#wergild

“I let you into my clan,” Jace said, cold, staring down at his cousin, “I welcomed you back.  And this how you repay me?”

“I did you a favor,” Jayden snarled, “You and your precious peace.”

“It’s not perfect,” Jace said, his hands clenched into fists, “But it’s a goddamn sight better than what I grew up with.”

“We can end the fighting,” Jayden hissed, “Once and for all.  We’re at full power with the spring back.  We can take the elementalists.”

“No,” Jace shook his head, “No.  You cannot win peace by exterminating the opposition!  Is that the only reason you came back, Jayden, to push us towards war?”

Jayden stilled.  “I came back for my family,” he said quietly, “I came back to protect my family.”

Jace crouched down, and dropped his voice to a whisper.  “You left,” he said softly, “You got yourself exiled.  And a fat lot of good your protection did us when you were on the other side of a desert.”

Jayden jerked, but Mirai’s grip was strong and he couldn’t move.

“Get him out of my sight,” Jace said, straightening up, “I’ll deal with him in the morning.”

Mirai hauled him up and Felix grabbed his other side as they marched Jayden towards the cells.  Jace saw something glint in the ground and grabbed it – the key that Jayden had stolen.  Aidan and Nerali were still sitting near the spring, not a flame in sight.

Jace’s grip tightened on the key as he strode back to the elementalists.

Aidan looked up as he got closer and Jace’s steps faltered mid-stride, remembering searing hot close enough to singe, before he recovered.

“I apologize,” he said, stiffly, formally, aware that Aidan could set the area ten feet around him in flames.  “Jayden will be punished for his actions.  I assured you of your safety here and I failed.  I can discuss proper restitution whenever you like.”

Aidan was blinking at him, blank-faced.  Nerali was half-curled around him, narrowed eyes trained on him as she positioned herself between Jace and her brother.

Jace swallowed, and held up the key.  Something flashed across Aidan’s face, too fast to track.  “I’ll remove them,” he said quietly.  Not like they’re much use anyway, a part of him rejoined.  

Aidan had only started using his powers when he’d been thrown into the spring – had they been working before that?  Had the elementalist been faking this whole time, smirking behind Jace’s back at the thought of being chained?

No – he would’ve fought against Jayden.  Because Jayden had definitely wanted him dead.

Aidan raised his wrists, his face still blank but carefully so.  Jace removed the cuffs quickly – he could already feel the air getting warmer – and stepped back when he was done.  Several fingers on Aidan’s left hand were twisted, and that scream –

“I’ll get a healer,” Jace said, seizing at the excuse to leave.

He could feel Aidan’s gaze on his back as he hurried away.

~#~

In the darkness of night just before the dawn, a metal bar creaked out of place.  The guard turned to investigate, and dropped without a sound. 

The door opened smoothly and silently.  The moon was full, but no eyes were watching.  Confused, tired, shocked, angry – all waiting for the morning.

There were two choices available.  One was preferred, desired – to finish the job that had been started, to grind an arrogant smirk into pieces, to watch flames splutter and die.  But it was risky.  A warrior in an enemy clan, attacked and wounded, did not sleep easily.

The other was easier. A life of leisure, open trust, undeveloped powers.  Not the one that was the most satisfying, but perhaps better overall.  After all, nothing stung a protector quite as hard as failing to defend their weakest link.

The path changed.  It was easy to avoid the guards, easy to slip in and out of shadows, easy to access the right walkway, the right room, the right door.  Easy to slide in on silent feet.

The girl awoke.  But slowly, puzzled, pausing to rub her eyes and squint and frown – and a hand clamped over her mouth to stifle the gasp as the knife slashed across her throat.

“Your sacrifice is very much appreciated.”

~#~

Jace winced.  Clarissa looked at his expression and her face darkened further.  “What did you do?” she snarled. 

“I did nothing,” Jace muttered, wounded.  Little sisters were the plague.  “But after I sent you that letter, there was an incident –”

“What incident,” Clarissa all-but-growled, and then she froze, stock-still, her expression fixed to a point over Jace’s shoulder.

Jace swallowed, and turned to follow her gaze, already aware of what she was looking at.  The spring burbled cheerfully in the warm afternoon sun.

When he turned back to Clarissa, her fists were on fire.

Jace held a hand up to stop his warriors from advancing, the compound frozen still as they stared at the furious elementalist in their midst.  At the woman who could burn down the entire forest if she so chose.

“You have a minute to tell me what you did,” Clarissa said, and her voice was ice cold.

Jace stood his ground. He crossed his arms and stared back, his face level.  “I’m going to need a lot more than a minute, Clarissa, and you’re threatening me in my own compound.”

