Sky Riders: The Rising Sun

She changed into a red tunic and brown breeches without bothering to question him. As she tugged on her boots, there was a tap on the doorframe. Eliana glanced up to find Caelum there, a white shirt hanging loosely from his chest.

“Ready?” he asked, leaning against the frame.

She jammed her other foot into the boot and straightened up, nodding, As he took her hand and led her down the stairs, she tried to make sense of what she was feeling—or rather, what she wasn’t feeling. The prospect of time alone with Caelum should have made her gut flutter with excitement. But now, it felt empty.

What’s the point of any of this? she wondered. Where could we go from here?

She followed him into the palace, where Denio, Kana, and Queen Ivi still stood, talking amiably. They looked up as the pair walked in. Kana immediately smiled and rushed to the Rider, more boisterous than the shy girl had ever been before.

“Eliana!” she exclaimed, embracing her. “What happened to you?”

She smiled back and answered quietly, “I just needed to speak to Oriens for a moment.”

Kana nodded, not questioning her reason. Denio stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Kana’s waist. “Where are you two headed?” he asked.

Caelum took Eliana’s hand again. “Out. Is that alright with you, your Majesty?” he asked with a smirk.

“Hey,” Denio laughed, “no need for that.”

Caelum laughed as well, shaking his head. “I knew you would be king, but I still can’t believe you’re married. I thought I would beat you to that, at least.”

The new king made a less-than-subtle nod at their interwoven fingers. “Hardly my fault,” he smirked.

Caelum just shook his head and began to lead Eliana towards the opposite doors, which would take them out into Iterum.

“Caelum!” Ivi called. They stopped and looked back at her. She was watching them closely, with a thoughtful expression on her face. Finally, she said, “Be careful.”

Her son seemed to hesitate, taking in the meaning of his mother’s words. Then he nodded and pushed open the doors. They walked in silence, slipping down Iterum’s crowded streets, drawing curious looks from everyone they passed. At last, they exited through the white gates.

Eliana finally asked, “Where are we going?”

Caelum shrugged. “Not sure. It depends on how long it takes for you to talk to me. We’ll walk to Amiscan if we have to.”

She fell silent again. She would have liked nothing more than to tell him what she felt, but how could she even begin when it was all so muddled to her own mind? She loved him, but she feared she could never have a future with him. She wanted to be with him, but she wanted to keep him at a distance, to keep him safe. How could she ever explain that to him?

As they wove through the trees, he spoke again. “So what was bothering you during the wedding? What were you looking at?”

That much, she could explain. “Raena’s clan color is green, right?”

He frowned. “Yes, why?”

“I saw her clan, but she wasn’t with them. I’m sure of it. Do you know if she came back to Iterum after you sent her away from Amiscan?”

His frown grew deeper. “I haven’t thought about her in so long… I guess I don’t really know where she went. Nobody ever mentioned her coming back. I suppose it’s possible she didn’t.”

Despite herself, Eliana felt concerned for the missing woman. If she hadn’t come back to Iterum, where had she gone? What had happened to her? Another elf disappearing… just like Ater. The young soldier’s face filled her mind. She hadn’t thought about him in a long time either, her thoughts being preoccupied with Caelum’s recovery.

“We didn’t find Ater,” she mused quietly. “He wasn’t in the dungeons in Vereor. Where do you think he is?”

Caelum sighed. “I suppose I don’t know that either. If he’s not being held prisoner there, it’s possible he’s being held elsewhere. Or, I’m sorry to say, he may have been killed. But it’s also possible…”

“That he’s working with them,” Eliana finished for him.

He nodded slowly. “I hate to believe it, but we do have to consider it as a possibility.”

Eliana sighed. “I suppose we do.”

She heard the rushing of the river close by and, a moment later, they stepped from the trees to see the water rushing past them, tumbling over the edge of the waterfall. It was the same place where Oriens had hatched nine months earlier, the same waterfall where Raena had tried to destroy his egg.

The water was much higher now, and great chunks of snow and ice floated down it. The snow was beginning to melt in the mountains. Spring would be only a few weeks away. They stood on the very edge of the cliff, watching the water tumble to the river below, where it continued on its way in churning white hills.

