Incandescence - 20. Aid Given Unwillingly

The air was strange between our group and the newcomers. Suman was standing next to Loren, gathering his long hair into a messy updo. Loren was looking at the two newcomers with an empty smile. It didn’t reach his eyes. His gaze flicked from one woman to the other. I was doing the same now. Sizing them up and trying to determine if they were friend or foe. They’d followed behind Meryck and the boy seemed indifferent. He stood with his arms crossed, eyes blank.

They wore leathers, but I had no way to prove that they were part of my favorite organization other than Meryck seemed comfortable. Long tendrils still hung around Suman’s face as he rested his head on Loren’s shoulder. A smile stretched across his lips and a glint that made me nervous shone in his eyes, “So, you here to start something? Things about to get stabby?”

“They’re Verseckt.” Meryck finally confirmed. The tightness in my chest eased up and I took a breath.

“Your point? I don’t care what stupid club they’re a part of. Club members take stab wounds the same way as everyone else.” Suman shrugged.

“He does have a point.” Loren grinned, pressing a disgustingly sweet kiss to the other prince’s forehead. Suman tilted his head back on Loren’s shoulder and his smile didn’t get less crazy when their eyes met. If anything, it got worse and leeched into Loren who smirked at him.

“You’re more than welcome.” The taller woman shrugged, “I’m sure we’ve had worse.”

“Twinkle toes over there looks less than threatening.” Said her companion.

It took me a couple seconds to realize she was looking pointedly at me. I frowned and narrowed my eyes. Twinkle toes? What? What did she mean by that? How…dare she? I had a flare of anger that twisted quickly with embarrassment and she gave me a smug look. I was glaring. I’d lost control of my face and I blamed it on the cursed coupling of psychotic princes. They were somehow sucking my reason from me and it hadn’t even been that long.

“Alauis.” The taller woman said quietly, her voice dragged through the words in a strange way and it made me wonder if our language wasn’t her first. Her head tilted to the side as she regarded me, “The one Verloren married.”

“Ohh. Well, that makes sense.” Her partner agreed, “The one who made him quit and adopt that terrible last name.”

“You know our sweet Kalian, but I’m afraid you two aren’t nearly as worthy of remembrance. Have you met him, us? Perhaps with good ol’ Tallie?” Loren drawled; arm draped lazily around his crazed partner.

“I am Tianne.” The shorter female said. She glared at Loren as she added, “This is Baya.”

“How nice to meet you.” Loren said without a hint of friendliness as he nodded to them, “Now, why are you here?”

“We are…” Tianne’s brow furrowed as she looked up at Baya.

“We’re here to help.” Baya finished.

“Oh, really now?” Suman chuckled, the look in his eyes growing more feral as his attention turned from Loren back to the women.

“How?” I asked before Suman could spit out a comment that would most definitely be offensive.

“Travel.” Baya replied.

“What? You’re going to help us walk?” Suman chuckled.

“This is irritating. We weren’t pulled out of hiding to deal with this kind of treatment. C’mon Baya. Let’s go back home.” Tianne snapped.

“We can’t.” Baya sighed, “We have to respond when called. That was the deal.”

I studied them and watched Loren’s expression become more calculating. I crossed my arms as I asked, “Meryck said you’re Verseckt, and I know I’ve not met all the members, but as far as I knew, Amaris was the only female.”

Tianne rolled her eyes, “Amaris is the only female who is…full time.”

“Her abilities are more useful than ours. We also don’t want to constantly be pulled from our lives for missions.” Baya said.

“How being a slut is more useful, I’ll never know.” Tianna muttered, her entire posture becoming more tense. Suman’s eyes lit up and he cackled loudly. Loren ran fingers through his hair and the man’s discomfort was obvious. Through all of this, Meryck remained silent.

If I started an argument defending Amaris, we’d never get anywhere with this conversation. I didn’t like it, but I was sick of talking in circles with these women. Their words confused me. What did she mean by full time? Was being an assassin something you could do part time? That didn’t seem very likely. When Talon was still in the Verseckt, it seemed to color every part of his life. It was an all day, every day commitment. Calming myself, I shook off the irritation I felt at Tianne’s insult. The two princes weren’t going to help our cause here and Meryck seemed indifferent to everything around him. That left it up to me.

