I nodded slowly. If Slade was right, then Reven could have left at any time. He was simply using the magic as an excuse. Maybe a tiny part of him wanted to be here after all.
As we rode, the landscape began to change. The forest thinned out around us, the trees becoming sparse and the ground becoming harder. I'd heard much of the Air Realm was a desert, but we wouldn't go very far into it, luckily. At least not yet.
To avoid the border crossing—where the Onyx Guard soldiers might give us trouble—Jasin had us go out of our way over some steep hills that our horses were not happy about in the slightest. The off-road terrain slowed us down and it felt like we were making no progress at all, until we were officially in the Air Realm.
Slade’s horse threw a shoe only a few minutes later, and we were forced to stop at the first village we found. None of us thought it was safe to do so, but we didn't have much choice, and luckily the place was small enough that there were few soldiers in it. Slade immediately took the horse to the local blacksmith, while the rest of us went to find rooms for the evening.
The inn was mostly empty and much smaller than the one we'd stayed in the other night, which suited us fine. The fewer people who saw us, the better.
"We'd like a room for the evening," Jasin said to the innkeeper, a stout man with a moustache.
"Of course. We have many rooms available. How many will you need?"
Jasin glanced back at Auric, who said, "Two, I think."
The innkeeper nodded as he scanned our group. But then he paused and his eyes widened. He suddenly dropped to one knee, bowing his head. "Your highness! I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you at first. Please forgive me, Prince Tanariel.”
I stared at him in confusion, until I realized who he was addressing.
Auric.
25
Auric
I knew we should never have stopped in the Air Realm.
I cleared my throat, trying not to show my panic. “You must be mistaken. I’m not Prince Tanariel, I simply bear a passing resemblance to him. Please stand up.”
The innkeeper slowly rose to his feet and lowered his voice. “Of course. Your secret is safe with me, your highness.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Please don’t call me that.”
“My apologies.” He clapped his hands together and smiled at the group. “Now then. You'll have the finest rooms available, and I’ll make sure some food and wine is brought up for you. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
“That will be great, thanks,” Jasin said, as he glared at me. He already hated me, and now he had even more reason. Not that I was particularly fond of him either, but I didn’t want to fight with him, for Kira’s sake at least.
And Kira… she gaped at me like she’d never seen me before. My gut twisted with guilt and shame from deceiving her, even if I had a good reason for keeping my identity hidden. Now that my secret was out, would she look at me differently, knowing who I truly was?
The innkeeper showed us to two of his best rooms, which meant they were slightly larger and cleaner than the others, before apologizing again and promising to have someone bring up some refreshments. I pressed a coin into his hand and assured him all was well.
The second he was gone, Kira turned to me with narrowed eyes and asked, “You’re a prince? I thought you said you were only a distant relation!”
I sighed. “I said I was no one of consequence in the family, which is true.”
“I don’t think being fifth in line to the throne of the Air Realm counts as inconsequential,” she snapped.
“I can explain everything,” I said quickly.
“Better get started, Auric,” Jasin said, crossing his arms. “Or should we call you Prince Tanariel? Is Auric even your name?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “It’s my middle name. No one calls me Tanariel. That was my grandfather, not me.”
“So you really are a prince,” Kira said.
I met her eyes. “Yes, I am.”
“I’m surprised none of you recognized him,” Reven said from the corner, where he was flipping one of his knives.
“You knew who he was all along?” Kira asked, growing visibly more upset. “And you never thought to mention he was a prince at any point?”
Reven shrugged. “Not my problem.”
“It’s all of our problems,” Jasin said. “Auric was going to be recognized sooner or later, which puts all of us at risk. He should have told us long before we got to the Air Realm.”
“Yes, he should have,” Kira said.
Before I could respond she threw open the door and stomped out. Silently cursing myself for being an idiot, I started to follow after her, but Slade blocked me in the doorway.
“What’s going on?” he asked, sounding weary.
“Auric is a prince of the Air Realm,” Jasin explained in a low growl.
Without waiting for Slade’s response, I darted after Kira, who had slipped into the other bedroom reserved for us. I closed the door behind me and faced her. “Kira, I know you’re upset, and you have every right to be. But please let me try to explain.”
“You lied to me,” she said, in a way that made my heart twist.
“I didn’t lie, not once. Everything I told you was true, I simply…omitted certain things.”
She sat down on the edge of one of the beds. “Some really big things. Things you should have told me.”
I sat beside her. “Probably, yes. But you have to understand that when this started I had no idea who you or the others were. I didn’t know if I could trust any of you. Telling people I’m a prince is like putting a target on my back. Not to mention, people treat me differently once they know who—what—I am. I didn’t want that to happen with you, Kira. I wanted you to get to know me as you would any other man, not as a prince. And after everyone’s reaction to me being a nobleman, can you blame me for being hesitant to reveal the truth?”
“I understand why you didn’t tell me at first, but don’t you trust me now?” she asked.
“I do, yes. And I was going to tell you at the right moment, I promise.”
