Blood of Half Gods: Kallen's Tale Read online

  Chapter 16

  My feelings of foreboding are even stronger when I see the Giant waiting by the door. Quinn has sent the blonde one that Xandra took down last night. His face tells me he is no happier to see us than we are him. What is the Giant playing at?

  For some reason, Xandra feels compelled to make the situation even more awkward. “I remember you,” she says sweetly, “but I never did catch your name. Mine is Xandra.” I give her a warning look, but as with most of the warning looks I give her, it goes unheeded.

  The Giant, however, is in no mood for games. With a nod of his head to Breena, he turns around and walks out the door without a second look in our direction.

  We follow him out, welcomed by the dawning of a bright, sunny day. I love sunrise in the plains. The sky near the horizon is amazing shades of red, orange and gold. I wish I could have shown this to Xandra under different circumstances. Regardless, I enjoy the idyllic scene as I am sure this will be the only moment of peace I have all day. The term ‘peaceful Giants’ is an oxymoron.

  With no consideration to our shorter legs, the Giant sets a pace that is virtually impossible for Xandra to keep up without running. This is a power play, of course. If Xandra asks him to slow down, she will have shown weakness. Sensing this herself, she remains silent and we jog along after the Giant. At least I am getting my morning workout.

  At this pace, it only takes about ten minutes to get back to Uluru. After another five minutes or so, we enter the Giant village. Finally, the blonde Giant is forced to slow down because the streets are already filling, preventing the grueling pace he had set before. I cannot help a smile as I watch Xandra. Slightly out of breath, she is staring about in wonder. The sheer size of the buildings is impressive and she stretches her neck to look upward, searching for the tops. Unfortunately, her sightseeing is cut short by the need to weave through the Giants without getting bumped or stepped on.

  Though I am not nearly as tall as a Giant, I still fare better than Xandra with her shorter stature. I try to keep her from being jostled, but to no avail. We are pushed here and there as some of the taller Giants barely notice us. When a Giant’s knee hits Xandra square in the chest and the Giant then grins down at her, she has had enough. She pulls magic so quickly I am stunned. She flings it towards the Giant without hesitation. His grin is erased as he falls to the ground and lands on his face. That had to of hurt. She then cocoons the two of us in a circle of magic strong enough to keep the Giant from retaliating.

  “That was rude,” she says, craning her neck to look up at the Giant who has risen from the ground.

  In a fit of rage, the Giant reaches for her with the intention of causing great physical harm. He howls with pain and anger when his knuckles hit the magic. He then hauls back his fist and tries to smash the wall, pounding until his hands are bloody. Xandra’s magic does not even flutter. The Giant is making quite a spectacle of himself now. A crowd has gathered around us and his fellow Giants laugh at his inability to reach Xandra. He does look ridiculous beating on an invisible wall. Even our Blonde escort cracks a little smile. Perhaps he is happy to see that he is not the only one who can be bested by Xandra.

  With her arms crossed over her chest and a disinterested expression on her face, Xandra asks, “Are you done yet? I’m bored.” Of course, that just makes him madder. The Giant begins to kick his strong legs against her magic. Xandra simply yawns, making the crowd laugh more. I believe the only one not laughing is me. This is a dangerous game she is playing. Yes, she could prove with this that she is stronger than the Giants, but it may also prove to them that she is a petulant Princess who lashes out at those she does not like. I hold my tongue, though. Xandra has to learn to handle these things on her own. She also would not listen to me at the moment.

  Moments later, the crowd parts and Quinn walks towards us. He stands and watches for a moment without saying a word. He is sizing up the situation and waiting to see what happens.

  “Xandra,” I say quietly, yet firmly, “perhaps it is time to put an end to this? Your typical fashion I believe would be best.” I hope she knows what I mean.

  She looks puzzled for a moment, but then she smiles and does as I suggested. Pulling more magic, she takes away the Giant’s bellowing voice, leaving quiet where there was angry profanities. Her voice even, she says to him, “If you don’t stop, I’m going to have to stop you.” Quinn’s eyes are riveted on her. He really wants to see how this plays out.

  The voiceless Giant does not heed her warning and continues to kick and punch the invisible wall. Xandra is left no other option than to back up her threat. With a vast amount of magic, she uses it to wrap a wall around the Giant, conjuring memories of Radella being wrapped in a door before being flung from the carriage. The Giant loses his balance and finds himself once more on the ground. I believe his nose is now broken. With a flare of the dramatic, Xandra uses her magic to roll the Giant to the feet of his Chieftain.

  When he is close enough, Quinn puts his foot out and stops him. The crowd of Giants has sobered, waiting for his response, their eyes darting between the three of us – Quinn, Xandra and myself. Xandra and I start walking and the Giants move back, letting us pass. We stop directly in front of Quinn, the Giant roll still under his foot.

  Quinn speaks first. “I see Orwick has delivered you as requested.” He must mean the blonde Giant.

  “We ran into a minor delay, but it was easily overcome,” Xandra says with a smile.

