Chapter Five
Elodie appeared in the middle of the light court with her armload of garment bags. She found her mother-in-law and walked over while the entire room was silent. She dropped the bags at the woman’s feet. “There you go. I quit.”
Her sister-in-law looked at her. “Halla, what are you saying? What has gotten into you?”
“Oh, I will no longer be serving your family. Ever. Not ever.”
A guard walked over and said, “You are causing a disturbance.”
“You betcha.” She glanced over at the high king of the light elves. “Morning, sir.”
He frowned at her flippant tone. He lifted his hand and beckoned her to him.
She walked over in her muted tones and bowed gracefully. “Your Majesty.”
“What is different about you, Halla?”
She straightened. “This body has not contained Halla for twenty-nine years. Not since the day her husband, Enmar, murdered her.”
“Who are you?”
“I am the dark star. I fell to earth, and my original host didn’t survive, so I had to find someone on the edge of life or the edge of death.
Enmar had stabbed Halla and was upside down in her car.
She had been there for hours, and she was looking forward to death.
It would take her away from him. He had already beaten her for years and used a sabre on her in a drunken rage.
She was done. So, I helped her with the pain, and when she slid away, I moved in. ”
The king paled. “And that is when...”
“When I got out of the hospital and returned to my marital home, he tried to hit me again, and he died. Very sad. I have a psychic recording if you want proof.”
The king blinked.
Her mother-in-law shrieked about her son being a good boy; her sister-in-law pitched in more of the same.
She felt a strike to her back, another to her arm. A punch in her ribs. Elodie smiled and turned around with the dark energy wreathing her. “Ah, I see where he got it from. Use your words.”
Her mother-in-law was frothing at the mouth, and the monarch lifted his fingers, sending two guards to hold the women.
He looked at Elodie. “Show me.”
She smiled, pulled her power around her, and showed him. All of Halla’s memories of abuse leading up to his fist raised and Elodie crushing his windpipe with dark energy.
The king blinked and said, “Why did you wait to show this?”
“Oh, I needed my friends to be in the right place. They are there now, and I no longer need the concealment of this court. I am a star, not an elf, and not subject to your will.” She grinned.
He looked at her, and she felt the weight of his power on her. She pushed back, and there was a heavy, thrumming pulse that spun out from the point of contact. They were both standing tall.
“They will come after you.”
She grinned and took on her full form of rainbow-coated black and turned to her in-laws, who had tormented her for nearly three decades.
“Mother and sister of Enmar. Halla died in a car accident, and in his grief, Enmar got drunk, stuck his cock in a knothole, ripped it off, and bled to death while cursing the throne. He is not missed, and no one speaks of him.”
There were two more blasts of power that sent a shiver through the ground they stood on. The women looked at her and curtsied before wandering off to pick up the garment bags.
Elodie turned to the king and smiled. “There. Solved. Now they have a story they won’t want to talk about, and the treason at the end means they can’t.”
He chuckled. “You have been planning this.”
“Yes. Now, I will leave all the items they have provided behind and be on my way.”
“Wait, you are a member of this court.”
She enhanced the dark wave over her skin and shook her head. “No, the member of the light court died twenty-nine years ago. I came here to avenge Halla and help those who loved her to heal. They did, and now my own people are near to me, so it is time for me to rejoin them.”
He paused. “You are remaining in the area?”
“Of course. This is where my people are.” She handed him her phone. “This belongs to the court.”
He took it. “Don’t you need it to get where you are going?”
“Nope. I have feet, and I know the neighbourhood. I will get where I need to be without trouble.” She chuckled wickedly. “And if trouble finds me, I will deal with it.”
She bowed. “It has been interesting being in your court, and while she was grieving, I noticed that no one stopped her abuse of me over the decades. I will not forget. I will not forgive, but I will leave. Consider this a kindness. You would not want to see me feeling unkind.”
She bowed again, backed away twenty feet, turned on her heel, and left the room, stunned elves milling around in the empty space. The king was standing with her phone in his hand, an expression that she couldn’t define on his face.
She gave a final wave and left the building.
Elodie smiled as she returned to her normal elf appearance and began walking toward the gates.
The sun was bright, her clothing was boring, but no one would look at her in this neighbourhood.
She could walk to Delphine’s and knock on the door.
Delphine was her niece, after all. She grinned.
