a barn. The men downed their tools to greet them, and the Syld reached for her hand. She recognised most of the men but it was going to take a lot longer to remember their names, despite the Syld working through them in a series of very formal introductions.

  ‘Berenth en-Scinta-ril, I present Viv en-Scinta-ril, my daughter’s lein, formerly of the Kama-ril. Zeneden en-Scinta-ril, I present Viv en-Scinta-ril, my daughter’s lein, formerly of the Kama-ril. Madragh en-Scinta-ril, I present Viv en-Scinta-ril, my daughter’s lein, formerly of the Kama-ril.’

  They went on up the slope through the sett’s yards and out-buildings, the introductions repeated countless times. Men pruned retsen stands, hoed rows of some sort of green-food, weeded crops that looked like corn, cleaned stables, and came out of stone buildings smelling of cheese and urrut-sa. Some of the men had seen the Syld tether her to the urrut caravan, others been at Esh-telin or at Stelin Ridge, still others had witnessed him strike her after Fariye’s abduction, but she was something else now, standing beside him, her hand in his.

  It might have been part of the deal he’d made with Ithreya, but he didn’t skimp on his half of the bargain. The respect he showed her, demanded his men’s respect in return. Viv was relieved to leave his men behind, and expected him to drop her hand, but he led her on past trees and the sett came into view. He’d used pale stone and curved walls, and topped the roof with limed shingles to create a sinuous, silvery sweep. He might hate Astraal, but his angel blood hankered after its beauty

  ‘Do you like it, Viv en-Scinta-ril?’

  ‘Yes. It’s lovely.’

  The tension lessened in his hand, and he led her along a pathway edged with flowering bushes with stone seats to rest on, and stone dishes to trap water for birds. The plantings were recent, and the timber and stone raw with newness, but the Syld and his men hadn’t just rebuilt the sett, they’d made a home.

  The impression was strengthened by the carved wood that edged the wall and ceiling joints inside, and when they reached the hall, by the carved tables and chairs. The wood-smell reminded her of the carving-room in Esh-accom and that the Syld could do more than kill.

  There was a dozen or so people seated in the hall, both men and women, and a group of noisy children playing chase beyond the window. There were still more introductions, and then Poss burst through the doorway, and threw herself shrieking into Viv’s arms. Viv held her as Poss’s sobs soaked her jacket, powerless to stop the tears sliding down her own face. Then Poss grabbed at the Syld and pulled him closer.

  ‘Both,’ she cried, and struggled to hug them together. ‘You’re never going away again, are you, lein? You’re staying here with me, aren’t you? Aren’t you?’ Poss’s tear-stained face turned to the Syld. ‘She’s staying, isn’t she, da? Isn’t she?’

  ‘She’s Viv en-Scinta-ril, now Fariye. She’s part of my sett.’

  Fariye buried her face in Viv’s neck and her arms and legs tightened around her, and then Drasen appeared from the passageway. There was real warmth in the way he embraced the Syld, and his greeting of her. ‘It’s good to see you again, Viv, and I see Fariye’s found you.’ He smiled and brushed Viv’s curls with his fingers. ‘Longer hair really suits you.’ She felt the Syld bristle, and so did he, his face showing momentary surprise, as he dropped his hand.

  ‘I’ve come straight from Esh-accom, Syld, so I’ve been here a little while. Ithreya decided to come here first, instead of returning to the Verra-ril for a time, so I joined her escort. The rest of Amethen’s party thank you for your sett’s hospitality and have since departed.’

  ‘The baby’s well?’ asked the Syld quickly.

  ‘Very well, as Ithreya is,’ said Drasen, smiling again. ‘It’s been a tiring journey for a woman who’s newly-birthed but Ithreya’s asked to speak with Viv, when if, she arrived. I’ll take you now, Viv, with the Syld’s permission.’ The Syld nodded.

  ‘I need to put you down,’ Viv said to Fariye, but Fariye clung on more tightly.

