The Dragon's Soul: Xan (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Kalissa Wayne

  King Minos shuddered and drew a deep breath. “I’m not sure. She spoke of the promise after the birth of Theodora, about the gods’ plans and a change coming in the near future. She made me promise to stay until our daughter was grown and wed. I promised, thinking that she was just rambling from the pain of labor and the loss of blood. I promised, thinking she would sleep and wake up renewed. I never dreamed she would actually pass without me.”

  The king went quiet except for an occasional stuttering breath, and no matter what Remi said, no matter what questions she asked, the king remained silent.

  Remi heard a noise and looked up. Nic was standing at the entrance to the garden with a girl in his arms. As he stepped toward them, Remi saw that the young girl had long black hair hanging down her back. Long coltish legs hung limply down under Nic’s arm while one long arm hung by his side, and the other appeared to be wrapped around his neck. Remi wished she could see the girl’s face, but it was buried into Nic’s neck and shoulder, apparently sleeping.

  Nic stepped to the other side of the king and stood looking down. “Father, I need you to sit up so I can talk to you. Please.” The king heaved a sigh and turning, sat up on the grass.

  “I’m sorry, Son. What is it you need?” King Minos’s voice was dead, and he refused to look up.

  Nic’s voice turned resonant with power. “Sit up, Father. I will speak with you. Now.” Remi looked up, shocked at the amount of magic imbued in the words Nic spoke. Nic’s eyes were gleaming as he looked down at his father. Slowly, the king sat up and looked at Nic.

  “Son, your powers don’t affect the dead. That’s what I’ve been since your mother died.” The king’s eyes cut to Theo. Immense pain filled his eyes before he shut them. “Why did you bring her? She doesn’t need to see me this way.”

  “Father, she needs you. Mother said Theo needs you now and will need you even more in the future. You must want to survive. You must want to live. There is nothing we as her brothers can do for her. Mother insists you are the only one who can do whatever this is that needs done. You, Father, not us.”

  Nic leaned down and forced his father to take ahold of Theo, laying her out into his arms. The king opened his eyes and looked at his sleeping daughter. Remi, noticing the silent tears begin streaking the king’s cheeks again, moved forward to kneel at the king’s side. Getting her first good look at the little girl in the most powerful man in the kingdom’s arms caused her to catch her breath.

  Though still showing the childish features of a pretty child, there was no doubt that the little girl would grow up to be the spitting image of her beautiful mother. Remi watched as the king’s trembling fingers gently brushed the hair from Theo’s face. His large hand would easily cover the small girl’s face, but he used his finger to trace her features line by line, rounded cheek to gently sloping nose.

  “She looks so much like her. I love her so much, but every time I look at her, she reminds me of my beautiful Aggie. Beautiful precious little girl who rips my heart out every time I glance at her.” Remi watched as the tears slowed, finally stopping as the king cradled his daughter to his chest and buried his face in her tangled black locks. She barely heard him when he started whispering.

  “I promised your mother I’d stay until you were an adult, and it’s been hard, but I now promise you that I will be here for you, Theodora. Forgive me my mistakes, little one.” As he whispered those words, both the king and Theo slowly turned to mist and disappeared.

  Remi watched in shock as the last trace of them disappeared, and she was left staring at the patio’s rock floor.

  “He should be fine now. It’s you I’m worried about, sister dear.”

  Remi looked up into Nic’s eyes. She realized exactly how tired she was, how cold she was feeling. “I’ll be fine. Xan should be back soon.” She hoped her words would be true. Scanning her body, she noticed how far the poison had progressed. It would be close, but if Xan and Rizon were delayed for any reason, she didn’t know how she could keep the king alive if she couldn’t remain aware.

  Nic’s hand appeared in front of her face, interrupting her musings. She wanted to reach for his hand, needing his assistance to rise, but it was just too far for her to reach. She looked up and Nic’s face blurred, becoming distant just before everything went black.

