Warrior Lover (Draconia Tales)

by Karilyn Bentley

  Banter she didn’t follow ensued. Her attention focused on Enar, who stood to her left and back a step. Although she couldn’t see him, she felt his emotions as if they were her own. He was at ease in this group, but something seemed wrong about his demeanor. She darted a lower-lidded glance at him. Instead of looking at the men gathered around them exchanging talk that would have made her ears burn if she had been paying attention, Enar scanned the periphery of the courtyard.

  Wonder who he looked for. Whoever it was didn’t show and she felt Enar’s body sag on an exhale.

  Maybe now he’d get a move on and take her away from this courtyard. If her heart pounded any louder the men would hear the thumping.

  Take me away, take me away.

  And miracle of miracles, Enar heard her thoughts.

  “Now that you’ve seen my claim, I’m going to take her back to where she belongs.”

  One hand grasped her by the neck and guided her, keeping her in front of his body, sheltering her from all the ogling. She blocked out the ribald jests and focused on the entrance to the courtyard.

  Five steps, four, three, two, one and now they were through the entrance.

  Praise the Goddess, she lived.

  She turned around, side-stepping so she faced Enar. “What—”

  “Quiet. Eyes lowered. Walk fast.”

  All right. She’d give him an earful later. Probably better that way too.

  Lily wiped her sweaty hands on the thin fabric of her dress and walked as fast as she could to keep up with Enar’s long strides.

  The trip back to the Claims’ House didn’t take as long as the journey to the courtyard, thank goodness. Enar yanked the iron bar out of its brackets, shoved her through the door and followed behind her, slumping against the wall.

  “That was fun, eh?” He grinned at her, his eyes not believing the words.

  “Fun? Are you crazy?”

  “Ah, you have returned. Here is your bag.” Ayla walked into the room holding the knapsack. Ayla’s glance ran from Lily’s head to her feet, clearly checking her for injuries.

  Enar grabbed the bag, hoisting it over his shoulder. “Thank you. We’ll return eventually.”

  Not if she had anything to do with it.

  Lily walked over to Ayla and gave her a hug. “Thank you for your kindness.”

  Ayla held her a little longer than necessary. “Take care. We’ll be here when you return.” As she pulled away, Ayla ran her hands down Lily’s arms, grasping her hands.

  Lily looked down to their clasped hands and noticed something she should have seen yesterday: a big black smudge on Ayla’s forearm.

  “What’s that?” Lily nodded in the direction of the mark.

  Ayla released Lily’s hands, one hand covering the mark, a finger rubbing the stain. “It’s nothing but a birthmark.”

  “What?” Enar stormed over, removed Ayla’s hand and stared at the mark. He looked at his arm and then back to Ayla’s.

  Lily followed his gaze. Unlike Ayla, Enar only had a small black circle on his forearm, barely noticeable. And here she thought she’d covered every inch of his body with her tongue. Obviously covering it with her tongue didn’t mean looking at it with her eyes.

  Enar cursed and dropped Ayla’s arm. He stepped back, his face red, his eyes wide, looking like he couldn’t decide on anger or shock as a dominant emotion. “Why didn’t you show this to me before?” It looked like anger won.

  Ayla’s hands started to smoke and her mouth opened, then shut as she clearly tried to break her own rule about not speaking back to a Watcher for fear of repercussions. Lily took a step back. Getting in the middle of a family argument was not her idea of a smart move.

  “Oh? So I’m supposed to show you all my marks? I have one on my bum, you want to see that one?”

  Lily took another step back until she pressed against the wall. Smoke poured off Ayla’s hands as flames brushed her fingernails.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Mother. This mark,” he pointed to the one on Ayla’s forearm, “is the only one of concern.”

  “Well, maybe if you paid more attention to me you’d have seen it earlier!” Flames licked up Ayla’s palms, turning her hands into balls of fire.

  “Stop it!” Enar yelled and Lily felt the words repeat in her mind, freezing her muscles.

  The balls of fire that were Ayla’s hands withered to puffs of smoke as the woman froze in place.

