Vahly swallowed, her body warming and her pulse like thunder. “Well, the rogues will sleep until the dawn. And we have to wait on Amona’s fighters anyway.”
Arc brought an orb of light to life in one hand. “Then come with me.”
His words almost held the tone of command, but Vahly was certain it was only his royal blood strengthening the timbre.
“You don’t have to ask me twice.”
She walked with him to the cave where akoli vines choked the entrance, wild grapes glistening in a mirrored image of the stars. Arc pushed the vines aside and led Vahly inside.
Darkness poured over them as the vines resumed their guard duty at the cave’s opening, but Arc’s glowing sphere cast a golden net of illumination over the space. He released it to float on the gentle air of the cave. Vahly’s heart kicked like a spring-crazed deer as she removed Nix’s bag, tucking the egg against the wall.
After lowering her sword belt to the ground, she stood, pulse skipping, to face Arcturus. He’d removed his own pack and his knives too. They glittered in a neat pile on the other side of the shelter.
Arc took Vahly’s face into his large, smooth hands, cradling her cheeks and chin. His breath was warm and his mouth so, so close. She touched the tips of his pointed ears, eliciting a sigh from him. He brushed lips over her forehead, warming her skin and sending tingling sparks of pleasure down her sides.
Lowering his chin, he met her gaze. His eyes reflected the orb’s light, and magic twisted beside his temples in shades of twilight, starshine, and sunrise. He almost kissed her, stopping short.
“You have entranced me, Earth Queen.”
“Is that so difficult to believe?” she teased.
Arc’s arms encircled her. “You’re alluring. Strong. Brave. Loyal. Humble. But the norm in times past is for the human to be infatuated with my kynd, not the other way around.”
“Oh, don’t you fret. I’m disturbingly infatuated with you.”
His eyebrow lifted. “Disturbingly?”
“Well, at this point you could magick me right off the sea cliffs if I break your heart.”
“Soon you’ll be fully capable of annihilating me,” he said. “Does that put you more at ease with this infatuation?”
“It does, actually. Revenge is sweet, elf. So watch yourself.”
A twinge of alarm slid through Vahly’s mind. Not her own feeling, but someone else’s.
Amona.
Vahly. Daughter, we are nearly there. What is your status?
Amona herself was coming?
Vahly put her hands on Arc’s broad chest. “Amona is talking to me.” She tapped her temple. “They’re almost here.”
Arc’s eyes widened. “She’s early.”
Wincing, Vahly left the warmth of his arms to gather her pack, even though half of her really wanted to stay in this cave, alone with Arc. But it couldn’t be helped. When the dragons arrived, she’d have to immediately take the opportunity to swim into Bihotzetik. She couldn’t lie around here with her handsome elven royal when the rogues might further complicate this quest at any moment.
“Yes,” she said, gripping her satchel’s rough strap. She would leave her sword and bow here. They’d be no use in the ocean. “A full day early unless you fogged my brain past working.”
He laughed, and she heard him shuffling around beyond the light of the orb, gathering his things.
“Are you bringing your knives? I don’t think I can do much with a short sword in the water.”
“I think knives might prove useful. Do you want to carry one of them?”
“No, I think I’ll have enough going on just trying to keep up with your swimming. You’re bound to be better at it than me, being an elf and all.”
At the mouth of the cave, he looked at her and ran a thumb along the side of her hand briefly, sending sparks burning down the underside of her arm. His eyes held mischief. The ocean wind tugged at his hair and the summer-scented vines around them.
“We simply must survive the sea now,” he said. “I can’t possibly give up the chance to properly kiss a human. What a wealth of scientific information it will provide!”
She punched him in the stomach and pretended it didn’t hurt her hand. “Shut it, elf.” Walking off, she teased him over her shoulder. “Revenge, remember? I might just become ridiculously powerful after our little swim. I’d be careful around me if I were you.”
A flurry of beating wings sounded in the sky. Two sacks of clothing and weapons slammed to the grassy earth.
