Forbidden Magic

by Genia Avers

  She whirled. “Deadly, huh? What am I, a sarcophagus?”

  If he didn’t want her to touch him, the least he could do was be honest. She got it. Her skirt was completely green when it should have been purple. She turned her face and swiped at her cheek. She would not let him see.

  “Ah, shit.”

  “What now?” She twisted her head toward him, expecting to see disgust. She’d probably wiped the slimey green stuff all over her face.

  He took another step backward to put some distance between them. “You need to bathe as soon as possible.”

  The treaty, the marriage, Ronan. She’d managed to stay positive, but Kamber’s betrayal zapped her strength. “I get that you’re glad to be rid of me,” she said, barely able to speak. “So why don’t I end our misery.”

  She lifted her skirt, using the nasty cloth to rub her face.

  “Subena, no!”

  Kamber had lunged forward, jerking the dress from her grasp. He backed away, holding his hand in front of him.

  His entire hand turned red.

  She heard her own gasp. Her vision blurred, but she saw blisters form on his fingers.

  “Oh Bockle,” she moaned. “You were serious.” She tried to get her brain to comprehend. Why was her skin unmarred?

  “Hur. Ree.” Kamber’s words were hard to form. His throat clenched shut. “Bitson rose—rub the petal…”

  “Crap, crap, crap.” Where had she seen the cursed rose? She remembered. She’d seen the blue flower when she lay on the ground. She hoped to Bockle the petals would do their magic. Kamber couldn’t die.

  She sprinted to the spot where Taslin had held her hostage. Falling to her knees, she plucked a rose from the vine. “Please don’t let me be too late,” she mumbled. She scampered back to the ravine’s edge.

  The contamination had spread. Blisters covered Kamber’s entire arm. “Blasteration. Why did he touch me?” she said aloud. She experienced an overwhelming sense of guilt. He’d thought she would hurt herself by wiping her face with her moss-laden gown.

  She glanced at the lone flower, not sure what she should do with it. She twisted the stem in her hand. Kamber let out a weak moan. He labored to breathe.

  She clenched her eyes shut. “Please let this work.”

  Being careful not to touch the rose’s petals or Kamber, she rubbed the one flower as hard as she could over his hand.

  Nothing happened.

  Maybe the attar has to contact the skin.

  She used a twig to peel off a single petal and then grabbed a fallen branch. She rubbed the petal with the branch until the oil from the rose coated the back of Kamber’s hand. She used the branch to flip his hand over and repeated the process on his palm.

  “I don’t know what else to do,” she whispered.

  She sat on a rock and watched. Nothing happened. She thanked Bockle, he still breathed. But for how long?

  Subena swayed back and forth. Nothing happened.

  After a half hour, she leaned forward to check his hand again. The blisters seemed smaller. At least she hoped they looked smaller.

  The next minutes felt like an eternity. She examined Kamber’s hand, again and again, being careful not to touch his skin. The blisters were less red. She felt certain.

  She waited another half-hour, conscious that every second was time not expended searching for Ronan.

  The texture of Kamber’s skin improved but he remained unconscious. “Wake up,” she said softly and reached for his hand. She jerked her arm back just before she touched his skin. “I would have poisoned him again,” she whispered to the debris that continued to trickle to the ground. I need to wash.

  She checked once more to make sure Kamber still breathed. He did.

  She put her head to the ground, listening for an underground stream. Her grandmother had taught her how to find water during one of her visits to the wilderness palace.

  “Who knows?” her grandmother had said. “You might have use of this skill one day.”

  “One day” was now. She said a silent prayer to the ancients and made a beeline for the stream. She guessed she was about a kilometer from Kamber when she found a pool of water.

  She stripped and put her foot into the stream. “Yikes.” The icy water made even her blood shiver. Don’t think about it.

  Squeezing her eyes closed, she plunged her body into the stream. Her teeth clanged as she grabbed the petals from the roses she’d gathered on her way to the water. She rubbed the flowers over her body and then squeezed a new rose and rubbed the attar into her hair.

