With that, Micah turned and walked toward the manor, with me following. Of course, Max couldn’t just let us go.
“You think you’re big, bad Micah, and want us all to bow down to you,” my idiot brother shouted. “Well, you’re not so powerful!”
Micah halted, but he didn’t turn around. Instead, he raised his hand. Amazingly, all seven of the iron warriors lifted into the air, screaming as they were crushed together like a giant wad of aluminum foil, the sound like a thousand rusty grates being dragged shut. Micah flicked his wrist, and, like a corrupted shooting star, the iron blob sped away across the sky.
“Where did you send them?” I asked, my voice and hands shaking. Each warrior must have weighed as much as a small car, and Micah had just flung seven of them away without even breaking a sweat.
“Ferra’s castle,” Micah replied, “where they belong.”
The Iron Court was miles away from the Whispering Dell. Miles and miles…I wrapped my arm around Micah’s waist and coaxed him inside the manor. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Max standing among the huge ruts in the lawn, the carefully tended flowers that had been trampled down to nothing. With wide eyes and a bloodless face, he stared at the destruction he’d caused. Maybe Micah’s lesson in humility had taught him a thing or two.
Then again, this was Max.
However Max had taken it, I wanted him and Micah as far apart as possible; while I didn’t think Micah would do anything that would harm Max, I understood how close Max had just come to being thrown out on his ear. Who knows what kind of trouble Max would stir up as a homeless derelict in the Otherworld? I led Micah across the atrium, where we passed the newly reminted silverkin as they polished the stairs, and up to our rooms. Once the door was shut, Micah’s hard exterior crumbled away and he sat heavily, his head in his hands.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured, perching on the arm of his chair. For the second time that day, I rubbed his mark. “I’ll talk to Max.”
“How could he have led them here, to our home?” Micah mumbled. “Why did he go looking for them?”
“Max probably didn’t mean to bring them here,” I said. “I’m sure he just got in way over his head and needed help.” The image of the iron warriors flying across the sky bubbled up in my mind, and I couldn’t help but smile. “I had no idea you were so strong.”
“I’m not,” he replied. “I was furious.”
I slid around, balancing myself before him on the arms of the chair. “Max is pretty lucky he’s my brother, huh?”
At that, Micah laughed. “He is. Which makes the message I received this morning all the more perplexing.”
“Message?” I let go of the arms and slid onto Micah’s lap.
“Our queen has decided to make a formal appearance,” Micah replied. “All of the Inheritors should be present, and we of metal shall formally pledge ourselves to her.”
“Everyone of metal?” I asked.
“Not every last being. Your sister will, yes, as will all the rulers.”
“So, not me, then.” Once more, everyone was interested in Sadie and Micah, not poor, pathetic, “just a consort” Sara.
“Yes, you.” Micah smoothed back my hair, his hand coming to rest on the nape of my neck. “You and I are as one.”
“I don’t rule anything,” I whined, but Micah silenced me with a kiss. I think he was tired of hearing that same old complaint.
“Hush. We are going, you and I and your sister.” I noticed that he omitted Max’s name. Smart.
“Will those of iron be there?”
“That is not likely. They are somewhat disgraced at the moment. When a new iron ruler emerges, they will first need to make reparations to Oriana, if such reparations are even possible.” Micah tightened his arms around me. “You will be quite safe in the Gold Court, my love, of that I am certain.”
I laid my head on his shoulder, not voicing my thoughts. Safe from iron, yes, but what about all the other Elementals?
9
Micah and I remained in our rooms for the rest of that day and into the evening, though he balked when I described us as hiding from my family. He claimed that the true reason for our seclusion was that he had missed me, and how could I argue with that? Besides, I did like having him all to myself.
Of course, I couldn’t just enjoy our time alone. “So, did you see all of that junk in the atrium?” I ventured. We’d been sitting at the table before the window, playing chess. He was even letting me win.
“You mean the gifts from others of copper, supporting you as their ruler?” Micah countered, without even looking up from the board.