by Reid, Stacy
She stepped back warily, and he lowered his hand, staring at her with a rueful expression.
“Might I ask who is this lover who owns your affections?”
“No.”
"I have yet to figure out how to deal with your disrespect. Should I admire your directness or take steps to correct your defiance?"
Xian laughed, and ire chased his features. “I urge you to learn to accept it, Prince Baku. There will never be a day I will be subdued before a man for my supposed defiance.”
His lips quirked, and he dipped into a short bow. "Noted. Might I invite you to watch the stars with me, Princess?"
She stared at him, a lump forming in her throat. Gavyn…her heart cried out, not wanting to build a connection with the male before her. A gentle flutter stirred inside her mind, and she eagerly reached for the thread, only to be met with screams and sensations of fire and burning. Gavyn?
No answer came, and the connection slammed shut. She released a shaky breath. A few hours ago, she had slept and dreamed of him…and in her dreams as they frolicked in the underground cave waters, he had been there. Talking with her, making love, laughing, and riding Azriel. It had felt so real.
“I shall watch the stars with you,” she said, walking to stand beside him. “I would also ask of you to release the female Darkan.”
“A million crown is a lot of money.”
“Not for you, Prince Baku. And my dowry is fifty million crowns, a thousand kuns, and a chest of rubies mined deep in the Fyran mountains. I am certain King Ajali informed you of this.”
He touched her elbow, and she shot him a side-eye glanced.
His expression was thoughtful. “Is this important to you, Princess?”
Her heart lurched. “It is.”
“Then I shall release her in the morning as a part of your bridal gift.”
They stared at each other, and the silence deepened her sense of growing unease. “Thank you.”
He nodded, released her hands, and went back to watching the stars. And Xian stood there, finding the silence comfortable, softly breathing through the pain digging into her heart.
This man beside her was her future. Soon they would be married…they would have children, and they would be allies in the war to come. Perhaps one day she might even love him, though she doubted anything could replace Gavyn Westk’arr in her heart and soul.
You are my mate.
She ached, not understanding how they will traverse the delicate web they were caught in, but knowing she would wait for him, always. Until I see you again, Gavyn.
"My marriage to you is the foundation that my ambitions will sprout from. You are beautiful, very sensual and I anticipate the day I will claim your body with mine. The binding oath had already been signed, and the ceremony is a mere formality. I will not allow anyone to take you from me,” the prince said unexpectedly.
“And why do you tell me this?” she asked, keeping her voice bored.
“Because in your sleep, you cry for another.”
Danger tightened in the air and crawled over her skin. “Good night, Prince Baku.” Then she walked back toward the conveyance, aware of his gaze penetrating into her retreating back.
Several hours later, with four days of traveling remaining to cross into the border of Avindar, a shout rose that a force of over six thousand Mevia warriors approached from the southeast. They had continued, anticipating their forces would converge in a few minutes. It seemed the army had used the lands of Avindar to hide their approach, for none of their scouts which had been sent ahead had detected any movements from the Empire, or any other kingdom. They hadn't thought to investigate the nation they approached. Her blades rode in a tight formation behind her, and Azriel flew above her head, a hovering protective force.
“Could it be your father?” Xian asked the prince who rose beside her.
“Or perhaps my brother, the crown prince.”
They drew closer to the approaching force, and dread iced through her veins as the leader became apparent. Grand General Shenzhen rode with lazy grace atop a massive white kun. Xian’s stomach cramped at the wall of warriors behind him, at least ten thousand at a cursory glance, not the reported six. And they had come upon them in the wastelands. A neutral territory where any attacks there would not be considered an offense against a specific kingdom. It was understood lawlessness ruled Taryllion, and each man stood for himself there.
She glanced at Prince Baku, and his shock at seeing the general appeared genuine. His personal blades converged on him, and hers moved closer to her side. The unity was unmistakable, and Grand General Shenzhen’s lips simply curved into an amused smile. They had come for her as was a possibility outlined in her mission brief, but the threat was not from Prince Baku, and this use of force was not expected. After all, they’d only sent two Darkans and a witch for Ajali in the heart of the kingdom.
She lifted her fingers, and two of her blades drifted closer. "Ride to Nuria as fast as you can. You know what to do.”
They nodded once, wheeled their kuns around and thundered away.
Prince Baku sent her a probing stare, but he made no comment. They were at least one and half day’s ride from the City of Fire, and surely if the Empire aimed to kidnap her today, Ajali would only be notified after. Even if the blaze of fire were sent across the sky, it would take him at least two hours atop Kezriel, his wraith to reach the wastelands. Unless his Darkan consort took him into the shadows and brought him here. As Xian understood it, Ajali would then arrive in less than ten minutes, even if the sun would prevent Tehdra from using the powers of her demon. Ten minutes was a lifetime when one battled with men of such immense powers and skills.