  * * * *

  Ad’har noticed the trembling first. Nic had brought little Theo in and laid her next to the king, and within minutes the king’s breathing had leveled off, his color was returning. Nic sat on the side of the bed, holding the king’s hand and appeared to be in a trance. But the trembling was coming from Remi. Her color had become even paler, and when he reached down to touch her skin, it felt as cold as ice.

  “Lorann, bring a blanket.” Ad’har lay on the outer edge of the bed and curled around Remi. Her breathing was shallow and labored, and her trembling was increasing. He lay on the bed, sliding one arm under her head and wrapped the other around her waist. As Lorann threw a blanket over them, he looked at Jarok at the foot of the bed.

  “Jarok, I’m going to attempt for Remi what she has been doing for the king. If I can’t help support her until Xan returns, you need to…”

  “I know what I will need to do if she doesn’t survive. Do what you must, and gods help you when Xan sees you cuddled up with her.” Jarok crossed his arms and stared at him. As he closed his eyes to concentrate, he thought he heard Nic speaking as his vision went black.

  Chapter 20

  Ad’har opened his eyes to a dark, misty forest. He was in his battle gear—leather vest sans shirt with leather pants tucked into his boots. Looking around, the mist blurred the edges of trees not ten feet from him. Turning full circle, he saw nothing he recognized, but his dragon was urging him in the direction he had been facing. As he faced that direction again his dragon butted against his chest, urging him to hurry. Setting off in a ground-eating lope, Ad’har hurried in that direction.

  Following the urgent directions of his dragon, he entered a small clearing and stopped. On the opposite edge, tucked against the trees, sat a small cabin. Smoke rose from the chimney and a faint glow shown in the windows. His dragon clawed inside his chest, urging him to go and enter the cabin. “Our charge is inside and needs us. Hurry.”

  As Ad’har approached the steps to the porch, the front door opened, illuminating an old woman. Since the light was behind her, he couldn’t see her features, but he followed her inside when she beckoned him in.

  “Come in, Commander. You’re letting the heat out.” The voice didn’t match the vision of the old woman, who was slightly bent with age with gray hair braided into a waist-length rope. That voice would match the angelic quality that Remi’s voice contained.

  “My lady, I’m not sure why I’m here.” Ad’har began before the woman moved out of his way. On a pallet in front of the fireplace lay Remi, her chest barely moving the blanket covering her as she struggled to breathe. “Remi!” Ad’har fell to his knees behind her and laid a hand on her brow. “Is she all right, my lady? What is wrong with her?” Remi sighed and rolled her head toward Ad’har’s voice, although she never opened her eyes.

  “She is struggling to keep the king, and herself, alive.” The old woman sat in a rocker at the edge of the fireplace. “She has always been a stubborn child, more concerned with others than herself. That’s a good thing, I suppose, in this world gone insane. But she has never protected herself, giving of herself until she has nothing left.” The woman sighed and looked at Remi, love reflecting in her eyes. “I’m afraid this time, she is overextending and she won’t find her way back.”

  The old woman’s eyes cut back to Ad’har, and he was struck by the beauty and strength in them. She held his gaze and continued. “That is why the gods forced you to remain on this earth when your potential True One was killed. You have a higher purpose, a higher meaning, than being the Royal Battle Mage.”

  Ad’har was shocked. How did this old woman, whom he’d never met, know his history? “How�
�”

  “How do I know?” She chuckled and, with a wave of her hand, a double rocker appeared behind Ad’har. “Pick up your charge, sit a spell, and I’ll explain some things, young whelp.” Ad’har scooped Remi up, blanket and all, and sat in the rocker. His dragon settled with having their charge in their arms, even as Ad’har tucked the blanket closer around Remi. Was her breathing steadier?

  “Why don’t you get some skin to skin contact with that stubborn girl? It will help steady her for a while.”

