by Reid, Stacy
He did not contradict her. But she felt a deadly and implacable resolve inside of him when he had spoken.
“My mate.”
She smiled inside. A part of her was beginning to like the phrase. “Are you claiming me?”
Cold silence.
“I was so terrified,” she said. “Cullen and Chedra…”
“They are safe, and you are all being guarded.”
“My pain lessens with every passing moment. How is this possible without the elixir?”
There was a long pause before he slid against her mind.
“Not only has your hearing and vision changed, so has your physiology. You now heal at the same rate that I do.”
“So, I am becoming a Darkan.”
She felt that deep amusement again. “No. From what I could glean from our tomes and scrolls, you should only adopt some characteristics. It is impossible for you to become a Darkan as you have no beast. It may take us a while to figure out what is happening, and until we do, it must be a well-guarded secret.”
She contemplated that for a few moments. “Cullen and Chedra are recovered?”
“Yes, because of you. Cullen would have died without the aid you rendered him. Chedra would have slowly healed, but the severity of Cullen’s wounds would make it hard for him to recover. Our kingdom is in your debt.”
“No debt,” she whispered back. “It is a kindness I would do for anyone, and I hope to call Chedra my friend.”
An unrelenting keening that bespoke unimaginable suffering slid across her consciousness once more.
“Someone suffers.” She felt his pause and then the recoil of his mind from hers.
Sleep. He commanded and then fully removed his mind from hers.
Saieke reached out and felt her mind slide against his to be met with a barrier. She struggled to breach it, and tiring from her effort, fell into a deep sleep with the lingering thought that she needed to address his constant need to give her orders.
* * *
Gidon raised his brow at the small smile that curved the princess’s lips in sleep. She lay on a massive bed in Drac’s private rooms. Chedra and Cullen, now recovered, were being held tightly in Tzar’s arms. Every few minutes or so, Cullen would rush over and brush his lips against the princess’s cheek and then return to his parents.
Gidon had received a report from Tehdra on what had transpired. A coldness born of rage had unfurled inside of him and had yet to subside. War could have been brought to their nation, and everything he had worked ruthlessly for would have been jeopardized. The Mevians were working with Darkans. Mevia was a nation of immense size and strength. They had wealth and power which they wielded like weapons. He had read reports over the years on the beauty and destruction the Mevians controlled by manipulating sounds.
They did not want the union of the Princess of the Wind to the Nurian king. Why? Her death on Darkan lands would have brought war.
The Nurian king would have declared war as she was still his oath-bound queen. Gidon refused to think on what Drac's reaction would have been. He did not believe the princess had thought of that at all, when she opted to save the two Darkans she had only met today, instead of giving herself the elixir. Her compassion had stunned them all, and it had left many swearing repayments to her. Tzar and Chedra would do anything for her, for saving the life of their son. Even the high chancellor, Drac’s father, had been stunned speechless when Tehdra reported on what took place.
No one had ever valued a Darkan life more than their own before.
The healers had bathed her wounds and dressed them with infinite care. She lay beneath covers, clothed in the softest white caftan that flowed loosely around her. They had washed the debris and blood splatters from her hair and brushed it until it shone. They had all been amazed when the small scratches on her skin and face had healed before them.
Even though Amagarians healed fast in general, it should have taken her a couple of days before they disappeared. She would be fully recovered in a few hours at the rate that she was mending. Chedra also told him she was sure the princess could see perfectly in the dark. All who gathered in the room looked at her with deep speculation.
Another eerie wail that bespoke horror rent through the air. It brought Gidon sharply out of his musing. He glided to the window and overlooked the dark. Lachlan and Talon came up beside him, and all in the room lifted their heads, inhaled deep and fed their beasts. The sounds that emitted from the Mevian under Drac’s claws as he tortured him for information were as sweet as nectar to them. The windows rattled and vibrated as the purity of his screams echoed over hills and settled over their lands. The dark became quiet as the Mevian screamed no more.
“Let’s go” he commanded and he shiktred away with Lachlan and Talon flanking him.
* * *
Drac perched on the turret high and looked out into the dark and wildness of his kingdom. They were threatened, and war hovered with intensity. He slowly rose when his king arrived with Lachlan and Talon.
Tehdra and Tzar arrived behind them with his father on their heels. After disposing of the Mevians and the elder, he had moved directly to the turret and pondered deeply on how to move forward. It seemed as if war gathered despite Gidon’s attempt to start his reign without one.
“The Mevian was a high chancellor on business for his emperor,” Drac said. “They have an agreement with certain Darkans in our land. When your reign is no more, Gidon, they will have an alliance with us.”
“The Mevian nation desires an alliance with us?” Raki demanded. “Why not approach us so we can negotiate?”
“What I have been able to glean is that Mevia's emperor has a plan that can only be brought to fruition with Darkans by his side," Drac replied softly.
They all considered that.
“What are they thinking?” Tehdra asked. “They could have approached our liege to discuss an alliance.”
“It’s the kind of alliance they want, Tehdra. They want our skills in delivering death.”