  ‘No! You’ll go again!’

  ‘Remember how I promised to never leave without saying good bye?’ Poss nodded mutely. ‘I’ve kept my promise, haven’t I?’ Again, the nod. ‘I’ll never leave without saying goodbye, Poss, but I need to see Ithreya.’ Poss reluctantly relinquished her and took the Syld’s hand, and Viv followed Drasen out of the hall.

  Drasen escorted her along another beautifully carved passageway, knocked on a door, and when Ithreya bade them enter, politely opened the door for Viv, bowed and left. Shutters blocked the morning sun, making the room dim, but Ithreya hastened forward and embraced her.

  ‘It’s so good to see you again, Viv. And your hair! It’s so lovely.’

  ‘And you’re well?’

  ‘I am indeed. And I have a daughter.’ Ithreya opened the shutters a crack and Viv followed her to the cradle. The baby slept and Viv’s throat contracted as she took in the child’s perfect face. ‘She’s beautiful,’ she managed to say.

  ‘And she’s Sehereden’s. You know I’m gifting her to Ataghan?’ Viv nodded. ‘But not unconditionally. What I’m doing, I’m doing for Sehereden, and for my daughter. You have to know that, Viv and that I’m not playing games.’ Viv nodded again, and Ithreya settled back in her chair.

  ‘Sehereden loved Ataghan as leins do, and his love kept Ataghan from the excesses that make elddric feared and despised. Not that anyone dared utter the word elddric in the Syld’s hearing, and Sehereden never did, even in our most intimate moments. But my seed-father journeyed to Astraal and spoke of it, as you know.

  ‘When Ataghan thought Fariye dead, only Sehereden prevented him committing even worse atrocities, and we both saw him after Sehereden’s death. He’d been a loving and protective father to Fariye but was prepared to abandon her to follow Sehereden into death.

  ‘Sehereden would have wanted his seed-daughter to go to his lein, but I won’t risk what almost happened to Fariye, ever happening to Vivreya. So, I decided to force the issue with regards to you.’

  ‘To me?’

  Ithreya smiled. ‘I saw early on you were a good match for the Syld, despite his hatred of all things Astraali making him blind to it. You shared a love for Fariye, and for Sehereden, of course, and you’re both fiercely protective of those you love. Your shared Angellus blood gifts you a similar life-span too. Together you’d provide Vivreya with a safe and happy home.’

  ‘You named her after me?’

  ‘After both of us. Sehereden loved you as well, so it was fitting, but I also wanted to remind the Syld of my conditions.’

  ‘That I live at the Scinta-ril?

  ‘Yes, and lein-tryst with him.’ Viv stared at her in shock. ‘I see he hasn’t shared the second condition with you. No doubt he has his reasons, but if he hasn’t built enough trust with you by Pool Zadic’s end, I’ll take V
ivreya back to the Verra-ril and gift her elsewhere.’

  Viv exited the room as quietly as she could, given she’d have liked to slam the door, and strode off down the passageway. The Syld was with others in the hall but she stormed past him, too infuriated to speak. It was still fine outside, but colder, and she strode away from the sett, barely knowing where she went. There was a path cut into the stone and she turned up it. Flowers had been planted to either side, but their blooms were spent and yellow petals littered the ground. The steps ended at an emerald pool fed by a slender waterfall and Viv stopped. She’d been here before with Poss, when the Scharii’s violence had been fresh on her skin, the sett in ruins, and every shadow full of murderers.

  A stone seat had been positioned to take in the view, but Viv was in no mood to sit. She’d been suckered by some slimy bastards in her time, but the Syld took the cake. She should have known he’d do anything to get his hands on Sehereden’s child, including pretending affection, acceptance, and respect. Men had screwed her over for much smaller prizes, yet she’d believed the Syld had changed, when nothing had changed. Even living in the sett no longer seemed possible.

  No happily ever after, eh Vivi?

