by Reid, Stacy
She faltered at her name and turned to see Ajali in the hallway. His gaze was somber yet in his eyes she saw a fierce pride.
“Yes, brother?”
“Come, I wish to speak privately with you.”
She nodded and they flashed to the antechamber attached to the war council. A decadent and heady scent lingered on the air, and she sensed Gavyn had been in this room earlier.
“Uriah,” she greeted, mildly surprised to see him standing by the fireplace.
Ajali stood tense and rigid, Uriah sauntered over to stood by Ajali’s side, and they stared at Xian with intense compassion.
“There is more to be revealed,” she said, clasping her hand behind her back. This was more than a farewell, for that could have been done tomorrow when the convoy departed. She lifted her chin with arrogant pride, a gesture to indicate her acceptance of her duty.
They’d cossetted her all her life, even though she and her twin were the same age, he’d been allowed more freedom to serve his kingdom than her. And now when she was required to aid the kingdom it was as a bartering chip, not as a warrior. But never the less, she was a princess of the realm and would do her duty in this time of war, and damn them for thinking they needed to meet with her now to either coach or convince her of that.
Ajali slammed his closed first across his chest, a sign of respect from one warrior to another. Her throat went tight, and she repeated his honor with a bow.
“You honor me, Kalija.”
“Xian, you have progressed very well in your training these past few years. Though you have not been able to summon and control your Phoenyx, its latent power makes you a formidable warrior.” Pride blazed in Ajali’s dark green eyes as he spoke. “You are one of two Tenzu, a very valuable power to Nuria, a loved princess and a treasured and trusted Kaliji—little sister. All these things make you the only candidate for this covert mission. Do you accept?”
A covert mission, her heart beat faster than she would like at the implication of his words. She was not just a bartering chip, or a pretty princess to be married off for alliances. They both stared at her with anticipation, as though the next words from her lips could tip the tide of the upcoming war. “I accept,” she murmured. “What does my king require of me?”
“Your marriage to Prince Baku allows us to place Nuria within striking distance of the Avindar King should the need arise. He is a dangerous man and a very close ally to Emperor Khan. You are to infiltrate their kingdom and learn everything there is to learn. With the successful alliance between us and Avindar, there will be a division of loyalty, which makes it possible to render Avindar neutral in the upcoming war or weakened their kingdom by internal dissent. You are to ensure that such a divide in alliance is maintained. The consolidation of the powers between Avindar and Mevia will be catastrophic for the outcome of the war, so your placement inside Avindar is a valuable opportunity for us all.”
Cold, calculation shifted in the depth of his eyes as he walked over to her. “If Avindar decides to support Mevia only despite an alliance with Nuria, you are to use your blades and the fifty elite warriors to annihilate the royal family.” The words fell like a boulder in the room. A vicious but necessary act in the time of war. But one they were too closely familiar with.
Ajali continued, “There is also another more obvious possibility, Prince Baku’s intention is to lure a Phoenyx away from the walls of Nuria so they may capture you for the empire, given they failed to capture me. If that is his plan, they will attack in the vast wastelands where blame can be placed on the exiles. In that event, show no mercy, capture the prince so we may use him in the upcoming war or kill him if capture is not possible. Either one would be a critical blow to the heart of Avindar, though he is not their Crown Prince.” Ajali canted his head to the side as he considered her, for all she did was nodded her head to his mission outline.
“Do you think there is such a chance?”
“No. The only people who knows you are going to Avindar are in that council room and these are men I trust with my life and throne. We will keep your travels a secret for as long as possible, and you will leave through the secret’s paths of the mountains and not through the city. The kingdom will be notified after you’ve arrived in Avindar that you visited as an emissary of peace.”
She nodded.
He placed a reassuring hand atop her shoulder. “The fifty warriors travelling with you are well trained and understand their mission is your protection at all cost. If your convoy is attacked in the wasteland, they know a signal should be sent by them, a fire ball rippling through the sky. I will come for you if I see that signal. There is no where you can be taken that I cannot find you.” Ajali’s voice throbbed with violent power of the Phoenyx.
