by Amy Sumida
Chapter Sixty-Two
The feast was full of toasts to the fallen and shared memories of their lives. It was surprisingly jovial despite the sad situation, and the sound of laughter and cheering followed my consorts and me to bed that night. I sighed as I shut the door on the frivolity.
“What did you do to the dragon?” Declan casually asked me.
“What do you mean?” I asked in the same tone. I didn't try to act as if I didn't know which dragon he was referring to.
“He wasn't staring at you like a lost puppy tonight,” Declan said, and the other men nodded.
“Calex did not stare at me like a lost puppy,” I huffed.
“What did you do, Elaria?” Torin's low voice cut through my bullshit.
“That song the other night.” I cleared my throat.
“The one you sang to us?” Gage asked; his hazel eyes starting to shift to green—a sure sign of anger.
“Yes, that one,” I confirmed. “Just before I went on stage, Calex asked me to use my magic to cut the ties between us.”
“There were ties between you?” Banning growled the question.
“Only on his end,” I assured them. “For me, there was nothing but the affection I had for an old lover.”
“So, there was something.” Torin narrowed his eyes at me.
“Not anymore,” I snapped. I'd had about enough of the third degree when there was nothing for me to feel guilty about. “What the fuck? We've just been through hell, and you're giving me shit over a relationship that doesn't exist anymore and the feelings I had that weren't even a tenth of what I feel for all of you?”
“Well, when you put it like that,” Banning huffed and then started to smile.
“I used my love for you four to sever the feelings I had for Calex; okay? You satisfied?”
“Not yet.” Declan pulled me over to him.
“Oh, hell no!” I pushed him away. “You don't get to attack me verbally, and then act like nothing happened so you can attack me sexually,” I growled. “You guys can go fuck yourselves tonight.”
I stomped out of the room.
“Elaria!” Torin called after me. “Wonderful, Declan. Good job.”
“What?” Declan's voice faded as I strode angrily down the hallway.
I knew as I walked away that alcohol had partially fueled my fury, but I also knew that I was right. I may have the better end of this arrangement, but that didn't mean they could bully me around and get their way all the time. Every relationship was a partnership, even if the partnership was split five ways. I deserved more respect and trust than that.
I went all the way downstairs and then out of the temple entirely. I needed the sea to soothe me, and the Sgàthan was especially beautiful at night. My steps started to slow as I approached the water's edge, and when grass merged into sand, I kicked off my boots to walk barefooted across the beach. The glow of moonlight across the water was streaked with amber and cinnabar. Strange. I glanced over my shoulder and saw an enormous bonfire. The smell of smoke rode the salty air, and I frowned at the sight of misshapen logs and mountains of ash.
“The Jotun,” a female voice whispered.
I started in surprise and turned back toward the water. A mermaid had surfaced a few feet out from me. Her wet hair glistened with the same silver and gold as the water, but her pale face was warmed by the firelight. She turned enormous, blue eyes back to me, and smiled sadly.
“The Drachen burned the bodies so that we wouldn't have to bury them,” she went on. “Even the ones we drowned. The dragon fire was so hot that the Jotun flesh turned to ash quickly, but some of their bones continue to burn. The Drachen had to leave a few soldiers out here to watch over the fire until it burns out. They didn't want it spreading to the forest. What a horrible irony that would be.”
“Yes,” I said softly. “I guess it's a good thing that their bodies won't be buried here.”
“Best to let the wind take them.” She nodded. “I am Janae. You are Queen Elaria?”
“Yes.” I smiled and shucked off my clothes so that I could wade into the water. I went deeper as Janae came closer, and then extended my hand to her. “It's nice to meet you.”
She shook my hand with a wide grin; showing off her sharp teeth. “Very nice to meet you too, Your Majesty. All of the water fey admire you greatly.”
“They do?” I asked in surprise.
“Of course,” she said; just as surprised. “First, you saved our realm, then you helped Tellesorchenitian, then you became a jewel queen, and now you are back to saving our realm again. All this and you have no fairy blood within you. You are a wonder to us.”
