Maxon (16 page)

“I'm alive, Fisk. Nice to see you, too.”

And there goes the regal act, right out the window.

Fisk rounds on Maxon. “And who are you?”

I raise my hand palm forward, in the universal sign for ‘stop right there.' “It's my role to make introductions, Fisk.” Even so, I decide to go through everything at double-speed. Something tells me I don't want these two spending lots of quality time together. “Fisk, Maxon. Maxon, Fisk.”

Fisk's skin glimmers with blue light. He's really getting himself worked up. “Why do you bring a mortal among us? His presence defiles this sacred place.”

Great. Fisk goes pompous and nasty, right off the bat.

Maxon hitches his thumbs into the pockets of his body armor. He's the picture of cool menace.

It's an effort to keep my voice calm. “Maxon isn't just any mortal. He's the High Prince of the thrax, the Scala Heir and…” I turn to him. “What else am I missing?”

Maxon shrugs, and even that movement is somehow threatening. “I'm second in line to the throne of Furonium.” He does one of his chin-nods toward Fisk. “And you are?”

“General of the Valta,” replies Fisk. “It's my job to rule the water elementals until a new monarkki is crowned.” His mouth thins to an angry line. “And Lianna is my girl.”

All the elementals gasp. Maxon's brows lift ever so slightly. At this point, I'd really like a do-over on the whole Fisk relationship. What was I thinking again?

Oh, yeah. Stupid hormones.

Somehow, I manage to speak in a very calm and badass voice. “That's not true, Fisk. We've talked about this. Many times.”

Fisk ignores me. It's what he always does when I'm saying something inconvenient. “She's my girl, so back off.” He and Maxon start a full-blown staring contest.

I groan. “Fisk.”

“Make no mistake,” says Fisk. “She is mine. I took her virginity.”

Now, I outright gasp. “Fisk!”

Maxon's tail whips behind him in a menacing rhythm. “Disrespect Lianna again like that, and I don't care who you are. You'll regret it.”

Fisk fingers the dagger at his waistline. “I'm not afraid of you.”

Maxon's voice comes out as a low growl. “You should be.”

The crowd gasps again, and that's when I decide that enough is enough.

I step closer to Fisk, taking care to block his line of sight to Maxon. “Are these Valta here to meet me?” My voice takes on a leading tone. “A casual ‘get to know you' type thing. That's what we discussed, right?”

“Valta don't do casual when there are outsiders in the Palace,” says Fisk.

“It doesn't matter who he is,” I counter. “I'm here to meet the Valta and Maxon will be present as my guest.”

“No,” growls Fisk, and his skin flares even brighter. I've never seen him like this.

Time for Plan B.

I turn to the Water Valta. “I am Lianna, the chosen apprentice of Namare.” Once again, I make my skin flare with blue light. “She gave her powers to me. I can wield the Kristalli.”

“Can you?” asks Fisk. “Try to summon it.”

Something in his tone sets my teeth on edge. Raising my arm, I recite the incantation to call the Kristalli. Nothing happens.

I round on Fisk. “What did you do to my stone?”

“
Your
stone?” asks Fisk. “Namare gave it to
me
for safekeeping. I'll award it to whoever I deem worthy.” A muscle twitches along his jawline. “Whoever I deem faithful.”

“Faithful to who?” I ask. “I've been a faithful servant to Namare. That's all that should matter here.”

“Zephyr said the same words to his Valta before he was crowned, and what has happened to them? All the men killed. All the boys placed in battle before they're ready.”

“How dare you compare me to Zephyr?” Now, it's my turn to glow a brighter shade of blue.

“Who should I liken you to?” Fisk's voice takes on a hysterical edge. “You're not acting like yourself. This—” He gestures between Maxon and me “Whatever it is, this pairing is insane.”

“It's not what you think,” says Maxon.

“We were only holding hands,” I add. “You're acting crazy.”

“Crazy? I saw the way you looked at him. The energy between you two. You never looked at me…” He shakes his head. “You're not trustworthy and that's all there is to it. My Valta won't take the chance.”

A grumble of agreement passes through the Valta.

