by Elle Cross
A quick glance tells me that’s not all I’m missing. While most of my party exited through the well with me, Norin, Fionana, and Flitter are nowhere to be found. I have no idea what happened to the courtiers; my best guess for Flitter is that she was in the stables when Acanthe began her rampage. Florizel delivered the warning to her and she never appeared within the palace, which I hope was by choice. All I can do now is hope that she and the stellerae make their way back. I have no worries for Farren and Fain, as they possess magic of a magnitude I cannot comprehend. I have no doubt that they will appear at the stables the next time I have need of them.
I watch the dark man who helped free us. He stares up at the sky, enraptured by the glittering velvet. His breathing is slow and even, as if he sips upon the air here, drinking it as a lanternfly drinks from the cups of honeysap blossoms. Even as I stare, I feel Lyser step closer, and I know his eyes are narrowed at Raze. It’s no surprise; the man’s skin oozes danger like sweat.
“I don’t trust him,” Lyser murmurs in my ear.
“Of course not,” I say. “That’s your job. All the same, he did help us.” I glance at the star stone still clutched in my hand. Somehow, Raze is bound to it. There’s a mystery in that: how could he be bound both to the stone and to Acanthe? She is no part of the Court of Stars—she’s not even fae, not truly—and thus shouldn’t have been able to wield the stone. That power should be mine alone, and yet…I have no sway over the stones. How did some mad former-human manage this?
I run a finger along the stone, feeling the weird power pulsing there. By rights, it should be mine. But it seems tainted, corrupted by unnatural magic. I don’t want it. And someone else should finally get to control the thing.
I approach Raze. “Thank you for helping us.” I offer him the stone, ready to send him on his way and get home, but he recoils.
“I can’t touch that. You have to break the binding on me.”
I frown. “I didn’t cast the binding. I don’t know the spell to break it. Take it, it’s yours.”
He rolls his eyes. “I don’t want that thing. Anyway, you’re the Queen of Stars. That’s a star stone. It’s made to do your bidding. Just magick this shit off me.” He gestures to the words encircling his wrists.
I shake my head. “No.”
He bares his teeth, rage rippling across his face. “We had a deal,” he growls.
“We did. And I fulfilled my end of it, as you did yours. I took the stone and you helped us escape. Bargain concluded. I’m very sorry about your situation, but I can’t help you.” I toss the stone at his feet and turn to Lyser. “Come on. We need to make a camp and figure out how to get home.”
Before either Lyser or I can move, Raze snakes an arm around me, pinning me fast. Beyond his title as a Dark Mage, I don’t know what kind of fae he is—I’ve never seen his like before—but I can feel the power, rage, and intensity pulsing off him. I can tell that I will only be free if he chooses to let me go, and I shake my head at Lyser, who already has weapons in his hands.
“Let me go,” I say calmly.
“Not till you do the same.”
“I already told you, without the spell, there’s nothing I can do.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not. Have you ever heard of star stones? Only royalty from my court can wield them? So how exactly did Acanthe use this on you?”
His grip loosens slightly. “What do you mean?”
“Acanthe isn’t from my court. She’s not even fae. She’s some sort of monstrous hybridized human. I don’t understand how she wields magic at all, and I sure as hell don’t know how she was able to cast with this.” I hold up the stone, examining it in the weakening light. As far as I can tell, there’s nothing special or unusual about it.
Raze leans close, his breath hot on my neck. Despite myself, I tremble, though I don’t know if it’s fear or arousal. Maybe both.
“Then I’m coming with you until you figure it out,” he breathes. “I’m stuck with the stone and you’re stuck with me.”
“Lord Raze, I have no wish to command you, enslave you, or otherwise keep you under my thumb. But whatever that is”—I slide a finger along the markings on his wrist and I swear I feel him tremble against me—“it’s nothing I’ve seen before. It’s not ordinary magic. If we were still in your court, I might be able to find something in the royal library. But given the situation, that seems most unlikely.”