She raised an eyebrow. “When was that going to be?”
“Um.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Before we reached the Air Temple, for sure.”
She sighed. “I just don’t know how I can trust you anymore.”
“I’m sorry I kept this from you, but please try to understand. I’m the youngest prince, with enough older siblings to make sure I’ll never be king. In my family, I’m the odd one out who was always in the library instead of attending balls and dealing with politics. I never cared about any of that and so to them I’ve always been inconsequential. So yes, I am a prince, but at the same time, nothing about me has changed.”
She nodded slowly. “Are you hiding anything else from me?”
“Not exactly,” I said. “There’s nothing I am hiding. Simply things I haven’t chosen to share yet. Surely you can understand that. There are lots of things you haven’t told us either, and I don’t see you getting upset with Reven for not sharing all the details of his past. But in time, I’ll be willing to open up completely.”
She blew out a breath. “Okay, I see your point.”
“Thank you. I truly had no wish to deceive you, I just wanted to make sure my place in the group was more stable before I told everyone.”
“Why wouldn’t it be stable?”
I cleared my throat and looked away. “I’ve been reminded many times that I don’t fit in with the rest of you.”
“Ignore the others.” She leaned against my side. “I want you to stay, and that’s all that matters.”
“You do?” I took her hand in mine. “Because I have no desire to leave either. This is my life now.” I slowly ran my thumbs along her knuckles. “That’s another reason I didn’t mention I was a prince. In my mind, I no longer am one. I gave up that life and that title when I left home to find you.”
“Do you regret leaving all of that behind?�
�
“Not one bit. I’m your mate and one day I’ll be the Golden Dragon. That is more than I ever dreamed of, and all I could ever want.”
She melted into my embrace and our lips found each other easily. Kissing Kira was the most amazing thing I’d ever experienced. When we touched, sparks danced between us, but when we kissed, our connection flashed like a burst of lightning. I could only imagine what it would be like after we’d officially bonded.
Her hand rested on my thigh as she moved even closer, and the sensation shot straight to my groin. I groaned as I pulled her flush against me, my fingers digging into her hips as I took the kiss deeper. This woman, Gods. She was gorgeous, but that wasn’t why I cared for her so much already. It was her intelligence, her kindness, and her inner strength that had won me over. Even now, she accepted me for who I truly was, despite my mistake of not telling her the truth sooner. How had I gotten so lucky to end up as one of her mates? When I met the Air God again, I’d be sure to thank him for choosing me.
Her hands stroked my jaw, but she finally pulled away. “Come on. Let’s go calm the others down.”
When we went into the other room, she held my hand, even though the other men eyed me warily. “All right,” Kira said, as she glanced between them. “Auric was a prince once, but he’s one of us now, and that’s all that matters.”
Jasin frowned and looked away, while Reven shrugged as if he couldn’t care less. Slade said, “Fine with me.”
“I know this isn’t easy for any of us, and I can’t expect all of you to get along, but please try at least.” She looked between me and Jasin. “For me.”
“Fine,” he muttered.
“Of course,” I said, squeezing her hand.
A knock sounded on the door, and the innkeeper and a young woman brought in large trays of food with two bottles of wine. If nothing else, at least we’d be well fed tonight. I still wasn’t thrilled my true identity had been revealed this way, but at least the weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I didn’t have to keep it from Kira anymore. Of course, once we got closer to the Air Temple, I’d have to reveal some of the other things I was afraid to admit—but hopefully she would accept those parts of me too.
26
Kira
As we continued though the rolling hills of the Air Realm, passing a few farms but little else, I thought back on what had happened the night before. Auric was a prince. Even now it was hard to wrap my head around the idea. It was even harder to accept that he had given all that up to be with me.
I wasn’t happy that he’d kept something this huge from me, but I also didn’t blame him. I understood his reasons, even if I didn’t like them. And it’s not like the other guys were all that forthright about their pasts either. Nor was I, for that matter. But I was beginning to think the only way we’d get through this was if we started trusting each other.
Easier said than done, of course.
My thoughts were interrupted when I began to smell smoke. We were moving through a large field of wheat, and I noticed black smoke rising in the distance to our left. A bonfire? I hoped that was all it was, but we didn’t really have time to stop, especially when it was probably nothing.
A piercing, inhuman shriek tore through the air, one I hadn’t heard in seven years. I was suddenly doused in pure terror, as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over my head. My arms tightened around Reven’s chest as he pulled our horse to a stop and reached for one of his knives.
“What was that?” Auric asked.
“A Dragon,” I whispered.
Then it appeared. Through the black smoke, the beast rose up on his giant, blood red wings. Sark, the Crimson Dragon. The monster who had haunted my nightmares for much of my life.
The others tensed, but there was nowhere we could run—we were out in the open, too far from anywhere we could hide. If we had to fight Sark with our weapons and our magic, would we even stand a chance?
