Foretold (Daughters of Saraqael Book Three) (21 page)

Now James looked both confused and desperate for an explanation. Caleb still had no idea what everyone was talking about, and Skye was keeping her thoughts carefully contained. When Olivia’s eyes filled with tears, he grew alarmed.

But then she turned to James and smiled through her tears. “What they’re saying is that I’m pregnant.”

They all watched the play of emotions cross James’ face. Then Caleb caught his brother under his arms before his weakened knees dropped him to the floor.

The sun was low in the sky as they flew to the Orculesti homeland. Caleb flew as close to Skye as his wings would allow. She still tended to get distracted and veered at unexpected times. With the sun setting in its usual palette of brilliant color, he knew her mind was more captivated by the beauty around her than in focusing on her flying.

Sure enough, her wings locked just enough while she was staring at the horizon that she jerked sideways until she was almost upside-down. The sound she made was a lot like a squeal.

He found himself laughing as her wings winked out and he dove and grabbed her.

She sighed as she clung to him. “I couldn’t help it,” she confessed.

I know.

Do you suppose if we kissed while flying you’d crash us both?

He raised an eyebrow at the question and caught her twinkling gaze. His eyes moved to her smiling lips. Then he looked up and gauged how close they were to everyone else. Her tumble had put them a bit behind.

She sensed the second he decided it was safe enough to try it. Her hand guided his head closer. He eagerly brought his lips to hers. Although it took a huge amount of focus to keep them in the air while kissing her and feeling her warmth against him, it was a remarkably invigorating experience. She left him struggling for breath when she finally let him go and once again extended her wings to fly beside him. Her smile was radiant.

I sure as hell hope we’re sleeping in our own room tonight
, he thought with feeling when his head cleared.

“Welcome to our homeland, Amber, Olivia and Skye,” the Orculesti commander, Ailfrid, greeted them upon their arrival. “We have your accommodations ready for you.”

Skye didn’t know him very well, but Ailfrid had been very nice to her and her sisters ever since the first time he met them. Unfortunately, that had been almost immediately after some of the members of his class had almost killed them through a poorly designed prank by an Orculesti named Dacian. Still, Ailfrid had done what he could to assure them that his class was most certainly not represented by those members.

His hair was more orange than red and curled around his head in a fiery halo. He was partial to togas. Today’s was light green, a nice complement to his dark green eyes. He wore sandals to complete the look. He was standing beside a tall and slender female with long blonde hair and tan skin, and an even taller male with a wiry build and dark hair. The female wore a simple yellow sundress and had bare feet. She looked like a California beach bunny. The male wore a flowing light gray shirt with matching pants and boots.

“My second commander, Dalila, and I will show you the way.” He looked at the female.

“It will be my pleasure,” she said with a bow of her head and a cross of her right arm over her chest. “It is nice to see you again, Olivia,” she said, reminding Skye that she had been the Orculesti to assist her sister before the Becoming ceremony just after she transitioned to this plane. “We are very much looking forward to spending a bit more time with you all before the ritual.”

Her accent was very unusual. Skye figured it probably wasn’t in existence on the human plane any more.

“I also wanted to introduce you to lieutenant Jean-Marc. He handles security throughout the homeland. He will help ensure your stay here is uneventful.”

Jean-Marc inclined his head politely and also crossed his right arm over his chest before bowing. “It is nice to meet you all at last.”

Skye and her sisters hadn’t spent much time with many lieutenants. This rank of Estilorian rarely ventured to the main base because their tasks were, like Jean-Marc’s, centered within their homelands. The Scultresti lieutenant, Gordain, had been supervising several different complex creations while they had been at his homeland, and the Wymzesti lieutenant, Nour, had been training new recruits during their stay at his homeland and had only briefly greeted them.

Jean-Marc’s affect was as unemotional as most Estilorians, but Skye smiled at him anyway. They all exchanged pleasantries and extended their thanks before following the two commanders as they led the way to their accommodations. The other elders, on the other hand, went with Malukali and Jean-Marc to where they would be staying.