Vahly lifted a hand to block the rising sun’s glare. They’d been up all night, but energy hummed through her body, excitement about discovering what her magic wanted her to find keeping her alert.
Amona and three other warriors—in full dragon form—descended on the coastline, their gazes bouncing between Arc, Vahly, and the vicious sea.
Ugh. Amona had brought Lord Maur. Xabier was the third, and he nodded his scaled head at her in greeting.
A distant wave crashed on dark rocks as Amona alone transformed out of her full dragon form, taking up one of the bags they’d brought and beginning to slide rings onto her fingers.
Because of course, rings were required in military operations. Vahly fought the urge to roll her eyes. Dragons.
When Amona had dressed, she approached Vahly, a genuine smile stretching her normally stern face. “Vahly, my daughter. I’m glad to see you well. Arcturus.”
He bowed low. “Matriarch Amona, it is good to see you again.”
“What has happened since we met last, Earth Queen? Any developments?” Amona asked.
Nix flew into sight, two deer in her talons. She threw the kill to the ground and greeted the dragons with a nod to each before Maur and Xabier began to tear the deer alongside her. Vahly wondered if they would save some for Amona, Arc, and herself. Nix threw a leg back and chomped it down. Vahly wasn’t going to count on getting a portion.
“We ran into the rogues.” Vahly’s stomach turned in anticipation of diving into the ocean.
What would she find? Would her magic guide her? And would she somehow know if any sea folk were in the area? What if she got Arc killed in the process? She breathed out, trying to calm herself.
Arc handed his water skin to Amona, who accepted the offering and drank the entire contents down, not spilling a single drop. She dabbed her lips with the back of her lapis-lazuli-colored hand, then settled her gaze back on Vahly.
“What happened?” Amona asked.
Vahly filled her in on the tale of the egg and the killing she’d had to do. Amona hummed, impressed, as Vahly told her about raising the wall of earth and the second instance of Arc’s magic combining with hers to create a greater effect. Amona glanced at Arc, a question in her features, but before she could run Arc through an impromptu power investigation, Vahly explained who Luc was and how their leader, Baz, seemed to be a true scoundrel. Amona scowled through the entire telling of the story but became downright indignant when Vahly told her the lie about selling the gryphon egg.
“If that tale finds its way to Eux, she will question the Lapis about you. Like me, she wants nothing to do with Call Breakers infiltrating her palace.”
Vahly shrugged. “We had to tell them something to get the egg back.”
“What is it about this egg that draws you so?” Amona asked.
Vahly took the egg from her satchel and handed it to Amona, who turned the plum-spotted prize over in her hands gently.
“For a reason only my magic knows, the creature inside is family.”
Amona’s forehead wrinkled in thought, then she returned the egg to Vahly. “That must suffice for now, I suppose. But again, I don’t want you to further tempt Matriarch Eux’s temper. Who knows what kind of trouble she could cause, even if it would be to her own detriment? Jades don’t think before they act, and well you know it, Daughter.”
“I don’t even know if the rogues believed us about anything. They might very well be hunting us right now.”
Amona led Vahly and Arc to the wild feasting. Two haunches of deer remained. Nix, Blackwater bless her, was roasting the meat with her own dragonfire. When it was burned at the edges, she shifted into her human-like form and dressed while Amona checked Xabier’s right wing. He must have dinged it up in the rush to get here.
“Looks fine,” Amona declared, sending Xabier back to his food.
“And your roasted portion is ready, Matriarch,” Nix said to Amona before winking at Vahly. She knew when to kiss tail.
“Thank you.” Amona clasped her ringed fingers. “As soon as Vahly and Arcturus are fed and ready, they will enter the sea.”
Lord Maur grunted, still in his dragon form. He blew a burst of dragonfire toward the white-capped waves. For once, Vahly agreed with him. She didn’t like the ocean any more than he did.
