Crest (Ondine Quartet Book 3) (40 page)

Julian tipped his head. "Thank you, Your Highness."

"But the rest of you seem to have forgotten these elementals are guests of our kingdom."

A large, heavily muscled shadow moved between the east pillars. I immediately recognized the thick chest and broad shoulders.

Ancelin.

He'd provoked this situation by sending Dax and his friends to babysit us.

King, two. Sondaleur, zero.

Dax lifted his head and fixed a mutinous gaze on his brother. "They level accusations at us."

A pause. "And are you so certain that what they say has no merit?"

No one responded.

Something close to disappointment flashed across Tristan's face. "We pride ourselves on battle victories, on cutting through the enemy, reveling in the glory of war."

Dax's brow furrowed. "Our people are warriors. This is what we do."

"Yes, but is that all we can do? Do you believe it is the only way?" Tristan didn't look at me, but I felt his attention like a physical touch. "Kendra, use your Virtue."

"I'm sure no one is interested in —"

"
Sondaleur
, show them your Virtue."

I closed my eyes and tugged hard with no concern for limits. Virtue exploded through my veins, carrying a surge of molten energy.

Anger, insecurity, hurt. Fear.

Burning wave of tangled emotions slammed my senses, making me heady with it.

The effect was instantaneous.

Selkies bent over, complexions whitening with pain. Trainees dropped to their knees.

Beads of sweat glittered on Ewan's face but he remained standing, as did Adrian and Tristan.

Ancelin also stayed upright but his shoulders tensed.

Score one for me.

I eased up. Virtue receded in a rush, leaving behind a slight dizziness.

"That's what she's capable of," Tristan said calmly. "That's the strength of magic she maintains control of each and every time she fights."

Dax and the other trainees slowly got off the ground, arms still wrapped around their stomachs.

A heavy silence descended. No one looked at me.

Tristan turned to Aubrey and spoke in the selkie language.

She responded. In their language.

Holy shit.

"This ondine not only carries the mark of bravery, but also a mind that learned our language and culture in a matter of weeks." Tristan raised his brow. "And yes, she's been listening to your conversations."

What
, I mouthed.

Aubrey shrugged, a faint flush coloring her cheeks. Embarrassment and pride glowed in her eyes.

Tristan gestured to Ian, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here.

"Besides an intelligence that allows him to access any kind of information, this nix's blood is powerful enough to negate our magic." He paused. "They used their talents to shut down an Aquidae trafficking ring and rescue Haverleau's children. They accomplished what we could not."

Tristan's eyes flickered toward the shadow at the tree line. Anger momentarily cut across his face.

He knew.

"You learn to control magic-enhanced abilities and to live in balance with nature. But you feed on mortal arrogance. Power lies not in the strength you have, but in how you wield it. If I find any of you disgracing our kingdom again, the consequences will be severe."

Not a single person doubted his words.

Dark eyes rested on me. His mouth briefly tightened and then he left.

Wonderful. The entire point of dealing with Ancelin and Dax was to prevent something like this from happening.

Julian had also disappeared at some point during Tristan's ass kicking. Frustration burned under my chest. I didn't even have a chance to speak to him.

For a long moment, trainees, elites, and gardinels stared at the ground. Aubrey and Ian fidgeted.

"Infirmary," Ewan snapped.

Our pathetic group limped back to the palace in silence.

I sighed. Daniel wasn't going to be happy.

***

Thick tree trunks whipped by. Feet flew over the ground and wind slapped strands of hair against my cheek.

Shadows of the two selkies tracking me darted through the bushes. I wasn't sure if they followed orders from Ancelin or Tristan. Maybe they were curious. Or suspicious after what happened in the Áimoni yesterday.

Elites no longer trained with gardinels. The temporary solution was simple. Just because classes were officially cancelled, didn't mean we couldn't workout together.

But no easy solution existed for the escalating tension in the kingdom. Everyone was on edge and the ondine presentation later today would only add to the strain.