“Do you trust me?” Caelum asked suddenly.

Eliana looked up at him, her expression confused, but her answer was reactionary. “Yes.”

He seized her suddenly around the waist and crushed her tightly to him. Then he threw them both over the edge of the cliff. She screamed and pulled herself closer to him, pressing her eyes tightly shut. She heard a laugh echo in his chest, as if he was getting a thrill from their freefall towards the icy water. After a moment of weightlessness, Eliana felt their motion slow.

Wind whipped around them, pulling at her hair and clothes, roaring in her ears. She opened her eyes and looked down. The river below was still growing closer, but at a much slower rate. She looked up at Caelum. He was smiling back down at her, one arm around her waist, the other over his head, controlling the wind around them, which now lowered them gently towards the water.

She let out a short laugh. Then, without warning, thousands of needles pricked her skin and the air rushed from her lungs as they dropped into the frozen water. She frantically kicked upwards, her waterlogged boots dragging her down.

Her head broke the surface and she gasped for air, striking out for shore with numb arms. Caelum was beside her, keeping pace, still smiling despite the icy chill of the river. He helped pull her onto the shore. With a flick of his wrist, a blast of flame struck the snow on the riverbank, disintegrating it with a hiss.

Eliana collapsed onto the slightly charred grass, trying to force air into her frozen lungs. Caelum fell to the ground beside her, gasping as well. But she could hear laughter under his labored breaths.

Once she’d forced enough air into her body to form words, she rolled towards him and slapped him hard on the chest. “Are you mad?” she shouted. “Are you trying to kill me? That was the stupidest thing you have ever done!”

He rolled on his side to face her, rubbing his chest slightly through his nearly transparent white shirt. He was still smirking. “Are you finished?” he asked softly.

Her chattering teeth wouldn’t allow her to form a response, so she rolled stubbornly onto her other side, placing her back firmly to him. Almost immediately, his arm slid across her waist, his body pressing against hers along every curve. She tensed to push him away, just out of sheer agitation, but then she felt the heat radiating from him.

She closed her eyes and remained still as the fire from his body warmed her frozen skin, and his arms stilled her trembling. After several minutes, she felt him shift slightly, and she turned her head to find him looking down at her, his pale, wet hair hanging slightly into his eyes.

“Please talk to me,” he whispered.

His expression made her heart ache. He looked pained, confused, and afraid, as if he thought he was losing her to some unseen force. The emptiness that had been inside of her chest filled with emotion and she turned so that she faced him.

They were silent for another moment while his thumb traced her lips, ears, and nose, warming them with his fire. His white shirt still clung to his chest, and she pressed her hand against it. His skin was still icy cold. The gentle fire he’d summoned to warm her had done nothing for him. She careful summoned heat of her own as she pressed her hand to his chest, trying to return some of the warmth he’d given her.

When she felt some semblance of heat returning to his skin, she sighed and finally spoke, barely above a whisper. “What’s going to become of us, Caelum?”

He frowned at her, running his fingers softly over her shoulder. “What do you mean?”

She shook her head slowly. “We’re going into a war. People are going to look to both of us to lead them. We have responsibilities—dangerous ones. We can’t allow ourselves to be distracted from that.”

Her words didn’t seem to bother him. In fact, he gave a quiet laugh and smirked down at her. “Do I distract you then, Eliana?”

“Very much,” she answered seriously and quietly. “You make me want to forget about all of this—the war, the emperor, the prophecy. You make me want to walk away from it all, but I know I can’t. Because of who I am—a Rider.”

He held her face in his hand, his thumb moving back and forth along the skin of her jaw. “You’re far more than a Rider, Eliana,” he whispered.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “It is my duty to fight, and—.”

“It is your duty to live as well,” he interrupted, “to live the way you choose.”

She leaned her head against his chest, listening to his breath. “I wish it were that easy,” she sighed.

“It is,” he answered in an equally quiet voice.

She made an irritated noise and rolled away, lying on her back and staring up at the clouds. “You just don’t understand, Caelum.”

