Hurricane Smile (Part 1)

Blood and Starlight Chapter 7 Part 1

Blood and Starlight: A conjurer, a vampire, and a mechanical demon embark on a rescue mission.

Audience: Adults (contains violence, strong language, and sexual content)

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Chapter 7

Hurricane Smile (Part 1)

When Ely returned to consciousness, he lay on a lumpy mattress covered by a faded patchwork quilt. A sewing machine rested on a sturdy workbench. Long reams of colorful fabric and bits of unfinished costumes provided a clue as to where he found himself. Safely returned to Sir Ambrose Quinn's apartment.

Ely groaned, dragging himself upright despite his body's protests. A tightly bound splint braced his left leg, and each breath felt like a fight only to inhale fire. The skeleton chevalier appeared in the doorway.

"Good morning. Or afternoon now," Quinn said, a pleasant veneer spread thin over his worry.

"How bad?" Ely asked.

"Your leg is broken in two places. You've cracked several ribs. Apparently a lung has collapsed. And you've taken a nasty blow to the head. In short, you have rather outdone yourself, my friend."

"Well," Ely grunted. "Nothing a quick jaunt to the fourth floor can't cure."

"About that," Quinn sighed. "I paid a visit to the University the first moment I could bring myself to leave you. She said…Dr. Faidra said that perhaps leaving you to discomfort will convince you to do as you're told."

Ely's heart dropped. In other words, she knew what he had been up to and was letting her displeasure be known.

"I hope you don't mind the company then," he wheezed with the most gamesome expression he could muster.

"Not in the least, old sport," Quinn replied, jaw bone lifted with the intended smile. "Here, these might be of use."

The skeleton knight brought him his canteen and starlight flask which had miraculously not been lost in the fall. Ely took a sip from the flask. The cool diffusion soothed the burn in his chest. Perhaps he could make real headway on his recovery after nightfall.

"What happened?" Ely asked.

"Well, old bean, you walked right into some kind of trap," Quinn told him. "By the time night settled, I had despaired of ever finding a way down to you. Then who should turn up but your vampire. He swooped down into the blasted tangle of roots and sailed back out again in a hailstorm of debris."

"How did we get back here?" Ely asked.

"Kind fellow gave us both a lift," Quinn replied. "A good thing too. That would have been a hell of a time trying to climb out of there myself."

Ely lay back, exhausted.

"Why don't you take a rest, old chap. I'll be in the next room if you need anything."

Quinn left the door cracked, and Ely closed his eyes with a sigh. This was not the first time Dr. Faidra had chosen to punish him for defiance.

He found his thoughts wandering back to that cloudy fall morning when he heard a familiar voice calling his name from the courtyard below the east wing. Sure enough, when he peered out the window, he found Kailari Novara standing by the fountain.

Ely hurried down to meet him, heart soaring and quaking. How could Kai be here? No human had made it this far into Death's Vale apart from himself.

"Ely!" The pirate prince rushed to embrace him.

When Ely greeted him in halting Séoc, Kai beamed with delight. He launched into a lilting stream until Ely shook his head.

"Not so fast," he laughed. "I only have a book for a teacher, and I'm a slow study. How are you here?"

"I found an old chart in the monastery library. There's a river that feeds straight from the sea to Dianessa," Kai explained.

"You sailed the River Scythe?" Ely gasped.

Kai inclined his head. "Yes, and then a talking skeleton pointed the way to the University."

"They spoke to you?" Ely gaped.

"It seems that Death has left its mark on me," Kai replied. "That is not why I've come."

"Why have you come, mortal?" Dr. Faidra's voice scraped over the courtyard stones.

Kai and Ely both jumped. The pirate prince surveyed the startling figure with interest. "You must be Dr. Faidra," he said with his most dashing smile.

Dr. Faidra glowered at him, unmoved.

"Kai is a friend of mine," Ely explained, hoping to diffuse her irritation.

"So, this is the reason you've been useless since you returned," Dr. Faidra rumbled. "Let you out of my sight for one second and you start collecting pretty strays."

"He is the future king of Séocwen, and really, Dr. F, would it kill you to be civil?"

Dr. Faidra eyed him, replying dryly, "I'm already dead, Elyssandro."

She turned to Kai. Something flashed in her eyes, and she tilted her head to the side, observing the pirate prince more closely.

"You have a touch of Death about you," she croaked.

