A flood rolled through every part of her body.

Destan was there with her, holding her and letting the Water flow through her. She heard him singing lightly; it was the same song she had heard from Water for so long. His presence was feminine, perhaps because of the Lady, but he fluctuated between the male and female forms as he allowed the Water to work on her. His joy and hers mingled, she couldn't tell where one began and the other ended.

Her body tingled as Water touched every old scar, every crack, every poorly healed wound. It was minutes, hours, or seconds. She couldn't tell, but as the song left, flowing back out as it had come in, she felt renewed and intact for the first time in a very long time.

Natalia opened her eyes in time to witness Destan collapsing into Leena's waiting arms. Alarmed, Natalia rushed to help, but Leena waved her off.

"Healers use much of their energy to heal; it is their unique price to pay," Leena blurted as she assisted Destan to steps that Natalia had not noticed before. A servant was waiting with his feet in the water to help. "He will be fine when he rests, but it would be best not to touch him. You are still in need of healing."

"But I feel wonderful."

"I am glad." Leena smiled and waved over another servant. He accepted Destan from his wet companion and carried him away. "But you have more to heal than your body; you know this." She stood, looking tired as well. "This will, I'm afraid, have to wait until Destan recovers. He had to use some of my strength to expel the Lady this time."

"How long will he be this way?" Natalia was distressed to have done this to him.

"Oh, he will be at his full strength again in a day, two at the most. He is a most remarkable healer." Leena walked with her to the changing area. "We are lucky to have him here and lucky the Queen underestimated him."

"He is her brother, yes?" Natalia asked as she slipped on her dry robe.

"Yes. Though I do not think he wants us to know that." Leena pulled her hair up into a bun. "I can only imagine how devastating it was to be a Water Priest during the purge, knowing that he was safe but could not save the others. How much guilt he must carry."

"Oh." Natalia had not thought of this and was vaguely surprised Leena had. "Why did the Queen destroy the Water Temple?"

"No one knows. Well, perhaps Destan does, but I doubt it. The official proclamation spoke of the treason of the High Priest and the need to cleanse the Queendom of his taint. The priestesses and priests were offered to renounce their bonds or leave the Queendom. Somehow, only a few lucky ones did escape. The stories they told were horrifying." Leena walked with her to the door as they spoke. "The Queen was young and rash. The purge remains her greatest mistake. One of the few, but one is enough."

Natalia chose silence instead of speaking against her. The Queen had made many mistakes, and most had cost innocent lives. Underestimating Lukas may have been an even greater mistake, but time would clarify this. Before arguing the point with Leena, Natalia would wait to understand her stance more. In her experience, patience was often rewarded.

============================

Destan awoke alone. For a moment, he lay in confusion; this was not his room, his golden cage. His vision narrowed as he stared at the ceiling and unfamiliar walls, and beads of sweat grew on his forehead. His heart fluttered like a trapped bird. Then the Lady came, reassuring, calm. His heart slowed, and he relaxed his tense muscles. He remembered where he was and sat up.

"Is she healed?" Destan could not remember the healing. Often when the Lady intervened so actively, he would lose himself. The Lady rose from a pool of water near his bed.

"Of the body." The Lady's liquid form solidified to his favorite of her visages. Her face was young and well-structured, and her hair flowed wildly around her with the Water surrounding her. She smiled, and her eerie blue-green eyes lit up as she spoke of Natalia. "Her mind heals, but there is far more to do; you will help this."

"Of course, my Lady." When he stood to approach the Lady, Destan realized he was wearing sleeping clothes. His priestly robes had been cleaned and left folded next to the bed. He started toward them, but the Lady shook her head, calling him over to her. As always, he followed her command. The Lady's arms moved apart, and the sphere of Water around her opened to him. Destan heart burst with excitement when she pulled him into a rare embrace.

"You have done so well." The Lady's embrace was warm, like a bath or hot spring. "So much better than our siblings had expected. They are jealous now." Her smile held a hint of superiority. "Only Fire can boast such a strong Priest; she is not truly an acolyte."

"How does the Fire Priestess fair?" He had not thought of her in some time. He only knew her true nature from his connection with Paulo.

"Our brother worries, but she lives." The Lady looked dismissive, not wanting to discuss her brother or his followers. "Our friend will help her as she has helped him." Destan believed Paulo's concern was the only reason the Lady cared for her least favorite sibling's priestess.

It had taken Destan some time to understand that the Elementals called the Masters friends. Due to his sister's distrust of the Fire Priestess, he had only met the Earth Priestess. He knew his relationship with the Lady was much more akin to Paulo's than the priestess's relationship with Earth, but the Lady did not call him a friend. He did not question the Lady or demand her to call him anything but what she wished. Destan was in her debt; she had saved him from death many times.

