Leena's Story - The Complete Novellas (A Dance of Dragons Book 4)

by Kaitlyn Davis

  There were so many changes and so many adjustments that couldn't be carried out overnight—they would only come once love and kindness had found its way back into daily life. But the unmarked were something Leena would change with or without approval. And she refused to wait. She was helping those poor souls right now.

  Jinji, Jasper, and Bran had arrived that morning, and it didn't take long for Leena to put them to work. The riders were sent to the outer isles to inform the people of everything that occurred in their capital and to gather up the unmarked. Taking numerous trips using cages woven by Jinji, the unmarked were brought to the palace.

  Leena sat on what was once her father's throne, a head above everyone else, watching as Jinji patiently met with unmarked after unmarked, removing the burns from their hands, restoring so much more than just tattoos—restoring their humanity in the eyes of the Ourthuri.

  The council arrived after the process had already begun, ready to voice their protests. But one look at the steel blue dragon standing watch behind Leena and the ivory one crouching beside Jinji quieted them easily enough. Leena hated using intimidation. The very idea that she could be as ruthless as her father made her skin crawl. But as she watched man after man be born again at the touch of Jinji's power, she knew she was doing the right thing. After today, there would be no more unmarked in Ourthuro, no more slaves. And if that was the one adjustment she had to force upon her people, so be it. She had the support of the riders, and that was good enough for her.

  Yet looking around, Leena couldn't help but notice the absence of one rider—Rhen. Surprise lingered in the back of her mind. This seemed like the sort of noble act he would love to carry out. Not only that, but he'd barely left Jinji's side since she'd come back from the dead. It was almost odd to see them apart, to see Jinji work and smile without Rhen standing protectively over her shoulder.

  But picturing that brought Leena's mind somewhere else.

  Her eyes drifted from Jinji, over the line of unmarked waiting to be healed, back to a column at the far corner of the room. For a moment, Leena saw Mikza standing in their spot, his umber eyes staring at her proudly, his strong arms braced relaxingly across his chest. So many times she had looked to find him there, watching with love in his eyes, unable to touch her the way he wanted to, unable to hold her the way she wanted him to. His eyes had been her comfort, her warm shield against her father's cruelty. They had been home.

  Will she have his eyes?

  Leena touched her belly, feeling the small bump that had formed over the past few days. No one else had noticed, but she did. Her daughter was the driving force behind her every decision. What changes would make the world a better place for her? What changes would make Ourthuro a place she was proud to come from?

  As Leena continued to stare at the empty space Mikza used to fill, a wave of loneliness washed over her. A familiar sadness tugged on her heart—one she hoped would fade once her daughter was born, a little piece of Mikza brought back to life. But all alone on the throne, watching Jinji work but having little to do herself, Leena couldn't fight the memory that surged to the forefront of her thoughts. Instead, she welcomed it, allowing herself to drift away to a place down in the depths of her soul where he was still alive, still holding her, still with her.

  Leena rested her head on Mikza's chest, running her fingers over the hard contours of his muscles, tracing the lines of his smooth olive skin, unable to believe that such a man belonged completely to her.

  "What do you dream of, Mikza?" she asked, curling tighter against his side, aware that in a matter of minutes he would remember that their time was limited—he would remember he was a guard and she was a princess, and the world continued to revolve around them. Those were her least favorite times. When he walked away from her, lifting himself from the sanctuary of her bed, closing the door behind him and pretending for the world that he was nothing more than a soldier doing his job, and she was nothing more than a woman he had to protect. If it were up to her, those moments would never come. She would live in this fantasy forever.

  "What do I dream?" he asked huskily, repeating her words.

  Leena shifted, bringing her gaze up to his umber eyes, noticing they were dark with passion as he watched her fingers drift across his skin. Gazes meeting, he shifted his hold, wrapping his arms tightly around her and bringing her fully across his chest so there was no space between their bodies.

  "I dream of staying here with you forever," he whispered.

  Butterflies filled her stomach as she looked away, hiding her smile. "I'm serious, Mikza. What do you see in our future? Sometimes when I'm alone at night, staring out over the sleeping city, I see a vision of us. We're on a quiet beach, far away from here, and behind us there is a little cottage nestled in the rocks."

  "What else?" he murmured, closing his eyes with a happy sigh, imagining it.

  Leena's thumb found his cheek, caressing it gently. "Sometimes I see a little boy playing in the waves. Sometimes it is a little girl building castles in the sand. Sometimes it's both."

  "I would like to live in that world," he said, but Leena sensed the change in his tone—no longer dreamy, but defeated.

  "It can happen, Mikza. We can find a place where my father will never reach us, I know we can." She tried to convince him, tried to hold on to this bliss just a moment longer.

  But he sat up suddenly, feet dropping to the floor on the side of the bed as he reached for his gear resting in the corner of the room.

  "Talk to me," she whispered.

  He forced his hand through his unruly black hair, pressing it down, and turned to her with a broken look in his eyes. "You dream of a life in hiding as though it is a fairy tale."

  "It's my fairy tale," she responded softly.

