Ashes of Dearen: Book 1

by Jayden Woods

  *

  He heard the scream from a distance.

  Normally, hearing such a noise would make him hesitate. He had no idea what sort of situation lay ahead of him. If it was dangerous, then he would need to plan his attack.

  But then he realized the scream could only be Fayr’s. It came from the right direction. It had the right tenor. And most importantly, who else in Dearen would scream?

  He should have slowed down. Instead he ran faster.

  A few guards were stationed before the entrance to Royal Chambers. Like fools, they stood around debating what to do. They looked confused and frightened. The tapestries in the hallway rippled against the walls as stormy winds battered them from without. Torches and candles sputtered against misty waves of rain. Past the Dearen guards, a few dark shapes loomed near the princess’s chamber.

  “Oh good,” said one of the Dearen guards. “It’s Chief Darius!”

  Sean had already been reaching under his tunic for a weapon. Now he pulled his hand back out. “What’s going on here?” he demanded. “I heard a scream.”

  Another cry echoed down the hall, making Sean’s skin crawl. If he doubted Princess Fayr’s voice before, he no longer could.

  “We don’t know what to do!” said the guard. “That’s the Vikand Khan and his men in there. We figured we could let them through. But why would the princess be screaming?”

  Sean considered killing all these fools at once. Then he thought of something faster. “Where’s the Master of the Royal Guard? Sir Gornum?”

  “Oh, uh … I think he’s at the feast.”

  “Why don’t you all split up and go find him? Perhaps he’ll know what to do.”

  “Great idea!”

  And as easily as that, they were all gone.

  Sean rushed forward. As he proceeded, the hall darkened. A few torches had been doused by the storm, or perhaps just neglect. Sean sank into their shadows. A strip of light marked Fayr’s chamber ahead, for it shone through her open doorway. Around the doorway stood four Vikand hordesfolk, watching through the crack with leers on their faces.

  The sounds of a struggle within Fayr’s chamber grew louder. There was a thump and a clatter. Then a sound like a smack.

  One of the hordesfolk chuckled. “She puts up a good fight.”

  “Maybe he’ll let us try her when he’s done with her.”

  Then they laughed some more. But two chuckles cut short.

  Sean stood behind them, each of his arms wrapped around a throat. As he pulled back, he drew the throwing stars across the skin of their necks. Blood sprayed from their throats like the water in the Fountain Foyer. The sounds from their mouths became gurgles. Then they slipped to the ground in a pool of their own blood.

  “What the … ?”

  As the remaining two guards to look, they saw nothing but shadows. Then two flashes of light as Sean’s throwing stars spun towards them. They saw nothing after this, for they fell to the floor with stars protruding from their foreheads.

  He wiped his hands through their blood as he moved forward. Then he flung the drops out the window. “A Belazar, afithi fenturus zentaya.”

  He proceeded into Fayr’s chamber.

  The khan stood over the princess and her bed, but its blankets, flung about the room, marked the path of their struggle. He bore scratch marks across his arms and thighs. His trousers slid down his legs as he climbed onto the princess, twisting her arms over her head. He finally had her pinned, it seemed, and he watched her struggle beneath him with a grin on his face. He’d managed to pull almost all the clothes from her body, though a few threads remained dangling across her bare skin.

  The sight of her naked body was truly a sight to behold, and for a moment, he paused.

  The groan from the khan’s throat as he pushed his hips forward sprang Sean into action.

  A black line flew from his hand and wrapped round Leonard Khan’s collar. The metal jewelry managed to protect the khan’s flesh, but Sean’s whip snagged round the metal. He yanked the whip back and pulled the khan with it. His bulk smacked the ground as he fell, then Sean pulled pinned him to the floor with a boot on his chest. The damn Khan Collar continued to protect the khan’s neck.

  Sean reached down and grabbed the collar’s latch. It was a small gap in the metal near the back. As he searched for it, Leonard Khan looked up at him and blanched with recognition.

  “Wol—!”

  Sean struck him across the mouth with his elbow.

  Someone else was yelling at him—Fayr—but he could not spare her any attention. Belazar’s power flowed through him now. Sean’s blood roared and his body reacted to every small movement of Leonard beneath him, keeping the large body pinned. Uncanny strength poured through his limbs. No ordinary human would have been able to pull off the Khan Collar without a key. But Sean wrested it with his hands and snapped the latch apart. With a pathetic chink, the grandiose jewelry fell to the floor.

  The khan spat through his blood. “You—ack!”

  This time Sean used the whip again, securing it tight round the khan’s naked throat. Then he stood up and pulled. He had not used the whip very much before tonight, but he relished the feeling of the taut leather in his fingertips. He felt the khan’s gurgles vibrate up the fabric. With each jerk of the whip, Sean felt the khan’s response on the other end. Another tight pull made him feel Leonard’s pulse thud through the leather.

  Leonard seemed intent on trying to speak, so Sean stepped forward and placed his boot on the khan’s nose. He looked down into the khan’s face while crushing his mouth and strangling him. Leonard Khan looked up into the eyes of his killer and recognized him, just before Sean gave one last yank on the whip.

  The snap of Leonard Khan’s neck pronounced his death.

  “Darius!”

  Fayr’s voice struck Sean like a slap in the face. She had been shouting his name—or Darius’s name—for some time. But he hadn’t her until now. He blinked at her and dropped the whip.

  “Darius … oh Darius … is he dead?”

  “I, uh ...” He wondered how obvious it was to her. How much had she seen of their struggle? Had she seen Sean wrest off the Khan’s Collar with his bare hands? Had she seen how deliberately he broke Leonard’s spine? Whatever the case, what point was there in hiding the outcome? “I think so.”

  “Oh gods.” She pressed her hand to her clammy forehead. Her cheeks were pale and bloodless. “He is your khan. You shouldn’t have killed him … I mean, I’m glad he’s dead.” Her hands clenched in the bed sheets. “I wanted to kill him myself, but I ...”

  “I don’t care.” He stared in a daze at her bare naked body. She had perfect breasts and sharp, perked nipples. Her thighs wrapped in curves around the shadowed folds between them. He couldn’t help himself. He wanted to devour her, almost as surely as the khan had. But only if she wished to devour him, too. “He didn’t command me any longer. Only you do.”

  Fayr pulled up her knees and hugged herself tightly, torment twisting her face.

  Sean gulped. “Did he … ?”

  “No. But … does it even matter? Nothing is the same after this. Nothing …”

  Lightning flashed beyond the palace. White light rimmed the shape of the princess in perfect silhouette, sending another jolt of desire through Sean’s body. The boom of thunder followed.

  “Darius. Hold me ...”

  He sat next to her on the bed and stroked her purple hair. Blood smeared onto the strands. She didn’t care, but looked into his eyes, breathing raggedly.

  Another flash of lightning. Her face faltered with uncertainty as she looked at him. Her swimming gaze roved his. “Your eyes ...” she whispered. “You look ...”

  He closed them, then rushed forward to kiss her.

  The heat in his blood overwhelmed him. He melted against her, kissing, grabbing, pulling. She fell back onto the sheets, her body spreading open, embracing him, pulling him in. His mouth trailed down her neck. Her pulse thudde
d against his lips.

  He pushed his hips against hers, and she arched up to meet him.

  “Darius,” she gasped.

  Darius ...

  12

  Haze