"I feel strong again," Destan said with wonder. It usually took him more time to recover from such profound healing.

"We have given back some of what you gave; the rest is yours. You desire this as strongly as we do."

"I desire what?"

"Natalia," the Lady answered with a smile and a slightly possessive look. "You wish her healed as much as we do. She is the key."

"So you have said, but to what door?" He asked, avoiding his discomfort with her words. He had asked her many times what Natalia was to the Elementals, each time in a different way, and the Lady only ever laughed and shook her head.

"Priest, go find her. She lingers near the stream. We think our champion may win but cannot be sure."

"You speak in riddles, my Lady."

"We do not, but you cannot yet understand. You will, in time, priest." The Lady began to fade into the Water, the sphere opening to allow him to leave before the water crashed back into the pool. He was always sad when she left him, but it was not as intense as in the past. Destan no longer felt that the Lady was the only good thing in his life.

He looked around the chamber that housed him and smiled. It was not luxurious, nothing like his rooms in the castle, but he liked it so much more. Leena had said this was the Water Master's room. He could feel the water coursing through the room. In the walls, the liquid rushed through pipes that opened to the spouts draining into the trough around the room, which led to the pool he had just stood in. Never had he felt so safe and happy in a simple room.

By the reckoning of the Counsel, Destan could rank at Master class, the Kingdom's mages would call him a Water Adept, but he knew himself only as a Priest of the Lady, a follower and not a friend or a controller. The differences were subtle to the uninitiated but clear to Destan. He could not teach Natalia and Raja to be Masters, but they had The Master for that. What the Counsel wanted from him were his healing abilities. He gladly shared those, and if, as he suspected, either or both of them had this gift, he would teach it.

Destan's face warmed with the prospect of a future he could not predict. His heart twittered like a butterfly, but this time, anticipation instead of anxiety set it alight. Discarding the idea of dressing in his priestly robes, Destan walked to the closet. A simple assortment of clothing in the priesthood's colors but lighter fabric awaited him here. The Master, or Leena, had prepared for his arrival. He chose something to roam around the grassy Vale and left to find Natalia.

============================

"Well, don't sulk." Theodore lounged in a chair near the large window. "We will be in the Kingdom tomorrow. Paulo says Destan has arrived in the Vale. He is with your mate and the woman."

"I am not sulking. I am thinking." Lukas did not know what to think of this foppish prince. He seemed so innocuous and shallow, but the priest had trusted him, as had Raja. Theodore was bound to The Master in some way that was not clear yet to Lukas. And this Master held all that was precious to Lukas in his protection. Lukas needed to know more about him. Initially, this is why he accepted the prince's offer of friendly companionship, but now, he found himself enjoying the strange man's company. "I am trying to decide who to be for your King."

"Whatever do you mean?" His tone implied boredom, but his face betrayed mild interest. This deception and misdirection were, Lukas thought, so ingrained that Theodore did not even realize he was doing it. Never sound interested in what interests you; always seem interested in things you do not care about. This was the courtly way, even in a peaceful land like the Kingdom. This is one of the many reasons Lukas hated royalty.

"Should I be a grateful supplicant or a mighty ally?"

"Oh, you are a mighty ally, of course. Otherwise, they will never take you seriously, especially since you are coming with me. Perhaps we should pretend to hate each other." Theodore laughed as if he were joking, but Lukas heard the truth in his words.

"No, we should remain close."

"Well, Destan said to watch you. I don't have to be close to watch you. He also told me not to sleep with you, so how do you propose we 'stay close?'"

"We pretend to sleep together." Lukas stood up with inspiration. "You suspect your mate of deeper betrayal, but you tell me everyone knows he has you cuckolded. Therefore your people will understand your reciprocating. Especially if it is with me." Theodore raised an eyebrow but remained silent. "Well, it would likely be more fitting to your persona than your persistent abstinence. It will help your status, rid you of that man you despise, and make it easier for us to be undisturbed when we wish."

"How did you know I suspect Bosh of treachery? I have only mentioned his cheating."

"It is a superficial thought every time you speak of him; it is hard to ignore." Lukas looked thoughtful again. "We need to inform Raja and Paulo so they do not suspect us."

"Paulo won't care, but you can more easily contact Raja than I, Paulo, so I will leave that to you."

"I cannot right now. It would take too much power; I do not want to disturb the minds of those in the boat; I need a better-shielded room."

"Aren't you bonded?"

"I have closed the bond."

