by Kali Argent
“I want the citadel on lockdown,” Kai commanded with a decisive nod. “No one in or out. No communications. Tell our guests to get comfortable, because no one is going anywhere until I find out what the fuck is going on.”
“We’re leaving.” Sion respected the king, and therefore, he didn’t often argue with him, especially not in front of others. This time, he wasn’t backing down. “ It’s not safe here. I’m taking Rya back to the Eastern Isle.”
Surprisingly, Kai didn’t debate him. “That’s probably for the best. How soon can you be ready to leave?”
“What?” With her hands fisted on her hips, Rya pulled her shoulders back and glared. “No. I’m not going to run and hide while people are dying. I don’t care which island they call home. These are still my people.”
“They’re my people, too.” Looking weary and frustrated, Kai pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled through his mouth. “No one is asking you to hide, Rya, but as Sion pointed out, it’s not safe here. Until we know more, I’m sending all of the rulers home tonight.”
“Be reasonable,” Garrik implored his sister. “Every important official together in one place, after what happened at the summit? It presents too big of a target.”
“Please.” Seeing Rya’s resolve begin to waver, Sion cradled her cheeks and bent to deliver a chaste but thorough kiss. “As much as it pains me to admit it, Garrik is right. No one is questioning your bravery, princess, but it’s too dangerous to have everyone gathered in Sommervail right now.”
“What about you?” she asked her brother. “And Fawkes?”
“We’ll follow as soon as we can,” Garrik promised. Then he turned to Sion with a mixture of distaste and resignation. “If anything happens to her—”
“It won’t.”
“Then it’s settled.” Kai bobbed his head a couple of times. “Go pack.”
Rya needed a bit more persuasion before she’d agree to leave without Garrik or Fawkes, but within the hour, they were standing beside a shuttle while she said a tearful goodbye to her family.
“Audra is returning with Vasere Sundale,” Rya argued, hugging her brother tightly. “Why can’t you come home?”
“You have Sion,” he reminded her, though he didn’t sound happy about it. “If the kitten would like to stay, I’d be more than happy to accompany you home.”
Sion didn’t rise to the bait, but it was tempting.
“The other attendants are staying.” Enveloping Rya in his arms, Fawkes sniffed a couple of times, and a suspicious sheen glinted in his eyes. “Captain Whitehill needs to accompany her Vasere back to the Western Isle for his protection, but as Garrik said, you have Sion. It wouldn’t be proper for the Vasili to show you special treatment.” He kissed the top of her head and held her at arms’ length, his fingers wrapped lightly around the tops of her shoulders. “Sion will take care of you.”
“I don’t need anyone to take care of me.” Stubborn as always, Rya lifted her chin, her gaze defiant, but she deflated before she even really built up to a good mad. “Be careful, both of you. I’ll message you when we land in Cairbora.”
After more hugs, more tears, and more promises, Sion finally got his mate loaded onto the shuttle, and they set out for the Eastern Isle. For the first half of the journey, Rya sat quietly, staring through the window, tear tracks drying on her cheeks. Naturally, he didn’t want her to hurt, but he also couldn’t figure out why she was so sad in the first place.
“It’s not like you’re never going to see them again,” he tried to reason. “They’ll be home in a few days, a week tops. Just as soon as Tira finishes questioning everyone.”
Lyrica and Lynx Snowden had already left the island in the company of their guar, before the prisoners had disappeared. Finn and his brother’s departure remained highly suspect, but everyone agreed it was best for them not to be in Sommervail.
The dignitaries and emissaries who hadn’t already left the island had been retained, however, and two of the attendants who’d traveled with Jericho, though he and his captain had been give the okay to return home. Even Elders Blue, Meadowlark, and Ashgrove had been required to remain in Sommervail pending further investigation.
“I know.”
“You’ve been away from them before.”
“I know,” she repeated, but she continued to stare out the window, her tone flat, devoid of emotion.
Realistically, Sion knew he’d probably cried as a baby, but he had no memory of it. Tears made him uncomfortable, especially when he didn’t know the cause for them.
“No one suspects them.” Maybe she worried for their reputation. “It’s just formality.”
Sighing, Rya dropped her hands into her lap and turned in her seat to face him. “I’m not stupid or a child, Sion. I know all of this.”
“Then, what is it?”
“I just feel like…”
“Like?” he prodded.
“Like this is just the beginning. Like things are going to get worse before they get better, and…” She trailed off, and her lashes fluttered against her cheeks when she closed her eyes. “You’ll think I’m crazy.”
“I assure you I won’t.” Inching forward on the blue and cream seat cushion, he reached over the armrest and took her hand, surrounding it with both of his own. “Tell me, princess.”
“I’ve been away from them before, but this time is different. I just have this feeling, this terrible feeling.” Rya opened her eyes, but when she turned, she stared straight through him. “It feels like death.”
CHAPTER NINE
One day passed. Then two. By the end of the first week back in Cairbora, Rya couldn’t focus, couldn’t sit still. Her nightmares had increased in frequency and intensity, and she was more convinced than ever that something horrible waited in their future.
