Dark, page 30
“Are you sure this isn’t magic?” I asked Zuriel.
“I am certain, cousin. You are the one who has done all of the work to make these feelings happen,” he promised.
“Guess I am pretty powerful, huh?” I said, arms dropping to my lap and resting there.
“That you are.” Zuriel braced his hands on his thighs and pushed off the chair. “I’m assuming with the way you burst in here that you haven’t spoken with your mate, and with the intensity of the release you had, he’s probably losing his mind. Let’s go find him and assure him you’re alright.”
I nodded, feeling slightly guilty that I had ignored his calls down our bond as I’d raced back to the citadel. He had gone into the mines to flaunt the Iron Realm’s achievements, and I couldn’t let my issues prevent us from succeeding in uniting the realms.
“Are you still in the mines?” I asked down our bond.
“We arrived in the citadel a few minutes ago. Where are you? I felt your terror, Izidora, are you okay?”
“I’m fine now. I was working with Zuriel. We’re in the tunnels.”
“Understood. My office?”
“We’re on our way.”
Returning to Zuriel’s bedroom, I found him leaning against the desk, arms crossed and waiting for me. “Ruslan says to meet in his office.”
“Then that is where we shall head.”
The sentries outside the door snapped to attention as Zuriel and I entered the long hall that led to Ruslan. Most of the doors along the way were closed, no doubt because the advisors and nobles were off galavanting or celebrating. Only Ruslan seemed to continue to work while Béke wore on, though I suspected it was because he couldn’t let go of control, not when those we did not trust wandered the realm. And with his newfound status, there was much he needed to acquaint himself with.
Was it really only a week before that we had killed King Azim?
The heavy wood door swung open, revealing Ruslan seated across from Drazen. Their conversation died when Ruslan’s gaze collided with mine. We remained locked, even as he rounded the desk and swept me into his arms, squeezing me so tight I could barely breathe.
“Fuck, sprite, I’m so glad you’re safe. It took everything in my power not to race home to you.”
“I know, but you needed to show off for the other kings.”
“You know you are far more important than they are. Nothing in this world is more important than you.”
The sincerity of his words wrapped around my heart, warming it as his professions of love always did. “I love you.”
“Love you more.”
Ruslan finally released me, but he tugged me along behind him and settled me in his chair before rounding and bracing his forearms on the back of it. We faced Drazen and Zuriel, the latter having settled himself in a high-backed chair beside the former.
“Someone was watching me while I was trying on dresses,” I blurted out, needing to get all the information out of me before someone else had a chance to direct the conversation elsewhere.
Behind me, Ruslan tensed, and I sensed his rising anger.
“But when I turned around, I couldn’t see anyone. I just had this awful feeling like I was being watched. No one else saw anything either. The dressmakers even went outside to check. That’s when I ran to Zuriel.” I cleared my throat, prepared to confess more knowledge. Craning my head, I tried to show my mate the depth of my worry. “Kazimir cornered me yesterday at the horseback riding event and told me that you were manipulating me by teaching me to read. Except, I’ve never read in front of him, and you’ve certainly never helped me in front of him.”
A muscle ticked in Ruslan’s jaw, and he tilted his head to one side, then the other, cracking his neck along the way. “If he’s been watching you, I will fucking kill him.”
Good thing I hadn’t told him what Immonen said after her vision.
Drazen slapped his palm on the wood in front of him, jolting both me and Ruslan. Some of that bloodthirstiness drained from him, and he sucked in a long breath before blowing it out. “You can’t kill him now, Ruslan. Not while he’s a guest here. It would go against our other goals.”
“I don’t give a fuck. Like I told Izidora before, she matters more to me than uniting the realms, freeing the Félvér, or welcoming others to our shores,” Ruslan snapped.
Definitely a good thing.
“We can’t even be certain he is the one following her. What if it’s one of the other Night Fae? They can all fly,” Drazen pointed out.