They didn’t encounter a single other Orculesti on the path. It was like walking through a cloud, Skye thought. The air was clear, but everywhere she looked appeared to be shrouded in fog. When she gazed intently at one spot to her right, the fog parted enough to reveal what looked like a stone temple. As soon as she stopped staring at it, the mist returned. Figuring it was similar to the Wymzesti homeland and required focused thought to make things clearer, she shrugged and took Caleb’s hand.

They were led to another stone building. This one looked like a church, she thought with wide eyes. It had a steeple of sorts and colored glass in the windows. The door was nothing but fog.

“We ask you all to touch this doorway,” Ailfrid requested. “It will register your essence and will allow no one else passage without your permission.”

Smiling, Skye reached out and placed her hand into the mist. Caleb and her siblings all did the same. It flashed blue-green and stayed that color even after they all removed their hands. Ailfrid and Dalila exchanged looks.

“Your connection with each other is quite strong,” Dalila observed. “You are very fortunate to have each other.”

There was a pause. Skye grinned. “You bet,” she replied for all of them.

“You have only to contact one of us should you require anything,” Ailfrid said with a bow. “We look forward to seeing you for breakfast in the morning.”

“Thanks, Ailfrid,” Gabriel said. “See y’all in the morning.”

They all filed into the building. The blue-green mists parted for each of them. Skye realized when they got inside the structure that the door looked like an ordinary wooden door from that side. She thought it was ridiculously cool and wondered when she would ever stop being wowed by things on this plane.

Never
, Caleb thought.
You were ‘wowed’ by a sunset.

She grinned, realizing he was right.
I was also wowed by your kiss
, she thought with a wink at him. She glanced around then.
Speaking of which…yep. Separate bedrooms.

See?
he returned philosophically.
There will always be things to wow us.

The welcome breakfast for Saraqael’s daughters was attended by nearly every Orculesti in the homeland over a few decades of age. Because there were quite a few Orculesti away due to pairings with Gloresti and Corgloresti elsewhere on the plane, as well as some Orculesti away at Central’s base, there weren’t as many in the homeland as Skye had envisioned. All in all, there were only a few hundred beings present at the meal.

As had become the standard, the sisters and their Gloresti were seated with the elders at a head table. They all sat on one side of an extremely long, curved table. The attending Orculesti were sitting at long rectangular tables facing them. Before the meal began, each of the Orculesti walked past the table and issued a bow of respect to the elders and the sisters as they took their seats.

Golly, that was overwhelming
, she thought to Caleb as the last attendee took his seat and food began to appear on the tables.

He glanced at her as her attention was turned by the platters of food. Sunlight caught the jeweled butterfly pin she wore in her hair just behind her left ear. The glittering light blue and coral pink gems in the pin matched her dangling earrings, choker necklace and wide bangle bracelets, and, of course, coordinated perfectly with her outfit. She wore a knee-length, pink-and-blue-striped dress with wide bands of fabric that crossed over her chest and shoulders and connected in the back, leaving a diamond-shaped patch of skin visible over her abdomen. Her sandals had thin straps that crisscrossed all the way up her calves to where the dress ended. He wasn’t sure how, but her toenails were the same coral pink as her accessories.

She gave him a laughing glance when she sensed his curiosity over this. He guessed it would have to remain a feminine mystery when she piled fresh berries on her plate and didn’t explain.

A few minutes later, he suddenly looked to his right and got to his feet. He sensed Gabriel and James doing the same beside him. He was certain they had also noted the quick and concerned glances that some of the Orculesti sent in that direction. They soon realized the point of those glances.

Dacian, the Orculesti who had nearly caused the girls’ deaths at the welcome reception, ran into the middle of the gathering, all but skidding to a stop in front of the elders’ table.

“Dacian!” Malukali shouted, also getting to her feet. “You were forbidden to attend this event.”