If she wanted to attack him, she would.  If she wanted to tear him limb from limb, nothing he could do would stop her.  But the only thing more terrifying than Clarissa’s powers was her self-control.

Clarissa glared at him so fiercely he was surprised his face hadn’t caught on fire, before exhaling with a loud, furious breath.  The flames winked out.  “What happened?” she snarled.

“The original incident,” Jace said, stepping towards the ramp and gesturing for Clarissa to follow, “Was that Mirai and Nerali ran into each other on patrol –”

Clarissa groaned loudly and the rage slipped off her face and into exasperated irritation.

“Fought, Nerali fell and hit her head.  Had a headache and some minor memory loss, all fixed,” he waved at the spring and Clarissa followed his movements, effectively distracting her from the last statement.

“The spring.  Where there used to be an elemental curse.”

Jace winced at the icy tone. “The second incident, was that Nerali – despite being repeatedly warned that it was dangerous and cursed and –”

“Oh my god,” Clarissa buried her face in her hands, “The idiot.  Please tell me she didn’t.”

“I’d have said that you needed to teach her more about elemental curses, but there was that slight amnesia issue.”

Clarissa groaned. Jace stopped at the right room, knocked once – received a terse “Enter!” – and opened the door.

Nerali was lying in bed, where she was supposed to be, her head propped on a pillow and her still-healing arms laid out carefully.  Mirai, on the other hand, was pacing the room with a narrow-eyed glare and visible frustration that didn’t mask the pallor of her skin.

“Mirai,” Jace said flatly, “You’re supposed to be in bed.”

“I’m tired of being in bed!” Mirai snapped – not throwing her hands in the air, but clearly considering it, because they twitched before stilling.

“What the hell happened to your arms?” Clarissa breathed out, shocked, turning from Mirai to Nerali with wide eyes.  Jace winced again – Clarissa had only ever made it to the earth portion of the trial, and both of the girls’ arms had been left significantly more mutilated than that.

“Nerali did something stupid,” Mirai retorted.

“And then Mirai did something stupid,” Jace countered, arching an eyebrow, “Bed.  Now.”

Mirai glared at him like she was considering ignoring him, even with the gray tinge to her skin, but moved reluctantly to flop back on her bed.  Nerali didn’t even try to hide her smirk.

“One day,” Clarissa sighed, shaking her head, “You couldn’t stay out of trouble for one day.”

Nerali lost the smirk, and didn’t look Clarissa in the eye as her sister neared.  Clarissa sat down on her bed and gently brushed some of the hair out of Nerali’s face.  “You shouldn’t have been out on patrol,” Clarissa said quietly, “And you definitely shouldn’t have tried breaking a curse without knowing what you were doing.” 

Nerali shrunk into herself but Clarissa kept stroking her hair.  “I’m glad you’re safe,” Clarissa murmured, darting down to press a kiss to Nerali’s forehead, “I was so worried when you didn’t come home yesterday.”

“I’m sorry,” Nerali said in the smallest voice Jace had ever heard her use.

“It’s okay.  I’m not mad.”  Clarissa sighed again and looked up at Jace – he was abruptly aware that she was exhausted, dark circles standing out against pale skin.  The peace talks were weighing heavily on her – she’d been trying to organize them for years, and now that everything was so close, the stakes had risen exponentially.

A missing sister.  The rather cryptic note he’d sent her – an altercation so soon before the peace talks wasn’t a good sign, and she’d known that. Jace tried to set her at ease, “Well, at least the both of them have to stay out of trouble now.”  He turned to shoot Mirai a look that pretty clearly conveyed ‘I will tie you to that bed if I have to’. 

Clarissa barked out a laugh and stood up.  Nerali shifted, sitting upright.  “Are we leaving?” she asked.

“The spring water is helping the wounds,” Jace said, before Clarissa could open her mouth.

Clarissa looked at him, blinked, and looked back to Nerali.  She opened her mouth again – and then caught sight of Mirai, watching them curiously.  This time, the expression on Clarissa’s face shifted to something a little slyer.

“If I could impose on your hospitality,” Clarissa said, a little smile tugging at her lips.

“Jayden –”

“‘I’ve been informed that Aidan and Nerali are guests at your compound’,” Jayden read out, “Which means she’s not the one who sent them. Which means you’re not entertaining guests, you’re harboring runaways.”

“Aidan is Clarissa’s second-in-command,” Jace said mildly, “I have no issues accepting his word on behalf of his clan’s.  I’m not interested in elementalist infighting.”

Jayden shot him a sharp look at that, but then turned back to the letter.  “‘It reminds me of the last time we worked together’,” he read out, “‘We were always a good team.’”

