The beast swung the blade to her left, but Rain easily evaded it. She could tell he was holding back. The others that were fighting around her were much faster as they practiced together. If this were a real fight, Rain had no doubt she’d be a goner in seconds. Another attack and she jumped back, neatly avoiding the dulled blade. The pants were amazing. She had never felt so free to move. If she had been wearing these when she was attacked in the village, she would have been able to race up that hill so much faster. I’m never going to wear dresses again, she decided.
A growl filled her mind making her smile. She wasn’t completely fluent in Elex growl, so she wasn’t sure if he agreed or disagreed with her opinion of dresses. She could feel him watching her from the sideline, his eyes glued to her every movement. Even without the ability to hear people’s thoughts, Rain was well aware of what was going through his mind. She knew, in spite of his protests, that Elex liked her in the pants. She held up a hand to the beast, requesting a quick break. He stopped immediately, watching her patiently. She resented the fact that he was not in the least bit out of breath.
Heat crawled up her spine and the back of her neck as Elex came up behind her. She was bent over, hands on knees, desperately trying to catch her breath.
“I think I’m out of shape,” she confessed.
“Your shape looks fine to me,” Elex replied seriously. She straightened, turning to face him. A small smile played on his lips.
She pushed the stray strands of hair that had come out of her ponytail off her face, still breathing rapidly from the workout. “That’s not what I meant,” she rebuked.
His eyes trailed down the front of her, lingering on her exposed collarbone that glistened with sweat. The blouse, now practically drenched, was sticking to every part of her. “You are wholly indecent,” he murmured. His hands moved to grab her by the waist, but froze midway. He let them drop again, taking a careful step back.
Rain raised her eyebrows, challengingly. “Something wrong?” she asked playfully.
“You make it harder and harder every day,” he answered seriously.
Her eyes flickered down before meeting his again. “Do I?” she countered, making her voice sound husky. She loved teasing him. No matter what Aziz said, Elex had emotions like a normal human. He wasn’t as cold and unfeeling as the sorcerer would have her believe. She loved to tease him like this, and knew he enjoyed it just as much as she did. His eyes were burning right now. The only thing stopping him from pouncing on her were all the beasts and soldiers around them. She stood taller, letting herself smile in a triumphant way. There was nothing he could do to her right now, so she could tease him all she wanted to with no consequence.
His eyes narrowed, his mouth flattening into a thin, displeased line. We won’t be surrounded by others forever, he spoke. You will pay for the images you just put in my head, he continued, warningly. He stepped closer, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “Perhaps I’ll show you, personally, exactly what those images are, and just how hard you make things.” Goose bumps broke out along her arms as she breathed in his scent. His hair tickled her cheek as he pulled back to stand straight again.
Her mouth had gone suddenly dry. She licked her lips and watched his eyes as the followed the movement of her tongue. Another growl came, this time out loud for everyone to hear. The beast waiting for her took an involuntary step back. They were all terrified of Elex, she noticed. Aziz had said he was his greatest weapon, but Rain hadn’t really seen him fight, except for the time on the hill. Then he had simply thrown the grown men around, which in itself was a feat, but she couldn’t help wondering what he’d look like in battle. His magnificent wings spread wide, his long, black hair flying around his beautiful faces as foe after foe fell beneath his sword. The image sparked a need in her. Now he smiled at her in triumph with the knowledge that he made her as crazy as she made him.
“I think I’m going to call it a day shortly,” she announced, breathless.
“I get to decide when you can retire,” he corrected. She opened her mouth to argue, but stopped when he held his hand up. His eyes went out of focus for a moment, before centering on her again. “My father requests our presence. Looks like you’ll get to call it a day after all,” he said with a tight smile. She could tell he wasn’t happy about something.
Looking down at her attire, she glanced up at him questioningly. “Should I change first?” she asked.
