“Did your Mother ever tell you which consort helped to seed you?”
“No,” Sels shrugged. “I asked, but she always told me it wasn’t important...” he trailed off, finally getting where Elric was going with this. “Are you saying that it was you?”
“Yes,” Elric rammed his staff into the dirt with a surprising amount of force. “To imagine, a seed of mine without magic, unable to perform even the most basic spells! But the Queen, she ignored my advice to disavow you; although she was at least sensible enough to pick a more suitable heir.”
Elric shook with rage, dead leaves fluttering from the vines curled around his neck, his eyes boring into Sels. Sels hugged himself, putting on his stoic court expression. He’d gotten very good at pretending not to care when he overheard the servants making fun of his lack of magic, or the nobles gossiping about the ‘useless Prince,’ but this was something else entirely. Now he knew why his mother had always refused to talk about his father.
“So, what, now I’m worthy?” Sels pushed his hurt to the back of his head, and felt Arara’s comforting warmth and affection through the bond. He pushed it away, laying his growing frustration and fury over top of it. Sels clenched his fists at his side, unable to stop them from bursting into flames. It was full dark now, and even with the lanterns the magic was almost overwhelming, coursing through him as his body involuntarily pulled in the magic pulsing through the night air around them.
“Good, good,” Elric snapped his fingers and pointed. The sun flowers on Sels left swung about, illuminating a stuffed practice dummy like the ones the Jegeran guards used for training. It had been placed near the edge of the circle about a quarter turn from Elric. “Now channel that anger and hit that.”
“You wanted me angry?” He lifted his burning fists, staring at Elric through the flames. His outrage drained away and the fire flickered and died.
“It was an experiment,” Elric smiled and pointed again. “Now, hit the dummy with the fire. Without moving.”
ARARA USHERED YEGRA into Sels’s suite. He was down in the gardens having his first magic lesson with Elric, so she figured he wouldn’t mind. His frustrations at being unable to complete the simple exercises that Elric was giving him were coming through the bond, but when Arara and Yegra had headed outside to watch, Sels had mentally snarled at her and told her to stay away. Arara shrugged and took Yegra up to their rooms instead.
“Sels really won’t mind?” Yegra whispered to her as they entered the dark suite.
“No, and you don’t have to whisper, there isn’t anyone here.”
Although the day had been blue and clear thunder rumbled followed by a flash on the horizon. Arara stroked the living wood of the wall waking up the sun flowers in the ceiling. Their yellow petals unfurled at her command, flooding the room with light.
Sels had left the balcony doors open, and the wind was swirling the curtains and blowing rain into the room. Heating pods around the room swelled as the cold breeze hit them. In a few moments they’d begin to puff out warm air to heat up the room.
Arara latched the doors closed, and turned. Yegra had ventured further inside, her neck craning this way and that as she stared around. She’d been living in the palace as long as Arara, but had spent most of her time in the barracks or the training halls. The last week she'd been guarding the door, but this was the first time she’d been inside; Arara remembered how overwhelmed she’d been the first time, too. Thick hand stitched tapestries decorated one wall each one depicting a great moment in the Royal Family’s history. The inside wall was covered in live vines that twined around portraits of Sels’s ancestors.
“I have something to show you, but first...” Arara moved towards Yegra and took her paw.
From Yegra’s thoughtful expression she could already see where this was going.
Arara closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
Yegra nodded.
Now that she pointed it out, Arara did notice that she was getting much less from Yegra than she did from the average person. She knew that the guard patrolling the corridor outside was nursing a plum wine hangover and that a Kin page had forgotten her sun flower lantern and was worried she’d fall asleep in the hall before completing her errand. But from Yegra she just got a whiff of sizzling hukra roasting over a fire.
“Very nice,” Arara discretely wiped drool from her muzzle and sprung off the couch with a giggle. She dropped down to all fours, racing off across the carpet grass towards the back of the suite.
“Hey!” Yegra yelled and tore off after her.
The new room they entered was decorated very differently than the rest of the suite. The walls were bare of any kind of decoration except the swirl of wood-grain. The far wall was hidden behind a waterfall, which fed into a shallow, teardrop shaped pool that took up most of the room. A large sun flower hung down from the ceiling and as they entered it curled open, lighting up the space with a warm glow.
“Wow...” Yegra breathed, stopping in the doorway.
Arara yipped and stripped off her uniform, leaving it in a messy pile on the grass by the door. She threw herself at the water, landing with a massive splash. The water was just the right temperature, warm on her fur but not too hot. She surfaced muzzle first, then turned and splashed water at Yegra with her paw. “Water’s fine, come on in!”
Yegra licked at the droplets that landed on her nose as she unbuttoned her own uniform and stripped down. The sight of Yegra’s gray fur delighted Arara, even as it made her stomach do flip-flops. Yegra sprang forward and launched off from the side of the pool, landing next to Arara with a shriek and drenching Arara with a huge wave.