Xian peered up at him. “I’ll not fail our kingdom.”
He hugged her, and whispered, “I know how hard this is for you…I know you love another and—”
“Do not speak of it!” she pulled away from him. “You and Uriah were allowed to marry the person you loved. You took a Darkan, one of our kingdom most hated enemies as your consort, and I know you will eventually make her your queen. I love Gavyn Westk’arr with every emotion in my heart.”
Uriah flinched and scrubbed a hand over his face. “King’s teeth,” he murmured. “Xian I am so damn sorry—”
“Can someone else do this mission?” she demanded hoarsely.
“No,” Ajali murmured. “Avindar is hungry for you because you are a Tenzu.”
She nodded, hating that tears once again pricked behind her eyes. “I’ll do my duty.” Then she turned and walked away.
Once in the corridor, she concentrated her chakra and sped away, a blur as she flashed through the hallways. Xian rushed passed dozens of servants and warriors without being seen, making her way to her smaller castle on the far eastern side of the royal court ground.
Once there she dropped to her knees onto the grass and took several gasping breaths. Raw, visceral emotions tore through her, loss being the keenest. She slapped a hand over her mouth as a harsh sob ripped from her. With unsteady movements, she lurched to her feet and swiped at the tears.
“Now is not the time to break down,” she whispered fiercely, walking over the lawns leading to her palace.
She faltered and spun around, staring at the main castle in the distance, perched atop a small hill. The main castle, which boasted over six hundred rooms, a mixture of gray stone and white marble, stood several stories high and stretched for miles. Jasper, rubies, emerald, and jewels of amethyst formed the massive sigil of their house—the Phoenyx, which was mounted atop the North parapet for all approaching citizens and visitors to see. Towering trees rose and spread for miles to the entrance of the castle. It was like a city unto itself with dozens of turrets, arches, and balconies with majestic glass windows that twinkled with pinpoints of light even with the lowering of the sun.
Lush verdant grass surrounded the three palaces, and the waters of the lake shimmered under the pale light of Nuria's moon. Her smaller palace, which boasted eighty-five rooms and a large courtyard, was closer to Castle Shelah than Uriah's palace. But she would risk word getting back to Ajali to have one moment for herself before she was carted off to join with a stranger for the rest of her life.
“I must do my part,” Xian whispered.
She trailed her fingers from her neck to stop above her heart. But tonight…tonight, she would not be dutiful. Tonight, she would live for herself and burn in one night of stolen sin and pleasure.
Chapter 5
Xian flashed to the harem in the main castle and flung open the doors. Several women reposed on opulent divans, drinking wine and smoking kasha, but majority stood in the main hall, dressed in battle readiness. Tehdra stood before them, sheathed in a red kaftan, her midnight black hair rippling down her shoulder and back. There was a deadly elegance to her frame as she paced with predatory grace in front of the line of women.
“You’ve heard the call to arm from Mevia,” sh
e said, her voice at once low and dangerous, but clear for all to hear. “Yesterday all two hundred and eighteen of you swore a vow to follow my command. As of this moment, we will train daily in advance warfare…and our job will be to protect this castle from invasion. I know many of you are already skilled in taijui and wield the various shenkiris of the seven kingdoms. Some of you control water, others the earth and all its elements, only ten of you control lightning, and most of you wield fire. But I am the only one of the Darkage…and I will show you how to fight my kind, for the dark ones who work with the betrayers will come again for my Ajali…and they will not take him.”
Tehdra’s voice rang with such ruthless assurance a few of the ladies glanced uneasily at each other. Xian smiled without humor. Only a few days ago the dozens of women in her brother’s harem were there to serve at her brother’s pleasure. Since he had declared his love for Tehdra to the kingdom and claimed her as his consort, he had disbanded the harem. Over three hundred women who had lived at their castle for many years had found themselves without a home in Nuria. He had offered each a small fortune and advised them to return home. Several had left, but there had been those who had stayed at Tehdra’s offer to serve King Ajali as warriors.
