23. Jonas A Masterful Djinn

I stared from Cadmus and Ellie to Ethim. Shit.

It wasn't as if I hadn't tried to warn the Earth Lord. But no, Cadmus had been too busy to pay attention. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore exactly what Cadmus had been doing with Ellie. Suffice it to say, the Storm Lord and his affaihad no idea their bliss had become public knowledge.

"How do you explain all this?" Ethim growled, waving his arms around the forest surrounding the pavilion. The Djinn behind him grumbled as well, but honestly, I felt Foreia's joy with the situation.

Before, thinning trees and just-blooming vegetation had dotted the landscape. Now, full-flowered bushes and shrubs, thick blue grass and trees that seemed to have grown several feet in the span of little more than an hour flourished all around us.

I couldn't help being impressed. Cadmus was, of course, an Earth Lord. But I'd never appreciated what the annoying Storm Lord could really do. Foreia thrilled under his touch, or rather, thrilled under Cadmus loving Ellie — a Darkling.

Foreia, like Tanselm, was a rare land, a place of magic and sentience. The land spoke to those who would listen. Right now, we were hearing an earful about the wonderful pairing of a Light Bringer and Djinn daughter.

"Sarqua," I said softly. "I think perhaps you should listen to the world around us."

"You stay out of this." Ethim glowered, his eyes like blue flame, uncomfortably reminding me that Lexa would need to know about this right away, that is, if she didn't know already.

"But Sarqua —"

"I've tolerated a lot to save our world and Tanselm from the Dark Lords. But to give my daughter to a Light Bringer forever?" Anger seethed in Ethim's energy, spreading throughout the Djinn. "That goes too far."

"Your prejudices are showing," Lexa murmured, her light blue eyes appearing before the rest of her filled in. A soft hush settled over the rest of the Djinn, and we backed away respectfully. "Come now, Ethim. We talked about this. Ellie is better now than she's ever been."

"Terrific. As if the Djinn weren't bad enough." Cadmus sounded more entertained than worried. Great. Not only was Ethim in a major rage, but Cadmus appeared to enjoy it and made no effort to hide his amusement.

"Who is that?" Ellie asked Cadmus, who sighed.

"That is a Dark Lord."

Instead of cringing, Ellie stared at Lexa with curiosity. "There's something about her that looks familiar."

"Elliara, I'm pleased you seem so interested in Foreia's riches," Ethim interrupted, his jaw clenched. "But tying yourself to a Light Bringer is not necessary. I never meant to let you go to one of them."

Ellie's features tightened, and her bright blue eyes sparkled with defiance. "You've got a lot of nerve telling me what to do considering —"

"Ellie, Sarqua, perhaps there is a better time and place for such discussions." I tried to stop before they really got started.

The Djinn behind Lexa watched the drama unfolding with unapologetic curiosity. I knew they had Ethim's best interests at heart, not to mention quite a few of them must have harbored fantasies of mating with the Sarqua's daughter. Though Ellie hadn't visited Foreia until now, Ethim had often sent his warriors to the mundane plane to protect her in secret. Word about her beauty and vivacity had spread like wildfire.

"Jonas is right." Lexa smirked at the lovers holding hands. With a wave, the crowd of Djinn behind her suddenly disappeared. "Relax, Ethim. I just sent them back to the training fields. This conversation is one that should be held between family." She nodded at Ellie and bowed her head, shocking us all. "Welcome, Elliara Storm, to the beginning of the rest of your life."

Ellie frowned and took a step toward Lexa. "I know you, don't I?"

Lexa's smile faded. "No, Ellie. You don't know me."

My gut clenched, and I felt a Dark awareness pass between the women. Ethim remained oblivious to the odd communication, as did Cadmus, who still had too much Light to see what happened.

Ellie's eyes widened, but she said nothing.

"Ellie?" Cadmus pulled her back into his arms and glared at Lexa, a move I had to respect. The Storm Lord knew Lexa could bend him like a pretzel yet continued to fight to protect his own.

"Never mind," Ellie said in a distracted voice. "I was mistaken."

Cadmus nodded but remained tense, guarding his affai. As I watched the two stand as one against Lexa and Ellie's father, I had to admit they looked right together. Ellie was fair where Cadmus was dark, yet her Darkness fit his Light like a key and its lock. Through Ellie, Cadmus had grown stronger and Darker, better able to meet and defend himself against Sin Garu and the Netharat menace readying for war.

The love they shared would empower them both. Had Ethim not been so prejudiced against the Light Bringers, he might have felt a measure of peace seeing his daughter so well-protected and loved.