The wave pushed Arara away, into the waterfall. Water cascaded down around her, the best bath in the world. It took her a moment to get to her feet, her back claws kept slipping on the tile-covered bottom of the pool. When she finally got back up and stood on two legs the water came up almost to her neck.
Yegra dog-paddled over to Arara, putting them nose to nose. Arara inhaled, and despite the spray of the water around them the scent of Yegra’s musky fur was almost overwhelming.
“This is my favorite place in the whole palace,” Arara stated.
Yegra pushed back and stood up on two legs, water streamed down her ears and muzzle. Her wet fur plastered to her curves, outlining them in silver gray. Arara shivered as she stared up a
t Yegra towering over her. The water only came up to Yegra’s mid-chest.
Arara pushed wet fur out of her eyes and using her other paw to shield her eyes from the spray of the waterfall as she looked up at Yegra.
“This is amazing!” Yegra yipped with excitement, lifting her arms up into the falls.
On a whim Arara dove under the water, swimming around and yanking on the end of Yegra’s tail. The next few scratch marks were a flurry of tail tugging, splashing water at each other, and ended with mock fighting that saw Yegra the winner when she picked up Arara and tossed her across the pool.
Arara paddled towards the door and half-climbed out to lie across the carpet grass, her back legs and tail still floating in the water. Yegra splashed over, panting hard, and flopped on her back next to her.
“What are we going to do about Ottont?” Arara summoned enough energy to turn her head towards Yegra and prop it up with one paw.
Yegra yawned and stretched, tongue curling out in a curly cue. Arara smiled and wagged her wet tail, splashing Yegra. Yegra rolled over on her side and smiled open mouthed at Arara.
“That can wait until tomorrow,” Yegra rolled over on her side and stretched her neck out to lick Arara between the ears. “How about I dry you off and we go try out those pillows?”
Arara smiled and pushed her head into Yegra’s neck as she pulled her legs out of the water. “Alright, I am pretty tired.”
Yegra’s breath was warm on Arara’s face as she licked water off the side of Arara’s muzzle, ending with her mouth hovering over the side of Arara’s throat. Arara panted, suddenly very warm and shivering happy at the same time. Yegra pulled her closer, gently biting the back of Arara’s neck. Arara moaned pressed against Yegra’s chest, licking the gray fur that pressed into her nose. Next thing she knew Yegra was wrapping them both in one of the plush towels and then they were landing in a tangled pile on Arara’s sleeping pillows, nuzzling and fondling.
CHAPTER EIGHT
TRADING FAVORS
Sels held his sun flower lantern under his cloak as he peered around the corner of the hedge. He’d studied the guard’s movements from his balcony and this section of the maze should be empty but there was no need to take chances. This would be so much easier if he hadn’t had to sneak out, however the edict his mother had put on him confining him to the palace was still in place. If he wanted to get out and talk to Roel about helping to hide Ottont for Arara, well, he was going to have to sneak out.
After his second nightly magic training with Elric he’d retired to his room like normal. As far as the guards outside of his bedroom were aware, Sels slept dormant in his rooting soil. Arara was out on the grounds with Yegra, learning how to patrol as part of her sedyu training.
The timing was awful. He was exhausted after training, but the execution was just a few days away so he had to go tonight.
The hood of his thick cloak was pulled up over his head, hiding his distinctive vines and purple blooms. Underneath he wore only a plain cotton robe; not one of his own. Even his plainest robes were woven of fine silk and would stand out in the Jegeran slums around Roel’s clinic. Instead he had bribed one of the palace servants for one of theirs.
Sels lifted the edge of the cloak letting only a narrow strip of light out, just enough to see by. Thunder rumbled, far away. It began to drizzle, water hitting the cobblestones causing a light mist to rise. Sels ignored it, intent on his destination, the secret tunnel that led to the slums that was hidden deep in the garden.
The final turn approached. He reached the corner and someone coughed. Sels froze and dropped the edge of his cloak, concealing the lantern. Claws clicked on the cobblestones to his left and a Jegera huffed. A gefir trickled in his mind; the feeling unsettled Sels and rattled his nerves. Although he’d gotten used to hearing Arara since their bonding, the random bits and pieces he’d begun to pick up from others on occasion still startled him.
Sels widened his eyes and backed down the path. This section of the path wasn’t normally guarded. Obviously since the attack at their sedyu ceremony they’d adjusted security.
There was an offshoot in the path several tails behind him, and Sels moved a few paces down it before crouching. He pulled his cloak tight around him, checking to make sure no light escaped. This path led to a dead end and he hoped that meant that the guards, if they moved, wouldn’t investigate it. His dark cloak would blend in with the shadows and would have been plenty to hide him from Kin eyes, but Jegera could see as well in moonlight as Kin could in bright sun. He knew they would pick up his scent immediately, but figured they would attribute it to him being down in the maze earlier that evening.
