Wings of air, p.1
Wings of Air, page 1
Wings of Air
Heir to the Firstborn, Volume 4
Elizabeth Schechter
Published by Elizabeth Schechter, 2021.
Wings of Air
Copyright © 2021 Elizabeth Schechter
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portion thereof, in any form.
This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published by Raven’s Wing Books
Previously published as Wings of Air (Elizabeth Schechter, 2021)
Editor: Michael Schechter
Cover design by GetCovers
Raven’s Wing Books
ravens-wing-books.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
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Also By Elizabeth Schechter
About the Author
To R, the sister of my heart.
And as always, to M and J. My reasons for being.
CHAPTER ONE
Del had lived his entire life in the Palace. It had been a sheltered life, and he knew it. By necessity, at first —he’d been years recovering from what Risha did to him, from the fall that should have killed him, and the subsequent mutilation. Years where his only glimpses of sky had been through his window. As he’d gotten older, and stronger, he’d gone to Forge with his father, and to Terraces. But those had been visits. Short ones. He’d never been able to handle anything longer than a few days away before the fear overtook him. Before the weight of the world started to smother him, before he started to panic and needed to flee to the sanctuary of the Palace, to the safety of his own rooms, the comfort of his own bed. He’d needed to hide away where it was safe. Where no one could hurt him. So he’d never lived anywhere else.
Now? He hadn’t seen that room or that bed since the autumn. He hadn’t been back to the Palace since the night of the storm that the Waterborn called The Mother’s Rage. He’d spent four of the past five months living on canoes, out under the sky and the stars, and he wasn’t even sure when he’d last felt smothered by the fear that something was going to hurt him. He knew he wasn’t better. He would never fully recover. Not the way he’d teased his father the night this had all started. Loving someone wasn’t going to undo the damage done. But being surrounded by love? Surrounded by people who didn’t think he was broken? It helped.
He looked around his tiny bedroom and smiled. When he and Aven had moved in with the others at the house at Three Northwest, there had been that first night when they’d all piled like puppies into the large bed to sleep. But after that, with Aven’s help, Del had made it clear to the others that he only used his bed to sleep. He had no interest in sex.
“None?” Aria asked. “Del, is this—”
“It’s normal, Aria,” Alanar said. “It’s rare, but it’s normal. Some people just like the opposite sex. Some people just like the same sex. Some of us don’t care. And some...they don’t want sex at all. Or maybe they do, but only if they care about someone very deeply.” He shrugged, keeping his arm around Owyn’s shoulders.
“What’s important is that we don’t have enough beds,” Owyn added. “I mean, it’s not fair to Del, is it? He needs his own space, so he don’t get put out of bed because of the rest of us.”
Del had raised his hands to start protesting, only to lower them when Aria arched a brow. “Were you going to say it isn’t necessary?” she asked him. When he nodded, she shook her head. “It is. It is necessary. I won’t have you made uncomfortable, or to feel pressured to do something you do not wish.” She looked around. “And yet, I don’t know how. I want you all with me, under the same roof. But we do not have another bedroom. Will we have to move houses again?”
“Nah,” Owyn answered. “Let me talk to the carpenters. We can do something. I have an idea.”
That idea had been turning a room that had been an unused, oversized closet into a small bedroom. When Owyn and the carpenters were done, there was just enough room in the space for a narrow bed and a small dresser. There was a shelf over the bed for books, and baskets under the bed for anything he might want to store there. Both were currently empty — he hadn’t had enough time to acquire either books or possessions, and the only thing he really currently owned other than his clothes was the barbed spear that Othi had given to him. That rested on pegs on the wall beneath the shelf. There was no window, which Del didn’t mind a bit — a lamp placed on top of the dresser gave him enough light to see. The room was tiny, almost claustrophobic, and Del loved every inch of it because it was his. When he wanted to be alone, he could come here to be alone. When he wanted company, there was almost always someone in the large sitting room in the front of the house, or the kitchen. If there wasn’t anyone else home, there were other places he could go if he wanted company. Places where he felt safe going, leaving the house all by himself. He could go down to the docks, to where Neera and Othi were anchored. He could go and help in the healing complex, with Senior Healer Jehan, Alanar, Treesi and Aven. He wasn’t allowed to help in the forge when Owyn went to work with Persis — he didn’t know enough to keep from hurting himself. But he could watch, and Owyn was good about explaining things. He seemed to have a knack for knowing just what Del was going to ask, even if he was facing away from him and couldn’t see the signs that Del used to communicate. The only place he didn’t go was across the street, where Owyn’s aunt Rhexa lived with her new wife, Ambaryl. Del knew he was welcome there, but Ambaryl had known him since he was a baby, and had been his first nursemaid after his mother’s death. She meant well, but she tended to behave in what Del knew was the usual reaction of most of the Palace servants who had known him for his entire life — ‘we must protect our poor, broken child from the world.’
