by Ravyn Fyre
Kalen leveled the occupants in the room with a death stare until the murmurs died down before he zeroed in on the crying woman next to us and spoke, “Clary, you have my deepest condolences. It is my understanding it was your niece, Anolla, that was taken from us last night. Natashia attempted to save her using a time jump, but unfortunately, every intervention she tried ended in her ultimate death. Jaelel informed me your sister requested to be present for the burial ceremony, and he wanted you to know he’s on his way to pick her up personally.”
The tiny pixie with pastel blue hair and eyes blew her nose into a handkerchief before she spoke, “Thank you, my liege. I want to be the executioner once you find the culprit.” Rising into the air with see-through rainbow wings, she added, “My family will not rest until justice is served.”
“That’s a given, Clary, and I will do everything in my power to make that happen quickly.” Cocking his head to the side, he furrowed his brow and asked, “What information do we have on the newest death?”
A red and gold bird-woman with black eyes answered, “It was my nephew Castice. Thankfully, he’s a half-phoenix and has already risen.” Nodding to the elf across from her, she added, “Natashia was kind enough to send him home to his mother. No one wanted to handle a newborn phoenix pissed off that he’s once again a baby. We questioned him before he left, and unfortunately, he has no idea how it happened.”
“Thank you, Fansa. I’ll make sure he’s compensated and receives what would have been his normal wages for having to repeat puberty. At least until he can take his rightful place among us.”
“I’m sure he’ll appreciate the gesture, Your Highness. I wish my gift would have warned me. I was looking forward to having the young man around. His clairvoyant gift was just starting to wake up, but he was on track to bypass me in predictions.”
An older gentleman with gray hair, a beak-like nose, and bushy eyebrows pounded his fists on the table before he exploded, “Compensated? Throwing money at a problem will not make it go away. What are you going to do to ensure the rest of us are safe? Two murders in less than 24 hours and what have you been doing? I’ll tell you what you've been doing. You’ve been holed up in your chambers with your human harlot while the rest of us did your job!”
Murmurs broke out in response to the slimeball’s outburst. The soon-to-be dead man ran a shaky hand through his oily, slicked back hair before he stood up, puffed out his chest, and added, “The people of Marni, whom I represent, move for a vote of no confidence! We should have a king that puts his people first!”
I could feel my mate’s fury building through our bond and braced myself for an immediate explosion. Squeezing my eyes shut in anticipation of blood and guts, I was surprised when the room grew eerily quiet and still instead. Opening one eye, I jumped back with shock in my seat when I found a violet-eyed Natashia head poking out of a portal in front of me.
Peeking around the scene in front of me, I found her body in a chair across the room with her head inside the portal. Sitting back slowly, I returned my gaze to the inquisitive ethereal beauty in front of me. I opened my mouth to ask her what she was doing when she interrupted me with an apologetic look.
“I’m sorry this is a little embarrassing. No one’s ever caught me peeping before. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to take a closer look at our new queen after I froze you. I mean you no harm.” Her pale cheeks took on a rosy complexion the longer I continued to stare at her unabashedly until I found my voice and rescued her. “No harm done. Just not used to seeing a live head without a body on anything other than a video call or television.”
“Oh, I thought all timewards could travel via portals. I guess it doesn’t matter. It will be useful to have another timeward around. Can you travel forward in time?”
I looked at Kalen in my periphery and pondered how much of my gift he’d want me to divulge. I’d always been so different that a part of me was jumping at the chance to be considered normal. Refusing to hide anymore, I opted to tell her the truth, “I’ve never tried honestly, seeing as it’s your gift I’m borrowing, but it feels like we can.”
“Are you saying you’re a borrower?”
“I’ve never heard it called that before, but it’s fitting. Are there other borrowers?”
Natashia got quiet for a moment before she spoke with sadness in her voice, “There’s only been two that I am aware of, but they were both killed eons ago.”
“What happened to them?”
“The first was a mystery and played off as an accident, but the second murder was at the hands of the Mengh when they found out how far her gift reached. Kalen and his father were devastated when they lost Queen Zandrea, and Kalen vowed revenge when he took the helm after his father lost his life in the First War.”
“Kalen’s mother was a borrower. Damn, how did they manage to kill her?”
“She was kidnapped and tortured in a room by non-Sixers.”
“No wonder Kalen freaked out and wanted me to learn self-defense.” Pushing back from the table, I got up and began to pace. “It sure didn’t take the little fuckers long to try and take me out. The attack against my life today is all starting to make sense now! Well, they better believe I won’t go down without a fight.” I screamed and then yelped when electric lightning I wasn’t expecting shot from my hands hitting the wall, barely missing Bastian. Closing my hands into fists to put out the blue fire, I looked at Natashia awkwardly and shrugged, “Oops!”
“Well, I’ll be. Beatress was right! You are an extraordinary Sixer!”