“A wonder?” I whispered. “Wait; what is Tellesorchenitian?”
“Not what”—she laughed—“who. Do you not remember the asrai you helped procreate?”
“Procreate?” I felt my face drop into shock. And then I remembered. “Tell! Oh, of course. I carried some of his water into the Human Realm for him. But he also helped me search for my missing family. That was mutually beneficial.”
“Regardless; you did a service for a Lesser Fey,” she said.
Janae dove beneath the surface; her glistening tail flicking out to sprinkle me with water droplets before she popped up much closer.
“You brought your kind here to help us, and one of them perished,” she whispered; her eyes gone sad. “We mourn with you, Queen of Song, and we wish to give your family a gift. Will you take our offering to the Lady Alexandra for us? We would be honored if you'd bury it with her.”
“Of course,” I said immediately.
Janae lifted her hand from the water and opened her fist. Laying on her palm was a pearly shell. It was a tiny nautilus; all cream and pink. I had never seen one so small. I took it carefully from Janae and stroked the silky surface.
“Thank you.”
“Make sure to bury it with her,” Janae repeated. “And I know this is a lot to ask, but you must bury her at night—that's very important.”
“Okay, we will,” I promised.
“By the sea, yes?” She asked urgently. “You'll bury her by the sea?”
“Yes, of course,” I said. “She was a Spellsinger; we love the ocean.”
“Good.” Janae relaxed and smiled.
“Why?” I started to get suspicious. “Why the seashore at night?”
“There is magic in the shell, but it can only be released at night, near saltwater. It will ease her soul on its journey; we know that she lingers.”
“Yes, she does,” I whispered; thinking of Alexandra's shimmering soul hovering before me.
Janae leaned forward and kissed my cheek. “This is our tribute to you, Queen Elaria. We, the fairies of the sea, give you an alliance.”
Then she was gone.
Chapter Sixty-Three
After my brief swim with the mermaid, my argument with my consorts seemed trivial. I wrung out my hair and slipped into my clothes as best as I could with damp skin. Then I headed back to the temple; my gaze straying to the dying bonfire. Janae was right; there were three Drachen standing around it, drinking ale as they waited for the fire to completely consume the Jotun remains. I paused to watch the bones burn a moment; thinking about Utgard, and how close I had come to destroying an entire race.
“There wouldn't have been anyone left to bury the bodies,” I whispered as a shiver raced up my spine.
Yes, you narrowly averted disaster, RS said in my voice.
She narrowly averted becoming a monster, Kyanite huffed.
“You know; it's beginning to feel a little crowded inside my head,” I grumbled.
Would you rather we not speak to you? RS huffed indignantly.
“No,” I sighed the word. “Never mind.”
She's just tired, Kyanite defended me. Leave my lady alone.
She's not your lady, you stupid stone! RS snapped. She has a body, and you do not. You can't copulate with her, and so she isn't yours.
You know nothing of love if you think that the
physical act is what determines its path or existence, Kyanite growled.
She's got four men already!
And I have no physical needs, he pointed out. I am the perfect fifth consort; the man who will support her and be with her always, without requiring her to spread her legs for my pleasure.
You're not a man!
I went inside as they continued to argue. Part of me recognized how insane it was to have two different personalities fighting in my mind—neither of them me—but the other part of me knew the truth; that these were forces of magic, not figments of my imagination. I'm pretty sure that meant my sanity wasn't an issue. But as they continued to snipe at each other, I began to wonder if it would become one.
“You two are driving me nuts,” I voiced my concerns. “Stop bickering; you're like an incorporeal married couple who's taken up residence in my head.”
Us? RS shrieked.
Married? Kyanite huffed. Hardly.
“That's what you sound like,” I murmured as I headed up to my suite.
They went quiet.
“Thank you,” I said with relief.
Just one more thing before we leave you be, RS said.