"Well, reopen it." Theodore looked at him as if it were so obvious and straightforward. Reopening the bond with Raja meant letting him back into his thoughts and feelings. He still needed to sort everything out. Lukas felt a hand on his shoulder. "You love him; it is apparent. He has hurt you, which is also clear. But that is what happens when you care about someone; sometimes, they hurt you. If you can't handle this pain, you can be like the Queen instead, always grasping with a desire to possess without love."

"I will never be like her." Lukas gritted his teeth as he thought of her.

"Then face your pain." Theodore captured Lukas' gaze, and a strange look crossed the prince's face. "Only when you face your pain will you be able to tap your power fully. You are blunting your power with your actions, hurting no one more than yourself." The voice was different from what the prince had used since Lukas met him. This was serious, contemplative, and direct. The look passed, and the prince's dull foppish smile returned to his lips. He appeared as if nothing had happened. Lukas had seen this before, but not for many years. He kept his thoughts to himself and contemplated the man's words.

By ignoring his pain, pushing it aside, was he hurting himself? By closing the bond, he removed his access to Raja's strength and Natalia's. But that was not all. When he looked through the wall of anger in his mind, he realized he had closed off part of his power. He could only characterize his continued actions against Raja as childish and weak of him. He may have been hurting Raja, yes, but he did damage to himself as well.

"You are right. I will open the bond."

The prince nodded, then resumed his nonchalant posture. "Should we go to lunch first?" he asked in his bored tone.

"Yes, we can do that." Lukas laughed. Theodore paused his movement mid-stand and turned his widened eyes to Lukas. Possibly, it was the first time he had laughed in front of the man.

============================

Til turned back to Bizir with concern. His partner continued muttering and furtively examining the craggy rocks around them. He had done fine in the early stages of the foothills. Til had been able to redirect him when he began imagining movement and menace, where Til witnessed none. But now, as they approached the entry to the passage through the higher peaks, the strength of the Earth magic had begun to overwhelm Til's minor ability.

"You will need to turn back soon," Til announced as they stopped for food and rest.

"A spy doesn't leave his partner," Bizir protested again. He had rebuffed Til's attempt at separating them since before they entered the Oborgor range. Where Til's heart lifted, and his feet felt lighter the moment he stepped foot into the ancient mountains, Bizir had shrunk into a half-crazed state. Bending forward as if to protect his chest from an errant rock or arrow and shuffled side to side whenever he perceived a threat. His once expressive black eyes narrowed with fear, and his overgrown eyebrows seemed permanently bent into a scowl. The pleasant ignorant smile Til had become accustomed to hadn't appeared in days. Both wore their hoods to protect them from the ever-colder mountain wind.

"I can no longer communicate with the priestess. Though I can feel her presence, I cannot hear her voice nor confirm she hears my report. Someone needs to report Raja's presence to the Queen, and you are the better candidate."

"But you will be alone in the mountain," Bizir fumed. "You will die in days from the evil stones."

"I won't. The mountains have accepted me and will keep me safe until our reinforcements come."

"I don't believe you." Bizir's face turned wild for a moment, and Til tried to soothe the Earth to allow his friend a reprieve. The lightening of the madness in his eyes proved his attempts successful. "But, I will be of no use soon. Til, come back with me."

"I can't lose the trail. We have come so close. We have to find them before they enter a Vale. You know the mountains are filled with Masters' Vales. We won't be able to penetrate them without the army and the Earth priestesses."

"You will not attempt to scale the mountain alone, will you?"

"I will go as far as I safely can without a partner, a dead spy is of no use to the Queen either." Til's chest warmed with his partner's concern. They had been strangers at the outset and found each other a barrier to achievement more than a partner. Months of tracking Raja and the mysterious Master had revealed Bizir's talent and forged a powerful bond between the men.

"Til," Bizir put a hand on Til's shoulder and pulled him closer. "You must survive this. I want to explore more of the Five Lands with you, maybe go further. I don't want a new partner."

Til heard the underlying emotion in Bizir's plea and pitied him. It was never easy to love anyone, but when the object did not reciprocate that love, it shattered the heart. Bizir had not yet voiced his feelings to Til, but the senior spy was good at his job. He had done his best to discourage the affections gently. He had never found himself attracted to men, though had he been, Bizir may have been a good choice for him.

"I will attempt to come home and partner with you again, but I make no promises. This job is too difficult and dangerous to make such a foolish pact," Til rebuffed Bizir, who smiled sadly and removed his hand.

"Then we part here, Til, and I hope to see you again."

"I wish the same, Bizir. You are a good partner.

"As are you." Bizir collected his gear and started back down the path. Til hoped the mountain would be kind to the departing spy, allowing him to leave in peace. But one could never fully trust the Earth Goddess. 

WC2965

Last edit 1/29/2023