Fae (4 page)

"I don't know yet. Maybe."
He opened his eyes and reached past me to the drawer on his
nightstand. He pulled out a flat, round disc, so dark blue it
almost looked black. "I've been watching the planet during this
whole drought." He pressed the disk in the middle and an image of
Soltak floated above its surface. I rocked back in horror. The
perfect sphere floating before my eyes was brown, the oceans almost
completely gone. "It hasn't rained anywhere these past three weeks.
All the clouds are gone. But three weeks of no rain can't do all
this. There's something else at work here."

"El?" Although I couldn't
imagine why He'd want to destroy Soltak. These were
His
followers.

He shook his head, not
taking his eyes off me. "No. Not El."

Suddenly it made sense and
my stomach twisted and lurched. "The Fae'ri."

He looked at me hard, his
mouth pinched at the corners, and I knew he was trying to decide if
he should tell me something.

"Just say it," I
said.

His eyes softened and he
nodded. "I think it might be a Marid. I can't be totally sure about
that, though. But this box is very good proof the Fae'ri are
already here."

"A Marid?"

"A Watergather
specifically bred for planetary control and annihilation." He
paused, staring at me with an unfathomable expression. "The Fae'ri
are broken up into different houses. The Marid belong to the House
of Djinn. Like Firestarters, the House of Djinn is obsessed with
perfection. They train their children by having them kill their
siblings. The strongest survive and the weak are eliminated. The
Marid are worshipped and feared across hundreds of planets. Whole
civilizations perform daily sacrifices just to keep them appeased.
Controlling the weather is a cheap trick for them. Their greatest
delight is in sapping whole regions of all their water."

He waved his hand over the
blue disk and the image of the dying Soltak disappeared. A twirl of
his fingers and words materialized in its place. He handed me the
disk.

Though not all deserts are
a sign of a Marid, these Watergatherers create arid regions as
their home. The size of the desert is often used as a sign of
warning and challenge to other Marid. Though rare, it is possible
for some Marid to strip whole planets of all their
water.

I scrolled through several
more paragraphs dealing with their child-rearing and bonding
rituals, as well as their habit of tricking inferior peoples to
make wishes only to turn those wishes on them, wiping out whole
families at once.

It all seemed so arrogant
and cruel and I got a better appreciation of what made the Fae'ri
so dangerous.

I looked at the glowing
oval again, at the one in my hand. It glowed my skin green and
silver, and it was warm. "And these?"

"Seeds." Cailen's tone
turned soft and heavy, like the world had just crumbled and he was
the one who had to break the news. "Auri tech seeds."

"Seeds?" How
underwhelming. I'd expected something a lot more
devastating.

He took the seed from my
hand and studied it. "They're something that shouldn't be on
Soltak, and they
definitely
shouldn't be in a third-rate market where anyone
can purchase them."

I took a closer look at
the glowing orbs. The light pulsed toward me, entrancing me, and I
found myself wanting to touch them again. "What do they grow
into?"

"These ones grow into
Aurora Class Warships."

Huh. Warships. "You mean
actual fly-between-worlds-shooting-laser-beams
warships?"

He raised an eyebrow.
"Laser beams?"

"Well, I mean--" Blood
rushed to my face, suddenly realizing I'd said something really
stupid. "--I assumed warships just had big versions of the energy
weapons you people have. You know, like the NK-7."

One side of his mouth went
up to match the path his eyebrow took. "You people?"

"Gah! Soldiers!" I stood
up and turned away from him, my body heating over in utter
humiliation and a steadily growing hint of rage. Of all people, he
should have known I didn't like to be mocked. Maybe if I'd had a
chance at a decent life, I would have gotten a proper upbringing
and become eloquent like him. But I didn't and I hated that he had
to remind me like this.

I took a deep breath and
let it wash through me, calming me. I couldn't lose my temper
anymore. Enough disaster had happened already.

"So the Fae'ri are here?
Why do you think the seeds have anything to do with them??" I
asked.

"No Auri would
ever
let these out of
their hands. Most Auri don't even have access to them. But a Fae'ri
could and would steal them and leave them here for anyone to find.
They have no morals. No care for the destruction it could have
brought upon this galaxy if someone besides me found
them."

I pinched the bridge of my
nose and plopped back onto the bed. The Mamood were bad enough. I
grew tired just thinking about having to deal with the Fae'ri
too.

"But I think they left it
there as a message. And a challenge." He sat up and took my hand
from my face. I welcomed the rush of strength and warmth that
pulsed through my blood at his touch. "They know we're
here."

"We have to warn
Lastrini." As much as I hated thinking about going to him, I knew
we needed to. I brought the Mamood here and now the Fae'ri. Soltak
was dying because of them. He needed to know. Although, knowledge
probably wouldn't have helped him one bit right about then. What
was he going to do against beings who held themselves up as gods
and could destroy whole planets with their minds? A twinge of
discomfort settled in my stomach. Wasn’t that exactly the kind of
person I was?

"You're right." I heard
the smile in Cailen's voice, the pride. His thumb stroked my wrist
and I melted. He smiled, but it was guarded and incomplete. "I just
wish I knew how many were here. How many we're up
against."

I threaded my fingers
through his. It was then I realized I'd long ago stopped fighting
the pull. I'd fooled myself into thinking I didn't want this, but
now I knew how much I needed it. I felt drawn to him and I was
pretty sure it was my heart, not the drilium leading me. "We've got
each other." I smiled and dipped my head against his shoulder. "We
can handle them."

He chuckled and calm oozed
through the room like warm sugar. The walls dinged, simultaneously
announcing the shift change and destroying the mood. "Well, if
we're going to see Lastrini," he rolled his eyes, "let's get it
over with."

