Diplomacy

by May Sage

  “All healed up. We’re good to go. He just needs rest now.”

  “Good. That’s—”

  Good, she would have repeated, if she hadn’t fainted.

  She was disoriented, dizzy, and headachy when she woke up. For about seven seconds. Then a soft hand touched her forehead, and it was all gone.

  “Star,” she said before opening her eyes.

  The beauty was smiling, looking down at her. Next to her, a blue white wolf moaned slowly, her head on Dara’s bed.

  “Take it easy, sweet,” Star told her. “I took your pain away but you’re still very dehydrated. Gave us quite the fright, passing out for three days.”

  Three days? What the hell!

  “Hart!” She started to move, and when a sharp pain passed through her right arm, she saw that she’d been plugged in to some sort of machine.

  “Take it easy. He’s just fine. And not very far.”

  Star gestured behind her to the closest wall in the small, beige and green, unbearably tidy room that smelled of ocean. And meds.

  Oh. She blushed, finding him leaning on the wall, and watching her closely, his gray eyes as unreadable as they’d been when they’d first met.

  “What happened?” she asked him, or Star. Anyone.

  Star explained, “Imperialists. They’re not exactly enthusiastic at having mages next door. They’ve kidnapped our leader’s female. She’s just fine, though. She can take care of herself.”

  “Is she a mage?” Dara asked, blushing.

  “Very much so. A strong one, at that.” Then Star started, “While we’re on the subject, it seems that your—”

  Hart cut her off, his tone not accepting any argument. “No. Not now. Dara just woke up. We’ll talk later.”

  She loved that man. She really, really did. Coming close to losing him had made it obvious. But by all gods, she was not going to put up with his bullshit.

  “If something concerns me, I’ll have you tell me. Now,” she added, for good measure, making him sigh and Star laugh.

  “You’re not going to win here, brother. Come, tell her, or I shall.”

  Dara waited, looking between the twin who were glaring at each other. Finally, he said, “The incident we survived wasn’t without consequences.”

  He wasn’t meeting her eyes. Fuck, what had happened now?

  “We have a theory,” Star said, taking over when Hart wouldn’t add more. “It suggests that all Evris truly do have the potential to become mages, but that it only happens to those who feel trapped, in danger. Like they need to develop powers to survive. Hart never felt that way, but I did. I’m a female. Whether they meant to or not, everyone made me feel like my one purpose in life was to wed and breed babies. It’s no wonder that I wanted to break out of that. Hart’s powers came right after mine. I think he developed them because he wanted to protect me.”

  Dara nodded slowly, so Star continued, “We don’t have enough data to prove this, yet. In any case, all of this is to say that your brother, while he was trapped down there, has unlocked that part of himself. Kaul’s one of us, Dara.”

  She said it gently, like she was delivering the worst sort of news.

  Dara nodded. “Good.”

  There were two very confused mages in her room, both staring at her in disbelief.

  “What? There aren’t enough mages out there. I’ve seen what you guys can do. You help people. I’m glad my brother can do that, too.” She grinned. “He loves it, doesn’t he?”

  “You have no idea,” Star laughed enthusiastically. “I’ve never seen a youth take to magic with such eagerness. He’s trailing Kai, and Kai lets him. That says a lot.”

  Dara smiled.

  “That’s not all, sweet. I want you to know that very little about you has changed. You’re still the same person. You don’t—as far as we can see—have magic. But a cellular metamorphosis has occurred in your case. We can’t explain it or see what different it makes. It’s… not something any of us have encountered before.”

  That did make her frown for a second. Then she remembered that she was alive, her crew was well, her brother couldn’t possibly be better, and Hart was here.

  “Oh, well. We’ll deal with it if we have to. Together.”

  Hart was still scrutinizing her. He asked his sister, “Can you take her temperature? She’s taking all this shit way too easily.”

  “I’m fine,” she replied firmly. “We’re alive. That’s all that matters.”

