The Rise of the Dawnstar

by Farah Oomerbhoy

  Rafe smiled. “I won’t let her do that.” He came closer and took my hand in his. “What brought this on?”

  I shook my head and looked at my feet.

  “I’m not going to leave you, Aurora, I had hoped you would know that by now,” he said softly. “I don’t trust anyone else with your safety, least of all Brandon and a pirate. I will see to it that you get to Elfi myself.”

  “Because of the debt to my father?”

  Rafe laughed and his eyes crinkled at the corners. “No, Aurora. That was an excuse to spend more time around you and not look like a complete fool when you questioned my motives for always turning up when you needed me. I didn’t want you to think I was a stalker.”

  I smiled at this. “And were you?”

  “What?”

  “Stalking me?” I teased.

  Rafe shrugged, but I could see the mischievous gleam in his eyes. “I wouldn’t call it stalking.”

  “Oh! Then what would you call it?”

  Rafe pulled me toward him—his hot breath grazed my ear and my legs turned to jelly as he whispered, “Protecting you, my love.”

  His lips found mine and he kissed me; gently at first, and then more insistently, pressing me firmly against him. My passion flared as I wrapped my arms around his neck, trying to get closer. I knew this was not right, that he was engaged to be married, but I didn’t want it to stop.

  Still I knew that I had to, and I slowly broke away, trying to steady my breathing.

  Rafe stepped back. “Get ready,” he said briskly. “I will see you downstairs in an hour.”

  * * *

  The ball was to be held at the bride’s father’s home. He was a cousin of Brandon’s father and a very wealthy merchant. The magnificent white mansion was the largest on the hill and overlooked the town and the sea beyond. Terraced gardens were opulently transformed into what looked like a miniature fairyland, with lengths of sumptuous gold fabric draped across the trees like an open tent.

  As I walked down the steps on Rafe’s arm, no one noticed me. My gold lace mask hid my identity for the night and I had reddened my lips with a bit of magic, keeping with the theme of the ball. Brandon walked ahead, but Kalen and Marcus stayed behind at the inn.

  Beautiful masked women in a myriad of silks and brocades flitted about the gardens on the arm of many a well-dressed gentleman. Plumes and feathers, sparkling with precious gems, made my simple lace mask seem extremely plain. But it complemented my emerald green dress, the tight embroidered bodice of which was suffocating me as I walked.

  Rafe was dressed in an unadorned black doublet with a black and silver mask, slightly different to the one he used as the Black Wolf. I gazed up at him as his lean six-foot frame dwarfed me.

  “Where do we have to meet Santino?” I looked around as Rafe and Brandon scanned the grounds. Sparkling chandeliers hung from the branches, lighting up the garden, and candles shone on the white and gold fabric-covered tables, decorated with grand flower arrangements.

  Brandon led Rafe and me to a man dressed all in black, wearing a silver mask over his short-clipped beard. His hair was dark, long, and held back in a ponytail. Brandon briefly whispered something in his ear.

  The man turned his rich amber eyes on me and bowed. “Santino Valasis at your service, my lady,” he said in a deep voice, taking my hand in his and planting a lingering kiss, a smile playing on the corner of his full lips.

  I smiled and murmured an appropriate greeting.

  “I am charmed to meet you,” said Santino. “Delacourt did tell me you were beautiful, but I see mere words do not do you justice.”

  Against my better judgment, I blushed. Santino was a flirt—he couldn’t in truth see my whole face. But Brandon had said he was our only way out of Eldoren and we needed his ship.

  “And you know who this is, of course,” said Brandon, keeping his voice low and introducing Rafe. “Although I don’t believe you have ever met.”

  Santino clasped Rafe’s forearm. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said, looking Rafe straight in the eye.

  Rafe didn’t flinch. “Likewise,” he said. “Tales of the Pirate Prince have reached the highest of circles amongst the Eldorean nobility.”

  Santino laughed. “Yes, I’m sure they have,” he replied good-naturedly. “And tales of the Black Wolf have been circulating through Brandor for some time now,” he added softly.