  Quinn looks down at the struggling Giant and then back up at her. “So I see.” Looking back down at the Giant in front of him again, he says, “I see you have met the Princess. Impressive, is she not?” The rolled up Giant wisely presses his lips together. I doubt he is in a mood to sing Xandra’s praises. Bringing his eyes back to Xandra, Quinn gestures with his arm and the Giants behind him step out of the way, creating a path back towards where he had come from. “Shall we? I believe we have quite a bit to discuss.”

  I take Xandra’s hand in mine and we walk around the Giant on the ground. He tries to kick at Xandra as we walk by and she hits him with a bit more magic. His mouth opens in silent curses.

  Quinn keeps his pace slow so that Xandra can easily keep pace with him. How considerate. I would consider it more gentleman-Iike if he would stop admiring her openly as she becomes absorbed in sightseeing again. I do not know what he is planning, but I already know I will not like it.

  After we narrowly avoid being run over by a horse and carriage, Quinn’s home finally comes into view. It has been years since I have been here with my uncle. I have to admit, I am not glad to be back.

  Quinn has been quiet as we’ve walked. He remains that way as we pass a fountain with a statue of Giant children at play, and approach the front door. Stopping, his hand on the door handle, he turns to me. “Your presence is not necessary for these talks. I will have someone show you to the library.”

  My face flushes and sparks fly from my eyes. My hand tightens around Xandra’s. “I am not leaving Xandra alone.”

  Quinn’s brows rise slightly. “She will not be alone. She will be with me.”

  Seeing that I am about to explode, Xandra says, “I haven’t been in this realm for very long. Kallen is more familiar with the situation than I am.”

  Quinn crosses his arms over his chest. “You were not briefed?” Of course she was not briefed. She was not supposed to be the one arbitrating.

  Xandra’s cheeks become pink. “I was given some information, but I didn’t have a chance to look it over.” Adamantly refused to look it over is more like it.

  Quinn cocks his head to the side. “You do not find this situation worthy of your time?”

  Xandra stands akimbo and glowers up at him. “After fighting off Fairy assassins, then my grandfather and his band of powerful Witches who wanted me dead, and then stopping a Fairy civil war that was supposed to end with my death, I was tired. Forgive me if I thought I deserved a couple of days to relax my brain before the next calamity and/or death th
reat in my life. And since I’m not well versed in the topics you want me to arbitrate, I’m not going anywhere without Kallen to clue me in on the details. For all I know, you could trick me into agreeing to all sorts of things that aren’t appropriate if I talk to you alone.” I am quite proud of her at the moment.

  To both our surprise, Quinn laughs. “You have the fire and temper of a Devas.” He may consider this a compliment but Xandra should not. Giants are savage when they let their tempers take over. With a slight bow of his head, Quinn says, “If your Fairy friend is a necessity, then so be it. I would hate to have you agree to anything inappropriate.”

  The way he says ‘inappropriate’ and leers at her needles under my skin and makes me want to punch the gleam out of his eyes. An idea regarding his motives is starting to form in my mind, and if he is after what I think he is after, it will be over my dead body. He is a fool to think otherwise. Blood forms in my mouth as I bite my tongue. Speaking at the moment is not a good idea.

  The door swings open and an older Giant is there to beckon us in. She has a head of pure white hair and a face lined by many years in the sun. Her figure is gaunt, as if she refuses to consume enough food to fill it out. Her facial features are almost grotesque in their sharp detail, making her resemble a rodent of some sort. Xandra hurries past her and her harrowing gaze.

  Quinn continues to walk through the large foyer and down a wide hall until he comes to his office. He opens the door for us and we walk in ahead of him. The light from the many windows is blinding after the shadowy tone of the rest of the house. He walks to a round table in the corner and gesturing with his arm, he points to the chairs. The chairs that are impossible for Xandra to reach without a ladder.

  Crossing her arms over her chest, she gives him a dirty look. “How do you expect me to get up there?” she asks.

  “I could lift you,” he says, and that look is in his eyes again. The one that makes me want to punch him.

  “I believe teleporting will be the best option,” I say through gritted teeth.

  Xandra agrees. She takes my hand and wills us to the seat of the chair. Unfortunately, she is still unable to see over the table. I remedy this by pulling magic and creating a second chair on top of the first. Both of us can see Quinn over the table now. I must admit, I enjoyed the view better when he was not in it.

  Quinn simply watches us with a bemused smile on his face. When we are finally seated, he leans forward with his arms on the table. “To get you up to speed, since you know so little about us, I will give you a brief synopsis of the situation. As you know, I am the Chief of the Devas tribe. We are descended from the gods Kratos and Bia. Their blood flows through our veins. The Devas are half-gods.” I cannot hold back a snort. That is lore, not necessarily the truth.

  Quinn continues as if he did not hear me. “The Daityas, the tribe to the west, were once great beings, but their blood has been tainted from centuries of mating with Cowans to increase their numbers before the realms were closed.”

  Xandra sighs and shakes her head. “Why does everyone hate humans so much?”