Coldness swept through all of them.
“I have been approached by Mevia and Avindar for our services as killers. I turned them away. Those are not the grounds that we seek to negotiate for alliance anymore. We are not only warriors and blood-letters. Many on the council disagreed,” Gidon confirmed flatly.
“It has been years since we sold our might,” Talon said.
Tzar spoke through gritted teeth. “The Mevians intend to declare war?”
“To what end?” Lachlan snapped as he prowled, the only one in motion. “There is no conflict. Peace has reigned, and the kingdoms are prosperous since the second Great War.”
“Under what circumstances would they want our skills and might, if not for war?” Tehdra asked.
“Gidon,” Drac said, “your ideals are anathema to what they desire. Many of our elders believe that the vision we are trying to fulfill is the wrong path. They desire the fear and cruelty under which we once resided. The Mevians are confident that there will be a new ruler soon who will not oppose to their vision.”
“The Kingmaker,” Raki said.
“Yes”
“And what is their vision?” Gidon asked flatly, reining his darkness with ruthless intensity.
“The High chancellor did not seem privy to that information.”
Gidon’s body uncoiled into motion and glided around the turret thinking deeply. They stood motionless as they watched their king.
“They assassinated my father because of our vision to rise out of the dark ashes of death. They believed I would be more malleable?” He cocked his head thoughtfully. “No, they intend to try and remove me as well and claim my throne. The attack will come, and it has not been executed yet because they need to succeed at the first wave. Whatever Mevia’s plan is, they cannot achieve it unless we are with them.”
“Possibly,” Lachlan mused, “it could also be that with your reign, you would oppose their move when they make it.”
“Would we?” Tehdra
said. “Would we interfere where we have no alliance or allegiance?”
“If our kingdom were consumed in flames of war, we would move against them. Thus, the peace Gidon advocates contravene their plan,” Drac said.
“Why did they try to prevent the princess from fulfilling her kingdom’s promise to the Nurian king?” Gidon asked.
Drac analyzed all he had learned before he spoke, “The emperor did not want the Nurian king to form any other alliance or allegiance. Whatever their plan is, it relies on that as well, and it is critical he forms no attachment. What I gleaned from the Mevian is that Darkans, Mevians, and Nurians are working together to ensure your death Gidon, and the death of the King Ajali.”
“There are Darkans in the kingdom of eternal fire?” Talon queried sharply.
“Yes, working with traitors of that kingdom,” Drac growled.
“If they are there to kill the Nurian king and they succeed, and it is traced to the Darkage…” Lachlan closed his eyes and flowed away to overlook their kingdom.
Drac understood. War
“We need information,” Gidon said. “We must learn more before we act. We need spies within Nuria and Mevia.”
“Tehdra,” Drac ordered, “infiltrate Nuria. Remove the presence of any Darkans found. Uncover as much as you can as to why Mevians and Darkans work to remove the King Ajali. If you discover anything that threatens our nation, eliminate it without it being traced back to the Darkage.”
She inclined her head and disappeared.
“I will send my lieutenant to Mevia,” Talon snapped and stepped into the shadows.
“Lachlan, prepare yourself for departure as the princess rises. Her life hangs too much in the balance in the Darkage. The Mevians’ orders were to take her to their emperor, and if they could not take her, to kill her,” Drac said.
“Why?” the high chancellor demanded.
“The emperor would have forced her to marry him and stolen the allegiance for himself. He would then have heir-ship over her throne and control of their mountains and the healing elixir. He thought if he could not have that, no-one else should, especially not the Nurian king.”
“He would murder the royalty of another nation?” the High chancellor demanded genuinely shocked.
Drac frowned. “They have no alliance or allegiance. How would Boreas march on the Emperor? If they tried, he would have chewed them up and spat them out.”
“Then he will not abandon his plans,” his father said.
“Ah…but she is ours now,” Drac said flatly.
* * *
Saieke woke slowly. She felt warm and pain-free, and she shifted, loving the serene glide of gossamer silk under her body. Drac lounged in a high wingback chair near the fireplace. She smiled as he appeared before her and lifted her into his arms. Saieke laughed for as she blinked again, she was held cradled in his lap in the chair.
"I love when you do that,” she whispered against the lips that descended to hers.
Saieke clasped his neck and responded with slow heat. She instinctively brushed her mind against his and stilled. Torment and pain lurked deep because she had been hurt. She leaned back from his embrace. “I am well.”
He kissed her with gentle thoroughness. He petted, touched and glided his hands all over her body. Saieke came to realize that it was for his benefit as much as it was for her. He needed to feel close to her, needed to absorb that she was safe.
She dropped her nose into the crook of his neck. Violent emotions still pulsated deep within him. It hummed and vibrated against her mind. She caressed his thoughts and thrust with hers to be met with the rage of his beast. She absorbed the ferocity of the emotions and reached out to soothe it.
“I feel you,” she whispered.
Drac’s chakra surrounded her in a cocoon of comfort and desire. Possession and tenderness leaked from it and warmed her thoughts. His beast’s rage blossomed, and she saw perfectly, the image she had seen when she was on the ground bleeding.