I turned to Baya, “I’m not understanding what the two of you mean. Full time? If you are members of the Verseckt, how do your lives work if you’re not always reporting to Wren?”

“I suppose you could say we are…reserves. Tianne is telekinetic and I can teleport. Anders did a fantastic job of depleting the teleporters in Dimian. There are probably ten left even though it is a common gift. We were very disposable to him. The madman didn’t even know he was using members of the Verseckt as fodder.”

“He had to know. There was a member who came with Mallex to attack us. He was even wearing his leathers.” I said.

“There were members who joined him willingly.” Baya said with a deep frown.

“Traitors. Snakes.” Tianne spit and I raised an eyebrow.

“This is all very boring. You’re here to help. You can teleport. I assume you are to take us to Krinn?” Suman sighed.

“Yes.” Tianne seethed, eyes narrowing.

“Great! Then shut up and let’s go.” Suman grinned, clapping his hands. Part of me was grateful that Suman had finally stopped touching Loren. He’d had constant contact pretty much since we left home.

“We will get you there and that’s it. That’s the end of our mission.” Tianne snapped.

“Gods, you’re an annoying little thing, huh?” Suman grinned, linking his fingers with Loren’s.

“Are there more of you?” I asked as I kept pace with Baya.

“Do you mean members who aren’t more out in the open?” She asked. Tianne was glancing between us suspiciously and I tried not to be too irritated with the woman. I wasn’t sure where her distrust came from. I nodded and Baya looked up at the sky. It was sunrise and the light grey was swirling with oranges, reds, and pinks from the coming morning. It’d been a while since I’d seen a sunrise in my home. We’d been in Syrin and busy other places for so long. I missed my estate and the little bubble of peace we’d created there.

“I assume so. Wren does a very thorough job keeping us hidden.” She said.

“Probably in case a general went crazy and almost wiped out the entire unit.” Tianne scoffed.

“So, how long have you been just…waiting to be summoned?” I asked.

“A few years. It’s not like we never do work for the Verseckt.” Baya answered, “We’ve just been allowed to remain more normal.”

“But then you people started another war and we’re being ripped from our normal.” Tianne growled.

“Ignore her. She has negative feelings towards the Verseckt and Wren. Syrin as well. It isn’t always the kindest place when you’re different. Different and have a ‘weaker’ Magik.” Baya sighed.

“I don’t understand how it’s considered weak or less useful?” I said.

Tianne scoffed, “Talon ripped the front off of the palace. He can teleport or ‘jump’ as you call it too. His abilities seem endless. As far as we’ve heard, you’re the same way. In comparison, we’re not as exciting.”

“Since when is it a competition?”

“Competition, no, but of course everyone wants access to the biggest hitters. Their attention naturally focuses on those who have abilities that are devastating as opposed to run of the mill.”

“Alright. We should be close enough now. Gather up.” Tianne announced.

Baya held her hands out and I took one while Tianne took the other. Meryck was on the other side of Tianne and then the prince’s filled in. Loren raised his eyebrows at me and I was a bit unsettled at the suspicion in his eyes. Baya’s Magick was totally different from mine or Talon’s. I closed my eyes and my world jerked roughly to the right. Loren’s grip tightened on my hand to near bruising and I heard his sharp intake of breath.

Then my feet connected with the ground and it sent a jolt through my whole body. My knees protested and I grit my teeth. My hands were suddenly free and I stumbled forward. I managed to catch myself before my face connected with the ground. Then my eyes snapped open and I gathered my bearings. Glancing to the side, I saw Suman’s arms wrapped around Loren as the the other man frowned. My attention returned to the women.

Baya had teleported all of us and she looked exhausted. She was still panting a little and there was a sheen of sweat covering her skin. Part of me felt a bit guilty. Even though it was her main gift, it seemed far more taxing for her than it was for Talon or even me. Talon had transported more people an entire country away. Yes, he’d been fatigued, but Baya had taken us a much shorter distance.