“But none of them can turn invisible or fully cloak themselves in shadow or light,” Zuriel argued. “Both feats used to be possible, but in the last few centuries, that power has weakened.”
“And that’s why the Félvér are superior,” Drazen muttered under his breath. None in the room disagreed, not when three of us had mixed blood and Zuriel was an Angel. He blew out a long breath, dragging his hand over his long hair and fidgeting with the pile of it atop his head. “I’ll check out the dress shop and see if I can find anything there. A place someone could have been hiding across the street, perhaps.”
“Thanks, Drazen,” Ruslan said, his body still tense against my back. The half-Dragon pushed off from the arms of his chair and made to leave. Zuriel, with one last glance at me, followed, offering to help Drazen in his search.
As the two departed, I spun to my knees and faced my mate. “How were the mines?”
“King Airre was very impressed with what we were mining, and King Consort Geza was very impressed with how we were mining. I didn’t reveal the extent of the tunnels in and under the mountains though. That’s a secret best kept among those in the Iron Realm.” His gray eyes still pinched with worry at the corners. “Are you sure you’re okay? Why don’t I take you to Roc to soak in the hot springs?”
That sounded incredible.
“Please do,” I grinned, threading my fingers through the hair at the base of his neck and scratching lightly. He released a low groan, head tipping back to rest against the back of his chair. Without rising, he chanted the words to the spell that would move us, and within moments, we stood in the steam in the grotto beneath our home, my legs wrapped firmly around Ruslan’s waist.
I slid to the ground, the safety offered by the springs and the session with Zuriel putting me at more ease than I had been in days. There were no windows, only one way in or out, and Ruslan was with me. Kazimir couldn’t reach me here. No one could reach me here. Ruslan seemed to sense that I wasn’t in the mood for sex, and when I stripped out of my clothes, he watched with the adoration I’d come to expect from him when he wanted to show me just how much he loved me.
Leading me into the rolling water, he guided me along until we were in the deepest parts, and then he cradled me, whispering sweet affirmations in my ear and stroking soothing swirls along my back. With each passing breath my body unwound, and the water seeped into my bones, chasing away the last of the chill that lingered there. Floating in the healing water, I felt lighter, freer, than I ever had before, and with Ruslan attending to my every need, I let go, allowing the grip around my emotions to fall away and trusting that one of us would catch me should I need it.
32
Béke Day Eight
“You’re certain you can summon them?” I asked the Iron Realm’s High Priestess as she perched on the edge of a chair across from me. The midmorning sun glinted off the polished wood in my office, and I leaned forward to remove the glare from my line of vision.
“Yes, as long as we have enough herbs and a distraction for our guests,” she confirmed.
“Consider it done. Take all the herb you need from the stores at Steel.” I scratched a note to the manager and handed it to her. “The note also asks for his help in setting up… intimate spaces around the site. That and free-flowing herbs should be enough distraction for you.”
She accepted the slip of paper in her dainty hands, then dipped into a curtsey. “Thank you, My King. I shall not disappoint.” Then she glided along to the door, passing Drazen on her way out.
The half-Dragon plopped down in her unoccupied seat. “You busy?”
“Not at all,” I said, leaning back in my chair and kicking my feet up on the desk. “What do you need, Drazen?”
“It was Kazimir that Izidora felt watching her yesterday. Confirmed the prints this morning after Kriath followed him out toward the mountains again.”
“Fuck!” I swore, dropping my feet and banging my fists onto the desk. “I’m going to fucking kill him. He cannot keep terrorizing her like this.” My chest heaved and I searched for something, anything, to slake this rage burning through me, because the need to protect my mate was driving me insane. Finding a liquor bottle, I threw it against the windows, the glass shattering with a satisfying crack, and the smoky scent of the liquid filled the air.
Drazen sat, arms crossed, his usual air of nonchalance on full display as I raged, waiting for me to calm down. “Your bond is fresh. Tell me again, why doesn’t Kazimir know?”
