Showing weakness to these fae would be detrimental indeed.
So I relaxed into my chair and shrugged, feigning boredom. “Claire is progressing in her classes as expected. She’s proven quite capable with fire, her spirit is growing, and the other three elements are not far behind.” I didn’t bother mentioning she was one of the most powerful water elementals I’d ever felt or that she’d managed to shove me across the room with a single gust of wind.
This Council was out for blood.
I would not be offering up Claire’s for sport.
“All five elements,” Vape marveled, his shock of white hair cascading around his shoulders like a waterfall. “The prophecy—”
Zephys slammed his hands on the table. “Don’t bloody start about the prophecy again.” He glared at Vape, then turned his attention to me. “And your brother? Why did he choose now to leave her? Haven’t they bonded?”
I tilted my head, keeping Mortus in my line of sight. “I’m not my brother’s keeper,” I replied flatly. It was the truth, after all.
Blaize watched me expectantly as he played with a flame over his fingertips, rolling the element with a gentle control that took a Fire Fae years to master. “Yet, you sent him on an errand of some kind. Yes?”
“A family matter required his attention. In return, I offered to help Claire improve her affinity for water.” I lifted a shoulder, my gaze sliding to Mortus. “I’m sure he’ll return soon.”
“Excellent,” Elana said with approval, ignoring the brewing tension between the Council members. “I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing her powers firsthand, and I’m thrilled at her development.” She grinned and splayed open her hands expectantly. “And the tutorship I offered?”
I slid the signed document across the table. “Claire will be meeting you once a week. Thank you for offering her your mentorship. She’s thrilled.” Or she would be when I informed her that I’d finalized the opportunity.
Mortus scoffed. “No good is going to come of this. If she’s anything like her mother—”
“You’ll kill her, too?” I asked, arching a brow.
The Spirit Elder wasn’t used to me talking back to him so directly, but I wanted to surprise him. I needed him to drop his guard just for a second.
“If she poses a threat, yes, I will do what I must for fae kind.”
“And I’ll be right there beside him,” Zephys agreed. “I voted against this. You have nothing to lose, Cyrus. Your people have already been obliterated by the curse Ophelia unleashed upon us, but what about Obsidian’s people?”
The Earth Fae Elder rolled relaxation stones across her palm. “We have managed to stifle the illness expanded from the Spirit Kingdom. It will breed out in a generation or two.”
Obsidian didn’t like to take sides or vote and often opted out of decisions for things she felt were out of her control. She dealt with problems as they came to her.
“You should be more concerned,” Zephys growled. “This Halfling will bring about the curse again, and it could be your people who suffer.” She shrugged, which only enraged the Air Elder. “Come on, Obsidian. Get your head out of your arse.”
She narrowed ebony eyes at him. “Trying to predict the way the earth moves will not help us prepare for tomorrow. If the curse hits us, we will respond to it.”
Mortus snorted. “She’s right about one thing. We are ready for whatever comes.” His black eyes flashed with challenge. “I hope you’re keeping an eye on the Halfling when you return to the Academy, because there are others who know what trouble she’ll bring.”
There you are, I mused.
I tilted my head in mock innocence. “Is that a threat, Mortus?”
He launched to his feet. “If I was threatening you, then you would know it, you insolent—”
I slammed my hands on the table, standing and leaning toward him. “You’d what?” I demanded, wanting him to snap, to provide me with the opportunity to shred apart his soul and find my brother. “Come on, Mortus, what would you do?” I pressed on him with my spirit, allowing him to feel my challenge deep inside. “I am your king,” I reminded him, my words underlined with enough power to make the entire room cringe.
My spirit wove around his, prodding, sensing for a weakness, anything that could tell me what he’d been up to. His enlarging irises told me he felt it, knew what I was doing, and the shiver that rolled across his skin said it scared him.
Good.
Unfortunately, Elana ruined the moment by sending a fine mist of water over the table as if she were spraying a herd of cats for misbehaving. Interesting timing for her to intervene, as if she sensed I was closing in on something important.
And since when could she create water? Elana was notoriously powerful in spirit, but she had no other elements under her control. A very rare state for a Spirit Fae, but a well-known fact where Elana was concerned.
Did I imagine it? Because it was already gone. Maybe it was pixie dust, not water?