by Erin Hayes
Constantine’s eyebrows pulled together. “Are you okay?”
Alec nodded. “Let me ask you something. What did you think of the last display? The woman had said she wasn’t a witch, and then after it’s too late, the Regent comes out and says he has a device to test for these things.”
His friend narrowed his eyes. “Is this a test, Alec?”
“No, Constantine, this is not a test. I’m serious. What are your thoughts? Between us.”
His friend pulled him aside, farther from the castle and out of earshot of the other guards. He lowered his voice. “I’m worried about you. Talking like that…that could get you in a lot of trouble.”
“Interesting,” Alec noted, “that your response is concern for me and not a defense of the Regent.”
“I’m not saying anything one way or another,” Constantine said. “Nothing other than my allegiance is to you.” He tilted his chin back, then added, “And yours is to the Regent, so it’s all good. Right?”
Alec slapped his hand against the back of Constantine’s shoulders. “It’s all good, my friend. It’s all very, very good. Just promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Look out for her.”
“For who?”
“Our next queen,” Alec said. “Whoever she might be. Look after her the same as you would me.”
“But that’s your job.”
“If anything happens to me,” Alec said.
Constantine’s face fell. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
“Of course not,” Alec said, then he paused to share a knowing state with his friend. “Theoretically speaking, is all.”
“Theoretically,” Constantine repeated. “In any case, I have your back. Trust that.”
“I just did.”
Then, without another word, Alec continued through the castle gates and took the path along the Vltava River. He cut through the woods and paused when he reached the fork that would lead him either to the marketplace in the inner city or the old woman’s home in the outer city.
A rustling in the bushes. A twig cracking. Alec headed toward the marketplace. He couldn’t be sure, but he sensed he was being followed. Of course, he could have turned around to check, but then if anyone was on his tail, they would know he was on to them.
Well, if anyone was following him, he would lose them in the marketplace, and they wouldn’t know it was intentional.
Either Alec was paranoid or the Regent really did suspect something and had sent other guards to follow him. If that were the case, it wasn’t just some dummies in a bush he needed to worry about. Anyone could be trying to keep an eye on him.
He marched to the first door in a long row and knocked loudly. “Open up!”
He could really use a witch testing device right now, but he would have to handle this the old-fashioned way now that the Regent was “fixing” it.
The door swung open to an older man. “May I help you?”
Alec tilted up his chin. “I need to check your home. Move aside, please.”
Had this job really felt natural and right once? At this moment, everything about it felt wrong. Invasive.
“Yes, of course,” the old man said, stepping back from the door.
“Thank you.” Alec brushed past him and pretended to search the house for any signs of magic. Then he thanked the man and left.
He continued this process for a dozen or so houses, taking his time in a few of them to give the illusion he was genuinely searching. If anyone was watching him, they wouldn’t know he’d gone “missing” until it was too late.
In the next home, he completed his search and headed out in the back alley near where he had first caught Adira. His heart caught in his throat as his gaze fell on the door to the abandoned home. There was little time for memory, though. He needed to get to the old woman’s house without anyone seeing him. Just once more. To have just this one last day with Adira and to do everything he could to make sure she was prepared for tomorrow.
Alec darted to the outer city and quickly lost himself in their alleys as well, until he was certain no one was following him. Then he jogged over to Miss Balek’s home and let himself in.
He leaned against the door to catch his breath.
Anastazie ran down the hall and wrapped her arms around his legs. “Alec! You came! You’re late,” she said, letting go of him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hall. “You have to see what Adira did!”
Alec followed the girl to the entrance to the training room, but didn’t follow her inside. Adira’s gaze caught his, her smile freezing him in place.
“You came,” she said, striding toward him.
No need to worry her with the specifics as to why. “Anastazie said you…well, she didn’t say what you did.”
Adira nodded, linked her elbow around his arm, and led him toward one of the tables.
“It’s nothing, really,” she said, lifting a leather cord from the table. Draping from the middle was what looked like a miniature sundial made from stone. “But I thought you would like it.”
As the pendant came to rest on his palm, his heart sank to his stomach. “A…a gift?”
She pressed up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. “Not just any gift. It’s enchanted. To protect you.”
Alec could do nothing but stare down at the small stone in his palm.
“Adira,” he said, imploring her with his gaze. “You didn’t…you didn’t use the Regent’s cloves for this, did you? Those were for your protection.”
She beamed. “No,” she whispered, stepping closer to him and wrapping her arms around her neck. “I used my own. My own magic, my own cloves…and my own rune stone.”
“Your own...” He shook his head. He couldn’t have heard that right. “What do you mean, your own runestone?”
She flipped the sundial over, revealing a carving on the back of the stone. “I mean…my own rune stone. That I made.”
Suddenly, the excited energy in the room and the way everyone was standing around silently watching them made sense.
“You sure?” he asked. “No one’s made a rune stone since—”
“The Original Sixteen!” Anastazia provided, bouncing on her toes. “Can you believe it, Alec?”
