Riot of Storm and Smoke

by Jennifer Ellision

  I lift my head, anger coalescing into something useful. I’ll be damned if I don’t take something from him, too. If the dead can manage it, so can I.

  Stepping away from the others, I parry my hands against the deck floor and close my eyes. The waves thrash against the ship. I wince at the thump that ripples through the water as something crashes against the helm. Something human-sized.

  “Lady Bree?”

  That’s Lady Lilia. I open my eyes, but I do not see the war-torn sea. Or the flame-plagued ship. I don’t see my friends peering at me nervously.

  I’m in the sky. I’m in the sea. I hover in the gray, moisture-laden clouds, and I tug at them like a floodgate, sending rain pouring onto the ships below. The hiss as the Reaping is extinguished on deck should be a balm, but it’s a stimulant. Below its sound, I hear the panting and moaning of those it’s burned. Liam and Caden look up at me from the deck. Shock and hope war for dominance on their features. Thin streams of smoke whisper through the atmosphere.

  I rise from my crouched position, nails curled into the air. Our ship bucks.

  “Bree…” Tregle sounds afraid.

  I don’t tell him he shouldn’t be; maybe he should. Because I am fury unleashed. I am rage and wrath. I am a force to be reckoned with, and after these long months of barely grazing the surface of my powers, of merely plucking their strings like a violinist playing pizzicato, I wield the waves like the conductor of my own orchestra.

  Strings sing in my mind, furious and racing, the notes climbing over one another in their eagerness to be heard. My fingers race right, then left, and the ocean obeys my every whim, one by one toppling the ships that seek to foil our plans.

  The pounding drumbeat rolls us forward until we’re cresting waves like a bird on the wind. Crash. Cymbals clang as I bring my palms together with stinging force and a wave pummels the only Egrian ship left standing. Crash. It leans heavily to one side, a sailor that has had too much to drink.

  My mouth curls. Have another. I drive the heel of my palm forward, and the water responds like an animal left caged too long, swallowing the vessel whole.

  When the smoke clears, the ends of my hair are soaked and singed, and I pant. Someone pats my clothing down. I assume that smoked a bit as well. The others look at me like I am a stranger, like they’ve never seen me before, and I lower my arms.

  Elena, on the other hand, crosses her arms and smirks. “Found what we were talking about, did you?”

  I curl my fingers, reveling in the sensation. My powers are back. I got to say goodbye to Da. I feel…free. For the time in a long, long while. I turn and look toward the island— Nereidium. Toward the future.

  “I suppose I did,” I say quietly.

  The ship suddenly slides smoothly across the water, moving of its own accord. We all look at Elena, but she shakes her head, nodding toward the ripped sails.

  “Not me,” she says. “I used all my Riding bits up for a while on that first ship. Besides, this is Thrower work.”

  “It’s not me either,” I say. That means…

  “Nereids,” Aleta says. She steps away from Tregle and joins me in staring toward the shoreline. She grasps my hand. “It’s finally happening.”

  We make landfall in what seems like no time at all. Aleta and I lead the charge toward the rope ladders and descend the ship. Dark figures stand on the shore, obscured by the trees, waiting patiently for us to slog our way through the beach and wet sand, limping before them.

  The people who stand before us are obvious soldiers. They carry spears and wear helmets of burnished bronze. And many of them wear amulets with carvings of waves. Throwers. My eyes dart around. So many of them are like me.

  The Thrower leading them, though… She’s different. Not dressed as a soldier. She wears a simple white dress, flowing loosely to mid-calf, cinched at her waist with a strap of brown leather. It’s simple, but it marks her, makes her stand out.

  She’s tall. Willowy. But here’s what I’m really noticing: she looks like me. Her hair winds softly to her waist, but it’s the same color as mine. Her eyes—how often have I seen the same ones staring back at me from a mirror? They’re small things. Not the sort you notice unless you’re looking for them. I know who she is before she’s uttered a word.

  “We sent in a fog when the approaching vessels were spotted. We were about to sink the lot of you when the others opened fire,” she says and crosses her arms. “Which I thought to be an interesting turn of events. And then the other five were felled by air and waves. I know Water Wielding when I see it, so I had my people bring you in. You’ve a Wielder among you?”

  I lift my hand. “Um…I think that’s me.”

  I falter when those eyes are leveled at me. She tilts her head as she takes me in. “And what is your name, child?”

  “Breena Perdit of Secan,” I say, combining all that I know of Da in a fit of inspiration. And then, because I have to know for sure, “And who are you?”

  “I?” She lifts a single brow. “I am the ruling regent of Nereidium.”

  “Lady Helen?” Aleta’s voice sounds suspiciously thick.

  “The very same.” Helen’s voice doesn’t meet Aleta’s even halfway. Her tone stays cool as she turns to regard her. “And you are?”

  Aleta curtsies, her foot scratching a line in the sand behind her. “Aleta,” she says. The woman visibly starts. “Aleta Daphoene Nephele Cyrene. I’m…” Her voice falters, a smile flickering to life as she rises and meets my aunt’s eyes. “I’m your niece.”

  Caden places a hand on the small of Aleta’s back, nudging her closer.

  “That’s easy enough to test.”

  A test? My wonder over the moment vanishes in a panic. Oh no. No, no, no.

  She considers Aleta and motions one of the soldiers forward. Tregle bristles, and Helen catches it, lips curving. “I see you’ve a protector, niece. Not to worry. It is a simple test and harmless—so long as you pass.”