"I've seen the other side of it before," Kai replied.

She turned narrowed eyes back to Ely. He could see the calculations scratching across her mind.

"What business brings you to Dianessa?" she questioned at last.

"I would rather discuss it with Ely," Kai answered in an even tone. "Respectfully."

Dr. Faidra bared her stained teeth. "This is my domain, mortal prince. You want an audience with my ward, then state your business."

Kai looked between them, confidence wavering. "I need his help," he said. "The Séoc need help. The Canon has been encroaching on the Barrier Keys. They will take Séocwen if we cannot turn the tide."

"And what makes you think Elyssandro is the one to do it?" she demanded.

"He saved our islands before," Kai answered, this time turning his seeking gaze to Ely. "Will you come with me?"

"Of course!"

His words were drowned out by Dr. Faidra's snarl. "No. I forbid it!"

Ely glared at her. "Kai, can we have a moment?" he asked.

Kai gave them some distance.

"What's the matter with you?" Ely hissed. "You've never given a damn where I wander."

"I do when the Canon is involved, you know that well, Elyssandro."

"I can't just stand by and watch Séocwen fall into their hands." Ely met her milky, bloodshot eyes. "I'm going. You can't stop me."

"Alright, go then," she spat. "Just remember no matter what you do for them, it will never be enough to make them forget you are a monster."

"Many thanks, Dr. F," he muttered, then turned to rejoin Kai.

"When you come crawling back with your own beating heart in your hand, don't expect any pity from me," she shot after him.

The day's end saw him climbing aboard the single-sailed vessel Kai had piloted up the noxious River Scythe.

"We will meet the Marisola outside of the inlet," Kai told him. "My cousins are waiting for us there."

Ely had never seen Death's Vale from this vantage. Flowing past a dreamlike phantom realm.

"It is beautiful," Kai said. "Your home."

"You think so?"

Ely turned to him, watching the angles of his face as the pirate prince gazed out at the ghostly landscape. He had changed. Aged. Not in body but in spirit.

"Kai, are you well?" Ely asked.

"Everyone keeps asking me that," Kai answered with a quiet chuckle. "I never told anyone what happened on the Isle of the Gods. They know you saved them. But not how you saved me."

He paused, thoughtful.

"I am not unwell, Ely. I was in the stars. I saw the vast reaches of all that is. There is so much beyond what I ever dreamed. Then I returned to realize that the time we share on this earth is so short. And yet here we find ourselves once again at the mercy of those who want to squander our lives with hate and bloodshed. It fills me with such rage..."

The mirrorwood railing groaned under his grip. Then he relaxed, turning to look at Ely again.

"I want to put an end to the Canon," he said. "I want my family, my people to be free to live this life to its fullest so that when they return to the stars, they will be content to journey on."

"And what about you?" Ely asked. "Will you be content?"

He turned to meet Ely's eyes with a cryptic smile. "Yes. I think I will be."

---

They arrived in Séocwen under a honeyed sunrise. A convoy met them as they disembarked. A broad-shouldered man, auburn beard interwoven with shells, hailed Kai.

"The king will see you, Prince Kailari," he said, voice gruff and deep. His eyes flicked to Ely. "Both of you."

"Thank you, Balor," Kai said.

Balor's company escorted them to a pale limestone palace adorned with sculped lava rock. Feathery trees and vivid flowers skirted the front walk. Salía, Yamon, and Mirit waited outside in the walled palace garden. The king's guards stood at attention as their prince approached. They turned their faces away from the diakana.

King Tennoc sat on a throne woven from thick fronds of fragrant grass. She wore a purple mantle trimmed in sunset orange. Feathers adorned her white-streaked hair. She did not rise as they approached, only looked down on them with sharp, appraising eyes. Kai's eyes.

"I expected someone older," she pronounced.

The king spoke in Séoc, and Ely was not sure if she expected him to understand.

Kai made his introduction quietly and quickly. Ely followed as best he could.

"Mother, this is Elyssandro Santara Ruadan. He is the diakana...Isle of the Gods. He also...saved us...Templars...beach...I called him to...Canon...Séocwen..."

The king listened, eyeing her visitor with keen interest. Then she addressed him in precise Lanica. "Welcome, Elyssandro. My son tells me we owe you a great debt."

"It is nothing that wasn't offered freely," he replied.

Her eyes narrowed. The answer displeased her, though he could not discern why.