<-smell-Prince— —> Accompanied the sound of snuffing up near the corner where Sels had stood a moment before.
<—om earlier—> The second guard replied. <—thunder, light— flash—lightning—>
The snuffling stopped and claws clicked, heading back towards the tunnel entrance. Sels cursed and set the lantern down so he could put his head in his hands. They hadn’t found him, but he couldn’t get out to go see Roel. The escape plan was doomed from the start if they didn’t have somewhere to hide Ottont after getting him out of the dungeon.
There was a flash of light that lit up the view around his hands, followed almost immediately by a boom of thunder so loud it shook the ground beneath him. One of the guards yelped in surprise and the other laughed.
“That one felt like it was right on top of us!” the yelping guard exclaimed, her voice betraying her youth. Probably one of the newer recruits.
“Nothing like these summer lightning storms,” the second Jegera chuckled.
It sounded like they were standing right on top of the entrance. Sels twisted a vine around his finger, thinking. Magic danced in the air around him. Now that he’d practiced a couple of nights with Elric he was already getting better about controlling his intake of magic. His aim still wasn’t great and he had trouble with his emotions compromising his magic, as Elric had pointed out so effectively during their first lesson.
Sels picked the lantern back up and crept up the path, making sure to keep his cloak tightly closed. When he reached the corner he stopped. He could hear shuffling and clicking, heading away from him. They must be patrolling. Good, that meant their backs were to him.
Once his hand was free of the cloak he pulled magic from the air around him, concentrating it in his hand. The magic swirled in his palm, manifesting as a globe of fire. He held it there and waited until the next lightning flash. In a storm like this it wouldn’t be long.
A moment later he was rewarded for his patience. A flash and a boom shook the garden. This one had been close. Perfect. He stuck his hand around the corner and lobbed his spell in an underhanded arc in the direction the lightning had come from. The fire whomped as it impacted a hedge wall somewhere in the distance.
The guards cried out, their voices growing distant as they ran towards the fire.
Sels peeked his head around the corner to check. A large pillar of smoke rose up from farther back in the maze, licks of flame were visible over the hedge and his escape route was clear.
He ran to the entrance and slapped his palm on the path. Steps formed out of the dirt and descended down into the ground. Sels started down them as they appeared, jumping down the last few tails into the tunnel. As soon as his feet hit the dirt he hit the tunnel wall with his hand, and the stairs closed up behind him.
The sun flower lantern lit the stone walls of the tunnel in cheery sunlight. Sels shook the water off his cloak.
After a bit of walking the tunnel let out into an abandoned Jegera den. Garbage filled the space with only a narrow track leading through the mess.
Outside the drizzle had turned into a downpour. Water dripped down his sleeve when he lifted up the lantern, chilling him. Sels shivered and headed towards Roel's.
Poy was at the reception desk when Sels entered, but otherwise the lobby was empty. The rain had probably driven away all but the most despera
te.
“Is Roel here?” Sels asked as he pushed back his hood and set his sun flower lantern in the corner.
“I’ll get her,” Poy stammered, eyes wide. He dropped to all fours and scampered into the back.
While he waited Sels hung his cloak on the hooks by the door and did his best to straighten out his vines and his borrowed robes.
Roel came out from the back holding a sun flower and yawning. Her white petals had been pulled back behind her head and she wore a nightdress. Clumps of dirt still stuck to her feet and she left a small trail behind her on the floor.
“Roel, I’m so sorry to have woken you,” Sels spread his arms respectfully to her, but couldn’t help himself from grinning broadly. Poy trotted along behind her and sat down in the doorway.
“Prince Sels, so nice to see you,” Roel smiled sleepily back and set her lantern on her counter. “What brings you here so late?”
“I know, it’s late, really too late to visit, but it was an emergency,” Sels twisted his hands together and moved over to Roel at the counter.
“An emergency?” Roel’s eyes widened.
“Don’t worry. No one is hurt. But in a few days there will be an execution if a few days of all the Yaka.”
Roel frowned and folded her arms. “Good. Those bastards deserve it.”
“Perhaps so,” Sels was a little discomforted by the venom in Roel’s voice. “But to Arara, they’re her only link to her past. She’s found one of them willing to talk, but with the pending execution... there isn’t enough time.”
“Alright. What does this have to do with me?” Roel glared at Sels.
“Bear with me,” Sels held up his hands. “We have a plan to jailbreak Ottont, the one that’s talking, but once we get out of the palace we need a place for him to hide.”
“What, so you immediately think of the one person outside the palace you know?” Roel's lip curled in disgust. “This is the first place they’ll look, you dolt.”
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