Cocking my head at the bizarre and flattering statement, I chuckled before I said, “Not sure what Beatress was right about, but thanks for the compliment.” Looking about the room at our frozen companions, I added, “Although I am very grateful for this little reprieve, mind explaining what the purpose of our time-out is for?”
Looking around like she forgot where they were, Natashia shook her head before she replied, “Yeah, we should probably get back to that. Just a second.” Natashia backed out of her portal with a grunt. I watched it close in fascination, only to jump a bit at the end when it popped.
“Phooey, that was sloppy. Guess you should know it takes practice to enter and exit in silence. Where was I . . . oh yeah . . . revealing the purpose of our pause. One of my many jobs on this council is to hit pause if I think someone is about to do or say something they might regret.”
“Well, don’t you think you should have paused it before that asshat over there opened his mouth?”
“Normally, I would have, but I wanted to see how far Bastian would take his charade and how many of my brethren felt the same. During my attempts to save Anolla, I wasn’t able to find any hard evidence on the killer’s identity, but his niece was always in the vicinity on each of my trips.”
“Would that be Princess Onyx?”
“The one and only. What do you know?”
“Nothing. Just got a bad vibe from her at dinner last night. I’d like to get close to her to feel out her gift, but I have a feeling that will be next to impossible now. Kalen will probably lock me in the safe room after this.”
“I’ll think of something. In the meantime, help me wake up Kalen. After Bastian’s latest tantrum, I have a feeling Kalen will need more than reassuring words from an old friend to calm him down. We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t kill Bastian and start a civil war, even with our intervention!”
Chapter Thirteen
“How do we wake him up?” I questioned as I approached Kalen slowly. I knew he wasn’t privy to our conversation, but I couldn’t help feeling like I was waking a sleeping bear just coming out of hibernation.
“All we need to do is touch him, but I think it would be better if you do it. So your face is the first thing he sees,” Natashia replied with a lopsided grin.
Considering my options, I decided to use some of my feminine power to control the possible loose cannon I’d be facing. Pushing Kalen’s seat back, I straddled his legs, being careful not to touch him be
fore I was ready. Snickering at how foolish I might look to my new friend, I looked over my shoulder and said, “Considering we might not make it out of this, I’d like to say it was a pleasure meeting you, Natashia.”
“Likewise, Jade, but I think our king will have a change of heart considering his current viewpoint. Pun intended, of course.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for. Wish me luck.” Leaning forward, I fell in love just a little bit more as I studied his face before I placed a kiss on his lips like he was Sleeping Beauty. I was pleasantly stunned when he growled, pulled me closer, and ravished my mouth properly. Proud of myself for distracting him from his original plan to kill or maim Bastian, I sank into his embrace and relished our connection. Promising myself, I would pull back after another second.
It didn’t take long before he pulled back slightly and shattered my hopes that he was no longer going to kill Bastian. He nibbled my mouth once more and then said, “While I appreciate what you are trying to do, I need you to move away so I can show that sniveling elemental the meaning of respect and loyalty.”
“Kalen, even though I would love it if you stood up for me . . . In fact, I can’t lie, it would be a major turn-on. In this instance, however, I want us to do the opposite. Instead, I think we should focus on how a vote of no confidence would benefit him or any of his allies. He only brought me into it so he could rile you up and make you act rashly, seeing as you're a newly-mated male. He’s playing you. Don’t let him win! We need to appease him somehow so we can get to the true meaning behind his preposterous claims. Tell me the rational side of your brain agrees with me!”
Kalen’s face fell in defeat before he picked me up from his lap and gently placed me to the side. I thought my plea landed on deaf ears when he exited his chair and approached Bastian on a prowl. Both Natashia and I scrambled to block his path but were too late as he flashed in front of us and pulled his victim into the air and let loose a cathartic roar in his face that chilled me to the bone. I expected his next move would be to end the pathetic male’s life, but once again, he proved me wrong when he sucker-punched Bastian in the groin and then promptly placed him back in his chair and instructed Natashia to resume time as he strode to his place at the table.
“Are you sure you’re calm enough to respond? I could give you more time, my liege.”
“Time will not help my rage. Do it now so he’ll feel a fraction of the pain he deserves because I won’t be able to stop myself from ripping his heart out if I touch him a second time!”
Sitting next to him gingerly, I grabbed his hand with mine and tried one more time to reach him, “You won’t have to touch him. I’ll gladly knee him again for both of us, but I need you here with me AND in the right frame of mind. Which means I need you capable of making rational decisions that will affect the lives of all under your protection, including you and me. Can you do that for me?”
Kalen squeezed my hand tightly in response. Taking a deep breath, he blew it out slowly from his nose before his touch gentled and his shoulders sagged with the stress of his responsibilities. “I’m not sure I can ignore the instincts I feel as a mated male compelling me to defend you. Maybe it’s time I step aside and let someone else be king.”