He shifted as well, surprising her as he moved over her, a hand on either side of her head, looking down at her in his wet tunic. “Then explain it to me,” he replied, his blue eyes dark and serious.

Eliana shook her head slowly on the ground. “You didn’t hear the things Astrum told me. He said this prophecy would only be fulfilled if I chose to fulfill it. I could walk away from it all, but this war would continue, possibly for centuries more, before somebody else came to fulfill it. So I can’t live the way I choose, Caelum. I… I have to be the one to do this. I have to end it all. I can’t have the things I want.”

Caelum shook his head slowly. “And what do you want, Eliana?” he asked quietly.

His pale hair had fallen into his blue eyes, and she shouldn’t suppress the urge to push it away. She brushed it aside, her fingers running along his cheek as she answered, “You…”

Caelum smiled softly and turned his face towards her hand. He kissed the mark on her palm, then her fingers, then her wrist, making her shiver, though she was no longer cold. “Something that is not already yours,” he whispered.

Eliana was silent, staring up into his patient, watchful eyes. The question that had been burning in her throat finally rose to the surface, and her voice trembled slightly as she finally asked it. “Caelum… do you love me?”

He lowered his face to hers, his lips brushing hers so lightly that she barely felt it. “Yes,” he whispered, his warm breath caressing her cheek. “With all my heart.”

His lips brushed over her neck briefly, then paused. His face pressed softly into the curve of her shoulder, his expression hidden from her as he spoke again. His words were slow, as if he was uncertain of how to say them.

“Do you…?” he asked. “Love me?”

She smiled to herself and touched his cheek, drawing his face back so that she could look into his eyes again. For some reason that she could not explain, he looked anxious, as if he could somehow be uncertain of what her answer would be. She kissed him lightly three times before answering.

“Yes, Caelum. Of course I love you.”

He smiled down at her gently. “Do you really?” he asked quietly.

In response, she slid her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down onto hers. His body pressed on top of hers, applying a warm pressure across her skin. She could feel his heart beating against her own.

She pulled away from the kiss and put her lips to his ear. “That was another ‘yes,’ in case you didn’t catch it,” she whispered.

He chuckled, his lips grazing her neck, tracing a heated line to her ear. “Oh, I got it,” he answered.

She turned her mouth to meet his again, savoring the way his lips tasted, the feeling of his hands on her skin. He returned the kiss firmly, urgency emanating from him as his hand moved around her back, pulling her still closer to him. Excitement flared in her stomach and she sighed as she wrapped her arms around his back.

Suddenly, he pulled away, sitting back on his heels. Eliana propped herself up on her elbows, looking at him in confusion and mild disappointment. Caelum’s eyes were closed, and there was a dull, red glow surrounding his form. She recognized it as the fire he so often lost control of when he lost his temper.

“Are you angry about something?” she asked in surprise.

He opened his eyes and smiled at her, the glow dimming until it had nearly disappeared. “Of course not. How could I possibly be angry at a moment like this?”

“But you always lose control of your fire when you’re angry.”

His smile turned into a smirk. “It’s a different kind of fire with you.”

“Oh,” she said, with a short, slightly uncomfortable laugh. Eliana sat up as well, crossing her legs to face him. His fire had vanished, and he now looked at her with a mingling of tenderness and desire. She longed to kiss him again, but she knew the time for that had passed. She sighed. “What now, Caelum?” she asked.

He looked confused. “What do you mean?”

She paused, running a hand over her face, trying to think of a way to say what she wanted. “I mean… Us… Where do we go from here?”

He shrugged nonchalantly, as if it mattered very little to him. “Wherever you want us to go.”

She sighed again and dropped her gaze. He was being extremely unhelpful.

When she made no effort to respond, Caelum moved forward, closing the small distance between them and taking her hands between his own.

“Eliana,” he said, “I will do whatever I need to do to make you happy. I don’t care what it is. If you want me to walk away and allow you to fulfill your duties as a Rider, then I will do it. If you want me by your side, if you want to be with me just as we are now, then I will do it. And even if marrying me now would make you happy, then… I wouldn’t hesitate.”

