Discordia: An Elemental’s Prequel

by Gilbert, L. B.

  The queen’s beautiful facade cracked. She scowled at the visible sign of weakness displayed by her guard. That single hard look was enough to make him run for cover. When he melted into the crowd, a much-larger man detached himself from the group at the dais. He came forward, nodding slightly at Diana before igniting his palm.

  “My name is Mayon. The Queen of Air and Darkness welcomes you to her exalted presence,” he said, bowing to his queen before extending his hand for a human-style handshake.

  According to her sister Serin, fire fae were rare. They were always male and relegated to the warrior caste. Mayon was gloriously handsome and built like a brick house, but like everyone else in the room, he was too arrogant for her blood.

  Diana yawned and shook his hand with exaggerated ennui. Mayon’s smile broadened as he matched her grip with an even stronger one, but he gave way at a sign from his queen.

  “Welcome Diana, Mistress of Fire.” The queen’s voice was a delight. It sounded like a symphony of rich bells, but Diana wasn’t impressed. She didn’t like being called mistress. She knew it was an old-fashioned term, but she thought it downplayed her power and position.

  “Thanks, but I prefer Fire Elemental or The Mother’s Chosen.”

  The queen acknowledged that with a gracious nod. “I believe you have recovered an item very dear to us,” she said, the gleam in her eyes betraying her unspoken resentment.

  Diana knew right then that she had disappointed the woman. I was supposed to kill the Tic-Tics.

  If Diana had executed them for their crimes, the queen could have feigned righteous indignation and demanded some sort of compensation. Or worse. Her Highness might have tried to demand that the new Fire Elemental be stripped of her power.

  It wouldn’t have accomplished much in the long run as another would have been chosen to take her place, but it would have served as fodder for the court’s amusement for centuries to come. Those sorts of games were commonplace among the longest-lived Supernaturals.

  The asshats have too much time on their hands. It made her angry just thinking of how close she had come to falling into the queen’s trap.

  She forced her expression to blank as she reached into her pocket for the apple and held it up in the air. There was a smattering of polite applause.

  “Thank you for bringing back our stolen treasure.” They were the right words, delivered with just the right degree of magnanimous condescension, but the queen’s mouth was pinched as she gestured for an underling to fetch the apple.

  Diana didn’t budge as Mayon held out his hand. “You consider the Apple of Discord a treasure? It’s chaos in fruit form.”

  The queen’s smile was brittle and amused. “It does have a colorful history, but its power is unquestionable. As the ruler of the fae, I respectfully request its return. As you know, the Covenant is clear about this—we retain custody of our magical heirlooms.”

  “Technically true, but the devil’s in the details. The Covenant states that every race and witch family gets to keep its objects of power if they don’t cause trouble. And after almost flambéing a pack of Tic-Tic’s, I’m thinking the apple would be better off in the Elemental’s archive of confiscated artifacts. It would be safe there. We wouldn’t want it falling in the wrong hands…again.”

  The queen dropped all pretense of civility along with her fake smile. Her eyes darkened to black, the air of the room responding in kind.

  “That was not our fault. The apple was stolen from our treasury.” The queen’s voice was steely, but she made an effort to soften it before continuing. “Since discovering it was lost, we’ve fortified our vault. It will be safe there now. You have my word.”

  Of course the apple would be safe, right up until Her Highness wanted to stir up trouble again. There was no way the Tic-Tic’s had gotten ahold of something like the Apple of Discord without the queen’s knowledge.

  “Don’t trouble yourself or your sisters over it,” the queen continued generously, her equanimity recovered. “We will guard it with our lives.”

  “Like you did the last time?” Diana scoffed. “The damn thing needs to be destroyed.”

  “Then by all means, draw your sword and cleave it in two.”

  Diana smelled a trap, but she was curious, so she did as she was told. Her blade bounced harmlessly off the golden skin. That was interesting, especially considering the Tic-Tic’s had been able to eat the damn thing before it grew back.

  She didn’t have to look at the queen to feel her smug satisfaction.

  “The apple is an ancient artifact from the dawn of our power. That’s why your sword couldn’t harm it.” The queen leaned back with negligent grace as Mayon fetched the fruit from the floor and handed it to her. “If it was within your abilities to destroy it, I would, of course, agree. But not even my considerable power could harm it or I would have disposed of it long ago. Nevertheless, we thank you for—”

  The apple in the queen’s hand burst into flames. She yelped, dropping it and shaking her hand. At the same time, the glamour of the court flickered. Gilt edges turned brown, revealing the rough bark of a tree instead of polished marble. But Diana only caught a glimpse before the glamour reasserted itself.

  Furious, the queen narrowed her eyes to slits. The air around them darkened again, filling with menacing whispers.

  Diana smiled and gestured at the burning fruit with a flourish. “Done.”

  The golden skin had cracked. Inside, the pale flesh sizzled as the smell of cooking sugar filled the air. A low-pitched rumble was followed by a pulse, as if something under intense pressure had been released.

  Diana waited for a reaction, but the entire court was frozen. “It should make a decent apple pie. But it would only serve one. Maybe an apple crisp in a mug.” A corner of her mouth turned up. “I recommend serving it a la mode. Baked apple is always better with ice cream.”

  There was dead silence.

  Mayon gaped. He seemed more surprised than angry, but he was the queen’s guard. Not to be outdone, he tapped his elemental power and ignited his hands. He didn’t put them on her, however. He waited for a sign from his queen.

  It took Her Highness a minute to recover. She inhaled deeply, her head jerking in a nod to Diana. “Well, it appears thanks are in order. Now the apple can never cause any trouble again.”

