by Stacy Reid
“I study my enemies.”
She lowered her lids. “As twins, my brother Drac and I are the firsts to be born in hundreds of years with Dracans for our beasts.”
The little he had gleaned only spoke of a terrifying legend with enormous powers. And she was bonded with its chakra.
She flowed away from him, sinuous and graceful. “We are not all bloodletters. I understand that Darkans killed your mother, but it was on the order of Mevia,” she said, her voice throbbing with some dark emotions.
“We do not know where the order came from. It could have been Mevia, Avindar or even Aria since we had no alliance then. It could have been Caleum—the kingdom that had declared war. Blame was placed on the kingdom that perpetrated the act. Darkans murdered the queen of Nuria, and they will pay.”
She flinched. “Why did you not declare war?”
“I would never embroil my kingdom in another war after the ravages of the second Great War. There are other ways to annihilate a kingdom without overt acts of war. The separation of wealth and access to resources will cripple any kingdom.”
Tehdra’s heart thumped at his flat response. She could offer no contradictions. Her kind was a set of people that believed in vengeance. If Gidon were to fall, murdered by another kingdom, then blood would flow in Amagarie.
Cruelty settled on Ajali’s face. “I blocked all trading opportunities of any resource from Nuria entering the Darkage for more than one year. All petitions from your kingdom were denied, and many kingdoms have agreed with me to not trade with the Darkage for favors only I can grant.”
Tehdra knew. He did not need to explain, the very things he described her King fought against. His vision was to end the dark pall that hung over their nation. To improve their wealth, trading between realms, to enhance the prosperity of her people and kingdom. The king of the Darkage had the boldest and fiercest plan of removing the stain of treachery that followed their people, and one way was to show that they were more than their beasts. They were people that loved, laughed, created families, and had many talents and gifts from their artisans that they wanted to share. The fight for acceptance would be a long and vicious one, and the goal of the man before was to prevent her realm from achieving that end.
The quiet between them was deafening.
Are we to be enemies?
Where would you stand, Tehdra of the Darkage, if a war was to be declared?
With you.
She felt the jerk of shock through their connection. The surety, her convictions resounded true.
Because I am your mate?
Yes…you hold my allegiance, my loyalty, my heart.
And if I cannot return your sentiments? His voice hardened imperceptibly as he watched her, his gaze brooding.
I am bound to you for eternity, but you are free to find your kala. She slammed the pathway to their connection shut before he felt the pain slashing through her veins.
He flashed to her, tilting her face to his. He pressed a kiss to the corner of her lips and the breath lodged in her throat.
I must attend to my kingdom’s needs. The Games of Fyre must be canceled, and the heinous act against us addressed. Wait for me in my wing. Servants will attend to you.
He sheathed his swords with chains and flashed from the room.
Tehdra traveled with the shadows to the bath chambers. She did not linger but bathed with swiftness and dressed in a simple caftan. She did not wait for the servants to aid her. Drac was at the castle. She stretched her senses, reaching along their pathway to find him.
Drac
I am here.
Are you still inside of castle Shelah?
You have mated the king of Nuria...
She sighed. Like you, I had no want of mate, nothing to distract me from protecting Gidon and our realm.
And now?
She swallowed. Yawning emptiness if he is not with me.
How has the king reacted to your claim?
I sense no revulsion or fear. But he is the king of one of the greatest kingdoms of Amagarie. I am only a Darkan. One without wealth or noble blood. It is impossible for us to be together.
She closed her eyes, hating the truth of her assessment.
My mate is a princess, heir to another throne and we are lovers despite the odds. King Ajali drank the elixir and bared his throat to you at the risk of his life. That is not the action of the disinterested, or of a man who would not fight for you.
Hope stirred in her breast.
The doors opened and servants entered, bearing several platters of food.
You are right, my brother. The king and I have much to discuss. The horror the summoned beast did to his kingdom must be atoned for. Who sent them? The puppeteer is safe as Ajali will first condemn the perpetrators, Drac.
