Lela nods and raises her violet eyes to Ariana. “Of course, Your Highness. I make sure my girls are atop of everything.”
“Apparently not. I was talking to one of your high-ranked Enchantresses yesterday, and she knew nothing of the barrier spell breach.”
Lela’s forehead crumples. “Barrier spell breach?”
Gideon stands. “I don’t like to burden everyone with every detail. Surely you can understand how I wouldn’t benefit from a panicking team.”
Ariana is silent for a long moment. “I can see that, Gideon, but leaving the Head Enchantress out of the loop with something that could put her girls’ lives under threat is just plain…” Stupid.
“I understand. I’ll ensure everyone is informed from here on out.”
Ariana pushes the plate in front of her away. “Please do.”
Chapter 42
Ariana grips tightly to Hadeon’s hand as they stroll across the field toward the Miras’ paddocks at the back of the palace. “What the hell happened in there?” she asks.
Hadeon shakes his head. “I’m not certain. I think stress levels are rising.”
“I just can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t quite right. I can’t put my finger on it though.”
Hadeon stops and looks at her. “I know what you mean. I feel it in my bones.”
“Intuition?”
He nods.
Veruka is in the paddock with the other Mira. Her black coat is shiny and eyes bright butterscotch. When she sees Hadeon standing beside Ariana near the gates she voices an excited roar, flashing long, pointed teeth, and lopes to him.
He laughs and pats her neck as she slings her huge paws onto his shoulders. “Good morning, darling,” he says. “Do you remember Ariana?”
Veruka’s paws find the grassy ground again and she rubs her cheek on Ariana’s hip. She giggles and pats her head. Veruka purrs.
Hadeon grins. “I think you’re her new favorite.”
“Not by a long shot,” she says as Veruka soon leaves her side and rubs her face against Hadeon’s. “How old were you when you got her?”
“She found me when I was thirteen. Mira find their companions. Not the other way around.” He laughs at a memory. “She stalked me through the forest near Loran Bay one afternoon when I was sent to collect some supplies for Father. She jumped me, pinned me to the forest floor, and proceeded to lick my face. Needless to say, she followed me home and has never left me since. Come on,” he says, taking Ariana by the waist and lifting her onto Veruka’s back as though she weighs nothing. He climbs on in front. “That’s a girl,” he says, leaning down and talking softly in the big cat’s ear. “We are going into the village today.”
Ariana grips tight to Hadeon’s waist and they are off, pouncing across the paddock, down and through the forest. Ariana raises her face to catch the sunlight that is sputtering through the treetops. The fertile leaves crunch under Veruka’s pounding paws, in competition with her quick, rumbling breaths.
Ariana breathes in the scent of the forest—wet earth mixed with spice and sweetness. Her heart grows and warms as it beats with connection to this place—to all things. She touches the velvety leaves on a low-hanging branch. Life beats into her fingertips—the leaves’ life, the tree’s life, the soil below her, nourishing the entire forest. Veruka’s pulse beats between Ariana’s thighs as she grips her flank. And Hadeon’s heat and love seep into her chest as she rests against his back. She is made from all this and all this is, in some way, made from her blood, bones, and spirit.
Fiore birthed her mother and father, and when they died they became a part of Fiore again, in a new form, their life still lingering in the unceasing memory of this place.
“I can feel the life of this place as though it’s my own beating heart,” says Ariana into Hadeon’s ear.
He reaches behind and grips her hand. “One and the same.”
* * * *
Many people are out moving along the sandy cobbled streets of Pursia today. Tangible anxiety pulses in the air as Warriors sweep house to house providing swords, and teachers brief residents of the evacuation process. But as Ariana and Hadeon pad down the street on Veruka’s back, an excited energy replaces the gloom. People stop and others pour from their houses to see the commotion.
They slide off of Veruka and make their way through the growing crowd, meeting and talking to the men, women, and children. The children have never lived without the dark shadow of the Sun Queen. Ariana assures them of their efforts to bring peace back to Fiore and quashes the rumors scampering through the village.