Jace winced.  That one was more difficult to explain.

“When was the last time you worked together with Clarissa, Jace?” Jayden asked quietly, “Is she talking about the peace talks?”

No, she wasn’t. “Three years ago,” Jace said, which was a cop-out and an answer all on its own.

Jayden didn’t visibly react, but his fingers went still on the letter.

“Three years ago,” he repeated flatly.

Jace set his jaw and stared at his cousin.  He didn’t get to judge him.  Not when he left them.  Jayden had always had a temper, and in trying to protect his family, left them without any protector at all.

“‘Peace is not built on people.’  ‘It is stronger than either one of us.’”  Jayden repeated the last lines, “‘Give my regards to Mirai.  She has grown into a fine warrior.’”  Jayden stared at the letter and exhaled softly.

“You said peace,” Jayden said softly, and raised his head to meet Jace’s gaze, “This?  This is a threat.”

“It’s complicated,” Jace said, because he understood why Clarissa was angry, and what she was warning him against.

“She near-outright told you that she’d replace you with Mirai and your only excuse is ‘it’s complicated’?” Jayden spluttered.

“It’s complicated,” Jace repeated, a hint of steel in his tone.  He walked forward and snatched the letter out of Jayden’s hands.  “You don’t know why she sent that.  You don’t know what the context is.  I understand you’re upset, Jay, but you walked into the third act. You don’t get to pass judgement calls.”

Something in Jayden’s eyes went sharp as he stilled.  “I’m just worried about you,” he said finally.

“I’m not a kid anymore,” Jace said patiently, “I’m the clan leader.  You have to trust that I know what I’m doing.”

“Oh, spirits, has it really come to that?” Jayden asked, smiling sadly.

Jace laughed, shoving at his shoulder.  Jayden leaned with the push, curling an arm around his shoulder.  Jace relaxed against him.

“Clarissa said she’ll come to pick up her sister,” Jayden said into the silence, “When will the treatment be finished?”

“A couple of days, I think,” Jace mused, “Might give it till the end of the week.  And then all the elementalists will be out of our hair.”

“Looking forward to it,” Jayden said dryly. 

~#~

Aidan shivered as he began climbing the rungs.  He couldn’t go back to sleep, not when he saw jeering faces in every shadow.  He had left Nerali’s side in the afternoon, unable to stay in the same space as Jayden, unable to stand the feeling of the other man’s gaze boring into him as he tried to remember one of the worst days of Aidan’s life.

He had thought about warning Nerali away from him, but the last time they told her not to do something, she nearly started a war.  And then fixed it.  (Aidan wasn’t quite sure which one was worse.)

So he spent an afternoon worried about Nerali and terrified about Jayden in equal measure.  It wasn’t a surprise that he couldn’t sleep.

Aidan climbed up the last few rungs, intent on relaxing with the stars, far away from footsteps and shadows and –

Unfortunately, the platform was already occupied.

Aidan stopped at the top of the ladder, watching the figure staring out at the stars.  The moonlight was full, and it illuminated a face that was softly smiling.

It also illuminated the key dangling between his fingers.

“Why do you have that?” the words came unbidden.

Jayden’s smile grew, and he curled his fingers around the key.  He didn’t turn to look at Aidan.  “I got it from my dear cousin,” he said, straightening up, “I was the enforcer, did you know that?  For my uncle, of course.  Until the old man decided that he didn’t want a soldier that spoke his mind.”  His mouth twisted before smoothing out.  “I thought I’d pick up my old job, now that I’m here.”

Aidan stayed where he was, eyeing the ladder back down.  Pity it was too far to jump.

“And what are you planning to do with it?” Aidan asked coldly.  His fingers were trembling – Aidan curled them into fists, not that it made him feel any better.

“Peace is a fragile thing,” Jayden hummed, finally turning towards him.  The winds picked up, raising goosebumps along Aidan’s arms.

“How long do you think it’ll last after I dump your broken corpse at your sister’s feet?”

Aidan stared at him. Jayden gazed back, his smile soft and utterly at odds with his words.

“War,” Aidan said, “You want war.”

Jayden laughed.  “Oh poor rainbow boy, so far from home,” he said in a lilting tone, a tune that raised the hair on Aidan’s arms and set his heart to pounding.  “Don’t you know what happens to rainbow boys, when they claim the forest as their own?” 

– “Oh poor rainbow boy,” a tall youth laughed, crouching in the mud, “So far from home.”

The boy was crying, an arm twisted around broken ribs, dead sparks fluttering from his fingers.

