As Dragons from Sleep (The Tahaerin Chronicles Book 2)

by J. Ellen Ross

  AS DRAGONS FROM SLEEP

  J. ELLEN ROSS

  Copyright © 2015 J. Ellen Ross

  Cover design © 2015 Melissa Lamkin

  Cover photo © 2014 Andrey Kiselev

  Ver.9.21.15

  All rights are reserved by the author. No part of this e-book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  By One-Armed T.rex Publishing

  Visit my website at www.jellenross.com

  Dedication

  This one is for me.

  Because I always said this wouldn’t be a series.

  Because I said I had nothing more to say about these characters.

  Because I proved myself wrong.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Map of Embriel and Tahaerin

  Evka

  Practice

  Invasion

  Butcher

  Death

  Fleeing

  Moraval

  Retreating

  Savne

  Prices

  Mercenary

  Hunting

  Opportunities

  Cheylm

  Terms

  Drowning

  Blindness

  Plans

  Rescue

  Madness

  Lost

  Sparks

  Fire

  Found

  Learning

  Andelko

  Survivor

  Unraveling

  Loss

  Decisions

  Weakness

  Battle

  Gerolt

  Blood

  Recovery

  Lida

  Convocation

  Remembering

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Map of Embriel and Tahaerin

  Evka

  Leisha sighed as she shed her robe and stepped over the edge of her tub. She sank down into its depths as the scalding hot water burned away the morning chill. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the scent of lavender wafting up with the steam and played with the dried flowers floating on top of her bath.

  She tried to tell herself this was not hiding, exactly. Today, of all days, she could have chosen to sleep in and do nothing. She could have told her maids to bring breakfast and then sent them away. Instead, she had stolen from her bed before dawn and asked Pola to draw a bath. But she was not hiding.

  Rather, she just wanted to be alone and pretend this entire birthday nonsense might pass her by today. She did not care for birthdays, especially not hers, and found them confusing and perhaps a bit embarrassing. Growing up, no one celebrated the day of her birth. Certainly not the absent parents who washed their hands of her as soon as they sent her to a neighboring kingdom as a hostage, a guarantee of their good behavior after their failed invasion. Not her nannies who raised her, not Andrzej, the king of Embriel, who held her captive for fourteen years.

  Soaking in the hot water, Leisha thought back to when her parents both died, and she returned home to take her throne in Tahaerin. Six chaotic and tumultuous years followed as she fought to forge a new kingdom and tame the pack of nobles she inherited from her father. She simply had no time to mark the anniversary of her birth.

  Pola appeared in the doorway, arms laden with soap, towels, and a long robe. “Your Highness? Are you ready to wash up?”

  Sitting up in the tub, Leisha let the girl work soap through her long hair. She wondered what it would be like to cut her hair as she pleased, rather than having to keep it long enough for the styles fashionable with Tahaerin noblewomen. Of course, her darling husband loved her long hair and she loved pleasing him.

  Leisha let her eyes close as her maid continued to work. She thought how her life had changed two years ago when, without warning, she fell in love with an orphaned commoner. Two years ago, she and Zaraki became lovers. Soon after, she married him and made him king.

  As for birthdays, he did not remember his. He knew sometime around the age of seven, slavers attacked a caravan he and his family traveled in. Hiding in a wagon, he survived the slaughter and found his way to a nearby town, but time and trauma erased many of the memories of his past. He grew up in Ostrava with a pack of other children, all trained to spy and kill for pay. Betrayed by Cezar, the man who raised him, Zaraki fled westward to Tahaerin and came to work for her. For four years, he loved her, but because of vows he took as a boy, he squirreled his love away.

  He had explained his oaths to her once. At thirteen, Ostravan spies took three oaths which guided them through the rough waters of their careers. They swore to remain unfailingly loyal to their employers, to keep their secrets and to avoid emotional entanglements which would cloud their objectivity, such as falling in love with whoever paid their salaries. After swearing their oaths, they received a brand, a circle with a bar through it, on the inside of one wrist. Zaraki said it hurt worse than any wound he had ever received and that he fainted afterwards.

  “All done, my lady.”

  The words shook her from her reverie and Leisha jumped, sloshing water out of the tub. “I’m so sorry, Pola,” she said, looking at the girl’s drenched feet and skirts. She had allowed herself to drift away, rifling through the memories she had lifted from Zaraki’s mind over their years together. He knew she could read his mind and hear his thoughts, and he shared his past with her freely, even before they became lovers.

  Standing up, Leisha stepped from the tub and Pola wrapped her in a long robe. She thanked her maid and padded back to her bedroom on silent feet. At the door, she paused to take in the sight of her husband sprawled across their bed, a silk sheet barely covering him. Lean from years of training to spy and hunt and kill, he looked the part of a handsome, young king in his prime. His fair hair and blue eyes marked him as a foreigner in a sea of black-haired, dark-eyed Tahaerin nobles.

