“So, you never got a piece of it?”
“They offered us a portion but by that time, our power was waning, and we didn't want to waste it on fueling a territory.”
“I understand.”
“We're happy on Earth.” Sin shrugged and then went serious. “In case you're worried about hard feelings, your husband wasn't with Lucifer at that time. He was born later.”
“I know. I've heard all about the war between Lucifer and Jehovah.”
“I'll bet you have.”
“Heard it straight from the Devil's mouth.” I smirked at him. “He's married to Holly now, by the way. Did you know?”
“Lucifer married the Holy Spirit?” Sin whistled. “Well done. She was a hell of a woman; pun intended.”
“Still is.”
“When they came through here, they upped the god game. And they've kept upping it too. Christianity is practically a business in some parts of the world.”
“Yeah, Luke does all right.”
“You like him,” Sin said with some surprise.
“I do. I love him; he's my father-in-law.”
“Is he?” He looked away after asking.
I swallowed roughly and stared out my window at the passing scenery. “Who runs this place? Human-wise, I mean.”
“King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Alkhalifa. His family has ruled Bahrain for awhile now. The human rulers here used to call themselves 'Hakim,' but Hamad proclaimed himself King. I think it's because he knows the term is easier for the rest of the world to understand.”
“Does the King have a palace?”
“Sure. You wanna see it?”
“Yes, I do,” I glanced at him and started to smile.
“Well, I happen to be able to provide a private tour for special visitors.”
“You mean; we can trace in and sneak about under cover of invisibility?”
“Exactly!” Sin pulled the car over to the side of the road and parked. “Shall we?”
Sin held his hand out to me. After I took it, he went invisible, and I followed his lead. Sin took us through the Aether and brought us out directly before a building I assumed to be the promised palace.
“They call this a palace?” I grumbled as I looked over the expanse of white stone with a smattering of local architectural details. “It's boring.”
“White reflects heat and back when the palace was built, it was smarter to keep buildings lower to the ground,” Sin explained.
“Why is that?”
“Well—” he paused and then chuckled. “It seems as if your wish is the World's command, Dragon Lady.”
“It's Dragon Queen and what do you mean by that?”
“My apologies, Your Majesty.”
“No, we don't do titles like that in Faerie,” I corrected him again. “It's Queen Vervain or My Queen, but never Your Majesty. We have no need for people to tell us how majestic we are; we already know.”
“I hope you're teasing me.” He squeezed my hand. “Because I can't tell with only your voice to go by.”
“I'm sort of teasing. Everything I said is true, but I was channeling my husband's arrogance for the delivery.”
“Another husband. You're talking about the faerie, I assume.”
“The King of Fire,” I said softly. “He's the one I didn't actually leave. Well, I left him but only... to...”
A shivering started in my chest as a memory played in my mind. Brevyn's solemn voice echoed, “You're going to change, Mommy, but it will be okay. Don't be scared.”
“What?” Sin prompted and dispelled the ghost of my son.
“I just realized that I left Arach for nothing. I could go back to Faerie if I wanted to.”
Except you'd have to deal with Faerie, who told you to leave. And what if Arach reacts the same as the others? Better to wait until after this is finished to confront him.
Yes; you're right.
“Well?”
“Well, what?” I asked.
“Will you be going back?”
“I don't... know... um; what is that?”
Sin couldn't see me staring at the horizon, but I was certain he'd know what I was talking about; it was a little hard to miss.
“Oh! That's what I meant by the world responding to your command,” he said. “That is the Shamal; a wind that carries over dust storms from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It's also the reason why buildings weren't built too high.”
“Are you messing with me? There are buildings with towering minarets all over the Middle East.”
“Yeah, all right, ruin my tour guide act, why don't you? I have no idea what the humans were thinking when they built this place. They probably didn't see any need to build up when there was so much space to build out.”
“Is the wind even called Shamal or did you make that up too?”
“Ouch; you're mean.”
“Only when I'm lied to.”
“Aw, come on; I was just trying to impress you.” He tapped his shoulder against mine.
Um, Vervain? Star tried to interrupt.
“Don't do it again,” I said sternly.
“I can't help it; you're so impressive. I have to make shit up to compete.”
Vervain?
“This isn't a competition.”
I'll just handle this myself then? Star huffed.
What are you talking about? I finally asked her.
The dust storm that's rolling in. At the very least, it will be an annoyance; dust all over your new clothes.
Oh. Sure. Could you take care of that?
No problem. Her voice sounded smug.
“It feels like a competition, Your Majesty,” Sin was continuing the conversation without me, just as oblivious to the massive dust cloud as I had been.
“Sin?”
“Huh?”
“You might want to close your eyes,” I suggested.
“What?” I felt him turn, probably to look at me, but he also must have noticed the billowing cloud mere feet away from us because he flinched, jerked me against his chest, and tucked his body around me.
Right before it hit, the storm exploded into nothing.
Sin slowly unwound himself, his hands sliding down my arms until they came to rest on my wrists. “What the hell just happened?”
“Thank you for the chivalry but it was unnecessary. I just wanted you to close your eyes in case Star didn't catch it all.”
“Star?”
“The nine-pointed star inside me; my magic,” I explained. “She took care of the storm for us.”
“So, you're not a weather goddess in addition to being a moon goddess and a faerie and a dragon?”
“No.”
“Well, tell Star that I said