  Finally, he crossed the room and came to sit on the side of her bed.

  “It’s my fault you were here to start with. If not for me you would have been in space, a million miles away, and none of it—”

  She didn’t let him finish, ignoring the IV pulling at her as she sat up and pressed her lips to his. She kissed, and kissed, and kissed every part of him, until he’d relaxed and stopped watching her like he believed she might explode at any second.

  “Paying attention? Good. Listen carefully. I’m glad Kaur’s a mage. Could I have done without the potential heart failure due to shock? Certainly. But I wouldn’t change the outcome, which means I wouldn’t change the journey. If I hadn’t seen Kai and the others with my own eyes, I might not have understood what being a mage was. If I hadn’t seen a freaking half-a-building-sized wall crush you, I might not have understood that I don’t want to live my life without you. Don’t you dare feel guilty for any of it.”

  Hart buried his head on her chest and remained there, listening to her heartbeat. Then he said. “I know what’s different about you. You’re inside me. You’re in my mind. You’re half of me. There’s a link between us that I couldn’t break even if I wanted to. There was from the beginning, but you accepted it. Now, you’re mine. And I’m never letting you go.”

  Twenty

  Cutting Ties

  Dinner at the Alvar household was generally lively and loud. They often had guests, but when they didn’t, Kaur, Dara, Nura and Hart did find ways to entertain themselves. Zee beeped happily, rolling around them.

  Tonight was no different. At first, there was a small party to celebrate Kaur’s grades, and then Star, Kai, and Nalini left them to enjoy their supper in peace.

  The peace was short lived.

  “What do you fucking mean, you know who the Matlarians are?” he growled.

  Dara shrugged. “They liked to have their secret sect meeting at my father’s place. Dad said we’re legacies, that Kaur would join them someday. Right, Kauri Bug?”

  Her brother shuddered. “Yeah, right, like I’d hang out with balding, fat pigs in wigs. No thanks. Also, don’t call me that, please. At least, in front of anyone. Ever. But yeah, Hart, dad was always going on about the Matlarians. What’s the big deal?”

  Hart blinked at his soon-to-be bride on the other side of the table. She was helping herself to a second helping of stew, entirely carefree.

  Years. It had been years since he’d tried to get concrete proof, some names, some facts, about the Matlarians, and he could just have asked her?

  He tried not to talk of work at home as a rule, but as he’d been communicating with Alara about their next mission before dinner, Dara and Kaur heard a word or two.

  “What the fuck?”

  He quickly explained why he’d been focused on the group for over a decade. Kaur and Dara were sadly not surprised to hear that their father was part of some evil slaver group.

  “Alright, let’s find you names. There’s Kronis Turin from the Derdo system, Paur Kristl, Manni Laurenx…”

  “Don’t forget Tol, the great big oaf of Audr.”

  Hart stopped them, and asked them to start again from the beginning, recording their statement through the exosuit he now kept activated more often than not.

  This was going to propel his inquisitions years ahead.

  “And your father is also part of it?” he asked, frowning.

  Dara shrugged. “It’s not like we didn’t know the guy was a scumbag. Arrest him if you must.”

 
“Preferably, before I have to come out of the closet and inform him that I can do magic,” Kaur asked.

  Understatement. The kid couldn’t just 'do' magic; he was shown a technique and managed to improve it on his first try. He read a book and all of a sudden, he knew how to disappear into thin air. The problem was that the kid used his power for evil. He just loved pranks. Grabbing clothes when someone was in the shower, forcing them to go around naked. Exchanging salt and sugar in the kitchen, while appearing invisible. Tying shoelaces.

  Someday he was going to seriously piss off the wrong person.

  Kai had taken to calling Kaur a witch, and Goddess Light knew that the kid lived up to it.

  “So, what now, are you gonna arrest our dad and his pals?”

  Hart scratched his head. “Depends, kiddo. I have to catch them red-handed, first. The names will help with that. I can get spies on their trail.”

