Page 175 of Gift from the Wing

“The Alewoods. They raised some red flags for me. Namely, Corentin claiming the Primary, Aaren, has an air element that could compete with his. I know that’s not the case anymore, but still, that’s a strong element. Also, I felt a deeper level of secrecy from their notes. How they wouldn’t send their son to Vito, how at meetings they only speak if addressed directly, never offering any solutions to anything or giving any input whatsoever. I don’t know if it’s a level of secrecy or arrogance, but either way, they were off-putting to me.”

I’ll move them up on the list.

“Finally, the Teals, or I guess Tealwaters since they changed their name themselves. They give me bad feelings too. Mostly because they believe the water element is above the others, but also, I found it disturbing that in Aurora’s notes, she mentioned she’s never seen the three men who don’t possess water elements, ever use theirs. The only reports are the ones from her spies who have followed them. Not just right now but over her ruling. That’s insane to me. And for their young daughter’s sake, I hope like hell she emerges with a water element.”

Even though I possess the same element, it’s incredibly difficult for me to wrap my mind around the notion that it’s the most valuable, most important of all four.

The elements work in perfect harmony together. Without one, the entire way of our existence would fail.

I don’t understand how that’s hard for people to understand.

“Do you have any questions on any of them?” I ask.

“Not on any of them in particular, but I did notice a pattern or I guess similarity that I didn’t understand and that was the Nexus departure that all the five families took at some point in time. Is that like a vacation?” she asks and I snort.

“If you want to refer to the first year of your child’s life as a vacation, then sure, Primary.”I don’t believe I’d consider it that.“Each Nexus when they have their child is relieved of their council duty for a year. The only reason they would need to be brought in during that time is if something realm-ending happened. They all had their kids prior to shit really hitting the fan around here.”

“That makes—Wait, the Gale family don’t have any children.”

“No, they don’t. Vicki requested a year off when her parents died suddenly. That was some forty-odd years ago, so knowing what we know now, they were probably murdered by the Mastery. Mom of course felt bad for her and had only been ruling a few years, so she didn’t want to come across as someone lacking compassion like her mom. So she granted her leave under the stipulation that one of her men came to the monthly meetings in her place.”

None of us were even born at that point, but according to my mom, my uncle began hounding her about taking better notes and paying more attention to the people she’s surrounded by.

I have no fucking doubt he already knew by that point which two families would betray us, and he was trying to get her to open her eyes before such a time happened. She’ll even admit that her first ten or so years ruling, she tried everything she could to look and come across as completely opposite to her mother, but she took Uncle Orien’s words to heart.

She slowly but surely got into the ruling mindset. Realizing that spies were a necessity even against those you thought you could trust and that knowing both their strengths and weaknesses would be an asset.

“That was nice of Aurora and the right thing to do. Sometimes rules such as that need to be bent, depending on the circumstance, but beside the point, I still haven’t a clue which of them could be betraying us. Corentin, well, all of you, have such disdain for each of the families, and I see why. It’s blatantly clear. Well, other than the Drovers. I really just think they’re a rough bunch because of their shifter nature. But I know we can’t excuse them yet. Unless something just falls into our lap, I don’t think we’ll know who the second family is until the Spring Ball and we can speak to all of them, hear which man’s voice matches the one we heard in Layton’s memories.”

“I do believe you’re right about that, Primary, and if I’m being completely honest, knowing the identity of the second family is so far down on my list of fucks to give at this point. Is it something we still need to know? Absolutely. But Mom and my dads are aware and taking precautions. They’re careful with allowing them at the palace, they have spies tailing them everywhere, and they mind their words when speaking. This next meeting coming up, Mom has all intentions of acting as though the realm is in perfect alignment. So as far as I’m concerned, as long as you know everything we do about them, that’s as far as you worry about them for now,” I tell her.

Her to-do list grows by the week and the five families are a nuisance that won’t be going away until we figure out the second family, and even then, I don’t believe at this point they’re as big of an asset to the Summum-Master as we had assumed.

His biggest weapon is her blood, the ability to move realms, and the hundreds of soldiers, according to Keeper, who are marked. That doesn’t include the ones who aren’t marked but are still fucking stupid enough to join the Mastery.

Her worrying about a family who only gives a fuck about social hierarchy and betraying the realm is a waste of her valuable time.

She blows out a forceful breath of air, and I smirk at the flapping of her lips. Her frustration still slithers across my skin, and I don’t believe it’ll go away until she gets out of this standstill that she feels like she’s in.

“Would you like to try the Amplifier room today? You haven’t been in there for two days,” I ask semi gently.

Over the last two weeks, it seems the room that was supposed to be a tool to better her, has rebelled. Even with the guiding balance that Tillman taught her, that she practices daily, the room shows her one vision, and one vision only.

The Summum-Master destroying everything.

She’s broadcast it to us multiple times, in hopes we’d see something she missed that would lead to another vision if she pointed it out, but we see exactly what she does.

Two days ago, she declared a break from the room, stating that the vision isn’t going to change unless he’s stopped from moving through the realms. That the outcome is set unless we interfere, and she isn’t wasting time in there anymore for now. If there’s something she really needs to see, it’ll come to her.

“No, I wouldn’t. What I want is to be doing something productive. Not go around and around with no results.”

“Maybe a calming tonic would help, child. Or you and Oakly can practice on your tracking now rather than this afternoon. I believe you’ve got it down now,” Gaster says, smiling at her encouragingly.

“Hell yeah, I think she has it down. She’s tracking like a pro already. Vince hiding yesterday didn’t stand a chance against her,” Oakly tacks on.

“If neither of those opinions appeases you, Adored, Tanith is driving me mental. You could fly her to the academy and leave her there with Draken so I can have a moment of peace.”

Willow and I both snort as he shakes his head and plugs his ears as if that’ll keep the dragon out of his mind. I admit, I like the feisty little golden beast a lot. Now that she’ll finally speak to me, Corentin, and Tillman. She said she had to test our patience and worth for her Adored.

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