  There was a patter of footsteps but she didn’t trust herself to turn, even when Poss’s small hand slid into hers. ‘Da said I’d find you here, lein. The Scinta Pool’s pretty, isn’t it?’ Viv nodded. ‘I want to show you something only da and me know about. You have to keep it secret too. It’s this way, lein.’ Poss tugged her away, and kept a firm grip on Viv’s hand. even as she scrambled up the slope. Frost lingered in the shadows and Viv’s breath plumed. ‘It’s somewhere here,’ said Poss, her eyes darting about.

  Viv could see the sett below through a gap in the trees, but she could never be part of it, if its leader spun her a pack of lies.

  ‘This way,’ said Poss, pulling her on.

  She followed the little girl along a small crest, and then Poss crouched beside the remains of a massive tree. It had been dead for zadicans; its trunk glossy with age. ‘Here,’ said Poss excitedly, and gently parted the grass.

  A plant blossomed there with silver leaves and exquisite, star-shaped, aqua flowers. ‘Only da and I know it’s here,’ whispered Poss, ‘and Sehereden did, of course. Da brings me every Horse Zadic ‘cos he knows I don’t like the cold. Sometimes the snow comes right down to the sett but Da says if we didn’t have Horse and Pool Zadics, we wouldn’t appreciate the other zadics near as much.

  ‘Da says the flowers remind us all things in The Wheel are beautiful. They only bloom when it’s cold, but you have to know where to look. You have to see there’s not just ice and snow, but beautiful things too.’ Poss carefully picked a bloom and presented it to Viv. ‘It’s for you, lein.’

  ‘Thank you, Poss, but don’t pick anymore. It should be left to flower.’

  ‘That’s what da says, but I wanted to welcome you to our sett.’

  ‘Has it got a name?’ asked Viv, as they made their way back.

  ‘Yes. It’s called an ilris.’

  Viv said nothing until they reached the Scinta Pool. ‘I think I might sit for a while, Poss. But it’s cold. You should go back to the sett.’

  ‘Da likes to sit here too,’ said Poss. Her arms encircled Viv’s neck and she planted a warm kiss on her cheek. ‘I love you so much, lein.’

  Viv sat on the stone seat and looked at the pool. It was skinned with ice and she shivered, but she didn’t want to return to the sett, and after a while, footsteps crunched over the grass.

  ‘Can I sit with you?’

  ‘It’s your seat in your sett.’

  He sat next to her and stared at the pool. ‘It’s not what you think.’

  ‘And what is it I think?’

  ‘That my feelings for you are a lie, concocted to gain what I really want, namely the child of my dead lein. That anything I’ve offered you is part of that lie; that my words of affection and our coupling meant nothing to me; that they were a pretense which would end once Sehereden’s child was safely in my possession.’

  ‘And weren’t they?’

  ‘When Ithreya offered me Sehereden’s child, the gift was so precious I was prepared to do anything to meet her conditions, right up to the moment I saw you disappear beneath the waves in Astraal. I thought I’d lost you, Ilris. It changed everything. What I’ve said or done since has been without duplicity.’

  ‘Then why not tell me of Ithreya’s demand for a lein-tryst?’

  ‘I feared you’d react as you have. I wanted time with you here, without threats, and fighting, and death; with Fariye, in a home I hoped you’d want too. I hadn’t expected Ithreya to arrive so soon.’ He pulled his amè over his head and handed it to her. ‘Open it, Ilris.’

  The metal cylinder was a plainer version of hers, the mechanism the same. It held two locks of hair and a broken feather, and she stared at the feather in confusion.

  ‘Fariye’s hair I’ve had since she was gifted; Sehereden’s I took before the pyre, while the feather …’ He picked it up and laid it gently in his palm. ‘I found it on the feed-store floor, after you’d flown from the roof, to save Fariye, as it turned out. For a long time it lay forgotten in my pocket, and then I found it again as I walked in Esh-accom’s rain after Sehereden’s death. I crushed it and let the Vorash wash it to the cobbles.