  Diana bowed low with graceful deference. “You’re most welcome.”

  The queen rose with a snap of satin cloth. “If you will excuse us, we have urgent matters to attend to.” An ornately carved doorway appeared to her left, rising out of the ground like a tree growing with preternatural speed. She swept out of the room, trailed by around a dozen of her entourage.

  Mayon cleared his throat and gestured to the moat where her airboat was still parked. Diana didn’t need to be told she had overstayed her welcome.

  “Until next time, fire sister,” he said, holding out his hand to help her into the craft.

  After what had just happened, Diana wasn’t ready to accept the fire fae as a brother. She had all the siblings she needed. An Elemental was never alone in the world. Instead, she smirked at his outstretched hand and hopped into the boat on her own.

  “Later, gator.”

  He frowned in confusion at her words, but waved back when she gestured goodbye.

  Chapter 7

  “So it was a test for me the whole time?” Diana wasn’t surprised, but she was a bit annoyed that Gia hadn’t warned her this was coming.

  Her sister was sympathetic, but resigned. “It’s a rite of passage. We’ve all had to go through it. The queen likes to challenge each of us as early as possible in our Elemental careers.”

  Gia paused to take another bite of her latest street-food find—shrimp tacos she’d bought from a truck. “For what it’s worth, I think you handled yourself brilliantly. Historically speaking, not all of us have.”

  Diana wrinkled her nose. “Hmm, I don’t know about that. I came pretty close to slicing and dicing some Tic-Tics.”
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br />   “But you didn’t. You trusted your instincts and looked deeper.” Gia threw her an uncharacteristically wicked grin. “I wish I could have seen the queen’s face when you cooked the apple. I think destroying it was the right move by the way. I’m not sure another Elemental could have done it either. My own gifts wouldn’t have been as effective.”

  Diana found that hard to believe. She’d seen Gia do some incredible things over the years. “I don't know about that. You could have made some special magic mold grow on it. And if that didn’t work, you could have sent it to the molten core at the center of the earth. That would have taken care of it.”

  She took another bite of her dish, a rice noodle salad. “The queen was pretty confident I couldn’t destroy it. That’s the only reason she said I could try. I feel bad for the Tic-Tic’s. Their own people set them up to get torched, and all to test me with magic fruit.”

  “Well, I suppose this explains your dream,” Gia said, wiping her mouth neatly on a paper napkin.

  Diana frowned, until she recalled their earlier conversation. “Wait, do you mean the one about baking a pie?”

  “It was apple flavored, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t think it’s related.”

  Gia cocked her head, her expression thoughtful. “You never know how or when the Mother will send a portent. Your dream may very well have been a hint of things to come.”

  “That’s kind of a leap. A dream about the Trojan War would have been more to the point. Plus, don’t most psychics have a history for that sort of thing? I read that the Mother chooses them carefully based on their susceptibility. Whereas, I barely remember my dreams, and when I do, they’re completely ridiculous. In the one I had before this, I was dating a vampire. We were in bed talking—and I didn’t even try to torch him.”

  Gia snorted. “Well, I admit that one is not very likely to come true, but out of curiosity, what were you talking about in this dream?”

  Diana shrugged. “I don’t remember anymore. It’s been a few weeks. I always forget them soon after.”

  “Perhaps it wasn’t a message from the Mother herself. The apple image could have an echo in the aether you happened to catch because it was your case.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s a little easier to buy than me being psychic on top of being an Elemental. Cause let me tell you—me and a bloodsucker—never going to happen.”

  And that means the other thing is impossible. Her other vivid dream had just been a nightmare, the same kind she’d had after her mother died. Disturbing, but ultimately inconsequential.

  Her sister laughed and agreed. “All right, muñeca, I have to run. I’m meeting an informant in an hour.”

  Diana accepted her sister’s parting embrace with a tight hug.

  She finished her food as she went over everything about her first solo case, deciding she wouldn’t want to change anything she’d done. All things considered, she’d make the same choices again, even if that meant getting on the Fae Queen’s shit list. That sort of thing was technically part of the job.

  After tossing her takeout box in a nearby bin, Diana climbed onto her brand-new motorcycle, a Dodge Tomahawk. It had been a gift from Gia and Serin to mark the end of her apprenticeship and her graduation to full-fledged Elemental.

  Yes, dreaming about apple pie could have been an echo in the aether, but most likely, she’d just been hungry for something sweet.

  Which meant her other dream was definitely not ever going to happen. No vamp was going to worm his way into her life. And what she’d dreamed about Gia last night—that was just her imagination and the remnants of a terrible childhood rearing their ugly head.

  Diana shook off her misgivings and turned on the bike. Savoring the roar and pulse of the engine, she took stock. Her first successful mission was behind her, and she was ready to take on the world.

  That was fortunate considering that was exactly what she had to do.

  The End.

  * * *

  Explore more with Fire: book one of the Elementals Series, a Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal Winner!

  Liz Konkel for Readers' Favorite wrote:

  “Reminiscent of a hard-boiled detective novel, Fire is gritty, sharp, with an edgy quality and a snarky humor.”

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  Afterword

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  About the Author

  USA Today bestselling author L.B. Gilbert spent years getting degrees from the most prestigious universities in America, including a PhD that she is not using at all. She moved to France for work and found love. She’s married now and living in Toulouse with one adorable half-French baby.

  She has always enjoyed reading books as far from her reality as possible but eventually the voices in her head told her to write her own. And so far, the voices are enjoying them.

  If you like a little more steam with your Fire, check out the author’s Lucy Leroux titles.

  Read More from L.B. Gilbert

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  Writing as L.B. Gilbert

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