Kiss of the Royal

by Lindsey Duga

  The harpies dove and buzzed and burrowed into the deer flesh but paid us no attention. Sparrow harpies lived only for the scent of death and fresh blood, not the healthy or the living. They were scavengers.

  Tears sprang to my eyes. The metallic scent of blood and decaying flesh lingered on the air. But the sight was worse. Red rowan deer were sacred creatures, so they were rarely hunted, and when they were, every part of their bodies was used—their fur, meat, silver antlers, and bones, which were made into many great Legion weapons. But more than anything, they were sweet, gentle creatures. It was said their breath in the cold winter air formed the wind wisps that traveled to the Seas of Glyll.

  It was a tragedy beyond words. I pressed my palms to my eyes, tears clinging to my hands, and swallowed a few more times. Brom turned away and gagged. Zach stood slightly ahead, gripping Vel’s reins and staring at the massacre with a clenched jaw, a slight sheen to his pale skin. After a moment of silence, he said, “Let’s go.”

  I stopped halfway across the meadow, my boots coated with blood and mud, sparrow harpies buzzing relentlessly, and bowed my head, offering a silent prayer to the Holy Queens. My whispered words were carried away by the wind, over the meadows and away from the Sable Dragon’s dark omens.

  …

  Two hours later, the forest had grown so thick, light had all but disappeared, and yet another shadow had fallen over my lungs and heart. Fighting down a wave of nausea, I lowered my head and breathed in Lorena’s mane, which still smelled of the stables back home, and watched the dark green foliage on the ground pass by at a slow trot. As the nausea receded, the shadow over my lungs tightened, squeezing air from my chest.

  “Something’s close,” I whispered.

  Zach turned in his saddle. “From what direction?”

  “Southeast, I think.”

  “How many?” His hands clenched and unclenched on his reins. Not for the first time, I wondered if he was angry that he no longer felt the Sense or that I felt it double.

  “Either a lot of small things, or one big thing, and it’s coming fast.”

  Zach withdrew a dagger from his belt. “Off the horses.”

  Brom and I obeyed. Brom grasped his shield and withdrew his crossbow from his saddlebag. I grasped the hilt of my sword, missing my own shield thanks to the fight with the griffin and feeling naked without it.

  We moved as quietly as possible through the forest. I listened hard, but more than anything, I felt. I dug deep into the reservoirs of my Royal magic and pushed out my Sense—reaching like arms into the trees around us. In the air there was nothing sinister, but perhaps… I pushed my Sense down, down to the forest floor, and it was then—to the east and moving steadily—I felt a dark presence.

  “It’s in the growth.” I touched Zach’s elbow. “The grass.”

  Zach swore. “Back on your horses.”

  This time I didn’t obey, because Zach hadn’t moved.

  For a second, I was tempted to mention the Kiss, but I knew by now that neither logic nor seduction worked on him. Instead of arguing, though, I needed to make him trust me more. But how?

  By doing this his way. I just hoped it wouldn’t get us killed.

  “And you?” I said.

  “I can’t kill whatever it is on my horse, can I?” he snapped.

  “Why do you think the responsibility falls on you alone?” I jabbed a finger toward his chest. “We’re here, too.” I gestured to Brom, who had remained on the ground with me.

  Zach’s gaze shifted from me to Brom, as if he was considering our worth.

  “Let us help fight. Or would you rather repeat the griffin incident?”

  At last he met my eyes, and I could see I’d trapped him.

  Before Zach could agree, the sound of shuffling through leaves and underbrush reached my ears. No, smoother than a shuffle. Like a slither.

  “Serpents,” I whispered. Likely the same ones that had taken down the herd of red rowan deer—and now they were out for more blood.

  At that, Zach hoisted me up onto my saddle faster than I would’ve thought possible and drew a second dagger from his belt.

  The slithering grew louder, and each breath I took became more labored. Before I could shout a warning, something from the undergrowth launched itself into the air.

  The serpent practically flew, propelling its long body toward me. It was a basilisk viper, known by the gray and green branch-like pattern of its scales and its pupil-free yellow eyes.