Instead, he growled at Lexa. "This is bullshit. My daughter brought the Earth Lord to heel. Giving her to him was not part of the plan."

Ellie laughed at her father. "To heel? Are you serious? You obviously don't know Cadmus very well, Father." Ellie rarely called him her father to his face.

He blinked at the familial title and softened a fraction. "You're right, Daughter, I don't. But I do know my kind and theirs don't mix."

"Don't mix well," Lexa corrected. "And that's a mistake that has cost many lives and much pain through the years. Because of that chasm, Tanselm is in dire straits. But with Cadmus and Ellie mending the rift, along with Alandra and Aerolus, things are looking up."

Ethim glared at Lexa. "How can you say that? Are we all just pawns in your quest for revenge against Tanselm's sorcerer? Yes, Mistress. We all know how much you long to strip the Light from Arim's soul. What I don't know is what you plan on doing with my daughter. Do you think to sacrifice her for Tanselm?"

Lexa's icy expression didn't bode well for the Sarqua's future. I quickly stepped between her and Ethim when a blue spark fired in her hand.

I tried to placate her. "Mistress, you know his response is based on nothing more than love for his daughter."

"And ignorance and fear." Ellie surprised me by chiming in. Cadmus said nothing, squeezing her arm in support. "I know I'm fairly new to all this Light and Dark stuff, but I've heard Jonas' stories my whole life. Sounds to me like a lot of untruths have been flying about both sides."

She turned to me. "You always told me that the Light Bringers thrived on killing anything not Light. That they thought themselves better than the rest of existence. But I know Cadmus doesn't feel that way. His brothers have married women from my world — my former world. And Alandra, a princess from Aelle — a Shadow realm — would sacrifice anything for her husband, a Storm Lord and Light Bringer. I know this because she and I have been friends for a year."

"I knew it," I muttered.

Ethim stared in shock. "You refused to acknowledge the Djinn, yet you befriended a conniving Aellei?" His voice rose in anger. "I don't fucking believe this!"

"Watch your tone," Cadmus warned in a cool voice, though I could feel amusement below his seemingly calm surface.

"Watch my tone? Look, you little lekharn, I only allowed you here to appease our Dark Mistress, an act I regret more than you can know. I'll speak to my daughter any way I fucking feel like!" Black rays of energy shot from Ethim's eyes into Cadmus.

For a moment, I feared the worst. To my amazement, Cadmus shrugged the blast away.

"Thanks, Ellie." He kissed her and winked at me before turning back to Ethim. "Get this. Through your daughter, I can now withstand direct Darkness. How cool is that, Ethim? Or should I call you Dad?"

Ethim choked on his rage, and suddenly, Amanda appeared behind him.

"Oh, good. You're all here together. Thank you for the invite." She nodded at Lexa. "I've been so looking forward to this." Completely ignoring her blustering husband, she approached Ellie and Cadmus and enveloped them both in a warm embrace. "My little girl finally found her heart. Oh, Ellie, I'm so happy for you. I just knew he was the one. I could sense it the moment I looked into his eyes." She turned to Ethim. "Now we can relax. Our daughter has a big, strong warrior to protect her. You should be happy."

"Happy?" he growled. "You don't understand. Cadmus Storm is a —"

"Very nice man who is going to take good care of our daughter. And if you want to see our grandbabies one day, you'd better play nice." Amanda's gaze grew hard. "I think we've all shared enough prejudices and misunderstandings to last a lifetime." She glanced at Ellie with apology, her eyes damp. "I hope we can all start over again. A clean slate, maybe?"

I sighed and ignored the aggravated grumbles around me. "This is worse than those daytime television dramas I used to watch in Seattle. Why don't we all agree that Ethim's got work to do in the father-in-law department and grab something to eat? I'm hungry, and I'm sure you two could use some food." I glared at Cadmus and Ellie. "While you've been becoming ‘better acquainted,' some of us have been waiting out here, starving."

Amanda chuckled and walked back to Ethim, yanking him to her side when he took a threatening step toward me.

"Well said, Jonas." Lexa smiled. "Now, why don't we all sit down in Ethim's home and sup together while we wait for what comes next."

In the blink of an eye, we sat in Ethim's home before a large table covered with food. My mouth watered as I eyed fresh fowl and spiced meat, ripe, juicy fruits and honeyed cakes hopefully spiked with sorba.

Between bites, I asked what was foremost on my mind. "Okay, Mistress, I'll bite. What do we do next?"

"That's what I'd like to know. Well, Cadmus? You see the future. What are we waiting for?"