20. Mica

Chapter 20

Mica

Mica had been so distracted by navigating the conversation with Nerida that he hadn't noticed Ra waking. Ignoring everyone, Mica jumped to his feet and sped across the room, pausing with his hand raised to touch Ra's cheek before dropping it.

"My love, I am so sorry. I never should've let you think I didn't trust you. I never should've let you out of my sight," Mica said.

"Did you really think I hurt Earthshine?" Ra whispered.

"Not for a second," Mica said.

Ra nodded but looked doubtful. "And you do trust me?" he asked.

"Without reservation."

"What changed?"

"I could feel everything through the connection. You weren't guilty or worried for yourself. You were worried for me, for Earthshine. Even with accusations and the earth itself flying at you, your focus was on protecting me. I only wish I could say the same," Mica said.

Ra snorted and rolled his eyes. "Please. You literally stopped the earth from splitting apart under my feet and a war starting that would have affected me and everyone I love. You protected me just fine."

"I should've listened to you. I swear I will do better."

"Good, because I dreamed what might be a solution to our problem while I was out. I think you need Zee to come help," Ra said.

Mica paused. He had no real problem with Zahra, but it would be another hard pill for the more traditional members of his court to swallow.

I shared his dream. We need the engineer , the stronghold spoke into his mind.

This was it. The moment at which he could start to change the way his court functioned to move into the future. The moment he could demonstrate to his mate that he trusted him with more than words.

"Okay," Mica said, smiling a little as Ra's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Just like that?" he asked.

"Just like that."

He could feel the tiny seed of hope his words planted in the earth of their relationship through his connection to Ra. He wished it was stronger though. Wished the seed was already a deeply rooted tree and his awareness of Ra's emotions had the full depth of a mating bond.

"You want more," Ra whispered, surprise and something else in his voice. Something wary.

"I want it all with you. I love you," Mica admitted, uncaring of their audience. It's not like anyone there didn't know Ra was his mate.

"Are you crazy?! I just almost died . If we mated, that could've killed you," Ra snapped.

Mica smiled and pulled the trembling human into his arms, wrapping him in his wings and kissing his temple. "Or you would've accessed my power and taken care of Lucia yourself. Come sit, darling. I'll get you a drink."

"You don't know I would be able to access your power just because Hel and Bast can access each other's," Ra grumbled as he let himself be manoeuvred onto the couch.

It was true. They didn't know for sure what would happen when an elemental and a human mated. The bonds were so rare that he was only aware of three others and, other than Bastion, they were elemental couples who shared a court, so there was no way to know if they were sharing powers or simply boosting each other's magic.

"I think it's likely you would," Bastion said, sounding thoughtful. "It's not that humans are totally magicless after all and Mica's mark on you accelerated your healing. The mating bond would just extend that exponentially."

"Could we maybe focus on the matter at hand, instead of my love life?" Ra asked, exasperated.

That was okay. Ra might not trust his intentions but Mica would show him he was serious. Almost losing his mate had made him realise how soul-deep his need for Ra was. He was all in now and nothing was going to stand in his way of making Ra his in every way he could.

"On that note, I will leave you to it. If you fix the instability in the ley lines and deliver those responsible to me within the next two weeks, I will accept your apology," Lady Nerida said through the speaker.

Two weeks. Fuck. That was going to be tight. It also took them to the exact date he was supposed to be hosting the courts' rulers for his millennial celebrations. Celebrations he would now be organising without his damn seneschal.

"Fixing the damage here may not be enough to solve the damage to your stronghold," Mica warned the Water Lady.

"Then you will owe me. But I accept your proposed reparations for now," Lady Nerida said, disconnecting the call.

"I can have Zee here in under an hour," Bastion offered.

Turning to his people, Mica issued his orders. "Serena, can you take over stabilising the damaged tunnels and temporarily evacuating the residents? I won't risk our people again when we come up with a solution."

"Of course," she said, bowing at the waist. "Kaia can stay in my apartment in the Tree City until we're ready for everyone to return if that suits? I'll bring her back with me when I visit so the stronghold doesn't mope."

