by Stacy Reid
Ajali flashed out of the room before Gavyn finished speaking. Ajali pushed along the link, seeking but not locating any tendrils to follow. Could it be that the link only opened with his consuming her blood? He did not know. Tehdra was a warrior; she could be searching the court. He dismissed such a ludicrous thought as it occurred. He had told her to remain sequestered in his wing for the day until he dealt with his kingdom’s awareness that she was a Darkan. She had understood his unspoken request.
He entered the chamber. There was no evidence of a battle, yet his skin prickled with danger. With speed he investigated his wing, moving from the harem and on to the inner court with his blades at his heels.
“My king, this is unheard of,” Bastien snapped. “A spy in our kingdom who is missing is not of such import that it disturbs our meeting!”
Ajali slashed Bastien a hard glare, and his high chancellor blanched.
“I will consult with my spies, kalija,” Uriah said as he sped away.
Xian’s expression mirrored pain and acceptance. “She means this much to you, kalija? Even though a Darkan?” she asked hoarsely
She followed him as they flashed to the highest turret of castle Shelah.
“Did you despise her before, Xian?”
His sister grimaced. “No, I respected her.”
“Should that change because she is of the shadows?”
Xian gazed steadily at the humming city below, refusing to meet his gaze. “We have ostracized her kind since they took our queen.”
“My king, we should prepare your address to the nation, missives must be sent, and we need to strategize our position in the event of war. Your kingdom’s needs must always be placed above yours, my king, always,” Bastien said softly, moving to stand beside Xian.
The silence that resounded was interrupted upon Uriah’s arrival.
“What have you learned?” Ajali asked, his heart jerking in fear for Tehdra.
“The sentry warriors report a force of at least a thousand warriors wearing the insignia from Mevia in the Taryllion, about three hundred miles east from our borders.”
“A thousand?” Gavyn frowned. “That is not an invading force; our borders are manned by more than five thousand warriors. They are far enough from our borders so as not to disturb. What do they wait on?”
Comprehension settled heavily in Ajali’s gut, and his fire stirred. “Tehdra.” Ajali’s voice was hoarse as he said her name. “They wait on Tehdra.”
Acheron stiffened.
“We have no proof of that,” Bastien said. “And if they wait on her, it is not the concern of Nuria.”
“Our high chancellor is right, Ajali,” Uriah said. He overlooked the city with his face wiped clear of all expression. “If the warriors that gather in the empty lands wait on her, it is of no concern of ours. She belongs to the Darkage, and we have no alliance with them. We cannot interfere when they have not invaded our lands.”
“She was taken from our kingdom,” Gavyn said to Uriah, fists clenched. “I doubt I would consign my enemy to the dungeon of Mevia.”
“Neither would I,” Acheron rasped in a voice that echoed nightmares. “Was her departure recorded, Uriah?”
“Not a sight or whisper.”
“Darkans are the ones that took her,” Ajali reasoned, “for her departure to be done so secretively. Yet her warrior prowess should have stopped them.”
“Is it possible they took her by surprise?” Gavyn asked. “After all, they came for her in your private chambers, Ajali.”
“No,” Ajali said, remembering her fighting grace and brutality. “Her response was slowed or stopped completely before they took her or the signs of a fight would have been evident. The food poisoned?” The cowards. “Cordon off the morning room and kitchen. No one enters or leave. Have all servants within the royal household sequestered for questioning. I trust you to see my command completed, Gavyn.”
With a nod, his blade flashed away.
“My king, you go too far!” Bastien closed his eyes as if it pained him to look at Ajali.
“Listen to Bastien, Ajali!” Xian snapped. “You are acting unlike yourself.”
“Our sister is right, kalija,” Uriah said, clasping his shoulders. “A spy from the Darkage being taken from our kingdom is not our concern. Her own kind took her possibly on the orders of her king. We cannot trample where we were not invited. It seems, yes, that the force gathered in Taryllion waits for her, but we cannot interfere. To take action against warriors that did not attack Nuria would be a declaration of war, and we would be the instigators, Ajali.”