  Her body revolted at the frigid temperature, but she stayed in the icy pool. She had to remove every trace of the moss.

  With her skin scrubbed raw, she moved upstream and doused herself once more in the freezing liquid. She reached for her dress, halting mid-reach. Her clothes were contaminated too.

  “Bockle.”

  Using a stick, she shoved the garments into the water and pounded vigorously, doing her best to ignore the numbness creeping from her fingertips into every cell of her body. She used the remaining roses to create more attar for a final rinse. Task complete, she wrung out the garments and laid them on a rock to dry.

  The cold she’d ignored during her flurry of activity attacked her body with renewed vigor when she stopped moving. She rubbed her body briskly. Maybe she’d walk out of the woods and let the Sun-Star warm her. Someone might see her naked, but it was a risk she’d willingly take.

  Heading for the road, she remembered Kamber’s cloak. She could wrap the outer garment around her shivering body.

  After donning her wet boots, Subena dashed toward the spot where she’d left her spouse. The lure of his cloak spurred her to greater speed.

  She’d barely covered a hundred meters when an unexpected obstacle impeded her path. She tripped, almost falling headlong into the dirt. “Well, well, well. Surely the show isn’t over so soon.”

  She straightened her body, covering herself as best she could with her arms and hands. Taslin. How had he gotten out of the ravine?

  “There’s no need to be so modest. I enjoyed every inch of your delectable body while you splashed in the stream.” Taslin leered at her. “Had I known you hid such treasures, I wouldn’t have been so patient with you, princess. I should have taken you when I had the chance. If I had, we wouldn’t be in this dreadful place today.” He laughed, sending cruel chills down her spine.

  His eyes fixated on a nipple that peeked through her hand. “Had I known it was a barbarian you desired,” he said, “I would’ve been more forceful.”

  She couldn’t fight him, he would win. It would be simpler just to submit to his lust. One problem with that idea: she’d rather perish. The thought of his touch filled her with revulsion. Worse, she’d have to take a bath again.

  Her eyes glimpsed the wet clothing and a desperate plan formed in her mind. “Tas, love. Surely you wouldn’t mar my skin with your blisters?”

  “My blisters?” He stopped circling. Confusion painted his features.

  “Yes, you should wash. I'm sure we álfar aren’t as sensitive to kellany moss as the Gatslians, but your face is already red and blotchy. If you don’t wash soon, you’ll blister.”

  She prayed his vanity would save her. He touched his face, lingering on the scratches that he’d earned on his trip down the ravine.

  “What the hell is kellany?”

  “It's a moss, deadly to Gatslians. Poor Kamber died after I touched him.” She gulped, hoping she hadn’t spoken the truth. “Good riddance I say.” Amazed at her acting ability, she went for the gusto. “He died begging for the bitson rose, so when my skin began to bubble, I bathed in it. As you can see...” She dropped her arms to allow him full view of her body. “No blisters. But you’d better wash. You have the green stuff all over you. Look.”

  “I didn’t fall all the way into the ravine.” Taslin brushed his gloved hand over his tunic. “My assaulter caught on a sapling after I’d fallen a few meters. I wasn’t in th
e ravine long and I didn’t go near the bottom.”

  “Doesn’t matter. The moss grows all the way to the top,” she lied. “Your trousers are almost completely covered.”

  Taslin glanced downward. Seeing the splotches of normal dust, he touched his face, panic marring his handsome features. “What do I do?”

  “Well, I’ve read that if you don't wash the skin thoroughly, permanent scarring will occur.” Now she had his full attention.

  “So what do I do?” he repeated, his voice almost a screech.

  “Wash thoroughly. Use the attar from the roses. I left a few by the stream. I’ll gather some more for you.”

  Taslin marched toward the pool, undressing as he walked. “Get a lot more of these flowers. Please.”

  “Sure, love.” She moved slowly until she was beyond his line of vision. Then, she raced like a spirit possessed.