  One side of Quinn’s mouth pulls up into an amused half smile. “It is not humans that are hated, it is their blood. It weakens any line it mixes with, destroying strength, power and magic. It has also decreased the size of the Daityas.” This is true. The Daityas do tend to be shorter but Quinn is not exactly tall for a Giant. He could easily pass for a Daityas. “There has always been tension between the Devas and the Daityas and the mixing of tribal blood is forbidden.”

  Xandra frowns. “Is there anyone in this realm who isn’t prejudiced against somebody else? I can’t believe how much you all judge each other by bloodlines. Haven’t you ever heard of equality? Who cares who has what blood?”

  I hold my tongue. I know when Xandra goes on a tirade about this, it is best to remain quiet. Quinn, on the other hand, crosses his massively muscled arms over his broad chest. “Equality cannot exist when two things are not equal. You would have us consider those who are weaker and smaller, those not descended from gods, to be equals among us and have them taint our children with their inferior blood?”

  “Well, yeah. Because who cares? It’s not like you’re going to win a prize for being the biggest and the strongest or the purest of blood. What would happen if the next generation of Giants is only eleven feet tall instead of twelve? Is the world going to end as you know it? Will society have to be razed and started anew because your kids or grandkids weren’t the right height? Come on, this is so ridiculous.”

  Quinn narrows his eyes. “You were correct; you do have the ability to anger people quickly with your opinions. To answer your questions, no, the world would not end as we know it. But if the bloodlines continue to be weakened, we will become a bunch of weak and frail beings having to rely on the likes of him to support us.” He nods in my direction. I would sooner kill him than support him.

  Xandra is not convinced by his argument. “Have the Daityas become frail and weak and need to be taken care of by Fairies? Or by you, for that matter?”

  Quinn is angry now. “I will admit it is a slow process. The inevitable outcome, though, is not changed by the speed of the transformation.”

  Did I sound this stupid when I talked about maintaining Fairy blood lines? Probably. But this is not why we are here. Squeezing Xandra’s hand under the table, I try to mentally push her on to a new topic. With a sharp look at me, she takes the hint.

  “Okay, let’s agree to disagree on this for right now. What’s going on with you guys and the Daityas? Why do you want to kill each other?”

  Quinn’s body relaxes and he sits back in his chair. “I find your desire to get to the core of the matter refreshing. You would survive well amongst the Devas.”

  “Yeah, if I didn’t get squashed walking down the street,” I grumble.

  A deep, rumbling laugh escapes Quinn’s throat. “After your spectacle in the street this morning, I suspect you will be given a wide berth from now on.”

  Xandra grimaces. “I forgot to let that guy go.” With a strong pull, she retrieves her magic.

  “In answer to your question, the Devas do not want to kill the Daityas. Yet, we will not sit back and tolerate the random attacks and violence that they are perpetrating towards our people. It has become dangerous to leave the village, and those that do must often defend themselves from attack. Livestock is being stolen. A field of crops was burned yesterday. It is as if the Daityas have lost all sense. They know a war between the tribes would have a sure outcome in our favor. Their behavior does not make sense.”

  Quinn is full of pride which may be his downfall. The biggest mistake that can be made in battle is underestimating your opponent. “But, even if you win,” Xandra says, “there would still be losses on both sides, right? Devas and Daityas would both end up with dead soldiers.”

  “Which is why we have asked for the intervention of the King before resorting to war. Though, the escalating violence is a hair’s breadth away from inciting us into retaliation. It has taken quite a bit of persuasion on my part to keep my men from attacking the Daityas outright.”

  “Yeah, patient and laid-back aren’t adjectives I would use to describe the Devas I’ve met so far,” she mumbles and I chuckle. Louder, she says, “So, what do you want Dagda to do?”

  “It is odd that you refer to your father by his given name. Is that customary in your realm?”

  I want to close my eyes and ears, not wanting to hear her response. I am positive that whatever she says will confirm the strife between father and daughter. “No, but in my realm, you call the person who raised you your dad. Even if he’s not the one that got your mom pregnant.” Blood rushes to her cheeks. She knows she is giving out too much personal information, setting herself up for Quinn to prey on her distrust of Dagda. .

  “Does it happen often that one man impregnates a woman and another man raises that child?” Quinn asks. What does that have to do with war against the other Giants?

  To
my relief, Xandra tries to steer the conversation back in the right direction. “No, I’m special that way. You didn’t answer my question.”

  “That is true, but I find myself becoming more and more curious about you.” I never would have guessed from the way he looks at her. He has horny Giant written all over him. “So, from this point on, I will answer one of your questions if you will answer one of mine.”

  “We are not here to discuss Xandra,” I growl. Quinn and I lock eyes. I am more than ready to call off arbitration and just kill him. I have never felt this violent against another being before.

  “Kallen,” Xandra says gently as if I am a child, “I don’t care what he asks about me. I don’t have anything to hide.” My gaze swings to her and her eyes widen at my expression. Does she not see that Quinn has ulterior motives?

  “Then, it is agreed. I will answer your question now. I asked the King to come and exert his control over the Daityas.”

  “How?” Xandra asks.

  Quinn shakes his head. “It is my turn to ask a question now.”