by L J Andrews
The young princess’s eyes ignited when she found me. I was a constant presence with her father, so in turn she seemed to enjoy when I was around. Children weren’t in my plan—but I had to admit I agreed with Reya, I felt a strange connection with the young princess, and believed she would have an impact on our people that even I couldn’t fathom. But even deeper, I believed she would have a great impact on my life in some way—of course, I would be the warrior to her family—that was impact enough.
Reya rushed by me, her arms outstretched as she snatched Jade from Eisha’s arms, planting kisses on her squealing child. Malik greeted Gregor and Eisha, before quickly taking his daughter in his arms and tossing her above his head so her laughter echoed across the balcony.
“Eisha, thank you so much for your care of Jade,” Reya exclaimed, clutching her advisor’s hands.
Eisha smiled, her dark eyes like Gregor’s gleaming in affection to the royal family. “It was a pleasure and an honor. Gaia was never far, and assisted in her care if I was needed by the king. She was a delight, and I think the little princess and I get on just fine.” Eisha squinted her face, tickling the little child now seated on Malik’s shoulders. Her little fingers dug through his hair, but he hardly minded.
The doors to the castle opened, and instantly, Gregor, me, Eisha, and the other warriors fell to one knee as King Lux stepped onto the balcony.
“Daughter, it’s good to see you again,” Lux said stiffly, signaling the rest of us to return to standing. Lux was a stern ruler. His square jaw always set firmly. He didn’t share the same easy personality as his daughter, but then, Reya didn’t share the connection with her parents as she did with her own child. I enjoyed watching the closeness of Malik, Reya, and Jade. It was unfortunate most royals and warrior families only focused on honor and strength. Not intimate connections.
Again, a thought I would always keep to myself.
Reya bowed her head toward the king, but smiled broadly. “And you father,” she sang. “We come with good reports from the human village.”
“Good,” Lux bellowed. “Because since our parting I have decided it is time to rejoin the rest of the world.”
Silence enveloped the space. My heart thudded violently, but through years of training I knew just how to keep my face like a stone and my expression impossible to read. Inside, though, I was ashamed to admit a panic was bleeding through my boiling blood.
“You, already decided?” Reya gasped. “But, what was the purpose of us going to the town if…you had already decided?”
Lux chuckled, taking Reya’s hand, though I noticed the way she stiffened. “It puts our people at ease knowing we have seen the humans. Come now, you were going to tell me as much, weren’t you Reya?”
She sighed, and I was engulfed in Reya’s disappointment. She strived to be a wise queen someday, and Reya had been looking forward to the opportunity to see for herself if interacting outside of the bluffs was the best choice. She’d thought it was finally a chance to show her father that she was a good ruler—that she and Malik would rule together, not simply have Reya standing on the side when Malik became king. I could understand her disappointment at that opportunity being torn away.
“Well,” Lux pressed again. “Weren’t you going to suggest it?”
She nodded, brushing Jade’s hair from her face. “Yes, Malik and I feel strongly that it is a good choice.”
“Good then.” The king clapped his hands. “We will announce the decision at the feast tonight. Go, rest for a time, but be prepared to show your support with perhaps more of a smile, daughter. Gregor, I need you to follow me,” he finished with a glance at Eisha’s mate.
Gregor nodded, offered a curt salute toward me and the remaining warriors, with a softer glance at Eisha before disappearing behind the king.
Reya smirked in response and bowed again when her father stalked away. Malik touched her arm and offered a stiff smile, as Jade nestled against his shoulder. “It’s what we wanted anyway, Reya.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
Eisha met my eye. She wasn’t an empath, but it didn’t take heightened senses to know the princess was let down.
Reya smiled, kissing Jade’s cheek. “Yes, it is what we wanted. Now, I think I would like some alone time with just my family. Thank you, all of you, for all you’ve done this week.”
Malik nudged my shoulder. “You can have some time to yourself too, you know.”