No, he couldn’t. He lifted the leather cord until the sundial stone dangled before his eyes. “It works?” he asked, cutting his gaze toward Adira. “You’re sure?”
She nodded. He’d never seen her smile this much before. “I can save the Sector,” she said. “You were right. I was meant for this.”
This was amazing news.
So why did he feel like such shit?
He grasped the sundial in his hand and forced a smile. “You did great, Adira. And thank you. I love it.”
He tied it around his neck and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her body against his own and kissing her hair.
“I love it,” he said again. And I love you.
Miss Balek insisted it would be better for Adira to take the rest of the day off from training. Of course, only the three of them knew why. The rest of the home had no idea Adira would be turned in to the Regent tomorrow. When all was said and done, they were going to hate Alec, but probably not more than he already hated himself.
“I want to show you something,” Adira said, leading him out the back of the house.
Alec followed, stepping over fallen branches as they made their way into the woods. She didn’t stop walking until she reached a large clearing where the sun poured in. A table-like stone rested in the middle, and Adira guided him toward it.
“Miss Balek thinks this was an altar for one of the Othala Witches. Probably whoever ended up as the first Regent of Sector One.” She traced her hand reverently along the edge of the chalky white stone. “Do you think this is where they did it?” she asked, peering up at him. “Do you think this is where they cast the original enchantment on our Sector?”
Alec kept a safe distance. He didn’t want to be
alone with Adira right now. He wanted to know she was okay, that she was ready for tomorrow. She was. And then he wanted to do what he had to do and get as far away as possible.
“Alec?” She stepped in front of him. “What’s wrong with you today? You’ve barely said a word.”
He reached up and touched the pendant on the necklace she’d given him. “Why a sundial?”
“Here.” She held out her hand. “Give it to me. I’ll show you.”
Alec unfastened the cord from around his neck and handed it to her. She placed it on the stone altar. The sun cast a shadow, revealing the time at about two in the afternoon. He only knew because his father had taught him to keep time. Back when people still kept it, back when there were farmers. All that changed the day he’d lost his sister and his home.
Adira’s hand slid onto the altar again, and when she lifted her hand, a twin sundial sat beside the one she’d given him. When he looked at her, she was looking up at him with almost sad expression.
“No matter what happens,” she said, “our hearts will always beat to the same time.”
Would she still think that if he left? Would she hate him, or would she understand?
Before he could respond, her lips were on his, her arms snaking around his neck and shoulders. His body responded immediately, and all his worries melted away. He lifted her up, wrapping her legs around his waist, and laid her body down in the tall grass.
He leaned over here and paused, staring into her eyes.
“What are you afraid of?” she asked.
There was a time Alec Kladivo was afraid of nothing. So much had changed in so little time.
“Everything,” he whispered.
She took his face in her hands. “This is it, Alec. It’s now or never.”
Adira was right. After today, their lives would change forever. He would regret it every day of the remainder of his life if he let the man he was supposed to be tomorrow stop him from experiencing life today.
He pushed up at the sides of her shirt, lifting it over her head and tossing it to the side. Then he tugged down her pants and pulled those off as well. He kissed the dimple on her knee. Kissed the faint scar where he had cut her thigh during training. Kissed the soft skin at the very top of her thigh. His lips traveled over her stomach, lingered on her breasts, and teased at her collarbone until finally his mouth found his way back to hers.
This wasn’t the first time they’d been in this position, nothing more than her underwear and his pants between them. His cock throbbed at the heat radiating from between her legs, and he reached down, fanning his fingers over her pussy.
Adira’s sigh against his mouth made him twitch with need. She wiggled out of her underwear and slid her hands over his shoulders and down his back, pulling him tighter against her. He pushed his pants down to his knees, freeing his cock press between them.
When Adira lifted her hips, he slipped against her wet folds and groaned. She squirmed until the head of his cock dipped against tight inner walls.
She wanted this as badly as he did. If she was anyone else, he would be inside of her already. He would have fucked her until she screamed with orgasm.
But she wasn’t just anyone. She was the future Queen.
In the distance, a branch cracked, snapping Alec out of his daze, reminding him that everything he was doing now he was doing in secret. He was hiding, and he was hiding because he knew it was wrong.
He winced as he pulled back, rolling away from her and pulling up his pants.
“Alec,” she said softly, reaching out to him, but he pulled away.
“I can’t do this with you, Adira,” he said, sounding angrier than he intended. It was as much his fault as her own, but she would never be the one to stop it, and that was why he couldn’t live in the castle once she was there. “Tomorrow I’m turning you in. How can you be with me knowing that?”
The space between her eyebrows puckered as if she didn’t understand how something like that could come between them. “You gave me the time you promised,” she said. “And you were right. I need to do it. I need to become Queen.”
“Which is why we can’t do this,” he said. He tossed her clothes to her. “Get dressed.”
She covered herself with her shirt, but otherwise, didn’t move. “Why are you ignoring the way you feel? If it all ends the same anyway, why are you denying that much?”
