Favashi’s expression was openly surprised—archangels weren’t known to give up territories they’d claimed. Recovering quickly, she said, “I thank you, Lady Caliane.”
Will you truly be able to work with her, Favashi? Raphael asked. You are used to total control. Like him. Like every other archangel in the Cadre.
Favashi didn’t look at him as she replied. Yes. She is not one of us—she is an Ancient. And unlike Alexander, she truly seems to want to be left in peace. Do you believe she will suddenly wish to rule again?
Raphael thought of the sorrow that sat heavy on Caliane’s heart, the losses that still marked her, the tiredness he glimpsed in her eyes too often, and said, No. So long as you do not encroach on the small territory she has claimed as her own, my mother will assist you as she has stated and leave you alone the rest of the time.
“Well,” Elijah said, “that settles it. Together, Favashi and Caliane are more than strong enough to control Lijuan’s territory.” As he spoke, Raphael realized the other man was one of the archangels who didn’t see Caliane as Ancient first; to him, she would always be the warrior he’d once served. “The only question is whether or not we have the right to dispose of that territory.”
“There is another matter,” Astaad said, looking a little uncomfortable. “If Lijuan is still awake and alive, then we have a serious problem in Persia.”
Tension gripped everyone in a tight fist, because his words were an understatement of the highest order.
“Eleven archangels,” Caliane murmured. “It is not natural. There is no possible way to maintain the necessary distances long term with eleven.”
Alexander glanced at Favashi. “I have no quarrel with you, but I am awake and I want my territory, a territory I ruled for eons before you were born. I will not give it up.”
Favashi’s response was curt. “You’ve made that clear, but I, too, am an archangel.” A reminder that she wouldn’t go down easy. “It does not matter yet. We must resolve the Lijuan question first. At that point, there may no longer be an issue—but if there is, then we will hash out a solution, since the Cadre will already be in one place with no need for a separate meeting.”
“Favashi’s logic is sound,” Astaad said.
Neha nodded, so did Titus, then slowly, everyone else.
“That leaves only one question,” Neha murmured. “How are we to determine whether or not Lijuan is simply recovering from an injury, or if she has gone into Sleep, or perhaps . . . into death?”
19
Elena and Aodhan wandered deliberately aimlessly through Lumia that morning, giving anyone watching the impression that they were just killing time while Raphael was in the Cadre meeting. When they spotted Xander doing flight drills with Valerius in another courtyard, they waited until he was done, then asked both males to join them.
“We’re going to meet Hannah,” Elena told them. “She said she’d be in the Gallery.” They’d met the other consort an hour earlier by chance.
Valerius inclined his head, his blond-streaked brown hair tightly curled, and the white wings arching over his back holding filaments of the same blond. “We will join you after we clean up.” A pause. “A young warrior should learn art as well as weapons if he is to be a man of strength in all its facets.”
“That sounds like something the Hummingbird would say.”
At Aodhan’s words, Valerius’s stern face cracked in a small smile that brought warmth to his eyes. “She was stuck in Alexander’s territory once for two years—she spent that time trying to bring culture to those of us far more at home with the sword and the crossbow.”
So many connections over the eons lived by an immortal, Elena thought, so many strands of lives entwining. Never would she have linked this usually dour general with the fragile Hummingbird, but from the smile that lingered yet in the greenish hazel of his eyes, that connection had been one he’d enjoyed.
Xander, his dark brown hair damp with sweat, gave Elena a small smile as Aodhan and Valerius fell into a quiet conversation. “I have a younger friend in your tower, Consort,” he said. “Izak. Is he well?”
“Izzy?” Elena couldn’t help her affectionate grin. “Last I saw him, he was determinedly learning to shoot the crossbow to pinpoint accuracy under the tutelage of a number of my hunter friends.”
Xander blinked, while Valerius’s eyebrows came down heavily over his eyes, the general clearly having kept one ear on his charge’s discussion with Elena. “An angel being taught by mortals?”