  Ad’har looked up, but the old woman was busy at a small table that had appeared between them. A mortar and pestle, much like Remi had used, along with what appeared to be a battered metal teapot and metal cups. A memory surged in his mind while he looked at that metal pot. His mother had used one just like it, only it had been new and shiny, not old and well used.

  He shook the memory off as he pulled Remi’s hair from behind her head so her bare neck was cradled on his arm. He looked up when the old woman made a sound and saw her handing him a cup with the tea. “Make sure to give her small sips, she needs to drink it all.” He took the cup, and she went back to making two more cups, without the added herbs. He waited until the old woman took a drink of her tea before attempting to get Remi to drink.

  He glanced up when the old woman chuckled. “Not to be rude, my lady, but what is your name?” His gaze jerked back up to her when her laughter rang out. If he wasn’t mistaken, it sounded just like Remi’s laughter.

  “You may call me Grandma, as this child did.” When Ad’har simply stared at her, she chuckled again and picked up her teacup. “Get that child to drink her tea. She always knew when I tried to give her medicine.” The old lady sat back and proceeded to rock while drinking her tea and staring into the fireplace.

  Ad’har finally got Remi awake enough to swallow her tea, even if some of it dribbled down the side of her cheek. He paused to stare at the old woman when she began speaking again.

  “You know why you feel so protective of her, don’t you?”

  “She isn’t my True One…”

  “I didn’t say she was, young man. She is your charge. The gods have been working for several millennia now to fix something, and you, that young pup Anaxandros, and my granddaughter are part of the culmination of the repairs to that problem.”

  When Ad’har opened his mouth to ask questions, the old lady shushed him. “I am allowed to tell you part of what I know, mainly because things will be moving very fast from here on. You are not the culmination of the fix, but you will aid in bringing the final acts into existence.” She looked at him and smiled. “I know it is confusing, but know that everything happens for a reason even if we don’t know what it is or why it happens to us instead of someone else.”

  When Ad’har just looked at her, Grandma gave him a gentle smile. “Yes, I know what happened in your past. The girl who would have been your True One died before she ever hit fourteen winters. That doesn’t mean your heart died with her.” A spark came into her eyes, one that caused a shiver to race down Ad’har’s spine. “I am sorry, young man. If life had played out on a normal course, she would have been your True One, you would have mated her and settled down. You probably would have had several children and lived a quiet, boring, normal life as a soldier in the army. For most people, that is a good life. But you, Ad’har, Commander of the Dragon Guard, Royal Battle Mage, born of the Noble House of Ad’har, have been destined for much greater things since well before the white dragon made his bargain with Tchon-xi.”

  At this point, Remi shifted in his arms and moaned softly. Ad’har changed his focus to her face and touched her cheek with his scarred fingers. He could hear her heart rate had settled into a more normal pattern, stronger than before but still not where it should be. Her breathing had also evened out, and she seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

  “I knew one of my descendants would be faced with the task ahead of you, but didn’t know it was my lovely strong-willed granddaughter. She will need all her fire and heart to finish this.” Ad’har looked up to see Grandma smiling fondly at the woman he cradled to his chest.

  “Grandma, about my True One…”

  “Your possible True One, the girl who passed. Your abilities have been different from the beginning, young one. Most of the descendants of Tchon-xi have either a dragon spirit and can shift, or they have magic. A few shifters have magic, but most of the mages do not have the dragon spirit. Oh, some have learned the secret of being able to shape-shift but they don’t have the animal spirit inside to guide them, so they are just humans who walk around in a different shape.”

  “You have both. Even as a child, the dragon spirit was present, and your magical powers were almost bursting from your skin. You may well have been a match for that young pup, Anaxandros, had you not come into your magical power that fateful day. Your dragon could very well have wanted to challenge him for Rite of Ascension, and I don’t think even the gods could have guessed the outcome.”

  When Ad’har choked at the thought of challenging Xan, he must have made a sound, because Grandma raised her eyes to his and smiled gently.