Conference delegates smelled blood. Rhian's regal bearing was unchanged but you couldn't ignore the fact that she'd aged. Her weakening health inevitably left an impression of crumbling leadership.

Nature thrived on equilibrium. When power diminished, others sought to fill the void.

Thigh and calf muscles flexed. I leaped over a damp patch of moss and lightly landed on the forest floor.

The only resolution lay in proving there was no vacuum of power. That meant establishing stable hierarchy and security before everything fell apart.

I had to find the traitor.

With a burst of speed, I sprinted east then cut diagonally toward the south. The copse of trees grew denser, appearing like obstacles blinding me from the truth.

I needed answers and couldn't find any. Mind turned over and over. What was I not seeing?

Footsteps sounded behind me a few seconds before she spoke. "You're looking a little peaked. Tired already?"

I immediately searched the vicinity for the glare of a camera lens.

"Don't worry. She's still asleep." Renee drew alongside me. "Your sweat won't be all over the interwebs."

"Do you mind?" I muttered. "You're ruining my morning run."

"I don't mind going slower so you can keep up."

"Don't you have to prepare for this afternoon's presentation? Maybe paint over those horns on your head?"

She grinned. "Actually, I just polished my horns last night so they're all ready to go."

We continued in silence for another half-mile. If I just ignored her, I could almost pretend I was alone.

Unfortunately, she refused to go along with my plan.

"So my birthday is tomorrow."

I held back a long-suffering sigh. "Congratulations."

"I'm turning twenty-three."

I stopped. "What?"

She turned, jogging in place. "Gave up already?"

Maybe I misheard her. "You're turning twenty-three tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"And you're just going to let it happen?"

"Well, I can't stop time."

"Do you have a binding ceremony between now and then?"

She cocked her head. "Nope."

"You're returning to the ocean?" My voice rose with incredulity. "Becoming a dessondine?"

"Guess so." She turned and started running again.

I stared for a moment before my brain shot into gear.

"What do you mean?" I dashed to catch up. "You're just going to let it happen?"

She didn't answer.

I'd heard of ondines running in a last-ditch attempt to avoid what happened at twenty-three. Some refused to honor a binding their parents arranged. Others wanted to be with someone who wasn't a human or demillir.

Like a selkie.

But I'd never heard of an ondine who just let it happen. Renee clearly enjoyed dating and had a wide pool of suitors to choose from. Like Phillip from the New York customs office.

I suddenly thought of Helene, hiding behind her tiny camera. The way she filmed and recorded everything as if she might someday forget it.

Anger flared. "You're being stupid."

Renee halted and whipped around. The humor that usually lit up her face fled, leaving behind intense gravity.

"Before you get all high and mighty on me,
sondaleur
, why don't you tell me what'll happen when you turn twenty-three? When you're bound by magic and history to choose someone you don't want?"

It was a question I'd asked myself many times, one that snaked into my head during the nights I couldn't sleep.

I gave her the only answer I had. "I'd do what is right."

Bind to someone decent so I could carry out my responsibilities.

"Right for whom?" she asked.

Hot pain stabbed at me. "For those who depend upon me."

Hands on her hips, Renee paced in a circle and got her breathing under control.

"That's why everyone does it." She exhaled and rested against a tall bark. "That's what I thought I'd do too. But things don't always go the way you planned."

I flopped on the grass and faced her. Woods shrouded us in silent privacy. Even the selkies had disappeared.

"Does everyone know about this?"

"Pretty much. I told Chloe and the others last night. You're the last one."

A headache thrummed behind my eyes. Everything slipped into place. Phillip's desperation to change her mind. How upset Renee was when Oriel didn't show up to say good-bye. The reason Catrin took Helene out of school and brought her here.

I exhaled. Once again, a part of me wished my magic and power as Governor-elect could make things better. That I could wave my hand and erase the recall magic that happened to unmated ondines at age twenty-three.

"Did Helene ever tell you how our father died?"

