Vengeance From The Dark (D'Vaire Book 3)

by Jessamyn Kingley

  “I wish I was here instead. The Prism Wizard is nice, but the other students can act stuck-up sometimes.”

  “Don’t let it bother you; they just can’t handle the fact that you’re more powerful than they are. You’ve already passed tests many of them won’t ever have enough magic for. It’s not their fault and it’s not yours. You were simply born that way,” Delaney said. His experience at school had been similar and it was what had landed him at Court D’Vaire after his Master level graduation.

  “I try to remember that. I’m glad I have you guys. It would be so much worse if I didn’t have such great friends.”

  “We’re your family too,” Noirin said as she refilled the chafing dish with potatoes. It was just one of the many items on the buffet that Dra’Kaedan had left nearly empty in his wake.

  Idris reluctantly added steamed broccoli to his plate since Noirin would get on his case for bypassing the vegetables, before crossing the room to sit with the D’Vaire elves. Delaney took the chair next to him.

  “Delaney told me your mate is part demon,” Idris said to Talfryn after they all exchanged pleasantries. He wasn’t quite brave enough to speak directly to Lorcan yet.

  “Yes, all the Acwellan elves have demonic blood,” Talfryn replied.

  “I can show you my wings after dinner if you want,” Corwin offered and Idris immediately began nodding his head.

  “I definitely want to see that,” he exclaimed. He liked Lorcan’s brother; he decided they would be good friends.

  “Me too,” Scheredin said from the table next to theirs. Idris was certain the newest D’Vaire warlock was going to be his pal too.

  Turning back to Talfryn, he remarked, “You didn’t tell me Cadlyr was your brother.”

  “I didn’t know. He was forbidden to tell me. Our parents had Carvallius put a spell on him so he couldn’t refute their orders.”

  “That’s really mean. Carvallius sounds awful.…No wonder Latarian could be so nasty.”

  “Isn’t it weird how we all knew who Carvallius was, but only Dra’Kaedan knew Latarian and that was only because they kidnapped him?” Scheredin wondered.

  “Considering how little power she had, I’m not surprised he never spoke of her. If he had any concern for anyone, I’d be shocked. The only reason he likely gave in and tied Dra’Kaedan to her was because he needed him out of the way,” Dre’Kariston replied.

  “As strong as the two of you are, the war would have undeniably gone differently had you been able to join forces,” Cadlyr said.

  “I agree. The Acwellan use demonic power but truthfully, it only makes us quicker and stronger. We don’t have the magical resources to do more and with the Cwylld stones, we were easily beaten. Your abilities, especially together, are potent enough to overcome them at least in the short-term,” Lorcan added. He had a deep, somewhat gravelly voice that Idris found oddly comforting. He knew Talfryn’s mate was a chieftain; perhaps that was why it was so soothing.

  “You’re forgetting the war was over six centuries ago. We didn’t wield the force we do today. That’s one of the reasons I was willing to hide in a cottage while war waged among my people.” Dre’Kariston said.

  “Please. You went to that village because Mom told you to. No one ever had the balls to say no to her. Nobody messed with her when she gave an order,” Dra’Kaedan said with a laugh.

  “That too,” Dre’Kariston replied as he joined in his twin’s merriment.

  “You gave her quite a fight before you gave in though,” Scheredin said.

  “I argued right up to the point where she gave me the look.”

  “That look was lethal,” Dra’Kaedan said. “I miss her.”

  “Me too,” his twin replied and the room got oddly quiet. Idris understood why; he’d lost the man who had raised him. It was never easy to part with a loved one. Even if they had died six and a half centuries ago.

  “Idris, we are putting together a memorial area in the garden. It will honor the Coven of Warlocks, the Cwylld, and the Acwellan. Would you like us to include a tribute to your grandfather?” Aleksander asked.

  “I would like that very much. That sounds nice, I can’t wait to see it,” Idris said, pleased.

  “You would honor the Cwylld?” Cadlyr asked.