  “The gods and fate had other plans for you child. They needed you to be a hardened warrior and a battle mage with no equal. They also needed you to be a blood brother to Anaxandros. You have lived your short life with no emotional ties except your ties to him, your honor, and your pledge to serve king and country.” Grandma smirked. “You are the ultimate weapon in the cause for right, but you are also the perfect choice for the traditional position of Queen’s Paladin to lead the people into the future.” Grandma went back to sipping her tea and staring into the fireplace flames as Ad’har just stared at her.

  What could a man say to that? Fate, the gods, something, had set his course even before his ancestors were born. He was all about control and didn’t know if he liked the fact that his entire life was not as he’d thought.

  Just as he opened his mouth to question Grandma more, Remi moaned and began to move in his arms. Her face was flushed, but her heart rate was stronger and steadier than before. Ad’har pulled the blanket down from around her shoulders, and Remi quieted, snuggling deeper into Ad’har’s arms. Ad’har watched the flush fade from her face, and her heart rate and breathing returned to a normal rhythm. When he looked up, Grandma was watching him with a sad smile on her face.

  “You are a protector, a warrior, and the best man to protect both my granddaughter and Anaxandros. He has a few enemies now, but soon they will multiply rapidly, and Remunada will attempt to protect him from everything. She is strong willed and capable, but like I stated, she throws her whole being into protecting those she loves. You must protect them both, among other things.”

  “Now, young man, you must rest and allow Remunada to rest, as well. Beware, though, when Anaxandros finds out you are to be a significant part of her life, as well, he may want to talk to you in the training room. You must remember all I have said and share what you think best with him. He loves you like a brother and trusts you, you must make him understand the facts as I’ve told you and that without you, they will both die before they can finish this.”

  Even as Ad’har was straining to listen, the mists that had surrounded him in the forest crept under the door of the cottage and surrounded him and Remi in the rocking chair.

  Chapter 21

  Xan pushed with every ounce of his strength to reach home, Rizon attempting to help by crouching lower across his back to reduce the air resistance. Just at the horizon line lights appeared but even without the light landmarks he knew better than his own bedroom, he would have realized how close they were due to the fact he could feel how weak his True One was becoming. He couldn’t lose her, not now. He wouldn’t lose her.

  He put on another burst of speed and within ten minutes, he reached the outer city limits. He paid no mind to the people in the streets staring up at them, or the guards signaling the Keep that they had returned. Xan’s sole focus was the garden patio at the top of the Keep.
His father’s bedroom was just off the balcony, and he knew both the king and his True One was there, both fighting for their lives.

  He banked around the balcony once to slow his descent then landed with a gentle thud on the railing. Rizon jumped from his back and ran for the open doors leading into the dining hall. Xan transformed back to his human shape as he heard Rizon’s footsteps pounding down the hall leading to their father’s rooms. Xan knew they probably didn’t want the doors to the bedroom open, but he couldn’t wait to get to his mate.

  Xan caught the pair of leather pants a Dragon Guard tossed him and nodded at the man as he continued walking. Pulling pants on while walking was something all the shifters learned early in life. His mother had demanded no nudity running the halls. He pulled the pants over his hips, he reached for the balcony doors to his father’s rooms. Yanking one open, he stepped through and pulled it shut behind him just as Rizon entered through the hall door.

  “Ad’har, report,” Xan barked, looking for the commander. Shock held him still as he looked at the bed. His father lay on his side hugging Theo to him even as Remi’s arm lay across the little girl and her hand laid limply against the king’s arm. Xan was vaguely aware of Lorann reporting on the progress of the health status of both the king and his True One. Xan was aware, distantly, of Rizon speaking with Lorann and Jeanae. Lorann was quickly mixing and pouring and concocting something.

  Xan didn’t care. His attention was focused on the labored, shallow breathing of his mate and the male that was wrapped around her back. His gaze roamed over the arm that encircled her waist, up over the shoulder to the head attached to a man about to be killed. His dragon was silent about the arm but growled at the red streaks running under Remi’s skin. He would not lose his mate.