The truth of their words sank inside of Ajali. Rage burned through him at the knowledge he had to abandon her to whatever fate was decreed for her.
Ajali…. The voice was a mere whisper in his mind.
He stiffened, eagerly grasping at the faint cry. Where are you?
Jumbled impressions tunneled at him, their meanings elusive. He pushed with so much power, yet he could not find her.
Uriah was right in his assessment. She may have been taken at her king’s order even though Ajali’s instinct warned him otherwise. The force in the empty lands would be to ensure that her escape was not feasible. They knew of her might? For them to hold such knowledge proved the traitor had struck again. But why did they want her? Why not try to capture him again? What did they have in common except what they struggled to control inside of them? His thoughts froze along that track as he swiftly analyzed that pattern. They wanted him for his Phoenyx and Tehdra for her Dracan? The very idea of Mevia controlling their powers was too much to accept. “They took her because of the beast housed in her. She possesses a Dracan. The betrayer has free reign of this castle. Not just Adara, Acheron. The betrayer observed her in the dungeon…enough to report on the type of beast that formed on her skin.” Bile burned in the back of Ajali’s throat to think that someone close to him, a citizen of Nuria, would hand their realm to Mevia to raze. He would have no mercy when he uncovered the traitor.
“Do we send a missive to her kingdom? We could address it to her brother, and he could confirm if the order was given by their king,” Acheron murmured.
Ajali slowly walked to the edge of the turret. The notion of Tehdra under the brutal care of Mevia was gut wrenching. Whether it was for torture or something to do with the essence she buried inside her, she would suffer in ways he doubted she could recover from. Acheron still silently suffered after years of escaping them. Ajali knew why his blade slept in the wing farthest from them when he stayed at the castle. Nightmares still plagued him. He hid it well, but the agony was there.
Ajali looked at his city as it slumbered, refusing to resume its normal activities after the atrocities that had visited them. Warriors manned the streets of Adara, and missives had been sent to all the other provinces, alerting the Dukedoms and elders.
You have my allegiance, my loyalty and heart.
Her words swept inside him, entertwining with his soul. He had not responded in kind, even though Ajali knew what he felt for her could only be love. He loved Tehdra. A Darkan. It was a fucking terrifying acknowledgement. He loved that she could be brutal yet blushed, and the passion between them was unquenchable. Her desire and need for him mirrored his for her. His kingdom would not be ready for a kala from the Darkage. Never had someone from his bloodline married another of inferior birth. His mouth twisted. Inferior. Tehdra would protect their offspring and Nuria in a manner that no other female of his kingdom was capable.
War was inevitable. He chuckled softly; he could easily see Tehdra at his side on the battlefield, a force to be reckoned with. Ajali believed kings should be on the frontline, fighting for their kingdom in a time of war, not sequestered behind castle walls. Nuria was his to protect and never would he remain on the sidelines while his people died for him. Tehdra would be such a queen, a warrior, not a pampered countess or duchess from the
noblest of families that must be protected at all times. Like his mother, Tehdra was a warrior of strength, grace and beauty.
Could his kingdom undergo such a revolution? They already knew she’d saved his life at the cost of her own. The news had travelled like lightning throughout the city and the provinces. Gifts had poured in from upper house and lower house families. Thousands saw her battled in the coliseum, protecting him, fighting for him. Yet the mercilessness they observed would entrench their revulsion deeper.
His people would never accept Tehdra. The Darkage and its citizens inspired terror in all of the kingdoms.
“I know that you love her,” Acheron said, drawing Ajali from his thoughts.
“I do.” No shrouding of the unvarnished truth.
Xian stiffened, her eyes darkening with apprehension, and Bastien looked ready to collapse.
“Why?” Acheron asked.
“I have no need to hide from her. Her innocence in the face of such brutality is stimulating. She challenges me, interests me. The desire and need I feel for her is unmatched. Have I ever loved before? No. Is this it? I do not know. If not, I don’t need love. This fire that burns inside of me for her is more powerful than duty.”
