Exile in the Water Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 3) (8 page)

Nature that
framed us of four elements, warring within our breasts for regiment, doth teach
us all to have aspiring minds

Christopher
Marlowe-
‘
Tamburlaine’

Gion
found Ty in the library.

She
sat at a long table, frowning intently at her computer screen.  Stacks of books
were piled around her and there was a pencil caught behind her ear.  Chewing on
her thumbnail, she scrolled down the page on her laptop in deep concentration.

He
hesitated in the doorway, watching her.

The
morning light came through the windows of the vast room, brilliant and clean.  Back
in the Air Kingdom everything was always dim.  The other Elementals couldn’t
sever their link to it entirely, just as Parald couldn’t escape giving them
Air.  The Elements were all interconnected.  Still, the Electricity House
didn’t work real hard to make sure that the Air Phases got their share of the
power.

It
was so much brighter here in the Water Palace.  So much easier to breathe.

The
sun highlighted Ty’s hair, washing her in a golden glow.  She looked like a
human college recruitment poster for dedicated, conscientious co-eds.  She
looked young and pure and full of life.  She looked like every dream he’d ever
had.

Gion
wanted to shove everything off the table and take her right there.  If she let
him, he would have had them both naked in fifteen seconds flat.  His eyes
automatically went to the buttons of her yellow sweater, gauging how best to
get her out of it.  Not that he planned to try, because she’d never give him
consent, but mentally undressing Ty was the current extend of Gion’s love life.

Since
the day he’d met Ty, all other women became obsolete, which meant that Gion had
close to a dozen years of celibacy under his belt.  Literally.  He was more
than ready to end the drought.

Unfortunately,
unless Ty had a severe change of heart and suddenly realized that Gion
didn’t
repulse her, it seemed unlikely that she’d let him unfasten so much as one of
her hair barrettes.  Which was too bad, because they were intriguing little
things shaped like daisies.

Gion’s
gaze traced over Ty’s red curls.

The
daisy barrette held back the turquoise streak at her temple, so it mixed in with
the rest of the messy style.  If Ty offered him a chance to really touch her
hair, Gion would have eagerly met any price she asked.  He loved it.  The
brilliant color, and the way the curls went in every direction, and the soft
shine of it.  The cut ended at her jawline, but if the mass of curls was
straightened out, Gion hypothesized that it would be longer than his own
shoulder length hair.

The
Air House didn’t produce redheads.  Even Gion’s licorice black color was an
anomaly.  Nearly all the Air Phases were blondes, their hair neatly arranged in
straight, preppy styles.  Gion relished every untamed, colorful, unique curl on
Ty’s head.

She
was beautiful.

As
much as he hated Parald, he understood the man’s wild desperation to claim her. 
Gion would have destroyed the world if he lost Ty, too.  The Air powers stirred,
trying to connect with her.

Ty
must’ve felt them, because she turned to look at him.  She blinked as if trying
to reorient herself to the world outside her computer.  “Gion.  Hi.”

And
then the most amazing thing happened.

Ty
smiled at him.

The
breath froze in his lungs.  For a minute, Gion wondered if he was about to
become the only Air Phase in history to die of suffocation.  Ty smiled at him. 
Honest to God
smiled
.  Her eyes didn’t fill with dread like most Phases’
did when they discovered Gion standing behind them.  Instead, Ty looked happy
to see him.

As
pitiful as it sounded, that alone was worth dying for.

Everything
he’d endured to keep her safe…  The insults and the plots.  Parald’s cruelty. 
The years of near captivity in the Air Kingdom.  Never being able to relax or
trust anyone.  The constant fear that he’d slip.  The execution order on his
head…  It all meant
nothing
compared to Ty.

Gion
would have done absolutely anything for this woman.

Not
as a sacrifice, but because he loved her so deeply that there weren’t words for
it.

He
dropped his eyes, before he made a complete ass out of himself.  “I finished my
first preliminary report.”  He held up the folder he’d prepared for her.