  “What happens if she doesn’t?” I ask, my voice pitching too high on the end of my question. Because if this test is accurate, I know she won’t. She can’t.

  Aleta shakes her head at me violently, glaring as she shushes me. The soldier holds out his spear and nods to Aleta’s arm. She rolls up her sleeve obligingly. A single prick of his weapon, and the man withdraws, Aleta’s blood beading on its point.

  “That’s all?” Aleta asks.

  Helen watches as the soldier wades into the tide, her mouth twisting as he holds the bloodied spear over the waves and shakes his head.

  “That’s all,” she says. Her voice is iron. With jerking movements, she grabs a spear from the nearest man and strides toward the tide herself. “Let me explain something to you. My house—the ruling house of Nereidium—is descended from Kyrene, the first of the Water Wielders, blessed by the Mother herself. Not one person without the ability has been born to the throne. And when our blood is drawn over the tide…” She slices defiantly into her palm, and her blood doesn’t drip—it rushes from her hand to the water, a gushing red waterfall.

  Aleta’s mouth falls open in shock as Helen rips a shred from her skirt and uses it to bind the wound, making her way back toward us with an almost mocking swing in her step.

  “I do not appreciate Egria’s trickery, though it’s not unexpected. But here is another thing about my people.” I am close enough to hear her as she whispers into Aleta’s ear, one finger at her earlobe. Aleta’s back is ramrod straight, her expression one of dawning horror.

  “We do not hold with liars.” She returns to her men without looking back. “Take them.”

  Her warriors move toward us, and I swallow. My pulse pounds as I pluck one of Meddie’s knives from her hand and rush toward the water. “Wait!” I cry.

  Everyone turns to face me, and they still for a moment.

  This is it. I think of Da’s bow, his final message to me clear. Of Elena’s advice to somehow accept myself.

  “We’re not liars,” I say. Meddie’s dagger
is hot in my palm, and I twist it for a better grip. “We have brought the princess back.”

  I thrust my palm forward—

  And I cut.

  Bree’s story concludes in

  Fall of Thrones and Thorns

  The Threats of Sky and Sea series:

  Book 1: Threats of Sky and Sea

  Book 2: Riot of Storm and Smoke

  Book 3: Fall of Thrones and Thorns, coming 2016

  Prequel short stories in the Threats of Sky and Sea world:

  “Sisters of Wind and Flame”

  “Defining Justice”

  “Breathe In,” coming December 2015

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work. Word of mouth and readers like you are an author’s greatest asset and enable me to keep on keepin’ on with this author gig, so if you enjoyed reading Riot of Storm and Smoke, I hope you’ll take the time to drop me a short review!

  And thank you very, very sincerely, from the bottom of my heart.

  -Jennifer Ellision

  Sequels are not easy.

  In fact, I’d say that Riot of Storm and Smoke was around ten times harder to write than Threats of Sky and Sea. And I absolutely could not have published it without readers, bloggers, and reviewers who enjoyed reading Bree’s story. Thank you so, so, so much and I hope you liked Riot as well. You all make the struggle worth it.

  Riot of Storm and Smoke was beta-read by my critique partners, Alex Brown and Lindsey Young. Guys, I don’t think I can stress how very little I would have gotten done if you weren’t just an e-mail or text away. Thank you for responding to my many neuroses over Riot and talking me down off a ledge. Thank you for talking through plot points and brainstorming with me. Thank you for filing down the rough parts of the manuscript and helping me polish it from a series of disconnected scenes into a book. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

  Thanks are also owed to the incredible support network of friends and family that I have. Thank you for interrupting my explanations of day jobs when I’m asked “what I do” to say “she’s an author.” Thank you for buying my books, sharing my posts, book-pushing Threats on your acquaintances and loved ones, and actually reading Threats.

  To the U_M girls and the bevy: Thank you for the distractions when I desperately needed to get out of my own head. For the caps-locking and the fangirling. For private twitters and offline texts. For everything.

  I also owe a great deal of gratitude to a few people who had a hand in the presentation of Riot of Storm and Smoke: Rebecca Coffindaffer, editrix extraordinaire. The beautiful formatting was done by Caitlin Greer. And my incredible cover was created by Nathalia Suellen.

  I’m sure there are people that I’ve left out here, but I hope you know that if you had any part in the making of Riot or the Threats of Sky and Sea series at all, I am so very grateful.

  Jennifer Ellision spent a great deal of her childhood staying up past her bedtime with a book and a flashlight. When she couldn’t find the stories she wanted to read, she started writing them. She loves words, has a soft spot for fanfiction, and is a master of what she calls “the Fangirl Flail.”

  She lives in South Florida with her family, where she lives in fear of temperatures below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. She makes her Internet home at www.jenniferellision.com. You can also find her on Twitter @JenEllision and Facebook as Jennifer Ellision. You can stay up to date on Jennifer’s books through her newsletter.

  If you love your romance mixed with magic— or fantasy with a smattering of swoon, join Jennifer and some other authors over on Facebook in the Fantasy Romance Fanatics reader group!

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  One

  Two

  Three

  An Egrian Prayer

  Four

  Five

  Experiment Log

  Six

  To Cook Rabbit

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  A Conversation

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  A Letter to Elsbeth

  Fourteen

  A Reply to Lilia

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  A Second Letter to Elsbeth

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  A Letter to Lilia

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Another Letter to Lilia

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  A Late Reply to Elsbeth

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Thirty-Three

  Threats of Sky and Sea Series

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Fantasy Romance Readers Group