The Unseen Tempest (Lords of Arcadia) (21 page)

O
NCE
UPON
a time there were three girls.

Three sisters, each born with tremendous magical ability. The first sister, Olim, was gifted with the ability to sense beginnings and where certain paths would take people. Her eyes could see the way the universe unfolded and could weigh the effect of the tiniest action in the great web of That Which Begins. The middle sister, Inmediares, was born with the knowledge of any event anywhere at any given moment. No matter how far away or how hidden, Inmediares could retrieve the knowledge of the Now at will. The youngest, Demain, was born with the gift of Endings. No matter how long or how convoluted a task or a life might become, she always knew the nature and time of its ending.

Born in the realm of Tokpewa, they and their kindred called themselves the People and were considered by beings in the other eight realms to be gods. This was a misconception the People never bothered to correct. Tokpewa was the highest realm of the world tree and was the source of all magic in the multiverse. Nearly immortal, possessing great powers, the People began to think of themselves as caretakers of the world tree. Some species called their kind angels, others Devas, while most just called them deities. Sworn to protect but never to interfere, they maintained the balance for millennia.

This is where the sisters enter the story.

At first their abilities were used by the other beings to regulate and guide the lower life forms on the path that kept universal peace. Olim watched and noted each and every significant person who was born, the ones who would start the great changes. As they grew, Inmediares would keep close watch on their actions, making sure they followed their path. The path that led to the ending that maintained the delicate balance that kept the world tree flourishing. The People would step in from time to time to nudge or threaten a lower life form back on their path, appearing to the humans out of nowhere and possessing knowledge of their future and what would occur if they strayed.

Collectively, the sisters began to be referred to as Fate.

Few beings, humans included, possess the ability to comprehend the enormous stretch of time during which the sisters held their station as keepers of the Way. The closest most can come is by saying Fate or the Fates did their job for an eternity before things began to change.

Inmediares grew bored with simply watching the lesser life forms scurry about and longed to change their story to make things more exciting for her. She began to meddle in mortal affairs, which quickly brought the attention of the People. The sisters were punished as one for Inmediares’s transgressions, an unfair action that brewed anger in all three.

Slowly and quietly, the sisters began to plan.

They set into motion a scheme that would release them from their stations and allow them the freedom to leave Tokpewa finally. Free to leave and make their own stories for once. It took centuries and countless deceptions, but the sisters finally convinced the new generation of beings to turn on their parents and to take power for themselves. While the titans of old were brought down, the sisters escaped, fleeing to the lower realms to live their own lives.

Initially jubilant about their escape, the sisters soon realized a great truth.

Their powers would not work on the lower planes.

For millions of years, the sisters had known the story of the universe and how the tapestry was woven to make sense and now—now they were blind. To Olim it was like a curse finally being lifted, as she could look around and wonder about the endless potential in everything without knowing what was important and what wasn’t. To her, everything was now. Similarly, Demain was relieved she could look upon a soul and not know how their life would end. Life no longer seemed a series of closed doors to her, and she was ecstatic.

Inmediares was not happy at all.

No longer privy to each and every secret the universe held, she found the quiet almost maddening. However, she had no desire to return to Tokpewa and live her life captive to her station. After an eternity of being treated as if they were one person with three heads, the sisters agreed to go their own ways, each one claiming a realm of her own to govern. And each sister promised the other two never to trespass into their worlds. Olim claimed Niflgard, home of ice and cold. Demain claimed the wondrous world of Aponiviso, home of the air and sky. Inmediares claimed Djupur Byrjun, realm of the earth and stone. And so each sister went and lived her own life, forging her own story, vowing never to return to the home they had fled.

One of them, though, wasn’t satisfied with a simple vow never to return. She wanted to ensure there was never a way to return to the higher realms. She began this task by traveling to the island state of Aus and slaying the witch who presided over the southernmost part of the land. From there, she put her plan in motion.

Chapter 10

“Family is just another word for

People I Am Not Allowed to Kill

No Matter How Much They Anger Me.”

Sirus Sus

Sole survivor of the Sus Family Slayings

Wolflands General History

A
S
WE
fell into a snowbank, I had the worst case of déjà vu I’d ever felt.

It took me a few seconds of blind panic to realize I was remembering falling through Ruber’s portal into Ferra’s lands. I had a flash of swallowing water, and I began to thrash about, trying desperately to get myself free of my icy prison.

That lasted about twenty seconds before I realized we were in maybe three inches of snow, tops.

Hawk stood over me, not sure if he should try to help me up because I might swing at him. Demain looked at me with that same half ponder, half sneer she had worn since we’d met her. Molly was making sure Ferra was holding up, while the two gems floated close to each other, talking in some language I had never heard before.

“Are you okay?” Hawk asked out loud as he helped me up. In my mind he assured me I was okay.

“Bad memories,” I answered once I was on my feet. I knew he could tell what had passed through my mind in the snow, so I didn’t have to explain, but I still felt like an idiot.

“You jumped through an unstable portal to save my life even though you had no idea how,” he whispered to me. “You are anything but an idiot.”

My face warmed at the compliment.

“Well, where are we?” Demain asked, ruining the mood pretty effectively.

I waited for someone to answer her. Turns out, she was looking at me.

“You’re asking me?” I pointed to my chest. “Lady, I’m not even from this world.”