  She remembered how it had taken a disastrous affair with Lukas, a prince from Embriel, for her to acknowledge her feelings for Zaraki. Surprised, for her plans never included a husband she loved and craved, she fit him into her life because it felt natural to do so. He had killed for her, been wounded for her and tortured himself for four years to stay with her. Leisha loved him fiercely and without reservation. Beyond words, beyond measure.

  And, while she preferred to ignore her birthday, Zaraki loved the novelty and the excuse to buy her gifts. He certainly had something planned for today.

  Leisha watched as he rolled over and caught her staring.

  Yawning, he looked out the window. “What are you doing out of bed so early?”

  “Just enjoying a quiet morning,” she said. Not bothering to hide the hungry look in her eyes, she watched as he crawled from their bed and pulled on the pair of linen pants laying across the little writing desk. She loved the way they hung from his hips and the way he moved as he stretched. Thinking about it made her want to do scandalous things to him.

  A few steps took her around their bed, and she leaned in to kiss him.

  “None of that yet, woman.” Zaraki batted her hands away as they reached for him. “And none of that!” His yelp told her he heard and saw what she whispered into his mind - a suggestion about how they could pass the morning. “Symon asked us to meet him downstairs this morning after breakfast.”

  It all sounded innocent enough, but trained from boyhood to spy and pass amongst the nobility, Zaraki could lie and say the oceans tasted like candied apples, and most people would question their knowledge of the seas. Of course, if she wanted, she could pluck whatever se
crets he tried to hide from his mind as they swirled around him. This time, though, she did not listen in, and let him keep his thoughts private so he could surprise her.

  Together they ate breakfast in the small formal dining room Leisha’s father furnished for intimate meals with close friends and family. They took most of their other meals in the large receiving room at the entrance to their apartments with their friends and innermost circle of advisors. But she and Zaraki both guarded their time together like jealous dragons, and so they took their morning meals in peace, relishing the quiet before work took their attention from each other.

  “Well, let’s not keep anyone waiting then,” he said as he pushed his plate away. “Come and I’ll help you into something presentable.” Ever since they married, Zaraki loved the intimacy of helping her dress. Instead of letting her maids do it, he would fasten the buttons and lace up the ties on whatever they laid out the night before. While this often led to them arriving late to morning meetings, today he kept his hands mostly to himself.

  ***

  Dressed and ready to face the day, Leisha took the arm he offered, and they wound through the halls of Branik Castle. Old and stately, her family’s fortress made her happy. She loved the plastered walls with their heroic paintings of her ancestor’s long-forgotten victories and she loved the beautiful paneled hallways covered in exotic woods. She loved the huge stone staircase leading from the royal apartments down to the Great Hall, with the beautifully carved insets on the rise of each step. The tilework in the Hall enchanted her with its shifting patterns and colors, and she loved looking at, tracing the different styles across the floor. Most of all, she loved that it all belonged to her.

  In truth, she loved everything about being queen. Her whole life, she knew she would return to her kingdom to rule, to shape its history, to oversee the lands as they blossomed under her hands. Leisha could not imagine any other life for herself, and she loved every day of it. While other monarchs might cede responsibility to an army of court officials, she took an active interest in all manner of things having to do with the running a government and ruling a kingdom.

  As they exited through the small wicket gate set into the larger entry doors, a warm breeze blew through the courtyard, reminding Leisha winter had finally passed. Spring had settled upon Lida, the capital city of her lands, which would soon burst into a myriad of colors and flowers. In another few weeks, she and Zaraki would lead the annual parade through the city streets, riding horses down to the harbor and back, tossing coins and favors.

  From the steps, Leisha looked out into the courtyard and caught sight of a servant standing off to one side of the castle proper. He beckoned to some unseen person around the corner. Leaning in close, Zaraki said into one ear, “I know you don’t care much for birthdays, but I do have a surprise for you.”

  “Of course you do.” Smiling up at him, she took his hand.

  A groom led a lovely chestnut Auleron mare out from around the corner. Draped in blue and gold barding, she had Leisha’s hawk and sword seal embroidered across the breechings covering her hindquarters. The small lady’s saddle on her back would allow a rider to sit astride rather than riding sidesaddle. Leisha loved her instantly.

  “One of your lovelies,” she said, delighted with the gift. Taking the steps down, she met the groom, and the man handed her the reins.

  Zaraki stroked the mare’s long, elegant neck. “She’s fully trained and very polite. Her name is Evka and she’s out of the same bloodline as Capar. I picked her out myself.”

  “Thank you. She’s magnificent.” Of all the things her husband loved, Leisha knew she came first, but his horse, Capar, came in very close behind. Long before they became lovers and long before Leisha ever imagined a life with him, she gave Zaraki her horse farm in Ola to reward him for saving her throne. Along with the breeding stock, he also received all the Aulerons in her stable. He picked out a large black gelding named Capar and the two had been fast friends ever since. She could not remember ever seeing him on another horse, even with their stables filled to bursting with fine animals.

  “It doesn’t mean I trust you to ride anywhere alone. And no side saddle,” he said firmly.

  “Yes, my love,” she said, rubbing Evka’s nose and offering her a carrot the groom pulled from a pocket. “I promise not to ride without you.” Never a skilled rider, she had improved somewhat over the years. Still, he fretted and hated her being out of reach when she rode. They both remembered why.