  Lily tried to move and got nowhere. The echo of his words died from the room, but still reverberated inside her, controlling her. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t hear her heart beating, couldn’t feel the pulse of life coursing through her veins.

  “Son of a goat! Breathe!” Enar hollered, but the command was a weak cousin of what he just yelled.

  A small breath entered her lungs, not enough to fully inflate them, but enough to stop her from dying. And once she took one breath, more followed in gasps. She dropped to her hands and knees, sucking back air like a starving man ate food. Lily saw Ayla in the same position and then Enar knelt in front of her, eyes wide, face white.

  “Lily! Breathe!” He shook her. She slapped weakly at his arm.

  “Stop it! You’ll break...my neck. Ayla?”

  Enar gathered her into his arms and pivoted on his knees to where Ayla struggled to sit back on her heels. One hand rested against her throat and she stared bug-eyed at Enar.

  “I don’t know what happened, what I did. I’ve never...I would never hurt you...either of you. Nothing like that has happened to me before.”

  Ayla coughed and swallowed and blinked, but the fear remained in her eyes. “The command was inside me.”

  “Me too,” Lily chimed in.

  “Only Draconi...Son of a goat. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Tell you what?”

  “That you have Draconi blood.”

  Lily counted her heart beats, and made it to five, before Ayla moved. The older woman burst out laughing, doubling over.

  “Oh, oh, oh. You’re hilarious.”

  “I’m serious. You carry the mark of the Draconi. You belong with them.”

  The laughter vanished from Ayla, although tears still trekked down her cheeks. “What? The Draconi sent your father’s band of Watchers to my village to kill me for possessing magic. They want nothing to do with me.”

  “What? Father knew you were Draconi and still claimed you?”

  “Of course he knew I had magic! He decided to claim me and told them I died in the fight so they wouldn’t try to kill me themselves. Sometimes I wish he’d let them have me.”

  “Right you should because they didn’t want you dead, they wanted you alive. They want all Halflings alive. That’s why a band of Watchers came for you.”

  “Quit spinning tales, Enar. All in my village knew that if a child was born with magic, the Draconi would come to take them away and kill them. It’s why I was supposed to be hidden.”

  “I can’t leave you here. Draconi females are supposed to be protected.”

  “I...am...NOT...Draconi! And leaving me here never bothered you or anyone else before. Don’t change on account you noticed my birthmark.” She rose to her feet, weaving a bit. One arm extended, pointing to the door. “Go. Take your woman and leave. Stop spinning tales and telling lies.”

  Taking a deep breath, Ayla walked through the beaded curtain into the hall, leaving Lily alone with Enar.

  Leaving sounded good. Leaving this place, this people, those scary-eyed men. Great idea. Best one she’d heard all day. Using Enar’s shoulders to heave herself to her feet, Lily headed toward the door. Enar still knelt, watching where Ayla had disappeared. A whisper of a thought crossed her mind, he wanted to chase Ayla down and take her with them.

  “Then take her.”

  Enar whipped around, eyes wide. “If I could I would.”

  “What’s stopping you?”

  “Her necklace. If she leaves without Father, then she will die. It’s part of the magic.”

  “Wh
at kind of messed up magic is that?” One hand touched her necklace and for once she was glad the thing was broken.

  “I don’t know. It keeps the woman here or with her Watcher. I never questioned it.” He rose to his feet and grabbed her arm. With his other hand, he slung the knapsack containing her clothes over one shoulder and pushed open the door. “We need to pick up my things and then we need to go to the Temple.”

  “Why?”

  “Quiet.” Enar dropped the metal bar into its resting place, locking in the claims. “Eyes down, remember. I’ll explain later.”

  Lily’s head spun as she followed Enar to his room. What else had he not told her? How many more revelations could she take in a day?

  “Stand here.”

  Lily raised her eyes, only to see a row of wooden doors. Enar opened one of them and motioned for her to stand in the doorway while he grabbed his packs off the floor. The bare room with its bed, chair and stone floor exuded loneliness despite the bright sunlight drifting through the window.