I nodded.

"Did she say he tried to protect us?"

"Yeah." Dread rose.

She sighed. "When the Aquidae attacked, my father threw us in front of him and tried to save himself."

Oh, God.

"Urian shoved me and Helene into an alley behind him. By the time he turned, my father was dead." Her voice grew quiet. "Helene was so young. It was hard for her to deal."

So she'd chosen to remember it a certain way.

Renee shut her eyes as if she could erase the memory. I knew from experience it was futile. The stuff you wanted to forget had a way of staying.

"After his death, I immersed myself in painting and art. Helene got lost in movies." She extended her arm and studied her tattoo. The phoenix stretched up her arm, reborn from red and turquoise flames. "My sister gazes at life through the distance of a lens. I wanted to inhale it, have it soak into my skin."

I found it in each fight. In those moments when I balanced between life and death, experiencing the stretch of my body and the crackling current of magic through my veins, I was at peace and connected to something beyond myself.

Others found it in their own ways. Julian. Tristan. Fellow elites.

"The difference is I know when to seek it," Renee continued. "And when to stop. You do, too."

"But Helene doesn't." I remembered how uncomfortable she was without her camera.

"Julian doesn't, either. At least, not yet." Her expression turned thoughtful. "Part of the reason you two don't quite mesh."

I changed the subject. "How does Catrin feel about this?"

Renee took a few moments to answer. "My parents had an arranged binding. My father obviously remained faithful, but not from choice. In every other way, he was as cruel to my mother as you could possibly imagine. She didn't want that for me and Helene."

"Not every guy is like your father."

"I know. But I swore to myself I'd never be in a position where I didn't have control." She shrugged. "There were a few with potential."

"Like Phillip."

"Yes." Pain briefly flared in her eyes. "But I didn't feel the same way about him as he did for me. I just never found it."

"What?"

"That thing poets write about, musicians sing about, and painters try to capture. That connection with someone you trust and accept. The one that's worth everything."

"It's not real." I wasn't sure who I was trying to convince. "All that stuff is a fairy tale. Not life."

Not our life.

"Maybe." Faint glimmer of early morning light traced her solemn face. "Maybe if I had another month or year I might've found it. Or I might not have found it for years to come. Maybe I was meant for a life without it, a life in which I found and achieved other things. I wish I'd had the freedom to find out."

"So this is about taking some kind of stand?"

It wouldn't change anything and would only result in heartache for her family and friends.

Renee shook her head. "It's about having a choice. Time and death are life's two equalizers. Doesn't matter who you are. We all have the same amount of time in a day and we all die at the end of our days. You can't cheat it but —"

"You can choose how you live it."

She'd rather return to the ocean on her terms than spend the next six or seven decades on land with someone she didn't love.

The recall process didn't just affect ondines. Arranged bindings were also deeply unfair to demillirs. Bound to someone they didn't love, they had the added weight of holding their mates' life in their hands for the remainder of their own lives.

Everyone here is breathing their own pain, trapped by a society that no longer works.

Julian's imploring words echoed and Phillip's glittering eyes as he watched Renee walk away for the last time flashed through my mind.

"I've visited thirty-eight countries. Experimented and had fun." Her mouth tilted up. "Fought Aquidae alongside the
sondaleur
. And the last place I see is one of the most beautiful places on the planet."

Realization struck a chord deep within my chest.

She held no fear. Only pure, resolute acceptance.

Renee stood. "I'd like for you to be at the recall process. Your presence will help my mother and sister."

Just thinking of what Catrin and Helene would go through made my stomach twist.

I didn't want this. I didn't want to be responsible for the pain Renee left behind.

"Why are you telling me?"

"Because I want you to remember." Her voice was so quiet. "It's wrong, Kendra. There's still time for you, for Helene, for your friends. You're the only one who can change it."

"I'm Governor-elect, not a miracle worker."

Renee was overestimating my power. This magical process had been around since the beginning of our race.