We both sighed, releasing
whatever we'd felt, and stood up with me leading the way out the
door. The corridor was crowded, of course, and I was just about to
step into the wave of pedestrians when a voice tickled at the back
of my mind.

"Eeeellaaaaa. Eeeeellaaaa.
Little, little Ella. Two worlds down, hundreds more to
go."

I froze with one foot
still in the air. Malik. Or his ghost. Whatever it was, that
taunting voice wasn't El.

"Ella? Are you okay?"
Cailen pressed his hand against my shoulder and brought me back to
reality.

I squeezed my eyelids shut
and pressed my tongue against the scar on my inner cheek. Feeling
that and Cailen's hand, I knew this was real. This, not
Malik.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm fine.
Just...got a little dizzy."

"Don't ignore me,
Ella,"
Malik's voice sang in my
head.

I pressed my tongue harder
against the scar and grasped the edge of the doorway. Cold steel
cooled against my skin, hard and real.

"Do you need to lie down?"
Cailen grasped my shoulders with both hands and gently nudged me
backwards.

"No." I shook my head and
stepped away from him. "I'm fine. Let's just go."

He studied me with a hard
look before nodding. Obviously I hadn't convinced him of a
thing.

Before he could change his
mind, I stepped into the onward swarm of bodies, pushing my way
through, and received several dark scowls and a few shoves
back.

The soldier directly in
front of me looked back over his shoulder and said, "Damn sprite."
His comrades slapped him on the back and laughed at me with sick
glee in their eyes.

My face burned with anger
and humiliation. I'd heard that word a lot since coming back from
Kalhandthar, the planet I’d destroyed. It wasn't a nice term. Only
the worst people ever said it out loud. The rest just whispered and
laughed.

Wind whipped past my head
and the soldier in front of me--the one laughing and congratulating
himself with his buddies--went spinning through the air and slammed
into the ceiling.

Everyone pressed against
the edges of the corridor with a low murmur. A servant in red robes
screamed, turned on her heels, and ran in the opposite direction.
Cailen stood beside me, energy crackling off of him.

The soldier looked down in
wide-eyed horror as a dark stain grew on his pants.

"If you ever say that word
again," Cailen said with steady coolness that made me shiver, "I'll
take you on a different trip." The walls glowed blue and green as
he extended his wings. No one could miss the point, especially not
the boy pressed against the ceiling. He nodded and blubbered
something unintelligible.

No one moved, no one made
a sound, but I watched the spectators' faces. Each one slowly
morphed from terror to challenge to rage and anywhere in between.
With the room hushed, the only sound came from the projections on
the walls with the kind-eyed, soft spoken Emperor urging us to love
one another and work together. How ironic. To the civilians, he
suggested--for the millionth time--to visit the Information Viewing
Rooms to pass the lull. His admonition and advice continued in a
loop as we all stood there, the tension growing thick.

"Put him down," a voice
like thunder boomed.

I'd been so busy watching
everyone else, wondering at what point Cailen and I would have to
fight our way out, that I hadn't even noticed Lastrini come up to
us. But the moment I heard his thick, slurred accent, my gaze
whipped around and up to face the giant. Sweat licked my palms as
my heart beat overtime. Even though I knew in the back of my mind
size didn't matter when it came to Auri, I always felt more than a
little apprehensive around a man who towered so high above me I
only reached his waist.

Cailen stared hard and
cold into Lastrini's eyes. I felt the electricity surge within him,
sparking over to me. The boy on the ceiling came down slowly,
whimpering. Cailen placed him back gently on his feet. Somehow I
knew this was a show of power. He could have let the soldier fall
and probably break his nose, but that boy didn't matter anymore.
Lastrini needed to see how much control Cailen really
had.

I couldn't help the smile
that spread across my face right then. My chest tingled all over in
pride. And I really wanted to make my own display.

Lastrini's jaw tightened,
his eyes narrowed. Without taking his eyes off us, he said, "Get
back to your duties, soldiers."

They obeyed without
question or pause and the corridor filled again as if nothing had
happened. I watched as the boy from the ceiling rejoined his
friends and after a few pats on the back, his arrogance came back
like he hadn't just peed himself. He turned his head to look at me,
his lips curled up into a sick little smirk. I knew I'd see him
again. I almost welcomed it.

"Attack my people again
and I will no longer be lenient with you." Once again, Lastrini's
thick slur pulled me out of my oh-so-wonderful fantasies. They
involved lights. Lots and lots of little lights doing exactly what
I told them to do.

"Get off it, Lastrini."
Cailen's voice cut like windblown ice. "Your people should learn
decency." He smiled. "Or at least how to fight back."

"Speaking of decency," the
giant said. "A squad of Mosandarians reported having seen a very
angry, erratic, little Auri girl. Above ground. Not in The
Block."

I cringed. I hadn't even
thought of them. Even after Cailen's very cool display of his
abilities by making us invisible we still got caught. Because of
me.

"What's so indecent about
that?" A breeze blew past the Commander's uniform, catching the end
of his shirt. "You know who we are," Cailen said. "You also know we
can transport anywhere without your knowledge, or your
permission."

I nodded, but my insides
twisted. Cailen knew I'd never transport again. Not after what'd
happened when I blew up Kalhandthar's star. My wings ached as I
relived the ripping and tearing, the lack of air, the
darkness.

No. Never
again.

But Lastrini didn't need
to know that.

Far from being amused,
Lastrini's whole demeanor darkened and pulled taut. Out of the
corner of my eye, I saw his hand tightening into a fist.

"Listen," I said as I
stepped between them. "We're cooperating as much as we can, but you
can't imprison us. We're not your slave citizens drooling all over
ourselves in your Info rooms while you try to figure everything
out. We're free Auri."