Grail of the Summer Stars (Aetherial Tales) (37 page)

“Is Luc scared of him, maybe?”

“I think so. We all were. Albin needs cutting down to size in our minds, because he feeds on fear.” They sat quietly, sharing the chocolate. Then Rosie said, “When you find Daniel…”

“
If
we find him.”

“Have you ever wondered if you might get back together?”

Rosie’s question took her aback. As if her strange rebirth had stripped her of social skills, she felt rusty at friendship, unwilling to confide. “Why do you ask?”

“There’s affection in your voice when you speak about him. Sometimes we don’t recognize what we really want until it’s almost too late.”

Stevie saw a chance to deflect the question. “Do you speak from experience?”

“Oh, I’m the queen of horrible mistakes.” Rosie grimaced. “But we got there in the end.”

“So everything felt right with Sam?”

“Oh, no. Everything felt wrong,
completely
wrong! We’ve known each other since we were quite young, and he was a nightmare—we couldn’t stand each other.” One side of her mouth curled up. “Then it turned out we couldn’t keep our hands off each other, which caused even more problems. But it’s so easy to form distorted ideas about people. He’s not perfect, but neither am I. Underneath his bad-boy act, he’s the bravest, most loyal person I’ve ever known. I’ve seen him
literally
sacrifice his life to save others. Being Aetherial, we got a second chance, and not a day passes that I don’t give thanks for it. We argue like crazy, but never with any hard feelings, because we’re sure of each other. It works, for some reason.”

“It must feel good, to have that certainty.”

“I’m so much luckier than I deserve. However, we were talking about you.”

“You’re shamelessly nosy,” said Stevie. “You remind me of my friend Fin.”

“Who’s she?”

“A woman I worked with.” Memories of the museum rose and choked her, as she recalled with fresh shock that she wouldn’t be going back.

“You all right?”

“Yes.” Stevie mastered her tearful moment. “Fin and I weren’t that close, which was my fault really, but we got on well and she could always be relied on for common sense. When the strangeness started, I broke down and blurted it all out to her, and she didn’t turn a hair. Talk about getting people wrong! I’d judged her as an ‘ordinary mother of two’ who was going to suggest I needed therapy. But no, it turned out she was grounded in all sorts of esoteric matters.”

“Aelyr experiences?”

“I don’t think so … related, maybe, although I don’t know how. I’m starting to see layers in everything, and they all seem connected.”

“Fin sounds interesting,” said Rosie. “And what did she advise you to do?”

“To go with the flow. To accept what was happening instead of fighting it. So if I lost my job and went with Mist … it was meant to be.”

“Wise woman.”

“Literally, I think,” said Stevie. “She had a definite touch of witchiness, like Virginia, although less full-on, of course. And like you.”

“Ah, no, witchy wisdom is not my strong point,” Rosie said with a grin. “But I’m quite good at gardening, and telling dirty jokes. It’s the earth element in me.”

“Is that really any more influential than a horoscope sign?” Stevie pulled her jacket closer, feeling coolness in the air.

“Good question. I’m sure there’s
something
in it, simply because this is the Otherworld and we’re part of it. Ideas that are vague on Earth have a life of their own here. But the rules don’t bind us. You might be born to an earthy family of Elysion, for example, only to find your nature is more of air or fire. Or a mixture. Mist, for example. He came from the Felynx, an
eretru
of fire, didn’t he? Yet he appears to have powerful watery leanings.”

“I hadn’t thought about it like that. Why, though?”

Rosie shrugged. “Who knows? Perhaps he felt different from his fiery family. Or because he’s so clearly, madly attracted to you.”

A small shock went through Stevie. She shook her head vehemently. “Oh, no, he’s definitely not that. We’re just friends.”

“Right.”

“Really.”

“Are you sure? That’s why I asked about Daniel. I wondered if you might be torn.”

“There’s nothing to be torn about.” Stevie realized she was beginning to sound defensive. She didn’t want to argue with Rosie. “It can happen that you like someone, but you can’t do anything about it due to circumstances, and that’s fine. Okay … I admit that Mist is easy on the eyes.”

“He’s gorgeous,” Rosie teased. “I would, if I wasn’t with Sam.”

“Oh, yes?”

“Ah, now you’re giving me a definite ‘Hands off!’ stare.”