“She said she still feels this pull to him,” I grumbled, finally collapsing into the chair behind me. “Zuriel suggested she might need to speak the words aloud to break it off like she had to do to accept our bond.”
“But to do that, she’d have to get close to him.”
I nodded.
“And she does not want to do that.”
I nodded again, tilting my head to the side and popping my neck to relieve some tension. Blowing out a breath, I replied, “Nor do I want her that close to him. Who knows what he would do when he found out? He’s already stalking her.”
“Well, she can’t avoid confronting him forever,” Drazen pointed out.
“I know. I’m trying to let her figure it out on her own, but fuck! I want her to be safe.” I buried my head in my hands, trying to fight back the overwhelming urge to hunt her down and lock her in Roc Palace until Béke concluded.
“He won’t fuck with her if you’re around, Ruslan. Between the two of us and Zuriel, someone will be with her at all times from now on,” Drazen promised, his tone softening.
“Speaking of Zuriel, are he and Izidora training?” I asked. She had been exhausted last night after the excitement of choosing her dress for our wedding, the subsequent terror of feeling Kazimir’s attention on her, and then another session with Zuriel. I never asked what occurred in these sessions, but by the way she spoke of them, they were helping tremendously with her trauma. Despite her heightened emotional volatility and jumpiness, I thought they were working, too. Izidora told me that after each session, she felt like another layer had been stripped from her, and the transformation was incredible to behold from the outside looking in. The weight lifted from her left her shoulders looser, movements lighter, her breath flowing easier, and she bloomed more beautifully than I had ever imagined.
“As we speak. He told me he thinks there will be a war, and soon,” Drazen informed me.
I lifted my head from my hands, only to discover the worry in Drazen’s blue eyes and the stress lining his forehead. “And what do you think?” Because there was no doubt in my mind that Kazimir would wage war once Izidora broke off their bond.
“I agree with him.”
“Are you still sending patrols toward the borders?”
He nodded. “I’ve asked the scouts to report back immediately if they spot large movements in the distance.”
“Good.” I blew out another breath, then pushed to my feet. “There’s not much we can do but wait is there?”
“Nope,” he replied with a wry grin twisting his lips. “And I know that’s your least favorite thing to do.”
The makeshift arena had once again been transformed. All the event materials from the strength and horseback competitions had been removed and dark tents spanned the area instead, beckoning in revelers with the smell of sugary treats and warm drinks. A blistering chill had settled over the afternoon, and as the sun dipped beyond the reach of the mountains, the wind picked up, blowing Izidora’s loose chestnut locks about.
In the center of the space, dried branches had been twisted and twined together to form an enormous tree, bags of herb hanging from the bare branches protruding at every level. The High Priestess stood before it, her acolytes twirling around it in a ritualistic dance that called to the deepest parts of us that were connected to nature all around us. The hairs on my arms stood on end as their chanting grew louder, drawing all in attendance closer to the dancing circle. The priestesses called flames to their hands, weaving them through the air as they illuminated the creeping night. Their magic bloomed, blending with their sisters’ around them, until a ring of fire danced around the offering, lofted by the fast-moving priestesses.
“Fire is cleansing,” the High Priestess shouted over the others’ chanting. “Fire is burning. Fire is destroying. Fire is life.” Her black robes billowed about her thin frame as if the wind that had been chilling us all had decided to blow all its attention on her. “Our Goddess, we offer you our souls this night. Purify our hearts for the coming year, and may you allow us to remain peaceful in your infinite wisdom.”
The dancing priestesses halted in their tracks, fingers splaying forward as they shot their flames into the dried brush, lighting the tree from bottom to top. The offering caught immediately, smoky crackling filling the air and blasting heat around the open field. The sweet scent of the herbs followed moments later, and I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs with the drug. Down the bond, I sensed Izidora’s confusion.
“Breathe deeply, sprite. The herbs will make you feel tingly and lightheaded, and if it gets to be too much for you, just let me know and I’ll take you home.”
“Is it like wine?”
