“Adele,” Lucien said sternly. It seemed even more menacing when coming from behind his demonic-looking mask.
Adele spread her hands to indicate she had no idea, then unwrapped another truffle. “Sometimes the visions are crystal clear and sometimes they’re all weird, dreamy things, like being naked at school or trying to take a final for a class you forgot that you signed up for. I can’t make heads or tail of it — there were these giant birds and a talking dog and lots and lots of mice, but Yves definitely ended up under a ton of rocks. I think there was a cave-in. I’m not sure, but I think the tengu Nestlings were buried with him.”
Tristan had always assumed that he would be glad if Yves died; the male had been cold and distant and often cruel to him. In his heart of hearts, though, he must have always loved his older half brother despite all that. It hurt to know Yves was dead.
Lucien stood silent, looking skyward as if gazing at something written there. After a minute, he murmured, “I see. Yves was supposed to be here to oversee this part. Father must have decided that I didn’t have enough experience. He’s not waiting at Shikaakwa like we planned.”
“Or Fefe saw something go wrong,” Adele said around a mouthful of chocolate.
Lucien turned sharply to her. “Like what? Have the rebels turned back from the trap?”
Adele snorted as she unwrapped her last truffle. “I’ve been tuned into a different wavelength for days. I only checked to see where Heaven’s Blessing was going to be, not why. That would be a whole lot harder for me. It’s always worst to be first. Heaven’s Blessing had all the kinks ironed out by the time he got to tweaking Fefe. That’s why she’s with him and I’ve been stuck in a cave.”
Adele popped the chocolate into her mouth.
“Please see what you can find out,” Lucien said.
“Fine. I will.” She pulled out the red ribbon of the intanyai seyosa caste and tied it as a blindfold over her eyes.
Their father’s servants had tried to train the Eyes but there was much they didn’t know or couldn’t remember. Why a red ribbon? Was it just symbolic or was there a reason it needed to be red? None of the elves at the mansion had known. They left it to the Eyes to determine what worked best for them and the girls had adopted the caste’s badge of power.
Adele liked to move her hands while “seeing” in graceful dance-like motions. It reminded Tristan of hula. She swayed in place, languidly moving her hands. She hummed softly to herself. He couldn’t recognize the tune.
“The sun is setting.” Adele traced the arc of a setting sun with her right hand, dipping down into the west. She elegantly raised her left hand. “The radiance is fading. The dawn will bring a new world. Heaven’s Blessing stands poised to take back what was…”
Adele went still. Slowly she cocked her head.
“What is it?” Lucien said.
“The moon is waning. It’s full of mice, nibbling away at the cheese?” Adele cocked her head the other way. “It’s making the moon’s orbit wonky and it might fall?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lucien said.
Adele tore off her blindfold and stuffed the red fabric back into her pocket. “It’s the damn giant birds and talking dog and lots and lots of mice again. I don’t understand. They were on Earth. How are they here too? They’re running all over the place, ruining everything.”
“Ruining everything?” Lucien echoed. “They going to stop us from using the device?”
“I don’t…I don’t know. It’s all weird and wiggly. Most people have one or two paths of action that you can see but this is thousands of paths, all crisscrossing, moving so fast its blurry. I can’t tell if the mice are supposed to represent one person I’ve never met or a group of people.”
“If they were on Earth first, then they’re probably human,” Tristan said. “Maybe it’s agents like the NSA pair or maybe it’s a corporation.”
“Danni sent a strike team to take out Midas,” Lucien said. “If they are your mice, then they should not be a problem much longer.”
This was news to Tristan. Who or what was Midas? He didn’t want to ask and betray to Adele how little he knew about the current plans. He would need to ask Lucien privately, if the day allowed.
Adele took out the blindfold and ran the piece of fabric through her fingers as if she were considering donning it again. “I shouldn’t be seeing the mice if Danni has already taken steps to eliminate them. Their impact on our plans is still massive. Fefe must have seen our rodent infestation and warned Heaven’s Blessing.”
“Here they come,” Lucien said.
Tristan pulled on his oni mask even as he scanned the forest around them. He could sense no movement. Both Adele and Lucien were gazing upward.
He wasn’t sure how Lucien sensed their father’s arrival. One moment the sky over them was gray with rain clouds. The next it was filled with a massive gossamer airship. The displaced air boomed loudly as it washed the briny scent of the gossamer down over them.
“What in the world?” Tristan gasped. “Did that gossamer just teleport?”
“It was my ‘welcome home’ present to Father. A bit of a flex to show him what I can do.”
Tristan stared upward, stunned by the achievement. How in the world had Lucien managed that? When did he do it? The shimmering, nearly transparent gossamer seemed too large for being less than three decades old but it couldn’t be older. Or could it? Had Lucien spell-worked an adult gossamer? The gondola was lavish imperial red with gleaming gold trim. There were black Elvish runes on the bow that spelled out “Heaven’s Light,” which was a play on Lucien’s name.
What did Tristan have to offer their father? Nothing as impressive as this. His last major feat had been ferreting out the Chosen bloodline, but that had all been rendered moot. They were on the cusp of a new world order. He might desperately need Lucien’s protection. He’d been growing hesitant about finding Boo. To keep Lucien’s good will, though, Tristan might have to swallow the sense of wrong that he had gotten about the entire mess. For better or worse, the girl was now an important game piece in the war. If their father managed to find Haven and kill the rest of the Chosen bloodline, she would be the lynchpin to controlling the tengu Flock. She was young and had been meticulously sheltered in Lucien’s care. She wouldn’t be able to rule the Flock alone. Someone would take control of her; it might as well be Lucien. He, at least, loved her.
Mooring lines were cast down and made fast to anchors that Tristan hadn’t noticed before. He drifted back. Now was not the time to catch his father’s attention. The war had not gone well in the last two months. The news of Yves’ death was going to hit hard.
I shouldn’t be so terrified of the man that gave me life.
But his father wasn’t a man. He was an ancient being that was ruthless and ambitious. He’d proved over and over again that he’d use his own flesh and blood to achieve his goals. How many of his children had he put in the grave? As his father’s people had briefed Lucien on the incoming Harbingers, it became clear that he and his brother were not his father’s first brood. There had been countless half brothers and half sisters born long ago. All the others had died in their father’s service. Yves had been the only survivor, but now even he was gone.
It was clear now why Lucien had been careful to make himself so valuable to their father.
The metal elevator descended from the gondola.
Father had given up his human clothes, returning to his rich purple imperial robes. They were hand embroidered with red orchids. He wore a duster of red fairy silk with the shimmer of protective spells carefully painted in silver. His hair was no longer carefully contained in a discreet braid but flowed down his shoulders like gleaming white silk, a testament to his health and vitality. It had been something carefully beaten into Tristan after he had left his mother’s care: hair was a badge of honor. He was to wear it as long as possible despite his covert missions.