“My life now revolves around making certain you want for nothing,” I muttered sarcastically.
“I’m going to make you pay you know, tomorrow, Thane, you will soon remember I was once a warrior just as you.”
I chuckled. Malik was one of the few who could get my lighter side to appear. “I look forward to it.”
Malik took Reya’s hand, Jade crooked in his other arm, and nodded at me. “Don’t follow me—go, have your own life—even for a moment.”
I smirked and nodded, but when they were gone I found myself rather at a loss of what I should do. Realizing there were other warriors standing about waiting for my command I waved my hand in front of my chest. “You heard the prince,” I muttered. “Don’t you have lives yourself.”
“Not really,” Dash muttered, almost innocently.
I wanted to smile, but I wouldn’t do that as their commander. “Well, go find one then. I expect you on guard around the banquet hall long before the king or any of the royal families arrive inside. Understood?”
Leoch nodded first, and Raffi and Dash soon followed his salute, pounding their fists over their chests. With a curt nod I waved them away once more, and dove off the balcony, shifting in midair, and breathing in the coming night.
I found solace near the edge of the bluffs, hanging my legs over one of the rocky edges. Shifting back to human form left me without a shirt and weapons, but the cool air breathed against my hot skin. And of course, I’d gathered my sword once more. The castle was ablaze in fiery lanterns and smells wafting across the lawns in preparation for the feasts. It wasn’t often I was granted time alone, not that I minded. Protecting the royal bloodline had become my purpose—and I would give everything to see them safe.
Something rustled along one of the barriers, catching my attention quickly. Unsheathing the gilded blade along my waist, I carefully crept along the edge of the barrier ready to strike anyone attempting to cross through the borders.
My blade lifted, with a deep breath I shoved through a thick hedge, before stopping all at once.
His silver eyes had always fascinated me, and there was something about his energy. I could never place it; it calmed me, but also plagued my mind with an emotion I couldn’t place. If I wanted to give destiny or fate more power over my life, I would say I believed there was a chance our fates were intertwined somehow—though I didn’t know what that could mean.
“High Priest,” I muttered, quickly, tucking my blade back against my thigh.
Bron, the High Priest of all the mages stood slowly from his haunches, smiling easily. He too carried weapons. The blades were soaked in a beautiful, crisp, jade green, the same color that matched the mage markings along his skin. Bron and his wife shared the same color. Bron’s were deeper and broader strokes along his forehead and jaw, but Gaia’s were delicate ribbons of green. Either way, I knew if there should come a threat against the king or any of his family the interesting marks would turn into an armor that rivaled my own scales.
Only on the night of the princess’s birth had I actually seen the armor—and it was one of those fascinating things other warriors probably never thought about.
“Good evening, Thane,” Bron said in his silk voice that stopped any talk between the mages when Bron entered a room. Bron seemed to enjoy his power, and I would think the equivalent of the mage king would probably enjoy such things. I just found it humorous how his own wife squirmed when her people or lesser wyverns ever tried to bow or show any such signs of respect. She seemed content to keep to herself and do her duty.
/> “What brings you out here?” I asked. I wasn’t suspicious, mostly curious. The Hight Priest was always doing something for King Lux and usually it was something no one but the High Priest mage could do.
“Just an extra check on the barrier,” he muttered, shifting the blades crossed on his shoulders slightly. “I felt a shift in energies. Darker energy.”
Tension mounted in the back of my throat, as the fire boiling in my lungs heightened. “Lindworms?” On instinct, my hand rested on the pommel of my warrior’s blade on my waist.
Bron shrugged, the easy grin never leaving his face. “I can’t say. It was just a fleeting emotion. And I’ve checked up and down the barrier, and sense nothing.”
I felt nothing out of the ordinary either, though I wasn’t a master of energy like Bron, I was usually able to sense shifts in energy. Another reason I’d climbed the ranks as a warrior. I knew things before they even happened sometimes.