“You saved me.”
A hot flare of satisfaction and something deeper bled from it that she could not identify.
“You are ours.”
“Yours,” she agreed as she luxuriated in the emotions they felt.
Lips drank at her once more, and she responded sweetly.
“You are to return to your nation in a few hours.”
“I am to leave on the morrow. “
“No. Lachlan prepares for your departure, and you will leave in a few hours.”
Saieke drew back. There was no hint of softness or a promise for more. She let her consciousness touch his and encountered stillness and awareness from both man and beast. Knowledge of what, she was not sure. “I see.”
“Constant danger lurks in the Darkage. You will return to your kingdom and complete the honor bargain.”
He said nothing of them together. Unease slinked through her. “How will I see you?”
He grew distant. “You are my leika wherever you are. I will come for you when the danger passes.”
Saieke’s heart pounded. “When I return you simply cannot ‘come for me’ Drac,” she said. “I am the heir to my throne.”
“Do you want me to relinquish you?”
The king of all help her, but she did not. It was dangerous, but she wanted him. “No,” she replied
He smiled, and it was such a beautiful sight.
"Many yearn to find a mate. I did not. I understood the beast within us allowed us to mate for life, yet it was not a concept that consumed me like it did others. I hated the very idea of having a mate that could be used to manipulate me. It would be inevitable for me to love her. And if she died..., I would become a monster. I could have lost you today…and I would have slaughtered all who played a role. But I do not think I would have lost control as my brother did. My brother had not bonded with his beast when he lost his mate, but I have. I have a deeper understating with my demon…camaraderie if you will. Whether you are a Darkan or Borean, I want you. You are something I could never have dreamed. I’ve found you, and I am never letting you go. You are the Princess of Boreas, but you are also mine. I will come for you when the turmoil of the realms lessens,” he said with finality in his voice.
“That could be years. The second Great War lasted for fifteen years.”
“Yes”
Pain sliced deep. “I see.”
“You are hunted…and the safest place for you is your kingdom. You were only harmed after you left its protective walls. It is more dangerous for you here. While I believe in my will to suppress my demon if serious harm befalls you…I do not want to tempt it. At your castle, your Queen’s blades will surround you. A shield of protection. In the Darkage, I cannot tell who our enemies are. The elder who attacked you was a trusted council member.”
She shifted in his lap as the implication of danger lurking in the Darkage settled inside her. Danger to him would be something unimaginable to her, yet she’d always felt the dark kingdom was death waiting to happen. “I had no intention of abandoning my realm.”
He kissed the corner of her lips. “I know…but I will not have you visit either until the threat has passed.”
“That could be dozens of years.”
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes. “Do you know why I am hunted?”
“The Mevians attacked you to prevent your marriage to the Nurian king. The emperor intended to marry you himself. If that proved impossible, your death would have sufficed.”
She let out a startled laugh that choked off. “You are jesting!”
She remembered the attack on her way to the gateway and how they had held themselves back from hurting her. Then the sudden shift to kill her in the dark forest when they thought they would have lost her. “I am a royal,” she breathed. “To kill me would incite war.”
“Your kingdom is without alliance or allegiance. Your people would only receive death.”
Her soul shook at his words. Her father, the king, had desperately wanted a
n allegiance because he saw weakness where she did not. Yet, if a nation as powerful as Mevia were to declare war with Boreas, they would be in desperate need of an alliance to even resist. She flinched at the implications of her actions for her kingdom. She leaped off his lap and paced. “There is no reason for war; the seven kingdoms have been at peace since the last Great War. My father spoke of rumors of war and that we needed to position ourselves strategically, but I never imagined a nation would declare war on us!” she cried raggedly. “We no longer live in dark times. Why would there even be rumors of war?”
She raked her fingers through her mass of hair. “My father all but sold me to the Nurian king. When I pressed him, he simply said we needed an allegiance. Why not make me privy to the happenings of the court and nations so I could make more informed decisions!" she yelled into the room in a rage.
* * *
Drac observed her pacing form and felt satisfaction she'd fully healed. She worried for naught. She was his mate, and anything that concerned her was also his concern. Whether or not Boreas had an alliance or allegiance with the Darkage, to attack his mate would be an attack on him and the Darkage.
If she were a Darkan, she would have been made fully aware of the threats and intrigue that surrounded their kingdom, instead of being cosseted. She was so much in the dark about the webs and deceptions within the seven realms to even ponder why anyone would incite conflict with her kingdom. Mevia could decide to take and plunder, and war would be declared. Without an alliance or allegiance, one kingdom could be ravaged and consumed by another.
“I will have to make my parents aware of why I was attacked so we can prepare ourselves.” Saieke hesitated. “Is it possible they would have been aware and not informed me?” she asked tremulously.
“It is possible. Your lieges seem more of a mind to protect you than to inform you.”
She now wondered if she had done the right thing in fleeing. However, not to have known Drac was an unbearable thought. “Did I do the right thing in fleeing?”