He shook his head. “There’s no time. Come, we must go now.” Elex called out instructions to the other soldiers, leaving the man Rain knew was named Andre in charge. Then he turned to her wordlessly and picked her off the ground, holding her tightly. She let out a surprised squeak. “It will be faster this way,” was all he said before he took off and flew out of the opening in the ceiling.
They dropped through another opening less than a minute later. Rain wondered how many rooms had accesses like this for Elex. She supposed Aziz had designed the fortress specifically with his son in mind. As she shook off the cold from the higher air, it took her a moment to notice the room that they were in. Rubbing her arms absently, Rain did a slow turn, taking it all in.
They stood in a glorious throne room that she had never seen. All the walls of the fortress sparkled with the minerals embedded deep in the rocks, but in here it was amplified tenfold. The floors were the natural stone of the mountain, but had been polished until they shone like water. Rain could almost see her reflection in the surface. Swirling colours of greens and pinks wound their way throughout the gray. Her eyes found the elegant sconces that decorated the walls, all lit with red and orange flames. Behind her was a raised platform, on top of which two massive thrones sat in all their opulence. She had never seen such furniture. The chairs looked as if they were carved right from gold. Cushions of deep red rested on the seats. The backs were decorated with large gems – emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. Rain found herself lost for words.
“What do you think?” Aziz’s voice echoed off the walls. Rain turned to see him enter through a hidden doorway.
Elex was still standing close to her, silently. She’d been aware of him watching her reaction the entire time, his face a blank mask. Something was bothering him. Keeping her focus on Aziz, she asked, “What is this place?”
Aziz smiled broadly as he approached, stopping only a short distance from where she stood. Elex had stepped back further when Aziz advanced. “This is our throne room,” he replied, emphasizing ‘our’. A growl rippled through her mind causing her to flinch slightly. She hoped Aziz hadn’t noticed as she tried to school her features.
“Why was I never told about it?” she inquired. “I didn’t even know it existed.”
Aziz chuckled. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
Well surprise, she thought, looking around again.
“We have company, so I thought it would be best I show you this room now.”
She turned back to him in surprise. “Company?” Could people just walk up and knock on their door? She wondered, amused by the thought.
Aziz nodded and moved to place his hand on her lower back, ushering her to where the thrones sat. “Someone important, so we must display our power here. We must show them what and who we are – the future King and Queen of Eden.” Rain turned and sat down obediently, looking up into his satisfied face. “Let no one question our rule.” He took the seat beside her, nodding to Elex. Elex strode toward a larger, visible doorway. He disappeared for only a second before returning, his expression stoic. He moved to stand beside and slightly behind Aziz’s chair, disappearing from Rain’s line of sight.
Rain thought about her appearance with a slight wince. Here they sat in a room fit for royalty, and she was dressed like a stable boy. Her hair matted and curled from sweat; her face still flushed from exertion. What a queen she must look to be.
You’re always stunning.
She was about to thank him when sounds and movement in the doorway drew her attention. Five guards ushered in a man, blindfolded
and clearly being dragged against his will. Rain took in his manner of dress immediately. The man had bronze skin like Aziz. His snow white hair reached past his shoulder, while a beard of the same colour hung to mid-chest. His clothing was also white, a robe that flowed to the ground. His feet were covered in simple slippers of blue, while a wide belt was tied around his midriff in the same cobalt hue.
His hands were left unbound, but a guard held each arm firmly between them. They stopped just before the raised platform, forcing the man to his knees. Throughout this whole experience the man had remained completely silent. Three guards stood behind, swords drawn. The middle one stepped forward, pulling the blindfold off. The man blinked against the sudden light, his eyes eventually landing on Aziz. Rain watched the hatred fill them instantly. She was given barely a glance, his focus remaining on the man seated beside her.
“Welcome,” Aziz said warmly. Rain shivered. It was such a contradiction hearing the warmth in his voice, knowing beneath it laid enough venom to kill everyone in the room. He wore a mask, but no one was fooled. Danger hung in the air around them all, especially the man kneeling. Although not a threat, ‘welcome’ was not what this man was.