Xian was still mildly shocked that only a few days had passed since they had discovered Tehdra's nature and the betrayal of some of their loyal supporters. Ignoring the gathered women, Xian flashed to the private sitting rooms where the servants who attended the haris worked. "I require to be prepared."
“Princess,” one of the servants gasped, dropping into a quick curtsy. “Prepared, your highness?”
"In the manner you prepare a hari for a night of pleasure." She absorbed their surprise and waited for a few beats, then said, "I require you to move with efficiency, and I will also have your silence on this matter."
The servants shared a quick glance, then nodded their acquiescence, their eyes lit with inquisitiveness, but their lips silenced. She was led to a preparation chamber where Xian was bathed in scented water and massaged with precious oils. The hair between her legs was removed, and her mound was bare and wet with oils. Her locks were styled in an intricate design and kohl rimmed her dark green eyes. A dark red sheer kaftan which bared her belly was draped over her skin, and delicate gold chains were looped around her voluptuous hips, a vivid contrast against the darkness of her skin.
She stared at herself in the mirror, and the provocative picture she presented. Xian rested a hand on her bare stomach. “Will you come to me, my love,” she whispered.
Xian flashed with speed to her palace, entering her palatial chamber like a small whirlwind. The crystals which lit the castle had been dimmed, and a fire roared in the hearth. She sauntered over to the large four-poster bed which stood in the middle of the room, with a mound of blue and silver satin pillows with gold fringes piled in its center, the curtains drawn back in billowing folds of green silk.
She flashed to the balcony and breathed deeply of the crisp, night air. “Come to me…Gavyn,” she said into the night, ignoring the wall of wind which rippled down the mountain and seemed to cut across her skin.
In a few days, she would be the wife of a man she did not know. Tomorrow she would lose the hope of marrying the man she loved. I’ve lost him already.
But tonight….
What if he does not come? That small, scared part of her wondered. What if he spent the night with Ajali, discussing war and battle strategy? Perhaps she could summon him. But Xian’s fierce and unwavering pride would not allow it. If Gavyn ached for her and cried inside with the same sense of pain and loss that was trying to own her soul, he would come. He would see her declaration in the war council as the invitation she’d intended, and answer.
A wave of dark energy rippled into the night and washed across her skin—fire, and darkness. The door to her sitting room slammed open. Caged in the doorway was Gavyn. Though his body remained still, his eyes spoke for him, and a thrill surged in her heart. His eyes were wild with rage, denial, lust, and anger.
With a flash of speed, he was by her side, just as she knew he would be, a darker shadow against the inky blackness of the sky. The taste and feel of his chakra swarmed the air, and she knew he did nothing to check the emotions rioting through him.
“You hurt as I do,” she whispered.
A beat of silence settled vibrating with unspoken emotions.
“You’ve left the council stunned,” he murmured.
“Have I?”
“You announced you were not pure. Princess, I—”
“Yes, I know,” she said with a soft mocking laugh, tilting her face to his. "Princesses are supposed to be pure on their wedding nights. I will do my duty, but I will not sacrifice a night of happiness…of pleasure for myself for a man whom I met fifteen minutes ago. For a man who only cares I am a body which houses the power they want to control.”
“I will only offer this once,” he said, his voice almost a snarl.
She pressed her hand against his chest. “Offer me what?”
“Run away with me.”
The world shattered at her feet when she saw how much it cost him—his honor, his loyalty to her brother, and his dedication to his realm and protection of his people. Damnable tears slipped down her cheeks. “You would do that for me?”
Grief darkened his eyes. “Yes.”
“There is a place inside of me that wants to run away. A small place…but it is there.”
The need for his touch was sharper and more tormenting than she could remember.
