Exile in the Water Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 3) (40 page)

I think he has much improved; the sea
air is his native element

Thomas Bailey Aldrich- ‘Majorie Daw’

Ty
had stolen Gion’s clipboard and busily made notes about their Binding ceremony.

“The
entire Wood House should come, don’t you think?”  She asked her pacing groom. 
“I mean, they’re your family, correct?  Unless you count the other Air Phases.”

“I
don’t count the Air Phases.”  Gion muttered.  “Or the Wood House. 
You’re
my family.  You and your idiot relatives.  In fact, I don’t care who else is
invited.”  He hesitated.  “Maybe Tessie.  She can come.”

Ty
already had Tessie’s name on their guest list.

While
Nia and Cross were dealing with Randa, the rest of them were waiting for Job to
get back with the Quintessence.  Ty was also using the time to distract Gion
from his rage.

She
looked over at Isaacs, who continued to brazen through his eye injury.  Amarna
and Brokk were discussing attack strategies on the other side of the room. 
Having Gion join the Air House rebels made Amarna’s century.  She was
cheerfully plotting ways to bring down Parald and Brokk was thrilled to help
plan the carnage.

But,
Isaacs still stood by the doorway.  He kept his back to the wall and hand on
the hilt of his sword.

“Would
you be Gion’s best man, Isaacs?”  Ty offered.  She could tell that he
desperately wanted Gion’s approval, despite the dark scowls he kept leveling in
her Match’s direction.  “That’s a human thing, but wouldn’t it be a wonderful new
tradition for us to adapt?”

The
Water House had never held a Binding Ceremony before.  At least, none that she
remembered, so Ty felt free to create her own customs.  Binding created the
equivalent of husband and wife.  Bound Phases even called each other by those
titles.  It made total sense to pilfer the human rituals.  With flowers and
rings and wedding attendants.  It would be fun.  They all needed to focus on
something fun, rather than more bloodshed.

Isaacs
rubbed at his eyes.  Every time Ty brought up going to Freya, Isaacs closed
down and muttered, “Later.”  Ty would give him another hour or so and then
she’d call a doctor herself.  Isaacs was running on pride and an absolute
refusal to show weakness in front of Gion, but enough was enough.  Ty had been
raised to be a queen.  She respected the need for appearances.  Now, Isaacs was
part of the Water House, though.  She had a responsibility to look after him,
whether he liked it or not.

“Best
man?”  Isaacs frowned and squinted over at her.  “What would I have to do?”

“Stand
up with Gion as we say our vows and help him get ready for our ceremony.  It’s
very important.”

“Isaacs
isn’t the ‘best man’ at anything.”  Gion scoffed.

Isaacs
responded to that with an impolite hand gesture.

“Gion,
be nice.”  Ty chided.  “If you have any genuine input for our Binding Day, then
feel free to jump in.  But, if you’re just going to be negative, I’ll plan it
all myself.”

He
flashed her frustrated look.

Ty
pretended not to notice.  It was becoming very obvious that her first job as a
real Match would be to distract Gion from doing something crazy.  He was so
angry she could feel the vibrations of it in his energy.  He was trying to hide
it from her, but Gion wanted to hunt Parald down
now
.

Ty
wanted to kill that bastard, too, but she liked to have all the facts before
she rushed into anything.  She wanted Tessie to tell them how to fix the block
and to make sure that getting rid of Parald was all they needed to do to undo
the fake Matches.  Basically, Ty needed assurances that Parald had no more
tricks up his sleeve before she committed to executing that son-of-a-bitch.

Ty
wouldn’t risk Gion or their connection.

Not
for anything.

“Gion?” 
She said softly and his attention snapped back over to her.

“Yes?”

“I
love you, but you’re making me dizzy.  Calm down.”

He
stopped his restless prowling and came over to stand in front of her.  Icy blue
eyes met hers solemnly and she knew exactly what he wanted.

