Fae (8 page)

I think I always assumed
he and I would be bonded some day. We’ve been best friends
forever.

My eyes start to prickle
and I know the tears are coming soon. I can’t let him see me cry,
so I jump up from my seat and run away. I don’t know where I’m
running to. It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s away.

I run, and run, and run,
under the fruit trees and past the orchard, deep into darkness and
thick growth. I run until I can't run anymore and I fall to the
ground, panting for breath. My chest hurts and I don't know any
more if it's from the running or from Cailen's news.

A chill wind blows across
my back and rustles the crispy leaves on the branches above me. I
lift my head and realize with a jolt of fear that I've gone much
farther than I should have. No one's been in this part of the
garden in years. It's overgrown and wild. The fruit trees have
twisted into grotesque forms in their struggle against the wild,
poisonous vines that have grown up their trunks and sapped them of
life.

Daddy has warned me never
to come this far. This is where the ruins lie, shadows and
skeletons of the once great Firestarter Empire that existed long
before Elsden, the first Aurume, took control. Wild and dangerous
animals lurk where I cannot see. I get up slowly, careful not to
make any noise though I've just barreled through here without any
care to keep quiet. If anything is here, it already knows where I
am.

Still, I make my way cautiously back
the way I'd come, looking for some kind of path. Roots have grown
up from the ground and I nearly trip on one, but catch myself at
the last second.

Just then I hear
something. Whispers. Through the leaves and brambles ahead of me, I
see two men standing between the trees. I crouch down so they don't
see me.

I recognize one of the
men. It's Cailen's father, Galen. The other man is a Watergatherer
I've never seen before. He's shorter than Galen and very fierce
looking with deep-set eyes and a permanent scowl.

It's clear they've already
been conversing for a while, uncaring and unaware of anything
around them. If they hadn't been, they might have heard me coming.
But I listen, wondering what Galen could be doing in the forbidden
part of the royal grounds.

"What you want is nearly impossible,"
the Watergatherer says.

"Have they agreed?" Galen
hisses.

"Of course. That's not the
issue."

"Then what is?"

"You know what is."

Galen scowls and beats his
fist against a tree. I pull back in alarm. My heart pounds as my
instincts sense the danger I'm in. I've never seen a grown
Windbringer lose his temper before.

"It needs to happen soon,"
Galen says as he rubs his bleeding knuckles. "I've committed Cailen
to someone else, but you know the King's wishes."

"Your king, not mine." The
Watergatherer chuckles.

***

My eyes popped open to a
harsh, white light and Cailen's face, inches from mine, eyes wide
with worry. I was on my back, somewhere. Not the corridor--I could
tell that much because the thing under my back was soft and giving,
not hard like a floor. A loud, buzzing noise rang in my ears and
when I moved my hand up to swat away whatever bug had found its way
there, I realized that buzzing noise was my screaming. Or what was
left of it.

Cailen cupped my face in his hands and
pressed his forehead against mine. "It's all right. You're safe."
His voice shook, but I could tell by the way he set his jaw he was
trying to be firm.

I pushed him away and
rolled over as I heaved and coughed up blood. Red-tainted saliva
dripped from my bottom lip to the floor. My throat burned as what
felt like razors sliced with each convulsion.

I put my hand to my mouth
and swallowed several times before turning back over and searching
for Cailen's hand. "What happened?" I whispered, sure it would hurt
to talk any louder.

"You've been screaming for
hours."

Hours. Of screaming. That
explained the sore throat. But what about the vision? The memory,
if that's what it was. I closed my eyes to see the images again.
Cailen as a boy, with black wavy hair, his father, the silver
leaves in the black courtyard.

When I opened my eyes again, I found
Cailen staring at me, his eyes soft and searching.

"What are you thinking?" he
said.

I ran my fingers through
one of his short, curly blond locks. "What happened to your
hair?"

He smiled. "What do you
mean?"

"It used to be black."

He straightened and my hand fell to my
chest. "What did you say?" His eyes widened.

"Nothing. Never mind." I
turned my head, avoiding his stare. I'd hoped it had been a memory,
but by the way Cailen looked at me like I'd just lost my mind, I
knew I'd been dreaming. Nothing more.

He leaned back toward me and wove his
fingers between mine. "Yes, it used to be black."

"It was?" I turned, smiling. So it had
been real. Somehow, a crazy blackout had given me a real
memory.

"Well, yes, before we were
bonded."

My heart sank at the word.
Everything came tumbling down around me as all the details cleared.
Young Cailen had said something about another Windbringer, a girl
named Anna, which meant...

No. I didn't want to think
about it. But I had to. A voice in the back of my head pounded
through my skull, forcing me to acknowledge it. Or at least
consider it. If what I'd just seen had actually happened, then
Cailen was bonded to someone else. He belonged to someone
else.

And he was lying to me.

My stomach twisted as the
implications became apparent. Cailen wasn't mine. The darkness
clouding my vision at that moment was almost as thick and heavy as
the other darkness. My head swam. I couldn't breathe.

He grabbed my forearms in both his
hands. "Ella, what is it?"

I just shook my head. "Get away.
Please."

Doubt and then anger
rolled through me, knocking the breath right out of my lungs. I
stared, dazed, unable to pinpoint its source. And then I realized
where it came from. Not from me, but Cailen. His fingers tightened
around my arms, pinching my skin, before he shoved himself away and
turned his back to me.