“What are you saying?” Acheron demanded, frowning.
Ajali whistled, summoning Kezriel. The cry of the wraith echoed from its cave as it responded to the call of its master.
“You go for her, Ajali? This is madness. You have always placed your kingdom’s needs above yours,” Bastian growled.
“And I will continue to do so, but do I place it above Tehdra’s life and safety?”
“You risk war!”
“To protect the life of my future queen is my right. Our kingdom’s right. Is Mevia ready for war with me? We shall see.” He leapt from the high turret, landing on Kezriel’s back in midair, and they whisked away from the kingdom towards the Taryllion.
Chapter Twenty Four
Within minutes Kezriel exited the city of Adara, and they soared over the mountains. Ajali sought Tehdra along their pathway. A slight stirring would caress his mind only to slowly drift away. The strength of each stirring reassured him. She grew stronger.
Kezriel shot through the sky appearing like a fine dot on the horizon. Ajali absorbed his Phoenyx chakra, building his power. The heat of its rage and flames awakened inside of him.
Ajali.
Where are you?
I am weakened. Poisoned…my limbs refuse to respond to my commands. I am in the shadows.
Leave your mind open to me.
Ajali snarled in frustration as the connection closed again. He flexed his thighs, and Kezriel soared away from Nuria towards the eastern borders. Ajali saw the cloud of dust their Kuns stirred as they raced towards Mevia. They parceled themselves into five contingencies, yet he could not see any conveyance that carried Tehdra.
I am in the shadows. She could be caught between any of them. Or did they travel ahead?
He sank into his power, chakra flaring bright, but not brutal enough to harm Kezriel. He directed his energy deep inside, stoking the rage, but tightly containing it so it did not spill. He flew over the retreating warriors, searching, trying to identify the unusual distortion in the shadows. He could feel none. He would need to be on the ground, using the power of his Phoenyx to sense any shift in the shadows, and she could still elude him. He sped thousands of miles above the Taryllion, cataloguing the force of the enemy.
General Shenzhen, the Mevian imperial emperor grand general, led the warriors. Ajali narrowed his eyes. Tehdra’s capture must be a great prize indeed if the grand general stood on the front line.
Ajali.
The pull along the link indicated he was close. In a flash of intuition he recognized that the Darkans who’d taken her travelled ahead in the shadows, and the army protected their rear. He urged Kezriel, gliding over their heads, and he flared his chakra seeking Tehdra. Some of the soldiers spotted him in the sky and raced ahead, the hooves of their Kuns thundering. He observed in which direction they bolted to offer protection.
Piercing whistles split the air, reaching him in the sky. The sonic vibrations of the shrieking sounds ran across Ajali’s skin, and Kezriel reared, howling as the sound waves burst the wraith’s shadowy skin. The brutality of the attack constricted Ajali’s breath. He pulled on Kezriel, and they shot further into the sky. How far did their sound waves travel? Another vibration sliced through the air and slammed into his side. His ribs cracked and blood trickled from his ears. He tried to gentle Kezriel’s screams. Ajali clenched his teeth as lethal waves that should not reach him so far from the earth rushed towards him, rattling his teeth and bursting blood vessels in his eyes. He leveled Kezriel. He was so far away he could barely make out the warriors on the ground, yet their attacks were effective.
Ajali…
The sound of Tehdra’s voice was strong.
Are you recovering?
He pushed harshly against their lei.
No…my mind is clearing, but my limbs still refuse to move.
I fly with Kezriel to you, but you are hidden in the shadows. You sound closer in my mind, but I cannot see you.
He felt the punch of shock through their connection. You come for me?
Yes.
Why?
You hold my heart.
He felt her struggle to understand the import of his statement as the taint of poison tried to cripple her thinking.
I cannot be your queen.
I am claiming you as my only consort. You will be my queen. You will remain as my consort for as long as it takes my kingdom to see that I love you and accept that you are of the Darkage. Then you will ascend to my kala. Whether it is five or a thousand years, I will wait a lifetime for you.