  * * * *

  Kamber watched the encounter, hidden behind the trees. He seethed at the demon duke as he ogled Subena’s naked body. He could do nothing else. His strength hadn’t returned and his system could not survive another contact with kellany moss. A single touch from Taslin, or Subena, would kill him.

  He waited, his patience as frayed as his immune system. His only prayer was to hit Taslin from behind. He searched for a rock. A well-aimed blow might incapacitate the man without skin contact.

  He halted. Subena talked nonsense about Taslin’s blisters. The man had no blisters. For that matter, Subena had no blisters either. Was she really unaffected by the poisonous fungus?

  His wife called the scoundrel “love.” Blast it all.

  And she’d posed for him. Kamber swore he would kill the man.

  The duke removed his trousers. Was he planning to rape Subena? The hell with kellany dust.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Kamber slipped into the dense foliage and tightened his grip on a small boulder. He charged from the underbrush like a possessed rhinoceros, headed full throttle at the duke.

  Subena rushed toward him. He screeched to a halt, barely avoiding toppling his wife. He grabbed her. She fought like a psychopath.

  “Subena. Stop. It’s me.”

  When she looked at him, he saw surprise etched on her features. She didn’t know it was me.

  “Kamber.” She threw her arms around him. “You’re all right. Let me see your hand.”

  He lifted his hand, showing her the blisters were almost completely gone. “I think your blistering tirade was worse than the moss.”

  She looked at him, confusion in her expression. The calm lasted less than a second.

  She reared back and belted him across the chest.

  “Ouch. What was that for?”

  “For leaving me with Taslin. For making me drink human blood. For wanting to get rid of me. The list is endless.”

  “Fair enough, but for the record, I never want to be rid of you. You washed off the moss?”

  “No. I’m just naked for the hell of it. Wait, what do you mean you don’t want to be rid of me?”

  He laughed and pulled her into his arms a second time. She didn’t resist. “I’m going to assume the cold has addled your brain, because I’m fairly certain I spoke loud enough.”

  Instead of the punch he expected, she nested her face aginst his chest, her body shaking. If he didn’t know better, he might suspect tears, but his little bride didn’t cry.

  He removed his cloak and wrapped it around her shivering body, grateful he’d remembered to retrieve his outer garment. He took his time, letting his eyes ravish her nudity. “As much as I like the view, I don’t want you to become ill. I have plans for this body which I’m too weak to set in motion at the moment.”

  He possessed only half his normal strength, his brother and Remmy were missing, and they were a few steps away from a madman who bathed in the forest. Somehow, his trembling little wife still aroused him.

  “After we find Ronan.”

  Her simple logic brought him to his senses. He cursed under his breath and took control of his lust. “Sweets, I hate to ask, but do you think you can get Taslin’s weapon?”

  He expected an argument, but instead she dropped the cloak to the ground and said, “Good idea.” She turned and headed back toward the stream.

  “Subena,” he hissed. “There’s no need to do it nude. Cover yourself.”

  “What?”

  “Put the damn cloak on. I don’t ...I don’t...you’re freezing.” What he really meant was he didn’t have enough strength to kill Reklaw if the cur gazed upon her beauty.

  She smiled but refused to move. “Oh. If that’s your only concern, I’m not that cold anymore.”

  “Subena.”

  He caught the flicker of amusement in her eyes, but it vanished. “Relax. I hate this more than you do, but if Taslin sees your cloak, he’ll know you’re not dead. Don't worry, I’ll use a stick and get his clothes and the weapon.”

  “Wait, please. I don’t…”

  “Don’t what? Want him to see me naked? He already has.”

  “Damn, wife. For once, could you just not argue?” Her logic was solid, his flawed, but he didn’t want that gorgeous butt within a hundred kilometers of Reklaw. “Take a stick and knock the weapon down the hill and…”

  She didn’t listen. Blasted female had already entered the clearing. “Subena not listening,” he muttered. “Now there’s a novelty.”

  He followed, being careful to remain concealed behind foliage. He needn’t have worried. The vain duke scrubbed his skin like fleas crawled over it. Subena gathered more roses and tossed them by the stream. He watched the duke snatch the flowers without a glance at his wife.