As the villagers relax, they tell her stories about the great traveling shows and carnivals the previous queens would hold all over Fiore. They speak with glazed eyes about the happy memories of enormous feasts and music events where the queen would meet all her people and bring such cheer to their lives. They speak of the sorrow they still hold in their hearts over the passing of Ariana’s mother and how the years between queens have been desolately cold.
Ariana promises each of them, face to face, eye to eye, that she will do her best to see that all those wonderful memories of Fiore and the royal house will be met in the future with new memories—better memories.
Though, as the sun sets and they ride back to the palace, heaviness falls on her heart and shoulders because as much as she wants to restore peace in Fiore and defeat the Sun Queen, she’s not quite sure she can.
Hadeon detours on the way home along an overgrown pathway through the forest. It leads to an expansive clearing. A silver lake glistens in the center of the field and is surrounded by vibrant purple water plants and long-stemmed, orange-colored grasses. They climb off Veruka and leave her to tramp to the lake’s edge and lap at the water. Hadeon takes Ariana’s hand and pulls her close to him.
“Have I told you how much I love you today?” he says, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.
She shakes her head. “I’d rather you show me instead.”
“Oh, flower, I can do both.”
Ariana spells a blanket beneath their feet and they fall down in each other’s arms onto its plush pile. He kisses her with the passion of a new lover or of a lover saying goodbye, she can’t distinguish. He undresses her with such attentiveness, kissing and sucking at each exposed piece of flesh with the wonderment of an explorer as he strokes and licks. Blissful sensations follow his fingertips, his warm mouth, and his breath.
Then it’s her turn, feeling each groove and hard slope. Licking the salt from his skin and tasting the sweetness of pre-come on the tip of his shaft.
As their pleasure grows with hands and lips, tongues and heat, she is a writhing tangle beneath him, begging him to take her to the stars like she knows only he can. So he fills her deep just as she thinks she will combust from need and sparks the kindle in her body and soul until she is alight, bright and fiery, and they are one as they ever will be.
Himself solid and hot inside her, their hands entwined, mouths and tongues tasting. He whispers in her ear, and what he tells her with words discards all the fuss about bodies, beauty, and speaks to, and only of, her soul, and she cries because she never knew how deeply she could love him.
He wipes at her cheeks as he still moves inside her, filling her body and soul until she explodes against him, upon him, through him, and he within her depths, and they each know they could never love each other any more than they do now.
Ariana lies on his chest, both their breaths still raging, though a peacefulness and weariness, which can only be achieved by satiating sex, still them. She traces a finger down his sternum to his belly button and then back again.
“Why did you bring me to this spot, Hadeon?”
He’s silent for a long moment as he looks up into the darkened sky. “You know why.”
She kisses his chest and snuggles in beside him. Of course she knows why, she just wanted to hear him say it in case she was wrong—hoping she was wrong. Evil stalks near and they may not get another chance to
love each other like they did just now.
Chapter 43
Loping back to the palace grounds on Veruka’s back, Ariana rests her head against Hadeon’s back while holding his taut waist tightly. If she closes her eyes she can almost feel as though they are riding his motorcycle along the streets of Earth.
Earth. How far away that seems now. Could she even go back there again, or call it her home? In her heart, of course, there will always be a place for where she grew up. But her home is Fiore now and her people need her.
Nearing the paddock, Ariana notices Reid waiting near the other Mira, his hands on his hips. He jogs to them as they paw up to the gates.
“Quick. You need to follow me.”
Hadeon jumps off lightning fast, grips Ariana’s waist, and has her feet on the ground before she realizes she has moved. He points to the paddocks, sending Veruka away.
“What’s going on?” he asks, words quick.
Reid turns and marches toward the palace, Ariana and Hadeon keeping stride. “There’s been metaphysical activity again. Huge amounts. Greater than has ever been monitored before.”
“Have evacuations started?”