Xabier jerked his snout toward the northern headland. He must have been talking with Amona telepathically, because she answered aloud.
“Yes, Xabier. Please cover the spit of land there. Watch the western approach.” Amona’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the glassy, black surface of the sea. The wind had calmed, and the ocean grew eerily quiet.
“Lord Maur, you will fly over the southern approach, watching for unusual currents or anything that might resemble spellwork.”
Maur bowed his head, then took off in a series of heavy flaps that blew Vahly’s trousers and shirt against her body. Xabier followed suit and flew toward his assigned post.
“Nix, I believe it would be good for you to remain here, in the place where Vahly and Arcturus will come back out of the sea. To be certain their return is covered.”
“Agreed.” Nix left for the cave they’d been using as a home base, then returned in full dragon form.
Amona finished her meal. Her half-slitted eyes studied Arc while he gazed toward the ocean. It looked as though she was still deciding whether or not to trust him. “I’ll fly a constant circle above the ruins themselves.”
Vahly’s stomach clenched. “Over the water? You don’t need to do that. Please, stay on the coast unless I Call you.”
“I did not ask for your permission, Daughter. You may be the Earth Queen, but I’m still your mother.”
A grin flashed over Arc’s mouth but was gone before Vahly could glare at him for it.
But no more time remained for arguing. Maur’s and Xabier’s shapes were visible on the land that cradled the bay.
The sea awaited its foe, and Vahly could stall the confrontation with its salty depths no longer.
Chapter Fourteen
On the scarlet coral balcony of Álikos Castle, Queen Astraea blasted the report with a blinding white spell, and her protégé jerked in surprise. The lovely singer the queen had rescued from her abusive parents—Larisa—properly trailed Astraea, soaking in every decision and the persona the queen used in varying situations. But right now, Astraea was too infuriated to be pleased. Rippling eddies tossed the remains of the message that her scouts had scratched into the palm shell.
Still, none had seen Ryton.
He was swimming about the Bihotzetik ruins, chasing that Earth Queen, but apparently with no success, since they’d had no report.
“Will you tell me what is happening and what you will do for our kynd?” Larisa asked in her pearly voice.
“I’m wondering where my High General is and how he could possibly fail me. He is capable, vicious, practical. Perfect for this type of thing.” Astraea took one of her own necklaces and tied it around the singer’s throat. Larisa’s gills flared delicately as the white spheres settled below their slitted openings. “But maybe our General Ryton needs a touch of help?” Astraea locked gazes with Larisa, who was just a babe, the innocence still bright in her eyes. “I have kept something from you, and I should not have.”
“Everything you do is exactly what must be done, my queen.”
Astraea ate a handful of tideberries and paced, her dress sliding over the balcony’s rails like golden eels. “Do you remember how late I was with General Venu and the scout Echo last night?” Usually, they had a pre-sleep discussion of the day’s events, but Astraea had skipped it.
Larisa nodded.
“I sent my warriors to General Grystark’s house.”
“The one who questioned you about General Ryton?”
“The very same.”
“Did you have him beaten? He deserved as much, my queen.”
Astraea chuckled and opened her mouth to take in a cool current riding the tides around the castle. “Sometimes, such treatment makes them work to the best of their abilities. Other times, well, you must be more subtle. Tell me, singer. What do you fear more? The shark swimming before you or the shark hiding in wait?”
“The second.”
“Exactly. A bit of unexpected behavior, a touch of cloaking… These techniques break your rival’s stride, his rhythm. So much stronger than a mere strike to the face or back. One’s fearful imagination puts all kinds of torture to shame.” Astraea was pleased to see the singer smile.
Astraea whirled. “Bring Grystark to me at once,” she barked at a servant.
“Yes, Queen Astraea.”
Of course Ryton was suited to this task. His delay in completing this last step toward Astraea’s final dominance over the entire world had to be due to some complication. Perhaps he needed someone to create a distraction for him?
