Chapter 21 #2
She had arrived at her favorite entrance point into the mines.
The Spine loomed behind her while blistering heat warmed her exposed skin as she lowered her hands to the desert surface.
She might not be able to save the Taureons without risking the greater rebellion, but damn the Fates if she didn’t try to save the Prentans.
Her hair whipped wildly about her face, the dust-cloaked winds tearing the strands from her braid.
Within her, the other magic that lived around her elemental gifts was wide awake.
Nothing could contain the power that splintered from her being—energy in its purest form thrashed across the desert.
She was a glowing nimbus of light, desperate for her will to latch onto something, something to mend, something to save.
She dug her fingers into the chalky earth.
“Aela!” someone shouted her name. “What are you doing here? You have to get back!”
Aela opened her eyes. “Jaelin?”
His face was a mask of terror and awe.
“Stay back! I don’t want to hurt you!” she cried.
“You can’t do this—whatever it is you think you can do, you’re not ready yet. You need to go back, Aela. Go back!’
His words didn’t make any sense. “The sun is going to expire! You and everything here will be gone in an instant if I don’t do something!”
Jaelin stumbled over to her, spreading his arms out to either side to help balance himself as the desert ground heaved.
“You are not supposed to be here,” he said.
Tears fell from her eyes as she felt her power retreat, unsure if it was his words or her failure to force it to obey. Jaelin pushed past her light and cradled her face between his hands.
“You need to go back.”
“I don’t know how! I can’t stand by and let innocents suffer like this! He could help them. He could have done something,” Aela sobbed.
“I know,” Jaelin said as he pulled her into an embrace.
He grasped the back of her head and held her to him as she wept.
The shaking around them subsided, though the heat of the expiring sun intensified and the cooler air from the depths of the mine fissures steamed upward as the cool and hot air mingled.
“There are many costs. Not all are the right ones. It’s a give and take. A balance,” Jaelin tried to soothe. The words were odd coming from him.
“All he does is take,” Aela cried harder into his chest. She couldn’t process their conversation, what was happening, or what she was saying. “He takes from his stars, he controls them, and now he will sacrifice an entire planet for his own ends? I hate him.”
“I know.”
“This isn’t how it’s supposed to be.”
Jaelin slid his hand from behind her head to the small of her back and leaned down to peer into her face. “How is it supposed to be, Aela?”
Aela’s mother’s words filled her mouth, “There’s a mutual trust. We protect them, and they protect us. It’s a sacred charge to protect your House. Not like this,” Aela finished with a whisper.
Jaelin thumbed away the tears that fell from her turquoise eyes. “Prente is lost,” Jaelin said softly.
Aela shook her head.
“But Taurus is not. Not yet. Not while you’re there. Don’t lose hope.”
Aela couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Maybe this was a dream. Maybe Tarek finally had enough of her and killed her. Maybe—
“Time for you to go, love.” Jaelin pressed his saltbox into her hand before Aela felt the ground plummet away from them.
“Where is she?” Tarek roared as he trashed the command center. Glass and crystalline screens fractured beneath his fists. The sentinels had scrambled back from him and his tirade.
“Prime Apparent! You risk the—” the sentinel who spoke ducked as Tarek ripped a chart desk off the wall and threw it across the circular room. Blue light sparked and hissed.
“My, my, my. What a mess,” Elnath greeted as she entered the room, Kaitos at her heels.
The sound of his aunt’s voice stilled him. Chest heaving, he turned to face her. Kaitos smiled widely.
“What do you want?” Tarek demanded.
“I came to watch the jump, as you requested. Where is your intended? I thought she would have been by your side,” Elnath answered cooly.
Fuming with rage, it was a miracle Tarek resisted the urge to kill his aunt.
He settled for choking her instead. Zosma secured Kaitos’ hands behind his back before his aunt’s loyal hound could react.
With a roar, Tarek gripped Elnath by the throat and lifted her into the air before he rammed her against a crystalline screen on the wall.
Blue light fractured beneath the force of her body.
“Do not test me, Regent,” he hissed.
Dark crimson blood leaked from the corner of Elnath’s mouth as she smiled at him. “Watch yourself, Apparent, you’ve never tested yourself against me. It might not end the way you think.”
Tarek snarled and squeezed tighter. Elnath’s smile broadened, a mad glimmer entering her deep purple eyes. With a bellow, Tarek released her. Elnath fell to the ground in a heap. Zosma released Kaitos who rushed to her side.
Tarek spun and struck the first celestial within reach. The full might of his swing connected with Zosma’s jaw, snapping his head back.
“Tarek!” Tala cried as she materialized from a swirl of sand. Proxima came up the stairwell and hovered on the landing, Arche behind her, taking in the scene.
“Where in the hells have you been?” Arche shouted, darting around Proxima, yanking Tala out of striking distance.
Tarek didn’t let up. A red haze took over his vision as he pummeled the Leo star. Zosma deflected each blow without retaliating. That only fueled Tarek further.
It took but a moment for Tala’s composure to settle. Tala turned to the cowering attendants and sentinels that were trying not to gawk at their Prime Apparent. She spoke softly yet firmly to each of them before they filed out of the command room.
“He made a mistake in touching her,” Kaitos declared before he gathered Elnath into his arms and left.
“Watch him,” Tala told Arche after Kaitos left. “He will try something.”
“And leave you here with that?” Arche asked, gesturing to the dueling males.