  ‘I wanted to walk away, to forget how you’d come to my room, braved my knives, held and healed me, a despised elddric who’d dealt you nothing but hatred and harm. But I couldn’t walk away, Ilris. I put the feather in my amè to guide me in death, as precious to me as Sehereden and Fariye’s love.’

  She looked at him for the first time. ‘What do you want, Ataghan?’

  ‘Someone who knows what I am and loves me despite it.’

  ‘Like Sehereden?’

  ‘Yes, but a lein isn’t a lein-tryst.’ He paused. ‘And what do you want, Ilris?’

  ‘Someone who knows what I am and loves me despite it.’

  His breath emptied. ‘Like Thrisdane?’ he asked, but the tension had gone from his voice.

  ‘Yes, but an angel isn’t elddric. Thrisdane never understood my human part. He couldn’t. You’ve seen me at my worst.’

  ‘And you’ve seen me at mine. Will you lein-tryst with me?’

  ‘I can’t give you children, Ataghan, and I won’t stand in line with other women you want.’

  ‘You’ve gifted me Fariye twice, and because of you, Ithreya’s offered me Sehereden’s child. And you’ve gifted me a life I never hoped to have. I want that life, Ilris, and I want it with you alone.’ He offered her his hand and she took it. ‘Will you lein-tryst with me, Violet Iris Vacia?’ he asked formally.

  His gaze was intense, but it was Syatha she thought of, and the choice the Sai had offered her between roses and thorns. ‘Yes, Syld, I’ll lein-tryst with you.’

  He closed his eyes in relief. ‘I don’t have a tryst-bracelet but I’ll trade for one in Esh-accom when the weather improves.’

  She ran her fingers down the stubble of his jaw. ‘Really, Syld. I’d have kept the Waradi one had I known.’ She smiled. ‘I’ve never cared about such things.’

  ‘It’s a formal acknowledgement of our trysting,’ he said, ‘which Esh-accom’s Sylds will record and make public.’

  ‘I’ve got something more important, Syld,’ she said, and carefully extracted the ilris from her pocket. ‘Da says the flowers remind us that all things in The Wheel are beautiful. They only bloom when it’s cold, but you have to know where to look. You have to see there’s not just ice and cold, but beautiful things too.’

  ‘Fariye has a good memory,’ he said thickly.

  ‘Fariye has a good father.’

  He reached for her and their kiss was long. ‘Are you ready to come back to the sett, Ilris? To face those there as my lein-tryst? There’ll be some who’ll doubt, but Fariye’s squeals will drown them out. She’ll give you no peace,’ he warned.

  ‘And that is as it should be,�
�� she said, and smiled. ‘Yes, Syld, I’m ready.’

  End of Angel Caste Book 5 - Angel Blessed

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  Lady Luck’s never been on Viv’s side and, even after Viv discovers she’s half-angel, she figures that’s not going to change. Raised by her drunken father after her mother dies, Viv ends up on the streets, and then in jail when the accident she thinks will end her miserable life, destroys another life instead.

  Riddled with guilt, she’s on day release to attend the funeral of the father she despised, when her real father, the powerful angel Archae Kald, appears and offers to reunite her with the mother she thought dead. Desperate to find the only person who’s ever loved her, Viv transits the rifts to the angel world of Ezam, and accepts the beautiful angel Thris as her guide. His job is to keep Viv safe in the hazardous journey through the Rynth to her mother.

  But Thris’s task is harder than he thinks. Deeply damaged from her life on the streets, Viv finds it impossible to trust, and the danger starts even before they set out. There are angels in Ezam who believe half-angels are perilous and must be destroyed.

  Thris is kind and caring, unlike the men Viv’s known before, but as her angel traits emerge, his self-discipline crumbles, and her trust is destroyed. Rejecting his protection, she finds herself alone in a world of fierce creatures.