Job found himself dialing the Earth Palace before he could squelch the impulse, admitting the truth to himself.
Mostly, he wanted Tessie to stay because she made him feel… connected.
God, he was pathetic.
The phone rang six times with no answer.
Panic built.
Had Tessie left?
Job wasn’t a man given to anxiety, but now it filled him.
What would he do if she vanished? Tessie felt like his Match. He couldn’t lose her.
Job got to his feet, preparing to jump back to the Earth Kingdom and look for her. The Council was about to convene and it was one of the most important assemblies of his life.
In that second, Job couldn’t have cared less.
He’d never missed a Council meeting.
Ever.
But, compared to losing Tessie, it was
nothing
. He had to…
“Hello?” Her sleepy voice answered on the eighth ring.
Job sank back down into his chair and squeezed his eyes shut in relief. “Did I wake you?” He was proud that he kept his voice level. “I’m sorry.” It was nine am, Elemental time. Job had never slept past seven in his life, so it hadn’t occurred to him that she would still be in bed.
“It’s okay.” She gave a yawn. “I just usually work nights, so my schedule isn’t real early to bed early to rise.” She was still half asleep. “Where are you?”
Why would the Quintessence have to work, at all?
Job wanted to ask Tessie more about herself, but it seemed like prying.
That was another reason that Tessie needed to stay. Job had to find out about the depth of her powers and what she’d done to
connect
them, this way. He needed answers. But, he had to devise a way to get them without upsetting her and making her leave, like she’d tried to the night before in his study.
Job wasn’t good at personal interactions. Sometimes he felt protocol weighing down on him like cement shoes, pulling him under the water. Everyone else managed to reach the surface and interact with each other, but Job was always struggling just to keep his head above the waves.
“I’m at the Council.”
“Will you be back soon?”
“Of course. I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were…”
Still there
. “Doing well.”
“Mmmmm.” She made a sleepy sound. “I’m fine. You have really comfortable beds here.”
Job had the mental picture of Tessie stretching against the pillows in his guestroom. Black hair spread out over the white sheets. Jesus. He swallowed hard. “I’m glad that you’re comfortable.” He sounded hoarse and he cleared his throat. “That’s… good.”
She was quiet for a long minute, as if she heard his desire right over the line.
Job winced a bit and hunted for something to say.
“So, what are you wearing?” Tessie drawled, before he could come up with a particularly inspiring conversation starter.
Job frowned. He could tell she was teasing him, but he didn’t get the joke. “My Council robes.”
“Kinky. Anything
under
them?”
“A suit.” Job always wore a suit. He glanced towards the door to his office, which Teja had left open, and lowered his voice. “What are
you
wearing?” That was, without exaggeration, the most forward thing he’d ever asked a woman. He wasn’t sure how Tessie would respond.
“Nothing.” Her voice was a purr. “I don’t wear anything when I sleep. It’s confining.”
Job’s eyebrows soared as that image burned across his mind. “I see.” He said, faintly.
“No, you don’t. Which is too bad, because I look good.”
He absolutely didn’t doubt that for a second. He’d never fantasized about anything, but thinking about Tessie’s soft, curvy body had become his new obsession. Job cleared his throat, again. “Nothing at all?”
“Not a stitch.”
“Right.” He tried to focus on
anything
but that.
“So… you’re coming back soon?” Tessie repeated.
He would have liked to think that was an invitation, but he heard the worry in her tone. Tessie didn’t feel safe from Kay. The image of that chair stuck under the French door handles would stay in his memory forever. “No one will bother you in the palace, alright?” He soothed. “You’re safe there and I will be back in a few hours. I promise.”
“Okay.” She murmured.
“Do you need me to come back, now?” Job asked, already rearranging his schedule.
“No. I’m just goin’ back to sleep.”
Job liked that. He liked picturing her in his bed, safe and dozing and naked… Even if she did probably have the door barricaded with half the furniture in the room. “Don’t leave the palace.” No one could get past his barriers, except Tessie. Still, he’d didn’t want to take any chances. “If anything happens that scares you, jump right to the Council Hall, alright? I’ll take care of it.”
