Guardian of the Earth House (22 page)

[He] was elemental when he died,

As he was ancient at his birth:

The saddest among kings of earth

Edwin Arlington Robinson- “The Master”

It took Tessie a few minutes to realize that she wasn’t going crazy and that she really
was
in Job’s memories.

At first, she had no idea why she was seeing images of Job as a little boy.  It was like she was standing in his past, reliving events that she’d never been a part of.  Once she decided she wasn’t going nuts, she thought maybe she was dreaming. Except this didn’t
feel
like a dream.

Unfortunately, this felt really
real
.

Tessie watched as Wiset, Job’s grandfather, systematically stripped Job of his childhood and wanted to kill the bastard.  As far as Tessie could tell, “Earth Kings don’t” were the only words the old man knew.

“Earth Kings don’t laugh.”

“Earth Kings don’t cry.”

“Earth Kings don’t get angry and make spectacles of themselves.”

“Earth Kings don’t play with the other children.”

“Earth Kings don’t need toys.”

Everyone
needed toys.  Everyone needed play and laugh and cry and make spectacles of themselves sometimes.  God, was that really so hard to understand?

Job was the sweetest, saddest kid Tessie had ever seen.  Studious and quiet, always well behaved and polite.  Always looking longingly out windows as his sister, Senti, got to have fun with her friends.

Tessie despised Senti.  The girl who would grow up to be Cross’ mother was a spoiled rotten bitch.  Senti resented the fact that Job would be the King one day, but she had no problems soaking in all the pampering that came her way and had zero responsibilities.  She used her free time to torment her brother.

Meanwhile, Job worked hard every day.  There was so much
work
piled on the boy.  Books to study, lessons to learn, lectures on Job’s responsibilities to every single Phase in the universe...  It was unbearable.

Tessie sat down on the floor next to Job’s little chair and wanted to comfort him.  Senti deliberately danced by the window of the study with a jump rope, just to taunt her brother with her freedom and Job sighed.

He was very young and already very old.

“It’s okay, honey.  I’m here.”  Tessie whispered, even though he couldn’t hear her.

Wiset was thousands of years old; so ancient he gave Tessie a run for her money when it came to birthday candles.  He had grayish hair and a few wrinkles, but he still possessed a vitality and strength of purpose that even Tessie found intimidating.  And she was incorporeal here in Job’s memories.

The guy was like a fanatical preacher, only his religion was the Earth House.  Wiset wanted it to remain the most powerful of the Houses and he saw his grandson as surrogate for his own ambition.  Job was a small Elemental vessel whose only purpose was carrying on Wiset’s mission even after the old man was gone.

He sat behind the desk in the study, the same desk in the same study that Job had been working behind when Tessie first saw him, and lectured.  He pontificated about all the duties that would fall to Job, all the people who counted on him not to fail.  His bright green eyes took on the Rasputin-y glow of a true zealot.

And poor Job was trapped with him.

His parents had apparently left Job in his grandfather’s care, so he could be molded into a king and his independence crushed forever.

Tessie ran a hand through her hair.  She’d stopped even processing Wiset’s endless stream of sermonizing and criticisms.  Instead, all she could do was ache for the lonely little boy Job had been.  No wonder he had such a hard time dealing with people or relaxing.  He didn’t know how.  It had been stolen from him by people more interested in creating a flawless king than in loving Job.

“Honey.  You should just walk the hell out of here and go play outside.”  She told him.

But, of course, he didn’t.  He sat there and listened to his grandfather, taking careful notes.  Aside from the pitiful glances outside towards the sun and grass, he was a perfect, dutiful student.  He soaked in everything Wiset said and it just broke Tessie’s heart.

How could anyone ever recover from this kind of brainwashing?  They wouldn’t even let him show emotions.  Job would never be able to feel
anything
if…

Tessie’s thoughts trailed off as she looked at the copybook Job was furiously scribbling in.