“No! Was I? No. The thing is, it’s beside the point. If Mist looked like an orang-utan, I’d still help him. And he’s on another planet, emotionally: still in love with a woman called Helena who died close to four hundred years ago. Nothing’s going to happen. And I don’t want it to; I’m not pining after him, if that’s what you think.”

“No,” said Rosie. “Sorry, I’m being mischievous. Matchmaking is the most dangerous of games.”

Stevie put her hands around her raised knees and stared through the glistening willows. The lake surface danced under the rain. “Yes, pinning all your hopes on romantic love is a great way to screw up your life. When I surfaced on Earth, I was totally alone and clueless. One of my biggest shocks was hearing all this strange alien music; I mean pop songs on the radio. Once I could decipher them, I was absolutely astonished to hear endless love songs where the woman loves her man so much she’ll sacrifice
anything
for him. She’s offering to completely lose her identity, merge her whole self into his. How is that admirable? And then all those defiant, angry songs stating, ‘I can survive without you, just see if I can’t!’ when the singer sounds about ready to kill the guy and set fire to his new girlfriend. What’s healthy about any of that?”

“Bloody hell,” said Rosie. “That was quite an outburst.”

“It made me realize that there are more important things than pairing up and trying to live out the wild expectations inspired by romantic songs. It’s brainwashing!”

“Again, bloody hell,” said Rosie. Then she gave an infectious grin, and they started to laugh.

Stevie added, “What I had with Danny was wonderful, a connection that made me feel
real
. He saved me, like a hand pulling me out of the ocean onto the safety of a ship. Yes, it was love, but neither of us needed it to last forever. And that’s okay.”

They sat without speaking for a while. She heard the men’s voices murmuring at a distance. Eventually Rosie said, “I know what you mean, Stevie. I’ve suffered the whole romantic delusion business myself. When the real thing happens, though, it is quite nice.”

“Well, I’m fine without it. All the same…” Her gaze drifted to Mist and she stared at him for a few seconds before forcing herself to look away. “God, why do things have to be such a mess?”

Rosie put her arms around Stevie, and kissed the side of her head. “Hey, it’s all right. Plenty of time to sort it all out. You’re not alone; we’ll be with you all the way.”

Stevie briefly returned the hug, breaking it before Rosie’s sheer warmth and sweetness made her cry. She felt steadier. “I hope Sam knows he’s the luckiest man in the world to have
you
,” she said.

“Oh, I never let him forget it,” Rosie answered cheerily.

*   *   *

Sheltering beneath the rocks on higher ground, Mist glanced at Stevie and Rosie and wondered what they were talking about. He was glad she’d moved apart. A cloud of darkness had settled inside him. He felt dreadful, but each time he tried to speak, he had no words to offer her. Nothing.

Fela, Helena: both had died—indirectly or otherwise—at his brother’s hand and he, Mist, had done nothing to protect them. He couldn’t let the same happen to Stevie.

A weapon against Rufus … that was what he needed. And this time, no mercy.

Sam and Lucas, who’d been at the water’s edge looking over the lake, walked up to join him. “A thought,” he said, as they sat down. “I know Lord Albin has been no friend to you, but he was part of the faction that tried to bring charges of treason and genocide against Rufus. He failed, but … he might become our ally, after all.”

“Ally?” said Sam. “That would be more than out of character. That would be a bleeding miracle.”

“Yet he’s your grandfather.”

“So? Like they say, you can’t choose your family. Albin is a coldhearted, sociopathic bastard,” said Sam. “He screwed with my father’s head. No wonder my grandmother left him. He couldn’t even get on with his own mother, Liliana, who was Gatekeeper for centuries. She was held in great respect, plus she’s a sweetheart. But Liliana was living on Vaeth, and Albin in Sibeyla, so perhaps he resented her absence or maybe he was born without a soul-essence, I don’t know. I don’t think he
was
born, but chiseled from a block of ice. There must have been a tiny strand of passion because he managed to get together with Maia for long enough to produce my father, Lawrence. Maia’s long gone, though; even she couldn’t stand Albin. He took her desertion badly. Any remnant of humanity vanished with her.”

“What about Albin’s father?”

“Y’got me there,” said Sam. “Liliana was always alone. There was a rumor of a liaison with an Aelyr of Elysion, which would make Albin half-earthy and not pure Sibeylan after all, which knowing him would make him
very
unhappy. Hence the purist extremes.”