He felt a sharp tug on their connection, and he sensed her strong and true.
I feel you.
He nudged Kezriel, and they plummeted from the sky, heading for the location he’d felt her presence. He harnessed his powers, drawing on the Phoenyx chakra, and parting his lips, blew a spiral of fire towards the ground. The whirling tunnel slammed into the shadows.
Ajali! Pain saturated her cry. Tehdra had not escaped unscathed. Still, triumph whistled inside of him as the inky blackness receded and two Darkans spilled into the light, Tehdra lying limply between them.
Without hesitation, he projected another fire bomb of pure chakra at the Darkans as he leapt from Kezriel and landed with chains of fire whistling.
Can you move?
No.
A sharp whistle and a motion of his hand had the wraith picking her up in its massive claws and shooting in the air. The darkness converged, trying to trap him in the shadows as they attacked with unparalleled ferocity and brutal taijiu arts. Pain slashed through Ajali’s back as a blade sunk deep. He spun his swords, the flames dancing, as he repelled the attack. The Darkan dodged with a speed that he could barely track—seemingly transporting from location to location within the shadows.
The Kuns approached, their thundering hooves shaking the ground, and the earth roiling as Mevian sound waves pulsated through him, crushing his insides. Blood streaked from his nose and poured from his mouth. The shadows receded, and he stumbled. More than two hundred warriors flanked him along with the two Darkans.
“Break him,” a sickeningly beautiful voice commanded. “King Ajali is a prize our emperor has long awaited. Is it not wonderful he handed himself to us?”
Then they attacked in a swarming wave of brutal strength.
Ajali did not hesitate. He sank into the rage, drawing on the chilling rage of his Phoenyx and released his power, secure in knowing that Kezriel had Tehdra. Power blew from him in waves of heat. Ash swirled around him as the trees of the Taryllion withered and drifted away with the wind. He tapped deeper into the well of his Phoenyx’s chakra, forming a barrier of pure flames as soun
d waves slammed into him along with the lightning that flashed from the sky, striking for his heart.
Ajali burned as he flashed through the force that had gathered to inflict unspeakable horrors on Tehdra in the Mevians’ dungeons. He would have no mercy, and no forgiveness existed in his heart. He allowed the icy ruthlessness of his rage to bleed into his veins. The chains jumped as if they had a life of their own, cutting through the army. His chains whistled and his swords beheaded even as his flames withered the body to ash before his chain recoiled. He burned with the cold, remorseless fury of the Phoenyx as he massacred the force, sending a message to the emperor of Mevia.
Tehdra was off limits.
***
Tehdra slowly came awake, power unfurling inside of her. Memories rushed in and a collage of scenes compressed in her mind—the Darkans taking her, the numbness and paralysis of her body, Ajali’s flames that peeled away her flesh in the shadows, Kezriel flying with her towards the kingdom, and Acheron flashing with her to Ajali’s wing, once again administering drops of the precious elixir. Ajali’s flames had melted her skin to the bones.
The malevolence of her beast stirred with the sinking of the sun, and she accepted the cruelty that pervaded her veins. She turned her head, her eyes piercing the darkness to find her mate.
He sat in a great chair at her bedside, staring at her. The only color in the room was the white fire in his eyes. The sheer power of him buffeted her senses and need twisted through her veins.
You have been sleeping for hours. It was never my intention to cause such harm to your body. Your bones had melted. Even though Acheron administered the elixir your healing was slow.
You rescued me. I thank you, King Ajali.
You are recovered?
Yes. My beast’s chakra will remove all traces of wounds if any lingered.
Then he rose and prowled to her with lethal grace. Without speaking, he gripped her ankles and parted her legs. He gathered her caftan, and with one jerk, ripped it from her body. Her slit dampened immediately. He cupped the back of her knees and pushed up and out, baring her to his heated haze. He dropped one of his hands and loosened his trousers, never taking his beautiful flame-filled eyes from her face.