The new elven queen—Cassiopeia, she was called—could be helping the Earth Queen. The spy had told her an elf of royal blood traveled at the Earth Queen’s side, aiding her with his air magic.
So maybe it was time for the elves to have something more pressing to deal with?
Like the destruction of their entire plateau.
Astraea lifted the corner of her mouth as Grystark approached with a bow.
“You asked for me, my queen?” The general’s graying hair and sharp eyes spoke of his experience. He was no Ryton—not nearly as loyal—but he would do the job well enough to distract the elves from giving the Earth Queen further aid.
Yes, that would do nicely.
Astraea would attack Illumahrah, then Ryton would return with human blood on his mighty hands. Desire pooled in the queen’s heart. She would reward him well.
Astraea swam around Grystark in slow circles. He kept his head down because he knew what was good for him today. The general wasn’t always so well behaved. She ran a finger along the edge of his spear, and garnet tendrils uncurled from a tiny cut as she smiled at the pain.
“How is your wife?”
Grystark’s swallow was loud. “The healers believe she will live.”
Astraea raised an eyebrow. “Do they? I heard the attack was incredibly vicious. And in the middle of the night, while you were both sleeping? And they took nothing?” She fought the urge to laugh at his shifting weight and the hate burning in his eyes. Ah, so he did know it had been on her orders. “What do you plan to do to prevent such unpleasantness in the future?”
Raising his head, he stared beyond her, unseeing, rage tightening his aged features. “My only goal in my life is but to serve you, my queen.”
Cocking her head, she smiled at him. “Very good. Because I have an assignment for you and for all the armies. A true test of what we can accomplish.”
Grystark blinked. “But General Ryton is away, Your Majesty.”
“All the better for a test in case he is injured or taken down in battle. Today, our forces will mount a full attack on the Forest of Illumahrah.”
The general nodded his head obediently. The queen wondered if he was picturing his wife’s blood and the jagged length of coral that had speared her chest last night.
“I’ll call up the units. Will you lead us?” Grystark’s voice was flat.
“Yes. You are dismissed.” She turned to yet another pathetic, whimpering servant. The thing was shaking like a tailless minnow. Her han
d cracked across the servant’s cheek. “Grow a spine and fetch my armor. Today, we will destroy an entire race of enemies.”
Taking up her spear, Queen Astraea grinned.
Everything was going swimmingly.
Chapter Fifteen
Vahly stood still as Arc used his royal elven blood to paint a circle on each of her temples and one down her nose. He drew a line of his blood across her collarbone. Her lungs reacted immediately, and she took the most satisfying deep breath of her life.
“Not bad, elf. I wonder what kind of magic I’d be able to do if I shoved your spleen up my nose.”
“Perhaps it would filter out foul odors.” Arc’s lips twitched.
“That would be such a blessing at the cider house during the winter when Nix keeps the doors shut.”
Arc took up the paste he’d made of the eyewort and smoothed it over Vahly’s closed lids.
“I’m guessing I look like some mysterious creature from another time.” Vahly wiggled her eyebrows.
A band of sticky plant juice ran across her eyelids and the bridge of her nose. She could feel Arc’s blood tingling under her skin, the magic spreading through her body. She had to admit to herself that she liked the idea of his power in her blood and bones. The thought of his power with spellwork and his air element breathing through her, well, it made her breathless in more than one way.
She swallowed and forced herself to look away from the ferocity in his black eyes and the defined edges of his cheekbones. He was cleaning his hands in the grass and whispering spells in the elven tongue, his full lips moving quickly.
Amona had flown one complete circle above the ruins. She landed and spoke into Vahly’s mind. Are you prepared, Daughter?
I’m covered in elf blood and plant guts.
Is that a Yes?
I suppose in this instance it is.
Amona’s lip curled into what might have been a smile had she been in her other form. She glanced at Arc, then took off, her wing beats blowing Vahly’s hair back.
A thousand fears assaulted Vahly as she and Arc maneuvered over the rocks toward the deep water.
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