Embrace the Fire (25 page)

“The majority?” Sebastian asked.

Paik sighed and shook his head, resuming his seat at the head of the Council. “Not all of the Seer Fey see the way forward. Some still insist that the Stars divinely placed us as Guardians of the Andrachen lineage. We who are enlightened, however, wish to regain the Amulet so that we can destroy the ancient Bond.”

The Seer Fey are split.
Taking advantage of such divisions might help him win his war against Erlane, if only he could make use of the rift.

Paik interrupted his thoughts. “Where is the Amulet, King?” His green eyes traced down Sebastian as if the King had hidden the thing in his breeches pocket.

“I destroyed it,” Sebastian answered, not about to explain that Lanier had never had a chance to throw it into the sea or that it had been stolen before he could complete the act.

To his surprise, deep-throated laughter rose from the entire Council.

“If you have the Touches, Your Grace, the Amulet is not destroyed. The Touches exist only as extensions of the Amulet—which is not so easy to destroy.” Paik leaned forward, his stare piercing Sebastian. “So, that begs the question, King—why are you lying to us?”

Anger flared Sebastian's nostrils. He stood, his gloves balled into fists. “Why should one of the Andrachen line hand an Amulet back to the Seer Fey Council simply because they ask?'

Eyes blazed all around the circle. “Beware, King, of the power in this cave. You don't know the danger we hold for you.” Warning laced Kayeck's voice.

“Danger for me?
I am the King of West Ashwynd
,” Sebastian shouted. “I hold the power of the Amulet in my fingers, as you have only just told me, and I can turn you and your cursed breed into ice should I so choose.”

As one, the Council rose, and the leader stepped forward. This time, his voice was not quiet and rusty. It was strong, and his eyes flamed green fire. “You are a fraudulent son of the Andrachen line. The power of Aarkan has bypassed you and carried on to Liam's twins, and you will not live to see their ascent to the throne. You will die by the hands of two, and your days of glory will end in blood and fire.”

Sebastian's face twitched. “Cedric, my nephew, sits in chains in
my armies
, to be commanded as
I bid him
, and his twin sister can do nothing but hide in fear of me.
Neither
will ever rule anything, because both will be dead as soon as I regain my throne in Lismaria.”

Echoing silence pulsed in the cavern. Sebastian turned for the exit, striding between two Council members into the brilliant sunlight. It didn't occur to him to wonder until he'd exited the cavern and made his way along the ridges to the north why they didn't try to stop him.

S
ebastian didn't calm
down until he'd descended slopes and climbed several outcroppings to where the path leveled out. By then, his fury had dissipated to a dull anger. He kicked at a root that rose in his path, and when he looked up, he stopped short in surprise.

Lianna Erlane rounded a turn in the path, stumbling to a halt when she saw him. She drew back a step, her stance rigid.

Sebastian raised a brow. “My lady.” He appreciated the view. She was well put together, and the tunic strapped with a wide belt over snug breeches did nothing to hide her curves. All at once, the heat in his body challenged the ice in his veins. He started to speak, but she beat him to it.

“Sebastian?” Her voice was as chilly as the mountain air. “What are you doing here? And by yourself, unprotected and unguarded, in enemy territory?”

It was a rare moment when anyone dispensed with his title and called him by his name to his face. The last time had been when his mistress, Selena, had lain in his bed to minister to his pain-filled thoughts after a confrontation with his nephew, Cedric.

He took a step toward Lianna, and she tripped backward. “Wh—what are you doing?” Frustration washed over her expression, presumably at her stumbles. She'd showed weakness, and Sebastian liked that. She wouldn't be hard to tame.

His pulse beat through his neck, his fingertips, and his chest. He could feel the fiery heat of temptation, and the strange way it contrasted with the ice that flooded his nerves. Recalling Paik's explanation of the Touches, he willed the ice to the tips of his fingers, played with their frosty bite, and decreased the chill with stubborn focus. He wondered if he could touch her without...

“What are you doing?” she gasped as he slowly pulled his gloves free of his hands, stepping purposefully toward her. Her hand fumbled with the knife in her belt, but he was quicker than she. He reached for her hand and yanked the knife from her grip. Her eyes widened.

He tossed it aside, moving closer. She took a step back, and his gloves caught her shoulders, stilling her.