  “Cool.” Unexpectedly, Kaur turned to his sister. “You know, maybe I should go ahead and tell him before the shit hits the fan.”

  “Language.”

  “Before your badass fiancé metaphorically throws ragnar dung at our father’s head.”

  “Better. And if you wanna go, we’ll go.”

  Kaur shrugged. “Might as well make a clean break.”

  “Your father might surprise you,” Hart told him, thinking of his own parents, who’d been ever so supportive from the moment they’d heard what he was.

  Dara and Kaur laughed until their sides hurt, like he’d told them the funniest joke in the world.

  Turned out, they weren’t wrong.

  They decided to make a trip of it, starting on Ithel, because Caraleth and Qin Alvar had been dying to meet Dara. They were gracious and kind, as was their way, although Hart could have done without quite so many hints about starting a family soon.

  Former King Kraul of Zeru, now Kraul of nowhere, member of the most disgraceful guild in the sector, was another matter.

  “Get out of my house,” he snarled. His voice rose to a shout. “You come here introducing that male, who took everything from us, as your fiancé?” he turned his attention to his son then. “And you tell me that you’re one of them? A disgusting, repulsive, unnatural—”

  He never finished that sentence, because Dara punched him in the throat.

  Hart winced on his behalf. His female had a mean right hook.

  “You don’t get to talk to my brother that way. You don’t get to reject your son because—”

  “Guess what, you whore? He isn’t my son.”

  Everyone in the open lounge stilled, eyes fixed on Kraul.

  The former king’s ire was clear, but his tone and countenance suggested that what he’d said wasn’t a lie.

  “I wish I could say the same about you. Your whore of a mother went behind my back, fucking my own brother. I had him checked when he was a baby. If I hadn’t needed an heir, I would have drowned him like the mutt he is.”

  Kaur lost all color, shocked into silence.

  The former king wasn’t finished, though. “I had my revenge, though. I poisoned the bitch. Lonar called a mage to save her, but he was already too late. No one takes what’s mine! No one. I have friends, powerful friends. You can’t even imagine. When you think you have nothing to fear, look over your shoulder, because I will have my revenge now. I have two daughters to continue my line. I certainly don’t need either of you.”

  Hart might have moved, if he’d needed to. He didn’t.

  The whole thing happened in just an instant; there was a flash of metal, and then a head rolled on the floor.

  Kaur, who’d stood between Hart and Dara, was now on the other side of the room, Dara’s lance in his hand. There was thick, blue blood dripping from it.

  He was looking away, out the windows, not paying them any mind.

  “Kaur—”

  He cut off Dara’s call.

  “No. Not now.”

  His voice had changed so much. He definitely didn’t sound like a fifteen-year-old now. He was…something else. Older. Darker.

  “I’m sorry. He murdered our mother. He would have killed you, too, eventually. Hart, I know you must report this and arrest me, some day. I’ll come quietly.”

  He finally turned.

  His eyes weren’t amber anymore. They were ice. Deep blue ice, the exact same color he’d chosen for his hair.

  “But not yet. I have something to do first.”

  And on that note, the witch disappeared, leaving them alone, and taking Dara’s lance with him.

  There wasn’t a day when Dara didn’t think of her little brother, Hart knew it. As weeks, years, decades passed, she was blissfully happy, he made sure of it. But every day, she would watch out the window, as if waiting for someone to come through the door.

  They never told anyone that Kaur had decapitated their father. Even Dara’s sisters agreed to the secrecy, for the sake of their brother.

  Half-brother.

  Dara knew he was alive. She heard his name from time to time.

  His new name.

  Epilogue

  Lonar called them a few days after the eventful trip to the Farisles. He told them Kaur had paid him a visit. Asked him if it was true, if he was his son.

  “I wasn’t sure. We took some tests, and it looks like I’m his father,” he’d said. “I’m so sorry, Dara. I never knew.”

  He had more to say.