Del didn’t want to be protected. He’d stretched his boundaries over the past few months, and he wanted more. So he tended to avoid Rhexa’s house, at least when he was alone.
Most of the time, Del spent his free time with his father. He couldn’t remember Mannon ever being so relaxed, especially now that Memfis had been released from the healing complex. Mannon seemed to have appointed himself Memfis’ caretaker, and Memfis didn’t seem to mind too much. They shared a house on North, and seemed to be as comfortable together as Rhexa and Ambaryl. Del stopped in the middle of taking a clean shirt out of a drawer. Had his father paired off with Memfis? He considered it, while he finished dressing and tidying his little room. He wouldn’t object — he liked Memfis. And it would make Owyn his brother, which...would be strange. He shook his head and grimaced. No, perhaps not. Besides, his father was so much older than Memfis — twenty years, at least! They couldn’t be lovers.
Could they?
No. Absolutely not. It wouldn’t happen.
But maybe he should ask Owyn.
It was early enough that Owyn was still in the kitchen, making something that smelled wonderful. He looked over his shoulder and smiled as Del came in.
“Good morning!” he called. “Go sit. Breakfast is almost ready. The porridge is done. The bread is just about to come out of the oven. And there’s hard-cooked eggs this morning. I know you like those.”
Del grinned and went to sit at the small table. He fished his tablet out of the pocket of the long vest that Aria had made for him, and scrawled a note that he left for Owyn to read. Then he waited.
Once he’d taken the bread out of the oven, Owyn came over to the table. “What’s this?” he asked, tipping his head sideways to read. “Are your father and mine...no. No, absolutely not.” He paused. “I don’t think. Fuck, Del, why did you have to ask me that question? Now I’m going to think about it!” He grumbled, then leaned down and kissed Del on the cheek. Something else Del was getting used to. And, to be honest, enjoying. “Good morning. You’re early enough to help me carry things to the table. No one else is up, but they’ll be along once they smell the food.”
Del nodded and stood up, helping Owyn carry bow ls and trays and plates out to the large table in the front room. The bread, and pots of honey, jam and butter. A bowl of hard-cooked eggs. Another bowl of fermented sea oak, which Owyn put next to Aven’s place. A large pot of porridge that Owyn insisted on carrying himself.
“Just get the bowls and spoons, would you?”
Del was just setting the teapot on the table when arms closed around him from behind. He leaned back into Aven’s embrace, tipping his head back. Aven smiled down at him, then leaned down and kissed him. “Good morning.”
Del nodded, tugging one hand free to sign, “Good morning. Where’s Aria?”
“Finishing getting dressed,” Aven answered. He took his seat at the table, then looked around. “More plates than people. Are we expecting anyone? Not Fa and Ama, I don’t think.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting them. Mannon said he’d be over this morning,” Owyn answered. “And Mem, probably. They’re usually together these days. And Granna Meris might come for some tea. But she usually doesn’t eat breakfast, so I don’t know. At the very least we’ll have Mannon and Mem.”
Aven frowned slightly. “About them. Owyn, have you asked Mem—”
“Don’t you start!” Owyn warned, sitting down. “I’ll serve when everyone else is here. And no, I don’t think Mannon and my fa are pairing off. That’s...no. Nope. Not at all. No.”
“But what do you really think, Owyn?” Aria teased as she joined them. She kissed Del on the cheek, kissed Owyn on the lips, then sat down next to Aven and sighed. “I agree with you, Owyn. I do not think they are paired. I think there is something, but not a pairing.”
“Well, what else is there?” Owyn asked.
“A life debt?” Del signed. “Fa saved Memfis’ life. Memfis owes him the debt.”
Owyn frowned. Then he shook his head. “I think I caught all of that—”
“That is better than I did,” Aria murmured. “All I understood were the names.”
Owyn nodded. “A life debt. That’s old fashioned. But...yeah, maybe.”
“What’s a life debt?” Aven asked. “Is it a Fire thing?”
There was a knock on the door, and Mannon came in, holding the door for Memfis. “You weren’t waiting on us, were you?” Mannon asked.
“We’re all just sitting down,” Owyn answered. “You’re right on time.”
Mannon looked around. “Mislaid your husband?” he asked, holding a chair out for Memfis, then taking the seat next to him.
“Mislaid my—” Owyn laughed. “No! No, he’s sleeping in. Treesi, too. There was something at the healing complex last night.” He started pouring tea. “I’m surprised you’re awake, Fishie.”
“They had me in reserve, in case they needed me, and so that someone would be awake and able to do rounds this morning,” Aven answered. “So I didn’t work nearly as hard as the others did, and I need to eat and leave.”