He wondered; he had to know how far his control went.
Fear
was key.
Controlling the Touches is much like controlling your own mind.
He stared into Lianna's blue eyes, and no trace of fear touched him. The sphere that had shattered over him last night had terrified him, and as a result, left him feeling helpless, no doubt infesting his body even more deeply with the Amulet's Touches. But now, no fear clouded his mind. Only desire, a desire that gave him power and control. He could make Lianna feel whatever he wished.

So while Lianna stared at him in blue-eyed horror, he lowered his head and claimed her lips in a kiss that was at once fire and ice.

Gray edges creased her cheeks as ice began to smother her scream.

Quickly, Sebastian tugged on the ice in his veins, and almost at once, the fleshy tones of healthy skin reappeared on Lianna's face.

Sebastian traced down her arms, pulling her hands behind her back, and holding her wrists firmly at her waist. His mouth spread into a slow smile. He'd done it; he'd controlled his Ice-Touch. He felt powerful. Desire surged.

Lianna gulped. Her eyes were so wide, he could drown in them. “P—please, Sebastian, let me go.”

“Nay.” His smile grew wider. “I find I like your fear. It relieves my own.” The girl was shaking like a leaf, and small wonder. She'd been half an orlach from frozen death.

“What—are you going to do with me?” she asked in a whisper.

Sebastian pulled her more tightly against him, holding her absolutely still. He made no mention of his baser instincts. “You asked me why I am alone and unguarded in the Marron Mountains. I might ask you the same question.”

“And if I say that it is none of your concern?”

Sebastian allowed the ice to brush her wrists and sink beneath her skin. She tried to jerk back, but he held her fast. Her breath came in great gasps. “I—I came seeking the Council to discover if they know of the whereabouts of the Amulet of the Ancients.”

Sebastian allowed a laugh to escape his throat, and a crease appeared between Lianna's eyebrows. “What is amusing?”

“I find it diverting how very popular the Amulet has become. I tried to rid myself of it four months ago, and all at once, it is the desired object of not only your uncle, but the Seer Fey Council and you as well.”

“You tried to rid yourself of it?”

Sebastian was surprised. “Your uncle did not inform you?”

“I have not seen my uncle since—before all this.” She tried to step back, but Sebastian stepped with her, still holding her wrists. Lianna bumped against a tree beside the path. Her trembling fingers brushed the rough bark, seeking a handhold, but Sebastian kept his grip tight. “Sebastian, please—”

“Please, what?” he asked, his gaze on her lips. They were tantalizingly close.

“Where is the Amulet?”

“That, my lady, I cannot reveal.” He transferred both of her wrists to one hand and raised a cold thumb to brush across her cheek and into her hair, leaving a trail of blue, glittering ice that dissipated instantly.

“Do you still have it?”

Her voice had risen in pitch, and as he traced a finger across her neck, he felt her fluttering pulse, like that of a frightened rabbit. He restrained the Ice-Touch as he dipped his mouth to the place where her jaw met her ear.

“My Commander, Lanier, holds it in safekeeping,” he lied. Let her assume what she wanted; he refused to give her the upper hand. She'd never know that the Amulet had been stolen and that neither he nor Lanier knew of its current whereabouts.

“S—Sebastian, I'll make you a trade.”

“Oh?” He raised his head, interest tingeing his thoughts. He did love to make deals. “What trade?”

“Your nephew, Cedric, in exchange for the Amulet.”

Sebastian froze. Taking a step back, he gripped her shoulders in both of his hands. “What do you mean?”

Lianna's blue eyes shone with fear and something else—victory? “I will give you Cedric, bound however you please, if you will allow me to take the Amulet.”

Sebastian struggled to keep control of the ice and not to give way to his own growing terror. He swallowed. “Cedric is my prisoner, Lianna. He travels with my armies.”

A smile played on her lips, and one fine eyebrow rose. “Nay, Sebastian. Cedric trains Dragons in my uncle's keep in ClarenVale. I know. I received a message about Cedric from my uncle only this morning from one of his Dryads.”

Terror hit Sebastian so strongly he stepped back, releasing Lianna. Cedric had been his strongest asset. He'd planned to force the boy's Dragon-command to gain access to ClarenVale when they reached the gate. If Lianna's words were true, his plans lay moldering at his feet, and his men would be outweighed by Erlane's greater armies.

Lianna rubbed her upper arms where Sebastian had clasped her so tightly. “Do we have a deal, Sebastian? You can have your Dragon-Master back for the simple matter of a small Amulet; that is all I ask.”