“Okay.” Her voice was growing sleepy, again. “Be careful out there.”
“I will.” Job felt a melting sensation in his chest. “Don’t leave.” He reiterated, just because he couldn’t help himself.
“I won’t. Bye, hon.”
“Good-bye, Tessie.”
The phone went dead.
Job slowly hung up and let out a long breath.
On his already doodle covered agenda, he’d sketched a heart.
Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and
formed and fought the battle through…. Wise counsels may accelerate, or mistakes delay
it, but, sooner or later, the victory is sure to come.
Abraham Lincoln- “House Divided Speech”
“The new policy is very simple.” Job insisted, holding up a hand to quiet the yelling around the Council table. “We simply look at the situation objectively and stop the senseless killing. We focus on the future and not the past, we fight for life and not for death… And we
survive
. Because, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m a little bit tired of the world ending around us.”
“Most of us don’t
have
futures anymore and that’s the Air House’s fault.” Campbel, of the Heat House shot back. “So, I’m not in a real big hurry to start bonding with the fuckers.”
Cross slanted Campbel a glare. Even if Job and Cross had a strained relationship, Cross was still his nephew. Cross might agree with Campbel on principle, but he clearly didn’t appreciate Cam’s attitude.
Job found that very encouraging.
He wanted Cross to like him, almost as much as he wanted to win Tessie over.
The boy was his only family. He loved Cross more than his own life, but the kid barely tolerated him most days. That was the main reason Job was doing this.
“The Fall was Parald’s fault.” Job told Campbel, reasonably. “He released it and tried to kill us all. I’m not disputing that. But, is it fair to blame the entire Air House for the actions of their ruler?”
“Yes.” Campbel said, flatly. “Let ‘em all rot in Hell.”
Several other Phases nodded in righteous agreement. The Council was filled with type-A personalities who had no problem with holding a grudge. And, really, who could blame them? The Fall had decimated families and lives. Not a single Phase had been left untouched by the horror of the plague. Any suggestion of forgiving and forgetting wasn’t going to win the popular vote in the Elemental realm.
Not that Job was pushing for anything of the kind.
All he wanted was a stop to the bloodshed.
The Reprisal was trying to end the world. The Smoke House had fallen into anarchy. The Air Phases couldn’t show their faces in any realm without being attacked. After the Fall had slaughtered so many, Elementals were now killing each other with horrible, senseless regularity. Unchecked, the warring would finish the job that the Fall began and finally destroy them all.
Job couldn’t allow that to happen. He wanted a better world for his people. He wanted peace and safety for all Elemental children. The fighting wasn’t going to solve any of the problems. It would just make everything worse.
Parald was a monster.
Job believed that without any hyperbole. Sooner or later, Parald would die; either by Chason’s hand or someone else’s. But, Parald just wasn’t important enough to waste anymore lives on. No one else should be killed because of Parald, whether because they were trying to save him or execute him. He’s already taken far too much from the world.
And while many of the Air Phases were arrogant, conscious-less assholes who deserved to die alongside their leader… A lot of them
weren’t
.
A lot of the Air Phases had just gotten caught in the middle of Parald and the rest of the Elementals. Now, with Air Phases ranking just below hissing cockroaches on all “Things I’d like to stomp on until they die” polls, they were stuck. The Air Phases couldn’t leave the Air House without being attacked by other Elementals. So, even if they hated Parald, they had to stay in the Air Kingdom, because they had nowhere else to go.
Job wanted to fix that and his idea was very simple: Amnesty.
Any Air Phase who wanted to defect from their House, could walk away and be assured safety by the Council. There were a lot for good reasons for the plan. It would help stop the fighting. It would hurt Parald by robbing him of his followers. It would distract Parald, so he couldn’t find any more boxes before the Council did.
Plus, it just seemed like the right thing to do.
