by Regan Claire
I just felt like complaining. I knew it wasn’t the best time to make a fuss, but sometimes being contrary for no reason whatsoever makes things feel better.
Maybe I need therapy.
Laurel leaned over to join our conversation. “Della, Ezra is considered one of the reasons why you’re so powerful. He will be standing up there with you so that everyone is reminded of the powerful allies you can attract.”
“As your consort, Ezra’s power is a direct reflection of your own,” Ian nosed in from Ezra’s other side.
I opened my mouth to argue a bit more, but my father took the stage, as they say.
“Thank you all for supporting us today, and staying afterwards so we can discuss our next steps.” My father had a great public speaking voice, very steady. He was so regal, with his back straight and his voice firm. He was also very approachable, the type of ruler that people follow out of love rather than obligation. I didn’t know if that was something he would be able to teach me. The Clades chose me because of my strength, and people would follow me because of that and my family. I was so appreciative that I wouldn’t need to fill my father’s shoes for a few centuries — I knew I wouldn’t be able to fill them anytime soon.
When Derek started explaining exactly what happened during the meeting with the Council and all the stuff I already knew, I leaned over to Ezra. “Why does everyone assume you’re my consort, or whatever. We need to talk to them about it,” I whispered. It was something that kind of excited me, while making me a little uncomfortable at the same time.
He leaned into me a little further. “Why does it bother you so much?” he whispered back.
“Because, I don’t know, it’s weird.” How did he not already see that? Maybe I was reading too much into it. “I mean, people keep giving me credit for what you do. Doesn’t that bother you?”
Laurel shushed me, quietly. I kept my focus on Ezra.
“Not particularly. Maybe I like the assumption.” Ezra was staring straight forward, but I knew if I were sitting on his other side, I’d have the perfect view of his dimple.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re no help at all.”
He looked at me, made total eye contact for about two seconds, then brought his face forward again to watch my dad. “I don’t need to tell you what I feel for you, because I know you feel the same way, Della. Don’t overthink it if other people see it, too. It doesn’t hurt anything.”
Don’t overthink it. Accept it. I used to be really good at that type of thing, or I thought I was. My life had never been my own, and in some ways it never would be, but I was making my own decisions now. I was in control in ways I’d never been before. But whatever was between Ezra and I was outside of that control. It wasn’t a choice or a decision. It was something that had been thrust upon me, and I could either fight it or accept it. I looked at him and tried to separate my feelings from our strange connection. But I couldn’t. Our connection went deeper than the way our auras fit together, or how our powers complimented each other. He understood me in a way that had nothing to do with the power in our own bloodlines, and everything to do with our life experiences. And that was something I could easily accept. I didn’t want his identity to be swallowed by me, though. Maybe that’s what was bothering me about his being called my consort. He was so much more than that, and I didn’t like the idea of people not seeing him as anything more than an extension of me.
Laurel nudged me, hard. I turned to look at her, and she nodded up to my father who was looking at me. I guess I missed my intro.
My face heated. “Oh. My turn.” I swallowed hard — my mouth was suddenly dry — then stood up and walked to my father with Ezra following. Dad reached over and kissed my forehead, then very lightly pushed me in front of him.
I turned to look at him, hoping he’d give me some hint as to what the heck I was supposed to say. It probably would have helped if I’d been paying any attention when he’d been speaking so I knew where he left off. Oh well. The nerves finally hit, and I wiped my now-sweaty palms on my pants.
“Well, like my father said, thank you for supporting us. For supporting me, really. When I first came here, I didn’t choose my family, or the role I inherited from both sides — and I know that you guys didn’t choose me either. I’ve worked hard to be worthy of the positions of Duxa and Epiklayra, and I hope to become the type of person you can be proud to follow, like those who came before me.” I paused, astounded that everyone was looking and paying attention. “Everyone here now was recently given the freedom to make a decision about me. Some of you made that decision yesterday,” I looked at the cluster of Clades sitting in front of me, then looked at the Leoht and Dunamis, and hoped that my eyes were portraying what I was feeling. “And some of you made it today. You were all given a choice, and I am honored that you have all chosen to stand by me and my family. I promise you that I will always work towards earning my positions among you; always work towards being the caliber of person whom you want to stand behind. I will continue to work harder and become strong enough to face any threat head on.” I cleared my throat, and tried to make eye contact with people from each group — Dunamis, Clade, and Elfennol — then took a deep breath. “There have been a lot of uncertainties in my life, but no longer. I know that Kaylus is a real threat to us all and it’s time we join together in order to stop him. Because we will stop him. There’s no alternative. I’ll do everything I can to protect our families and our homes — our world — because it’s clear that everyone here is my family. There’s going to be a lot of changes coming up. It’s time the Dunamis and the Ethnos — all of the Ethnos — learn to trust each other and work together. We all have a lot of adjustments to make and there will be some growing pains. With a little time and understanding, I’m certain it will work out better than ever. We’ll find a way to make your concerns heard, and we’ll do what we can to address them. Um, just have patience and trust that this is for the best.”