I feel him shake his head. “The Court of Thorns doesn’t have an official library, but believe me, I pored over every book in the storehouse. There was nothing there.”
“Then I propose a new deal. Let me go and join my party. Come with us to my home, and we will research there. If I can find a way to free you, I give you my word as a fae noble that I will.”
The pressure of his massive biceps lessens and I step away from him. Lyser is instantly at my back. Tension still fills the air, and I know Lyser longs to take a knife to Raze’s flesh. I keep him at bay.
“Lyser, I’m fine. Lord Raze is an honorable man. Besides, I seem to be his only hope at freedom. He will not harm me and risk losing that.”
Raze stares at me, dark and inscrutable. Finally, he speaks. “You have my word on that.”
“Very well. Of course, your freedom won’t be worth much if we don’t find a way to stop Acanthe.”
Raze stares at me. “Are you insane? As soon as you break the spell, I’m getting as far from that bitch as possible.”
“You think I don’t want to do the same?” I counter. “I’d like nothing better than to go home and forget this whole thing ever happened. But you know as well as I do that she was literally devouring courts back there. You don’t honestly think she’ll stop once she drains her own castle, do you?”
“Not in the slightest. But it’s not my problem.”
“That’s true. It’s not your problem. It’s all of ours. If she intends to consume everything with power in Inara, then she’ll come for us again. Especially you. You’re the one who got away.”
“All the more reason to disappear,” he says.
I glower at him. “Lord Raze, I didn’t take you for a coward. I guess that was my mistake.”
He leans in, his voice gravelly. “You don’t know anything about me. What I’ve been through, what I’ve survived. You want to play hero and save the world, that’s on you. Leave me out of it.”
It’s clear there’s no changing his mind. But that’s fine. I have several days to sway him, and I can be quite persuasive when I choose. “Very well. All I ask is that you consider the matter. Will you at least do that? Think about helping me save our home?”
He frowns. “Fine. I’ll consider it. But no promises.”
“Thank you. I’ll consider the matter closed.” I look around, evaluating our surroundings. “It’s getting too dark to continue. We should rest here for the night.”
We settle in, arranged in a loose camp of sorts. Raze throws a shadow over us, to help keep us hidden, then settles on his back, staring up at the stars again. Galog huddles under a bush, while most everyone else curls up in little groups for warmth.
I stretch out with Lyser at my back, his arm around my waist as he spoons me. He leans forward and nibbles my earlobe.
“You know what he wants from you, right?” he whispers.
“To break the spell on him. Obviously.”
Lyser gives a dark chuckle. “Sure, but that’s not what I meant. He wants to be in your bed and in your body. Not that I blame him.”
I look over my shoulder to meet his eyes. “Jealous, my dear captain?”
Of course he isn’t. We fae aren’t prone to that rotten emotion. But it’s fun to tease him.
“Not at all. You know I don’t care who you take to your bed, so long as you don’t banish me from it. Though I neither like nor trust him,” he adds with a grumble.
“True enough. You’re not the jealous kind. And you should know, I want the very same thing from you,” I murmur, my words
lost as he leans forward and kisses me deeply.
He rolls me over and palms my breast, his skin hot even through my clothing. I’m powerless to resist Lyser under even the best circumstances, and after the events of the last few days, I need a release more than ever.
I moan and arch into his touch, uncaring that we’re out in the open, in full view of my entourage. Let them watch. It will only spur Lyser on.
Lyser fastens his clever mouth to my neck, sucking and biting, and nibbling along my jaw. The grate of his teeth along my flesh sends my nerve endings zinging, as if there is a straight path from the hollow of my neck to the hollow between my thighs.
He peels my garments from me until I’m bared beneath the starlight.
“Gorgeous,” he growls under his breath.
I laugh and shove at his shoulders, reversing our positions. I remove his own clothing and clasp his cock in my hand, relishing how thick and steely it is. Grinning at him in the moonlight, I slide my hand up and down, slowly, gently, avoiding the slightest hint of friction. Instead it’s a velvet caress, designed to drive him mad. His breath hitches, but beyond that, he doesn’t move—not a flinch, not a thrust. He is letting me take control, waiting to see what I might do to him.