“Don’t you know what happens to rainbow boys?”  A stomp on broken fingers, and a howl that split the air. “When they claim the forest as their own?” –

His smile grew at the look on Aidan’s face.  “Did you really think I wouldn’t recognize you?” Jayden asked softly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aidan swallowed, backing up and searching blindly for the first rung down.

“Then why are you running?” Jayden asked.

Aidan threw caution to the wind and took two rungs at a time – he stumbled, five feet off the lower platform, and hit it hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs.

Jayden laughed, leisurely descending the ladder, moonlight dancing on his grin.  Aidan scrambled upright as soon as he could breathe, heading for – where?  He couldn’t trust Jace, he wouldn’t lead Jayden back to Nerali, he didn’t know Mirai’s intentions – he could get out, sprint back to their compound and hope that the darkness would conceal his flight, but he wouldn’t leave Nerali here alone and – 

He didn’t have any warning before Jayden attacked.  He was tackled to the ground – Aidan swung wide, but flames didn’t arc at his fingertips and Jayden caught his hand.  The smile was still stretching his face, turning a not-unattractive face into something slightly manic.

“You don’t need these anymore,” Jayden said, before twisting.

Aidan barely managed to strangle the scream as his fingers shattered.  He writhed underneath Jayden but the older man had pinned him down and Aidan’s panicked struggles were nothing compared to Jayden’s strength.

“Like a beached fish gasping out its last breaths,” Jayden mused, and Aidan snarled as a hand found its way to his throat, long fingers wrapping around his neck and squeezing.

“Aren’t elementalists supposed to be able to control the air?” Jayden laughed, watching as Aidan wheezed, trying to pry his fingers off.  Jayden merely squeezed harder.  “You’re the same failure we found in the woods all those years ago.”

Aidan twisted his face into a snarl, but Jayden just laughed.  “Little rainbow boys never grow up,” he said – and then he wrenched Aidan upright, his grip still tight on Aidan’s throat.

Aidan choked – his vision was beginning to go fuzzy, colored dots swimming across it as Jayden dragged him by his throat.

“I’ll finish what I started all those years ago,” Jayden said, and Aidan couldn’t see his face anymore, he couldn’t see anything anymore because there were iron bands crushing his throat and he couldn’t breathe and he could barely move and –

The world tilted around him. The iron bands of pressure disappeared. Aidan drew a startled breath – and choked on it when he hit the ground.

He could feel the impact in every bone in his body.  He could feel something in his chest snap under the sudden burst of pressure.  He couldn’t breathe – he couldn’t even remember how to breathe, he could do nothing but clutch at the ground with his fingers.

There was an earth-shaking thud near him and Aidan forced his head up to see Jayden strolling over to him.

“I didn’t end your pitiful life all those years ago,” he said, crouching near Aidan.  Aidan tried to swipe at him, but his arms were heavy and uncoordinated.  “And look how you’ve squandered that gift.” 

“It wasn’t a gift,” Aidan forced out, curling his fingers in the dirt and pushing – through the shakiness, through the terror, through the pain that knifed through him as he forced himself up onto hands and knees.  “It was torture.”

“Oh, little rainbow boy, you don’t know what torture is,” Jayden said, his smile falling.  His face was cast in shadows as he blocked out the moonlight.

“Torture is watching your family suffer and being unable to help them.”  Aidan tried to crawl away – his right leg shrieked at him if he tried to put weight on it and he dragged it along, his only thought to get away.

“Torture is stumbling through the desert and dreaming of water with every step.”  Aidan hissed as he clawed forward another step.

“Torture is hearing the screams of the people you love and being too far away to help.”  Aidan pulled himself forward, fighting against the throbbing pain. 

“You don’t know what torture is,” Jayden said, and then stomped on Aidan’s bad leg.  Aidan screamed, curling up as pain erupted from fractured bone.

“Be grateful.”

~#~

“What brings you to elementalist land?”

“Returning what’s yours,” Jayden smiled and threw the bundle – the person – at her.  The body rolled across the ground, limp.  “Safely escorted her back, just like you wanted.”

No.  No.  No.

Tangled black hair and a rainbow spiral and healing burns and, oh spirits, there was so much blood, so much blood –

Clarissa scrambled forward – if she got there fast enough, if she still had time, if there was still a chance –

Cold.  The skin was cold.  Clarissa pressed a hand to the inside of the wrist, to the – oh spirits no – ruin of a neck, to just left of center and – nothing.

Nothing, no beat, no movement, cold and hollow and –

No, no, this couldn’t be happening –

It was a dream, it was just another dream, like the bluebell nectar, it wasn’t real –

Nerali’s sightless eyes stared up.  Her neck was a mess of red, cut clean to the bone.  The blood was still tacky.