“Oh. 
Excellent.  Wow, that was fast.”

No,
it wasn’t.  Gion almost looked down at his wrist to confirm that, but he didn’t
want to draw attention to his platinum timepiece.  For some reason, the
contrast between Ty’s eccentric, plastic
Hello Kitty
watch and his own made
him uneasy.  Like she’d see him as so completely foreign to her quirky,
feminine world that she’d never let him in.

Ty
made a sweeping motion with her hand, beckoning him closer.  “Did you sleep
alright?”

“Yes.” 
Gion forced his legs forward, crossing the room.  He never slept well, always
prepared for an attack.  For the last week, he’d been moving around constantly to
elude Saxon and the other men that Parald had sent after him.  Last night,
surrounded by the serenity and magic of Ty’s kingdom, though, Gion felt almost
peaceful.

For
the first time ever, he was free.

“This
is a nice room.”  It was the most innocuous thing he could think to say.  “I
like libraries.”  Gion actually lived in the Air House library most of the
time, unable to bear his life in the palace.  The Water Kingdom’s library
remained one the best in the Elemental realm.  Books lined shelves two stories
high.

The
mild comment had Ty smiling, again.  “I like libraries, too.  The first book I
ever read was right over there.”  She gestured towards a pillow laden sofa.  “
Ismena
. 
The fairytale.  I was about four.  Everyone said I was very advanced for my
age, but I think that I’d just memorized the book and recited it back to
myself.  I’d made everyone read it to me so many times, you see.”

Gion
had never read a fairytale in his life, but he’d suffer on the rack before he
admitted that to Ty.  “The first book I ever read was called
Be the Perfect
Air Phase.
 A boy named Disappointment
wasn’t
the perfect Air Phase
and suffered for a dozen or so illustrated pages.  Very graphic, yet subtle in
its metaphors.  Conformity sounds so much better when ‘laziness’ is poorly
rhymed with ‘his parents’ sadness.’”

“Why
would you read something so dreadful?”

“All
Air House children read it.  Then, they’re tested on it.  I got an ‘A.’”

“It’s
a wonder you wanted read anything, ever again.”  Ty adjusted her glasses. 
“But, if you like books, I’m pleased about that.  It’s good that you enjoy
something.  Finally.  Spend as much time as you want here in the library.”

Gion
didn’t understand her sometimes. 
Most
of the time.  Why did she care
what he liked?

Ty
patted the seat beside her.  “Show me the report.”

Gion
carefully took the seat next to her at the table.  He never sat beside Ty
before.  It was… nice.  “I made you a copy.”  He slid it over to her.  “It’s
still preliminary.”  He added, again, in case she found something that wasn’t
thorough enough.  “I just think we should have a starting point.  I’ll be checking
the rooms, next.  One by one.”

Ty
picked up the thick stack of papers, weighing them with her hand.  “Wow.”  She repeated. 
She flipped through the report, looking at the maps, graphs, suggestions, and
categorized chapters of information.  “You did all this morning?”

Gion
couldn’t read her expression.  In the Air Kingdom, when he’d prepared reports
for Seneca or Parald, it was always a bad sign when they didn’t just accept
them and dismiss him.  Asking questions or looking at the report in front of
him usually meant they were dissatisfied.

“It’s
preliminary.”  He should have made sure it was perfect before he gave it to
her.  He thought that he
had
, but, if Ty was disappointed, then Gion
would do better.  “If you give me until this evening, I can do a more complete
job.”

“I
don’t see how.”  Ty glanced at him over the top of her glasses.  “I am really…
impressed.”  She gave a breathy sort of laugh.  “You did all this
this
morning
?”

Gion
blinked.  “Of course.”  Impressed?  Why would she be impressed with a security
report?  He’d been doing them every day for four hundred years.  Well, not
counting the week of the Fall.  That had been his one and only “vacation.”