The only positive she could find in the situation came in the form of her people. While no one knew about her near miss with an unknown abductor, everyone on the planet had heard about the attack at the summit. She’d worried the people of Xenthian would panic, reverting back to the old ways, convinced the elders had been right along, but quite the opposite had happened.
She couldn’t speak for the other Isles, but those in Cairbora seemed to take the attack as a sign that the time had come to for change. The people she’d spoken to rationalized that if a rogue faction wanted so adamantly to stop it, then realigning their government, allying with the humans, and removing the elders from power had to be a good thing. After all, greatness didn’t come without adversity.
“Forgive me, Vasera,” a female voice choked, pulling Rya back into the present. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I’ve exhausted all other options.”
Seated atop a dais in the small meeting hall just beyond the entrance to Clearwater Manor, Rya linked her fingers together in her lap and smiled at the female. “You have no reason to apologize. If I can help, I will.”
For the past three hours, she’d met with Xenons from all across the Eastern Isle. She listened to their concerns, their troubles, their questions, and did what she could to ease their burden. Some simply wanted answers about what had happened at the summit and what that meant for the future. Others came from poor villages where food was scarce and sought relief from their hunger. One couple had begged her to intervene on behalf of their son who had been remanded for stealing from a local shopkeeper.
As much as it pained her, she couldn’t grant that last request, but she’d been happy to send food and supplies to the outlying villages or provide what few answers she could give.
“It’s my sister,” the female said, her narrow shoulders shaking as she tried to hold in her emotions. “She went down to the stream to pick hollygrass, and no one has seen her since. That was two days ago.”
A long sheet of bronze hair cascaded down the females back, streaked by only a few strands of black. It stood to reason that her sister wasn’t a youngling, but Rya felt obligated to ask anyway.
“No, Vasera, she’s of age.”
The relief was palpable, but Rya kept her expression neutral. “Would your sister have left with a male? Perhaps someone who had been courting her?”
The female shook her head firmly. “No one of which I’m aware, not recently.”
“Is there anything missing from her home?”
Again, the sister shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Have you tried a locator spell?”
“Several times. There’s just nothing. It’s as if she doesn’t exist.” Apparently, the reason for that hadn’t crossed her mind until that moment, because the blood drained from her face, and her frame began to tremble in earnest. “Oh, Vasera, you don’t think—”
“I don’t think there’s any reason to jump to conclusions,” Rya interrupted before the woman could dissolve into full-fledged panic. “Leave your name and contact information with the attendant at the door. One of the sentries will be in touch with you before nightfall.”
“Thank you, Vasera Clearwater. Thank you.”
Rya nodded as the female was led away by one of the manor’s attendants. She hadn’t done anything, not yet. Garrik would better know what to do than she would, but he still hadn’t returned to the Eastern Isle. She’d spoken with him twice, and he seemed in good spirits. Garrik confirmed what Sion had said, that neither he nor Fawkes were under any suspicion, but since Tira couldn’t be sure who to trust, she’d enlisted their help in the investigation. If all went well, he’d be home in a matter of days.
“That’s the last one.” Strong hands landed on her shoulders, and Sion bent over the back of her chair to kiss her cheek. “Let’s get out of here, huh?”
“Sure.” Her heart soared, and despite the exhaustion brought on by the day, a smile stretched her lips. “Where would you like to go?”
“We could go for a walk.”
The weather had been lovely all week, the sun warm and unencumbered by even a wisp of clouds. She’d been inside for too long, and a walk through the forest sounded blissful. As an added perk, she’d finally have some time alone with her mate without every female attendant in the manor batting their lashes at him.
Excited by the prospect, she transported them both to the edge of the Forgotten Wood.
“Damn it,” Sion cursed. “Warn me before you do that.”
Ducking her head to hide her smile, she tried to sound contrite when she said, “Sorry. I didn’t think.”
“I was just surprised.” Sion knelt in the soft dirt and lifted her feet one by one to remove her sandals. “It’s not so bad when you do it. I mean, I don’t feel like my lungs are being sucked out through my belly button.”
He painted a disturbingly vivid image that made her nose crinkle with distaste. “That sounds awful.”
“It is.” Placing her shoes at the base of a nearby tree, he rose and took her hand as they began their trek along the leaf-strewn path. “How are you feeling?”
The dirt beneath her feet was cool, shaded from the sun by the canopy of blue leaves above them. The breeze carried with it the fragrant scent of hollygrass and moonstar blooms. The vagrant sunrays that filtered through the treetops were pleasantly warm against her skin. Sion’s big hand wrapped around hers completing her perfect moment, and just then, she couldn’t have been happier.
“I’m wonderful.”
“Good.” He squeezed her hand lightly. “I don’t know how you do it, princess. Listening to all those people’s problems? It would drive me crazy.”
“It’s not always easy, especially when I can’t help them.” Mostly, she enjoyed meeting with her people every week, found a sense of fulfillment in aiding them with their troubles. “When I was a youngling, I’d sit at this little table beside my father’s chair while he met with the people of the island. They’d come from all over, and they told the most interesting stories. My father would spend all day in the meeting hall, refusing to leave until he’d met with everyone.”
“He sounds like a decent ruler.”