  No need to say thanks, you equestor’s ass.

  Subena artfully maneuvered the stick she carried, managing to hook the weapon by its sling. She pulled it into the woods.

  She was almost within Kamber’s reach when she whirled and walked back toward the water. “Keep scrubbing, Tas. You’re looking better already.”

  The duke’s scrubbing preoccupied the man. Good thing. Kamber would hate to kill a naked man.

  Reklaw didn’t notice when Subena used the same stick to fling his clothes into the upper branches of a huge tree.

  Kamber chuckled softly. “Bravo,” he whispered under his breath. “Now get the hell away from him.”

  His wife circled back to retrieve her clothes. She headed toward him, without increasing her speed.

  “Where are you going?” Taslin called, a bit of panic in his voice.

  “Just to get some more roses for you,” she replied, holding her damp garments behind her back. “I’ll be right back.” Kamber watched her pose over the weapon, ready to pick it up if necessary, but the duke returned to his scrubbing. Subena kept walking.

  She balanced the assaulter on the fork of the stick and walked toward Kamber’s hiding place.

  He remained silent until she was within a few meters of him. “Subena, put my cloak on. Your clothes are wet.”

  “I only have two hands, Kamber.”

  “You can pick the weapon up, just don’t touch me. I’m not being a wimp. Another speck of the kellany will kill me in my weakened condition.”

  “Bossy, aren’t you? Why don’t I just push this over the ravine?” She pointed at the weapon with distaste.

  “There’s another stream just across the vale. You can wash the weapon and your hands there. We may need some firepower.”

  “We won’t get any firepower from this thing.” She dropped the weapon on the ground and pointed at it with the stick she’d used to retrieve it. “See. The barrel’s bent.”

  He bent over to look. “You’re right. It’s useless.”

  The duke’s bellow echoed behind them. “Subena!”

  “Forget him,” she whispered. “We have to find Ronan.” She resumed her stubborn march, refusing to look at him.

  “Bena, why are you still mad? I had to say those things to Reklaw after he hit you.”

  “I’m not mad.”


  Yeah, right. He waited, wondering how long it would take her to realize he no longer walked next to her. She whirled, perceptive enough to know she couldn’t yell. She puffed an exasperated breath before she trudged back to him.

  When he was within earshot, she hissed, “What are you waiting for?”

  “Taslin.”

  “Why are we waiting for Taslin? We just got away from him.”

  “The duke has Ronan. We need to follow him.”

  “Be reasonable. If he had Ronan, do you think he’d be sitting in an icy pond scrubbing his vanity?”

  He tried to ward off the unreasonable anger that swirled like a nasty mist. “He has my brother.”

  “He didn’t ask for ransom, he didn’t taunt you about your brother’s fate. Gads, he didn’t even mention Ronan. I bet Taslin doesn’t even know Ronan’s name.”

  Her words made sense, but the green monster controlled his brain. “Lord of Thunder, Subena. Are you defending that slime?”

  “I'm not defending anyone, but I know Taslin. He had no intention of killing us.”

  “Maybe he didn’t intend to kill you.” He watched her shudder at the rage coating his voice.

  “At the road,” she persisted. “He could have killed you and didn’t.”

  “He wouldn’t be able to explain why he shot me in the back.”

  Kamber was all too familiar with the expression on Subena's face. Further discussion would be fruitless. He didn’t really have a counterargument so he restrained his anger. “Fine. If it wasn’t lover boy, where’s Ronan?”

  “Let’s pray Remington has him. We should hurry.” She started walking again.

  “Subena wait.”

  “Please be quiet. We don’t know who might be watching.”

  He whistled, loud and shrill. He needed his equestor, so he had to risk the noise. Subena spun around and glared at him.

  “Naturally, when I ask you to be quiet, you decide to see just how loud you can be.” A myriad of expressions burst across her face in rapid succession. First horror, then ire, and finally, a mask of resignation. She turned away and started walking.