“Not exactly. You’ll know when it hits you. I promise I’ll be by your side the whole time.”
She chewed her bottom lip, and I knew she worried about Kazimir seeking her out in the darkness. “Drazen has our guards keeping an eye on everything too. You’re safe.”
Her aquamarine eyes speared into mine, captivating me with their ethereal beauty. Clasping a hand around her upper arm, I tugged her toward me, sweeping her hair off her shoulders and capturing her lower back. She arched into me as I kissed her roughly, claiming her as mine in front of the Goddess and all onlookers.
Someone cleared their throat beside us, and I growled a warning before breaking our kiss to see who dared interrupt me. Liliana waited there, along with Anton and Slavian, who both looked like they had trouble planned for the night.
“We’ve got another bag of herbs,” Anton said as he produced a pouch from behind his back, “and you should smoke them with us, Ruslan. Like old times.” A wolfish grin spread across his face as he waited for my response.
“Why not? We are celebrating the Goddess after all. Follow me.” Izidora and Liliana linked arms and whispered conspiratorially as I directed us through the clearing toward a tent erected for my personal use at the far side. As we passed closer to the burning offering, the sticky sweet smoke thickened, and I checked on Izidora to ensure she was handling the herbs. It was her first time using them, and my mouth twitched up in anticipation of her reaction. We’d been fucking like crazy since accepting the bond, and the herbs would only enhance our sexual appetites tonight.
Dipping into the lavish tent, I fanned the flames burning in the braziers, casting more light into the space and heating it for my mate who tended to catch a chill.
“Thank you,” she whispered down our bond, and I squeezed her hand in response.
I pulled her onto my lap as we settled on a half-moon-shaped couch, and the two young High Lords of the Iron Realm wasted no time preparing the herbs for consumption.
“We’re going to have so much fun tonight, Izidora,” Liliana said as she lounged beside us. “You’ve never been to Béke before, but tonight is one of the best ones. In the Night Realm, they use a lot less herb, and there’s never any to go around freely after the burning begins. You’ll feel more connected to nature than ever before.”
“So what’s the purpose of the burning?” she asked.
My curious little sprite.
“The burning represents a new beginning, like wiping the slate clean for next year,” Liliana explained. “The herbs are supposed to help bring the realms together, forming new bonds and forgetting old grievances. And tomorrow night at the masquerade, we all get to pretend that we’re meeting for the first time. The days after that are filled with arts of all kinds, including a ceremony where we release floating lanterns into the sky holding our most fervent desires for the coming year. The end is the most beautiful part of Béke.”
“What did you wish for last year?” Izidora asked, snuggling into my embrace. I draped my arm around her, resting it against the back of the couch as I settled in.
Liliana blushed, and I had to press my lips together to suppress a smile. I’d never seen the fierce female be anything but unabashedly confident. “A friend.”
Izidora’s emotion flooded our bond, and she burst forward, leaving me forgotten so she could embrace her friend. I scented salty tears from both of them and decided to allow them some space, even though everything in me wanted to have her all to myself. But with the sanctity of our bond, I’d never have to worry about her permanently leaving me for anyone else.
Anton and Slavian had finished packing the herbs and Slavian lit the end with the tip of his finger, drawing a deep breath to fill his lungs with smoke. He passed the apparatus to me, coughing, and I repeated his action using my black fire. The rush from the herbs was almost immediate, and as I blew out rings, my connection to everything around me heightened, my senses simultaneously sharpening and dulling at the edges as if I were slipping into a dream.
My mate had sidled up to me again, an eagerness in her eyes that I was happy to oblige. Holding the herbs out to her, I instructed, “Go nice and slow so you don’t cough.”
Putting her lips to the end, I lit my finger, only allowing a tiny flicker to touch the herbs. She sucked in a breath, and I snatched the apparatus away from her a moment later, already seeing the inevitable choking. Izidora’s eyes watered as she coughed out a lungful of smoke, eliciting a laugh from Liliana and rubs on her back from me.