Rya nodded. “He was more than that. Everyone loved him. He always said that a leader is in service to his people, not the other way around. I try. I do my best, but I’ll never be him.”
“Hey, none of that.” Pulling her to a stop, Sion tilted her face up and kissed her forehead. “Maybe you didn’t see me, but I watched you all day, princess. You amaze me, and the people of this island adore you.” Smiling, he dipped his head to press their lips together in a chaste kiss. “How could they not?”
“You do say the sweetest things.” Stars above, she loved when he looked at her like that, as if she was the only female on the planet. Speaking of females… “I’m not the only one they adore.”
Sion had the nerve to laugh. “I’m new and shiny, that’s all. I doubt many of them even knew the Helios existed, and I can almost guarantee none of them have ever seen one.” He took her hand and began walking again. “They’ll get bored soon enough.”
In part, he spoke the truth. Whether he honestly didn’t realize it, or he just wanted to downplay it for her benefit, it didn’t change the fact that more than intrigue brightened the eyes of the female staff members. They looked at him the way a female looks at a male she wants to bed. While Rya understood Sion’s appeal, the attention he received drove her mad with jealousy.
“Knock it off.” Sion tried to look stern, but the effect was ruined when the corners of his mouth twitched. “Come on, princess, you know you’re the only one for me.”
Of course she knew that. Fate had chosen them for one another, no one else. For once, she didn’t say any of this. For once, she didn’t take his words at face value, but read the sentiment hidden within them. So, this time, she pulled him to a stop and arched up on her toes to kiss him.
“Thank you.”
He just smiled, that crooked half-smile that made her knees weak. “Tell me more about your family. What was your mother like? Was Garrik always a dick?”
“He is sort of a dick, isn’t he?” She laughed. “Mostly, I think he just doesn’t like you.”
“Funny, I gathered as much.”
“He wasn’t always like that. The night our parents died, it changed him. He doesn’t talk about it, won’t ever say their names, but he’s been different since then.”
She’d been roused from sleep by her mother’s scream. A bloodcurdling scream filled with pain and anguish. Dayah Clearwater had begged through gurgling sobs, not for her own life, but for the life of her children.
Her bedroom door had burst open, and a shadowy figure approached her bed, his heavy footsteps competing with the thundering of her own heart. Before she could shake off the shock and fear to scream, a hand had covered her mouth, but the death blow she’d expected never came.
Instead, Garrik dragged her out of bed, and carried her into the corridor where he’d hugged her hard and told her to run. “Straight through the library and out through the side door. Run into the woods, and no matter what you see, don’t look back.”
She remembered the words, the panic in his voice, as if he stood before her speaking them for the first time. The blood that covered her dressing gown had been Garrik’s, whether his own or from a foe, she didn’t know. Young, impetuous, and shaking with fear, she’d argued, demanded to know what was happening, but her brother only yelled at her to run. Then one of the manor’s sentries had materialized in the hallway, his face twisted into a blood-drenched mask of rage, and she’d had no choice but to listen.
Down the corridor, through the doorway on the left, past the lavishly decorated foyer and into the library, she’d run. The carnage in the library, the blood, her mother’s sightless eyes staring back at her from a puddle of crimson on the floor had nearly dropped her to her knees. Frightened and disoriented, she hadn’t been able to gather the control needed to transport, and a voice in the back of her mind screamed that the monsters who had killed her parents would soon catch up to her.
Behind her, two figures burst into the foyer, battling viciously with swords, fists, and magic. Relief ha
d swelled at the sight of her father, Xander, but it had lasted only a heartbeat. Yelling at her to run, he’d been distracted just long enough for the sentry’s blade to sink into his torso and pierce his heart.
Shaking off the paralyzing grief when the sentry turned his sights on her, she ran, her feet sliding through the blood that pooled on the tiled floor. Through the side door, just as Garrik had instructed, and down the stone path that led through the gardens, she’d ran. Her legs ached and her lungs burned, but she ran, never looking back, never stopping.
“Since then, Garrik has been overly protective, some might even say obsessed,” she said when she’d concluded the story. “We’re all each other has, the only members of our family left. I think he blames himself for what happened, but he’s never told me why.”
Sion’s arms surrounded her, pulling her against his warm, muscled chest, and for a long time, they held each other, neither of them speaking. She missed her parents, was still saddened by their loss, even after so many years, but it no longer crippled her. Instead of drowning in a sea of grief, she’d found the will to keep moving, to put one foot in front of the other no matter how much it hurt. Eventually, she’d surfaced, and since that day, she’d dedicated herself to being the kind of leader her parents would be proud of and her people deserved.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Sion whispered, still holding her close. “You know there’s nothing you could have done, right? It’s not your fault.”
She’d spent many long years going through the what-ifs. What if she’d woken up sooner? What if she hadn’t been standing in the library to distract her father? What if she hadn’t hesitated when Garrik had told her to run?
“Yes, I know.” Wanting to change the subject and take the focus off of her, she asked, “What about your family? Are you close?”
“No.” Releasing her except for her hand, Sion started walking again, following the narrow dirt path deeper into the forest. “My fathers—”