“I
wish I could get this much work done in --like-- two hours.”  Ty murmured. 
“Okay, I’m going to level with you.  I don’t know anything about security. 
Could you just,” she held up the folder, “walk me through this?”

It
disturbed Gion that Ty was putting so much in his hands.  It wasn’t safe. 
“Well, I
could
, but don’t you think that would remove an extra layer of
review?”

“Review?”

“Yes. 
I prepared that report.  What if I’m plotting against you?”  Gion couldn’t
believe that a brilliant woman would miss the obvious.  “If I’m the one who’s
going over the report with you, then who will spot any inaccuracies?  There
should be someone else reviewing it.  They can look for mistakes, whether intentional
or merely careless.”

“I
don’t think you’re ever careless, Gion.  So, all of that isn’t really
necessary.”

“Yes,
it is.”

“Well,
I’m the queen and I say it’s
not
.”  Ty turned to page one.  “I’m going
to assume that you’re not planning to kill me.  If you
were
, I don’t
think you’d need an indexed report to complete the job.”

“That’s
not the point.  It keeps people on edge to know that their work is constantly
scrutinized by their rivals and leaders.”  It helped guarantee that no one
screwed up.

“Why
would I want to keep you edgy?”  Ty made a face.

“Because,
then I’d have more incentive to do adequate work.”  He explained as patiently
as he could.  “Go over it with Brokk or Nia.”

“Yeah…
I don’t think that’s a great idea.”  Ty glanced over her shoulder towards the
door and lowered her voice.  “My cousins are not happy to hear that you’re
here.  Brokk told them and I just spent all morning calming them down.”

Gion’s
jaw tightened.  “Am I leaving?”

Ty’s
eyebrows climbed up her forehead.  “No.  Not unless you want to.  I told you,
no one’s going to kick you out.  Please don’t worry about that.  This is your
home, now.”

Gion
didn’t entirely believe her.  Sooner or later, things would go bad and he’d be
out.  He accepted that.  He just wanted to hold on as long as he could.

“You’re
safe here.”  Ty continued, apparently picking up on his doubts.  “Worrying
constantly is a terrible way to live.  Believe me, I know.  I live every day
paranoid about Parald.”

“Not
paranoid enough, obviously.”  Gion retorted.  “I could be a spy and you gave me
access to your entire kingdom.  Have you thought about that?”

“Of
course.”  She said simply.  “But, I think you’re a better man than that, Gion. 
If I didn’t know that I could trust you, I never would have told you about
Nia’s baby.  I never would have let you in, at all.”  She looked back at the
report.  “Let’s start at the beginning, okay?”

Gion
stared at her for a long moment, utterly baffled by this woman.  Why would she
give him any trust?  He’d spent years as her enemy.  “I won’t betray you.”  He
vowed softly.

Ty’s
mouth curved.  “I know.  I thought it all out, so I could convince my cousins
of that, actually.”  She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.  “Want to
crib from me?  Just in case they corner you, too?  I’ll let you copy my
arguments.”

“Yes.” 
Hear what she’d said to Nia and Tharsis about him?  Of
course
, Gion wanted
to hear that.

Ty
leaned closer to him.  The mischievous sparkle in her face captivated Gion.  No
one ever looked at Gion with a playful sort of expression.  No one cared about
him enough to want to include him in anything lighthearted.  The fact that Ty
would ever,
ever
, smile at him like that made Gion’s world so much…
better.

She
made everything better.

“Start
with the obvious.”  She told him conspiratorially.  “Where else would you go if
you killed me?  It’s either here or the Air Kingdom for you and you’re too
smart to want to go back there.  What with Parald having that price on your
head for helping me.”

Gion
hadn’t known that Ty knew about that.  She hadn’t last night.  Brokk or one of
the others must have told her.  “You make a good point.  I don’t think he’ll
let me collect the reward on myself, so what would be the advantage in
surrendering?”

“Right.” 
She nodded.

Her
shampoo smelled like strawberries.