I glared at Annika yet again, before turning my eyes to the rest of the room.
“It should go without saying, but those of red magic will henceforth be equals at this table, or we will serve you not at all. If you cannot agree to this, we will leave this District altogether, with enough boats and supplies to give us good chance to go elsewhere.”
My voice grew harder, more threatening.
“And a word of caution... to those of you who like this idea of us leaving, I suggest you learn a bit more about what’s been keeping your kingdom safe for all of these years, in addition to Heaven’s Sky. If we go now, you will be forced to fend for yourselves against the ravagers, without our magics or our help... a situation I doubt most of you would prefer to learning to get over your ignorance and your prejudice.”
Seeing the blank-eyed stares from the tops of those tables, I stroked the heads of the two fire lizards again. Feeling strength flow into me from those giant heads, I glared around at the staring courtiers yet again.
“And no one shall ever again imprison, cage, sell, or otherwise treat as property one of the fire lizards of the red magicians,” I said, my voice hard as ice. “That rule is absolute, and those who break it will be banished permanently into the wilderness, where the gods and the ravagers can made up their own minds on how to dispose of them.”
The faces around me paled still more.
Still, I felt satisfied with what I saw.
The worst part, I couldn’t help thinking, was finally over.
When I looked at Karlen, my uncle-slash-father, I saw tears in his eyes. He beamed at me while I watched, and the love and pride I saw there, the love I felt from Donal behind me, and from the fire lizards standing sentry at my side, finally let that knot in my chest start to relax.
I looked at Donal as I thought it, smiling at him, and he smiled at me too.
I’d done what I could.
It was up to the people now, to build a new world.
Chapter 22
THE REGENT
I LEANED BACK against his chest, sighing in relief as the door shut behind us.
Looking up at Donal’s face, seeing the faint scowl there, I couldn’t help but grin, knowing he felt even more of the same relief I did. Still, I couldn’t help thinking he looked good in the dark green coat and white shirt they’d dressed him in to be my escort for the night.
I could tell he was itching to get out of those clothes now, though.
Knowing him, he was already thinking about the work he had planned for tomorrow. He never did well to be idle for long, and there was so much now to do.
His current obsession, apart from working with the white witches to coordinate defense systems with the architects of Heaven’s Sky, was the building of the new hybrid school, a red and white magical training facility in the Capitol, which they were jokingly calling the “Peppermint Fortress,” in reference to the red and white bands on children’s candy.
This new facility was to be the largest yet, and the first of its kind as a school accepting witches and wizards of either type, and containing teachers and instructors from both. Construction had begun a few months previous. Donal chose the site himself, just south of the palace and the Water Markets and smack dab among the bones of those old hotels that used to line the waterfronts in the time before the ravagers came.
Donal instructed the builders to match the height of the previous structures for the new fortress, as well, which would make it the tallest functional building the waterfront had ever seen since those ancient times. Donal claimed he needed the height for security reasons, with the added bonus of providing means for build climbing and rappelling courses for the new recruits.
I suspected he had other motives as well.
Already, he and I had picnicked on that rooftop a few times, even though the main building was little more than a skeleton and we had to endure construction noises while we ate.
Neither of us minded.
Well, I didn’t mind, anyway, and from the smile on his face as he kicked his feet over the roof’s edge, staring out upon the snaking gold current of the Chons-Nai River, I suspected Donal didn’t mind so very much, either.
Again, with his uncanny ability to read my thoughts, Donal wrapped his arms around me from behind, pulling me into his chest.
“It is beautiful up there, is it not?” he murmured. “I’ve already asked them to make us a lounge up there with potted trees, jus’ for you ‘n me.”
I laughed, glancing up at him, and he smiled back, right before he kissed me.
He deepened the kiss considerably when I returned it.
Pushing and maneuvering me towards the bed we shared in a quiet corner of the palace, he eased me down on it before he began unhooking the latches on the front of my dress.
“Do we really have to live here?” he grumbled, still tugging at buttons and yanking the sash from around my waist. “I know they voted ye in, but can’t we build our own house somewhere? Move yer pets there, instead?”
I laughed. “You might have a losing battle there, Donal. The fire lizards made it clear they like the temple where it is. They’ve spent a lot of years there, and now that they can come and go as they please, they quite like it, especially with your sister there to keep an eye on them.”
He grunted, but I saw a faint smile of pride on his face at the mention of his sister.
“She does right good with them, doesn’t she?” he said.
“Yes,” I agreed. “She does. They like her very much. They’ve told me so.”
He nodded, glancing at me with that sharper glint in his eye. “You’re not jealous are ye? That yer pets might be more fond of her than of ye?”
Smacking him lightly in the chest with a palm, I laughed again. “You’d better cut that out, Donal. Joking or not, you don’t want the fire lizards hearing you call them ‘pets.’”