  “I was about to ask the same question of the Acwellan,” Lorcan added.

  “The Dragon Court of D’Vaire now includes members of those tribes. We would like to honor all the men and women who have left our lives.”

  “I suppose we have managed to put aside our differences enough to live under the same roof,” Lorcan said.

  “Still, were it not for the Cwylld, neither the Acwellan nor the Coven of Warlocks would be so few,” Cadlyr argued.

  “I am responsible for the deaths of the Acwellan,” Lorcan replied.

  “No. My parents stole Talfryn and they did not shirk away from going to war with you, even when we were losing men and women daily in battle to your tribespeople who were better prepared and more committed to your cause.”

  “The war would not have begun without me declaring it.”

  “Untrue. You simply declared war before they did. As I see it, it was inevitable,” Cadlyr said.

  “Anleydir, you have to stop blaming yourself,” Talfryn said softly to his fierce mate.

  “As a chieftain, it is my responsibility to take blame. I cannot simply wash my hands of my guilt,” Lorcan replied.

  “How about a statute of limitations on it? A millennium is long enough to beat yourself up over it. Why not focus on remembering them how they were in life instead of concentrating on the circumstances of their deaths?” Aleksander suggested.

  “I can promise to try,” Lorcan conceded after several moments.

  “As leaders, we are conditioned to shoulder the responsibility of everything that befalls those that entrust their lives to us. I realize my suggestion is easier said than done, but you have all of us to help if you’d like. I would love it if all of you were involved in the memorial garden. It might be a good place to start,” Aleksander said. Idris realized he was probably supposed to look toward the Prism Wizard as the epitome of a leader, and while it was true he held him in great esteem, it was Aleksander he sought to mold himself after.

  The dragon king was kind and caring. He wondered, as he often had since he’d been introduced to the D’Vaires, how someone like Aleksander could be banished from the dragon world. It didn’t seem polite to ask, but someday he hoped to have the answer. In the meantime, he was going to enjoy his weekend and maybe keep some distance between himself and Cadlyr in case his spear was anywhere around. There was always a possibility he would still want to stick Idris a time or two for stealing all those stones with Latarian. He decided if he saw any sharp objects around the new Chieftain of the Cwylld, he would simply hide behind Talfryn’s formidable mate. Lorcan looked like he could take on anybody and win. It didn’t hurt that he was a super-cool demon either.

  Chapter 31

  Lorcan sat on the couch and tried not to smile at the look on his brother’s face. Corwin was bug-eyed watching Delaney play his gaming system. It had been an entertaining weekend with Idris visiting. Delaney and Idris had gone out of their way to expose both Corwin and Scheredin to as much of modern life that could be tasted in the confines of the D’Vaire house. Mostly they had watched movies, listened to music, played video games, and explored the Internet. He would hardly admit it, but Lorcan had learned a great deal. The marvels of this century were mind-blowing. As Corwin had succinctly put it when asked if he was angry about so much time spent sleeping, “It’s hard to beat a time that boasts indoor plumbing and computers.” For his part, Lorcan could hardly disagree.

  Once Talfryn had browbeaten him into taking care of himself, he had quickly become addicted to hot showers. He liked clean clothes too, and after Larissa had unceremoniously handed him new tunics and pants, he had braved the washing machine and dryer. Pulling warm clothes from the heat was miraculous and he liked to tug o
n his garments before they cooled. The washing machine, on the other hand, seemed like an angry beast only to be appeased with dirty laundry.

  One familiar thing was the food. Elven cuisine had not evolved, and they still ate their food raw and mostly unseasoned. The flavor of the food was heightened by Dravyn’s ability to grow such mouthwatering fruits and vegetables. Lorcan was happy that mealtimes at least offered him such much-needed consistency. The other parts of his day were too draining emotionally and he was grateful that when he was eating, he could envision himself as he’d been in his youth.