The power in that is heady, and my blood feels thick with it. Reveling in that control, I slide down his body until my lips hover an inch above his thickened cock. His eyes are at half-mast; when I meet his gaze, I see the hunger in it.
With a dark laugh, I sink lower, enveloping him. I savor him, licking, sucking, teasing, enjoying the tang and heat that are unique to my lover. I start slowly at first, working him up and down, delighting in the grunts and moans that spill from his lips. I’m riding his thighs as I do it, writhing, spreading my moisture across him and letting the coarse hair of his legs tickle at my most sensitive spot.
Eventually, his hips begin to move, thrusting as he tries to wrest control and set the pace.
I slide off of him with a pop and lick the salt from my lips.
“Now, now,” I admonish. “I’ve decided to take charge tonight. You’re at my mercy.”
He raises an eyebrow but doesn’t speak. I trail a finger down his chest, taking note of his thundering heart and spastic breath. His stamina is astonishing when he is in command, but something about this—about my control over him, my mouth on him—sends him to the breaking point much more quickly.
Not that he’s there yet. But I could get him there with a few well-placed licks, a few hard sucks.
The thought makes me even wetter, heat building in my low belly so intense and fast that it’s almost painful. I close my eyes and slide myself along his thigh again, dragging my clit along all that hard muscle.
Lyser reaches up and grasps my nipples, pinching hard. My breath stutters out in a gasp. I think I could come just from this, but I won’t let myself. He’s taught me the gratification in delaying pleasure.
I hike my hips up enough to break contact and slide my mouth on him once more. I tease him, over and over, until his muscles quiver and his breath hitches wildly. With a chuckle, I crawl up his body until I’m hovering over his face.
“Yes,” he growls. He grips my hips and tugs me down, clasping me to his mouth, using his thumbs to spread me wide.
His tongue flicks out, licking slowly at first and then circling my clit, concentric rings that pick up speed with each round. I spasm against him, flooding his mouth with my wetness. He moans in appreciation, sucking at me harder. Spirals of pleasure coil through my belly and spin outward, tingling everything from my nipples to my toes.
I gulp in a breath, trying to hold back the tide of pleasure. I’m not ready to go over yet. He clamps onto my clit, a tight vortex of suction, and everything in me clenches. He hums against my flesh and a low, desperate moan wrenches out of me.
I’m dimly aware of the sounds in the darkness around us, the muffled moans and soft slaps of flesh. Apparently our little display has inspired other members of our party to seek their own pleasure.
I close my eyes and arch my back, pressing against Lyser’s talented tongue. We’re engaged in a battle now—he’s determined to break me and I’m just as determined to fight off the orgasm. No matter what happens, we both win.
I find a rhythm, flexing my hips and riding his mouth, tingling waves of pleasure shimmering through me. “More,” I gasp. He obliges, his tongue plunging deep and his lips vibrating against me.
I feel it in slow motion: a spark behind my clit, hot and fast as a heartbeat. It explodes outward, spasming my inner muscles, sending quivers through my abs and flickers of heat through my nipples.
It builds and builds, a tidal wave, and then suddenly breaks over me, drowning me in orgasm. I’m shaking and rocking against Lyser, who holds me firm against his mouth, relentless in his determination to make me come over and over. I pant and moan, my whole body trembling, as the shocks break over me again and again.
“Lyser,” I gasp. “It’s too much.”
He ignores me, sucking hard on my clit, forcing the pleasure to drag on. He doesn’t stop until tears track down my cheeks and my breath goes choppy.
Without missing a beat, he lifts me and slides me onto his straining cock, groaning as I instantly clamp down around him.
“Yessss,” he hisses, lost in the pleasure, his hips jackknifing his cock into me.