Alec swallowed around the tight knot forming in his throat and rose to his feet. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”
He paused by the altar, staring down at the sundial necklace. Then he lifted it, tied it around his neck, and looked at Adira one last time before walking off. One last time where he could see her as the woman he loved, and not the woman meant to be Queen.
The hurt in her eyes was not the way he wanted to remember her, and he immediately regretted looking back.
On his way out of the woods, he punched a tree and cursed under his breath, then stormed off toward the city, full of regret and yet unsure exactly what he regretted most: that he had almost dishonored his loyalty to the Sector…or that he hadn’t.
Chapter Fifteen
Adira sighed, shaking her head to herself as she pulled on her clothes. That was one tormented man. She hadn’t ever met anyone so conflicted in her life. At one time, she thought he was motivated by loyalty or duty. But over the course of the last week, she’d decided it was something else.
Alec wasn’t driven by righteousness. He was ruled by guilt.
Her opportunity to learn why had passed, but if Adira had taken away anything in her time at Miss Balek’s home, it was that things were what they were. Alec had been one to help her realize that. If only Alec could accept that himself.
He’d spent so much time and energy convincing her that this was what she needed to do, but maybe he’d only been trying to convince himself. Adira had realized the truth early on. She’d accepted that and sought to spend her last days of freedom…well…free.
Ironic that Alec was the only one of them who would remain free, when he was the only one of them trapped in his own prison.
As Adira pressed to her feet, the trees in the distance rustled.
“Hello?” she called. “Alec?”
“No.” Erik came out into the clearing. “Just me. You okay?”
Adira’s skin crawled. How long had he been standing there? She forced a smile. “Fine,” she said, lifting her sundial from the altar and fastening it around her neck. “I didn’t realize anyone else was out here.”
Erik stuck his hands in his pockets and tilted his head back to face the sky. “Yeah. Sorry about that.” He checked over his shoulder, then back to her as he approached. “Adira,” he whispered, “you don’t have to go through with it.”
Adira felt the blood rushing from her face straight down to her feet. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He grasped her hand and stared into her eyes, then swallowed. “I heard you two talking. You could just leave. I could help you.”
Her brow furrowed. “Erik, I can’t. I need to do this.”
Erik scowled. “He’s got you brainwashed, Adira. Don’t you see that? You’ve fallen in love with a predator! You think he loves you? He’s going to turn you over to the Regent! Have you even thought about what that means?”
She’d actually been trying her best not to think about it. Carrying the Regent’s child could only be achieved one way, and that certainly was not the part she was signing up for. But Alec hated that as much as she did. If either of them could think of a way around it that didn’t risk every life in the Sector, they would have acted on it.
She snatched her hand away and pointed her finger into Erik’s chest. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, pushing her nail into him harder. “You don’t know anything about him or me.”
When Adira turned to storm of, Erik grabbed her by her arm and pulled her back to him, her body slamming against him as his lips came to her mouth.
Adira
pushed him off and slapped the side of his shoulder. “What is wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with me?” Erik’s eyes darkened. “You’re the one pining after your enemy! I want to help you! We can leave,” he said, reaching for her hand again. But she stepped back before he could reach it. “We can run away. I can protect you.”
“I can protect myself.”
“Then why don’t you?” he asked.
Adira rolled her eyes and turned away. “Erik, I’m going inside now, and we’re going to pretend this conversation never happened. And you are to never, ever touch me again. Is that clear?”
“Fine,” Erik said, storming past her toward the Miss Balek’s home. “All that intelligence, and not a lick of common sense.”
Leaving Erik some time to cool off before heading back to the house, Adira hiked toward the Sector outskirts. Truth be told, some of what Erik had said seeped a chill into her bones. He wasn’t entirely wrong; at least, she could understand why he perceived things the way he did. Adira needed to be reminded of why she was doing this.
The hike left Adira plenty of time to be alone with her thoughts. Time to reflect on why the Sector had been created and why a Queen needed to be found.
Dvorak had enough magic to maintain the old runes, but even though he was a descendent of the Othala Witches, he still was not powerful enough to cast new ones or repair the ones that had broken. Every now and then, Dvorak found a lost one that hadn’t been destroyed, but those wouldn’t protect the borders either, and not just because he used them for things like enchanting witch testers.
As much as she despised Dvorak, it was true that his hands were tied when it came to protecting the border.
She sighed, then jogged down a steep incline toward the open field that stretched out to the border. Half way down the hill, she stopped, staring off at the land ahead. Deserted. Once upon a time, farmers kept this land. That was back when no one feared the fenceposts failing.
When the Original Sixteen were the ones to rule the sectors, the enchantments they cast had been strong enough to power not only the fenceposts on the border and on the lampposts around the city, but various objects as well. When the very first Regent was still alive—or so the stories went—anyone could simply touch a rune on a well, and water would flow into their container. Plows were forged with runes that, at a farmer’s touch, pulled themselves without any oxen. The Sector had thrived then.