Mica glanced over at Ra and Bastion. "Is that acceptable? She will be safe."

"I trust Serena," Ra said.

"Good enough for me," Bastion said, a slight hint of challenge in his voice like Mica might still not trust Ra the way he should. Only time would prove him wrong so Mica ignored it.

"Elysia, I need you to take over planning the celebrations. I know it's the last thing on everyone's minds right now, but we need to send a strong statement to our people with this. I want you to review the guest list and festivities for opportunities to incorporate the other species of the global summit more fully. Keep a list of anyone pushing back. Once we've stabilised Earthshine, we'll need to check the loyalty of every member of my inner circle. I will not let this happen again," Mica said.

"It will be an honour, my lord," Elysia said, inclining their head.

"Excellent. Then you can all excuse me and leave us for the next hour while I feed my mate and make sure he is unharmed," Mica said.

"You can't just kick everyone out when they're helping you!" Ra said, but Mica could feel the fondness underneath the words through their connection.

"I will take you up on your offer of a guest room to nap and recover my strength," Kairon said, speeding across the room.

"I need to go and let Hel know everything's okay and fetch Zee," Bastion added, heading back toward the portal.

"And we're super busy now," Elysia said, pulling Serena toward the exit.

"So busy," Serena said, chuckling quietly.

At last, it was just the two of them left and Mica could do what he'd wanted all along and pull Ra into his lap so he could breathe in the man's scent until his brain accepted he was alive and safe. Ra cried out in surprise and then huffed against his neck as he straddled him, careful not to kneel on his wings.

Mica's hands stroked everywhere he could reach as he tried to reassure himself the healing had worked.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Like I was punched in the soul. Also, super hungry," Ra said, groaning as Mica started kneading the knots in his shoulder muscles.

Letting his magic flow into the man on his lap, Mica bolstered Ra's energy reserves as best he could. Tilting his head, Ra drew him into a soft kiss and then another.

"I'll make you some food," Mica said, reluctantly getting to his feet but not letting Ra go.

"Put me down before you throw out your back, old man," Ra said, belying his words by wrapping his legs around his waist and clinging to him.

Mica snorted and dropped Ra on the nearest barstool before heading to the fridge to find something quick and nutritious for them.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Kairon coming to visit," Ra said as he worked.

Mica glanced over at him. "I won't say it's fine because you know the tensions I'm trying to manage here, but I understand why you did it and I forgive you."

"I'll talk to you first next time. I swear," Ra said.

"And I will make sure my people welcome humans and everyone else into our lives."

Ra smiled tiredly at him and rested his gorgeous chin on his hand. "You can't promise that."

"No, but I can lead by example, and I can make damn sure they know what happens to anyone who threatens you or makes you feel unwelcome," he said.

"Are you really going to include more non-elementals in the celebration?"

"I'm going to include more non-elementals everywhere. I'll need your help with that. If you want to stay, that is," Mica said, focusing on plating their food so he didn't have to see the potential rejection coming.

"Are you asking me to move in with you for real?" Ra joked.

"Yes," Mica said.

"Get your sexy ass over here so I can answer you properly."

Stepping around the counter, Mica let himself be pulled between Ra's muscled thighs. Staring down into Ra's stormy eyes, he saw his future.

"I'll move in with you provided that means sleeping in your bed. With you. None of this not seeing you for weeks bullshit."

"Done," Mica said quickly. They'd still have to address the fact that Ra's first loyalty was to a rival court at some point, but this would be enough for now. He'd meant it when he said he trusted him.

Ra smirked and pulled over the plates Mica had prepared. "Let's hurry up and fix our Earthshine then so we can actually enjoy it."

Zahra's arrival put a stop to any immediate enjoyment they could've sought. He'd barely cleared the dishes before Bastion and the Soul Court magical engineer stepped into the room from the balcony where the portal had never closed. Kairon must have particularly acute hearing because he emerged only a minute later.

"Lord Mica. It is an honour to be back within the Earth Stronghold," Zahra said carefully, sweeping into an elegant bow.