Only the most powerful of their kind was able to summon their beast to a corporeal form. How had the Darkan done it? Darkans with their summoned beasts killed hundreds. But it was strange. He was weak. In fighting me, he should have directed all his fury on me, but he focused on Ajali. The assassin also came right before the sun sank, at a time when my essence was effectively buried, yet I defeated him. For a Darkan that is weaker, how was he able to summon his beast before the sun sank? And Drac? There were two beasts, but one Darkan.
That means one of the Darkan remained hidden.
Yes.
Tehdra ate in silence as they strategically dissected all they knew. She remembered Acheron’s words and his surety a witch worked in the background. Witches were sensed on the battlefield, and it was the witch who made the command for the head of the Nurian king. Her throat tightened. Was it possible they had been controlled?
Her brother remained silent for long minutes. The idea of anyone possessing the power to harness the will of their people was terrifying.
I leave for our kingdom. Gidon must be made aware. We must uncover how this tie into the plot to remove our king from his throne. The betrayer is confident, Tehdra. He sends loyal Darkans to do his bidding, and they comply knowing that he is not their king.
You return now?
Now. My princess believes the high chancellor is in imminent danger of having a heart attack if we do not leave soon, and blame will rest at my feet.
King's speed, Drac.
She raised the fork to her lips, halting as her vision blurred. The fork clattered from her hands to the dining table. Numbness slowly enveloped her body, her mind muddling. The thundering of her heart roared in her head. She glanced at the plate where the food she’d just eaten converted to worms.
She hallucinated. Poison? Tehdra tried to inhale. There was no beast to assist her, no heightened sense of smell. Its quintessence buried.
The shadows were discordant and twisted in murky confusion.
Darkans?
She spun, trying to twist with speed to counteract their movements and could only stumble in confusion as her mind clouded, rendering her open to their attacks. Two bodies flanked hers. Darkness covered them as they moved with her into the shadows, whisking her away from Nuria.
Ajali flashed inside the war room, ignoring Julius who sat in his great chair. Ajali strode to the stained windows overlooking the city. He draped his mantle of king around him as he turned to face his high dukes. Uriah and Xian entered in silence. The atmosphere was tense and somber. “How many deaths?”
“Six hundred and twenty confirmed. The majorities were warriors, but there were at least thirty civilians, six from Caleum, fourteen from Aria, and ten from Boreas. The Darkans and their summoned beasts killed all. Tehdra killed none." Cadmus’s voice echoed grief and anger.
“The Darkans passed through the kingdom to the Coliseum. Were any deaths recorded there?”
“No, my king, it seemed as if it traveled with the shadows. Its appearance in the Coliseum was the only confirmed sighting.”
“The Darkans did not work alone,” Acheron said. “The presence of a witch was detected. I felt the taint. An incantation hovered about it, and we receive
d information of a Serangite spotted east of the Coliseum with warriors that were not of our army.”
“Why would Darkans work with witches? They are powerful on their own. Why attack the Coliseum? We have no overt conflict with the Darkage,” Quinn questioned.
“Another kingdom has a Serangite in their employ?” Gavyn asked archly, staring at his king.
“You were the obvious target, Ajali,” Uriah mused. “Our spy in Mevia reports the emperor building an army with Darkan might.”
Ajali considered all angles, rattling them around in his head until his teeth ached with the need to roar. Over six hundred people had been brutally and senselessly taken. He breathed evenly, controlling his emotions. “Tehdra informs that the new king of the dark holds Mevia in contempt, that no alliance exists between them,” Ajali said curtly.
The utterance of Tehdra’s name had the tension in the war chamber rising. Ajali’s gaze slashed, encompassing all. “Speak,” he commanded.
There was a firm knock on the door, and then it opened to admit Bastien looking more than slightly ruffled.
“She is a Darkan, kalija,” Xian said softly. “Her kind took our mother before I knew her. Tried to cripple our kingdom and extinguish our bloodline. She has deceived us in the most unforgivable ways, yet you speak as if you value her words.”
