Lifemarked (The Fatemarked Epic Book 5)

by David Estes

  Four rulers. Four.

  Lisbeth Lorne and the two halfmarked waited patiently by his sides, watching as the man coaxed each bird from the cage, cradling them in his rough hands, whispering into their ears. Releasing them with a flutter of wings and spray of feathers. They flew, first out of the canyons and then beyond sight. Roan could only hope the messages would be received by the intended audiences and that they responded in kind. If even some of them traveled back to Phanes, it could change everything.

  Lisbeth said, “They will make it.”

  Roan glanced at her. Once he looked upon her wispy form, he found it hard to look away. It wasn’t just her beauty that captivated him, but the aura that seemed to surround her. He felt nothing romantic toward her, but still…she was a sight to behold, even if her glassy eyes never met his, instead trained on his chest. They always seemed to look directly at where his lifemark was painted, invisible. “You can see into the souls of birds?”

  She nodded. “Yes, but it would kill them. I was just trying to be hopeful.”

  Roan breathed out a laugh. Sometimes he had to remind himself that she was as fresh to this world as Rhea’s nameless newborn babe. “Have you managed to draw anything else to you?” he asked.

  At this, Lisbeth frowned. He could see the frustration in her expression. This was a woman who wielded incredible power, and he could tell that her own inability confounded her like a great runner who’d broken an ankle and was confined to bedrest. “The skill eludes me.”

  “You did it once—you will do it again.” Somehow, when Roan was drowning at the bottom of the Well of Truth, a single moment before his lungs filled with water and he breathed in liquid death, she had pulled him from the depths. Not with her hands, but with her powerful mind.

  The only problem: she didn’t know how she did it, and she’d been unable to repeat the feat, which they’d begun referring to as drawing. He had two of the best minds in the Four Kingdoms helping him research anything that might reference the abilities of the soulmarked. If nothing else, it kept Lady Windy from meddling in other things, as she was apt to do if she grew too bored. Yela, of course, was assisting her, which mostly meant the young Calypsian girl was doing all the work while Windy sipped thick, noxious tea.

  “Thank you,” Lisbeth said, drawing Roan back to the present.

  “For what?”

  “For your confidence in me.”

  Roan was flabbergasted. “You saved us all in the Bloody Canyons. Why wouldn’t I be confident in you?”

  Her sightless eyes seemed to drift to some faraway place. “Because I have failed so many times. My own soul is painted with blood.”

  Roan was troubled by her words, for though he had no soul-seeing fatemark, he could sense the purity of her soul. “Whatever your past, you’ve long atoned for it.”

  She gave no indication that she’d heard his words, turning away, seeming to float as she departed, her feet hidden beneath her blue, silky dress.

  Shae Arris, one of the halfmarked, said, “We still have the fatemarked. You. Sir Dietrich. Lisbeth. Erric and I can strengthen you when you face the Horde. The Phanecians will support you as well.”

  “Bane?”

  She nodded. “Yes. We will support Bane too, if you trust him.”

  “I do.” He was surprised by how quickly he affirmed it. But it was true, Bane was fighting for the same thing as they all were, even if it didn’t look like it sometimes. “You should tell him that.” The truth was, Roan hadn’t seen Bane in a couple days. Though it wasn’t unusual for the shadowy boy to appear and disappear at a moment’s notice, Roan was worried what he might do when left to his own devices. He didn’t kill Falcon Hoza when he had the chance, he reminded himself. That had to count for something.

  “We will,” Shae promised. “We could use the heromarked’s help too.”

  “I know.” Roan had answered too quickly. Gwen was on his mind often. He hated that they couldn’t talk the way they used to. Whether their words were soft or hard, they’d always been able to speak openly to each other. But now…she was as distant as a star to him.

  Come back to me, Gwendolyn, he thought. But, like Lisbeth Lorne, he could not draw her to him with only his mind. No, it would take much more than that.