“C’mon old man. It wasn’t that bad.” Suman teased, rolling his eyes at his partner.

“Old man? I’ll remind you of that next time you run out of stamina and I have to hold you up because you still want more, little imp.”

“Okay! I do not need to hear anything else along those lines.” I groaned, my nose scrunched up. I knew the two were together and I’d seen the two of them even more together in the kitchen. That was the most I ever wanted to hear or see.

“There now. We’re done here. We did what we were assigned to.” Tianne announced, arms crossed as she stared at us. She was still holding onto the hostility and I rolled my eyes.

Baya sighed softly as the two joined hands again, “It’s roughly a two hour walk. Depending on how fast you walk of course.”

The differences with Baya’s teleporting continued. Instead of Magick swirling around her, the two women were there one minute and just gone the next. I shook my head and looked over. Meryck had a hand placed on the center of his chest and his eyes had a faraway look.

“Well, they were incredibly pleasant. I hope to never meet them again.” Loren sighed as he straightened.

“This is Krinn, then?” Suman looked around, his hands still on Loren’s hips.

“Yes. Home sweet home.” I said and turned, taking in our surroundings. It took me a few minutes to realize where we were.

Memories flashed through my head and I looked down the dirt road. Mallex, Eon, and I as we’d left home. My breath caught as I tried to repress the memories of Mallex and when Eon had been injured. Without Hanja, I don’t know if my brother would have ever recovered properly. The unpleasant memories were like a fog in my brain. I willed it away, trying to focus instead on the other parts of that journey that seemed forever ago. The parts that included a certain, obnoxious “lost one” that ended up becoming the center of my life only a few months later. Smiling, I wrapped my arms around my middle as I started to walk down the road.

“Oh, I guess we’re walking now.” I heard Suman scoff behind me.

I heard footsteps behind me and ignored them. Meryck was already at my side, walking soundlessly. At least the boy didn’t have a constant compulsion to sass me. Thank the gods for tiny miracles. Rubbing my own hip gently, I let out a little huff and dropped my hands. I needed to talk to Talon, but we were so close to Krinn now. I couldn’t leave and even if I had the time, I couldn’t use any power. I had to save it all for everything that was to come. Luckily, there was one sure fire way to talk at my husband without expelling any energy at all.

*Talon*

Humming softly, I made my way around the room, gathering supplies as I passed them on their designated shelves. I considered my modest wall of potions and selected a small jar with a vermillion powder. Then the items were set on the table and were added to a metal bowl. Said bowl was a gift from Tyren and had handy little feet on the bottom so it was stable whilst things were mixed within. I frowned softly down at the table as I glanced around the room. The consistency of what I had mixed already didn’t look right. As my head tilted to the side, I stirred once more and tapped my fingertips against my lips. Something was missing and, surprisingly enough, I had no idea what it was.

Dearest husband.

I blinked. Kalian’s voice inside my head was quiet and calm. Too calm. If I didn’t know him intimately, I might have missed the sharp edges veiled under his sweet words. I set my things down on the table as my mind spun. Had I done anything wrong recently? Well, of course, but had I done anything that would anger my spouse? Kalian was sweet and gentle. He was compassionate and kind. Kalian was also terrifying when he was angry. Coming a long way from the boy I met in The Shift. I had no shame in admitting that my entire body tensed.

I actively harassed Eon as much as my time allowed, but Kalian was used to our bickering. Neither of us had physically assaulted each other or even tried in a few days. The tally was actually impressive for us. I shook my head. No, that wasn’t where the problem lay. I rubbed my fingers over my jaw as I considered the small mortals within my care. Wyn hadn’t been hurt in training since the last misstep. I was…tolerating Eira to the best of my abilities. No. That couldn’t be it either. Sucking my teeth, I tried to run over every other layer of my life trying to find fault.

Talon.

I flinched and rubbed my neck as I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the worktable.

Yes, my love?

Don’t pull that with me. How long were you going to keep it from me?

I looked around the room again, at a loss. As far as I knew, Kalian had seen every part of my mind and soul. Even the parts I’d hidden from everyone. I’d shared some things and he’d ripped some from me without meaning to. What in the gods’ names was he talking about? Surely if I had messed up this bad, I would remember what I’d done. I was normally painfully aware when I made mistakes. Especially when it came to Kalian.