“Tehdra has placed her life in danger several times for our king at the cost of her own,” Acheron murmured, piercing Xian with his multi-hued eyes. “I claim Tehdra as a friend of the House of Thessaly.”
“She will be amply rewarded, Duke of Thessaly, but claiming a Darkan as a friend of any house that belongs to Nuria is unnecessary,” Bastien snapped, moving deeper into the chamber to stand close to Ajali.
Ajali’s chakra wavered, and heat washed across the room. All eyes swung to him. “There is dissension in the Darkage. We know King Rajliegh Al Shra was assassinated. It seems as if the same danger surrounds his son. Tehdra’s mission was to uncover if Darkans worked against the order of her king in Nuria, and if confirmed, deliver justice.”
“And you believe her, brother?” Xian asked incredulity rife in her tone.
“I would have sensed the lie.”
The princess frowned. “How? Did you have Ruxia question her?”
Ajali could almost taste Xian’s anger, but it was the fear in her gaze that tugged at him. “I am her mate.”
Uriah choked on the wine he drank, sputtering. Xian stared at him, wide-eyed, while Acheron smiled.
“Her mate?” Uriah snarled. “Surely you jest!”
“My king,” Bastien said hoarsely, “You cannot accept such a claim. It’s preposterous!”
A chilling silence descended in the chamber. Ajali could only imagine his kingdom’s reaction if those closest to him felt such horror. “We know how Darkans feel about their mates, Bastien. That is why Tehdra has placed her life before mine several times. She speaks the truth.”
“Hence, the Darkans that attacked yester eve are not on the orders of King Al Shra,” Gavyn said.
“No, they are not. Darkans work with the enemy. The question is who the real puppeteer is—Mevia or the Darkage?”
“Why did they want you, kalija? We have been at peace for years. No animosity exists between the seven kingdoms. Why would Mevia target you? They hunted the princess, trying to steal the allegiance from us, and now they try to capture you,” Xian fretted.
He glided around the room as he tried to decipher the enemy’s way of thinking. “They are trying to disrupt me from consolidating any more power,” Ajali said as he weaved patterns together. “The mastermind behind this is very cunning. They do not declare war, but they do enough to antagonize me, hoping to lure me into battle. Another kingdom might have retaliated, but I do not desire such turmoil for Nuria. Only a few know this. An intimate few. The enemy knows me. They taunt me with their knowledge.”
The princess started to pace. “What are you saying, kalija!?”
“The enemy works with someone who knows me personally.”
“The betrayer of Nuria,” Gavyn growled.
Ajali nodded. “I am being hunted and pushed into a corner so that I may do something rash, and then they could secure me. Acheron’s spies report whispers of the emperor wanting my presence in the dungeon of Mevia.”
“How do we proceed?” Gavyn asked, raking a hand through his hair. “As you say, we do not have enough evidence to declare war, and we cannot allow them to capture you. No one has ever escaped Mevia’s dungeon…save Acheron.”
Ajali moved to sit on the edge of the desk, facing them. “We wait. Mevia hides behind assassins from the Darkage and Avindar. These assassins are not acting on behalf of their realms, but for Mevia. To move aggressively against the assassins’ kingdom is folly. The enemy must be fully understood and revealed before we act.”
Ajali raised one of his hands for silence as the slightest hint of disturbance stirred inside his mind.
“What is it?” Uriah asked.
Ajali frowned as he felt the stirrings again. Was it from Tehdra? He opened the pathway, carefully seeking her and found nothing. He tried several times and came up empty yet the echoes of uneasiness simmered inside. “Do you sense any disturbance, Acheron?”
He waited as Acheron delved deep inside, searching for any ripples.
His blade stood. “I sense nothing. What did you feel?”
"There was a whisper in my mind, strange enough that I tried to find the pathway that Tehdra and I formed, but I sensed nothing.”
“You and Tehdra have formed a mental connection?” Acheron asked.
“Yes.”