Fisk turns to face his men. “No crowning ceremony will take place today. Namare is gone. I don't know when we will have a new monarkki.”

Rumbles of dissent instantly move through the Valta. A pang of shock twists up my throat. They all agree with him. The Valta would really rather have no monarkki than one who might treat them like Zephyr.

My surprise quickly hardens into anger. “And what the Valta want, they do, regardless of the other elementals?”

“It's our role to ensure the right monarkki is crowned.”

“At what expense?” I gesture to the civilian water elementals who stand assembled behind the Valta. “Our people need healing. Their waters require fresh energy. Who are you to deny them?” The crowd quickly takes up the call.

“My father needs a cure,” says one voice.

“The Lake of Dreams must be cleansed,” adds another.

Esau's voice gets added to the mix. He peeps out from behind his father's leg and pulls on the Valta's armor. “But Namare is coming. She said that she'd heal me.”

His father's moustache droops in sadness. “Stay back, son.”

The crowd's rumbling grows louder. Excitement zings across my skin. Even if Fisk has his issues, the people want me as their monarkki.

“Silence!” calls Fisk.

The voices grow louder. I see my chance and take it.

“You mourned Namare,” I say. “Respect her wishes and make me your monarkki.” I turn to the Valta. “Adjourn to the Hall of Fountains. The ceremony begins now.”

The time for meet-and-greet is over. These are soldiers. They understand two things: Orders and strength.

A muscle twitches by Fisk's eye. “No one commands the Valta but me.” He raises his arms. “Valta, take formation!”

Soldiers appear along the winding pathway to the castle's peak. They hold crossbows. All the bolts point at my chest.

Fisk rounds on me. “Now, you go.”

Deadly silence hangs in the air. I run through my options. I have Namare's power, sure. Somehow, I doubt that taking down the Water Valta in front of a crowd won't win me any points. I can't settle this with death.

So what can I do?

Quiet cries echo through the vast space. Looking over, I see Esau's face buried in his father's leg. His shoulders quake with sobs.

Suddenly, I know exactly how to handle this. Not with death, but with life.

“Cover me,” I say to Maxon.

“You got it.”

Leaning down, I set my hand on the crystal floor. I need to try and heal Esau. Blue light flows out from my fingertips and across the stone. The elemental power makes a straight path to the boy. There it stops.

The room seems to pause as well. Everyone stares at the sick child. My healing energy is only inches away from him. Since I'm not yet connected to my people, I can't heal him without touching him.

“See this?” I say. “I can't help this child because of the Water Valta.” I fix Esau's father with a glare. “You can link me to your child right now, just as all the Water Valta could link me to my people by supporting my coronation. How can you stand there?”

Still, no one in the chamber seems to move, maybe even breathe. The energy's turning my way. A rush of excitement swirls through my mind.

“Connect me to Esau. Connect me to our people.”

Esau slips his hand into his father's. “Please, Daddy?”

That does it. Esau's father sets his palm onto the floor, where my elemental power waits. Instantly, the blue light crawls into Esau's father body. His armor glows bright as the energy moves across him and into Esau. The child's skin also glows sapphire-bright.

Soft gasps echo through the crowd. Everyone watches as the dark marks on Esau's skin disappear. And for a moment, a rush of energy moves through my soul. It's the power that comes from being linked to another elemental. The truth rises from the depths of my consciousness.

Being together makes us all stronger.

I rise to stand. For someone who hates speeches, I know exactly what to say.

“We're already connected,” I declare. “My energy is your energy. Your pain strikes my heart as well. We can be separated and weak, or we can join together and become strong. Fearing Zephyr will not bring you a good ruler. Linking together will. Whenever you're ready to take that step, I'm ready, too.”

With that, I take Maxon's hand and head toward the door. No one moves to stop us, and I suppose that's the most I can expect at this point. We step outside. Moonlight glints off the ocean as we walk across the water. Behind us, the Water Palace disappears into the sea once again.

The calm evening waters reflect starlight and moonlight. Their beauty should be soothing. Instead, hot rage burns through my belly.