I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not keeping anything from you.

You’ve nothing to tell me about your super-secret, violence worshipping cult?

Throughout my long and painful life, I had made plenty of poor decisions, but I could safely say that joining a cult was not on my list of infractions. Kalian was on the road with Loren and Suman. Perhaps my husband was losing his mind? Maybe that much extended time with the moronic duo had shattered his sanity? Meryck wouldn’t help as the boy only spoke when it was completely necessary. In fact, when he’d joined the Verseckt, he’d been mute. Oh.

Do you mean the Verseckt? Let me reiterate, I’m not keeping anything from you.

Oh? Nothing? Nothing at all? Are you positive?

Rolling my eyes, I went back to working on the experimental paste I’d been making. He could be such a snotty little thing sometimes. Adding a bit of water to hopefully improve consistency, I ran over everything I’d learned when I had taken over for Wren. Again, I was coming up with nothing. It had to be psychosis. It’d taken a long time, but I should’ve known that the thing that would push Kalian over the edge was an extended trip with my cousin and goblin man.

No idea what you’re taking about, Sunshine.

So, I’m to believe you knew nothing about the-the sleeper agents Wren apparently had littered around all over the country.

I felt my head tilt to the side as I thought about it. I didn’t know anything about this, despite what Kalian thought. It made sense. The Verseckt’s numbers had been dwindling in recent years, but Wren had never seemed worried. I had always thought it was strange and, perhaps, shortsighted on his behalf. But then the Verseckt had joined the army and I brushed it off. I should’ve known better. Wren was never shortsighted. He thought years-fuck decades-beyond the rest of us. He was more than willing to tell us how small our planning stretched in the grand scheme of things. He saw the big picture. That didn’t explain away everything, however. Had Wren been reducing the number of visible Verseckt members so that he might turn them into a fully anonymous group? It made sense.

No. I was not privy to that information.

You can’t be serious. You oversaw the Verseckt in his absence!

That I am aware of. I was there, love. If you’ll remember. When Wren bit the dust, he didn’t have time to give us a rundown of the things he’d been keeping hidden. He didn’t leave a list. Eon and I went into it blind. Well, Eon more blind than me. As per usual.

There was a hard mental pull and I rested my hands on the table as I closed my eyes and answered it. My subconscious was pulled away from myself and into the space Kalian and I had made our own mental haven. The room was its usual white and looked like our bedroom at Kalian’s estate. The windows were even open to let in the non-existent ocean breeze. Kalian looked tired and irritated. His hair was a mess and he frowned at me.

Running fingers through my hair, I grinned at him and chuckled as his frown was joined by a glare. I stepped forward and held back a laugh as his expression continued to sour more. It looked like he’d sucked on a lemon.

“I didn’t know, love. Stop being so grumpy.” I brushed some of his waves out of his face and let my hand drop. Then transitioned to sliding it over the back of his neck to pull him closer. He came, but he crossed his arms so we weren’t chest to chest. Effectively keeping some space between us.

“I cannot believe you didn’t know.” He said as he looked up at me.

Rubbing my thumb against the side of his neck, I leaned down. As I dropped a light kiss to his lips, his body relaxed. Arms dropped to his sides and he closed the last few inches between us. Arms wrapped around my waist and he sighed as he sagged against me. My hand slid over the parts of his back that I could reach and I kissed his hair.

“You really didn’t.” He mumbled into my chest. He snuggled closer and made a soft noise as I wrapped my arms around him.

“I really didn’t.”

“They showed up in the middle of the night. Two women. Meryck brought us all together and seemed to know them. They were even wearing leathers! Albeit without your normal marking or tattoo.” He said as he looked up at me.

“If Wren was trying to move into a more…covert unit, it would make sense that they wouldn’t have our very visible markings.”

“What do you mean? Covert unit? Why would Wren hide this?”

I laughed and Kal shoved at my chest without any real force, “If possible, Wren would tell us absolutely nothing. He’s only forthcoming when forced by his bond with us. You see one version of him, love, but I know a completely different version. One that tortured kids to turn them into prolific killers.”