In answer the man spat on the floor, his defiance etched in every line on his face. “You offend the Gods with your actions, sorcerer,” the man spoke.
“Oh?” replied Aziz conversationally, as if they were all sitting around a table having a friendly conversation. It was deceptive, his tone. “And how do I offend the Gods, Bilal? Please, enlighten us.”
“You sit on your mighty thrones and look down as if you are one of them. No one is a God, Aziz. Not even you and all your powers.”
A slow smile stretched across Aziz’s face, his eyes remaining cold. “No one is a God?” he repeated. Elex stepped forward to stand beside Aziz, who tilted his head in Elex’s direction, signaling him. The man’s eyes looked between the two. “Are you sure about that, Bilal? Perhaps no one here is a God, but trust me when I say, I’m the closest to it. You had best remember that.”
The man did not look afraid when he replied, anger lacing every word. “I will remember nothing you say,” he spat. “You dare to take me, an anointed one, from the house of the God, and bring me to this place of disgrace? You sit there like a King, but you are nothing, Aziz! Only a foolish man with a child for his queen and an abomination for a child.”
Rain’s face burned as though someone had blasted it with flames. The room seemed to grow colder, a distinct change in the air. She shivered slightly, looking to Aziz for his reaction. She instantly wished she hadn’t. If looks could kill, the man, Bilal, would have been torn apart right then and there. His anger filled the room like a tangible force.
“Listen to me, you old fool. No one in Eden has the power to stop me. NO ONE!” His voice shot out across the entire space, echoing long after he was quiet. He breathed deeply, regaining control, before speaking again. “None of you or your holy men has the power to stop me, nor do your weak, pitiful sorcerers. Hakim can sit in Ramel, surrounded by his courtiers and swordsmen, and think he is the stronger of us two, because he rules there now. But know this; he will fall beneath my rule – just like the rest of you. No one there can save you. No one there will be able to stop me from reaching my destiny. You take that back to Hakim, and you let him know that as soon as the fool of a King in the Capital is gone, I’ll be coming for him next.”
Bilal’s face was smooth and unworried. Rain couldn’t understand why the old man was not terrified. Surely he didn’t doubt what Aziz was saying. The Sand People must realize just how powerful he really was. Their people excelled in the art of magic, but none so much as Aziz. Everyone knew that. And yet, sitting there, looking at the man from Aziz’s own homelands, it was as if Aziz were nothing but a petulant child making rash decrees of grandeur. As if it was nothing but the ramblings of a mad man. She looked to Aziz from the corner of her eyes and she began to wonder what the man before them knew that she did not. Something made him look at Aziz and see him as no more of a threat than a mouse next to a snake.
To Rain’s surprise, the man began to laugh. It was a genuine, hearty laugh that seemed so out of place in the room where tension filled every crevice. “You think us fools, Aziz? You forget, we all know the prophecy. No one can stop you? Are you so sure? Our teacher, Rashid, was right. You will be your own destruction. He said it all those years when you first left Ramel, and he still says it now. Your own creation will come back to kill you, and all we need to do it sit back and wait for it to happen.”
The silence stretched. Rain shifted uncomfortably in her seat, unable to look at Aziz again. Finally when he spoke, it was in a voice so soft she had to strain her ears to hear him. “You will deliver my message, but perhaps not as I had originally intended.” He looked up at the guards still standing around him and said, “Cut out his tongue and eyes then deliver him back to his temple. Let them make of it what they will.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The King’s army filled the space outside of the city walls, preparing to leave for the east. The scene was identical to that of the morning they had left for the south. Except then he had Lily, and now…Aiden surveyed everything with a heavy heart. Nothing about going to war was exciting or fun, and yet adrenaline was pumping through his veins. It was not the fact that they were heading out to fight and kill another army, it was that he was finally taking steps to getting Lily back.