Words shaky with his heavy, rushed footsteps, he says, “Not yet. We were waiting for your word.”
“Race ahead. Tell them to start the evacuations now,” says Hadeon. “Tell Father to meet us in the library to discuss what we’ll do next.”
Reid nods and sprints up to the palace.
Ariana grips tight to Hadeon’s arms and closes her eyes. She sends her mind outward, trying to get a sense of what they are up against. She feels for that hotspot of magic where she assumes each particle is black, negative, and fear invoking. Her eyes snap open.
“I can’t feel anything,” she blurts out. Her stomach squeezes and tenses with nerves. “I should be able to feel her magic. I should. When I was flying over the Enchantresses practicing the other day, it was so thick in the air it tingled my skin. But I can’t feel anything.”
“Perhaps it’s magic we’ve never encountered before?”
Ariana shakes her head. “We’re all made from the same energy, Hadeon. We all conjure the same energy. I felt that so indisputably this morning riding through the forest. The Sun Queen, if she is made of Fiore, can’t possibly possess any different type of magic.”
“Let’s wait to hear what Father has to say.”
Ariana nods and they pick up their pace.
Chapter 44
Domascus’s eyes are bright and fervent—a deep black. He’s wired, movements quick, as he paces across the length of the library floor from one set of bookshelves to the other.
When Ariana and Hadeon are seated, he begins. “Gideon has sent word back that there is metaphysical activity on the southern border behind Pursia Forest. Greater than anything we’ve seen.”
Hadeon looks around the room. “Where is he?”
“He’s briefing the battalions at the moment and will join us as soon as he can.”
Ariana breathes in deeply. “I’m not sure I want anyone being briefed on anything until I know exactly what’s going on.”
“You were not here, Your Highness. We had no choice but to make a decision on how to act.”
Guilt pulls on her insides and she looks at Hadeon, whose face is cloaked in that always impartial veil.
“On your word, we started the evacuation procedure. If it goes as planned, we’ll be leading residents through the underground passage within the next half-hour. A messenger dragon has been sent to the Sealusters of Loran Bay to expect their arrival tomorrow morning. They’ve been instructed to commence loading the ships with supplies and prepare to sail. Gideon wants the troops out of here as soon as possible.”
“Does the original plan hold?” Hadeon asks.
Domascus shakes his head. “Gideon will send all our troops at once, rather than stagger them. He thinks it will be the best way to overwhelm whatever army the Sun Queen may have.”
“Do we have any idea what that army may consist of? Numbers?”
“Only that it’s…large.”
Ariana’s eyes widen as she looks at Hadeon. “But all of our troops, all at once? My God, this could be a disaster.”
“You need to trust us,” says Domascus. “Gideon is skilled in the preparation and rolling out of battle plans—”
“Yes, but never against the Sun Queen. And I’m sorry, but I can’t see my Warriors, Enchantresses, and guards as mere war fodder. This is not your or their war. This is mine and mine alone, and I will not sleep comfortably with blood on my hands.”
Domascus lowers his voice. “But, Your Highness, this is what we are born to do.”
Ariana is shocked into silence. He’s right. This is what they are born to do. Her doubt and meddling are like telling a Healer she can’t heal, or a teacher he can’t teach, or herself that she can’t be queen and isn’t magical. She nods. “You’re correct. I apologize. And I do trust you.” Hadeon takes her hand and squeezes it gently. “Go ahead. Do what you need to do, so that we all see this through to the end alive.”
Gideon marches through the door, muscles rigid, his sword sheathed and attached to his kilt, big boots laced high. “And that’s our main objective, doing all that we need to so that we end this night alive,” he says, voice booming.
Hadeon nods at his father, while Ariana watches Gideon and assesses the fervor in his eyes and the tension in his neck. His eyes are deep and black, but as bright as polished ebony. She’s seen that excitement before when she and Hadeon had to go back and face the Soul Seekers. The thrill of battle enlivens them and illumes their souls. She must give her trust over to that and believe that everyone will do all they can to see this through to the end.