  He sat beside her, cupping her cheek in his strong hand, but touching her gently. "I want to give you better dreams than that," he said quietly. "Dreams of a world where I could profess my love for everyone to hear, publicly claiming you as mine and mine alone. Dreams of a kingdom where passion is not a crime. Dreams of a king who does not rule with an iron fist but with an open heart. Dreams of a time when something as insignificant as our stations in life would not keep us apart. I have so many dreams, my dear Leena, too many for my own good."

  That was the last time Leena had dreamed of the beach. From that moment on, her hopes had grown exponentially bigger. She shared each one with Mikza, and he shared each of his with her, until in the dark of the night they'd created a perfect society together. One she was trying her best to bring to fruition now.

  But a sharp jab struck her heart as she realized something.

  In not a single one of those dreams were they ever apart.

  Mikza's deepest fear had always been that she would end up alone. From the very start of their romance, he'd predicted how it would end. He'd known that their dreams were just that—dreams. That they were the naïve hopes of two people in love. He never expected them to come true the way Leena did. He never really expected to survive.

  In a way, they had both been right.

  Leena was without the man she loved. But because of it, the world they both dreamed of was transforming into reality.

  A commotion at the front of the throne room caught her attention. Leena blinked away her thoughts, pushing the memory of Mikza to the back of her mind, prepared to once again act as the leader her people needed.

  But as her eyes found the cause of the noise, she smiled.

  "Rhen?" Leena called, holding up her hand so the guards would step back and let him pass. "What are you doing here? Jinji said you had matters to deal with in Rayfort."

  "I did," he said with a shrug. Then he grinned mischievously. "They've been dealt with."

  Jinji stood, halting her magic and stepping to meet him with a quick kiss. They whispered to each other, quiet enough that Leena couldn't hear. But Rhen's face grew more and more animated the longer he spoke, drawing Leena's suspicion.

  The unmarked still waiting to hav
e their tattoos returned didn't move, but their eyes traveled from Leena to Rhen to Jinji, trying to understand what was going on. Leena ignored them for a moment, more and more curious about the delighted gleam in Rhen's eyes—the one that proved he was overly satisfied with himself, a little too self-assured for his own good. She stepped down from the throne, joining her friends in the middle of the room.

  "What's going on?" she asked.

  "Nothing," Rhen replied lightly.

  Leena turned to Jinji. "What's going on?"

  Her friend bit her lip. A guilty expression passed over her face, followed by one of anticipation. Leena frowned, staring at Jinji pointedly until she spoke.

  "Nothing," Jinji said carefully.

  Leena snorted. "Tell me."

  But at that moment the sound of loud boots on stone echoed down the hall, bouncing around the throne room, growing louder as they came closer. Since the Ourthuri wore leather sandals more appropriate for the heat of their homeland, Leena's eyes found Rhen immediately.

  "Did you really bring Whylkin guards to Da'astiku?" she asked, unable to keep the disapproval from her tone. "The peace I've established here is still unstable, we don't need foreigners around to cause tension."

  "I think you'll change your mind," he answered smoothly.

  "Really?" Leena's eyebrows rose accusingly.

  "Yes," he retorted, full of confidence.

  Leena looked to Jinji for aid, but her friend had already turned her eyes to the red-adorned guards marching into the throne room. The Ourthuri in the room broke into conversation immediately, a chaotic roar that filled the silence created when the men from Rayfort stopped moving, holding formation.

  "What is the meaning of this?" Leena shouted, breaking through the cacophony of voices as she addressed Rhen, drawing the attention of the entire room. She had to position herself completely with Ourthuro. She would lose their trust if they saw her side with Rhen.

  He raised a single eyebrow in her direction, amused by her antics when he knew full well that Leena would always put the riders first.

  "This," he answered loudly, stressing the word as he lifted his hand in the direction of his guards. "Is a peace offering from the King Regent of Whylkin, given in the hope that there can be the start of a new age of harmony between our kingdoms."

  Leena swallowed, taken aback.

  "What is it?" she whispered to Jinji, confused.

  Rhen paid her no mind. He continued his speech, addressing his words more to the Ourthuri around them than to Leena herself. "Our king regent has sent a loyal subject to live here among your people to act as a liaison between our kingdoms. He will immerse himself in your culture and will try to understand the ways of your people so that the Kingdom of Whylkin can better understand its neighbors. And he has invited you to do the same, should you be so willing."

  Leena opened her mouth to respond, but the words dried up as the rouge-garbed guards began to separate. Her vision immediately flew to the man standing at their center, hands resting in his pockets self-consciously with an almost apologetic smile on his lips.

  She gasped.

  "Cal?"

  SEVEN

  "Hi, Princess," he murmured, bronze eyes lingering on hers before drifting down the entire length of her body and back up again, as tangible as a soft caress.

  Heat flooded her cheeks. "Cal, what?"

  But Leena didn't know what else to say. She was too shocked for words.

  Cal, however, was prepared. He bowed deeply to her and to the rest of the Ourthuri in the room. Then he stood, motioning behind him as more Whylkin guards appeared, carting crates of gifts with them. "In addition to sending me, our king regent would like to show his support by sending a few supplies he thought you might desire."