“What?” I growled.
You were wondrous, my lady, Kyanite said softly. Absolutely magnificent.
Hey! I was going to say that! RS snarled.
Kyanite chuckled as they both faded away.
Chapter Sixty-Four
Alexandra's funeral was held on her private island. Representatives from all of the races who had fought with us in Primeval attended. Reyne came for the Lesser Fey, Odin and Vivian for the Witches, Freya and Thor for the Norse Gods, Ilis and Calex for the Drachen, Banning was there on behalf of his Blooders, and Gage attended with his immediate family to represent the Griffins. It was the first time my family had met Gage's... and all of my family was there. The Spellsingers, of course, the Sirens, and the Greek Gods—the entire pantheon. In case you don't know; there are hundreds of Greek Gods.
The beach was overflowing with people, and all of them wept. Alexandra had been loved dearly.
Torches had been set along the shore and around the grassy spot we'd chosen for Alex's burial. My family had balked at the idea of a night funeral at first, but Adelaid had said that Alexandra loved the moonlight over the water—far more than the sunlight—and everyone had given in. Her mother—my Aunt Sophie—mourned pitifully. She was red-faced from crying; cradled in the arms of her mother—my Aunt Lena. Sophie's wings drooped into the sand, but Lena's circled her daughter protectively. Watching grieving Sirens was like seeing angels weep.
The hole had been dug; its yawning mouth looking foreboding in the low light. Alexandra's body laid on a cot beside the grave; dressed in her favorite red gown and draped with a sheer, white cloth. She looked peaceful, her hands wrapped around the shell the mermaid had given me. You couldn't see the wounds her fall had inflicted, or the bones it had broken. She looked perfect; as if she would wake at any moment. And somehow, that made it worse.
Torin squeezed my hand supportively, and I looked up at him with a sad smile. Declan held my other hand, while Gage and Banning stood behind me; their hands on my shoulders. I was surrounded by love, and yet, that didn't stop my grief. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I stared at my aunt's body. Alex had been so vivacious; seeing her lying there so peacefully felt wrong. She should have been smiling or snarling; something more emotional. Something just more.
“Friends and family,” Persephone said as she stepped forward, “thank you for joining us to mourn the loss of this amazing woman.” She stopped and hung her head.
Hades slid up beside his wife and took her hand. Persephone looked at her husband with tears coursing down her cheeks and nodded. Hades stepped forward.
“Thank you for coming,” Hades repeated Persephone's words. “Alexandra's mother has asked my wife to conduct this ceremony, but as you can see, she is overwhelmed by grief, so I will take over for her. All of you who knew Alexandra will understand, I'm sure.” He looked out over the gathering, and they nodded. “Alex was a vibrant woman full of life and love. As soon as you met her, you cared about her. She was—” He stopped and swallowed convulsively. “She was exuberant. And she would not want us to cry for her. Despite her wishes, we shall. Because we are not mourning for Alex, but for ourselves. We mourn the lack of her in our lives from this moment forward. We mourn the smiles we shall never see again, and that wild look in her eyes.” He stopped to smile at the light laughter from the crowd. “We mourn the way she used to bully us into being happy, and the way she made every minute with her a torturous delight.” More laughter. “But most of all, we mourn her song; all the songs she shall never sing.”
Hades paused and allowed the gathering to process their pain for a minute.
“There has never been a Spellsinger death,” he went on. “So there are no traditions for us to follow, and there will hopefully be none needed in the future. But Alexandra's fellow Spellsingers would like to honor her as they avenged her; in song together. They'll be singing Alex's favorite song; 'Over the Rainbow' in the style of another island-dwelling musician who has passed away: Mr. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.”
Hades waved us Spellsingers forward. My men let go of me, and I went as if I were walking through a dream. I knew this was coming, and I thought I had prepared for it, but the reality was so awful that my mind couldn't process it. I went to stand beside Daphne, on the end of our line, and she took my hand.