  It was nice to recall a time when he didn’t have to focus on treachery and heartbreak. His thoughts over the weekend had coalesced to a single point. No matter how he looked at the past, someone close to him had betrayed him. He just wasn’t sure it was relevant who that person was anymore. On one hand, if it was his two closest friends, then they were long dead and his anger served no purpose. If it was the scenario he believed it to be all these centuries, then it was the man who had been gifted to him by Fate. The only person he could or would ever love.

  Death was now out of question. He had a brother to take care of, one who would be devastated to be left as the last of the Acwellan. That wasn’t something he was willing to do to someone who had never done anything to hurt him. And as his sibling, he loved him too much to say good-bye. So, the question was, how could he fully and unequivocally forgive Talfryn for what he may have done? Or did he rest the blame on Nyley and Heriell who were no longer here and acknowledge that Talfryn was a victim as he had been? They weren’t here to defend themselves but when taking a step back and surveying all the evidence, Nyley and Heriell had motive and opportunity.

  Painful as it was to admit, it was looking more and more likely that Lorcan had made a huge and terrible mistake casting the blame on Talfryn’s elegant shoulders.

  “What are you thinking about?” Corwin asked as he took a seat next to Lorcan. It took all his power not to jump out of his skin; he’d been so deep in thought he hadn’t seen Corwin cross the room.

  “Things. Why?”

  “You’re scowling. So they must not be happy things.”

  “I thought you were playing games with Delaney and Scheredin.”

  “I was. Now I’m talking to you,” Corwin said with a cheeky grin.

  Lorcan gave his brother an unamused look. “Perhaps I have nothing to say.”

  “You’ve never been at a loss for words, big brother.”

  “I fear you are confusing the two of us.”

  “Hey Talfryn, come over here and get Lorcan to tell me what he’s thinking about,” Corwin called out to Lorcan’s mate as he entered the room with his brother. Cadlyr’s hair was freshly plaited and had a bounty of intricate lavender beads worthy of a chieftain adorning it.

  “You’d probably have better luck than me,” Talfryn said, but he led his brother over to the area of the living room where the Acwellan brothers were seated.

  “No way, you guys are mates. Can’t you read his mind and stuff?”

  Talfryn let out a sharp laugh. “Even when we were close, I couldn’t figure out anything he was thinking.”

  “Too bad you don’t have telepathy like Gavrael and Gedeon,” Cadlyr said as he took a seat. Lorcan had been amazed when he’d learned that the mated sentinel pair could not only send their thoughts to each other through a mindlink but were capable of sensing each other’s feelings and emotions when close. He would have given anything for such a set of talents; it would have connected him to Talfryn in a manner that would have prevented the need to wonder if he could betray him or not. Either he’d really loved him or he hadn’t—at the end of the day that was likely the real question at the heart of the matter.

  “That talent could ward off misunderstandings,” Lorcan said.

  Talfryn nodded. “Absolutely.”

  “I guess since no one has it but them, other couples have to actually talk and ask each other questions,” Corwin said and Lorcan wasn’t at all fooled by his innocent tone. Clearly, he was admonishing his older brother for not questioning Talfryn’s motives and allowing him to give Lorcan his version of past events. The problem was that Lorcan wasn’t sure he was ready to deal with the repercussions of that conversation.

  “Not really, mated couples can ignore each other just as easily as anyone else,” Talfryn replied and Lorcan was sure the other elf was on the same wavelength as his little brother.

  “Conversation is often overrated,” Lorcan argued.

  “A man of action. I like that,” Talfryn said and offered him a look that left no doubt in Lorcan’s mind what kind of action his mate was referring to. Involuntarily, his body reacted to the invitation, and he was forced to shift slightly to relieve the sudden tightness in his pants. Talfryn didn’t miss the action and raised a blond brow.

  “I think I’m too young to be a part of this conversation,” Corwin said, picking up on the sudden tension in the room.

  “You’re over a thousand years old,” Cadlyr reminded him.