Ezra took a step forward. “Be assured that Della is stronger than my father and his men, and take comfort that she won’t be alone in this.” He looked at me with raw adoration, and I drew in a quick breath, surprised that he would show that in front of so many. It was more than a look, it felt like a proclamation. “Her power is great, and her weapons are deadly.” He looked back at the rows of seated people, and the way he lowered his voice on that last bit made it clear he was talking about himself when he said weapons. I was still recovering from the way he looked at me, my heart was racing and I hoped that no one noticed the flush gracing my cheeks.
“You are all more than mere allies today. Today you are our friends — no, our family,” my Father addressed the people again, walking to stand in front of Ezra and I, with his body turned towards ours. “Today you look upon the future of our world — eternally united under a banner of hope, strength, and understanding.” He reached his hands forward, placing one on my shoulder and the other on Ezra’s. “And love, since it embodies all three,” he said to us so quietly I wasn’t sure if anyone else heard him.
Chapter Fifteen
Journal,
We’ve just gotten back from my Testing and I’m exhausted. I don’t think I have ever been this tired in my life, but I wanted to write this down before I go to sleep.
I’ve been around Elfennol a few times now, and I stand by my opinion that they’re all a bunch of weirdos. The undercurrents there are just so different than anything I’ve experienced before. I am really curious to know why Derek seems so… human.
When we got there, Derek and Alexander were both part of the welcoming party. I saw Alexander’s eyes widen in recognition, but Derek just smiled at me. He already knew who I was, had known since our first night together, but didn’t tell Alexander because he knew his friend would disapprove. I know this now because after the Testing — which included grueling exercises and then a barrage of entirely too personal of questions — Derek was able to talk to me. There was a banquet in my honor after I passed, and whil
e we did talk publicly for a moment, we couldn’t share that we knew each other. There were too many other people around, and it would definitely be suspicious if I’d created a sound-Shield in the middle of a party. I was so disappointed that he hadn’t found a way to send me a secret message I could barely respond when my father tried to make small talk while we were led to the small building our family typically used when visiting. Dad gave me a proud smile when he showed me my room and said goodnight. When I turned around and took in the room, I couldn’t even appreciate how beautiful it was, made of living vines and dark stone. But once I made my way to the bed, the vines on the far wall started moving of their own accord until they framed a doorway that had been invisible before.
Derek walked in smiling, and immediately the vines went back to their previous place. We stayed in each other’s arms until morning after talking ourselves to sleep. Derek woke me up with a kiss on my brow and sweet words in my ears, and left me only seconds before my father knocked on my door. What I would give to wake up each day like today!
*****
“He’s lasting much longer now.” I was standing outside next to Alexander, watching Ezra and Cash grapple on the floor. Cash was pinned, again, and if I hadn’t seen this happen dozens of times in the past few weeks, I’d be worried. The meeting with the Council was months behind us, and life had settled into a new routine of chaos.
“Yes, but he is still overcompensating for his new leg,” Alexander told me. Ezra pulled Cash to his feet, where Dove rushed over to heal him. It was the only way that I would allow them to fight — I understood that Cash needed to practice fighting Ethnos. He needed to get stronger, faster, better. But he got pissed when Ezra was holding back his blows to keep from hurting him. Dove being there was a natural compromise, especially since he came over everyday anyway. Cash’s physical therapy had quickly turned into practice fighting once his prosthetic came in, and Dove had been helping my cousin understand the best way to move with his new limb. Luke was there coaching Cash while he wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Della.” I felt Laurel’s tentative touch on my arm to get my attention.
“What’s up?”
“Reports,” she answered.
Of course it was reports. The first month after the Council meeting, I’d been inundated with updates from all the different factions of people. My father was mostly at the base or tracking down all of Kaylus’ known associates. There’d been several casualties from random skirmishes, and it was becoming ever more important for more Dunamis to join the fight. Uncle Connor had gone to Europe with Aunt Ellis right after the New Year to recruit, and Toby had done the same with the North American families. This left me as the closest leader. Everyone had something to tell me — from how the Ethnos were faring at the Clade city, to sightings of Kaylus and his possible allies, and even just the protective rotation for those guarding my family, and I had been doing my best to take time to listen to it all.
Unfortunately, listening to it all meant I didn’t have time to sleep.
It took longer than it should have to realize I didn’t personally need to handle every detail — or hear about it, for that matter. Laurel had already taken over her old position as unofficial secretary for me like she’d done back in Eurybis. She organized all the messages so that less important stuff was only reported weekly, and made sure only the pertinent stuff was relayed to me. Lunchtime each day was spent with her updating me on all the goings on. The hour or so was much easier to handle than the constant barrage it had been.
“Okay, start with the important stuff,” I told her as we walked inside to the dining room table — a huge twelve person seater that we’d pulled out of the spare room to use when our place had become headquarters on the island. Lunch was laid out already, and I’d stopped trying to keep track of who was doing the little things like that each day. Frankly, I didn’t even want to know who was doing my laundry at this point. I knew it wasn’t Cash, and Ezra was easily as busy as I was, so I doubted it was him.