“Once more, for Alex,” Eilener said to the rest of us.
We nodded, and then looked at Cerberus. My best friend had offered to play the ukulele for us; to give our song the authenticity that Alexandra would have loved. He started to play the softly joyous notes, and then we began to sing.
Just a little humming at first, our unified magic rose around us before we even formed words. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I sang the hopeful lyrics; that somewhere, someday I would see her again. That Alexandra's dreams hadn't died with her but had continued with her soul into another world, just beyond that Rainbow Bridge. Our spell drifted out and lifted Alex's body, carrying her gently to her grave. We laid her down within it tenderly, and then, as everyone wept, we covered her with sandy soil; tucking her in to her final rest.
I lifted my face to the night sky and hoped that the magic within the mermaid's shell worked, and that Alexandra's soul was set free. I would remember that sparkling vision until the day my soul moved on. It had been exactly what I would have pictured Alexandra's essence to look like; glittering and beautiful. I said goodbye to her in the best way I knew how—with song—and my song combined with the other Spellsingers to spread out over the assemblage. But this time, our spell was sweet. This time, we didn't kill, but mourned a death and let go of someone we loved.
With the final chorus, the entire gathering joined in, and we all sang our goodbyes. Cerberus played the last few chords, and then the music echoed away across the sea. The crowd went silent, and all that was heard was the rushing of waves upon the nearby shore. It was so very peaceful.
Until there was the sound of shifting sand.
We all gaped at Alexandra's grave as the sand dipped and water seeped up from its center. More and more liquid gathered over the sand, collecting into a shape that was quickly becoming human. Gasps spread through the crowd as a body formed from the gathering liquid, and then the water lost its translucency and turned into flesh. Hair streamed out from the pale head; hair the color of polished ebony. The face took form; features defining it into something very familiar.
“Alexandra!” Sophie cried and launched herself forward.
The body of water opened its eyes and revealed them to be sea-green; Alexandra's had been brown. Still, they had the shape of Alex's eyes. The chin was a little sharper, and the cheekbones higher, but the smile that blossomed over that face was all Alexandra.
“Mother,” she whispered.
“Holy fucking Hades,” Cerberus whispered.
“How?” Sophi
e cried as she stroked her daughter's cheek.
“I don't know,” Alexandra said as she sat up. “I feel strange.”
“What do you remember?” Odin came forward and bent down beside the women.
“I remember singing and then being taken into the sky,” she said with a frown. “I fell, and I died.”
“Yes,” Sophie could barely say the word through her tears.
“But I couldn't leave.” Alex turned to look up at us Spellsingers. “I knew you needed me. I had to know that you were safe before I moved on.”
“Thank you for saving us, Alex,” Adelaid cried as she knelt beside her. “We would have killed an entire planet, and then the backlash may have killed us.”
“I know,” Alexandra whispered. “But I don't know how I came back into this body. This unusual body.” Alex stared at her hands as if they didn't belong to her. “I feel very... wet.”
“Wet?” Odin asked in surprise.
“Well, she did emerge from a puddle,” Hades pointed out in a dry tone (oh, the irony).
“I don't understand,” Alex said.
“Then I shall explain,” a man's voice came from behind the gathering nearest the sea.
The crowd parted, and an asrai stepped forward. He was smiling, beautiful, and very familiar.
“Tell?” I asked in shock.
“Technically, I'm Tell the Second. But Tell is fine. Hello, Elaria,” the reborn asrai said. “My father told me that a new asrai would be born today, and I was to welcome her into the sea.”
“A new asrai?” Sophie asked; her wings shivering.
“This is the tribute of the water fey of Tír na nÓg,” Tell the Second said. “They could not bring Alexandra back in a solid form, but people are made up of more water than they realize, and the water within Alex remembered her. Because of this memory and the lingering of her soul, they were able to give her a new form and a new life.”
“The life of an asrai?” Alexandra asked with a grin.
“You're happy about this?” Sophie was shocked.