Her lips parted in surprise.

Job wasn’t carefully jotting every word Wiset spoke.  He was
doodling
.  Tessie was utterly charmed by his unexpected show of quiet rebellion.  She actually chuckled in relief.

Wiset was trying his damnedest, but he was never going to make Job over in his own cold image.  Beneath his too formal clothes and stoic expression, the kid still had something all his own.  He
had
to because Tessie had seen it in him as an adult.  Job had a heart and a quirkiness that nobody could bully or brainwash out of him.  Wiset wanted to create a strong Earth King, but Job was
already
too strong to submit completely to his grandfather’s teachings.  Even as a kid, he’d been a stubborn little guy.

Tessie tilted her head, so she could see the picture he drew.

Trees.

Job was sketching a page full of palm trees surrounding a little house that actually looked like the bungalow Tessie rented in Mayport Beach.  There was even a garden filled the yellow flowers she’d planted. He bent down closer to the page and began adding residents to his happy home.  A man and a woman holding hands, surrounded by a heart.

For a little boy, Job was a hell of a good artist.  Tessie recognized the man as an older, smiling version of Job.  And the woman had long, dark hair… just like Tessie.

“Do you understand, Job?”  Wiset demanded.  “Earth Kings don’t surround themselves with other people.  They’re strong and they stand alone.  They lead, but they don’t consort.”

“Yes, grandfather.”  Job agreed and drew a necklace around the woman’s neck… just like Tessie’s.

Tessie’s eyes slowly moved up to study Job’s small face.  Phases couldn’t see into the future.  At least, none that she’d ever heard of.  How could he possibly have drawn that?  How powerful
was
he?  Elementals got stronger as they aged and Job was just a child here.  It was impossible that he sensed her.  Tessie wasn’t even in the room.  This was only his memory of what had happened, right?

Unless, just by seeing the memory she was part of it.  Or unless Job was way,
way
more powerful than even Tessie gave him credit for. Maybe both.  Was it just a coincidence or was Job somehow picking up on energies that he couldn’t possibly feel?

The scene shifted and Tessie was inside the Council Hall.

She’d been there once or twice over the millennia, always careful not to get spotted by any Phases.  Tessie could come and go in the Elemental realm and she liked to keep track of what the Phases were up to.  Towering Grecian columns and endless acres white marble surrounded her on all sides in the Council Hall. The room was large and round, surrounded by rows of benches for spectators.  In the center was the semicircular Council Bench and court was in session.

Job sat at the middle of the table, in the High Seat.  Around him were a couple dozen distinguished looking Phases.  All of them wore black robes and various expressions of boredom. In the center of the room stood the Phases petitioning the Council: Ty, of the Water House and Parald, of the Air House.

“Oh shit.”  Tessie whispered.  She was about to witness the moment that lead to the Fall.  Ty and Parald were supposed to be asking the Council to validate the Match.  In the upper classes, that was sometimes done before the Phazing. It was just a red tape, rubberstamp procedure that most people used as an excuse to throw a big Phazing Day party.

Only Ty was about to use the formality of the ceremony to stage her escape.

Tessie made her way towards the Council bench, automatically wanting to be closer to Job, who looked very official and sober, even for Job.

Ty was dressed in the turquoise robes of her House, her red hair subdued into a neat twist and her face giving away nothing.

Parald stood to her left, dressed in the regalia of the Air House.  He was gorgeous… for a sociopath.  Hitler Youth blond hair mixed with the golden streak at his temple and the tan of his skin, giving him a glided quality.  Most Air Phases were known for their compassionless ice blue gazes, but Parald’s eyes were a clear, guileless gray.  He was the “Everybody’s All American” poster-boy for non-threatening, clean cut masculinity.

