The Art of Blood and Power (Book 2 in The Gifted Trilogy)

18- The Wind Court

When I was a kid, Tessa and I would make plans about our future homes. One of our favorite ideas was to move into the forest and build ourselves a treehouse. When we had the supplies to spare, Tessa would paint pictures of the house and I would design where everything would be. We spent hours perfecting our vision of what a house amongst the tops of the trees would look like.

The sheer size and gandour of the Wind Court easily put all of those dreams to shame.

"How the hell does it not fall?" I asked, shielding my eyes from the sun as I craned my neck up to see the castle that rested far above us, almost scraping the clouds. "There's no trees around and it doesn't look like anything is supporting it."

Kess stepped forward, studying the empty space in front of us before he found what he had been searching for. Knocking in midair, his fist met resistance but made no noise of impact. "Hard air" he answered. "Works the same as wooden beams."

Porter frowned as he joined the rest of our group, which consisted of Cicero, June, and Ash. We had decided to keep our party small, mostly due to Calius's paranoia that someone from the Ocean, Shadow, or Sun Court might spot us and make an assumption about the Sun Court's alliance before they had made a firm stance.

"Does that mean somebody has to be controlling the air beneath the castle at all times?" Porter asked. "Isn't that exhausting?"

"That's not how our abilities work, soldier" a voice called from the right of our group. We turned and watched in awe as six men effortlessly floated downwards towards us, their movement a smooth and effortless glide. The lead member had been the one to speak. "If we depended on someone at all times to hold our castle up, it would have fallen at some point in the last 289 years."

"So how-"

"I am not at liberty to share the technological intelligence of the Wind Court with the likes of you" the man interrupted before Porter could finish. The strange thing about his tone was that it held an air of unapologetic neutrality. He didn't say the words with a sense of superiority as I had heard plenty of Gifted speak to non-Gifted. His was simply a matter-of-fact, as if he were neither apologetic nor grateful to withhold this information from us.

His gaze turned towards Kess, who decided this would be one of the rare occasions where a golden band donned his head, signifying his position as the king. He never wore the crown in his own castle but this was an important time to appear as legitimate and powerful as possible. We were here to convince Calius to join our side in an upcoming war. Now was not the time for humility.

"You do realize the risk my king is taking through agreeing to a meeting with you," the man said to Kess. "The Wind Court prides itself on a past of establishing peace and neutrality in Naturian during times of increased political tension. We do not take this presumed threat of a future war lightly."

"Believe me, I do not make my claims lightly either," Kess replied, hands folded behind his back. "But I fear that in a short matter of time, we will all be forced to make a choice we do not necessarily want to take."

The man glanced over at me before cutting his gaze back to Kess. "You are aware that King Calius only promised you an audience. He is not obligated by any means to agree to your proposal."

Kess lowered his head in a humble manner. "I am aware of the conditions of our meeting."

The man nodded, stepping towards us. The Wind Soldiers behind him finally relaxed their stances and stepped forward as well, each standing by another member of our group. "Then we best be moving" the man said, stopping beside me and gently wrapping an arm around my lower back, however there was nothing suggestive about his grip. "I don't doubt there are spies watching us in these surrounding forests."