“I
love you.”  She repeated firmly.  It hadn’t taken Ty more than a minute or two
to see that Gion would need to constantly hear the words.  Odds seemed good
that no one had ever told him that before.  Damn Air House.  “Please calm
down.”

Gion
nodded.  “I’m sorry.  I will.  I love you, too.”  But, he resumed pacing.

Ty
sighed and went back to planning her Binding ceremony.  “Let’s see… Nia will be
my Matron of Honor, obviously.  But, I’m not wearing the whole formal robes
thing, again.  What do human brides wear?  Ball gowns, right?”  She aimed that
question at Thar, since he was someone else in desperate need of a distraction.

At
the other end of the couch, Tharsis was pretending to watch that silly modeling
show, but his eyes focused on a spot two feet below the screen.

Her
family was happy for her.  Happy that she was free from Parald.  Ty could
already tell they were starting to blame themselves for what had happened,
though.  Tharsis rarely let her see behind his lazy smile, anymore.  But, Ty
still remembered his festering hatred of Parald and how it had actually
frightened her to see it.  Tharsis had a brutal streak inside of him that the rest
of the Water House lacked.

A…
hardness.

Ty
had been grateful when she’d woken up from her injuries on the sixth day of the
Fall and discovered that the Air Kingdom’s barriers were impenetrable.  No one
could get through them, which was very, very lucky.

Once
he saw that Ty would live, Tharsis was freed from his bedside vigil.  His first
thought had been to go after Parald.  If Thar went into the Air Kingdom, either
he or Parald would die.  She’d seen that in the glow of his eyes.  Risking her
cousin --her
brother-
- was the last thing Ty wanted.  Tharsis had never
gotten over his failure to kill Parald, though.

“Thar?” 
Ty said quietly, giving up on subtlety.  “Remember the night before my
ninety-third birthday?”

His
turquoise gaze flicked over to her.  “Yeah.”

Even
when everyone else had assumed that Ty would be thrilled to find her Match and
happy to Phaze with him, Tharsis had despised Parald.  Ty had always seen
that.  He’d
told
her so, in fact.  That was another reason that she
always held herself back from Parald.  Ty trusted Tharsis with every bit of her
heart and soul.  More than she trusted herself.  Thar didn’t like Parald and it
just added to Ty’s own suspicions that something was very wrong with her
“Match.”

Tharsis
understood people.

“You
remember what you said to me?”  She prompted when Thar didn’t say anything
else.

Tharsis
nodded.  He’d been the only person who’d looked at the bride the day before the
Phazing Ceremony and counseled her to “dump his ass.”

“Thank
you for giving me such good advice.”  Ty told him seriously.  “I should have
said that before.”

His
mouth tightened and Ty saw her
actual
cousin for a beat.  The real Tharsis
who existed behind the “What, Me Worry?” smile.

“I
hate that piece of shit, Ty.  I hated him right from the beginning.  And the
thought of you wasting yourself on someone like him…”  Tharsis shook his head. 
“I should have known he’d done something to fake the Match.  I could feel that
he was wrong for you.  Just…
feel
it.  It was my fault.”

“No,
it
wasn’t
your fault.  You were completely right about everything.”  Ty
reached over to touch his hand.  “I promise, from now on, if you don’t get a
good feeling about someone, that’s
it
, Thar.  End of story for me.”

Gion
glanced over at Tharsis, a concerned expression on his face.

“Not
you, dear.”  Ty assured him.  “We
all
adore you.”

Gion
blinked at the endearment.

Isaacs
snorted.

“Yeah,
don’t worry, Guy.  I’m not gonna try to submarine ya.”  Tharsis gave Ty’s
fingers a squeeze.  “You don’t deserve my cousin, either, but at least you’re
smart enough to know it.”  He focused on the TV, again.  “Oh, hot damn!  Look
at that.  Tyra’s goin’ strapless, today.”

And
just like that, Tharsis was back behind his mask.

In
his own way, Thar was an even bigger perfectionist than Ty.  Or he had been… once. 
Since the end of the world, Thar had fallen off the wagon big time.