"And now you return to our aid as we face the Canon incursion," she continued.

"Yes, che'alta," he confirmed, using the Séoc word for addressing a king.

"What do you expect of us in return for your service?" she asked.

"Ely is not–"

Tennoc lifted her hand for silence.

"He will speak for himself, Kailari."

Ely straightened his shoulders and met her gaze.

"The Canon slaughtered my mother's people and crushed my father's kingdom underfoot. I want no other reward than to see their tyranny put to an end."

The king considered his words. She seemed more satisfied with this response.

"I have called together the kings of the Barrier Keys. We will convene at dawn tomorrow to let the Council decide what our next stand will entail. Kailari, you will attend at my side. I trust your young guest will manage without you for a day."

Kai inclined his head respectfully. "Yes, Mother."

She gave a sharp nod, signifying the audience to be at its end. As they turned, she called, "Kailari."

He looked back to her. She spoke in Séoc, but Ely understood.

"Be careful. There are eyes watching."

They left the palace. Kai's cousins rose from where they lounged under the latticed shade of fruit-laden vines. They made their way down the packed path back toward the port city.

"They've called the Council together," Kai told his cousins. "We will need all hands at watch on the Marisola."

Unspoken tension rippled through the Novara crew. Salía nodded, dark eyes wary. "Yamon and Mirit can see to that. I will go with you."

Kai shook his head. "I need you to stay with Ely."

"A diakana can look after himself," Salía argued.

"Please, cousin," Kai asked. "For me."

Salía accepted his request with a nod and a sigh. The others departed. Ely breathed in the moist jungle air, delighting in gentle birdsong on the journey to Kai's bungalow. He visited this place so often in his dreams, but it was never this alive. Just a muted echo.

"What did your mother mean about eyes watching?" Ely asked as they walked the sanded path.

"I am to be king after my mother, and because of that, I have enemies," Kai explained.

"What enemies?" Ely asked.

"Lesser kings who would control the Barrier Keys. They are always watching, waiting to sniff out some sign of weakness in Séocwen."

"Why the reminder today?" Ely pressed.

"Because I have not been myself since I returned from the Isle of the Gods," Kai answered, tense. "And she told me not to ask for your help."

"Why?"

"That is a complicated question. She is a very wise king, and she is right about many things, but in this I know that I have taken the best course."

Ely frowned, far less sure. Closing ruptures and putting the fear of Death in pious templars he knew. Politics and intrigue? That strayed far outside his realm.

Kai's grin quieted his doubts. "It would seem we are both the rebellious sons."

Ely laughed. He was sure Dr. Faidra would be less than amused at being named his parent.

They reached the bungalow just before sunset. Kai set a fire in the cooking pavilion, and they pieced together a simple feast. Then they lit dancing lanterns on the balcony and sipped zaqual, listening to the ocean's purr. When the stars emerged, they lounged side by side on the cozy balcony cushion, gazing skyward. Kai packed a wooden pipe, passing it first to his guest before imbibing himself.

Ely leaned back, watching fragrant smoke curl over his head.

"I could spend every night like this," he said. "Until we're old men with white hair and hobbled knees."

"Why don't you stay then?" Kai asked.

"I thought you said you weren't one for the quiet married life," Ely laughed.

"I only said I didn't want a wife," Kai replied with a pointed look.

"You'll settle for a friend then?" Ely smiled, heart suddenly roaring louder than the ocean below.

"Ely," Kai chuckled softly. "You can't look at me that way and call me a friend."

"Tell me a word for it then," Ely replied.

Kai shifted to gaze at him, the lantern's glow casting a gentle spell over his face.

"Tapána," Kai murmured.

Forbidden.

"I've thought quite a lot about what you told me on the Isle of the Gods," Ely said, turning his gaze back to the heavens. "Every time I closed my eyes, in fact. Part of me hoped you really did mean it was me. The rest of me hoped it was someone long gone. That what I am didn't matter at all."

Kai took his hand, tracing the lines gently. "I would not wish for you to be any way other than as you are."

His fingers brushed the inside of Ely's wrist. Traveled his arm. Moved aside his shirt to trace his collar bone. Ely turned his face as Kai caressed his cheek. The pirate prince leaned forward, unable to resist any longer. Ely kissed his lips, hot and spiked with zaqual.