“Perhaps that’s what we need, to counter Rufus’s extremes of mayhem and destruction. I’m certain he’s planning something monstrous.”

“And Albin’s powerful, and hates him?” Sam’s mouth pulled to one side. “Mist, mate, you’ve got to ask yourself, what would Albin’s price be for helping us? You know the old saying: He who sups with the devil should have a long spoon.”

Mist took this in, exhaled slowly. Since his leafy-dragon transformation, he felt colder and stronger. “I’m not sure that Lord Albin is still as powerful, after his humiliation before the Spiral Court. You’re right, Sam. I have to deal with Rufus myself.”

Lucas said, “One time—after the last big conflict was over—Rosie met Albin and he said to her, ‘Are you so very sure that the
true
danger of the Spiral has yet shown itself?’ You should ask her about it. We thought he was trying to unsettle us, because that’s what he does. What if he really meant it, though? Perhaps he knew something. Maybe he knew that if Rufus was set free, he’d take his revenge?”

Sam spread his hand at Luc. “See, this is why we came with you, Mist. Not for a free river trip. Because Luc has an instinct for when something really bad is brewing.”

Mist smiled with grim satisfaction. “Thank you for taking us seriously.”

“So, when you catch up with this brother of yours,” said Sam, “what are you planning to do?”

Mist answered simply, “I am going to kill him.”

*   *   *

After few hours of uncomfortable sleep, they refloated the coracle and paddled out into the current once more. A hint of sunlight sprinkled the water with millions of tiny diamonds. Soon the lake narrowed into a gorge with high rock walls. The fabric of the rock was slumped like thick honeycomb toffee and pocked with small caves, making the walls appear full of mournful faces. The current built up and rushed their boat along the gorge in an exhilarating burst of white water.

Stevie suddenly knew there would be no going back—at least, not by this route.

The coracle spun and bucked alarmingly. They held on hard, fighting to stay afloat as they were flung down steep rapids: a slalom of rocks and gushing foam. Eventually the gorge spat them out and they surged into a vast, calm lake.

No land was visible in any direction. Wisps of fog hung over the water. “Okay, Luc,” Sam gasped, pushing back his wet hair. “You’re still sure we’re on this
antilineos
that’s taking us from A to B with no weird detours?”

“Yes,” said Lucas. “I can tell we’re moving in a straight line, even if you can’t.”

“Fine,” said Sam. “Just checking.”

Stevie looked down into the water. Instead of purplish murk, she was amazed to see green light rising from below, crystal clarity that went down and down, as if Meluis itself lay deep below the surface. The sight gave her a disturbing urge to dive in. It woke memories of Persephone’s cave, of diving and swimming towards rebirth, and diving again into Virginia’s pool to recapture her lost life.

In response to a question from Mist, Rosie was talking about Lord Albin. “Yes, I met him, and he did say those words, ‘Are you
sure
that the true danger has yet shown itself?’ I assumed he was trying to unnerve me, but we can’t discount the possibility that he meant it. He might know there’s a secret catastrophe on its way, but if we can’t work it out in time—tough.”

“That sort of cruel tease is just his style,” said Sam.

“If there is a plan, it must be
his
,” Lucas said bleakly. “You can look back and see his bitterness feeding on itself. Albin was jealous that Liliana skipped over him for the role of Gatekeeper and gave it to her grandson Lawrence instead. His wife Maia left him. Then his mother and son, too, deserted him for Earth. I don’t see how Albin would ever have been satisfied with the Gatekeeper role, but he wanted it anyway, because he seems to want control of everything. Just because he’s been quiet doesn’t mean he’s stopped plotting to sever the Spiral from Vaeth. Worse, he might want to destroy every realm except Sibeyla itself. He
won’t
have stopped.”

Sam added, “So the loss of a court case against Rufus and losing the support of a small monkish sect won’t have dented his ambition?”

“It’s unlikely,” said Lucas. “He wanted to destroy the Gatekeeper—even his own son or grandson—and seal off the Otherworld forever.”

“I concede,” said Mist. “Albin doesn’t sound the ideal ally against Rufus.”

Stevie took in their words but could not tear her gaze out of the lake depths. Two fathoms below, she saw several Halathrim swimming the opposite way, skimming like torpedoes. They took no notice of the vessel above them. Their urgency alarmed her.