  Zach was already there, twisting around like a snake himself, thrusting his dagger through a swift upward cut and lopping the viper’s head clean off. It fell to the earth and crumbled into dust as more slithering whispered through the forest.

  Our horses tossed their heads, their hooves dancing in panic. “Any ideas?” I shouted. From the sound, it must be close to twenty vipers.

  “Just cover me. Brom, give Ivy your shield and shoot anything in the grass that moves.”

  As Brom tossed me his shield and loaded his crossbow, I pleaded with Zach. “Please, you need—”

  “What I need”—he threw another dagger at the forest floor a few yards away, and a hiss escaped—“is a way to get rid of all the growth.”

  The vipers were closing in, their hissing and slithering now at an impossible volume. Brom shot arrows at any rustle while Zach and I threw daggers, but it was impossible to tell if we hit anything.

  Another basilisk rocketed through the air, and Zach threw his dagger, pinning the snake to a tree. Just as I flung another dagger, Lorena whinnied and reared up. It was all I could do to grip her sides tight enough not to fall from her back. The snakes were now at her hooves.

  Or at least I thought they were. Not serpents, but flames, nipped at her hooves. Zach and Brom gave shouts of surprise and jumped from foot to foot, fire now spreading from their feet and burning the undergrowth to ash. It spread rapidly in a perfect circle, destroying all forms of plant life in its wake and leaving only the bare soil. And twenty angry basilisk vipers.

  This couldn’t be a natural fire.

  I turned in my saddle, looking for the source of magic. Surely it wasn’t Zach. He seemed just as surprised about the flames. Could it be from the same source as the griffin’s golden demise?

  With all the grass and growth burned away, Zach whipped about like a leaf in the wind, slicing and throwing. I watched, open-mouthed, as bits of serpent were tossed into the air. Brom and I helped, but it was nothing compared to Zach’s intense killing spree. There were a couple of times when serpents had nearly gotten me, but Zach hacked them to bits.

  Once the dust of the vipers’ corpses settled and the darkness lifted from my lungs, the forest was silent, interrupted only by a slight rustling. Where was it coming from? The ground had been scorched in a perfect circle around us.

  Zach looked up, and I followed suit.

  To the east, in a high brucel tree, was a young woman. She was crouched on a wide and sturdy-looking branch, half her body shielded by leaves and branches. She would have been well-hidden, but her vibrant blue robe gave her away.

  For a few moments, no one moved or spoke. Zach glanced at me, and I mouthed, “Mage.”

  She must be. With elemental magic like that—so controlled and precise.

  “Greetings, lady,” Zach called, cupping a hand over his mouth. “Do we have you to thank for that magic?”

  She straightened, the hem of her azure robe sweeping across the leaves and bark. Her hair was as black as a raven’s wing, falling in beautiful waves down to her elbows, and her skin as white as snow.

  I felt a pang of envy. Even with her up in a tree I could see how flawless her skin was. Unlike mine, I thought irritably, always aware of my freckles, forever a mockery of my great ancestor’s beautiful skin. Something my mother never let me forget.

  Seeing her there, with the light behind her and her dark hair a sharp contrast against the bright green leaves, reminded me of the stained glass depiction of Queen Myriana in the library. How similar
they looked.

  “Fantastic deduction, prince,” the mage said. “Did you also solve the mystery of why the world goes dark when the sun goes down?”

  Zach threw back his head and laughed. It was the same easy laugh he’d given me the day in the village. Still chuckling, Zach hooked his daggers on his belt. “Fair enough, mage.”

  At his carefree laughter, irritation squeezed the nerves in my neck, making my shoulders hunch. It wasn’t just that he was laughing so easily with this beautiful woman, but it was also irritation at myself for being annoyed to begin with.

  “Who are you?” the woman asked.

  I dismounted Lorena. “My name is Ivy Myriana, direct descendant of Queen Myriana and Royal Princess of the Legion of Myria.”

  “I wasn’t talking to you, princess,” she said sharply, her head snapping from me back to Zach. “I was talking to the wraith disguised as a swordsman.”