Bastien's lips flattened in apparent disapproval.
Gavyn tensed, concern furrowing his brow. “Is she disturbed?”
“I cannot feel her at all. I am not sure if the connection is something that is temporary or permanent.”
Ajali, the softest of rustles against his mind had tension tightening his frame.
Tehdra. He pushed through the pathway, unraveling its intricate weave. He was met with no response. “Something ails Tehdra.”
“I will go,” Gavyn said as he flashed from the room.
Ajali restrained the urge to follow, trusting his blade, even though everything in him clamored to investigate.
Gavyn appeared less than a minute after leaving. “I searched your chambers, Ajali. The morning rooms show sign of her breaking her fast, but no sense of Tehdra.”
“What is it?” Ajali asked at the suspicion that swept across his blade’s face.
“There is clutter. Her plate overturned and her fork on the ground. Minuscule, but unusual.”
Ajali had flashed out of the room before Gavyn finished speaking. Ajali pushed along the link, seeking but not locating any tendrils to follow. Could it be that the link only opened with his consuming her blood? He did not know. Tehdra was a warrior; she could be searching the court. He dismissed such a ridiculous thought as it occurred. He had told her to remain sequestered in his wing for the day until he dealt with his kingdom’s awareness that she was a Darkan. She had understood his unspoken request.
He entered the chamber. There was no evidence of a battle, yet his skin prickled with danger. With speed he investigated his wing, moving from the harem and on to the inner court with his blades at his heels.
“My king, this is unheard of,” Bastien snapped. “A spy in our kingdom who is missing is not of such import that it disturbs our meeting!”
Ajali slashed Bastien a hard glare, and his high chancellor blanched.
“I will consult with my spies, kalija,” Uriah said as he sped away.
Xian’s expression mirrored pain and acceptance. “She means this much to you, kalija? Even though a Darkan?” she asked hoarsely
She followed him as they flashed to the highest turret of castle Shelah.
“Did you despise her before, Xian?”
His sister grimaced. “No, I respected her.”
“Should that change because she is of the shado
ws?”
Xian gazed steadily at the humming city below, refusing to meet his gaze. “We have ostracized her kind since they took our queen.”
“My king, we should prepare your address to the nation, missives must be sent, and we need to strategize our position in the event of war. Your kingdom’s needs must always be placed above yours, my king, always,” Bastien said softly, moving to stand beside Xian.
The silence that resounded was interrupted by Uriah’s arrival.
“What have you learned?” Ajali asked, his heart jerking in fear for Tehdra.
“The sentry warriors report a force of at least a thousand warriors wearing the insignia from Mevia in the Taryllion, about three hundred miles east from our borders.”
“A thousand?” Gavyn frowned. “That is not an invading force. More than five thousand warriors man our borders. They are far enough from our borders so as not to disturb. What do they wait for?”
Comprehension settled heavily in Ajali’s gut, and his fire stirred. “Tehdra.” Ajali voice was hoarse as he said her name. “They wait on Tehdra.”
Acheron stiffened.
“We have no proof of that,” Bastien said, a heavy frown splitting his brows. “And if they wait on her, it is not the concern of Nuria.”
“Our high chancellor is right, Ajali,” Uriah said. He overlooked the city with his face wiped clear of all expression. “If the warriors that gather in the empty lands wait on Tehdra, it is of no concern of ours. She belongs to the Darkage, and we have no alliance with them. We cannot interfere when they have not invaded our lands.”
“She was taken from our kingdom,” Gavyn said to Uriah, fists clenched. “I doubt I would consign my enemy to the dungeon of Mevia.”
“Neither would I,” Acheron rasped in a voice that echoed nightmares. “Was her departure recorded, Uriah?”
“Not a sight or whisper.”
“Darkans are the ones that took her," Ajali reasoned, "for her departure to be done so secretively. Her warrior prowess should have stopped them."
“Is it possible they took her by surprise?” Gavyn asked. “After all, they came for her in your private chambers, Ajali.”