When Job and the Council had Banished Parald, they’d inadvertently punished a lot of innocent Air Phases. But, the Air Phases were still Elementals and Job was still the leader of the Elementals. He had a responsibility to help them, especially since it was partially his fault that they were trapped.
“What other Houses will take the Air Phases in?” Nia, of the Shadow House asked. She’d been born a Water Phase, but after Phazing with Cross, she’d become the Shadow Queen.
Job could usually count on Nia for support at Council meetings. She might be stubborn and opinionated, but Nia was a fighter. She always stood up for the underdog or battled for what she thought was right. Nia was the cool high school girl who let all the nerdy kids eat at her lunch table.
Presently, Nia sat on the Council for the Water House, because Ty didn’t want to do it herself. Ty might have been the Water Queen, but she wasn’t secure enough in herself, or in anything else, to sit for her House. Nia did it for her, but that also meant that Nia couldn’t sit for the Shadow House, because a Phase could only represent one House at a time. Since the Fall, the Shadow House hadn’t been represented on the Council, at all, which was something that Nia wouldn’t allow to continue. So, Cross, the last Shadow Phase in the universe, had to do it.
Cross didn’t have a lot of patience for politics, planning, or other people.
They all knew that Nia would be the one casting the vote for both Houses, but Cross still had to sit there and suffer. He spent his time folding his agenda into a paper fan, glowering at random Phases, and fiddling with the settings on his watch.
His Match’s question got Cross’ attention off of double-checking the time in Helsinki. “What do you mean ‘what
other
Houses will take them in?’” He demanded, suspiciously. “
We’re
not taking any Air Phases in, if that’s what you’re gettin’ at, baby. Jesus, am I the only one who remembers them
killing
everybody?”
“Thank you!” Cam made a “finally!” sort of gesture with his hand, raising it and dropping it so it thumped on the table. “See, even
Cross
gets it. And he’s a maniac.”
“Cross isn’t maniac.” Job said, firmly. “He’s holding the entire Shadow House by himself, which is more than any other Phase has ever done.”
Teja arched a brow. “Except maybe Llian.” She muttered.
Thankfully, no one else seemed to hear that.
Cross shot Cam a “my uncle’s bigger than you are” smirk.
“You’d better watch it, Campbel.” Nia warned, her hand came over to rest on Cross’ shoulder, protectively. “And, anyway, I agree with Job.” She gave her red hair a determined toss. “
Parald’s
to blame for this. So are a lot of Air Phases who backed him, sure. But others are just victims, like the rest of us.” She frowned and backtracked to correct her word choice. “
Survivors
like the rest of us. Besides, the fewer followers Parald has, the weaker he becomes. If we can get Air Phases to abandon the Air Kingdom and lessen Parald’s power, what’s the downside?”
“The Air House is godless.” Raisa, of the Radiation House proclaimed, righteously. “
That’s
the downside. It would subvert the will of Gaia if we make peace with
any
Air Phases. They
all
deserve punishment.” Since the Fall, the Radiation Phases had undergone a hardcore religious awakening, creatively called ‘The Awakening.’ It made them into the fun-lovingest group of party animals since the Spanish Inquisition. Dressed in the ceremonial chartreuse robes of her House, Raisa sat in tightlipped judgment of the whole sinful world. “We should just eradicate the entire Air House and cleanse the universe.”
Cross leaned forward to glower at her. “If we wipe out the Air House, there’ll be no one left to hold their Element.” His tone suggested that Raisa’s IQ was bottoming out in the low single digits. “And without Air, we all
die
. You get that, right?”
Raisa flashed him the Charles Manson-y glare of a true believer. “Maybe Gaia wills
that
, as well.” She bit off, venomously.
“Maybe you should just shut the hell up, Raisa.” Cam snapped. “I haven’t survived all this to just end the world, now. Gaia hasn’t done a damn thing to help me in the past two years, so I don’t give a shit
what
She wills, anymore.”
Raisa’s eyes widened in horror. “Blasphemer!”
“You wanna burn people at the stake, do it on your own time.” Cam shot back.
