Chapter Fifteen
Lena
Lena walked beside Commander Vor through the fortress corridors.
He looked angry, but she didn't care. Had he really thought his promise of protection would go over well with her?
The only reason she needed protection was that he had abducted her from Liria's wedding!
He had put her in the middle of a battle.
Vor opened a door she recognized. It was the room they had first come to upon arrival—the command room.
The same people manned the desks there. The same man lurched to his feet and came to speak to Vor.
This time, he looked nervous. A glance at Vor made her pause. Maybe his anger wasn't directed at her.
“I did not give you leave to proceed!” Vor shouted, his voice sending the other man back a few steps.
“I'm sorry, Commander. I thought you said I could?”
“I said I liked your idea and that I'd be joining you.
I never told you to proceed. You accosted me fresh from my sleep, and I wasn't able to give your plan the thought it required.
Once I had, I realized it would be better to implement it at night, when darkness would conceal our soldiers.
You had better have good news for me, Zucar.
If this plan of yours failed, I'll hold you accountable!”
The dark-haired Nethren winced. “I'm sorry, Commander.”
“Damn you!” Vor grabbed the man by his throat and lifted him off his feet.
The man gasped, the metal tube in his neck creaking, and flailed as his feet left the ground. Lena drew back with a cry of terror and pressed back against the wall.
Vor's expression went horrified, and he turned his head to meet her gaze.
Without a thought for the man he held, Vor dropped him and hurried over to her.
“Lena!” His hands hovered before her as if he knew touching her would only make things worse.
“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that in front of you.”
“You shouldn't have done that at all!” Lena edged away from him. “That's not how you should treat people.”
“He's my subordinate, and he failed because he didn't obey my orders.”
“It sounds as if your orders were unclear.”
The other Nethren in the room watched their exchange with wide eyes, especially the dark-haired one. Vor didn't seem to care. He kept his focus on her.
“They were not unclear.”
“How do you know? You said you had just woken up and weren't thinking clearly.”
Vor paused. “Yes, I said something to that effect. Perhaps you're right.”
The dark-haired man made a startled, strangled sound.
“Here, sit down, Lena.” Vor ushered her to a chair. “I know you're still shaky from the attack.”
Lena sat down, gaping at Vor as much as the rest of the room. “You . . . you're not going to hurt him?”
“No, that was unnecessary. I can handle this without violence.”
“Dear Tech,” someone whispered.
“Will you be all right sitting here while I finish speaking to Lieutenant Commander Zucar?”
“Uh, yes,” Lena murmured. “Thank you.”
Vor smiled. “You're welcome.”
Something crashed. Lena and Vor both looked toward the sound. One of the Nethren seated before a cacher had dropped their control panel. He fumbled to pick it up.
“Sorry, Commander,” he said.
“That's all right.” Vor went back to the dark-haired Nethren, his lieutenant commander. “All right, Zucar. I want a full report.”
“Yes, sir,” the lieutenant commander whispered. Then he straightened. “Uh, we sent some soldiers over the wall unseen. Then we started the diversion. It went smoothly until that wingless Aethari summoned energy blasts from the sky.”
“Wait.” Vor frowned at the man. “The wingless Aethari? You mean the large one with the black hair? The one I captured?”
“Yes, Commander!” The lieutenant commander lost all shock and fear, gaining momentum with his story. “That same Aethari is here, and he possesses special magic. I didn't know they could do that.”
“Do what exactly?”
“He flew, sir. Without wings. Then he pointed at the fortress, and this bright white line of energy blasted out of the sky and hit the fortress right where he pointed. He killed one of our soldiers in the camp with another energy blast. The man was struck dead instantly.”
“Instantly?” Vor stepped back.
“Lightning.” Lena couldn't stop herself.
She was just so shocked that they didn't know what thunder and lightning were.
Even worse, she felt bad for them. Only people who had never seen a rainstorm would be ignorant of thunder.
“That energy slash is called lightning. It's a natural occurrence, usually happening during storms.”
Everyone in the room stared at her as if she had spoken another language.
“Lightning?” Vor asked. “I've read about it. It's a sudden, high-voltage electrostatic discharge that occurs within clouds, between clouds, or between a cloud and the ground. It's caused by an electrical imbalance in the atmosphere that creates a violent, rapid flow of energy.”
“Yes, electricity,” Lena said. “Not just energy. And it's hot enough to melt sand.”
“Like our geothermal fuel.” Vor frowned in thought.
“Holy fuck,” the lieutenant commander muttered.
“That man is my brother-in-law,” Lena went on proudly. Then she processed what Vor had said earlier. “You're the one who took him below?”
Vor lifted his chin. “Yes, during a raid.”
Lena shivered. This was the man who was responsible for the loss of Thaxvarien's wings.
How could she feel sympathy for Vor? But then a wash of calm came over her, and Lena suddenly understood that it had been fate.
Destiny. Without Vor, Thaxvarien would never have become who he was meant to be.
And now Lena was Vor's captive. They were all connected.
And then the insight shivered away, and Lena was left staring at Vor.
“Because of what you did to him, Thaxvarien became the strongest Aethari alive. He is blessed by both Sources and speaks for them. He can converge, but not just as we Medeans do. Thaxvarien converges living things. He controls the elements.”
“That's not possible,” Vor growled.
Oh, she had struck a nerve. But of course, it wouldn't sit well with Vor that his actions had empowered his enemy.
“Your people have seen the proof.” Lena waved toward the cacher screens. “You're lucky you got the ward up before he destroyed the ward tower.”
Vor strode over to her. “This wingless Aethari, you say his name is Thaxvarien?”
“His name is Thaxvarien Rennux. He's the Speaker of the Sources, son of the Speaker of Icara, and my sister's husband. He's here for me, and he won't stop until he's freed me.” She smirked. “In other words, you're all fucked.”