  “It looks like your spies have been keeping busy,” Rafe said.

  “They wouldn’t be very useful if they didn’t,” Santino countered with a grin.

  Rafe smiled. “Point taken.”

  A beautiful, olive-skinned woman, wearing an extravagant maroon dress with a skirt so big it made her look like a birthday cake, came up to Santino and caught his arm. Her hair was a rich burnished mahogany and she wore a heavy gold tiara that screamed royalty.

  “Santino, my darling brother,” the woman declared, glancing at me briefly and settling her eyes on Rafe. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?” She adjusted her mask—a feathery concoction of gold plumes, studded liberally with ostentatious rubies.

  Rafe looked uncomfortable.

  Santino smirked. “I believe you already know the young man before you, Katerina.”

  Katerina held out her hand to Rafe, her red lips parting in a sensual smile. “Yes, I believe I do,” she said, in a heavily accented voice, as Rafe bowed and rather stiffly gave her a peck on her hand, straightening immediately.

  I glanced at the two of them. Katerina was gazing up at Rafe as if he were the only man at the ball. How did they know each other? She must have known him quite well if she recognized him with his mask on.

  Two giggling women came over and whispered in Santino’s ear. He grinned. “I will leave you all to get acquainted. These poor women need a dance partner and I wouldn’t want to disappoint them.”

  Katerina laughed, a deep, throaty sound. “My brother has still to learn how to say no to a beautiful woman.”

  I smiled as I watched Santino saunter off into the crowd, one girl on each arm.

  “My brother said we were to take an Andrysian noble’s daughter to Brandor with us,” she said to Rafe. “But he did not say who the other passengers were.”

  “I’m sure he simply forgot to mention it,” Rafe said tersely.

  “Oh, Santino forgets nothing.” Katerina snaked her arm through his. “Take me to dance, Rafael,” she cooed in his ear, but still loud enough for me to hear. “It’s been so long since you held me in your arms.”

  Rafe shook his head. “You know I don’t dance, Katerina.”

  But that didn’t deter her.

  “For me?” She looked at him with her slightly upturned eyes, batting her luscious lashes, while her mouth turned downward in an extremely sexy pout. “I’m sure you can make an exception. After all, we will be spending the next few days squashed together aboard my brother’s ship.”

  I knew Rafe couldn’t argue with that. If Katerina told Santino not to take us on his ship, we would be stranded here with no way to get to Brandor except through the desert that separated the two kingdoms. It would take days to find another merchant who would be brave enough or stupid enough to take us.

  Katerina pulled Rafe away from me and toward the center of the garden. He glanced back for a moment, but I quickly looked away. I didn’t want him to know I was bothered. He was free to do what he wished, with whomever he wished. Katerina was Leticia’s problem, not mine.

  Katerina pressed herself against him as they danced, and soon they were lost in the melee of masked couples on the dance floor, locked in romantic embraces and enjoying the freedom the masks gave them to behave in a manner they would not usually attempt.

  I was left alone on the side, looking at what I believed to be the love of my life in the arms of another woman, and my heart sank. I had to steel myself against my feelings for Rafe—eventually they would go away, or at least that was what I kept trying to convince myself.

  Brandon
, who had been talking to someone else, spotted me and came over. “Why are you out here alone, Aurora?” His blue eyes gazed at me with genuine concern. “I thought you were with Rafe.”

  “He went to dance with Katerina Valasis.” I looked over to the dance floor, but I couldn’t see them anymore.

  “Ah!” Brandon sighed with a note of sympathy in his voice I hated to hear. “I should have warned you about Katerina, but after so many years I didn’t think she still wanted him. I should have known better. Rafael does tend to have that effect on women.”

  “Rafe was with her?”

  Brandon nodded slightly. “They courted for a while, when Rafael was on an official visit to Brandor with his father. Santino was away at the time, so he never met the prince, but Katerina fell instantly in love with him.”

  “What happened?” I wasn’t sure I was going to like the answer.