“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” Bron insisted, smiling as he glanced back to the castle. He sighed, one corner of his mouth pulling up. “It looks as though we might be late for this feast. What does the king have planned?”
The High Priest didn’t know? Surprising. King Lux usually shared everything with the man. If the king hadn’t said, then I certainly wouldn’t. “I know little. Only that he will announce something tonight.”
Bron studied my expression, and I could practically feel his power bleeding through my blood as he tried to read me—I did what I could to conceal my own emotions, but really I didn’t know how powerful the mage were at digging until they found the energy they wanted to read.
Then there was that feeling again.
Like somehow the High Priest and I would be an influence on each other. I suppose he already was one for me—he outranked me, that was obvious. I respected his protection of the king, but I couldn’t deny the thread of thought went deeper. Unnerving in a way, to wonder what life had planned for me and Bron.
“If he plans to announce something, then I suppose we shouldn’t be late,” Bron said after a slight pause. Did he read my energy? I didn’t know, I no longer felt the penetrating warmth of mage power, but he seemed relaxed.
I nodded, trying my best to smile though I still had an unease wrapping around my shoulders. About the High Priest? I couldn’t say. Probably, because of the king’s announcement. I wasn’t looking forward to leaving the bluffs. And in my silent opinion, I wasn’t convinced the king had spent enough time weighing the risks to the benefits of leaving. “I will leave you to finish,” I said quickly. “See you inside, High Priest.”
Bron studied me as I left, watched me shift into my massive form, I could feel his eyes on me until I finally reverted back into human form when I reached the castle. Stalking through the hallways, I scanned all the entrances for one final check, before rushing to find Malik and Reya. I thought it would leave me, that feeling rippling in sparks across my body. It made no sense—it wasn’t a dangerous feeling—more like something was happening. Something that would change everything—and test everything I believed about our way of life.
Chapter 4
Gaia
Mage people were powerful. Most had unique gifts, apart from connecting with the energy in the earth. Some could summon energy from living things. The creatures, the plants, the soil. Others might command the air, the water, the trees to aid them in defending the powerful wyvern race.
Since I was a young mage my belief in my own abilities was that they were blessing and curse. It was impossible for the emotions and energy of others to escape my detection. Whether joyful, angry, or shadowed in tumult I could sense it all. Those I cared for the most, it seemed were even more potent. As was the case when Princess Reya rushed across the banquet hall and flung her arms around my neck.
I wasn’t known for my affection in the presence of others. I was kind in my tone, but only those closest to my heart received my touch. Being the High Priestess, I was thought as the example, the leader of all the mage and it was a burden that didn’t require silly giggling or behavior. Alas, with Princess Reya, it was quite impossible not to laugh and giggle.
“Gaia, my dear friend, I felt your absence the entire time we were away. It is wonderful to see you again, High Priestess. I trust everything went well?” Reya gushed, her strong, yet delicate hands cupped my face.
When Reya was in her human form, she was a head taller than me. In her wyvern form, she was like a towering mountain of sea-foam scales and gilded claws. Her auburn hair caught the light of the lanterns, and the soft gilded strands gleamed. Like Princess Ariana, Reya boasted rich green eyes, but with more wisdom and worry than her daughter.
“Princess, it is wonderful to have you and Malik return. All was well. Where is your mate?”
“Wonderful,” Reya beamed and laughed. Reya linked her hand through my arm, my silver robe fading against the brilliance of her green and black gown. “Much to father’s annoyance, Malik is over there with little Jade. I may not be a romantic woman such as you, but seeing Malik with our daughter and how he dotes upon her is enough to leave me to swoon.”