Kai pressed closer, stealing his breath until he saw stars. Ely's hands slipped under Kai's tunic, the soft warmth of his skin setting him alight. The pirate prince shrugged off the hindering garment and freed Ely of his own for good measure.

Then Kai drew away with a questioning gaze.

"Is this not what you want?" Ely asked.

"Of course it is. But I am forever terrified of what I want." Kai stroked his face with strong, tender hands. "No, not of you, diakana. Of the way that I am."

"But you're perfect. As you are." Ely brushed a finger to his lips and bent once more to claim them.

He set a trail of kisses from Kai's throat down his chest and torso, then leaned back to catch his lantern lit gaze as he reached for the fastener at his waist. He found the pirate prince roused to straining passion beneath the sea-worn trousers. Kai shuddered a low moan as Ely strummed his fingers along the length of him. Bent to taste him with a worshipping tongue.

They lay lost to time with only the night sky and the swelling sea to witness their trespasses.

---

Ely woke alone on the balcony covered in a light blanket. From the look of the sun, it was past midmorning. Kai would be long gone to the Council by now. He heaved a sigh, apprehension at war with contentment.

He found Salía outside by the cooking pavilion, four fish smoking in the iron pot. She nodded to him, good humor in her brown eyes. Unlike most of the Séoc, she did not flinch from his gaze.

"You're awake," she said. "Kai kept you up late, did he?"

"A bit," Ely replied, wrangling his smile before it exploded into a grin.

"Come get some food while it's hot," she ordered.

Ely obeyed gladly. He hadn't noticed his ravenous hunger until that moment.

"Can I ask you something, Ely?" Salía inquired.

She had been watching him in silence for a while, but he was too hungry to offer a penny for her thoughts.

"Of course," he said.

"Did something happen to Kai on the Isle of the Gods?"

Ely frowned, unsure if he should reveal what Kai had chosen to keep to himself.

Sensing his hesitation, she continued, "He's seemed different since his return. Distant. I am not the only one to notice. I'm asking you because I need to know how to protect him." She held his gaze, eyes probing. "What happened to him?"

"He died," Ely said. Voice low. Heavy with the memory.

Salía looked up at the billowing palms, stricken. "You brought him back?"

Ely nodded.

"But he is himself?"

"Yes. He remembers what is beyond. That leaves a mark."

Salía eyed him, appraising. "You love him?" she asked.

"Yes," Ely answered.

"I do not doubt it," she said. "He loves you too. I've known it always. You are his one weakness."

Ely frowned. "You think I should leave?"

Salía leveled stern eyes. "I am asking you to stay watchful of the danger. He will not."

Ely inclined his head, not trusting his voice. Though there did not seem to be any animosity under her words, Ely wondered if she believed the superstitions about diakana and their entrancing effect on humans. There was truth to those fears. He had seen it often enough. Was it even by his own will that Kai endangered himself and his position?

It's different with Kai, he thought

There was no manic gleam to his desire when he gazed on him nor a breathy catch to his voice as though something compelled declarations from his lips. It was not death magic that bound them together. Of that he was certain. But yet...

Kai's voice interrupted his troubled thoughts. "Please tell me you've left some for me. That circus can leave a man famished."

"There's plenty," Salía assured him.

He beamed at Ely, dimpled smile raising fluttering wings in his stomach. If anyone was working spells, it was the pirate prince. Kai paused to kiss him, not concerned with Salía's eyes on them. His cousin had been his right hand since they were children. He trusted her with his life, and she guarded him fiercely. Her words bore no ill will. She was merely protecting her captain and prince.

Kai moved on to pile a bowl high with food.

"You're back early," Salía observed. "What happened?"

Kai shook his head, irritation shadowing his face. "You know the kings. An argument broke out within moments of their gathering. Mother ended the Council until tomorrow to hope for cooler heads."

"Who's causing the trouble this time?" Salía questioned.

"Who do you think? Morag of Seúza. He says he will not join the fight against the Canon unless he is granted Sémar Esanto. As you can imagine, that did not sit well with Jian."

He paused to explain to Ely, "Jian is married to my mother's younger brother. She is king of Lilipon to the north. Yamon and Mirit's mother."

"Any fool could see he spoke out of turn," Salía said. "What claim could Seúza have to Sémar Esanto?"

"He brought up his help expanding trade on the mainland and made some outrageous demands."

"Such as?" Salía pressed.

"It doesn't matter. Mother does not humor tantrums," Kai evaded. Salía caught his tone and asked no more questions.