  “Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that. It is hard to convince myself sometimes. I don’t remember being asleep, so it was like one day I was sixteen and the next I was here. At least I am taller than I was before.”

  Lorcan smiled. “Still not as tall as me.”

  “No, but it’s only an inch difference now.”

  “I understand a bit of your issue with the puzzle of the past and present. I get confused because I have all these memories of my life as Talfryn, and then I have an even larger recollection of my time as Edion. I have to remind myself that I am not that timid, scared person sometimes.”

  “It must have been scary to be blind when you had no one to assist you and plenty of people who used it as a way of hurting you,” Cadlyr said.

  “I was certainly grateful to leave the village. Nothing like trying to get your bearings when there are people constantly turning you to throw off your ability to get from point A to point B.”

  “Couldn’t you just turn back the direction you were going in the first place?” Corwin asked.

  “I doubt it. The others didn’t kindly nudge him in the wrong direction. They would kick him, knock him down, spin him in circles, tug on his arms…those kinds of things,” Cadlyr offered.

  “Yeah, the disorientation would be so bad, I wound up lost and the idiots would laugh and begin tormenting me again. All the while being encouraged by our fantastic parents,” Talfryn added.

  “Who blinded you in the first place so they could conceal your matebond,” Cadlyr continued.

  “I guess it’s hard for me to understand why they would want to do something like that because Lorcan and I had wonderful, caring parents.” Lorcan was taken a bit aback by Corwin’s words. Was that the reason he found it so unbelievable, because it would have been so unthinkable of his own mother and father?

  “They were never good parents. They weren’t kind or understanding and were always searching for a war to ignite. Aniernan and Taliya couldn’t forgive either of us for not fulfilling their dreams of us mating Cwylld women who would further their bloodlines,” Cadlyr replied.

  “Some elven parents do put far too much credence into their familial dynasties,” Lorcan said. It was true; elves had no sexual appetite until mating so unless a female elf was raped, there was no other way to conceive. Many parents became fixated on the future and there was a great deal of history to back them up. Same-sex pairings were rare in elves, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to assume your child would have an opposite sex mate.

  “Why didn’t they just have more kids?” Corwin asked.

  “You know elves are not known for producing many offspring,” Lorcan replied.

  “Exactly. Talfryn and I are ten centuries apart.”

  “I guess because Lorcan and I are much closer in age, I forgot.”

  “Our parents decided they had two children who had failed to rise to their expectations. Aniernan was convinced there was something wrong with their ability to produce
quality offspring,” Cadlyr said.

  “They sound like jerks,” Corwin said.

  Talfryn laughed. “That’s putting it mildly.”

  “Corwin, it’s your turn,” Delaney called from across the room where he held out the controller to his gaming system for Lorcan’s brother to grab.

  “Come on Cadlyr, you can play with me,” Corwin said and led Talfryn’s brother to the area close to the television where they could see adequately. It was obvious he was leaving Lorcan alone with Talfryn on purpose.

  “Corwin has adjusted to being awake far better than I would have imagined,” Talfryn said as he took Corwin’s place on the couch next to Lorcan.

  “He has. So has Scheredin.”

  “I guess it’s probably easier when you have the mind of a teenager. They seem to handle things faster than us old folks.”

  “I believe it must help to know you are immortal so while you have lost the passage of time, you have not had your life shortened.”

  “You know for sure Scheredin is immortal? I understood that warlocks are not inherently so,” Talfryn asked.

  “I posed the question to Dra’Kaedan yesterday, and he said his cousin has enough power to sustain an eternal lifespan.”

  “That is good news.”

  “Yes.”

  For several minutes, Talfryn did nothing but watch the game being played before he turned back to Lorcan and pinned him with a look. “How are you doing? Are you still overwhelmed by everything you’ve learned?”

  “And to think our siblings wished for us to have telepathy. Are you sure you do not?”

  “You have always thought things to death. How else could you spend all that time focused on nothing but killing me? They didn’t have names for things when we were young as they do now—otherwise, you would have been correctly diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder.”