“What happened?” Memfis asked. He leaned his elbow on the table. “I thought I heard alerts—”
“Another group of refugees,” Aven answered. “This batch was from south and east of Forge. Took them this long to get around the areas where the ground is still smoking.”
Memfis sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face with his hand. “Will we ever be able to go back?”
“What will there be to go back to?” Aria asked in response. “Has the Smoking Mountain ever erupted like this before?”
Memfis looked at Mannon. “You’re the historian. Has it?”
Mannon looked thoughtful, taking the teacup that Del offered him and taking a sip. “I...don’t think so,” he said slowly as he put the cup down. “Not on this scale. Smaller eruptions, yes. On the south side. We have records of that. Eruptions on the north side? Never before. Can we rebuild Forge? Possibly. But maybe not in the same place. The ground there...it’ll be too changed. It’s a lava field now.” He tapped his finger on the side of his cup. “I don’t know what it will mean for the mines. Or the vents. We’ll have to send scouts. Surveyors. People to find a site that’s close to what Forge was—”
“What plans are you making behind my back, Mannon?” Meris asked as she came inside. Owyn jumped to his feet and hurried around the table, accepting a kiss from his adoptive grandmother before leading her to the table.
“Just wool-gathering, Lady Meris,” Mannon answered. “The question was can we rebuild Forge. And I think we can, but not in the same place.”
“And what prompted this question?” Meris asked. She shook her head when Owyn held up a bowl. “No, thank you, dear. I’ll have a piece of bread, and some of that lovely jam you made. Now, why are we discussing building?”
“More refugees,” Aven answered, taking a bowl from Owyn and putting it in front of Aria. “Last night. Fa might not have had time to send word to you. He and the others were up with them until late.”
Meris nodded. “He hasn’t. I’ll go see them this morning. And see to him as well.”
Del took his own bowl from Owyn, then helped himself to some of the fermented sea oak, stirring it into his porridge the way that Aven did. It made the cereal a little more pungent, and somehow more satisfying. And it always seemed to make Owyn look at him as if he’d grown another head.
“How can you eat that stuff?” Owyn asked. It was an old, comfortable question after a month, and Del grinned and took a big bite of seaweed-laced porridge. Next to him, he heard Aven snicker.
“He lived with us for four months, Mouse,” Aven said. “He picked up—”
“Bad habits,” Owyn finished.
“I was going to say refined tastes,” Aven finished. He reached over and helped himself to an egg, and a piece of bread. He slathered the bread with jam, and handed it to Aria.
“So what is a life debt?” Aven asked again. “It’s not something I’ve heard of out in the deep.”
“It’s an old idea, and all of the tribes held to it at one time or another,” Meris answered. “Why?”
Owyn looked at Del. “It was your idea.”
Del shrugged and laid down his spoon, picking up his tablet and writing, “I was wondering if I had a new father. Owyn says no. So I thought it might be a life debt.”
He passed the tablet to Meris, who read it. She looked up at Mannon and Memfis, then chuckled. “I can see why you asked that question, Del,” she said. She passed the tablet to Memfis, who looked at it, laughed, and passed it to Mannon.
“A new...” Mannon read aloud. He smiled. “Del, if I planned to marry, you would be the first person I’d tell.” He paused. “The second person. No, we’re not pairing.”
“And yes, it is a life debt,” Memfis added. “I owe Mannon my life. I need to repay that debt. And it’s complicated by the fact that he—” He waved at Mannon with his spoon. “Feels responsible for me. At least until I’m ready to live on my own, he’s insisting that I don’t.” He looked down at the empty right sleeve that was pinned up to the shoulder of his shirt. “I’m an old wolf. It’s not easy to learn new hunting tricks.”
“You’re going to have to,” Mannon said. He scraped the bottom of his bowl with his spoon. “Unless you plan on coming with me. Which I wouldn’t mind—”
“Going with you?” Owyn interrupted. “Going with you where?”
“Back to the Palace,” Mannon answered. “To get it ready for Aria. I haven’t had a messenger bird in days, and I’m starting to wonder why. To tell the truth, I’ve already been wondering what’s happening when I’m not looking. I’ve learned over the past month or two that a lot goes on behind my back. And there was someone in the Palace telling Risha what I was doing. I should find them before they do something rash.”
“Oh, are you ready to go back to the Palace?” Aria asked. “When do we leave?”
CHAPTER TWO
Mannon stared at her for a moment, then stammered, “I thought...I didn’t think...I assumed that I would go ahead, and prepare things, and you would join me later.” He stopped, setting down his spoon and resting his hands on the table. “You should join me later. You’re safe here. Stay here. Have your baby here, where it’s safe and you have access to the entire healing complex.”
“She’ll have three healers with her when we go to the Palace,” Meris pointed out.