That's all?
The Amulet, with its Touches, its power that it wielded over all peoples and creatures with a simple brush of the skin? Why should his enemies have the Amulet? If he could regain it, all of the armies of Lismaria couldn't stand in his way. It might be of more use than his nephew. Clearly, Erlane and Lianna thought so.

Sebastian kicked aside a branch that stood in the way, his confidence flooding back as a newly built plan unfolded in his mind—one with the Amulet as the centerpiece. He pushed Lianna back against the tree, and this time, he didn't bother to play with the ice in his fingers. He knew he already held the control.

“Why don't you leave the bargaining to your uncle's diplomats?” he murmured. “No deal.” His lips met hers, and this time, he kept the ice far away with a rush of hot desire.

B
right lights
and heavy weights and cold warmth skipped lightly through Kinna's dreams for days. Occasionally, she would find herself waking to her mother's gentle words and her father's fond smile, but both Tristan and Joanna faded into nothing when she stretched out her arm to touch them.

Ayden always hovered in the dark, his silver gaze wounded. She wanted to comfort him, but he stayed out of reach.

Julian's warm hand was the only thing she could touch. She felt the sturdy width of it in her own, and she relaxed. Somehow the pain didn't seem so close when he was there.

Distant nightmares of a dagger and a dead Valkyrie, a Valkyrie she herself had slain, haunted the blackness. She remembered the pain, the empty, draining feeling as she'd slumped to the ground, and the hatred in the eyes of the Valkyriedimn. She couldn't blame him. If someone had pierced Chennuh's hide and forced the light to fade from his wise old eyes, she would have done the same.

Her abdomen burned, and the comforting blackness was growing thinner. She wondered dreamily if her wound had become infected.

“Kinna.”

She was racing toward the light, and the fire in her stomach grew hotter. Muscles she had forgotten were there clenched in pain, and a low moan escaped her lips.

“Kinna.”

Kinna could see the backs of her eyelids and the bright light somewhere behind them. A warm hand covered her own. She opened her eyes and blinked at the familiar face of her best friend.

“Julian.”

A smile creased his tan skin, and his brown eyes sparkled. “I thought I'd lost you. It's good to see you back on this side of day again.”

Kinna glanced to the side. The ever-present orange hair gave away Lincoln's presence. He grinned his quirky grin at her, and she couldn't help but smile back.

“Where's Ayden?” Her voice was rusty from disuse, and she coughed to clear it.

A familiar form moved in her peripheral vision. Ayden stood, his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against a tent pole.

“Ayden.” She wanted him to come to her, to take her hand, to tell her everything would be okay, but he only watched her from the doorway. When she lifted her free hand to him, a muscle jumped in his jaw. A moment later, he was gone.

Kinna sighed. “What did I do?”

Lincoln's smile had turned to a frown. “I'll go talk to him.” He strode from the tent, and Kinna turned to Julian who hadn't taken his eyes from her face. A moment later, her surroundings began to sink in. She glanced above at the tent pole that held the canvas in place and then at the makeshift cot that lay opposite her.

“What happened, Julian? Where am I?” Alarm quickened her pulse. If she was in a tent...

“In the medic tent, Kinna. You took a knife to the stomach—”

“
Sebastian's
medic tent?” Kinna tried to sit up, but her muscles screamed in protest. Panic clawed her throat. “Julian, I've got to get out! He'll find me here, and I'll be his prisoner—”

Julian pressed her back against the cot. “Calm down, Kinna—”

“Calm down?” Kinna thrashed against his hold, shoving the pain to the side.

“Kinna! Trust me. You are safe. You're safe. Sebastian is gone; he's not with this Division. I'm in command of this Division, and what I say, goes. Don't panic; you don't need to flee. Until Sebastian returns, there is no reason to be afraid.”

Kinna's pulse slowed as she stared at Julian and relaxed onto the cot. Her abdomen throbbed with pain. She cleared her throat. “Please tell me what happened, then, Julian. On the battlefield. I remember taking the dagger, and then—”

Julian didn't prompt her. Realization dawned on Kinna. “You were—were you the one who healed me? Did you have Sage do it? I remember the knife and the pain, and then it seemed like something sucked the pain of the knife out and only left a burning sensation behind.”

Julian smiled briefly and squeezed her hand. “It's not important, Kinna—”

“It
is
important, to me. Thank you, Julian. I owe you, quite literally, my life.” She raised her hand and cupped his cheek, smoothing the skin beneath his eye. She had admitted where her own heart lay; she would never love Julian the way he wished she would. But if she were forced to marry against her desires, he wasn't a terrible second choice. She only hoped that the marriage would keep her father safe. She sighed.