Kalian’s hands rubbed slowly up my back and I closed my eyes. I was positive that Kalian took everything I’d been through almost harder than I had. Every time it was mentioned, I felt his hurt and sadness. It was probably normal. I was just so desensitized. Kalian held onto what made him human. Wren had tried for years to rip it from all of us in the Verseckt. He normally succeeded.

“We’ll talk about it when I get home. With everyone. They deserve to know that we apparently have an entire force that we were unaware of.” Soft breath huffed against my neck and then Kalian froze. His head snapped back and his lilac eyes pinned me, “What did you mean? Covert unit?”

Leaning down to nuzzle the tip of my nose against the column of his throat, I mumbled against his skin, “A theory. It seems that he may have been transitioning to a force that wasn’t under Syrin’s or even Dimian’s control.”

“Without a country, they’d be mercenaries. They’d only report to Wren.”

“It isn’t the worst idea. We’ve seen that corruption can leech into the most honorable men and women if the logic is twisted just so. Anders has set a troubling precedent. Wren served the royal family. Without the royal family…”

“His loyalty to Dimian is gone.” Alec whispered. He took a step back, “Do you think he was planning on betraying us?”

“My love, think. Why would he send them to help you? No, if Wren wanted to do something like that, he would’ve done it years ago.” I explained.

“You’re right. I guess I don’t understand.”

“I suppose we’ll have to ask the man himself.” Kalian leaned up to connect our lips and then he vanished from the white room. I followed suit and shook my head. Refocusing on the mixing bowl, I pulled my lower lip through my teeth as I thought. Wren would have a reason. The reason would probably even be logical and rational, but the knowledge that he was keeping secrets may result in our little group collapsing.

Which is just what I needed.

“Dad?”

The voice made me jump and my vision was filled with Wyn. Hands still flat on the table in front of me, I stood and began to stretch. Time passed strangely when Kalian and I were in our own little world. My upper body was stiff and I grimaced and shrugged my shoulders to loosen my body. Wyn was staring at me, but I had more on my mind than my preteen’s angry little face.

“Dad.”

Letting out a frustrated huff, I rubbed at my shoulder as I walked around the table and out the door. Lighter footsteps followed me immediately and I heard a tiny little growl that made me chuckle. This boy was going to ruin my life even more the older he got. I gathered my hair and wound it up and out of my face. Wyn was trying to keep up with his shorter legs and I felt the air displace as he reached for my vest. He managed to grab the fabric and tried to use it to drag me to a stop. I worked my arms out of the clothing and continued.

“Talon!” Something snapped against my back and I felt a sharp sting before something wrapped around my waist and yanked me back. It surprised me enough to throw me off. I tried to stomp down a flare of pride when my eyes dropped to the thick vine around my waist. The thick, green plant was slowly receding as the boy stepped closer.

“You were talking to da! I want to know what’s going on!” He said as he marched around to stand in front of me.

I stepped forward, dropping my hands down to hold his face, “Darling, respectfully, you overstep again. You are a child. I do not have to tell you every time I talk to your father. Trust me, you don’t want me to include you in everything. It’d traumatize you.”

“I can help!”

“You can help by training and doing your best to stop giving me migraines on a daily basis.” I said as I started walking again. The child-upholding his role as the bane of my existence-kept up with me and I sighed.

Rubbing my temples, I tried to keep myself together. I heard a snap and this time I reacted. I caught the vine whip and gripped it tight, using it to pull him to me, “Fine, brat. You’re coming with me then. We have some things to take care of while Kalian is gone.”

“Finally!” He gasped, grabbing my hand as he tried to keep up with my much longer legs again. I hated everything about where things had gone. Why didn’t I just stay in The Shift? I had known better, but that stupidly pretty lordling had clouded my judgement. Maybe we could fade away from our very public life. My house in The Shift still existed, we could make it work. I rubbed the sides of my nose. Wyn and the tiny lightning bolt would have to share a room for a while, but we’d manage.

“Dad, where are we going?”

“To talk to the Council of Uncles.”