She stared at him, drinking in his words. He would marry me, she thought in amazement. All I would have to do is ask. She did want that; more than anything, she wanted to be his, and she wanted him to be hers. But she knew she couldn’t. War was practically upon them, and the people would look to her—to both of them—to lead them into battle.

Caelum worried enough about her as it was. If she were to marry him, she knew that he would resist her going into battle even more than he already did. And if she died… She didn’t want it to cause him more pain than it already would.

She knew in her heart that the kindest thing to do would be to push him away, separate herself from him as much as possible, as soon as possible. It would spare him any pain and would make it easier for her to fulfill her duties. But she knew she was far too selfish for that; she needed him beside her, to help her through what she would have to do.

Eliana forced herself to smile as she lied, “I want you with me, as we are now.”

He nodded. “Then I will be there.” He didn’t smile. His expression was serious, and she thought she saw a moment of disappointment in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

“The Queen Mother is looking for you, young Rider,” a familiar, slow voice said from close by.

Eliana jumped, her eyes darting towards the source of the voice. Instead of the little white fox she’d expected to see, a massive white wolf stood in the snow several feet away. She reached instinctively towards her waist, where her sword should have been, but she hadn’t brought it. Then she noticed the familiar golden eyes watching her with the same intensity as they had in the little fox’s face.

“Astrum…?” she asked in disbelief.

The wolf dipped his long snout in acknowledgment.

Caelum stood as he spoke to the wolf. “I see you’ve already made the change. How was it?”

“Fairly easy,” the wolf answered. “My last form and this form were very similar, so it was quick and relatively painless.”

“Change?” Eliana asked in surprise. “Astrum, what happened to you?”

Caelum answered her question. “Astrum changes forms with each new king. He took his fox form when my father became king. Now that my mother has given power to Denio, Astrum has taken a new form.”

She stared at the Seer in wide-eyed astonishment. “You change every time the ruler changes?”

Astrum nodded. “This time was easy. When I changed for Caelum’s grandfather, I transitioned from stag to falcon, then from falcon to fox for Caelum’s father. Those were difficult changes. Denio’s form was a fairly simple transition to make by comparison.”

“What do you mean ‘Denio’s form’?”

“Each monarch’s personality dictates what my form will be. I suppose you could say that their inner spirit manifests itself through me. Denio’s and Caelum’s father was quick and cunning; thus, I was a fox for him. Denio is strong and loyal, and fiercely dedicated to defending his pack; and so, for him, I am a wolf.”

Eliana decided not to pursue the subject further; as elven magic so often did, it was giving her a headache. She returned her thoughts to the Seer’s initial words to her.

“You said Queen Ivi was looking for me?”

Astrum nodded. “Yes. She wishes to speak to you on a matter of great importance.”

“What?”

He shook his head. “I am only here to deliver her message. It’s not my place to relay more than that.”

Caelum held a hand out to her and pulled Eliana to her feet. “Well, we shouldn’t keep her waiting,” he said with a grin. “She may no longer be queen, but she’s still a stubborn old woman.”

Eliana smiled back, but her mind was whirring, wondering what Ivi could possibly want to see her for. What could they have to discuss with each other? Any matters about the journey the next day would come to her through Denio now, and she certainly had no personal matters to discuss with the Queen Mother. It wasn’t as if they were close.

They followed Astrum’s white shape through the woods and up the steep slope to Iterum’s gates. Her hand gripped his tightly, praying that he would stay with her when Ivi spoke to her. He noticed, and looked down at her with an amused smile.

“You’re not still scared of her, are you?” he asked with a laugh.

“I wouldn’t say ‘scared,’ exactly,” she answered tightly. “It’s more… fearful respect.”

He shook his head with a laugh and gave her hand a squeeze. “Darling,” he said, the pet name startling and pleasing her, “you worry too much.”

She couldn’t deny that. As the palace doors swung open in front of them, she could feel her heart far above its traditional location in her chest, beating instead at the base of her throat. They followed Astrum to the base of Domus, and the wolf stopped in front of the curved doorway that led into the royal family’s quarters.

“She wishes to speak to you alone,” he said, looking up at Eliana.

She blinked. “Alone?”