  Forty-Four

  The Southern Empire, Calypso

  Gwendolyn Storm

  Gwendolyn Storm felt naked under the open sky of the desert peninsula of Calyp. What she wouldn’t give to climb a tree, preferably one sheathed in iron. However, inside the cavernous pyramid, she felt better, the rocky ceiling providing shade and a sense of comfort.

  As she watched the red dragon sleep, her massive, scaled chest rising and falling with each mighty breath, Gwen wondered whether she would ever see Ironwood again.

  “You don’t have to stay here, you know,” Raven said, reading her mind. “This isn’t a time for false loyalty. Nor for running. You can go home.”

  “I have no home,” Gwen said, surprised by her own words. Ironwood was her home, wasn’t it? Though that was where she longed to be, she sensed it would feel empty without Roan, as it had the last time she was there. And yet she couldn’t go back to Phanes either. She couldn’t disappoint Roan again.

  So she was in Calypso, feeling as out of place as a barracuda in a puddle.

  “Well, you can borrow mine for now. Just don’t get too comfortable. Eventually I’ll make you earn your keep.”

  Gwen’s eyes met Raven’s and held. It was odd looking upon a Calypsian, a dragonrider, and a Sandes to boot, and not feeling even a shred of animosity. Her fires of revenge had finally been doused. Roan would be proud of her. Then why can’t I go back to him when he needs me the most?

  Because I’m an ore-forsaken fool, she thought.

  “Thank you,” she finally said, breaking off her stare.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “What are you going to do with your aunt?” Gwen asked, wanting to change the subject.

  Now it was Raven’s turn to look uncomfortable. “Whisper thinks I should execute her.”

  For once, Gwen found herself agreeing with the girl. Viper Sandes was dangerous, and not just because of her name. “She committed treason. In most places the punishment for such a crime is death.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  “I’m not the empress and she’s not my aunt.”

  “But if you were and she was?”

  Gwen didn’t hesitate this time. “She would die.”

  Raven nodded, and she seemed resigned to the answer, as if she had expected it all along. “I know. What she did was unforgivable. She almost ruined everything.”

  At that moment, Goggin appeared in the doorway, filling the entire frame with his bulk. He was dripping sweat and breathing heavily. It was a long hike from the palace to the pyramid that once housed the dragonia—now reduced to a single dragon. “We have visitors,” he finally managed to get out.

  “Whom?”

  “She calls herself Sonika Vaid. There are other women with her too. Warrior types. They claim to have come from Phanea. They said you would be expecting them.”

  Raven glanced at Gwen, and she nodded. “Go. You invited them, after all.”

  “Will you be all right?”

  Gwen’s first instinct was always to shun such compassion, but she kept her tone even. “I’m fine. I am not made of glass.”

  Raven stood. “Then you won’t break if I do this.” She shoved her hard and then darted away, leaving Gwen sprawled on the rocky floor. Sideways, she saw a single large eye staring at her.

  The urge to bolt upright surged through her, to draw her bow, to fight this creature of destruction…

  You could try, Siri said, speaking directly into her head, but I will win.

  “I might surprise you.”

  Because of your fatemark? Every dragon is born with a fatemark.

  Gwen remembered she didn’t need to speak aloud for the dragon to hear her. Truly?

  A deep-throated
chuckle. It’s called dragonfire.

  At the reminder, another flower of anger bloomed in her chest. She knew dragonfire. Dragonfire had consumed Ironwood all those years ago.

  I wasn’t there, Siri reminded her. When I came to Ironwood, I delivered Raven to your king.

  And killed his brother.

  I was in chains. I was frightened. Dragons are not meant to be imprisoned. Why do you think we have wings?

  Siri rolled over and stretched, her leathery wings curling around her sides. Gwen said, Why haven’t you tried to kill me? It was a question that had been nagging at her for days.

  Why haven’t you tried to kill me? I can feel the vengeance in your heart every time you look upon me.

  Not every time, Gwen thought.

  Most every time.

  Aren’t you angry with me? I killed a dragon. Don’t you want vengeance too? Again, the dragon laughed. What’s so amusing?