We chuckled together, sauntering through the sea of people gathering in the banquet hall. Mages and wyvern alike filled the arched room. The grand table was stacked with bitter roots, savory meats and sauces, and a few sweets for the mages. The palace staff bustled about serving the household. Bron was wrong. Mage weren’t servants to the wyvern. Human staff served the food, the drink; laundered the clothing, tended to the rooms. Reya knew of my discomfort in the king using humans along with lower wyvern as servants. If history were any judge of character, the human race was unpredictable and at times volatile. The Iron Age was enough to paint the humans as an enemy to the wyverns, in my mind. Kingdoms once sent their fiercest knights to attack dragons and bring back their heads. Yet, the servants wandering about, the cook, the chamber maids, I had to admit, I never felt any wary emotions from their hearts. Most seemed genuinely awe struck to be in the presence of such power. King Lux had plans to live among the humans again. Not for years to come, but the idea sent my heart into my throat.
Reya took many hands as we walked, greeting her subjects with grace until we reached the back of the hall where Malik and Ariana played. The young princess toddled, hardly able to stand on her two legs—another reason Reya and Malik shared concern over their daughter’s aversion to changing forms.
“High Priestess,” Malik boomed. His dark eyes gleamed in pleasure when his daughter giggled and stumbled against his leg. “We share our gratitude for your protection of our child. Eisha informed me you were never far.”
“My duty is to protect the bloodline,” I said lightly, tapping Ariana’s button nose and smiling at the prince. Thane, Malik’s warrior stood at his side. The wyvern was powerful, and intimidating even to me. I’d seen Thane’s massive body when he shifted into his wyvern form. Though Thane rarely smiled, when he did his pale eyes brightened in the most unusual way. Most wyverns had deep, rich eyes, Thane had the bluest of blues that stood out against his light hair.
Thane glanced toward me and nodded his approval at my response. We both shared a burden. When King Lux passed the crown to Reya, I would join Bron in defending the queen and her husband. Thane would be the highest of warriors. Eisha’s mate, Gregor was the head of the warriors now, and I sensed she was most anxious for the changing of the guard. King Lux not only took most of Bron’s time, but Gregor rarely saw his mate.
“You certainly make my job easier,” Thane said slowly. “I never fear for the young princess when she is in yours and Eisha’s care.”
“That is nothing to balk at, Gaia,” Reya chuckled. “You know as well as I, dear Thane does not speak compliments often.”
I thought I saw the surly warrior flush, but he quickly turned his attention toward the front doors, as did we all. King Lux entered the hall.
“Welcome!” the king bellowed. Lux had long white hair, his square jaw was regal, and his dark eyes shone lik
e the onyx stone. “What a celebration. Our people rejoice to have Princess Reya and Prince Malik back. They’ve given their report and it brings exciting changes to be announced later. For now, eat, enjoy, and celebrate.”
I glanced toward Reya, one brow raised. “You seem to have had a more interesting time in the towns than I originally thought.”
Reya smiled, lifting her child from the ground and clutching Ariana against her waist. “All will be revealed soon, my friend.”
My heart pounded in the sides of my head as I analyzed the emotions radiating from the princess—something was certainly changing. All her excitement, anticipation, was bleeding through my veins with each beat of my pulse. Yet, there was apprehension bursting through Reya’s heart. She was trying to conceal her emotions, but I knew she both looked forward to the announcement and dreaded it.
Glancing across the dining hall, I beamed. Bron and the patrol mages were making their way into the hall. Dressed in his full High Priest robe, Bron appeared regal in his own way. I’d always loved the way the dark robe drew out the brilliance of his eyes. The silver color only gave way to Bron’s attachment to the elements. Strapped to his waist was a sheath with my sword—the sword that held all five elemental stones.
The stones were what lindworm, King Nag wanted most. I shuddered thinking of what might become of us all if Nag ever had possession of the stones. There was a time when the stones were used for madness. The earth fell into chaos. Wars, disasters, death. It would all happen again. Nag would see to it that the wyvern race ruled supreme and the others were enslaved or destroyed. Including the mage race. Humans would be obliterated; all their energy would be lost and a piece of this world would die. If Nag ruled, the mage bonds would be weakened and without our power aiding the elemental wyverns—well, the thought was too disastrous to think on. My stewardship over the stones was one of my highest honors.