  Zach raised his eyebrows. “A wraith, eh? Is that a compliment?”

  Ignoring his remark, I placed a hand on his shoulder. “This is my partner, Prince Zachariah of the kingdom of—”

  The mage jumped from the tree, landing gracefully with leaves showering down around her. Placing her hands on her hips, she squinted at Zach. “You’re the Swordsman Prince from the West?”

  Zach shrugged. “You were expecting someone taller, weren’t you?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t mind him. A troll stepped on his head when he was a baby.”

  The female mage just ignored us. “That can’t be,” she said. “I heard he doesn’t take partners. That he’s a prince without a princess.”

  “Ah, well, this is a special arrangement.” Zach’s eyes lingered on me.

  Special. I quickly looked away.

  “Hmm,” was her only response.

  There was an awkward pause between the four of us, and it was then, as I began looking all around, I noticed that something was missing.

  Zach’s hand wrapped around my side, startling me with both its suddenness and intimacy. “Ivy? What is it? Do you feel okay?”

  I shouldn’t have been pleased at the gentleness in his voice or the tenderness in his touch—but I couldn’t stop the smile.

  Placing my hand over his, I squeezed his fingers. “I’m okay. Promise.” I shifted my gaze back to the mage, as Zach withdrew his arm. “I was just wondering… Where’s your master?”

  The mage looked at me with a contemplative frown. “My master?”

  I folded my arms. “You’re very young to be traveling alone and using your magic without a master to help you.”

  It took many years for young mages to fully control all their elemental powers, and this girl couldn’t have been more than a few years older than me.

  The mage smirked, twisting two pale fingers into a wavy curl that lay over her shoulder. “You needn’t worry, princess.”

  As she spoke, I could’ve sworn her eyes grew a shade darker, but it might’ve been a cloud passing over the sun.

  “My master is very close.”

  I looked to the trees again but felt silly. There was no one there. “What are you and your master doing so far north?”

  The mage shouldered a light bag I only just noticed she carried. “Heard a rumor of a witch passing through these parts.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “And you didn’t tell the Legion so they could investigate?”

  “What’s the point of possessing these powers if not to help those who need it?” She turned on her heel. “Now, I believe I’ve answered enough of your questions, while you’ve barely answered mine. I’ll be off.”

  Affronted, I almost pointed out that all she’d really asked was why Zach had chosen me as a partner and no one else, which now seemed rather personal, but I didn’t. She had just saved us. “Wait,” I said. “Lady Mage, if you…if you wouldn’t mind, I have a favor to ask of you.”

  She turned only halfway back, her gaze flickering to Brom, who was watching her with fascination, then back to Zach and me. “So ask it, then.”

  Ignoring her haughty tone, I pointed in the direction we’d come. “A herd of red rowan deer were brought down by these basilisk vipers, and now their bodies are being picked apart by sparrow harpies. I was wondering if you could…help their souls find peace.”

  The mage regarded me, her blue eyes fixed on my own.

  Before I could say another word, she nodded, then raised her hand above her head and brought it down in a quick slicing motion.

  Wind ripped through the trees with the force of a gale on the seas. Zach, Brom, and I threw up our arms against the wind and the onslaught of thousands of leaves. When we looked up, she was gone.

  “Show-off,” I muttered.

  We picked up our thrown daggers and loosed arrows and started once again through the forest. Not long after, we smelled smoke on the breeze. We turned and looked back. Sure enough, thick black smoke was rising above the treetops from the direction of the meadow. The sparrow harpies dissipated like ash in the wind, leaving the souls of the great deer to find peace in the magical flames.

  Chapter

  Seventeen

  Incoming Storm

  We moved through the forest at a steady pace, even though the terrain was slowly changing and collecting more hills. By heading north for the mountains, occasionally drifting east when we’d catch our bearings from the sun’s position through the trees, we covered a lot of ground. Then the thunder started.

  It came fast, low and threatening, like a second canopy above our heads, pressing in on the leaves and branches of the forest.

  I cursed, stopping Lorena and patting her muzzle as the third rumble of thunder boomed around us. “This isn’t a normal storm.”