"We are adjourned until tomorrow," he continued.

"I will leave you, then," Salía nodded.

She said farewell to Kai in Séoc and departed.

Kai turned to Ely, soft smile curved over his lips. "I'm sorry to have left you, but you would not be roused from your dreams."

"I slept like a stone," Ely laughed.

"Have I worn you to tatters, diakana?" he asked with a dizzying grin.

"I think I've recovered," Ely said.

"Good. Come then."

He set off down the beach. Ely followed, curious. They took a new path through the lively trees. Kai paused at a branch heavy with sweet-smelling fruit. He plucked two blushing bulbs, tossing one to Ely before continuing the journey. Ely took a bite of the plump fruit, tart juice exploding on his tongue.

They came to a lazy stream captured in a rock-lined basin before trickling on toward the sea. Kai undressed and climbed into the pool. Ely followed, enjoying the cool lapping water. Kai sought his lips, nimble hands quick to heat his blood.

By the time they returned to the bungalow, he had forgotten Salía's warning. The day passed a delicious cycle of longing, ecstasy, and contentment. They recovered their strength in the cooking pavilion, then bathed in the sea only to taste the salt on each other's skin.

Darkness' descent found them resting comfortably in Kai's bed. The pirate prince turned to him, caressing his hair with a smile.

"Will you come with me tomorrow?"

"To the Council?"

Kai inclined his head. "I think it would help the others to know that we do not need Seúza to send the Canon crawling back to the Protectorate."

"If you think it will help, then of course. I will do anything you ask," Ely said.

Kai kissed him. "Thank you."

He looked as if he had something more to say but settled back instead. Ely closed his eyes, drifting off into the dreamless sleep of perfect bliss...

---

"You're almost as bad as when I left you," Rav's voice roused Ely from his fevered visions. It seemed the vampire had made his entrance through the open shutters.

"I'm only human, I'm afraid," Ely breathed.

"But you don't have to die like one," Rav intoned. "I'd have thought she would have fixed you by now."

"She thinks she's teaching me a lesson," Ely groaned.

The effort to speak seemed steeper than a sheer cliff face.

"That you live and breathe at her whim?" Rav snarled.

"Why did you save me?" Ely grunted.

"It was Ariel that fought off the Hollow," Rav deflected.

"But you pulled me out," Ely countered.

"Do you think I’d leave you there to suffer?" Rav asked.

"I don't know," Ely answered. "Dr. Faidra said you butchered women and children. Then you turned on the Cosmologists."

"I think your doctor may have the details confused after all this time," Rav said. "It was the Cosmologists of the Tower that demanded blood, and they sent my kind to collect it.”

"Why would the Cosmologists need blood?" Ely asked.

"For the Hollow, of course," Rav said. "Nothing so twisted could grow from water and sunlight."

"What does that make you then?" Ely asked.

Rav turned a scathing look on him. "The stories they told about vampires preying upon humans were meant to provoke fear. We cannot live off of human blood any more than you could cake or wine. Enjoyable at a party? Yes, but a slow death in the long term. In truth, we are made in your image. What is starlight but the last lifeblood of celestial bodies trickling down through the darkness of the universe?"

Ely watched his face in silence, and as he digested the vampire’s words, the truth seeped from them.

"When you say the Cosmologists sent you, you had no choice in the matter, did you?” Ely asked.

Rav shook his head. "We were to them no more than machinery. If we did not play our parts, we were thrown in a box and locked away to rust."

Ely watched him, throat tightening. Rav looked up sharply as though Ely had spoken aloud. The vampire flexed his teeth, rage bursting like a runaway breaker about him.

"I didn't come here for your pity, Elyssandro."

"Then why did you come?" Ely shivered. Fever was setting in.

"You must drink the stars, conjurer. It is slower than healing spells, but it will save you," Rav said.

Ely lifted his hand toward the window, but he could not muster the strength to draw the light into his grasp. Rav moved to his side in a wail of wind, lifting Ely's head gently in one hand and siphoning icy light to his lips with the other. Ely drank in desperate, unfiltered rivulets. When he lay back on the pillow again, the fight to draw breath felt just a little bit easier.

"Sleep," Rav commanded.

Ely could not open his eyes, but he felt the vampire's departure as surely as if he had watched him glide away through the window.

What had he been dreaming about..?

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Many thanks!