Parald looked like the happy fellas in old Gap ads, swing dancing with sweet faced girls.  He was the idealistic, young senator elected on his promises to change the world.  He was the guy who mothers loved because he brought
them
flowers, too, when he picked up their daughters for a date.  He was the suitor who impressed fathers with all the “Most Likely To”s listed under his name in his yearbook.  He seemed like every girl’s dream Match.

But, really Parald was just a shiny, perfect shell, covering a horrible, rotted soul.

Tessie swore she could feel a chill of total emptiness emanating from him.  Parald had nothing inside of him.  There was a flatness to his eyes and a vacant quality to his smile.  He was hollow in some terrible way that Tessie couldn’t explain.

Her eyes fell on a figure standing against the far wall.

Gion.

Tessie frowned.  Gion’s face was impassive, but his hand was opening and closing at his side, clenching and unclenching into a fist.  In the entire time Tessie had known him, she had
never
seen Gion betray himself with any small gestures like that.

Not ever.

Intrigued, Tessie changed directions, so she could move closer to him.  Gion was… upset.  The frost in his eyes had melted into pools of molten blue and his breathing was too fast.  He was really
feeling
something.  Since when did Gion have feelings?

“We’re here to validate the Phase-Match of Tritone, of the Water House and Parald, of the Air House.”  Job said from the bench.  His beautiful voice washed over everyone, filling the room.  “On this occasion, we do not seek to question Gaia’s will in Matching you, but ask that you state your intentions to Phaze and your certainty of the Match you have found.”  The words were rote.  “Parald, of the Air House, do you accept and affirm the Phase-Match with Tritone?  Are your feelings for her real and guided by Gaia?”

“Yes.”  Parald’s voice held a smugness that set Tessie’s teeth on edge.

Since the Phases petitioning the Council were from the Air and Water Houses, representatives from those Houses weren’t seated on the bench to hear the Phase-Match validation.  Instead, most Air Phases positioned themselves in seats on Parald’s side of the room, while the Water House sat on Ty’s.  Tessie could see Nia scowling at Parald from across the room, so it was a good guess Ty’s cousin didn’t love Parald’s attitude, either.

Job kept going with the ceremony.  “Tritone, of the Water House do you accept and affirm the Phase-Match with Parald?  Are your feelings for him real and guided by Gaia?”

“No.”  Ty said firmly.

Beside her, Tessie felt Gion freeze.

Nia and Tharsis gaped in perfect unison.

No one else seemed to register Ty’s answer for beat or two.  Job actually continued with the ceremony.  “Then, by the power of the Council and…”  He stopped as if his mental tape had suddenly instant-replayed Ty’s refusal.  His vivid green eyes slashed down to meet hers.  “Ty, did you say, ‘no’?”  He sounded astonished.

The crowd began to mummer.

Parald’s gleaming arrogance dimmed and his head whipped around to face Ty.

Ty didn’t even glance in his direction.  “I said ‘no’.” She confirmed in a strong, clear voice.  “I renounce Parald, of the Air House as my Match.”

The murmurs grew in volume and intensity.

Parald’s mouth dropped open in shock.

No one had renounced a Match in years.  It just wasn’t done.  It meant that neither Parald nor Ty could ever Phaze or have children or have another Match.  It was the equivalent of Ty giving Parald the finger at the altar and saying, “I’d rather be alone forever than choose you, asshole.”

Tessie beamed.  It was beautiful.

Job looked like he was at a total loss.  Well, his expression didn’t change, but Tessie could read the confusion in the slight shifting of his features.  Before he could respond to Ty’s decision, the black haired Phase sitting to Job’s right started laughing.  The red streak at his temple marked him a member of the Fire House… as did the gleeful chortling.  Fire Phases were a contrary bunch.  From Parson’s stories, Tessie guessed that she was looking at Oberon, the Fire King who would die in the Fall.

“Hot damn!  I almost played hooky today, too!”  He clapped his hands together obviously enjoying this immensely. “Can you believe it?  I woulda missed the only interesting meeting we’ve ever fucking had to play Nintendo.”