"You act like I disgust
you now." He ran his fingers through his hair and yanked. Hair that
was once black as pitch. His shoulders tightened then slumped as I
felt him push his fury to a hidden back door. Away, where it was
supposed to be, where every Windbringer learned to put it. "There
was a time the person I am didn't bother you. Back when we'd first
been bonded."

"I don't know how that's
possible," I whispered, but wishing I could scream it at him. "Not
when you’re bonded to
Anna.
" I put as much scorn into the
name as my raw throat could muster.

He spun around, shock
written all over his wide eyes and open mouth. But then it was
gone, replaced with a fierceness that bored deeper than the surface
of my gaze, right to my soul. My breath caught and my skin tingled
from the top of my head all the way down to my toes. "I'm so afraid
of losing you," he said. "Again."

Warmth pooled in my chest,
deep and intoxicating, and for a moment I forgot my anger, forgot
everything but how much I loved him. My hand longed to run its
fingers through his hair, to caress his cheek. He closed the
distance between us and dipped his head into my touch, eyes closed
tight.

"You're not going to lose
me. I just need to know the truth. I can't be in the dark anymore."
For the first time, these things mattered to me. I'd been so busy
trying to figure out who I was supposed to become that I'd spent so
little time learning who I already was. Now I wanted to know. The
hunger for knowing it burned deep inside of me. I needed it, and I
wanted Cailen to be the one to tell me.

But the moment was not on
my side and Cailen cursed underneath his breath when something in
his pocket chirped. He let go of my hand and rose to his feet. The
thing in his pocket chirped again before he pulled it out and waved
his hand over the screen. A hologram rose above the screen and
Cailen's eyes darted back and forth as he read the words. He cursed
again.

"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting
up.

He shook his head, weary. "I don't
know yet. Something is happening."

"What?"

He sighed and I could tell
he was warring within himself on whether or not to be honest with
me. Something kept him from opening up to me completely and I had a
feeling it had to do with my sometimes volatile behavior and his
utter abhorrence of chaotic emotions.

"Just tell me."

A look like resolve settled in his
gaze, and he put his device away. "You need to know. We've lost
contact with Auru and several ships within the armada. I sent
scouts out a few days ago. One of them just returned."

"So what's going on? What's
happened?"

"I don't know yet. I need to leave for
a little while, but I'll be back soon."

"I’ll come with
you.”

He shook his head. “I
finally get you to agree to come with me, right when I need you to
stay. I don’t know why or how you transported over here in your
sleep, but I’ve been wanting to come here myself for the last few
weeks. Something’s going on, and I think we need to figure out what
it is before we involve the rest of our people.”

“
You think I can find out
better than you?”

“
I do. The Soltakians may
despise you, but they still underestimate you. They may be coaxed
into revealing more information to you than they ever would to me.
Plus, they don’t know I’m in this section with you. I transported
here as soon as I felt your distress, but hid until they left you
in here alone. I’m positive Lastrini will come to question you. It
may be a perfect opportunity to get information out of him. Find
out why we can’t see Ranen, or why no one has heard from the
Emperor except for those stupid recordings.”

I nodded and he leaned over and
pressed his lips against my forehead. He breathed in deeply and
exhaled. Warm breath washed over my face, my nose, my mouth. "Don't
go anywhere while I'm gone. Don't leave me again."

Guilt twisted at my gut.
I'd never thought about what my leaving for Kalhandthar might have
done to him. Obviously, it hadn't been good. "I promise, but tell
me where you're going."

"My ship. I won't be far
and I'm always just seconds away," he paused, "if you will allow me
to transport in your presence." He smirked.

"Of course."

“
And we just need
information.”

I heard the words he
didn’t say as clearly as if he’d shouted them. He gave no warnings
about how angry Lastrini would be for transporting anywhere in The
Block. He wasn’t scared about that. But he
was
worried about my
temper.

"I do have some control over myself,
you know," I said.

He smiled. "For the sake of the
planet, I sure do hope so."

I punched him on the arm
and he backed away, taking a deep bow and releasing his wings in a
burst of blue and green light.

And then he left, gone with the
melting air, and I was left alone.

Chapter Three

The Emperor’s First

After Cailen left, I got
out of bed and spent several minutes walking around the room. Other
than my sore throat, there was nothing wrong with me. Just as I sat
back down on the bed, Lastrini walked through the wide open doorway
all shoulders and chest and scowl with a soldier on each side. I
recognized one of the soldiers. It was the beast of a girl I'd seen
yesterday with the fiery red hair. What with his attitude and
protection, one would have thought the person he was visiting
wasn't a barely-above-five-foot girl lying prostrate in a hospital
bed.

He stopped a foot away and
leaned down so all I could see were his very dark and serious eyes.
"What were you looking for?" he asked, his voice so low and deep it
was hard to miss the threat.

I knew the effect he was going for,
but a lot had happened since the first time I saw him, so I smiled
in response.

Lastrini lived and
breathed intimidation. The way he walked and talked to those under
him like he was the sun around which everyone must revolve. It
worked on me once, but not anymore. Now I saw that all his size and
bravado amounted to absolutely nothing next to me.

Plus, I'd had a chance to
relive my memory over and over again while I waited for his
inevitable interrogation. The memory may have been about a fight
with Cailen and listening in on Galen, but there'd been so much
more. Remembered feelings had sprung up. My seven-year-old self
knew what it meant to be the Aurume and the girl I was now couldn't
so easily forget.

Lastrini's fists clenched around my
top blanket. A muscle on his neck bulged. "Answer me, Little Miss,
before I lock you up for attempted espionage."