  Zach scowled over his shoulder. “Don’t tell me…another blasted sign?”

  I nodded. “We need to find shelter. Fast.”

  “I could scout ahead and look for a cave,” Bromley offered, already dismounting.

  I knew Brom was a good scout—the other princes and members of the hunting parties often bragged about his skills—but still, my stomach dropped at the idea. Not only was the magical storm itself dangerous, but also it interfered with my Sense, preventing me from noticing a dark creature roaming about.

  I bit my bottom lip to stop myself from forbidding him.

  Zach caught my eye, then swung down from his horse. “No offense, Brom, but I’ve got longer legs—I’m pretty sure I can move faster.”

  As he handed me Vel’s reins I gave him a grateful smile, briefly squeezing his fingertips. Zach returned my smile, then tossed his hood over his short brown hair and hurried into the forest, his hand lashing out at trees with a dagger, marking his trail.

  Brom and I continued forward but at a much slower pace, listening to the sounds of the forest and the incoming storm. We were only minutes away from the onslaught of rain. I just prayed the black lightning would wait till we found shelter. Unlike regular lightning, where fires would ignite, black lightning hit the earth with subzero temperatures, freezing every living thing and cracking open the earth. Entire crop seasons were ruined, and people starved. The ice rupturing the ground caused earthquakes, and when the ice thawed, there would be flooding. It was one devastation after the next.

  Which was why we needed to find a cave soon. Black lightning never struck stone. Nothing to kill there.

  “I should be out there, not him,” Brom said after a particularly large thunderclap. “He should be here with you, princess. To protect you.”

  “I can take care of myself, Bromley,” I said gently.

  He met my eyes. It was the same look he’d given me when I teased that I’d put a goblin in his closet when he was a child—one of real fear. Had those vipers terrified him more than he’d let on? Had the griffin? I had been so concerned with the thunder that I hadn’t noticed how quiet he had become after the attack.

  We got down from our horses so we could travel side by side.

  “Those serpents,” he said, “they almost got you. Sev
eral times. But he saved you from them…effortlessly. The griffin, too. I wasn’t there, but I saw the blood on Zach—he saved you. What if we’re attacked again? I can’t protect you like he can.”

  I halted the horses and glanced at the sky. “It’s not your job to protect me, Brom.”

  “Which is why it should be me out there!” Bromley shouted.

  I took a step back, shocked. Bromley had never yelled at me so forcefully before.

  Color drained from Brom’s face, and he fell at my feet. “I’m so sorry, milady. Please forgive me.”

  Oh, Brom. My sisters were dear to me, but Brom was more like family than anyone else, and I knew he felt the same about me. We worried about each other.

  I dropped to my knees and placed my arms around his shoulders, pulling him close. “Zach offered to go because he saw I wanted you with me. I was scared for you, Brom. I didn’t want you out in the forest alone.”

  Bromley said nothing, but his hands dug deeply into the earth.

  I pressed my cheek against the top of his head. “I know it’s selfish, but I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.”

  Bromley moved his head up, bumping my cheek and looking me in the eyes. “Me, too. I couldn’t stand to see you… You’re…you’re the only family I have.”

  I smiled and kissed his forehead. “You’re my family, too.”

  He brushed away my kiss like an embarrassed little brother. “What happened between you and Zach? Last night, I mean, when I left?”

  The question was so sudden that it threw me off guard. “Well I…I had said something unbelievably rude to him, then I apologized, and we came to a sort of…agreement.”

  Brom’s lips pulled to the side in a half smirk. “I can tell something happened. You two seemed—”

  A crack of lightning drowned out his voice. Black veins ripped through the gray sky, and several yards away an entire cluster of trees went white with ice, the ground shaking under our feet as the trees’ roots froze as well. We quickly stood and grabbed the horses’ bridles, stroking their noses to keep them calm. As if triggered by the black lightning, rain fell in large pellets. We threw up our hoods and kept moving in the direction of Zach’s trail marks. Just when we were freezing and soaked to the bone, a cloaked figure emerged through the rain. I hoped it was Zach, but I drew my sword just in case.