SONG OF POWER

Chapter XXVIII: Calm Before the Storm

SONG OF POWER

CHAPTER XXVIII:  CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Ninthalsaya paced the length of the tiny room in which the near-lifeless body of her unwanted wife was interred.  Rowena, Ninthalsaya’s other wife, sat in a chair beside the bed, holding Tyroce’s hand in hers.  Outside the room stood Donk and Baron Alafin, the former describing in detail his recent foray into the timestream to the latter.  Their deep, muffled voices drifted in through the space between the door and the floor.  For their part, all the pair of men could hear from within the room was the rhythmic click! click! click! of Ninthalsaya’s boots across the stone floor.

The gorgeous half-elf glanced out the window.  The driving rain had calmed itself some, and the occasional gap in the clouds allowed moonlight to occasionally sneak into the room.  These brief moments of lunar luminescence made Ninthalsaya smile, for the moonlight on her skin was as the summer sun on a lover’s face.

Rowena loves simply and easily.  She has cared for Cipher for years, yet I doubt she ever dared to imagine that he would actually choose her for a bride.  She has readily accepted both myself and Tyroce as her wives, accepted this whole muddled situation, and cares for us.  She has played the peace-weaver for us, and now sits in prayer beside Tyroce as the sorceress lies dying.  How does this come so naturally to one so young?  Is it her youth that makes her gullible, or is her heart sincere?

Had I been raised among my mother’s people it would not be so different.  Group marriages are common to the sidhe…what am I thinking?  Am I arguing with myself again?  I hate that I did not have complete freedom in my choice.  Not that the match was bad… Rowena is pretty, loyal, and cheerful.  Tyroce is gorgeous, true, but maddening, and frightfully powerful.  Cipher is…Ninthalsaya shook her head to clear out the thought.  Enough!

Ninthalsaya heaved a sigh.  She moved to the window and gazed up at the moon as best she could, glad that the unhappy clouds were taking their tears elsewhere.  She allowed her mind to dwell on the facts that threatened to undo her peace of mind.

The Child of Good and Evil.  Can I love that?  Can I forgive her for all that she has done?  Is Tyroce redeemed?  Does she deserve a chance to alter her fate?

“Dawn will be soon upon us,” Ninthalsaya whispered to Rowena, hoping that hearing her own voice would banish the unwanted tide of thoughts that ever lapped at her mind.  She moved to the foot of the high bed, looking down at Rowena.  The human girl—no, she is a blossomed woman, Ninthalsaya corrected herself—squeezed Tyroce’s cold hand, turning her face up to the half-sidhe.

“Yes, w-w-we have an hour at most.  Ninthalsaya, if Cipher does not make it…” Rowena began, but her voice caught in her throat at the thought.  Ninthalsaya guessed what Rowena was too emotional to ask.

“Based on what I know about the Dream World, he faces peril no matter the outcome,” Ninthalsaya replied in low tones.  “The Dream World is a dangerous place full of strange, alien creatures.  I say this not to frighten you, but because I cannot lie to you.  Cipher is strong, though he may not realize it.  He is trying to save our wife…”  Human emotions are confusing, she mused.  My mother, Wakanda, had two husbands and a wife when she lived with the Seelie of the Dreadwood, and suitors besides.  She told me that she had chosen them all; I wonder how she would have reacted to having no choice in the matter.  What would Mother do with my lot?

She would adore Rowena, the simple sweetheart.  Oh me, but she would revel in the joining of her hand with an Unseelie! It was her unconventional ways that helped me to rise from Gaia’s Womb and be born into the mortal coil, so Cipher would be welcome in her heart.  Cipher…