But Sark didn’t even glance our way. With a great flap of wings that sent the smoke billowing away, he cast one last breath of fire on whatever was below him before flying off toward the west, his tail whipping behind him. Within seconds, he was only a dark speck in the sky, and then he was gone.
Reven suddenly kicked his horse into action and charged us forward, toward the smoke. I was torn between telling him to run the opposite direction and yelling for him to hurry. The others followed right at our heels as we made it through the wheat field and burst out onto a farm. The smoke was stronger here, and soon I spotted flames flickering up ahead.
A small house in the middle of the farm was completely on fire. Many of the flames had already begun to spread to the surrounding fields as well. Reven immediately summoned water and doused the field to stop it from being engulfed, then leaped off his horse and called forth even more water to work on the house.
I tumbled off the horse as well, but all I could do was stare at the flames in horror. There was no screaming, but the air smelled of burnt flesh, just as it had when I was a child. I was trapped inside my bleakest memory and my worst nightmare and there was no escape.
When the others arrived, I could only wrap my arms around myself and shake as they tried to stop the fire too. Jasin managed the flames as best he could and tried to coax them to die down. Auric calmed the wind and sucked the air from the fire. Slade covered the house in dirt and soil. But it was Reven who did the most, as he called down wave after wave to douse the raging inferno.
I wished there was something more I could do, but at the same time I was relieved that I didn’t have to get any closer. Seeing this happen again was bad enough. Getting near the flames would have been impossible. Even standing at a safe distance, I was trembling and struggling to breathe, and not just from the smoke. How was I supposed to bond with Jasin, knowing it would turn him into a dragon like Sark? Or that it would give me these dark powers too?
I wasn’t sure how long it took for the men to put out the fire, but it seemed like an eternity. By the time they were done, the house was little more than a charcoal ruin, and if anyone had been inside, there was no way they could have survived. Bile rose up in my throat at the thought of charred, blackened bodies, like my parents had once become. No matter how hard I tried, I would never be able to scrub that image from my brain.
One by one the men returned to my side, all of them covered in black soot with sweat running down their faces, looking as haunted as I felt.
“Why would he do this?” Auric asked with a weary voice.
Slade leaned against his horse and wiped his face. “This is what the Dragons do to anyone suspected of being in the Resistance.”
“Were there people inside?” I asked, though I almost didn’t want to know the answer.
Jasin dropped his head. “We were too late to save them.”
I nodded, as tears pricked my eyes. I tried to blink them away, but it was no use. Another family had been snuffed out by Sark. Jasin moved close and tried to wrap an arm around me, but I pushed him away.
“Don’t touch me,” I said, stepping back. “You’re going to be the Crimson Dragon soon. The same as him.”
“I’m nothing like Sark,” Jasin said in a rush. “You have to know that.”
I shook my head. I knew I wasn’t making sense, but all I could think about was Jasin summoning flames like Sark. Flames which could be used to destroy lives, like they had done today. Like they had done to my family all those years ago.
“Just leave me alone,” I said, as I stumbled into the wheat field.
Memories of my family’s death crowded my head as I ran. The flames. The screams. The smells. Oh Gods, the smells. The same smells that lingered in the air now.
I had to get away.
27
Reven
“I’m going after her,” Jasin said, already charging forth into the field.
Slade caught the soldier’s shoulder. “Don’t. You’re the last person she wants to see right now.”
Jasin’s brow furrow
ed. “But why? I’m not the one who set that house on fire. I would never do anything like that!”
“She knows that, but she’s not thinking clearly right now. Just give her some space.”
“Fine,” Jasin said, slumping against a broken cart. “I just hate seeing her upset.”
“We all do,” Auric said.
While they stood around moping, I slipped between the trees, needing space of my own. Like Kira, the sight and smell of that fire, plus that cursed dragon in the sky, had brought back a lot of painful memories. Now I wanted nothing more than to get away from this place and wash the soot and ash off my hands and clothes.
I’d tried my best to put out the fire. I’d done what I could to save the people inside. But I’d failed. Just like I’d failed when I was a child and couldn’t save my family from Sark’s fire. Except now it was worse, because I could summon water. But my magic still wasn’t enough.
It was a stark reminder that I shouldn’t be here. I was no hero. Most of my life I’d been a villain. That wasn’t going to change. The sooner I left, the better it would be for everyone.
I spotted Kira ahead of me, crumpled on the ground, and found myself making my way over to her even though I knew it was a bad idea. Not only because she needed some space, but because I didn’t want to get involved with her. I had to keep my distance so I could easily leave when the time came. But I couldn’t ignore the sight of her back hunched over in the dirt, knowing she was in as much pain as I was.
She looked up with a start as I emerged from the wheat beside her, then let out a sad laugh. “You’re the last person I would have expected to come find me.”
I crossed my arms. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not here to comfort you.”
She wiped at her eyes. “Then why are you here?”
“I couldn’t stand to listen to your boyfriends bicker anymore so I went for a walk. I just happened to stumble across you here.”
Stroke The Flame Page 11