The night before had been rough. Once he had returned to his room at the dormitory, Aiden had found sleep impossible. Every part of his being shouted for him to race off and find her. There was a deep feeling in him that he couldn’t explain that told him he needed to be the one to stop Aziz. Was it just because everyone had been filling his head with prophecies since he’d arrived? He wasn’t sure. Whether it had been planted there or shaped naturally, being the one who would bring an end to all of this just felt right. Destiny wasn’t something he thought much about, prior to his adventures in Eden, but now he seemed to contemplate it often. Was this his destiny? Was there such a thing as a predetermined fate for someone? A path laid out for one to walk during their life, not to be veered from or altered?
Ty chomped on the grass beside him in obvious contentment. Oh to be a horse, he thought sardonically. What an easy life that would be. Aiden was interrupt from his musings by a hard push from behind.
“Snap out of it, warrior,” Moose said playfully. Aiden moved closer to Ty, resting his arm on the saddle. “No offence, but you look awful.”
“Thanks,” he replied dryly. “I didn’t get much sleep.”
Moose gave him a look of understanding. “We’re going to get her, Aiden. I promise.”
He didn’t want to point out that this wasn’t really something he could promise, so he simply nodded. His friend was trying to make him feel better and he appreciated it. Still, he wasn’t blind to the reality of the situation. Moose nudged him with his elbow, nodding his head in the other direction. Aiden turned to see what he was looking at and broke out into laughter. Logan walked over to them with a scathing look.
“It’s not funny,” he said when he reached them.
Both Aiden and Moose were laughing now. When he could catch his breath, Aiden replied, “Oh come on! Don’t be such a spoiled sport. If memory serves me right, you had a nice laugh at my expense for just the same reason.”
“It looks good on you,” Moose chirped in. “Makes you look like a real man.”
Logan growled. “I am a real man!” He shot forward, his shoulder hitting Moose in the stomach and sending them both crashing to the ground. Aiden watched in amusement as they wrestled with each other. He didn’t hear Wolf and Elisa approach until they stood beside him.
“What’s going on?” Elisa asked calmly.
“Moose said Logan looked like a real man now, insinuating he didn’t before. Logan is fighting for his honour,” Aiden explained.
Wolf grunted. “Why does he look like a man now?”
“I always
look like a man!” Logan hollered, rolling off Moose. “You’re all going to pay, I swear.” When he stood up to face them Elisa started to chuckle as Wolf’s face broke out into a wide grin.
“I see the student has surpassed the teacher,” Wolf commented. Logan reached up to finger the black eye Aiden had given him the night before. “Don’t you feel stupid?”
“Not really,” he replied miserably. “I’d like to see you try and take him one-on-one and see if you don’t come out looking the same.”
“Aw, Wolf, you should have seen it,” Moose said excitedly. “I’ve never seen someone fight like Aiden. He just keeps getting better. Poor Logan couldn’t keep up.”
“Whatever,” Logan grumbled.
Wolf turned to give Aiden an approving look. “It’s about time someone put him in his place,” he said.
“Well I’m happy to have been the one,” Aiden replied happily. “Let’s move up to where the King and Captain are. I don’t want to be stuck in the back or the middle.”
They all mumbled their agreement as they moved to get their horses.
“I’m telling you, Wolf, he’s impossibly quick,” Logan was saying. Aiden could hear him as he grabbed Ty’s reins. “It’s almost unnatural. I’ve never experienced it before, not even with those cursed beasts.” Wolf was laughing, calling Logan a sore loser when Aiden turned to look at them. The smile on his face died instantly when he noticed Elisa. Her face was drained of colour, whiter than he had ever seen it. She watched Logan with a look of terror, eyes wide, teeth biting nervously on her lip. Her hands were clasped tightly together.
“Hey,” Aiden called out to her. Snapping out of whatever trance she was in, she turned to look at him with a weak smile. “You okay?”
She nodded, her voice weak when she replied. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” Her cheeks were still drained of colour, eyes haunted.
“You sure?”
“Uh huh.” She turned and headed toward her horse, leaving them all watching in her wake.
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