Mica looked the engineer over for a moment, taking in their bright purple pixie cut and punk style that was so different from when they'd lived in his court hundreds of years earlier as he tried to decide how he wanted to play this. He knew Ra was close with them and he didn't want to create any tension between his mate and his friends. He must've waited too long because Ra elbowed him in the ribs. Hard.

"Be welcome, Zahra. I appreciate your willingness to answer our call for help. Please be reassured that you will not run into the one who caused your absence from our court while you are here. He was punished centuries ago and I made sure he has not set foot in the stronghold or surrounding cities since," Mica said.

Bastion nodded a silent thanks for his acceptance and he returned the gesture.

Zahra blinked in surprise, seemingly lost for words. "I … thank you, my lord. I didn't know you'd done that. Please call me Zee. It's what anyone close to me does and if you're shacking up with Ra then we're definitely close by proxy."

Mica's lips twitched in a smile. He could see his sunshine's influence on the way Zee spoke. "Very well, Zee."

"Right. Now we've all made up, can we fix my Earthshine all shiny and new so we can have a proper party?" Ra said, grabbing his laptop and setting it on the table.

The five of them lost themselves in deep discussion for long hours as Ra took everyone through the scans and what they'd tried so far. It was another eye-opening moment for Mica as he saw first-hand the growth of ideas and suggestions between them, each bringing their unique perspective. When they finally landed on a solution, it was painfully beautiful in its simplicity and yet he still was certain the elementals never would have come to it on their own.

Their fix was inspired by Soul Tower back in the City of Souls where Zee had grown living tendrils of metal over the soaring human building as a framework for Bastion's souls to reside in and protect them. Essentially, they would create a kind of tower that would stretch from the deepest parts of the earth where the stronghold resided, up through the caves and out into the open air above. Only this tower would be a giant spire constructed of earth magic and the precious metals and minerals surrounding them. The tower would be a beautiful space to occupy and a new bastion for the Earth Court but, more than that, with Kairon's healing expertise in its design, its magic would reprogram the broken ley line network, shifting key concentrations of power until balance was restored and the sentience's neural network could function healthily.

With his connection to the earth dragons that traversed the fault lines, Mica would form the roots of the spire by directing the wyrms to burrow a series of new tunnels to Kairon's precise specifications. The dragons themselves could affect the ley lines and, with the help of strategically placed sensors that the stronghold would use as a guide for where to focus its power as well, the new tunnels would form a strong foundation. Zee, along with the local engineers, would then grow the structure itself with the assistance of the stronghold as a new brain stem of sorts for their Earthshine.

The stronghold had been struggling against the missing parts of its whole ever since the contagion destroyed essential parts of its essence. They couldn't build a new sentience or replace what was lost, but they could give it a space that would shape it and keep it safe in the way it needed. Like a hermit crab finding a new home.

Speaking of homes, he added a few extra instructions to Earthshine as he explained what they wanted to do and tested how the stronghold felt about it. Its enthusiastic support had him grinning, as did the images it flashed through his mind of what it was planning.

"What's that smile for?" Ra asked, leaning over to kiss him.

"Earthshine's adding to your design," he said.

Everyone but Zee looked concerned at the potential upset to their plans, but the engineer had already caught on to what was happening as the only other one around the table who could talk directly to the sentience.

"Oh, that's perfect!" Zee said.

"Would someone please share with the class?" Ra said.

"Mica asked if it could add a series of moving platforms and stairways, a bit like the elevators back home but operated by the sentience instead of electricity. It will mean you and any other folks without wings can traverse the Stronghold more easily without needing to rock climb or catch a ride," Zee explained.

"It's also made sure the acoustics and design of one of the levels will be perfect for you to start a permanent nightclub just like you have back home," Mica said, smiling as he felt his mate's surprised happiness. "Maybe you can start a global chain of inclusive dance venues. What are you going to call it?"

"Well, if we're going global, we need something in keeping with the original version—The Crypt. What does Earthshine think of keeping it simple and calling it The Spire?"