  Kaur had told him that he’d never known why his sister had felt the need to change her name when she’d left her old life behind years ago.

  “And why Rex? It’s so very close to her actual name, why not just keep it as is? I get it now. She wasn’t running, she wasn’t denying who she was. She was accepting where she came from and deciding to change her fate from that point. It worked for her. Perhaps it’ll work for me, father.”

  Then he’d asked Lonar to name him.

  “I’m Lonar, your mother was Maki. Let’s put them together. How do you like Loki?”

  And he’d liked it well enough to use it.

  Loki was a legend. A witch-lord who ran a fleet of misfits, not unlike Dara’s. Only, his was much, much larger.

  He travelled to and from the uncharted part of the galaxy, discovering new worlds, new creatures. Dara knew him well enough to realize that her brother was searching. What for? She couldn’t tell.

  It was fifteen years before her face lit up and she opened her mouth in shock when she looked outside her window. He was here. Older, rougher, handsomer, but still her Kaur.

  Her Loki.

  * * *

  The End

  * * *

  Next in Strands of Starfire, there will be Linage, happening during the war against the Matlarians.

  More from May Sage

  If you liked Strands of Starfire, and enjoy fantasy worlds, give a try to Court of Sin.

  * * *

  This was how she died. She knew it, felt it to her bones. There was no other way, not here. Saving herself would mean condemning every breathing soul in the city of night. As little as she liked most of them, and however much they hated her in return, she couldn’t bring herself to destroy so many just to save herself.

  She should give in now. Drop her bow, accept her fate. Yet she shot one arrow after the next, desperately holding on to life.

  Devi took down enemy after enemy, her mind processing each kill with a cold, analytic indifference. They were relevant because she knew there had been fifty-one arrows in her quiver. Each fae she killed represented one arrow lost. There was every chance she'd run out of weapons before she reached the gates.

  She was at the very center of the city, in the large Square of Dawn, famous for the obelisk erected at the end of the last war. The closest exit was a mile east, and there were three dozen enemies around her right now and more coming at every passing moment. It was a credit to her skill with a bow that none of them had managed to get close to her yet.

  A horse whinnied to her left, and Devi’s head turned sharply.
She expected enemy knights. She’d managed until now because she’d only had to deal with foot soldiers; fae knights were another matter altogether.

  When they came into the square from the south avenue, there were only two riders. She stiffened in alarm, until her eyes took in the colors of their habits and then their faces.

  Devi had no issue recognizing the two males, although she’d never seen either dressed in anything other than their fine court attire. Now they wore plain reinforced gear under dark unseelie coats.

  Neither of them looked any less intimidating for it.

  “Vale.”

  The name fell from her lips in a tone she had never used to say it. With relief. Barely conscious of her decision, she adjusted her position to aim at the enemies following Vale and his second, rather than foolishly carrying on attempting to clear a path out of this nightmare. Vale was more important. If he lived through the night, there would be hope for the Isle.

  Her shot hit the mark, killing a fae right behind the prince. As the enemy tumbled, Vale turned to see where the arrow had come from, his eyes landing on her.

  He was on the other side of the square, but her vision could distinguish him quite clearly. For the first time since they’d met, he wasn’t amused. His trademark smirk had disappeared. That shouldn’t have come as a surprise given the circumstances, but his expression wasn’t what Devi might have expected. Vale wasn’t confused, shocked, or scared, unlike her. The dark prince seemed downright pissed right now. His violet eyes, so like his mother’s, watched her with pure fury.

  Devi’s heart hit her stomach. Was this her fault? Had the attacks started because of her? It wasn’t impossible at all, given her history.

  Then, to her astonishment, Valerius Blackthorn, the dark prince, lord of the court of sin, lifted his hands, pulling on the reins to turn his horse away from the road leading to the eastern gate. Away from safety. Instead of heading out, he rode at full speed toward her. Her. The half-breed who was “nothing,” according to him.