Page 25 of Married By Wind
A confirmation of magic. The fire had come from her. “I don’t know,” I said gently, “but I will help you find the answers you seek.”
Ulika still wouldn’t look at me. “There’s one more thing. The god, Tallen, he’s the one who put you in the lamp. He told me…”
Her chest rose and fell as she struggled to find the right words, and that ache in my heart expanded. She’d spoken with Tallen, and I could only guess at the poison he’d fed her. While gods could not lie, they could focus on a truth that gave someone the wrong impression. I could only imagine what he’d said to her about my past. Still, her first words surprised me.
“We can’t be together, Vinn. We can never be. It was all a beautiful dream, but in the end, who we are is too much. You’re a god. I’m mortal. You have to let me go. If you don’t, they’ll take away your divinity, your magic. You’ve seen what happened here, what the gods did to you, to us. If you disobey their wishes, they will punish us.”
My throat constricted like I’d swallowed a stone as her words sank in. The gods would take away the essence of who I was, my very being, and she was right. I’d seen what they were capable of. “We’ll find a way,” I promised, even though no ideas came to mind. “We’ll figure out how to make this work.”
Silent tears streamed down Ulika’s cheeks. “Don’t make this harder than it is. They are gods. No matter where we go or what we do, they will find us and destroy us. I can’t live always looking over my shoulder. It’s best if you go on, forget me, like you did the others.”
“What others?” My question came out sharper than I intended.
Ulika flinched. “Tallen said there had been mortals before me, a pattern of them, and this is, was, your last chance to reform. His actions…it was…almost like he wanted to protect you from something.”
“From myself,” I muttered darkly. “Ulika, you must know, my past is my past. It’s you I love, you I want to spend an eternity with, no one else. Everyone before you was just a pale shadow compared to what we have.”
Ulika staggered back. “Please don’t do this. You’re only making it harder.”
I was losing her, and I didn’t know what to do to change her mind. Although, it wasn’t hers that needed changing but the gods’. No words came to my lips, and we stood in a tense silence until a light glowed.
31
Ulika
The goddess Justice stepped out of the portal, and despite her overpowering power and apparent disdain for mortals, I was relieved to see her. Her presence ended the conversation between Vinn and me. During the three days he’d been trapped in the lamp, I thought I’d calmed my heart and made a choice not to love him anymore. But seeing him standing tall in all his power and glory brought all the feelings crashing back.
Vinn was everything I wanted. He told me stories, made me laugh, was considerate to both me and my family. He fit in well with my tribe, and with him, the sun shone just a little brighter, and the heat of the day and the cool of the night did not matter as long as he was there. But it was not to be.
I’d already decided what to tell my family when I returned. Alone. Vinn had died slaying the sand devils. They would bother us no more. I’d succeeded in my quest, yet a black hole of emptiness expanded with me. For one blissful moment, I’d had everything I wanted, only for it to be snatched away.
Justice’s cold voice jarred me out of my thoughts. “It is finished. You have completed the task set before you in an admirably brief amount of time. I commend you on your swiftness.”
She did not sound as though she commended us, for her voice still rang with a firm aloofness.
“Vinn, you shall return to Val Ether with me. We have more to discuss. As for you, mortal, you are free to go. I will take the lamp and hide it. Well done. You have found the magic that lay dormant within you and have set the desert free from the scourge of the sand devils. I must warn you, though, keep what happened here to yourself. If others hear about the magic of wind and fire, they will come searching, and there are only so many times the gods will interfere. In the future monsters will arise in the desert, and it is up to you mortals to use your skills to vanquish them. I will not take your memory from you, but let this serve as a warning. Never go to Fae Mountain again.”
I kept my gaze on the ground, nodding as she rebuked me.
“At least let me say goodbye,” Vinn said.
I lifted my head as Justice opened a portal and flashes of light lit up the dinginess of the chamber. “You’ve said it,” she snapped.
My lips parted as she snatched his arm and yanked him into the portal.
It closed with a snap, and I was alone in that accursed place.
Bending over, I emptied my stomach onto the ground, then wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, hobbled up the stairs and into the sunshine.
Odd how the sun was still shining, as though nothing had happened in the chamber below. In a few hours, the sun would set, and once again I’d be alone in the cold desert. I sat down on a rock and took the opportunity to rip my dress even further to create a bandage for my ankle. Now it ended right above my knees, and Mama would be mortified if I walked around like this.
Weariness made me sag and I assessed what had happened. Justice had confirmed my suspicion that I had fire magic. It roared out of me when Vinn had been in danger, and afterward, what I’d thought was a fever had cooled, leaving my skin normal. All this time, instead of my being sick, fire had been blooming inside me. What would Anat say when I told her? She’d want me to burn everything. A half smile came to my lips at the thought of her, followed by the heartsickening knowledge I could not share the truth of what had happened to the sand devils.
Suddenly I just wanted to be home, where Papa would make flatbreads and crushed beans, Anat would pester me about my journey, and Mama would scold me for my appearance. I wanted to wash by the river, race boats with the boys, and most of all, I wanted a hug.
It was just my luck that Nika hadn’t wandered too far. She’d started back home without me, and a series of calling and waving finally persuaded her to stop. It would have been wise to pause and make camp, but I wanted to be as far away from the chamber of devils as possible, and Nika had no qualms about traveling on into the night.
I slumped over her shoulders, sometimes waking, other times in a lucid sleep. The sky was dark-blue velvet, clear of clouds, and the starry sky shone down on me, lights winking to display a silvery path that led home. Whenever I looked up, the North Star glowed brighter than the others, an omen of a brighter future. That was what I would focus on, not the hollowness in my chest, but the knowledge the sand devils were gone and the journey had given me moments with Vinn to treasure.