We sat down and started eating. Or, I ate while Laurel talked. Fueling up was becoming more and more important for me, since I’d been using my abilities far more than I ever had before. It’d been a few weeks since I took part in one of the fights nearby — things had quieted down — but I’d taken to roughly Shielding a rather large area as of late.
Most of the island where my family was congregated, no big deal.
The constant overuse burned a lot of calories, since Gathering enough energy used a lot of energy in its own right.
“Have you given more thought to collecting Ezra’s foster mother?” Laurel asked, finally putting the little clipboard that she had decorated with Hello Kitty stickers in her lap. She liked doing human things, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that particular habit was only done by little girls.
“Oh, Penny?” We had to make sure everyone we cared about was protected to keep them from being used by Kaylus against us. Ezra had referred to the old Vodun woman as his foster mother, and no one blinked an eye at adding her to the list of VIP’s. “I’ll ask Ezra again, but he doesn’t want to frighten her. He says the Loa are keeping an eye on her, and with the security we have watching her, he thinks that should be enough. He’s quite certain that Kaylus doesn’t know about her anyway.” I had my doubts about that, but Ezra was adamant that his father would never have permitted him the love that Penny provided if it had been discovered.
“Okay. That’s all for today then. I have you scheduled for a meeting on Saturday with the representatives for the Leoht and Clades.”
“Sounds good.” I started to stand, when Laurel got a glazed look in her eye. I knew she was receiving new information. “Wanna go ahead and tell me now, or wait for tomorrow?” I asked. When she received something directly like that, it usually meant it was important enough to pass along to me. Usually messages were left in her gems, like an answering machine.
Alexander walked over and sat down across from me. It was clear he’d received the same message, so I knew it was something important.
“We have discovered a few more disappearances among the Dunamis in North America,” he said after a respectful nod towards myself and Laurel.
“Was that Toby?” My grandfather was traveling with his own group of Ethnos, just as my Aunt and Uncle were in Europe. For protection and communication, though picking up a phone was just as easy in my opinion.
“Yes. The former Dux has some alarming news. There have been six disappearances now.” Alexander said. Laurel, who I knew had the same information, was letting him explain. He had more information, since he also had a network of his people following up on each disappearance we heard about.
“Do we know if they joined up with Kaylus?”
“That is not what is so alarming, though it is a concern. Each Dunamis who has disappeared has some degree of power over an element,” Alexander said. “We do not know if they volunteered, though there is no evidence of that. There is also no evidence of their being abducted.”
“Every Dunamis who has gone missing is an elemental?” This was not good. “Can he use them to open the portal?” I’d been so focused on my own family and our talents with all four elements, I hadn’t stopped to think about all the families who had abilities over one.
“We did not think so, since other Elemental families only have partial control over a single element. You, your cousin Cash, and Ezra of course, would be the most ideal for his purposes, with the rest of your family being close seconds. But it is possible that Kaylus has found a way to piecemeal what he needs from the group that has gone missing. We are not sure how, but Kaylus would not take the time to abduct — or recruit — these people if he did not have a use for them.”
I had a thought. “Have there been any disappearances elsewhere? Ezra inherited his abilities from someone, and they don’t match the North American Elementals.” If there had been other disappearances, it might be a big clue as to Ezra’s maternal family. I knew it bothered hi
m he didn’t know where he came from. It had bothered me, too. So far, my father hadn’t had the time to focus on the search as promised. He was too busy tracking Kaylus and his ever growing group. Ethnos who had gone missing centuries ago were popping up. The Elfennol assumed they had gone Clade, and if they didn’t the Clades had no way of knowing they were expected to be among their ranks.
Alexander shook his head. “Not that I have heard of. It is a good thought, though. There are several factions we have not yet contacted. I will make sure the Dux Neale is asking while he is overseas. Perhaps he can discover things that my people can not.”
Ezra, Cash, and Dove had finished their sparring at this point and joined us by the table, Cash and Dove immediately digging in to eat while Ezra assessed the mood in the room.
“What’s happened?” he asked, reading that something was happening in our faces.
I let Alexander fill him in while I contacted my father through the gems. I’d finally learned how.
*Dad, have you heard about the missing Dunamis?
It didn’t take long for a response.
-Yes. I’ve spoken with your grandfather already. He’s calling the other Elemental families and warning them to keep watch.
*Do we have enough people to send and help guard?
-We’re already stretched thin enough. I’ve been in contact with Etta, and she’s sending some scouts inland to the most populated Dunamis areas. I’m not sure how much good that will do now, though.
*What about Richard? Any luck convincing him to help?
There was silence for a minute.
-No. Last messenger we sent didn’t come home. We believe he was killed.
I dropped the line of communication and let that last tidbit absorb. Richard was insane, and I wasn’t really shocked that he had stooped to that level. Our people had been targeted by his a few times, now. I even had to fend off an attack a few weeks back the last time I traveled to the base to meet with what I called the “war council’ — the Clade Elders, my uncles and grandfather, and the generals among the Leoht. Even Cash had made that trip, though he was forced to boat over with the rest of our family. It was easily fended off, but was irritating to be fighting people who should be allies.