Stunned at his confession, I grappled with a response that would motivate him to put me second, but nothing came to mind. If I were honest with myself, all I had ever wanted was to be someone’s first, and I’d be damning that dream if I said anything to the contrary. For once in my life, I could have my heart's desire, but the weight of the decision weighed heavily on my mind. When I realized the world’s possible demise would forever overshadow my happiness, my wants and desires seemed pale in comparison. Without second-guessing myself, I froze my mate once again and asked Natashia for advice.
“Call me crazy, but can we reverse a mating if we go back in time and ensure Kalen and I don’t see each other until the All Hands Gathering?” When no response came, I looked over my shoulder, expecting to find an astonished elf, only to shake my head in disbelief when I saw a frozen statue in her place. Shaking my head, I laughed nervously, hoping to ward off the ominous feeling the silent room held as I crossed the short distance to wake her up.
Touching her shoulder gently, I almost had a heart attack when she vanished in front of my eyes, only to pop out behind me with a knife held to my throat. Going off pure instinct, I borrowed the stone ability from the silver-templed gargoyle in the room, making my skin impervious, and tried to reason with the frightened elf, “Um, I thought we were friends? Why are you trying to kill me?”
Natashia gasped at the sound of my voice and dropped the knife like it was on fire. “I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you?”
Turning around to face her in my stone glory, I held my arms out and replied, “No, I’m hard to injure when I’m in a room full of Sixers.” Dropping the stone exterior, I shrugged impishly and added, “I didn’t mean to freeze you.”
“Is that what happened?” Natashia replied incredulously.
“Yeah. I wanted to ask you a question, so I used your gift and froze the room so I could. Did I do something wrong?”
A look of disbelief flashed across her face, followed by a look of wonder by the time she replied, “Timeward’s are immune to time freezes. What you just did was unprecedented! I thought you indicated you were a borrower?”
“I am. At least I think I am. I can feel the different abilities at my fingertips, and I call upon them in times of need. On Earth, having abilities is something we keep hidden, so I didn’t have a lot of practice, but if someone was around and I was in the comfort of my room, I played. It was hard not to.”
“Wow. It must be a little overwhelming to have eleven gifts at your disposal. It took me years as a child to master my power. How do you know what to do?”
Snorting in response, I replied, “Try over fifty right now and I can’t explain how it works. I just know what is near me. It’s like my conscious brain knows what’s available so I can make logical choices on what is necessary for a situation, but I believe my gift is what operates the abilities if that makes sense.”
“What’s the range of your ability?” Natashia asked in a whisper.
“Around a mile, give or take a few yards,” I replied quietly.
“Fuck! Kalen’s never going to let you out of his sight. You could be right about him locking you up in the safe room.”
“Hence why I froze him again so I could run something by you.”
“Unless it's something foolproof that guarantees your life, I don’t think it would be wise for me to assist you. If something were to happen to the king’s mate, my life would be forfeit. Regardless of my position on this council.”
“What if he didn’t remember that I was his mate? I mean, is there a way to reverse our bonding or make him forget it happened? Not forever, obviously, just until the All Hands Gathering. I would need to avoid him until the Selection, but that would hopefully give me enough time to find who’s trying to sabotage my mate.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s a good idea. The Trials aren’t exactly easy. We haven’t lost anyone for centuries, but history has a way of repeating itself. Plus, I thought you said you already had one attempt on your life. How are you going to protect yourself when everyone is out for themselves and only themselves?”
“So, it’s possible then.”
“That’s all you got out of what I just said! Gah!” Hanging her head in exasperation, she sighed before she added in defeat, “Yes, it’s possible, but I want it known that I don’t agree with this plan at all.”
“Does that mean you’ll help me?”
“There has to be another way. Talk to Kalen. He might have something up his sleeve.”
“He’s doing his part, but I need to do mine as well. I don’t want to be the woman left at home who always needs to be protected. I need to prove to him that I am worthy of being by his side. I want his people to respect me, not for my title but my deeds!”
“If I don’t
, you’ll just do it yourself.” She replied as more of a statement than a question while she shook her head. Releasing a big breath, she added, “Damn, I hope I don’t live to regret this. I’ll help you, but on one condition.”
“Name it!”
“We visit Adira and get you a potion to change your physical appearance. We don’t need to take any chances that someone is immune to our time-travel or whatnot and remembers you somehow.”
“Can she make me look like anything?”
“I suppose. Why?”
“No reason. It would just be nice to be tall for once. Athleticism would be nice as well for the trials.”
“Be careful what you wish for, sometimes wishing for something you don’t have can have unintended consequences.”
“I’ll take that into consideration.”
“No time for goodbyes, unfortunately. If we’re going to do this, we should do it now.”
I allowed myself a final glance in the direction of my mate before I followed Natashia into a portal that would erase the best two days of my life.
Chapter Fourteen
Time-travel has a way of messing with your head. I always thought if someone went back in time, they would see a replica of themselves, but in reality, when I entered the same space and time as my earlier self, we merged into one being. Natashia and I concluded after our meeting with the alchemist, Adira, my best bet of pulling off the impossible would be to go incognito and start from the beginning.