  “I have a picnic planned outside of town, just for us, and then a small gathering tonight. Are you blushing?”

  Leisha did not bother trying to deny it when her fair skin betrayed her. He knew few others could ever make her blush. “It just seems extravagant. That’s all.” Only now did she notice the soldiers readying their horses near the stables.

  “You’re not the only one who can make grand gestures,” he teased, also thinking of the horse farm she gave him six years ago. It had been far too generous for what he had done, but she always gave extravagant gifts to friends and allies. In those first years, she had so few. “My lady wife? Shall we?”

  Together they walked Evka across the courtyard, towards the stables where a groom met them with a step to help her mount. Another led Capar out of his stall as the tall, black beast pranced merrily and tossed his head. Zaraki greeted his friend and offered him treats before the horse could start nosing around in his pockets.

  Once their escort of soldiers climbed into their saddles, everyone rode under the portcullis and through the gates, into the city. People on foot rushed to cross the streets or get out of the way of twelve horses parading down the wide road leading from the castle to the southernmost gate. As they realized who rode in the procession, they stopped and waved. From the day Leisha returned from her exile in Embriel, the city’s residents were enchanted with their young, lovely queen. It took longer for them to accept a king born a commoner and a foreigner, but Zaraki’s easy smiles and charm won most doubters over.

  A short ride through the cobbled streets brought them to a large gate set in the city walls. The guards halted traffic to let the horses pass as people bowed and curtsied to the procession. Zaraki had never quite grown accustomed to that sort of reception; he much preferred to remain in the background, letting Leisha smile and wave. She, on the other hand, accepted the attention as normal and wondered why he still felt discomfited by it.

  As they passed outside the city walls and the countryside opened up before them, Leisha turned in her saddle. “Now? May I?”

  “Carefully and not too fast, yes,” Zaraki said. He had no concerns about the pretty mare. She had received the best training available and he had taken her out numerous times to check her temperament. Instead, he worried about his lovely, headstrong wife, who believed there should be no limits imposed on her, ever. That she asked him for permission to do anything still amazed him.

  Leisha clucked and loosened the reins, giving Evka her head. The mare broke into a smooth trot without any further encouragement. She’s a joy. Thank you, she sent to him, filling his mind and letting him see how much she enjoyed her gift.

  Capar snorted, demanding to run free as well. “In a bit, my friend.” Zaraki stroked the long black neck and urged his horse forward, anxious as Leisha and Evka drew away from them.

  After another half hour of riding, they crested a small hill and saw a pavilion standing below. The pennants with their seal on them, driven into the ground around the little tent, snapped in the breeze coming in off the sea. Another small contingent of soldiers stood nearby, keeping watch at a respectful distance.

  “This looks familiar,” Leisha said, looking over her shoulder as Zaraki reined in next to her.

  “It should. It’s about the same spot as before.”

  The first time they came to this place to eat and watch the sea, very little of either occurred. This time would be no different. They descended the little rise and came to a stop by the tent. Capar stamped impatiently a
s Leisha dismounted. “He’s desperate to run. Do you want to come?” Zaraki asking, knowing she would say yes.

  “Of course.”

  A servant repositioned the steps for her and Zaraki pushed himself off the back of the saddle. Then he offered her his hand and helped her settled her skirts over the pommel in front. Nudging Capar forward, he meant to start slow, but today the horse would not hear it. As he felt the reins loosen and heard the familiar cluck, Capar surged forward and across the grassy, treeless plain sweeping down towards the sea.

  As always, Leisha loved this. She laughed aloud, reveling in the freedom of their wild ride. Tied to her castle, forever escorted by bodyguards, always watched and attended to, here on Capar’s broad back with Zaraki’s arm wrapped around her waist, she felt unfettered. Her black hair tore free of the combs and streamed behind her as the horse raced along a ridge. Behind them, their escort kept a close watch but gave them space.

  Zaraki took them in a wide circle and returned them to the pavilion as Capar started to slow. “Did you enjoy that, my lady?” he breathed into one ear.

  Leisha turned to look at him with her lovely dark eyes, her cheeks flushed with delight. “Yes, very much.”

  “Do you want to eat? I did have them bring lunch.”

  After riding with him pressed along the length of her and feeling his breath on her neck, food fell low on her list of wants.

  ***

  The sun sat considerably lower in the sky when Zaraki roused her from her nap. Nestled in the crook of his arm, amongst all the pillows and blankets, Leisha yawned and stretched, smiling up at him. “Sleep well?” he asked.

  “Of course. I always do after something so vigorous. Is it time to go already?”

  “We’re expected back at the castle, yes.”

  Leisha wondered what expected meant. Curiosity burned, and she wanted to peek at his thoughts. Reading the minds of those around her came as naturally as breathing or hearing. Her abilities existed as another one of her senses, like sight or smell, but she forced herself to keep her mind shuttered, leaving Zaraki his surprise. He knew she could uncover it if she wanted, and he appreciated the gesture. “Shame. I could stay here and do that all afternoon.”