Julian covered her hand with his own. He smiled, but a shadow cloaked his normally clear gaze, stirring unease inside Kinna. Strain touched his voice. “Then I'm glad to hold the debt.”

K
inna's wound
-site was a mystery to the apothecary. He fussed and clucked and couldn't understand how the streaks of fresh blood that had pooled over her stomach meshed with the closed and healed wound. After two days of sitting on the cot, pleading to be released, the apothecary, mystified by her fast recovery, let her go.

Julian conducted her through the tents to the war horses. Dimn and soldiers prepared the animals for travel as tents came down all around them. Kinna kept her mantle hood over her fiery hair despite Julian's assurances that she would be safe.

“One thing about an army this size,” Julian remarked as he introduced Kinna to his horse. “They take forever to move any distance. Erlane's armies move more quickly on their home territory. We've only had the one skirmish where you were wounded. The Lismarian armies fled over the mountains, no doubt to set their stronghold in ClarenVale.”

“Is the plan to reach ClarenVale, then?” Kinna asked, smoothing the horse's forelock beneath her fingers. She could see Sage, Julian's Pixie packing saddlebags at some of the makeshift tables behind them. The turquoise-haired Pixie frowned in Kinna's direction, and Kinna quickly returned her attention to the horse.

“Ultimately.” Julian patted the horse's neck. “I want you to ride with me.”

Kinna jerked her head up. “What?”

“Aye. We are betrothed, after all, and no one would think twice about it.”

“I'm not worried about what people think,” Kinna said, wondering what Ayden would think. Not wondering; she
knew
what Ayden would think. But he had made himself scarce since she'd woken up in the medic tent. She couldn't pin him down. She shook her head. “I'm going to ride Chennuh.”

“Your Dragon, from what Lincoln has told me, has gone with that other Mirage down the coast, out of sight of the army.”

Kinna lifted her chin. “He'll return to me.”

Cynicism crept into Julian's brown eyes. He laid his hands gently on her shoulders. “Is this the same girl who told me fiercely many times over that creatures were not ours to command? That they have a will and freedom of their own?”

Kinna swallowed. “Yes.”

“Then why, when your Dragon has found a mate, do you force him from his chosen life back to you?”

Kinna had no answer. Her shoulders slumped. “I—I need to find Lincoln.”

She stepped away from the horse, barely registering Julian's words. “Be back here soon. We leave at midday.”

Guilt nipped Kinna's heels as she walked away. She owed Julian everything, even her life. And yet her heart stubbornly refused to release a young man with silver eyes who avoided her like a plague.

K
inna walked to the beach
, drawing her hood farther over her forehead. No one gave her a second glance, and the bustle of moving camp continued about her. Nervous thoughts skittered through her head as she searched for Ayden. Lincoln appeared at her side, his silent steps startling her. “Luasa's down that way,” he said, nonchalantly.

“Julian said they were to the south. I can sense Chennuh now,” Kinna nodded, “but only just.”

“You need to dust off your range.”

“You need to keep quiet.”

“Just trying to be helpful.”

“You are,” Kinna said, in an unexpected turn of sympathy. “I couldn't do without you, Linc.”

The Pixie's face turned a brilliant red and he kicked the stones of the beach with his leather shoe. “I'll—go check ... something.”

He ambled off, and Kinna grinned as she watched him. She'd spoken the truth, she
couldn't
do without him; the Pixie had been her backbone and support since he'd followed her from the Pixie Glades the previous autumn, and had rarely left her side since.

He'd mentioned having a wife once. But he'd never told her the rest of the story. She wanted to ask, but she hated to pry.

The rocks were uneven beneath Kinna's boots as she wandered along the crashing surf-line. She could see a shimmer on the horizon—two mirrored bodies moving through the water and back up onto the shore, spurts of smoke and flame occasionally erupting from their nostrils.

Chennuh.

Luasa flew at his side, which meant Ayden wasn't far.

Ayden saw her coming. He didn't move, but he didn't walk toward her either.

As Kinna approached, she asked, “Where have you been the last couple of days?”

“Explaining my extended absence to Commander Jerrus.”

“Oh.” The word was flat and empty. Kinna hadn't thought about the fact that Ayden had essentially deserted Sebastian's forces and would likely face consequences. “Is ... everything all right?”

Ayden shrugged. “I'm not in prison.”

“Are they going to do anything else to you for deserting?”

“I've lost my position as troupe leader for the Elves.”

