Blood and Fire

SEVEN

Innara poured some tea into a mug and set it down on the table. Mara watched every movement. The tea steamed, the sweet aroma of it filling the room.

"It's awfully cold in here," Innara remarked, eyes flicking to the balcony doors that were thrown open. She wondered if Mara had kept them that way all night. "You must be freezing."

Mara leant back in her chair, looking out at the city beyond the balcony. "I was burning up last night."

The two women sat in silence, staring out at Innara's city. Her mother's city. The treetops gleamed under the southern sunlight, emeralds and limes and all shades of nature blending together into a mosaic of life. Her mother had once said that Oacalind was the pride of the Goddess of Nature, even more so that the golden fields of Issula. Innara had always preferred to be immersed within the stifling heat of the city, to wander among her mother's people and listen to their worries and praises.

Her uncle never bothered with such things. Since her mother's death, Innara had seen him leave the palace only a handful of times, and he always used the Rift Tree to travel. As if he could not bear to be near the people who now looked to him for guidance.

"Did you know my mother?" Innara blinked at the question. Mara's cheeks flushed slightly. "Lazarus spoke like he knew her, and I just wondered if...Never mind."

Innara sipped her tea. "I never had the privilege of meeting her," she admitted. "My own mother was once a good friend to her, when they were young. Well, when my mother was young." Mara frowned, so Innara added, "Your mother was born several centuries before mine."

Mara blinked a few times, as if trying to make the information settle in her mind. Innara watched the women over the rim of her mug. Mara's lips were still tugged downwards when she asked, "You're all immortal, then? And my mother was, too?"

"Not immortal. We die in the same way as you would, but we have extremely long lifespans."

The mortal woman nodded slowly. "How long?"

So many questions. Innara waved a hand, leaning back in her seat. "Depends on what you are. Nymphs live longer than us fyrfolk, and we live longer than shifters. Demons and angels are, perhaps, some of the oldest creatures. Lazarus will live to see the next six millennia, if he doesn't get himself killed in any more ridiculous wars."

As if hearing his name, Lazarus ducked into the room. His eyes narrowed on the untouched food in front of Mara, then at the steaming cup in Innara's hand. "You could have come downstairs."

Innara rolled her bright eyes at him, standing gracefully from her chair. Mara watched the pair of them like a hawk. The redhead ignored the mortal's stare, breezing past Lazarus to close the door. "I thought Mara would feel more comfortable in her own room."

Lazarus grunted something unsavoury about the choice, but sat himself at the table. With his bulk, the chair looked small, and the whole room felt just a little more snug. Mara shifted in her seat, obviously uncomfortable. Innara wondered how long it would take for her to demand that he take her home. He had complained long enough about it last night that it was a small wonder he even looked at the woman.

"Did you sleep well?"

Innara groaned, waltzing over to the balcony. She leant against the railing, looking out at her mother's city. "Say what you came to say, honey, and be quick about it. I'm taking Mara out to see the city today, and I don't need you hindering us."

Lazarus's answer was more of a growl than any words. "Fine." Innara looked over her shoulder to see him angle his body towards Mara. "We're dining with the Chieftain tonight, so you need to be on your best behaviour. I don't care if you want to go home, or if you hate my damned guts: you will not show him anything but your brightest smile and speak sweetly to him."

Mara narrowed her eyes at the prince. "And if I don't want to do that?"

Lazarus's muscles rippled as he tensed. "Careful how you speak to me today, sunshine."

Innara pursed her lips. She sent a silent prayer to Kuuna, Goddess of Mercy, before she moved to stand by Lazarus's side. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Not now, darling," she murmured to him. His lip curled back in a snarl, but she cut in before he could growl some awful curse at her, "Abigor has chosen today for a reason. Do not let him rile you, and do not take it out on someone who has done nothing to earn your fury."

Lazarus relaxed. Marginally, but it was enough to reassure Innara that he was not about to splatter Mara against the wall should she say something he disagreed with. He sighed, reaching for a piece of fruit that Mara had not touched since it had been put in front of her. "The Chieftain is a very difficult man to deal with. He is power hungry, a liar and a cheat." His dark eyes flicked to Innara. "No offence."

Innara lifted a shoulder. "None taken," she hummed.

Lazarus turned back to Mara. "Make yourself boring. Don't show any ounce of intelligence or defiance." His lips quirked into a cocky smirk. "Don't let any of you show." Mara scowled at him. He shrugged. "The more interesting he finds you, the harder it will be for us to stay discreet about what we're doing here."

Mara lifted a brow. "Which is what, exactly?"

Innara chuckled. "Oh, I like you."

Both Mara and Lazarus ignored her. The prince took a bite of the summer fruit in his hand, chewing slowly before answering. "Your mother expressed a certain desire to have you taken to someone. She'll help with your...transition into our world."

Innara and Mara frowns mirrored each other. "Why did my mother never tell me any of this?" Mara demanded, her hands laid flat on the table. Innara could have sworn that the wood beneath the woman's palms smoked slightly. "Why leave it to you? When telling me earlier would have made all this so much easier?"

Innara understood the woman's frustrations. What she could not understand, though, was the strange rippling that was travelling through the veins on the woman's face. "We can't answer that," she said slowly, watching the veins beneath Mara's eyes darken and lighten in a strange pulsing. "All we can do is help you, and hope that there was a reason your mother never told you."

The pulsing slowed, then stopped as Mara nodded. Innara did not dare let out a sigh of relief, not if Lazarus had not noticed it. "Fine," the woman said. She turned those blue-grey eyes onto the city outside, then back to Innara. "Can we go see the city now?"