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Not a Normal then. What kind of Other is he?
An image appeared of him standing near a pond in the elaborate garden of a grand antebellum house, possibly one of the old plantation houses outside of town. A huge old oak spread its limbs above him, and stars sparkled in the sky. He dripped his blood into the shallows of the pond. The water lifted into the shape of a small four-footed transparent creature where the drops fell. The creature ran off when he waved his hand casually.
The working did not show any signs of draining his energy. He didn’t even look visibly tired.
A water mage. A powerful one.
How does he come by his ability to do magic and his affinity with water?
A quick image flashed with the faded colors of long ago. An asrai, an unseelie Sidhe Fae whose element was water, with long black hair, dressed in an emerald green samite gown, kissed a human man dressed in a fine plaid kilt and saffron shirt with a jeweled broach on his shoulder. The shimmer of moonlight gave the kiss a romantic feel, but Liliana knew asrais were universally nocturnal. Any kiss with an asrai would be at night.
The land around the asrai’s lake was rocky and steep, and a path led up from the water’s edge to an old castle wall, not like anything in the North Carolina area.
Probably overseas. Scotland, judging by the kilt, and nearly a century ago judging by the style.
In older times, humans who ruled an area in Europe would sometimes wed the local land-bonded Fae to legitimize their own rule. In this case, water-bonded, rather than land-bonded, would probably be the right term. The water Fae were only ever chosen by bodies of water, but bonded asrai could be very powerful within their limited realms.
Swift flashes passed Liliana’s fourth eyes of the asrai presenting a swaddled babe to her human laird. The babe had eyes of green like the deep water. A man in expensive late nineteenth century finery with green eyes shaded by a big hat married a pretty woman in the garden of the same plantation house Liliana saw before, but it was still being built and the oak tree beside the pond was a sapling.
William Eliot had an asrai ancestor, his grandmother. She had been a powerful bonded ruler of a body of water in Scotland and married the human ruler of the land surrounding it. So William Eliot had deep magic and noble ancestry. He was handsome, and Alexander cared for him, even though they were not yet committed to each other.
Liliana disliked the idea that Eliot might be dishonest to Sergeant Giovanni, not telling her about his feelings for her commanding officer. The passionate sergeant was bad enough at choosing her mates without someone toying with her heart. Besides, all three of her parents taught Liliana that honesty was essential in any long-term relationship, but even more so when the partners went beyond two.
If Alexander valued this man, then Liliana would do her best to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least until she knew him better.
She went back to current time and checked in on Alexander and William Eliot.
Alexander chuckled low and caught the wiry man’s hands as they reached for the buttons of his uniform shirt. “Not here.”
William Eliot grinned. “Spoilsport. No one would know with the door closed.”
“I would know.” Alexander firmly pushed his hands away. He straightened his shirt as he went back around his desk to sit down. “What have you learned?”
“Wow, one kiss and straight to business.” William Eliot sat in a chair and leaned his elbows on Alexander’s desk. “You wound me.” He put a hand over his heart but did not look overly hurt.
Alexander chuckled. “Well, don’t bleed on my reports. Why does my sister want Pete’s sword?”
“I have no idea.”
Alexander’s fierce frown would have intimidated most men.
William Eliot leaned back in his chair and shrugged nonchalantly. “The only thing I’ve found out from the pretty sergeant is that your pet Celtic wolf has a sword that is very old, and that his mother gave it to him before she died when he was too young for her to tell him much about it.”
“So Pete may not even know why Aurore would send Wolfhounds after him to get it.” Alexander scratched absently at the scars on his cheek. “See if you can get it anyway. Without Pete knowing, of course. If he doesn’t have it, then my sister will have no reason to send more assassins after him.”
William Eliot wrinkled his nose. “Still don’t understand why you don’t just kill that red wolf and take what you want. If he knew what you were …” The slender man shuddered dramatically.
Alexander’s stoic face showed a shadow of uncertainty. “Pete and Nudd are friends, even though Nudd is unseelie.”
“Weird.” William Eliot shook his head. “Almost as weird as Nudd thinking he’s your Merlin, despite not being a wizard.”
Alexander shrugged. “Healing is a powerful gift. It may be the only one he has, but the ability to save lives is no small thing. And he has collected a lot of wisdom over the centuries.”
The water wizard waved that away with a long-fingered hand. “When your sister brings war to you, the ability to take lives is what will win the day.”
Colonel Bennet gripped the pen in his hand. “I still have hope that the word is ‘if’ not ‘when.’”
The wizard stood and put his dark glasses back on. “I will be at your side either way.” He leaned across the desk and planted a lingering kiss on Alexander’s lips. “Always,” he whispered against them.