“How can the Valta be so bullheaded?” I bellow. “I will not turn into another Zephyr.”

My fingers itch to do something, anything. On reflex, I conjure columns of waterspouts. They surround Maxon and me in a great circle. The liquid shoots high into the air, holds weightless for a moment, and then crashes down onto the dark ocean.

Maxon stands beside me, still holding my hand, still the image of cool. “That helping?”

“Not enough.”

Giving up on the waterspouts, I summon a line of liquid bombs to explode high in the air. After that, I create a great curling wave that crashes across the ocean in a huge rolling line. The sight reminds me of the element's ultimate power. Water is eternal. And that's a very calming thought. Finally, I get my head together and return my focus to Maxon.

I hadn't been paying him much attention—okay, I hadn't paid him any—and now I'm wondering if he thinks I'm a psycho.

“So.” I rock on my heels, making my toes splash in the water. “You probably have a lot of questions about that, uh, display.”

Maxon tilts his head. It's like he walks on water all the time with strange women who create waterspouts and have stalker ex-boyfriends who happen to be elementals.

“What part?” he asks.

I'll skip the Fisk part for now.

“All the angry water stuff.”

“Oh, I got that fine.” He chuckles softly. “You're not the only one with a temper, you know.”

I exhale a relived breath. “Good.”

“Anything else?”

“Oh, Fisk.”

Maxon shrugs. “Nah. You said you grew up isolated. I've seen his type. Makes you feel wanted. Takes advantage. You made the right call.”

I shake my head.
Maxon nailed that one.

“What you should wonder about is your crown,” says Maxon. “How can you get it and help your people?”

I shoot him a sly look. “I thought you didn't know statecraft.”

“Guess I picked up more than I thought over the years.” He gives me a chin-nod. “Talk to me. What's your next move?”

Bobbing my head from side to side, I think through possibilities and next steps. “Well, getting crowned isn't happening.”

“Not right now, anyway.”

“Normally, I'd worry about Zephyr coming to get me. He hasn't showed, though.”

“Wouldn't expect it either. Silas said some other stuff when I visited.”

“About Zephyr?”

Maxon nods. “Silas said that if Zephyr's not hunting you, then he's going after the Kristalli of Fire, which is hidden in Furonium. I sent Emperor Tempest a heads up. With any luck, T will be in a good mood and want to use the attack to sharpen up his troops.”

Worry zings through my stomach. “If Zephyr gets the Kristalli of Fire, then the Fire elementals will never have another monarkki. Do you think Tempest can hold him off?”

“Furor warriors are the toughest in the after-realms, and T is a great general. So, I'd say if anyone can, it's Tempest. If nothing else, he'll buy us some time. Maybe we can get some things done while Zephyr is busy.”

“In that case, we should go after the Kristalli of Earth.”

“Just what I was thinking. We pick up the Kristalli of Earth while Tempest keeps Zephyr busy. Where is the stone, anyway?”

“Hidden in the Philippines.”

Maxon's brows pop up. “In the Chocolate Hills?”

“How'd you guess?”

“It's one of a handful of demonic dead zones. No activity there and I always wondered why. Makes sense that someone would be guarding the region. Never would have suspected elementals, though.” Maxon glares at the spot where the palace disappeared under the waves. “After we're done, can I come back and beat the crap out of that guy?”

That guy being Fisk, of course.

I grit my teeth in frustration. “Only if I can watch.”

Maxon lets out another rumbling laugh. “You're something else, you know that?”

“Oh, you have no idea.”

Maxon

The Chocolate Hills… It's easy to see how this place got its name. Even in the moonlight, the ground looks brown, rounded, and symmetrical, like chocolates in a box. They're not the only sights here, either. The minute Lianna and I approached the hills, I knew we weren't alone. A pair of Zephyr's Air Valta got here first. They're already looking for the Kristalli of Earth. That's the bad news. The good news is that they don't know what the fuck they're doing. The two Valta are meandering around like they're on a coffee break or something.

When I speak to Lianna, I make sure to talk low and by her ear. Honestly, I don't need to be this close, but she smells like strawberries and it's making me nuts. You know, in a good way.