When
Tharsis failed at something, it weighed on him.  And so much had failed during
the Fall.  So much that could never be replaced or fixed.  Perfectionists
everywhere were faced with a world that could never be right, again.  At a
certain point, Tharsis stopped even trying.

He’d
never recovered from the Fall.

None
of them had, but it had changed Thar so much.  Ty looked over at her cousin and
realized how different Tharsis was, now.  At one time, he’d been a professor. 
A scholar.  Thar was the Elementals foremost authority on human culture and the
smartest person Ty ever met.  Ty might have edged him out with the raw numbers
of their IQ tests, but Thar was so damn
clever
.  His ideas were so
unpredictable and brilliant that no one could compete with him when he applied
himself.

Students
at the university had lined up for his courses.  He’d written stacks of books
and articles.  He’d charmed everyone he’d ever met, because he instinctively
understood people.  …And he made it all look
easy
.  Before the Fall, he’d
been outgoing and popular and passionate about life.

Now,
the highlight of his week was arguing at the judges on
America’s Next Top
Model
.

He
never even talked about teaching, anymore.  Nia had pressed him about it the
year before and Tharsis had just laughed at her over the breakfast table.

“Who
the hell’s left to teach, Nia?  All that’s over.  Forget it.  Everything’s…
over.”  Then, he went back to solving the junior word jumble on the side of his
Cocoa Puffs
cereal box, while Nia and Ty just stared at him sadly.

Ty
was letting her cousin down.  Letting him slip further and further into that
lackadaisical persona that hid all his deeper qualities.  She loved Tharsis
more than her own life and all she did was take from him, giving him nothing in
return.  Not even a proper queen.  Somehow, she had to help Thar find himself,
again.

Ty
glanced at Gion and had the feeling that he understood her concern.

His
gaze slid back over to Tharsis.  Ty’s efforts to distract Gion finally succeed
as he rallied himself to help her distract Tharsis.  “Why do the humans starve
their women?”  He asked, gesturing towards the TV.  “It’s frightening.  Like
skeletons in swimwear.”

“That’s
a terrible thing to say.”  Ty did appreciate the sentiment, though, since she
was nowhere near the emaciated stage.

Tharsis
arched a brow.  “I’d have thought you’d like these little girls, Guy.  Hell,
they’re all barely of age for the humans and you go for the younger chicks.”

“‘Younger
chick
.’  Singular.”  Ty corrected, batting her eyelashes at her Match. 
“There’s no one but
me
dragging you back from the door of the retirement
home, is there, dear?”

Gion
paused in his aggravated stalking to kiss her firmly.  His lips sealed over
hers, one large hand tangling in Ty’s hair as he leaned over her.  “There’s no
one but you, at all.”  He whispered.

That
was the first time he’d done anything physical in front of her family. 
Usually, Ty had to instigate everything that happened to between them when they
were in public.  Gion never seemed sure if she would accept him when other
people were around.  Their Match must have increased his confidence.  Ty was
glad.

She
laid a hand against his cheek and smiled at him.  She had no idea how she
ever
could have thought that Gion’s eyes were cold.  Every warm, real emotion in the
world shone back at her.  “Gion, I’m so happy with our Binding.  Be happy with
me.”

As
trite as it sounded, having Gion as her Match was a dream come true.  It made
Ty so,
so
happy.

But,
freewill always meant more.

Gion
loved her.  That was the most important thing.  If they never Phazed, he’d
still love her.  He’d
chosen
Ty.  He’d been willing to renounce Randa
for her and he’d believed the other woman was his real Match.

Ty
cared about their Match.  She
really
did.  But, she cared a lot more
about the fact that Gion would have wanted her, anyway.  A Binding was better
than a Phase-Match.  It was just about her and Gion and their love.  That was
what Ty really wanted.  Not just a Match, but a
husband
.

“I
don’t want to be miserable.  I want to plan our Binding ceremony and I want you
to help me.”  She pressed her lips against his.  “Please calm down and be
happy.”