Whisper of War and Storms (Heirs of Elydor #1)

Chapter 6

6

KAEL

“We’ve only just begun Kael.”

I liked Lyra as much as any Aetherian, which meant I mostly tolerated her but did not trust her. I did respect the woman, though, so I stopped at the bottom of the gleaming white stone steps, turning back up to the noblewoman.

She descended the steps slowly with her head held high as always. The very definition of regal, Lyra also happened to be one of the most intelligent Elydorians I knew. When we served on the Council together, Lyra spent her days in the library, her nights reading ancient texts. Though a fine air-wielder, Lyra’s greatest strength was her mind. One that seemed to be set on bringing me back.

“Two days is enough for me,” I said, turning from the palace eastward. Even from here, I could see well beyond the borders of Aetheria. Built into the mountains, the northern clan enjoyed looking down on those around them, both literally and figuratively. It was that attitude of superiority that I’d had enough of for the day. Maybe forever.

There would be no peace between our clans. I was as convinced of that this day as I had been before arriving in Aethralis. With its towers and spires reaching skyward, adorned with intricate carvings and symbols that told the storied history of Aetheria, along with fountains and streams crisscrossing the grounds, I had to admit… part of me missed the serene tranquility here. Often, I looked back to the years I’d spent in Aetheria, grateful the portal had closed, allowing me to go home. Being here, though, reminded me there had been some good times as well.

Unfortunately, I’d not include the last two days in such a manner.

“Tell me, how will we find any accord if you refuse to treat with the others? We can never be a united Elydor without representation from all four clans.”

“Three,” I reminded her. That the humans had been invited to sit around the table was one of the sources of our current discord.

Lyra calmly swept an errant strand of long silver hair behind her ear. She was an extraordinarily beautiful woman, unpartnered too, but not one for me. Too… Aetherian.

“That is your father speaking, not you.”

“I am no parrot,” I said, ironically evoking one of the breeds brought to Elydor by humans.

Lyra smiled, catching it. “And yet you acknowledge the humans in your speech. You acknowledge them when needed but discard their contributions when it does not suit you. The man I served with on the Council was more tolerant than that.”

“Was he?” I challenged. “Or perhaps you only wished it so.”

Lyra had often attempted to separate my politics from my father’s and clan’s tenants. And while it was true that I sometimes thought my father’s ways were extreme, neither did I believe humans belonged in Elydor. And certainly they did not belong around that table. “There are three clans native to Elydor.” I repeated my earlier words from the Summit.

“What does that matter? They’ve been here for hundreds of years, Kael. Seven Hundred.”

“Not so long, for some of us.”

“But longer than others in your clan, and mine, have been alive. Do the humans have less of a claim than the young ones? Or those who came before them, even?”

“I will not debate this again.”

“And if we kick them out of the Summit?” she asked, pressing me as always. “Would that bring you back inside with the others?”

As I was the only Gyorian representative, my leaving had disrupted their precious Summit, a fact I cared not about since coming here was not my idea, nor did I believe it a worthwhile endeavor. I would fight, and die, for any and all Gyorians. Beyond that, Elydorian politics meant little to me.

“Farewell, Lyra,” I said, finished with this conversation. I did not wish to argue with someone I respected, knowing we would never come to terms. “Until we meet again.”

“May the winds guide you back to us,” she said, with a slight bow of her head, as graciously as I’d expected. “Galfrid has disabled the Skyway enchantments so you may pass freely.”

I laid my hand on my chest in parting, acknowledging her but saying nothing in return. I had no wish to come back to Aetheria anytime soon and therefore remaining silent was the preferable response.

I’d intended to leave the palace grounds immediately, but after fetching my mount and starting on the path south, down the Skyway and past its guards, a building in the distance caught my eye. A very familiar building. The one I’d spent more years inside than I cared to remember.

It had been so long.

Before thinking better of it, I veered westward. Even though it had been abandoned for many years, the grounds were kept meticulously, or so it seemed from a distance. The flowers that had withstood the winter were in need of a bit of life, and though I had no will to improve anything about my enemy’s land, I made one exception. It seemed somehow… wrong. For there to be any state of disrepair in a place one held in such high regard.

With a sweep of my hand, I brought life back to the grounds and tied Stormbreaker to a tree, looking up at gleaming white stone steps, similar to the palace’s. This building was not as large, and it had just one purpose. Climbing the steps, I expected to be locked out. The magic that King Galfrid had imbued us with was long gone, unneeded. Surprisingly, however, the doors were unlocked. Towering high above me, two glass doors lined, as the rest of the entrance was, in gold and white marble, easily pushed open.

I stepped inside.

Columns of marble. Floors of marble. The building gleamed as it had so many years ago. Likely the king kept it so, desperate as he was to open the Gate once again. My leather boots made no sound as I walked toward the door where so many had come through. Once, this had been a bustling place where humans seeking the magic of Elydor had been allowed entry and curious Elydorians had sought the human realm, most coming back almost as quickly as they passed through.

He’d been right to close it. They did not belong here.

Turning back, unsure what had made me come inside, I retraced my steps, suddenly anxious to leave this place. I was nearly at the doors when it happened.

I understood immediately what the tingling in my shoulders and down my back meant. Apparently, that magic was not gone at all but had only lain dormant. All members of the Council had been given the same ability to detect a human coming through the portal. It was our duty to decipher, sometimes easily and other times after days of disagreements, if the person, or persons, were to be allowed through.

Impossible, and yet, there was no other explanation.

If I’d felt it, the others would too.

Running back, I sped through the interior doors toward the antechamber. That every one was open to me verified that some of Galfrid’s and his mage’s magic still remained. All should have been locked, a Gyorian not welcome in any part of Aetheria unescorted, and certainly not in one of its most sacred spots.

If it were true, if the Aetherian Gate had been activated, I needed to get there before anyone else discovered it. Lyra was likely already coming this way, and she was not the only Council member at that Summit.

Unsure what to expect, I slammed open the antechamber doors, ones no human had been able to pass through for nearly thirty years.