Buck Springmorning stood at the center of the mall in a large octagonal atrium where the humans were making a feeble attempt at growing flowers and trees around a fountain that jetted up in a small pond. Orange and white koi fish swam around the pond in a silent agitated dance. Buck stared at the throngs of humans, their stores and their merchandise, and wiped his sweaty hands against his brown robes.
Some people stared at him. Others looked away. He dressed strangely to them.
He didn't care what they thought. They'd had the temerity to build their shopping center on this sacred ground. This fountain of earth-power. And then as if the ground had screamed so loud that even the humans could hear it, they'd put the atrium in the very heart instead of their stores.
A sorry-looking pansy nodded its purple head against the poor soil.
Buck sat on the brick wall that held the dirt in place and touched the pansy's wilting petals. "There now," he whispered as it leaned into his hand, hungry for the nourishment that would help it thrive. "The humans mean well, I think, but they just don't understand what you need." He pulled out a small packet of fertilizer. Ignoring human stares, he spread it into the soil all around the ring of flowers. Working with the plants and soil eased his sheer panic of being there, of doing what he planned to do.
"Springmorning," a cold voice said.
Buck jumped. The need of the plants and the constant pulse of power from this sacred spot had absorbed his thoughts, making him perilously oblivious for a time. He gripped a fistful of soil in his hand, rose to his feet, and faced the new arrival.
Kalmar Sunblade stood well back from the circle of earth-power, dressed in casual human clothes as if to mock the solemnity of this place. He was young, still so young. Maybe Buck had been wrong to come here.
"What do you want?" Fireknife, one of Sunblade's older companions, said. He spoke in Aos Si so the humans couldn't understand him. His voice held the tinge of ancient malice nursed to ever increasing levels over the years. He took two menacing steps forward and stopped with his toes just outside the power circle.
Buck's heart beat hard, and his stomach twisted. He'd personally held off Fireknife and Atratus's other general, Stonefist, while DeWheat struck down the tyrant king. The last stroke of the war. What remained of Atratus's family and followers had surrendered and in time sworn their fealty to DeWheat.
A fourth Aos Si, this one younger by far than the other three, leaned against the wall at the very edge of the atrium. His stance was casual, but a misty blue aura spread from him, filling the whole atrium and wisping down the closest hallway. Buck had never seen him before, but he'd heard of the youth, Shadowheart, who had the power to sense other people's intentions even through their shields. Of course Sunblade would bring him, with a power like that.
"I just want to talk," Buck said, keeping his voice even, hoping Shadowheart's power would work to his advantage. Buck had not come to fight his old enemies. "I'm wondering how you and your people are faring. How you are handling these—" he glanced at the throng of humans that hurried past, oblivious to the fountain of power right in front of them "—humans."
"What do you care?" Sunblade said, his voice still cold, his eyes angry.
Buck shrugged. Stay casual. Stay calm, he reminded himself. "The humans are a problem. They've taken over. They expect us to live by their laws."
"So?" Sunblade said as if that statement meant nothing to him. Stonefist scowled. Fireknife snorted in contempt, and Shadowheart smiled and winked at a passing human girl as if he had no part in the conversation.
Buck swallowed and used the soil in his hand to channel the immense power through him. "Some Aos Si think we should join the humans, integrate ourselves into their society, and live as they do." Buck didn't know where the Sunblade elves stood on this matter. He'd come to find out. Come to see if he could gain allies here.
Sunblade let out a single bark of laughter. "DeWheat has betrayed you. Your hero. Your king. Your solution to tyranny." He laughed again. "Springmorning, are you trying to start another war? Perhaps you think you should be king."
Fireknife and Stonefist spread out, flanking him along the edge of the circle. Sunblade stepped forward, wrapping himself in a flaring aura of red power.
Buck drew more power to himself and solidified it into a thick brown shield. "I have no desire to rule. Some of us think we should do away with the position of king. It is an ancient notion and not relevant to our time. Some of us think the Aos Si should be able to choose for themselves whether to live with the humans or . . ."
"Or what?" Sunblade said. "Do you even have an alternate solution?"
The flow of power through Buck brought sweat out on his forehead. It had been so long since he'd immersed himself in it so completely. Controlling the vast force took all his concentration. "We can create our own hidden kingdom like the High Court did long ago in Scotland. They do not have the same troubles with humans that we have."
"They don't have any kind of a life either," Sunblade spat. "They have not found freedom. They have built themselves their own prison."
Buck's hands shook, and his mind sifted through possibilities, looking for any idea that might bring Sunblade to his side. "DeWheat is out of control. He's taken my daughter." The truth slipped through his strained lips.
Sunblade's fiery aura flared into a crimson volcano. "You helped him kill my father. Do you think I care anything for your whelp? You think DeWheat has taken her from you? I'll tell you what. If I ever see her, I'll finish her off just like DeWheat did to my father. Then you'll really have lost her, and we'll be even you and I."
Buck let the power build around him and gathered the full force of it to throw at Sunblade.
Shadowheart peeled himself from the wall and strode forward, covering the distance in the blink of an eye and positioning himself between Sunblade's angry volcano and Buck's furious dust storm.
"If you fight here, a lot of innocent people will get hurt," Shadowheart said, his voice so mild it gave lie to the danger of the situation.
Buck scowled at Shadowheart. The impudent brat. He was far too young to speak up in the presence of his elders.
Sunblade's angry eyes fell on the boy. He seemed just as surprised at Shadowheart's outrageous conduct. "How dare you?" he hissed.
Shadowheart grinned in the face of his master's wrath. "Just saying things the way I see them. Springmorning didn't come here to fight. Neither did you. You both meant to find allies against DeWheat. It seems silly to throw that all away just because you can't stand each other."
Sunblade's eyes narrowed. "Shadowheart, when we get home, I'm going to whip you until you don't have an ounce of flesh left on your bones."
Buck recoiled. He'd hoped Sunblade would be different from his father. He'd been wrong. There was no way he could ally himself with a man who would hurt his own servant.
Shadowheart shrugged and sauntered back over to his position against the wall. Buck's mind swirled, looking for a way out of the confrontation. He might survive a fight against Sunblade and his generals. He held the position of power there by the fountain, but Shadowheart was right. Many humans might get hurt in the struggle.
A girl Aos Si with a golden aura of sunshine stepped from the hall next to Shadowheart into the atrium. Buck's heart stopped. He recognized the aura. It belonged to his daughter, to Sira, but the girl who stood at the center of it looked nothing like Sira had ever looked before.
Her hair hung short and straight. She wore shoes on her feet and human clothes that showed off the curves of her body, striking him with the realization that she'd grown up into a young woman. In her hands she clutched many bags of human merchandise. She laughed at something the human girl, Carla, said. Then lifted her eyes and saw him.
Buck couldn't breathe. Sunblade had threatened to kill Sira on sight. Sira was behind Sunblade. He and the two generals hadn't seen her. Their powers were primed and ready for battle with Buck. But Shadowheart stood an arms-length from her.
On seeing her father wrapped in power in the center of the mall, Sira let the bags fall from her hands. Buck figured he only had a moment to strike at Sunblade and his generals if he wanted to keep her alive. But if Shadowheart went after her, she'd die before Buck could get to her.