“No House will be
forced
to give the Air Phases amnesty.” Job put in, overriding the burgeoning argument. “And, obviously, I don’t think that any Houses will give amnesty to –say-- Gion or Isaacs.”
“Those bastards deserve to die as much as Parald!” Raj, of the Color House shouted.
Job kept talking. “But, there are a lot of innocent Air Phases who we can get away from Parald and onto our side. Besides, if we’re going to try and find more human Matches, we need to make this realm safer for them.”
The possibility of better protecting their as-yet-undiscovered-but-sure-to-be-fragile human Matches caused several people to frown with new consideration. Which is why Job had brought them up. Finding a human Match was every Phase’s new dream, so they were a wonderfully persuasive tool.
“I think we should all just try to love what’s left of life.” Victory, of the Time House spread her hands “can’t we all just get along?” style. Rings sparkled on almost every finger. “I mean, what really matters but Time and we got that covered, right?”
The Time House had become increasingly more unconventional since the Fall; full of laissez-faire, hippie-like eccentricity. Job wasn’t sure what side Victory was petitioning for with her newest argument, but he still sent her a humoring nod. The Time Phases didn’t hurt anyone and Job actually found their harmless notions of some eternal love-in a lot easier to deal with than most of the Houses’ violent calls for revenge.
Victory smiled, the sand color streak at her temple weaving in and out of her left pigtail. “Live and let live. That’s what I say.”
“Except, the Air Phases don’t always share that sentiment, do they?” Eian, of the Cold House chimed in, snidely.
Eian, like most Cold Phases, was a practical sort of guy. Some called it heartless or callous, but the Cold House had a definite “What have you done for me lately?” attitude that was almost impossible to penetrate with emotional appeals. Ruthlessly efficient and bottom line oriented, Cold Phases would never understand giving amnesty to the Air House. They wouldn’t see the profit in it.
Not for the first time Job felt a pang of empathy for Teja. Caught between the passionate bravado of the Fire House and the detached pragmatism of the Cold House, it was no wonder the poor girl had a hard time figuring out where she belonged.
“I don’t want the Air Phases in my House.” Eian continued predictably enough. “There’s no reason to risk our safety for them. What do they even have to offer?”
“I wouldn’t worry about being deluged with visa requests.” Teja scoffed. “Nobody would want to go to the Cold House,
anyway
. I doubt the Air Phases will knock each other over to form a line.”
“No, Eian’s got a point. Phases can’t help support Elements from other Houses.” Cam reminded the room at large. “So, even if the Air Phases are all
un
murderous, now, they’re still useless to us. Who
wants
them on our side?”
That sentiment was echoed around the chamber.
Universal amnesty was defeated by a landslide.
Job had anticipated that.
The Council enforced Elemental laws through representative vote, but Job didn’t need a consensus to enforce his amnesty policy. He’d deliberately arranged it so that each individual House chose whether they would adopt it or not. Generally speaking, the internal policies of a House were out of the Council’s jurisdiction.
“I understand some of you feeling like you can’t be around the Air Phases.” He said, seriously. “But, the Earth House will offer them amnesty and no one can stop that. It’s my House and I’m allowing them in.”
“Bullshit!” Raj, of the Color House surged to his feet. “You can’t do that! What about everything they stole from us? What about all the Phases who died in the Fall?!” His voice broke with passion, his eyes bright with betrayal. “Have you forgotten them?”
Job tried for a reasonable tone. “Of course I haven’t forgotten what we lost. But, I don’t blame the entire Air House for the actions of a few.” Job always dealt with Raj like he would with a rebellious teenager: A thick layer of patience and affection, over a core of authority. “We have to do what’s right, Raj, if only because we’re
better
than Parald.”
“I will
never
support this!” Raj was barely a hundred years old, which meant that he was still very, very young by Elemental standards. Having the responsibilities of a House dumped on him, so soon after his entire family died in the Fall, had made Raj grow up too fast. He couldn’t deal with the world he suddenly found himself alone in and he blamed the Air House for all of it. “I will
never
accept any Air Phases into the Color House!”