Page 21 of Chaos and Destiny
The door slammed open, and Umari marched in, leaving the door open as she adjusted her clothing, dusting the sand from her. I nodded to a guard to shut the doors so I could hear beyond the storm as she stalked forward.
“This is an unwelcome surprise,” she said, kneeling before me.
“I won’t apologize for my intrusion. These are my lands, Umari. You’ll do well to remember that. I’ve given you the freedom to govern your own, but don’t forget yourself.”
She simply nodded and rose, jamming her hands to her side as she waited.
“Where are your people?”
“They are in prayer, Your Grace,” she hissed. She was so protective of them. I’m sure giving any information at all felt like a betrayal.
“What is wrong?”
She stared at me for a long time. Her measured breaths were the warning of her brittle mood.
“Umari, please. This war between us will only grow until we are forced to do things neither of us wants to do. I won’t apologize again for what happened to Efi. I know you loved her very much, but you must see how I suffer as well. The loss of a mate is the greatest punishment of all. We have to move on.”
Her tanned skin reddened, and I braced myself for the explosion. Instead, she let her shoulders sink and whispered, “It is the cetani, Your Grace.”
“What about them?” I moved to the edge of my seat.
She swept her hand toward the door, her stacks of bracelets clinging together at the motion. “Please, come and see. I do not have answers.”
I followed her out of the building, and, as the sand beat into my skin, I forced each step through the high winds, hearing nothing around me as we moved together through the building storm and toward the hollowed caves built into the sandy hills.
The cetani, with bodies of great cats and behemoth feathered wings, built their own nest. They dug it into a cave on the side of a dune, and it took the draconian fae a long, long time to build a strong enough relationship with them so they could enter. That trust was the stipulation to the draconians being allowed to enter the Flame Court so long ago. The cetani did not care that I was a king. I was just another male, a threat to them.
We entered the cave, and Umari lit a long torch and indicated for us to follow her. Our shadows danced along the walls as the sound of the wind grew softer while the sound of singing draconians grew louder. The hall opened to a large clearing, and every one of Umari’s fae who were not on patrol sat on their knees in a massive circle, arms extended to their sides to rest on the shoulders of the fae beside them. They swayed as one, letting the deep tone of their voices rise and echo through the room. In the middle of the circle sat the giant nest of cetani, all gathered together. Some with wings spread to cover others, some curled into themselves, some more still than they should have ever been.
“What is happening?” I breathed.
“The cetani are ill,” Umari whispered. “We found them like this several days ago, and now they will not eat or drink, and none have left the nest. They will not let us close enough to see what is occurring.”
“Why didn’t you mention it when you were at the castle?” I demanded.
“Because I don’t have answers to the questions you would have asked. It was difficult to come at all.”
A tear escaped her, and I wondered if I had ever seen her emotional. Not even at Efi’s funeral pyre had she wavered.
“May I get closer?” I asked, using small, slow movements.
“If they will allow it. Asha has been guarding them all fiercely.”
Asha was Efi’s cetani, their leader. I handed my staff to Inok, and he grabbed my shoulder.
“Please consider this, King. They are wild creatures. It is dangerous.”
“All the same,” I said, walking away.
I stepped over the extended arms of the singing draconian fae, and I was not sure they even noticed I was there, lost in prayer as they were. I inched myself forward, locking eyes with Asha. With a mane of a male lion and feathered wings as wide as she was tall, her enormous maw opened to howl at me, and I stopped. She lifted her body from the pile of cetani and moved around them to block me, never looking away. Her bone-white feathers reflected the warm flames of the torches mounted to the walls. The muscles in her paws were taut, ready to pounce should I move any closer. I looked into her familiar golden eyes and saw a reflection of myself, standing bare before her. It was rare but humbling to feel like I was just a male and nothing more.
I held my hand out to her and dipped my head as Efi had taught me, the proper way to greet a cetani. I heard her move in my direction, and as she placed her face below my hand and nudged me, the room went silent. I hadn’t come to see Asha since the death of my beloved. I’d avoided the caves during each visit, knowing what it would do to my heart. But as I brought my head to Asha’s and closed my eyes, burying my hands in her mane, I knew I had been wrong. We were exactly the same. Efi was the link between us, but we were still connected, even in her death.
“What’s happening, Asha?” I mumbled into her silky neck.
She only moaned in my ear. The loss of the cetani would be great to the Flame Court, but it would be devastating to the draconians. They were a weapon to us all, a flying army of death and destruction, standing five times taller than any fae, even towering over the giants and trolls of the northern kingdom. The draconians though? They’d bonded on a much deeper level, nurturing and loving the beasts as if they were family.
I took a step back to pull away from her, but she pressed her face over my shoulder and pulled me back in. Several of the fae behind me laughed at her open affection, which was rare on any day, but probably more so now.