“I am asking you,” she repeated, taking two steps toward me. “Since you were the one who brought us here, I would expect you to know.”

I looked over at Hawk, and he looked away. “What is she talking about?”

“Yes, Prince Hawk’keen, what am I talking about?”

Hawk shot her a death stare, but I could feel his thoughts cloud over. “Shouldn’t you be trying to contact your sister?”

She scoffed as she turned away to look at Milo. “Tell my sister we have arrived and need transportation.”

Milo nodded and spun around in a circle, falling through the ground instantly.

Demain looked back to us. “Very well, I’ve done what you asked. Your turn. Tell him what I am talking about.”

He refused to look at me, so I grabbed his shoulder and turned him. “Hawk, tell me what’s going on.”

He stared at Demain, and I could feel the burning rage directed toward her in his mind. I turned his face back to me. “No. This isn’t about her. This is about you not telling me something.”

The hesitation in his mind was like static coming from a radio. He was weighing his choices so fast it sounded like a thousand Hawks talking over each other until it was a mess. “Stop,” I said, trying to reach out mentally and calm him. “Just talk to me.”

“Or I could tell him,” Demain purred, sounding like a complete bitch.

“Hey, Big Red,” I blurted out without looking at her. “Shut up already. You made your point.”

“Not in front of her,” Hawk finally said, grabbing my hand and walking away from the red queen. “Ruber, I am going to need your help explaining this.”

“Make sure she stays still,” Ruber said to his sister, talking about Ferra.

The three of us walked well away from the group so we could have some privacy. Neither of them said a word, so I decided to break the ice. “Okay. Seriously, you’re both looking at me like I have a fatal disease and you don’t want to tell me.”

“It’s not that,” Hawk said quickly, realizing I was really worried about what they weren’t telling me. “You’re not in any danger.”

“That we know of,” Ruber added.

Oh, that helped.

Hawk gave him a sideways look that made it obvious he wanted to slap the crap out of the ruby for saying that. “You’re not sick. It’s just… complicated.”

“I can handle complicated. I’ve been handling complicated since you tried to stab me with a sword, remember?”

“This is different.”

And then nothing.

“Oh, come on! What is it?”

Finally Ruber said, “You’re doing impossible things.”

All right, that wasn’t what I was expecting. “Define impossible.”

The gem didn’t even hesitate. “Like burying me in a shallow hole and bringing me back to life. You did it again back in my father’s kingdom, except this time without the hole.”

“That was… I mean…,” I tried to explain.

“You used Truheart to slice open a portal to the Under,” Hawk added quietly. “There isn’t a weapon in the realms that has that ability.”

“You also used Truheart to save his life by plunging it into his chest,” Ruber added.

“You changed Milo’s mind about helping us.”

“You stopped the Fluctuation from hitting us.”

“And you opened the portal here, not Milo.”

I kept waiting for someone to say “just kidding.”

No one said “just kidding.”

“What, me? You think I did all that? How is that even possible?”

“It isn’t,” Ruber remarked. “Hence the use of the word impossible.”

Hawk looked at me, desperate for me to not to panic. “We don’t know what it is, but it is happening.”

“Happening more frequently,” Ruber added.

Hawk gave him another sideways look.

“So I’m a freak? In a world of talking gems and murderous changelings, I am the one who makes no sense. Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“You’re not a freak,” Hawk snapped at me. “This is why I didn’t tell you anything! I knew you’d do this. You want truth? Fine, you are not normal, Kane, and I doubt you ever have been. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were different. That isn’t a bad thing. Normalcy is what cowards crave because they don’t dare to do better in their lives. You can do better than normal. Much better.”

His love was like ragged edges in my mind, it was so strong and so intense. And he wanted to make things better by just saying they were better. And he couldn’t, which was killing him. This wasn’t a problem he could order away or lie his way past; it was here staring us both in the face. And I could feel the truth behind his words, because they were the same truth I was hiding.

We were both terrified of whatever was happening.

I hugged him tight and could feel him crush me close. A whole other thing came rushing out in our minds, but I’ll save you the details by just saying this. We were scared, but we were together, and there was nothing in hell that would change that. Whatever this was, we would face it as a couple. Good or bad, we were in it until the end.

Uhm, maybe those were the details after all, but they’re pretty good details, so I’m not sorry I shared.

I’m sure more would have been said, both aloud and silently, but just then a flying sleigh passed over us before landing softly in the snow next to Demain. It was being pulled by six white reindeer. Because if you’re going to have a flying sleigh, it needs to be pulled by reindeer, of course. No other magical animal will do. For a moment, my own problem was forgotten as I watched Milo sitting in the sleigh holding the reins to the beasts. And, let me tell you, nothing makes you forget your troubles more quickly than seeing a white rabbit in a waistcoat sitting in a flying sleigh being drawn by reindeer.

You get the image? See what I mean? How can you be upset after seeing that?

K
OR
WAS
nowhere for several seconds, which was disconcerting to him, since he had grown accustomed to being somewhere most of his life.

The port happened so fast he almost missed it. In fact, it wasn’t until he appeared in the throne room of the Crystal Court that he realized he had been nowhere for an indeterminate amount of time. Kor had been transported before, but never had he felt anything like whatever the crystal in his hand had done. He looked up and found himself staring at two floating pieces of amber that were lit from within by a magical glow.