  You think I care that you killed Cronus? I hated that bastard anyway!

  Despite herself, Gwen laughed. A rival?

  Hardly, the dragon scoffed. He was all bulk and no brains. I defeated him in the testing time and time again. You did this world a service by killing him. The dragonmaster too. Shanolin.

  Glad to be of service then.

  Siri rolled over again, her radiant red scales shimmering in the torchlight. It was strange, Gwen had never thought of dragons as beautiful creatures, but now she couldn’t deny their allure. Siri was as breathtaking as she was fierce.

  What do you think Raven will do about her aunt? she asked.

  Raven is like you. Her heart is as big as the sun, but she hides it behind armor as thick as dragon’s scales. She will do whatever she must to keep her people safe.

  Good, Gwen said. That is good.

  Forty-Five

  The Southern Empire, Calypso

  Raven Sandes

  “Any of the Black Tears catch your fancy?” Raven teased. She knew Goggin was pining after her, but she loved watching the charming brute squirm. “Any possible wives in their lot?”

  “Who?” Goggin said, playing cool. He extracted a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his broad forehead, which was sheened with sweat.

  They were traveling back to the city on guanikback, the long reptilian creatures bouncing with each step. The sun was like a boiling cauldron, making the very air seem to bubble and shimmer with heat. Raven breathed in the hot air, loving every bit of her freedom. After being forced to fight in the pits of Zune, she would never again take anything for granted.

  The first thing she’d done upon reaching Calypso was to send a royal decree to Zune to shut down the pits, something she should’ve done the moment she’d become empress. There would be chaos and backlash, she knew, but eventually the people would find something else to gamble away their coin on.

  “You know, those gorgeous rebel warriors with the black tears tattooed on their cheeks?” Raven said, still trying to get Goggin to rise to the bait.

  The commander of the guanero didn’t flinch, which Raven couldn’t help but appreciate. “I barely noticed them. I am a changed man. I am no longer looking for another ex-wife.”

  Raven laughed. “Then what are you looking for?”

  His eyes met hers, and his was the most serious expression she’d ever seen cross his face. “A partner in life,” he said.

  Raven forced her head forward again. “Oh? That’s good, Goggin. That’s good.” It wasn’t that she didn’t find him entertaining. Or unattractive, in a brutish, pick-you-up-and-carry-you-to-bed-over-his-shoulder kind of way. In another world, she could even see herself enjoying a life of laughs and fantastic lovemaking with him.

  But in this world, she had no luxury of romance or happiness. Certainly not now, when a great Horde was sweeping across the land like the plague that had swept across Calyp on multiple occasions. And she didn’t want to hurt him by giving him hope that there would ever be something more between them.

  “Goggin?”

  “Yes, my empress.”

  “Thank you for being you.” She met his gaze once more, and she could see the familiar amused sparkle had returned to his eyes.

  “You’re welcome. Did I ever tell you about my third wife?”

  She laughed and settled in for the story, which would carry her all the way into Calypso.

  After Goggin delivered her to their guests, he stepped back, puffing out his chest. To his credit, his eyes remained trained on the wall, and not on the half-dozen women clad in tight-fitting leathers sheathed with all manner of weaponry. They were indeed a sight, and Raven was certain they’d turned heads from the moment they entered the city.

  At least three-dozen soldiers separated them from the empress.

  “They refused to relinquish their weapons,” Goggin said.

  “So I see. Let them approach.”

  “Your Highness…”

  “It’s fine. They will not harm me.”

  The soldiers reluctantly parted, creating a path. Their hands remained vigilantly on their hilts, however, prepared to defend their empress at a moment’s notice.

  “Welcome to Calypso,” Raven said as the Black Tears approached.

  Sonika Vaid stepped in front of the others. “Where is my brother?”

  Raven almost laughed at the woman’s audacity, but then she remembered that this woman had struggled for years to free the Phanecian slaves, which made her an ally. So what if she didn’t have the best manners?

