Page 75 of Ruled By Fate

“He’s an old friend of mine. I was just about to send a message to my father, expressing your desire to… not come to court, when my father sent him here to collect us.” He looked back and forth from Brie to his celestial friend.

Brie swallowed. Be gracious. Sure, there’s basically an alien levitating in your living room who wants to bring you to a different plane of existence. But courtesy is universal. What did Cam say? “Politeness is the flower of humanity.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Ephriam,” she said. Then, in a move she would never live down, she executed a slight curtsey.

She didn’t know how she could tell, but she instantly knew. The orb was laughing at her.

She blushed scarlet. “Well, it isn’t like anyone’s told me the protocols here.”

“Of course not,” Cameron soothed, trying not to laugh. “That was very good.”

The orb glowed brighter for a moment.

“Yes, I was just getting to that,” Cameron hissed at the ball of light under his breath.

“Getting to what?” she asked.

He looked at her apprehensively. “Well, Ephriam was just saying… one idea that’s being floated around is… see, my father might be more amenable to us staying here if—”

“Cameron.”

“He may want to assign a team to guard you and keep you from harm.”

She blinked. “A team of what?”

“Elysian guards. Ephriam would likely lead it, given our history.”

Brie eyed the glowing ball skeptically. Cameron waited on her reply.

“Well, that’s… that’s very kind of him, but — and I don’t mean any offense by this at all, please believe me — it’s just… after everything I’ve seen, I don’t see how a peaceful being who most closely resembles Tinkerbell is going to be much use in a fight.”

Cameron and the orb stared at her without making a sound. Then, the golden ball floated close to his ear.

After a moment, he grinned and nodded. “Yes, I absolutely agree. Brianna, you should stand well back.”

“I beg your—”

“Well back, Brianna.”

She obligingly stepped back into the hall.

The orb floated to the middle of her living room and levitated quietly for a moment. Then, the air itself was ripped apart.

Seven enormous, interwoven rings of golden fire, ten feet across, orbited in complex patterns around a being with faces on every side of its head. A man, an ox, an eagle, and a lion all seemed to exist within this creature at once, while at the same time, none of them remotely described the glory of what hovered before her. Wings seemed to be everywhere — claws, teeth, and talons. Wind blew from every direction at once as streams of golden sparks lashed through the air like whips. The heat was incredible, yet nothing burned. It let out a roar, and every molecule of her house trembled at the sound.

In a flash, it was a palm-sized ball of light again. Ephriam floated up to her, twinkling as though pleased with himself.

Brie swallowed hard, then swallowed again. When a full minute had passed, she managed a faint, “Yes, I suppose you’ll do.”

The orb shook slightly and sparkled as though it was chuckling. She gave it a wary smile and tentatively held up her hand. It moved towards her finger, and she delicately touched it. “Please excuse my misunderstanding, Ephriam. I’m very, very glad you’re on our side.”

Cameron had a difficult time keeping a straight face. He walked over to her with a grin and put his hand on her shoulder. “Well, that settles that. Will you tell him?”

If the orb replied, it wasn’t something her ears could register. It turned to her once more and bowed. Deeply.

She narrowed her eyes. “I sense I’m being mocked.”

The orb twinkled with a flurry of golden sparks and faded away.

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