Caelum turned towards her, smirking at her discomfort. “Relax,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. “You’ll be fine. She’s really quite harmless.” He kissed her softly on the lips, then slipped away from her, heading towards the back doors. “I’ll be with Oriens.”

She watched as the elf disappeared, Astrum following silently in his wake. With a deep breath, she turned towards Domus and began climbing the stairs. She was entirely alone now.

“Not quite,” Oriens said in her mind.

She smiled to herself. “Of course not. I am never really alone.”

“And you never will be. Better get used to it,” he chuckled.

She felt more secure with her dragon’s presence filling her mind, like a warm blanket swaddling her in safety and comfort. She continued up the stairs, passing several rooms until she came to a large sitting room, where Queen Ivi sat primly in a red velvet armchair.

“In here, Eliana,” she called calmly. The Rider stepped slowly into the room. “Please, sit,” she instructed, gesturing to a matching chair across from her.

Eliana sat on the edge of the armchair, as if ready to flee at any sign of threat. “You wanted to speak to me?”

She nodded slowly, studying the halfling girl with thoughtful eyes. “I’ve been thinking about you… about the things that I never bothered to explain to you.”

“What do you mean?” she asked with a frown.

“I wanted to talk to you about my son.”

“Caelum?”

She nodded again. “Yes. Did he ever tell you why I sent him to Amiscan? Why I wanted him to stop being your instructor?”

“No…”

“I was afraid—and I can now see that my fears were correct—that he was falling in love with you, Eliana. I hoped that by sending him back to the troops, I could prevent that from happening.”

“Why didn’t you want him to love me?” she whispered.

The old queen sighed. “Eliana, I may have been queen, but I was always—first and foremost—a mother. I love my son dearly. You are a Rider. Do you know what your future holds?”

Eliana nodded.

Ivi went on, “War. War and death—possibly your own. From the moment I learned of your dragon, I knew that your life would always be at risk. I knew you had duties that you would fulfill, and that those duties would always come first. I didn’t want to see my son hurt. I didn’t want to see his pain if you fell in battle. It would be hard enough for all of the elves to lose our Rider. I didn’t want him to lose someone he loved as well.

“And I know my son. When he loves someone, he loves more completely than anyone I know. I knew that, if he allowed himself to fall in love with you, he would be willing to die to protect you. I am his mother, no matter what disagreements we may have had, and I did not want that to happen to my boy.”

Eliana nodded slowly. “I understand.”

“That is why I sent him to Amiscan, Eliana. That’s why I took him from you. To stop him from falling in love with you. But surely, you must realize, that I failed.”

A small smile touched her lips as the Rider nodded again. “Yes… I know that he loves me.”

Ivi raised her eyebrows very slightly. “And… how do you feel?”

She raised her eyes to meet the queen’s steady gaze. “Queen Ivi,” she said, with all the confidence she could muster, “I love your son. He means more to me than I could possibly say. And I don’t want to see him hurt any more than you do. You’re right—I have duties to fulfill, and I will not shirk them. But I won’t let Caelum put himself in danger for my sake. And I won’t allow things between us to go any farther than they already have, no matter how willing he may be.”

Ivi frowned at her slightly. “What do you mean?”

Suddenly, the woman that sat before her no longer seemed like a daunting monarch. She was only a mother—the mother of the man that she loved. Eliana sighed and replied, “He told me today that he would marry me, if I asked it of him. But I won’t do that to him. I know that my future is a dangerous one, and I don’t want to cause him any more pain than I can help.”

Caelum’s mother studied her carefully, taking in the Rider’s words. At last, she spoke. “Thank you, Eliana. Thank you for caring enough to protect my son.”

She nodded, then answered quietly. “And thank you… for giving him to me. Thank you for giving me someone who loves me as he does.”

Eliana stood to leave, but was stopped by Ivi’s slim hand on her arm. The Queen Mother stood and pulled her into a quick embrace. Then she held her at arm’s length and said, “This war that we’re about to enter… if it ends well for you both… I would be honored to have you in our family, Rider Eliana.”

She smiled and embraced the woman again, but made no response. She wished with all of her heart that it could be so, but somehow, she feared that it wouldn’t.