“Something tells me you didn't particularly care for that position anyway.” Kinna moved closer and leaned against the neighboring tree, squinting her eyes as she watched the Dragons.

“Aye, I'm glad to be rid of it. I had avoided contact with anyone for fear of imprisonment, but ran into an Elvendimn who had been in my troupe earlier. He turned me in to Jerrus.” Ayden glanced at her, his silver eyes glinting. “It was a close call; I was sure it was prison for me. But Jerrus took me aside and told me I never should have been recruited to be a leader of Elvendimn anyway.”

Kinna slid her woolen mantle from her head; the sun was warming the beach. “That's unusual, but... it's a good thing, right?”

“Too good,” Ayden grunted. “Had it been anyone else, I would be rusting in the gaol tent, ready for a trip to Sebastian's dungeons.”

“You're saying Jerrus can't be trusted?” Kinna's eyes widened.

Ayden shrugged. “He let me go. I just can't see why.”

Kinna stepped nearer, the urge to touch him hard to resist. “Ayden. Be careful.”

His troubled gaze hid behind a quick smile. “I will.” He stood. “Why did you seek me out?”

Kinna twisted her braid around her fist. “Ayden, can you do me a favor?”

Ayden turned to look at her, his silver eyes spiking brilliantly in the morning sun. Kinna swallowed. “I—want to take Chennuh and fly over the mountains to search for Cedric near where Iolar said he and his Clan discovered my brother.”

A short burst of speed from Luasa pulled Kinna's gaze back to the water. The Dragon beat her huge armored wings, her talons skimming the water as she snatched a huge fish out of it. She brought it back to shore, and she and Chennuh dug their snouts in, chomping on the pale, bloody flesh.

The silent pause extended, and Kinna was sure that Ayden would refuse. “I know it's a lot to ask, what with everything that's been happening—me getting hurt and your talk with Jerrus, and—”

“What about Julian?”

Kinna stiffened at his abrasive tone. “What
about
Julian?”

“What does he say about your idea?”

“N—nothing.”

Ayden's eyes narrowed. “Nothing? Or doesn't he know? You haven't told him, have you?”

“And why would I? He doesn't own me.”

“No, he doesn't. But don't you think your
betrothed
might appreciate being kept in the loop?”

Guilt fed Kinna's frustration. She wasn't grateful enough to Julian for saving her life. Furious helplessness fed her anger; she'd lain senseless in a tent, unable to continue her quest to find Cedric.

“If I tell Julian, he won't let me go, don't you understand, Ayden?” Kinna yelled, releasing her temper in full fiery form. “I'm not interested in being a prisoner to anyone, and—”

“You yourself have said he's your best friend, Kinna. You would so quickly turn your back on him?”

Kinna blushed furiously and her shoulders sagged. “You're right. But I still don't want to tell him. You can understand why, can't you?”

Ayden nodded slowly, one eyebrow arching upward. “So, Kinna, what do we do first?”

Kinna stared at him. He was really agreeing. “Um—let's—take off on the Dragons. Their eyesight and sense of smell are keen; if Cedric is still in these mountains,” she motioned to the range above them, “Chennuh or Luasa will find him.”

“May I suggest,” Ayden paused, glancing up at the bright, blue autumn sky, “that we start our search at the mouth of the Silver Rush River? It flows from the Marron Mountains into the Channel, and if Cedric escaped along that river, he may still be near it. We'll need to be careful, though.” He pushed himself off the tree and straightened. “Dragons may have sharp eyes, but there are many other creatures in Sebastian's army and Nicholas Erlane's as well, and it wouldn't end well for any of us to be the target of poison-tipped arrows or a Poison-Quill's sky attack.”

“Poison-Quills are lumbering in the air,” Kinna snorted. “Chennuh would fly circles around them, and Luasa's even faster than he is.”

“That may be true, but their quills are lightning quick, and there's no telling when one of their tips will find you. You, of all people, should know that.”

Kinna flushed. The previous year when she'd lain prone on the sand floor of Sebastian's arena, a wound had blackened and festered where a quill had lodged.

Cedric had saved her that time.

Now it was her turn to save Cedric.

“Well, what are we waiting for, then?” Kinna asked. “Let's find my brother.”

C
hennuh was uneasy
; Kinna could tell. They'd circled three times over the mouth of the Silver Rush where it flowed into the Channel of Lise, and the Dragon couldn't catch any scent from their position. Kinna struggled to see beneath the thick tree cover, but it was no good.