He fell to his knees and crossed both of his arms over his chest in supplication. “I know,
archigos
Malukali. And I sincerely regret disobeying your order. But I may never get the chance to do this again and I am willing to accept the consequences.”

Caleb had pulled Skye to her feet and pushed her behind him, just as Gabriel and James did with Amber and Olivia. Still, he could feel her trying to peek around him. She was clutching the back of his tank top. His assessing gaze quickly determined that the Orculesti was unarmed.

Dacian looked up at Caleb, Gabriel and James even as he was surrounded by Orculesti lead by lieutenant Jean-Marc, who obviously intended to physically remove him. Dacian’s dark green eyes were filled with emotion, surprising Caleb. “I am deeply sorry for what happened at the welcome reception. My actions were quite ignorant and motivated by unjustified arrogance. I had no idea what I was doing when I suggested the mental intrusion to my companions, and never expected them all to try it at one time. Please know that I would never have had harm come to any of Saraqael’s daughters. Nor would I have caused you three the pain of losing them.”

“Remove him, Jean-Marc,” Malukali said in a firm voice. Caleb noted that her eyes reflected confusion and compassion, however.

When Jean-Marc reached down to pull him to his feet, Dacian nodded. He didn’t argue when they began ushering him from the room. And then Skye, Olivia and Amber all stepped out from behind their husbands.

“We forgive you,” they said at the same time.

Dacian’s head whirled back toward them. He appeared all but undone by the three words. Then he nodded again and allowed himself to be escorted out.

Caleb put a hand on Skye’s shoulder. Her eyes were sad. They once again took their seats. Everyone went back to eating as though nothing had happened.

When he realized a few minutes later that she was only shifting the food around on her plate rather than eating, he thought,
Will you tell me why you were so affected by his plea?

She looked decidedly reluctant, but nodded. Then she took his hand and briefly closed her eyes. Images flashed through his mind. Intense fear. Panicked running. Gabriel beside her, his appearance similar, but different. The back of Amber’s head as she outpaced them. The sound of hungry wolves. Skye’s burgeoning power. A strong pull into the air. Even greater fear. Amber’s scream. Gabriel’s anguish. Panic and paralysis. Refusal to act. Gabriel’s anger. More surging power.

And finally, guilt, self-loathing and a plea for forgiveness.

When she had run through the memory, she tried to pull her hand away. He gripped it instead. Her eyes shone with ashamed tears.

In direct contrast to her overwrought emotional state, his thoughts were very matter-of-fact.

Skye, you wield power greater than any of us have ever known. Even the elders were overwhelmed by it when they first felt it. You awe me every time you use your power. The fear you felt the first time it emerged was perfectly understandable. And it may have taken a shove to get you down from that tree, but your fear didn’t keep you from using your power to help others the very next time it was needed.

Her brow wrinkled as she absorbed his words.

I’m very proud of how far you’ve progressed in just a matter of months. You should be equally proud of yourself. You’ve advanced far more than any single Estilorian with years of training could manage.

Though her cheeks grew pink, he still sensed her lingering guilt and doubt.

You know, you’re the one who is always thinking about Fate. What do you suppose would have happened if you hadn’t lifted yourself and Gabriel from the ground when the wolves were at your heels?

Now her eyes widened.

That’s right. They would have killed you both. And what would have happened then if Amber had run back to help you, as she did in your memory when she thought something had happened to Gabriel? No one would have been able to heal her then. Even
archigos
Ini-herit’s powers are limited on the human plane. However it occurred and no matter your reaction at the time, you saved their lives.

He felt every emotion that flowed through her as she considered this. And in the end, what was left was her unbridled love for him and joy that she was his avowed.

And he also knew that she would now finally forgive herself.

Do you see how they are looking at each other?

Of course I do. You are broadcasting quite clearly. It appears Caleb has fallen, just like the others did. The fool.

Do you think they believed that refuse Dacian was spouting?

Who cares? It served its purpose.

Yes. We have plenty of others serving their purposes for us, as well, do we not?

They are all weak.

When do you want to act?

Soon.