  And he’d rather stay in this room by himself than with her?

  “Come. The sooner we leave here the better.”

  At least they agreed on something.

  Playing the meek-mannered claim, Lily slung her bag over her shoulder and followed Enar through the town gates, trying to decide what she felt more: anger, fear or surprise. Enar must have been dealing with his own issues as he remained quiet, setting a quick pace once they left the confines of the village walls.

  Not so quick a pace she couldn’t pepper him with questions. “Why did you leave me there?”

  “I told you. That’s where claims stay.”

  “Well, I didn’t appreciate being left in that house.”

  “I didn’t have a choice.”

  “You always have a choice.”

  “All right. I choose to walk faster and make it to the Temple sooner.” His stride left her almost jogging to keep up.

  If she jogged, she couldn’t talk. And standing in the middle of the road yelling at his retreating back didn’t do anything except give her a sore throat.

  Men.

  The sun beat down from its apex and still Enar remained silent, marching along like a soldier on a mission. When the stone walls of the Temple appeared on the horizon, he slowed his stride. Good thing too seeing as her legs ached from the effort to keep his pace. If he thought distance made her questions disappear, he had another thing coming.

  “Hey!”

  Enar turned, one brow cocked. “What?”

  “Why get so upset Ayla is part Draconi? Shouldn’t you have gotten upset over the way she was treated, which had nothing to do with whether or not she’s a Draconi?”

  He looked at her for a moment, his gaze turning into ice-blue rocks. Lily shivered.

  “As a Watcher, we are trained to revere Draconi females. Not to the extent a Draconi male would, but enough to value her. Draconi females possess a lot of magic and it’s said the Goddess dwells in them. For my Father to claim one is despicable. It’s not done.”

  “So it’s all right for other women to be abused like so many of the claims are? How could you let those women live like that?”

  His jaw tensed. “I never said I liked it. You of all people know I don’t agree with it. But it’s the way of things. I can’t take any of them out of there. I can’t even free my mother. What do you expect me to do about it?” Fists clenched, he stopped to face her.

  Lily took a step back. “I don’t know! But something needs to be done. They can’t live like that!”

  “I’m doing something now! We’re getting my mother out of there. She’s Draconi, they’ll take care of her. As for the rest, I don’t know.”

  With a glare, he turned on his heel and strode down the road. Four steps later he stopped and whirled back around. “Taking a claim is part of being a Watcher. And if I hadn’t claimed you, you’d be back in your village. So you should be glad Watchers take claims.”

  Lily watched him stride off. After four strides, she jogged to catch up. “You would have taken me anyway. Even if you had a claim.”

  “You’re the perfect embodiment of a claim. White hair, white skin, light eyes. You’re right. I had to take you. And I had to show you off. Show everyone that I,” he whacked his chest, pride infusing his words, “I claimed you. So yes, you’d still be here even if I had another claim.”

  Something snapped inside her. “So you took me because I looked perfect? It had nothing to do with me?”

  “Woman, I just said it had everything to do with you. Do you not listen?”

  “Me not listen? I’ve heard every word you said, every lie you told me!”

  “I’ve never lied to you. What’s wrong with you? You’re...upset.”

  “Upset? Upset? Why wouldn’t I be upset?” Anger pulsed inside her, a snake coiling in her veins. Her normal even-temperament welcomed the rarely used emotion.

  The one person she trusted, who she loved, betrayed her. So, yes, the description fit.

  “I said we’re going to do something about my mother. And maybe the Draconi can do something about the other women too.”

  “Great! I’m sure they’ll all be happy to know the only reason anyone is doing anything is because one of them was a Draconi.”

  “But you’re still upset.”

  “Of course I’m upset! How can you think I’d be otherwise?”

  “I said I’d ask the Draconi to do something about the claims.”

  “This has nothing to do with them! Why can’t you understand?”

  If his teeth got any closer together they’d fuse. “I’m trying. You’re not making sense.”