Delphine was Halla’s niece, but blood was blood.
* * * *
Delphine looked at her phone and smiled, texting, Did you get her number?
Her mother said, No. We were a little surprised when she turned black and grinned.
Okay. So, we will wait for contact.
She got another text and smiled. Make her comfortable and call a car to bring her here.
The dark star was at Delphine’s house and was having tea with the housekeeper.
She laughed and continued going over the information packet for the meeting. The band was back together.
* * * *
Wylda smiled as she walked with Ambera in a new dress. She felt like her entire body was now dry-clean only.
Ambera was laughing when they walked into DAK headquarters. A vehicle pulled up behind them, and Elodie got out, walking into the building behind them. She grinned. “All done with the elves.”
Wylda hugged her. “Everything good?”
“I have to look for a job and apartment, but it’s all good.”
Ambera chuckled. “I am fairly sure Delphine will invite you to stay.”
“She doesn’t have to. I can and will sleep in a tree. I just don’t know what I am suited for. Halla didn’t have any higher education, and she was a wife. So, I am starting from nothing with lovely bone structure.”
Ambera frowned. “You can stay with us. Delphine has been putting funds aside for both of you. She had an idea of what you would need when you met again.”
“Oh. I didn’t get her anything.”
Wylda laughed, and they headed inside. Ambera nodded at the security desk, and then they were on their way up in the elevator.
They walked through wide halls, past closed doors, and then Ambera led them to the double doors and opened them. Delphine was sitting at her desk and smiled, and then her eyes widened in shock. “Aunt Halla?”
“Elodie. Halla died before you were born.”
“Oh. I did not guess at that. May I see you?”
Elodie smiled and went all pearly shadows. “This is me.”
Delphine smiled. “You are my aunt.”
“Yes, I am.”
Delphine hugged Elodie and sighed. “You could have told me.”
“It was... difficult to get away from Enmar’s family.”
“Oh.”
“Yes.”
“So, we are all together now. Do we form a coven or a club or just go for mani-pedis?” Wylda smiled.
Delphine grinned. “Well, there are the two stars that married seasons. They are both settled and having little partially stellar babies.”
Wylda blinked. “There are other stars here?”
“Yes. They settled their identities last year.”
Elodie smiled. “I would like to meet them.”
Delphine nodded. “I am sure we can make arrangements for that. We will have to talk to either the seasons or the warlocks, but I am sure we can manage it.” Delphine shook her head. “I can’t believe you were my aunt all this time.”
“Yup. I couldn’t say anything, but yes. I was in her body.”
“I didn’t know we could do that.”
Elodie sighed and said, “This is a long conversation.”
Delphine’s expression sobered. “Is it a sad conversation?”
“Very. I would like to save the conversation for a later time. Today is for joy.” Elodie smiled.
Delphine grinned. “Right. Joy and hope.”
Wylda nodded. “And brainstorming a job path for Elodie. She needs one like I needed one. I am hoping that I can still work for Nessa.”
“Well, we are on the way to a meeting where that little tidbit is going to be discussed. If not, I can help you and Elodie get training in a suitable system.”
Wylda blinked. “You can?”
“Sure. We get your GED and then continue to work on what you want to do with your life.”
“Good, because most of my skills aren’t marketable. I have languages, but that’s about it.”
Elodie blinked. “You can read and write in them?”
“Yeah.”
Delphine laughed. “You have options. Tons of options. How didn’t you know that?”
“It is just something I can do, and everyone needs a high school diploma or college before they will talk to me.” Wylda sighed.
Delphine sighed. “We will get your competency tested, and from there, outline your career path.”
Wylda smiled. “Thank you.”
“You are talking to me like we are human. We danced in the sky together for far longer than most folks will ever realize.”
Elodie smiled. “Yes, we did.”
Ambera looked at them and blinked. “I am finally seeing it and understanding my daughter. You aren’t twenty-nine.”
The ladies laughed, and Ambera grinned. “I get it. I really do. My daughter has always been older than her years, but I am understanding how much at this very minute.”
Wylda looked at Elodie and said, “You are the only one of us who is underdressed.”
“As a widow, I had to appear in a certain way to satisfy Enmar’s mother. She won’t be talking much about him anymore. I planted a memory that she doesn’t want.”
Ambera said softly, “About the abuse?”