Marie Harte - Gale Season

“We had—vanished from Tanselm that is.” Alandra sighed and leant back against the counter. “Over a thousand years ago, when the Dark Tribes split, the Aellei, the Djinn and the Dark Lords still occupied portions of Tanselm. Though Dark Lord control was steadily waning as the Light Bringers fought to regain the land, there was enough darkness in Tanselm’s soil to sustain us all. There still is,” she added quietly.

She glanced at Aerolus to see if he caught what she was subtly implying. His gaze sharpened, and he nodded for her to continue.

“You know the history. The tribes split, the Light Bringers, Storm Lords in particular, routed the Dark Lords and every other Dark or Shadowy race from Tanselm. Since then, the Djinn found refuge in Foreia, the Aellei in Aelle, and the Dark Lords in Malern and the Isle of Frigia, where they met their best buddies, the ice wraiths.”

“No, the ice wraiths were created by the Dark Lords,” Arim stated.

“No, they weren’t.” The intellectual banter lessened her worry and increased her pleasure in the discourse. “Despite what the Dark Lords would have you believe, the wraiths existed prior to Dark Lord intervention. Now, I will agree the Dark Lords have shaped the wraiths into their own powerful tool, but make no mistake, the wraiths were once something quite different from what they are today.”

“How can you know this?” Arim asked suspiciously. “I sense you are little more than a century old, if that.”

“They have a Great Hall full of altee scrolls,” Aerolus answered, pride in his voice as if the scrolls belonged to him.

Darius and Marcus stared, open-mouthed. Even Arim looked stunned. “Really?” he asked in a low voice.

She nodded. “Open for all to see in the Gray Keep. I’ve seen every battle and scrape related to the Tribe Division, and the magic that encapsulated those records is completely impartial to anything but truth. No Aellein, Dark Lord, or Light Bringer magic taints those accounts.”

“I would greatly like to see that of what you speak.” Arim was quiet, his tone no longer hostile, but still not completely friendly.

“If I can arrange it, I will. But like I said, I’m not exactly welcome in Aelle right now.”

“Tell them about ‘Sin Garu and Lidra,” Aerolus prodded.

“I’m getting there.” She frowned at him to be patient and turned back to his brothers and Arim with a huff. “I spied a Dark Lord and my aunt plotting and planning together. It’s a funny thing though. ‘Sin Garu is the Dark Lord I saw a year ago. But yesterday I had a vision of sorts, and I saw another Dark Lord. One very like ‘Sin Garu, but not him.”

“Two of them?” Darius asked.

“Three,” Arim said grimly. He muttered under his breath, and his clothing suddenly went to rights, his bruises and bloodied skin fading into the picture of perfect health. He seemed as if steadying himself for something coming. “’Sin Garu, his brother B’alen and his sister are all involved, it seems.”

“A real family affair,” Alandra said with an exasperated groan. “Great. You Light Bringers really know how to piss off everyone you meet. You’ve got Djinn, Aellei, Dark Lords and wraiths on your collective asses.”

“Tell us something we don’t know,” Darius growled. “Like how involved you are in all this.”

“Well, fire-breather, I can tell you that in addition to the Dark Lords, you’re fighting only a handful of Aellei and Djinn set on reclaiming Tanselm. The majority of Aellei are ignorant of what the queen plots. And if they knew what I do, make that when they know, there’ll be insurrection in Aelle.”

“So you say.” Marcus stared at her with a strange kind of curiosity, his gaze shifting from Aerolus’ still-protective stance to Alandra.

“So I know.” She stood with her arms across her chest, glaring at Aerolus’ irritating brothers to be quiet. Shadows, but as much as she actually admired them for their closeness, they could be an irritating lot.

She turned to Arim, the one person besides Aerolus she definitely needed to convince. “I know my people, and I know the Djinn who is helping Cadmus. I’ve been watching Aerolus—ah, you all—for a year in this plane. And in that time, a small faction of Djinn have been aiding your cause. Yes, aiding . One Djinn took ‘Sin Garu between, possibly at the cost of his own life. And Ellie Markham, the woman Cadmus can’t keep his hands off of, has been shielding and empowering him ever since Darius left.” Though Alandra had a feeling Ellie didn’t exactly know how much she was really helping Cadmus.

“Ellie Markham? Outpour Ellie?” Darius sounded dumbfounded. “But she’s so normal.”

“What, Djinn can’t be normal?” Aggravated at his bias, she glared and shook her finger at him. “You Light Bringers are so narrow-minded! Just because a being lives in Shadow or Dark, you immediately associate her with evil. Well, that’s just wrong.

“My kind live in Shadow, in both Light and Dark, and we aren’t at all evil. Ellie and the Djinn are Dark , not immoral, yet because they cannot live in the Light, you condemn them in the same breath you use to denounce the Dark Lords. Without Dark there can be no Light, did you ever think of that?”

She was breathing rapidly, anger making her want to break something, namely a few Storm Lord skulls. Without thinking about it, she stirred a thickening air in the room.

“Alandra?” Arim said quietly. “You might want to rethink your attack.”

“Attack?” She didn’t understand until she glanced behind him at the swirling mass of magazines and throw pillows decking the living room. Once again wondering how she was able to tap into Aerolus’ elemental power, she glanced at him and saw him take back control.

He subtly closed his fingers over his palm, and the air settled everything gently back to its place.

“Nice,” he murmured, making her blush. “I think you made your point.”

“How the hell?” Darius stared.

“You’re kidding me.” Marcus gaped at her, then looked to Arim who nodded. “And you complained about Tessa. At least she’s human.”

“Excuse me?” Alandra still couldn’t think past the feel of wind surging through her body.

“Not now, Marcus.” Aerolus shook his head.

Arim chuckled, startling everyone into staring at him. “You know, Aerolus, I seem to recall you saying something about not making the same mistakes as your brothers. That you were smarter, yet you still have not claimed your affai .”

Alandra glared. “Is this really the time to be bringing that up?” Did she need to hear about Mrs. Wind Mage just now, when she was still spitting mad over their obvious prejudice against her kind? It was like a huge slap in the face that she and Aerolus never would be together. He might not mind those not of the Light, but his family didn’t share his sentiments.

Darius chuckled with his uncle. “This is priceless. After all that tripe you spouted to me, to Marcus, and you’re afraid of a little spitfire who—”

“That’s enough,” Aerolus warned, wind taking the words from Darius’ lips. “I’m warning you that now is not the time .” He glanced at Alandra and his eyes softened. “We’ve sidetracked, purie .” The apology in his voice soothed a part of her and she nodded, albeit stiffly.

At least he had a sense of propriety. She felt slightly better that maybe he didn’t like hearing about an affai either, that maybe he wanted their time to last as long as it possibly could, as she did.

“You know, I’ve watched you two flounder to get home for some time,” she directed at Darius and Marcus. “And just when Cadmus finally has a chance to return, you’d—”