His arms came around her. “And there is a similar place within me that would run…with you, away from duty…away from war. Where would we go?” he murmured gruffly.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, and he dragged her into the protective shelter of his embrace. “Do not cry, Xian.”
“Where do you think we could go Gavyn?”
“Earth…Ceres…Titan…”
And she felt the pain and tension in him at the very idea of leaving their people behind to face such a monster as the empire alone.
“I heard that it is beautiful on Earth,” she whispered, burying her face into the solid wall of his chest. “And the portals to that realm is easily accessible. We could…just leave it all behind.”
“But we will not,” he murmured, kissing atop her head.
“ Ajali always carried the burden of Nuria on his shoulders. He has sacrificed much for our kingdom, for our family. It is my turn, and it is an honor to do so," Xian said hoarsely, moving out of his arms, and leaning against the balcony railing.
His eyes glittered with something she couldn't read, something frightening.
Her heart leaped, stuttered, and then began to pound. Xian took a steady breath. “I’ve spent the last three hours with the harem masters.”
He made no sound, but the air shifted, and a hum of energy wild and primal raced across her skin before it was ruthlessly contained.
“They tried to educate me on the pleasures I would eventually bestow upon the man I marry…and the delights he would inflict on my body.”
He slammed his eyes shut. “No more.”
Something warm and tender shifted inside her chest. “I cannot marry the prince…until I have taken something for myself. The world…my life…has taken much. My liberty, my choices in where I travel and whom I love. I will have you tonight as my consort, Gavyn.”
Heat washed through the room, and the ground pitched beneath her feet.
A long, tension-filled silence stretched between them.
“I can’t do this, it will only make our parting more agonizing,” he said fiercely, but he was already closing the distance between them, already reaching to frame her face in his hands.
Gavyn lowered his head to capture her mouth with his in a kiss of brutal tenderness. Thud. Thud. Thud. She had no notion where the beat of his heart started and when hers ended. She’d had so many wicked and clandestine kisses with this man—brief, passionate kisses, tender kisses, stolen kiss
es, deep kisses. This one was raw and filled with lust and carnality.
The subtle hint of wine flavored his mouth, and his taste was dark, heady. Xian felt spun out of control as an unknown fire raged inside her body. It felt darker and hotter than desire, but she did not shy away from it but allowed herself to be consumed. Their tongues tangled wildly, and a long, low moan broke from her lips. His mouth on hers was hard and fierce and urgent. Xian met his kisses with equal passion, moaning into his embrace, conscious of how wet she got.
Flame washed from her, and her hair crackled. But her lover did not flinch but breathed the fire into his body. All around them was an orange glow, and the heat was incendiary, turning the clothes on their bodies to ashes. He gentled his kiss, quieting the pangs of hunger that raged through her body…and his, for his eyes were no longer the bleak silver after a winter storm, but the fire itself.
They stood naked, the erratic power of her Phoenyx creating a fiery glow around them. She felt the power cloaked her form, sensed it writhing inside of her to get out, and she could only endure, for she did not understand its force.
“I’m afraid,” she whispered. “Whenever I feel too much…it comes out.”
Her locks were coated in bright red and danced as if they had a life of their own. He reached out toward the wings of flames which had risen from her.
“Don’t touch it!” she cried, terrified what it could do to him.
But to her utter astonishment, the flames reached for him, greedily, he inhaled deeply…and wisps of her fire went into his mouth and nose. It was as if he consumed a part of the Phoenyx. He stood braced, legs apart, his head tipped slightly to the ceiling as her flames caressed over him, certainly with a will of their own for she did not send them.
Her heart pounded, and her hands trembled as she reached out and touched him, trailing her fingertips over his chest. He was beautiful, corded with smooth muscle, full of power and elegance. Tight buttocks flowed into lean, strong legs. His cock throbbed, long, thick, and more intimidating to her virginal senses than she would like to admit. Xian’s entire body flushed and ached.