It's perfect, just like your mate , the Stronghold said into his mind, making him smile again.

"You have the Stronghold wrapped around your little finger, love. You could call it The Tornado and it would still be happy," Mica teased.

"Gross. Wash your mouth out! I'm not naming part of our Earthshine something that sounds like it's from the Air Court!" Ra said, slapping his chest playfully.

Grabbing his hand as he pulled away, Mica pressed a soft kiss to the inside of his wrist. "The Spire it is then," he said.

It took them the better part of a week to get everything in place. Elysia quietly arranged the transport of the traitors to Lady Nerida while he was busy, which was just as well. He couldn't look at them without wanting to murder them for what they'd almost taken from him and he'd promised they'd be delivered alive and intact.

The working to build the new structure would require all the powerful mages in the vicinity to contribute and Zee and Kairon continued to tweak and refine the design in consultation with the Stronghold right up until the final hour. With Ra's contribution mostly limited to modelling the changing scenarios, his mate had plenty of time to help Mica deal with the public relations fallout of handing over his own trusted advisors to the Water Court for punishment. He hadn't thought he could appreciate the human any more, but he was damn talented at this kind of thing, adeptly navigating a foreign court to help Mica regain the confidence of his people.

They slept in the same bed every night, but there was still the weight of their potential mating hanging over them. No matter how many times Mica asked, Ra was adamant he didn't want to put him at risk by tying their lives together. It was infuriating because it was Ra's life that was at risk while he didn't have access to the additional power and healing a mating bond would give him.

He would wear him down, though. They could both feel how much they wanted to finally succumb to this draw between them. Mica just had to keep showing him how perfect they were for each other. How perfect their future could be. Starting with the surprise he had planned for his mate once they'd completed the magical working to heal the Stronghold.

The day of the working dawned cloudy and warm, the surrounding jungle hidden by a thick layer of mist that made it seem like they were floating in a void. It was fitting really. It felt like they were awaiting a rebirth.

Mica had called the wyrms to the area the night before, and deep within the caves as the sun breached the horizon somewhere out of sight, he spoke to the earth dragons, weaving his will to become their own. Ra perched by his side, computer screen faced so they both could see as he relayed adjustments and instructions while he worked based on the feedback from the sensors, now heavily magically protected and reinforced. They weren't going to let them become a point of vulnerability again.

The final act of this phase of their working was to call on the oldest, largest wyrm to launch itself in a tight spiral up through the middle of the Stronghold. This part of the design had been inspired by his visit to Patuna Chasm with Bastion all those months earlier where he'd seen the huge limestone spiral left over after a battle of earth dragons in the distant past. It had looked like the central point of a shell and it was the perfect way to provide access up to their new Earth Spire.

Sometimes when he worked with the predatory wyrms, they fought him every step of the way. Not this time. He could feel their ancient calm embedding into the rock as they worked together. Could feel the pull on the tangled ley lines to shift where they needed to be. The wyrms instinctively knew their movements were contributing to the balance of magic that was essential to their wellbeing and they helped him every writhing tunnelling step of the way.

This kind of change didn't hurt the Stronghold. It wasn't like the contagion that had caused swathes of itself to simply cease to exist. The new tunnels and shifting rock were merely transformations. Growth and healing. They were a joint snapping back into place that had been dislocated so long you'd forgotten it could ever move. The final diving, screeching progress of the wyrm left a cylindrical hole from the sky to the deepest point of the cave system around which the new tunnel circled.

As the last rumbling rockfall drifted away, the engineers standing high above began their work, calling on the metals and minerals surrounding them to grow the Spire itself. Copper and tungsten tendrils spread like new shoots up the walls of the spiralling tunnel that he and Ra were slowly ascending as he let his own magic seep deep into the walls and floor around them while they walked.

"It's so beautiful," Ra whispered, his hands brushing against a vein of glittering mica.

Time seemed to blur as they climbed, the only sign of how deep they'd been the aching burn in his thighs. The spire that was being shaped from raw power and determination followed their path and it wasn't until they stepped out onto the highest point of the hillside over the caves that it breached out of the earth and the metallic structure started piercing into the air.