  “Rafael did what he always does,” said Brandon, and I thought I detected a hint of jealousy in his voice. “He left to go back to Eldoren without a backward glance. And Katerina was left heartbroken.”

  My face fell. Rafe had been with so many women, and I had to wonder if I was also another one of his dalliances.

  Brandon took my hand and placed it in the crook of his elbow. “Come, we can have a walk around the gardens,” said Brandon, smiling. “Or maybe you would like to dance?”

  “No, let’s walk.” I shook my head, putting my hand on Brandon’s arm as he led me through the meandering garden paths, my thoughts whirling about Rafe and Katerina.

  We passed the dancing couples and I saw Santino still swaying to the music with some new woman he had found since I last saw him. She was fawning over him and dancing closely, her voluptuous breasts the center of the Pirate Prince’s attention. I smiled. Santino was a complete rake and a massive flirt, but he seemed quite straightforward as far as I could tell. I hoped Brandon knew what he was doing by asking us to trust a pirate, even if he was a prince.

  I spotted Rafe at the edge of the formal gardens, near a wooded area of the grounds. He was with Katerina; I recognized the dress. They were deep in conversation and Rafe was holding Katerina’s hand in his as they spoke.

  My heart slumped in my chest. For some reason this revelation hurt more than seeing him with Leticia. At least I knew he was marrying Leticia out of duty. But this exotic princess, who was clearly still in love with him, broke through my defenses. A dull ache seemed to clamp around my heart. I knew we were only supposed to be friends, but I thought what we had was special. However, the more I discovered about him, the more I realized there was so much I didn’t know.

  Suddenly there was a commotion in the gardens, voices were raised, and the musicians stopped playing.

  “Everybody, please stay where you are,” came a loud, booming voice.

  I had heard that voice before, and I never thought I would again. I looked over to the steps, and my heart skipped a beat. I grabbed Brandon’s hand.

  Lord Oblek was standing at the top of the grand staircase, surrounded by at least twenty of Morgana’s guards, all wearing the crest of a black rose. I recognized two of them flanking Oblek. Blue Cloaks, the king of Eldoren’s elite warrior mages. What was Oblek doing here?

  “Stay where you are and no one will get hurt,” said Lord Oblek, scanning the garden. “No one leaves the mansion until I have checked your identities, by order of the king.”

  “Not until you tell us what is going on,” shouted one old gentleman.

  Oblek grinned at the crowd, a wolfish smile, and stepped to one side.

  A black-cloaked figure moved forward, gliding down the steps to the garden. His robes were dark as night with a gold border edging the flowing fabric. He removed his hood, and his dark piercing gaze immediately quieted the garden. No one moved—it was as if he had the power to stop them with a single glance. I recognized the markings on his robes. There was only one mage who wore black with a gold border.

  The archmage!

  Lucian had come after me himself.

  5

  The Archmage of Avalonia

  I froze. My legs started shaking and my palms became clammy. I wiped them on my dress. I knew I was only moments away from getting caught and dragged back to Morgana, this time in chains. People had already started removing their masks. It was only a matter of time until Oblek recognized me. There was nowhere to hide.

  “I would suggest you do as I say, and remove your masks,” said Lord Oblek, addressing the crowd again, his voice reverberating across the quiet garden.

  Everyone did as they were told. The mere presence of the archmage was enough to bend them to his will. I looked around. Someone had betrayed us. Was it Santino?

  I spotted Rafe, slowly moving through the crowd toward me. Katerina had removed her mask and was clutching his arm for dear life and trying to pull him the other way.

  “Once the guards are busy checking people, we will move toward those trees,” Brandon whispered, inclining his head toward the wooded area on the far side of the garden.

  I nodded, and Brandon caught my hand, squeezing it tightly. “Stay close. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  The guests started lining up and Oblek checked their identities personally. But I couldn’t see Santino anywhere. The archmage walked in front of the guards, and all the mages bowed as he passed by. I hadn’t known he commanded such subservience from the mage community.