  Raven snapped her fingers and the nearest soldier approached. “Find Gat Vaid. Bring him here.” When Raven had met Sonika Vaid in Phanes, she couldn’t withhold what she knew. Family was too important to be kept secret. It didn’t surprise Raven in the least that Sonika had made the trek with such haste. “Enjoy your reunion.”

  With that, she departed. It wasn’t her family to get involved with.

  No, she had her own family to deal with.

  Viper Sandes was curled in a ball in the corner of the cell. Not moving. Seemingly asleep.

  Raven stepped quietly to where her sister, Whisper, sat with her back to the wall, her blond hair ragged and uncombed, spilling down her shoulders. She was not asleep, watching their aunt like a hungry hawk, her light brown skin shadowed. The glare that darkened her face was a new expression for the young girl, one she’d only mastered in the last several weeks, starting with the time they’d spent in the fighting pits of Zune.

  “How long has she been sleeping?” Raven whispered.

  “Not long enough,” Whisper said, not breaking her stare. “Have you made your decision?”

  Raven shook her head and Whisper sighed, exasperated. “She usurped your throne, abducted us, and tried to kill us in Zune. What other option is there?”

  Raven couldn’t help but to think of Roan, of the fervor in his voice as he’d urged her to reconsider her attack on Ferria, to stop the cycle of violence. But this was different, wasn’t it?

  She opened her lips to speak her mind, but it wasn’t her words she heard, but her aunt’s. “Your naïve sister is right, empress,” Viper said. She still hadn’t moved, her body coiled like that of a snake, facing away. “There is only one option, but it’s not killing me. Well, it could be, if you are worthy.”

  “Speak plainly, aunt, for I will not abide your desperate riddles!” Raven snapped.

  Slowly, languidly, Viper stretched, rolled over, and pushed to her feet. Every step was a saunter, her strong arms hanging loosely at her sides. She doesn’t act like a prisoner with her fate hanging in the balance, Raven thought. Why? The question was disconcerting, but she hid her fear behind a stony stare not unlike that of her sister.

  “You are the Second Daughter,” Viper said.

  “Your point being?”

  “You have no right of precedence to the empire.”

  Raven frowned. Her aunt wasn’t making sense. “None of us have right of precedence. Fire had to fight for the dragon throne. She won. Then she died. Whisper did not challenge me, so now I a
m empress. I don’t need precedence.”

  “Tsk tsk,” Viper said. “Your mother was a bigger fool than I thought.”

  At that, Whisper flung herself to her feet and flew at the bars, a dagger already out. Viper, however, coolly stepped back, just out of reach, watching with amusement as Whisper slashed at the air, growling like a caged beast.

  From Raven’s vantage point, it was difficult to tell which woman was imprisoned.

  “Why was my mother a fool?” Raven asked, unable to restrain her curiosity. In the shadowy cell, Viper’s dark skin looked almost black, her hair like the patches of hoar-moss that occasionally grew in the desert.

  “Because she didn’t teach you our traditional laws. If she had, you would know that only the First Daughter has precedence for the throne. Yes, she may be challenged by her siblings, but none else. The Second and Third Daughters hold no such right.”

  Raven had never heard of any such law and wasn’t certain what to make of it. “Meaning?”

  “Meaning you may also be challenged for the throne.”

  “By whom? Anyone off the street?” she scoffed.

  Whisper had pulled back through the bars, but she continued to grip her knife, prepared to attack if Viper stepped closer.

  “Not anyone. Any Sandes.”

  Raven froze. “You? You had your chance to sit the dragon throne and you lost to my mother. Must I remind you, aunt? Then you tried to steal it and you lost again, and now you would deign to cling to ancient laws?

  “The law is the law,” Viper said, her confident expression unchanged. “Not even an empress can change it. Not easily, anyway.”

  “So you say. Alas, I cannot take you at your word.”

  “Contact Citadel. They will confirm what I’m saying. Until then, it would be best not to do anything rash, like kill me.” She looked pointedly at Whisper. “I hereby declare a formal challenge for the Calypsian Empire. If you kill me, you might as well kill yourself too.”