Standing, Ariana strides to the window and gazes out into the blackness. Despite the turmoil, the palace grounds are quiet. Too quiet. She spins to Gideon and Domascus and says as much.
“The battalions have left the palace, Your Highness,” says Gideon.
Ariana’s eyes widen. “Without us?”
Gideon nods. “I’m sorry, but plans changed as soon as that barrier was breached. We didn’t have time to wait around for decisions to be made. So I made them. That’s what you put me in charge to do.”
Again that guilt swirls in her belly and squeezes her chest. While she was in the fields making love with Hadeon, the palace was in turmoil and their leader wasn’t here.
She glances at Hadeon then looks back to his father and nods. “I understand. Thank you for doing what needed to be done. However, I would like to prepare straight away to meet up with my Enchantresses. It’s wrong that I’m here.”
Gideon shakes his head sternly. “I don’t understand why you are so intent on putting your life at risk. The Sun Queen’s numbers may put us to shame, but our troops are incredibly skilled. If we play this right, we may be able to put an end to all this without the need to put you in harm’s way at all. So hold tight here, and if we find ourselves in a corner, you’ll be called upon. I can assure you of that.”
Ariana breathes steadily as she contemplates his words. She turns back to the window and looks out again at the unmoving land. One part of her would love to never face the Sun Queen, yet another part feels irresponsible. She turns to face them again. “I can’t simply wait here. I won’t.”
Hadeon’s expression is stern. “I agree. We may be king and queen, but we are not useless. Ariana is our most powerful weapon. We could end this war before it begins. And I’ve been training my entire life for tonight—it would be poor form to leave me out of it.”
Gideon opens his mouth, but Tuti flutters through the library door, distracting him. All the Warriors tense, hands moving to their hilts until they realize she is no threat. Tuti rushes to Ariana and throws her arms around her waist, her glass-like wings a tangle of bright colors.
“Why haven’t you evacuated with the others?” Ariana asks.
Tuti shakes her head. “I can’t leave you. I already lost your mother, I won’t
lose you too. I’m staying to help.”
“I’d feel better if you were stowed away safely on the ship until this is over.”
Tuti lifts her head and looks up at Ariana. “I can be your eyes and ears, in the empathic sense.”
Hadeon rubs his chin. “May not be such a bad idea.”
Ariana nods. “What can you sense now?”
Tuti frowns. “Nothing. She made her move and fled, leaving her hordes to fight her battle.”
“I can’t feel her magic either,” says Ariana. “Don’t you think that’s strange?”
“Not really. Not if she fled.”
Ariana releases herself from Tuti’s petite arms and faces the others in the room. “Is the Sun Queen scared? I don’t understand this elusiveness. This woman confuses me.”
“You’re not expected to understand her ways,” says Hadeon. “She’s nothing like you. Nothing like any of us.”
Ariana focuses on Gideon. “So where do we think she’s run off to?”
He frowns and shrugs. “We are unsure at this stage, but we are searching. It could be that this current threat is merely a distraction and she’s looking to strike elsewhere—at a weaker chink.”
Ariana shudders at the thought. The Sun Queen’s like a ghost—no one knows where she will appear.
“You need to hide the spell book,” says Tuti, eyes wide and frightened. “If she gets her hands on that, we’re done for.”
Ariana knows that the book doesn’t contain any spell that would immediately lead to her demise should the Sun Queen possess the book. But at the same time, it doesn’t contain a specific spell to help Ariana defeat the Sun Queen either. But the spell book came to her for a reason and that is to keep it safe. So that’s what she will do.
Ariana nods, her focus shifting to the corner of the room as she considers a location safe enough to stow the book should the Sun Queen force her way into the palace.
“I know a place,” Tuti says. “Your mother used it to hide secret items. It’s a small chamber in the cellar that’s completely masked by stone.”
The Book of Spells and Such Page 27
