Torrent of Tears (Scourge Survivor Series Book 3)(25)
“It’s all right,” I assured him. “Wait here. If I’m not back in half an hour, come find me.”
I didn’t wait for his response but heard the jumbled attempt at modern world cursing as I left the bedroom behind. I giggled to myself. I’d have to help him with that.
At the bottom of the stairs, an earthen tunnel lit with multi-colored firelight stretched outward. Flames danced from six strange stoneware bowls fastened to the wood supports of an underground passageway.
“Giving you up nearly killed him. You should know that.” The voice of the woman drew me farther down the length of the tunnel toward two framed doorways opposite one another. “The Queen’s breeding program is meant to wipe out any lingering Earth, Wind and Fire genes in the noble families. Balor was Water as far back as time. His genetics are . . . were the strongest I’ve ever seen.”
I followed the voice and stepped over the packed-earth threshold through the doorway on my right. The fire in the sconces increased the lighting, illuminating a charming, comfortably decorated underground studio apartment. It was homey, from the soft white-washed walls to the oversized sofas, to the iron bed in the back. “He loved you very much.”
“You knew him well.” It wasn’t a question. Bits and pieces of memories fluttered together in my mind. My gaze swept over the mementos of a life shared: pictures, candles burned low, books, a child’s quilted throw framed on the wall over the small table. “I remember this.” I stroked the velvet symbol embroidered in the center panel. “This was mine.”
The look of disillusioned loss I’d seen in my vision returned. “Years ago, it was.” She took a picture frame down from the top of a bookshelf and held it out to me.
“You spent time with us. You played with me.”
“Sort of. Balor always turned my visits into a game but they were much more important.”
I eased closer and accepted the picture she offered. In the framed photo, I stared into the same kind eyes I’d seen last night on that horrible stage. What it would have been like to get here a week ago . . . a month . . . what about a year?
“I’ve lost my chance to know him. I came back to find my family and now all I have is this Breeder-Eligible-sister-wife crap. It’s really fucked up, if you ask me.”
She nodded and ran her fingers along the back of the cushy, white club chair.
“And that is the crux of everything you are, child.” She fingered my hair and eyed me top to bottom. “Everything we made you.”
A smile softened her expression as her gaze focused on something beyond the windowless room we were in. “He walked into my apothecary in the outer ring shortly after the fortnight of conception six cycles past. He knew he carried twins and had it all worked out, how he would present one child and keep the second, hide her from the corruption of the nobility, groom her to value justice and diversity.”
“So why come to you?”
“My family’s reputation for magic is know in some of the oldest circles of citizens. Balor wanted my help to protect the elemental diversity that makes Attalos unique.”
Sera moved toward the open door and gestured me to follow. “When the Queen declared that all Breeders be pure-blood Water Fae, Breeders of all other elements were slain. She boasts of purifying the race for the longevity of all.”
“How very Aryan of her.”
Sera lifted the latch on the door across the hall and stepped into the same apothecary shop I’d seen this morning. “Your father believed otherwise and hired me to equip you with what you would need to unite all four elements of the citizenry.”
“Equip me how?”
CHAPTER TEN
“What happened down there?” Terran asked for the fifth time in as many minutes. His long, loping strides kept up with mine even though I was pretty much bolting through the grittier areas of Attalos market shops. “Did that woman do something to you? Are you hurt?”
“Do I look hurt, Terran?” I whirled on him, fighting the urge to slap him. It wasn’t his fault. I knew that. I did. It wasn’t his fault that I was some kind of Franken-Faery, but really. “Can I have a minute to myself without you nagging? What Sera told me is my business. My life. Do you mind?”
The edge in my voice astonished even me.
The warmth leached out of Terran’s expression. “Forgive me, Princess, I overstepped.” With that, Terran fell behind me, straightened his stride, and assumed a soldier persona.
Shit. I really could be a bitch at times, but could a girl catch her breath between one catastrophe and another? We walked on, the afternoon waning into evening. The blue sky above and beyond the iridescent field glittered in brilliant gold and fuchsia swirls.
Red sky at night, sailors delight. Yeah right.
The scent of coal smoke mixing with the salty sea air had me searching for an exhaust chimney. The k’tang, k’tang of hammer falling upon metal echoed from a distance. “Terran, there’s a blacksmith shop around here. Do you know where?”
The reservation in his normally warm gaze stole my breath. “Yes, Princess, follow me if you will.”
“Terran, wait . . . Terran, stop.” I jogged behind him, but his long legs propelled him along the streets, around one corner and the next. Straight backed and stiff shouldered, he didn’t turn nor give me the chance to apologize.