I throw my head back, breasts and nipples straining forward, and give into the pleasure. I ride him hard, matching him thrust for thrust. My body is trapped in an endless orgasm; the only variation is the intensity. I ride through waves of aftershocks until each tsunami crashes through me, dragging whimpers and wetness from me, and then the aftershocks start again and the whole process repeats itself.
I tip forward, bracing my hands on his chest, needing some sort of anchor to the world.
“I can’t stop coming,” I moan.
“Good. I never want you to. It feels so good around me.”
I laugh shakily and close my eyes, bouncing on him until he finally loses control and breaks with a roar. At last I collapse onto his chest, consciousness abandoning me as the darkness takes me under.
Morning breaks, cold and foggy. Sunlight trickles around us, weak as a newborn, but it’s enough to get our bearings. We’re not as far from the Court of Thorns as I’d like, but that means the Court of Ravens is also near. Queen Talon is an ally of mine; she and King Bellinor will help us if we seek them out. We must travel due north if we are to reach her, else we shall pass through the Court of Blood, a prospect best avoided.
“Come,” I tell my assembled men and women. “We must make our way up through the lava flats to the Court of Ravens.”
“My queen.” Lyser’s voice is low, meant only for me. “There is no bridge to cross the river between here and Ravens. Bellinor made it so. The only way past is to utilize the bridge owned by Drave.”
Drave and Salome, rulers of the Court of Blood. There’s no malice between us, specifically, but I do my best to avoid the Dark courts whenever possible. Their…practices…are not in line with my own personal beliefs about ruling. I broke my rule to attend this damned funeral and look what happened.
However, if we are to safely make it home, we may have no choice. The Court of Ravens is the only Light court in all of western Inara; after all that happened with Acanthe, we are little more than a ragtag band of travelers. We need assistance: food, water, transportation, weapons. If we must pass through the Court of Blood, then so be it.
I turn back to my people, who are expectantly waiting for their orders, their trust in me plain. I can only hope it is not misplaced.
“Gather what supplies you may have. Any water or berries you foraged this morning, any bits of firewood you may have found. Whatever may be useful, pack it now. We set forth for the bridge in one hour.”
* * *
To be continued...
Read on for a preview of Spells of Blood and Iron.
Coming Autumn 2020…
Queen Sitara and
her allies, including her lover Lyser and the enigmatic Dark Mage Raze, have survived the carnage in the Court of Thorns. But escape is only the first step. With the mad queen Acanthe rampaging across Inara and a mysterious illness befalling members of her party, Sitara must return home as quickly as possible to find the necessary spells to save her world.
* * *
But the journey is fraught with peril, and both magic and allies are hard to come by. As courts around her fall one by one, Sitara must rely on new friends to help her find the answers she seeks. But not all friends can be trusted, and one false move will mean the end of Inara...forever.
* * *
When the blood settles, who will reign?
* * *
Excerpt
Sitara
The Court of Ravens is one of the most beautiful in all of Inara. The castle’s delicate spires rise above endless groves of berry-blossom trees, their pink petals and sweet scent decorating the air. When I first visited, a century or so ago, miniature dragons roamed the grounds, and everywhere I walked I found myself surrounded by golden pagodas, gurgling fountains, tinkling bells, and lilting flutes.
It is a true paradise.
Or it once was. Now, it is a corpse, a victim of Acanthe’s carnage. The trees are burning, the fountains are dry, and the dragons are nowhere to be found. I can only hope they flew away, rather than suffering the same fate as the rest of the court: slaughter.
Bodies litter the palace, shriveled husks of courtiers and servants. What remains of the king and queen can barely be identified. Piles of ash and bone rest on the thrones, and I can only assume those piles were once Talon and Bellinor.
The stench of death is thick, pungent and saccharine. Rills of blood crust the golden floors and smoke crawls into every cavity—eyes, nose, mouth—polluting us all with this massacre.
My knees have turned to jelly, but I keep my face impassive. How could this have happened? How did Acanthe’s troops beat us here without any sign? We didn’t hear them marching; we caught no glimpse of them.