No.  No.  No. No.  This wasn’t real.  It wasn’t. It couldn’t.  Please, spirits, please –

The burns and cuts on Nerali’s arms had faded.  Nearly healed.

“I wanted her back alive,” said a hoarse, cracking voice and Clarissa took a long moment to realize it was hers.

Jayden laughed.  Laughed, like what she said was funny.

“You should’ve specified, then,” he chuckled.

The earth was rumbling. She could feel it, underneath her, feel it all the way down to the cracks that were beginning to form.

“Specified that I wanted my sister alive?” Clarissa asked.  She didn’t recognize the words.  She didn’t recognize the tone.

“You threatened my clan,” Jayden said, his voice dropping, “What did you think I’d do?”

The wind was howling. It raced past her, trees groaning, branches creaking.  It didn’t ruffle a single hair on Nerali’s head.

“It wasn’t a threat,” Clarissa said, looking up at him.  He had advanced, sword out, but it didn’t even take a thought to let earth twist around his ankles and pry the sword from his arms.  “That was a warning.”

“And this is yours,” he snarled, straining against the bonds.

The skies were growing darker.  Sharp static filled the air as the winds shifted, raindrops beginning to splatter against the ground.

“You murdered my sister,” Clarissa said hollowly, “You broke the treaty.  You destroyed the peace.  Just to send a message?”

“Yes,” Jayden smiled, “Your precious peace will never be enough to protect your family.”

Clarissa breathed in – sharp wind and cool dirt and the smell of rain and the stench of smoke. And then she breathed out.

“Message received.”

Her rage exploded.

~#~

Clarissa came back to herself in the midst of ash and mud and steam.

She struggled upright, her steps squelching in the black mud, coughing as the pouring rain cut through the smoky haze.  The skies were as dark as night – lightning cracked across the sky and illuminated her surroundings in a brief, stark flash of blue-white.

It was empty.  She stood in a field of ash that stretched as far as she could see, clouded by mist and smoke.  The trees were gone.  Leaves. Flowers.

She stepped on something that crunched and darted a quick glance before she had to look away.  People.

She stumbled through the haze, searching for – for what?  What was there left to look for?  What was there left to live for?

She had done this. She had destroyed everything in her path.

She limped in the direction of her compound, pausing at the sight of a hastily constructed ice wall that was melting quickly.  Frances and Robin were…were limp, eyes closed.  She couldn’t tell if they were breathing or not.  Davina was in front of them, hands trembling, her eyes focused somewhere in the distance.  She didn’t acknowledge Clarissa.  She didn’t move, even as portions of her ice wall sloughed off to form a growing puddle. 

Clarissa turned around and stumbled away.

The rain continued, cold and unrelenting, and the heat haze dissipated slowly.  Everything smelled like smoke and ash and Clarissa was liberally splattered and streaked with black. 

(She ignored the way her footsteps crunched.  She ignored the black washing off to reveal dark red and cracked white.  She ignored the lumps amidst the ash.)

It felt like an eternity before she found someone else.  Aidan flinched as he caught sight of her – eyes widening, a full-body recoil that jarred his twisted leg and a soft gasp as the movement jostled probably-broken ribs. His hands were outstretched to either side, the fingers on one broken.

His hair was singed and burns covered his entire left side.  Behind him, Jace was curled in front of Mirai, trying to cover as much of her as he could.  Mirai’s eyes peered out – wide-eyed, tears carving through the smoke smudges on her faces.

She looked at Clarissa like she was a monster.

Clarissa stumbled back a step.  And another. And another, until she didn’t have to hear Jace’s hitched breaths or see Mirai’s horror or watch her own brother look at her in fear for his life.

She backed away, away and away until she reached the center.  Where it had started.

She stepped, uncaring, through the mess of ash and cracked bones that had – that had dared – she stepped past it and fell roughly to her knees.

The blood had dried. Not a lick of flame had touched her and her body was still cold.  Clarissa reached out – her fingers were trembling, the tips singed, spidery red lines running up her arms – and gently closed the eyes staring at the sky.

Nerali didn’t need to see this.  She didn’t need to look at the destruction that Clarissa had wrought.  She didn’t need to see the skies, forever gray to match the howling grief in Clarissa’s heart.

She didn’t deserve this.

“I’m sorry,” Clarissa whispered to her sister.

If Jayden hadn’t – if Nerali hadn’t been there – if she hadn’t broken that thrice-damned curse – if she hadn’t attacked Mirai –

If Clarissa hadn’t –

If Clarissa had never brought Nerali here.

If Clarissa had only told her.

If Clarissa had –

Too little.  Too late.