  But how did the king allow him and Oblek to head the search for me? I knew the Blackwaters were involved in this; after all, Lucian was Sorcha Blackwater’s brother. But with what Morgana was doing to Avalonia, how could he support them? It hurt to know that the king of Eldoren thought so little of me. I had thought he liked me, and he was always so good to me when I was at the palace. But now he seemed to think I was capable of kidnapping his son and trying to take over his kingdom. It looked like I was a worse judge of character than I thought.

  As Brandon and I reached the far end of the garden, a voice behind us stopped us in our tracks.

  “Stop! No one leaves until the archmage has seen them,” said Oblek.

  It was over. There was no escape.

  There were too many people. If I used my magic and someone got hurt, it would make them fear me more. And this time it was a fight I couldn’t win. The archmage was known for his power over dark magic. I could feel his menacing presence before I turned to face him. I had learned to sense magic around me and in others, and I was slowly getting better at it. But I didn’t have to concentrate to feel his power. The air was thick with his malignant presence. It was like black tendrils of a menacing shadow that spread out across the garden.

  I finally turned to look at Lord Oblek. Two blue-cloaked warrior mages flanked him, surrounded by four guards.

  “Remove your mask, sir,” Oblek demanded.

  Brandon slowly removed his mask and ran his hands through his thick blond hair. “Brandon Delacourt at your service, my lord.” He inclined his head in a perfect imitation of Santino.

  “And the lady?” my old nemesis asked, looking straight into my eyes.

  “She’s no one, my lord, just my, um . . . how should I say. . . companion for the night,” said Brandon, winking at the guard who stood behind Oblek.

  The guard sniggered at this. And my hackles went up. My magic flared and I had half a mind to stun that stupid grin off the guard’s face. But I pushed it back down. It wouldn’t do me any good; as it was, they already thought I was a monster.

  Oblek didn’t believe Brandon’s story for a minute. “I still need to see her face.” He looked into my eyes. “Remove your mask, madam.”

  I had no choice. Slowly I bowed my head and untied my mask, finally looking up to face Oblek. He didn’t look surprised to see me, as a wide grin spread across his scarred face.

  “It is she!” said Oblek loudly, and the guards stepped apart to allow the archmage through.

  Lucian stalked toward me with an almost feline grace. He was not what I expected. Tall and impr
essively built, the archmage had long, obsidian-black hair tied in a ponytail, slightly graying at the temples, the only thing giving away his age.

  “The amulet?” said the archmage. “Let me see it.” His voice was a soft caress, silky and smooth. He didn’t have to raise his voice to be heard, but his tone was one you could not disobey.

  Oblek stepped forward, and I took a step back.

  The archmage raised his right hand. “Come here.” His eyes were dark as night, shaded beneath strong eyebrows, and his fine features, strong chin, and aristocratic nose only added to his regal presence. He might not be a king, but in the mage world he commanded as much respect.

  My legs moved of their own accord. Darkness pulsed out of him and tendrils of shadow pressed against my magic as if they were trying to find a way to latch onto it. I struggled to free myself from his hold, but it felt like invisible hands were tugging me forward. His long, elegant fingers clasped the chain around my neck and pulled my amulet from within my gown.

  The archmage smiled, a savage grin. “Finally, we meet, Princess Aurora. I have been looking forward to this for fifteen long years.”

  “I can’t say the same,” I said bluntly.

  “I’m glad you didn’t try to run,” said the archmage, ignoring my remark. “Personally, I thought you would—you are known to be quite reckless.” He walked slowly around me, his hands behind his back, eyeing me from every angle, assessing his enemy.

  I was rooted to the spot. My legs felt like rocks had been attached to them; I couldn’t move however much I tried.

  He stopped circling and looked me in the eyes. “It would have been futile, of course. The whole mansion is surrounded, you wouldn’t have gotten far.”

  My eyes darted across the garden. How were we going to get out of this? There was no sign of Rafe anywhere; I couldn’t see Santino either, or Katerina. If Santino left on that ship tomorrow, we would have no way of getting another person to take us to Brandor. Especially with the guards and Blue Cloaks prowling every inch of Calos. Where was Rafe? Was he with Katerina?