  Leena watched as the offerings were brought before her—food, livestock, wine, silks, a countless array of goods from Whylkin, more than Leena even dared dream might arrive. But in the end, it was the last few crates that stilled her heart, bringing warmth to her lonely soul.

  Flowers.

  A whole garden was brought before her.

  And each one was a different shade of the pale peach rose she had stopped beside on that long ago day in Rayfort, when Cal had taken her through his secret passage to the hidden beach. She remembered thinking then that he, a man of Whylkin, could have no idea how much flowers meant to the people of Ourthuro. But maybe she had misjudged him. Maybe even then, when he was only just beginning to know her, he could immediately read the longing for such beauty in her eyes.

  "I remembered you liked that one," he said softly into her ear, his cool breath bringing goose bumps to her skin.

  Leena turned, hardly realizing he had walked up next to her while she marveled at the gifts he'd brought with him. But now, studying him, she wondered if the joy filling her chest was at the sight of such treasure or at the sight of his glowing bronze eyes. Suddenly, Leena found herself melting beneath them.

  "May we speak somewhere privately?" he asked

  "Yes," she replied, throat so dry the word came out as barely a whisper.

  Cal gently took her arm in his, guiding her away as he turned to look over his shoulder. "Rhen, will you sort this all out?"

  "Doesn't that sound like something the newly appointed emissary to the Kingdom of Ourthuro might handle?" Rhen teased.

  Leena looked over just in time to see Jinji elbow him in the ribs.

  "I mean, yes, of course."

  They both turned to Leena with huge grins, watching Cal lead her away.

  Only Cal couldn't lead her away, because he, of course, had never been to the golden palace and was lost after passing the sixth or seventh identical column, not finding a hallway to guide him. But by then, with the eyes of the Ourthuri off of her and the shock fading away, Leena had regained her composure. She led him easily through the halls, not stopping until they were alone on one of the many palace balconies. When they arrived, she dropped his hand, stepping to the edge and looking out toward the sea.

  "What are you doing here, Cal?" she asked softly, eyes glued to the horizon, afraid to look at him again.

  "Embracing my newly appointed position," he answered, before stepping closer, barely a hairsbreadth from touching her. "And trying to find you."

  She inhaled deeply, calming her racing pulse. But she wanted to bring the conversation back to business. Everything else was too dangerous, too hard. "Did you find your father? What happened to him?"

  "I found him and I delivered him to the crown just as I promised," Cal told her, voice tight. "The Lord of Roninhythe was found guilty of treason and was executed before the people of Rayfort."

  "And you?" Leena asked, finally looking at him, unable to stand the pain in his voice.

  "Me?" he asked, brushing his hand through his sandy brown hair, making it look wild. But Leena liked it better that way. He looked more like the outcast she had befriended and less like a foreign man of Whylkin. "I was stripped of my title and of my home, exiled from Roninhythe. I don't think Whyllem even knew what to do with me. Rhen was the one who came up with this idea, a way for me to hold on to some honor while still running away from the accusing stares of the court."

  "So you're asking for safe haven?" Leena wondered.

  Cal's hand inched along the banister, moving over hers. His skin was smooth and warm. She shivered at his touch. His eyes sparkled as he looked at her, murmuring, "I'm asking for whatever you are willing to give."

  She had told him weeks ago that her heart no longer belonged to her. That it was not hers to share. But she knew that was what he asked for, what he hoped for. If she were honest with herself, Leena knew it from their first conversation, when he inquired about the ring she wore and then promised they could remain friends.

  But friendship had never been what Cal wanted.

  Not really.

  What did she want?

  Leena pulled away, stepping back.

  She hardened the wall he was slowly chipping away.

 
; Hardened the ice he was gently melting.

  "I'm with child," she said, trying to break his heart quickly, not ready to face the emotions he was starting to stir.

  But Cal surprised her. He shrugged. "I know. Rhen suspected as much and Jinji confirmed."

  Leena frowned, cursing both of her friends. "I won't be here for long. The riders have other places to travel, other people to save."

  Cal stepped closer. "I know that too."

  "I—" Leena began, but the words stopped as soon as he placed his palm against her cheek, cupping her face and looking at her adoringly.

  Her heart thudded uncontrollably in her chest.

  "Who are you trying to convince?" he whispered.

  Leena didn't move away. But she didn't fall into his embrace either. She remained trapped in the middle, balancing on the precipice, unsure of which direction to turn.

  "I know you've lost someone. I know you're afraid, and I know I can never be that man, that I can never replace him," Cal murmured, gazing into her eyes, entrancing her. "But I also know you feel something when I touch you." He ran his thumb over her skin, making her tremble. "I know that when you first told me we could only be friends, something in my soul ached for those words to not be true. I know that our time together in Rayfort was the first time in my life that I felt truly alive. I know that when I saw you burned by fire, dying in my arms, my heart broke. And I know that when we parted ways only a few weeks ago, I cursed myself for not taking the opportunity to tell you how I feel."

  He stepped closer, bringing his other palm to her face, looking down at her.

  Leena held his eyes.

  This was her moment to run, if she wanted to.