Marie Harte - Aftershocks

Ethim shook his head. “But you’ve never before fought a Dark Lord like ‘Sin Garu. He killed his own kin. And like you, we Dark have limits against fratricide. He rules the wraiths, creatures that should not have enough control to follow a man. You know this, you have seen it with your own eyes. ‘Sin Garu even tempts the Shadren. And should they turn, the Light will surely fade under Dark’s creeping taint.”

“You admit the Dark is evil.”

“In the Dark Lord’s hands, yes, but not in and of itself. Foreia is my home, the place I consider most sacred outside Tanselm. Yet, even in my homeworld, some Light is welcome. Without it, there can be no Dark, no Shadow. Think, Arim. Once, two powerful forces existed in Tanselm. In the years since, the land’s magic has faded.”

“Not so.”

“It is so.” Ethim cursed, running his hands through his hair in agitation. “Are you so biased against us you cannot see the truth in your own magic?”

Arim said nothing. For years, he’d been struggling to overcome growing weaknesses and disconcerting gaps in his energy that he’d assumed were his vulnerabilities made flesh. If what Ethim said were true, then Tanselm was in more danger than from the Netharat .

It just didn’t make sense. Why now, when the Tetrarch was so vulnerable, did Tanselm show its limitations? The land had always before risen to face challenges, standing strong in the face of adversity. Tanselm had always worked with the Light Bringers, yet now, according to Ethim, needed saving from the Light Bringers?

“You make no sense.” Arim shook his head. “Tanselm is strength, as well you know. I realise you had nothing to do with the treacherous Djinn responsible for our Tetrarch’s falling. But like calls to like. I have a hard time believing you Djinn would completely turn on your own, regardless of your opposition to Dark Lord involvement.”

“You’re a hard-headed fool,” Ethim snarled, his eyes bright in the shadows of Shathra’s main hall. “Do you know how easy it would be for me to kill you now, right here?” He snapped his fingers and a score of Djinn warriors surrounded Arim.

“Not quite so easy.” With a small motion of his hand, Arim created a shield so blindingly bright the walls shook.

“Okay, okay,” Ethim rumbled, and his warriors disappeared. “No need to kill us both. You’ve made your point. But I gave you warning when, had I really been interested in your death, you would have been attacked the minute you entered this place.”

Arim grudgingly admitted as much.

“You can see how serious I am about this matter. Hell, Arim, I left my daughter with your nephew, and I love her more than life itself.” He grimaced. “You have no idea how hard it’s been to know what she and that Light Bringer might be doing.”

“Oh?” Hell, Cadmus had really stepped in it this time.

“Do not take me for a fool because I appeal to your good sense. Of course, appealing to your good sense does make me seem—”

“As if you lack all intelligence,” Arim finished wryly.

Ethim’s eyes narrowed. “Nevertheless, I believe in this cause so strongly that I’ve allowed my daughter to befriend a Light Bringer. Can you not see my position and understand it?”

Arim studied Ethim carefully. Ethim had a point. There was no way in hell a Djinn would ever let his child near a Light Bringer, and especially not a Storm Lord, knowing the two might share physical pleasures. The Djinn prized their sexuality and considered the sharing of it as more than a gift, but a tying bind that would only grow stronger if not kept in check.

“What do you expect me to do about it?”

Ethim shook his head. “Nothing for now. Elliara didn’t like the thought of him leaving.”

“I noticed.” He’d also noticed Cadmus’ half-hearted plea to return home. And that worried him.

“It’s as she predicted. Our time is coming, and we have to be ready. Cadmus will help pave the way towards defeating the evil that threatens us all.”

He hadn’t known Ellie was a seer. An uneasy feeling roiled in his belly. “Who predicted? Your daughter?”

“A Djinn soothsayer. No one of importance to you. Now, Arim, promise me you won’t interfere in your nephew’s time in the mundane world.”

“Why should I promise that? You’re interfering already. And you have ties to that mundane world that keep you there most of the time.”

Ethim coughed. “Yes, well, my wife is not as easygoing as most humans. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was part Light Bringer.”

“I’d like to meet her sometime.” He had an uneasy feeling he’d need to meet her, seeing as how friendly Cadmus and Ellie had become. The Light help him if another Dark female joined the royal family. Arim thought he might be turning a touch crazy. He had enough to worry about making sure the Dark Lords didn’t invade Tanselm, not to mention keeping watch over those untrustworthy Aellei.

Aerolus and his unruly hormones. Why couldn’t he have married a nice human like his brothers Darius and Marcus?

As if his thoughts conjured them, Arim felt a beckoning spell calling him to Tanselm. “This discussion isn’t over.”

“I agree. There is much more to talk about. We’ll get to it when you’re ready to hear the truth.”

Arim scoffed. “You can debate Tanselm’s weaknesses as much as you want, but don’t forget who and what I am.” Arim’s vision expanded, and he trembled with indescribable power, inexorably bound to Tanselm’s riches. “I won’t let you destroy her, Ethim. I am charged with protecting Tanselm at all costs. Her people won’t suffer annihilation like they once did.”

“So be it,” Ethim acknowledged the warning. “Your threats are groundless since I am already on your side. Go if you must, but contact me in Foreia when you’re ready to talk. I’ll be waiting.”

Arim nodded, banking his energy as he sought a portal home.

“Tell me again why I couldn’t simply tell him the truth now?” Ethim asked, rubbing the back of his neck in agitation as Lexa took shape from the shadows.

She narrowed her gaze, aware Ethim had been suitably intimidated by Arim’s theatrics. “Leave Arim to me, Ethim. He doesn’t have the power to hurt you while I’m here.”

“So you say,” he muttered.

She kept her mouth closed, used to thinking before she spoke. For years, she’d had to prove herself among her peers and those she should have considered friends. Ethim, however, was more a weapon to be directed than a friend. Only Jonas put her at ease enough to relax in his presence.

“I have been lenient with you, Ethim, because I need the help of your people. You know we work towards the same end.”

He sighed and shook his head. “Forgive me, Mistress. I know what you say is true. But I can’t help feeling like a traitor to my own flesh.”

He referred to Ellie, his daughter, who even now knew more pleasure at a Light Bringer’s hands than Lexa ever had. Grinning at the thought of Arim’s displeasure when he learned a Djinn would soon join the Royal House, she clapped a hand on Ethim’s shoulder, forcing her touch to comfort rather than harm.

“Be at ease, Ethim. I would never have advised you to use Ellie in this scheme if I thought Cadmus might harm her. Believe me, everything your daughter has done has been of her own free will. We merely introduced her to another aspect of her life she’s been trying so hard to ignore.”

“I admit I enjoy the fact she’s finally recognising her heritage. Hell, ‘til now, she’s only been accepting of Jonas. She’d rather see a hardened warrior than her own father?” He sounded hurt, and she well understood his pain.

Lexa shrugged, but knew Ellie’s temperament better than her own father did.