  She knew anger consumed her, knew to continue speaking would only hurt matters, but really, how much worse could they get? And some part, granted a very small, and yet loud spoken part, wanted to make him hurt like she did.

  It embarrassed her to know the small part won.

  “That’s because you’re not listening! You don’t care! You’ve never cared!” Even through her temper, she knew that wasn’t true, but she was on a roll. “I thought I meant something to you, but you lied to me about everything. About being a claim, about where I’d stay, about your mother, your father and everything else about you. And you don’t understand that I’m upset?”

  Birds squawked and flew out of the trees at Lily’s escalating voice. Enar blinked, all other parts frozen as he stared at her.

  “Lily...”

  Thank the Goddess the Temple was directly ahead because she could barely see for the tears pooling in her eyes. If she could only make it to the Temple then she wouldn’t have to see him again.

  She ran, the stupid white dress she didn’t bother to change out of catching between her legs. Yanking it above her knees she ran faster and darted into the Temple Courtyard, Enar so close behind her she felt his breath on her neck.

  He grabbed her arm. “Lily. You belong to me. You wear my necklace. You will always be mine.”

  “Oh you think? Well, you died and the necklace fell off.” She pulled hard and the shoddy repair work snapped. Pitching the necklace on the ground she pulled a hand across her eyes. “There, have your bloody necklace. I don’t belong to you anymore.”

  With a sob she ran through the Temple doors, calling for the High Priestess, Aryana.

  Chapter 23

  Enar stood staring at Lily as she ran away from him, her necklace in a broken heap at his feet. Pain spread throughout his chest like a kick in the ribs, and he sucked down a lungful of air in a vain effort to soothe the ache. When he blinked, his vision wavered as if he looked through smoke. Rapid blinking followed by a swipe under his eyes solved the problem.

  The priestesses and acolytes stared at him with confusion or pity before lowering their eyes and scurrying off, leaving him alone with the necklace and the sounds of chirping, happy birds. Blithering birds with their happy little songs. He picked up the necklace and fired it at the branch holding the closest trilling avian. Startled, the bird flew
to another branch and continued to sing.

  So much for silence.

  He picked up the necklace, running his fingers over the round stones. He should run in after Lily, but she clearly didn’t want him and he couldn’t blame her. He’d lied to her, left her alone with his mother and allowed other Watchers to leer at her, all to show her off. All to prove he was as much a man as the next Watcher.

  And what did he get for his pride?

  The loss of his woman.

  He knew he’d lose her if he took her back to his village, but thought the loss worth the acceptance he’d see in the other Watchers’ gazes and the pride he hoped to see in his father’s eyes.

  Now that he’d visited the land of been-there-done-that, he realized her loss wasn’t worth it.

  He lived with the shuns and taunts his entire life, along with his father’s hate. Why hadn’t he stayed with Thoren and Keara instead of taking Lily back to the Watcher’s village where he knew he’d lose her—dare he say it—love?

  No, he’d had to bring her home, to follow tradition, to assuage his pride.

  He was a blithering idiot.

  Once he got her back, and he would win her back if it was the last thing he did, they’d settle here, among the Draconi. Who apparently were his blood too.

  And wasn’t that a scary thought?

  Which brought him back to the reasons he came to the Temple in the first place. His mother seemed to be a Draconi and a group of Watchers planned to kill their Draconi wards. In the grand scheme of things, both of those little niceties should rank higher than chasing a woman, but neither seemed as important as getting Lily back. Without her necklace on, he no longer owned her as a claim, which meant he needed to persuade her she belonged to him without using his persuasive magic.

  How did one go about seducing a woman without using magic?

  Goddess’s toes, he’d hung around Thoren too long and was turning into a simpering male pining for his female. Oh, wait, maybe all that pining was because he had some Draconi blood in him.

  Enar cursed.

  He wanted Lily but needed to find Thoren. His friend would know what to do about all his dilemmas. Provided Thoren wasn’t locked in his room with Keara. Why hadn’t he thought of that before he came to the Temple grounds?