"Now that's an elemental home," Kaia said, slipping her hand into Ra's as she joined them. "Open to the sky, so Earthshine's people can fly in and out, but still accessible to everyone."

Serena must have brought the girl to observe as part of her training. To his surprise, the electric blue of Kaia's wings flared bright as she lent some of her own power to the working. He hadn't realised she'd progressed so far and he could feel Ra's pride match his own as she lent her strength to her mentor, who was weaving metal like it was cloth overhead.

She is leaving a piece of herself with me for when she leaves one day , Earthshine said in his mind, both love and sadness in its voice.

The midday sun was beating down on them when the Spire was finally complete, a soaring, spiralling trunk of metal containing rooms and spaces they would fill with family and laughter. It might take a few more days to sort out some of the finer points like plumbing in time for the celebrations, but the structure was all there.

"Come with me, Sunshine?" Mica asked, holding a hand out to Ra.

Ra stepped into his arms and Mica launched them up into the sky to the highest point of the Spire where a large balcony extended off the new penthouse where they would make their home. Bastion had the right idea when he'd made his home in the highest building in his city, and now Mica could do the same.

"Mica, it's stunning," Ra said when they landed. "I thought this was going to be a gathering area."

Mica watched with a smile as his mate took in the incredible view of the surrounding countryside and the bright space inside that they could make their own. "No. There are plenty of other spaces for that. I wanted you to wake up to as much beauty every day as I will when I see you beside me. That is, if you'll have me."

Sinking to one knee as Ra turned back to him, he took a ring box from his pocket as his mate's eyes grew wide.

"What are you doing, love?" Ra asked, a rasp in his voice.

"You are the light in my darkness. You worry you will be my weakness, but you are my greatest strength. You once told me no elemental lord would be caught dead observing a human tradition. I need you to see that you are everything to me, not despite your humanity, but because of it. You are the partner I never knew I needed. The joy I never knew I was missing. Please do me the honour of marrying me by your customs? And one day I hope you will ask to mate with me by mine, but if you never do I will still be grateful every day that you chose to walk by my side and wear our ring on your finger."

They both knew what this moment meant. It was the moment Ra needed to choose whether to shift his home, his primary loyalty, to Mica and the Earth Court. Forever. But if he said no, Mica wouldn't give up. They would find a way. He couldn't live without his Sunshine.

" Our ring?" Ra asked, glancing down at the open box where two rings were nestled.

"I had Earthshine make it from tungsten metal from the heart of our home lined with a sliver of the oak you crafted your whiskey barrel from. A piece of you and a piece of me."

"Oh you beautiful, sneakily sentimental man," Ra said dropping down onto his knees in front of Mica and cupping his face in both hands. "Yes, I will marry you."

Unable to hold himself back any longer, Mica launched himself at Ra, sending them both falling to the terrace until Ra was pinned underneath him as they kissed each other breathless.

Ra's laughter as he gasped for breath had Mica drowning in love for the man.

"Aren't you supposed to be putting a ring on it?" Ra asked, waggling his finger when Mica finally stopped kissing him long enough for him to speak.

He hadn't even noticed the box was still clutched tight in the hand he'd braced behind Ra's head.

"That would require me getting off you," Mica complained.

"As much as I would love to continue this right here, there are at least thirty of your people flying nearby and I'm pretty sure the engineers are blowing up your phone," Ra said.

Mica groaned, but the noise of his phone was starting to break the mood. "Fine. But I'm not letting you out of bed for the rest of the week once we're done," he said, leaning back until he could get to his feet and pull Ra upright.

Thankfully, the rings hadn't fallen from the box, despite his movements. Taking one of the bands from the box, he gently slid it onto Ra's finger, loving the way the dark multi-faceted metal contrasted with his fair skin.

"My turn," Ra murmured, taking the thicker band from the box and returning the favour.

"I love you," Mica said, as the warm oak wood lovingly carved by his mate nestled snug against his skin.

"Love you more," Ra said, sneaking another kiss.