“Why?” he grunted. “I’m one of yer pets now, too, am I not? We’re all faithful servants of the Regent around here.”
I winced, in spite of myself, and he grinned wider.
“Get used to it, love. Ye’re Regent now, like it or not. Ye should have never left it up to them, if ye didn’t want the job. Everyone was so shit-scared of ye after that speech in the banquet hall, they wouldn’t dare’ve asked anyone else.”
I frowned up at him. “You really think they voted me in because they’re afraid of me?”
He laughed again, louder that time. “Gads. It was a joke, woman. They love you. You know they love you... even if some of them are scared shitless of ye, too. They still love you, even for all that.”
“Except the ones who hate me,” I muttered, staring up at the high ceiling.
“Except those ones, yeah,” he said agreeably. “But that’s leadership, love. There’ll always be some of those, too, no matter who ye are. Plenty under me’ve hated me, too.”
Meeting his dark eyes, I nodded, smiling in spite of myself. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Yeah, you guess?” He grinned.
I snorted, pushing at his chest. “Well, you hate it,” I reminded him. “This whole Regent thing isn’t your cup of tea at all. And I highly doubt you’re thanking me on a daily basis for roping you into this mess with me... no matter where we call home.”
“Hate it?” He frowned a bit, as if thinking seriously about my words. “No, princess, I don’t hate it. I’m not crazy about the banquets and all of that nonsense, it’s true. And some of those white witches could make grass commit suicide, they’re so dull...”
Laughing, I smacked his chest again, but he evaded my hand, still thinking aloud.
“...But it’s not forever. You made it so it’s not a life thing now, so I can do this for a few more years. And ye’ve been merciful to me in not draggin’ me to all of those damn’d functions. I come when I want, and I’m grateful for that luxury.”
Smiling at me with that dangerous glint in his eye, he added, “Usually I come only out of pity, huntress, when I can see you can’t
face another night of this nonsense without me.”
Grinning as he evaded another smack from me, he stroked my hair out of my face, pressing down on me with his weight and making me gasp.
“I am powerful glad ye threw in that bit about the Regent’s no longer needing to be celibate.” He smiled down at me. “I definitely would have kidnapped ye and carted ye out of this damned place, if that weren’t part of this deal. I’d lock ye up somewhere and have my way with ye until ye were seeing reason again, at the very least.”
I laughed, rolling my eyes. “Sure you would.”
He was back to looking at my clothes, though, his eyes holding more heat again. When I started unbuttoning his shirt, I saw that hotter light growing in the black of his pupils.
“You really don’t mind?” I said, softer that time, still unfastening his shirt.
He met my gaze, distracted from where he’d gone back to staring at my body.
“I really, really don’t mind,” he said, smiling. Leaning down, he kissed my mouth, using his tongue to caress my lips. “Anyway, thanks to you, I get to build my own fortress. How many husbands can say that about their wives?”
I laughed again, throwing back my head.
Before I could think of a good reply, his mouth took mine for real.
I lost myself in his kiss, in the feel of his lips and tongue, his hands rough and gentle in my hair. The red heat of his magic sparked like electricity as it coursed through my veins, warming every inch of my skin, even as it warmed his.
After a few seconds more, his hands finished their work on my dress. Then he was caressing my bare skin, pulling me tighter up against him, all without pulling away from my mouth.
I have no idea how long that kiss lasted.
By the time it was done, though, it was clear enough, the time for talking that night was over.
* * *
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RED MAGIC
The Othala Witch Collection:
SECTOR 6
Copyright © 2016 by JC Andrijeski
Published by White Sun Press
Cover Art & Design by K. de Long
2016
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Table of Contents
SYNOPSIS
CHAPTER 1: Water Market
CHAPTER 2: Red Magic
CHAPTER 3: The Man in the Box
CHAPTER 4: Donal
CHAPTER 5: Lying and Telling the Truth
CHAPTER 6: What I Am
CHAPTER 7: The Palace Walls
CHAPTER 8: The Second Goodbye
CHAPTER 9: The Way Below
CHAPTER 10: Temple of Fire
CHAPTER 11: The Door Opens
CHAPTER 12: The Other Side of the River
CHAPTER 13: Unexpected
CHAPTER 14: Finding a Place
CHAPTER 15: Fire Lizards
CHAPTER 16: The X Factor
CHAPTER 17: Midnight Visit
CHAPTER 18: Front Lines
CHAPTER 19: The North
CHAPTER 20: The Last One Standing
CHAPTER 21: The Capitol
CHAPTER 22: The Regent
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CREDITS
Red Magic: an Adult Dystopian Paranormal Romance: Sector 6 (The Othala Witch Collection) Page 23