“General Shenzhen,” Prince Baku greeted. “Might I enquire of your presence in the wastelands.”
“He is here for me,” she murmured, a cold certainty forming in her gut.
“He will not take you,” the prince vowed, crackles of lightning firing from his eyes. He lifted a fist, and the warrior forces behind them spread out in protective formation.
“The numbers say he will triumph,” she said. “Ajali sent fifty of his most ruthless warriors with me.”
“And I have one thousand strong.”
"The General have ten times more warrior than what we have, Prince Baku.”
There was a pause, and then he said, "You are a Tenzu. He would be foolish to tangle with you.”
She swallowed, wanting to shout that she barely had command of the force within her. If she were to cave into the fiery rage buried deep, she would more likely murder everyone than save a single soul. Firming her lips, she lifted her chin as the General halted his still advancing warriors with a raised fist.
“Prince Baku,” he greeted in a voice so pure, Xian flinched.
She sensed he had deliberately infused power into his voice to inflict pain. Mevians manipulated sounds with brutal efficiency, and it was said the Grand General Shenzhen, the right hand to the Emperor, was one of the most proficient in the realm with his shenkiri. Xian had the inexplicable knowledge she faced torture and death very soon.
“We have come for the princess.”
Despite the chill of warning kissing over her skin, Xian snapped, “I will go nowhere with you.”
The general urged his kun forward. "Prince Baku, the Empire understands you intend to form an alliance with Nuria."
The warriors behind her stirred, and she could feel their surprise. Only those present in the war council understood there was to be a marriage between their kingdoms. Even her blades believed her to be on a mission to discuss peace treaty with Avindar.
The grand general clapped his gloved hands together once, leaning forward in his saddle. "We cannot let such an action stand, hmmm? When we march on the nations, Avindar's warriors will be at the side of the Empire's warriors."
His meaning was unequivocal. Nothing must disrupt the power the Empire was amassing. Avindar was the second largest kingdom, and it was already allied with the emperor
. They did not want the potential of Avindar’s neutrality.
“You are mistaken,” she said calmly. “I am on an emissary mission from my king, Grand General. You have no authority to impede my motions across the wastelands.”
His dark eyes lit with amusement. "Are you pretending you are not to wed the prince? Come, princess, the house of Assia and Wylliam is not the only house to betray your precious king. We have more spies within your city and palaces. Imagine our…surprise when word reached our empire of this marriage.”
An enraged snarl caught in her throat. Someone very close to Ajali was betraying him, and fear rushed through her heart for his safety. Xian could feel the tension from the prince, and with a sense of profound relief, she realized he had never planned to betray her as she'd anticipated.
“If I may speak with you in private, Grand General, I have a proposal you will find of benefit to the empire,” Prince Baku said smoothly.
The Grand General glanced around. "We are as private as we can be, Prince Baku."
"I will personally deliver the princess to the Empire after she has birthed my heir. An heir who houses the eternal fire as well, of course. She would then have fulfilled her use to my kingdom."
Xian remained silent, unable to determined if he bluffed or if this was a part of his plan from the very inception of his proposal.
"But why must we wait, little prince?" The General murmured.
And before she could react, a terribly beautiful sound blew from his mouth, the soundwave cutting across them in a sweeping arc.
Chapter 10
Xian dived from the kun as the wave sliced its head from its body. She lurched to her feet, drawing the swords from her boot as the Grand General walked toward her with ruthless confidence.
“Kill everyone,” he said to his army, his order undulating in the air on a wave to reach each man.
Dread iced through her veins. They surged forward, screaming sounds of lyrical beauty and destruction. Grand General Shenzhen whistled, and soundwaves ripped through their warrior force. It slammed into her, propelling her several feet into the air and then down to the earth. In a matter of seconds, it was carnage. Lightning sliced from the sky and thunder boomed as the Avindites fought with deadly grace to protect their prince.
Xian could pay no attention to the battle around her, for the General was her contender. Fire ranged around her, testifying that her Nurian warriors battled fiercely. "Sound the warning for King Ajali," she shouted.
A concentrated blast of fire shot through the sky like a cannon, but before it could reach beyond the skyline of the trees, a vacuum of sound sucked it from the air with a woosh. Fury blasted through her, and the ground below her feet started to smoke.
Gavyn…
She reached for their thread when it opened.
Xian.
The fire which had dominated his thoughts still writhed within him.
We are under attack in Tarrylion.
There was a pulse of cold rage, and then she felt shadows and darkness coat her sense, and she knew he came for her.
Cold eyes settled on her. “You do not deserve this gift,” the grand general said.
He clicked his tongue and power lashed at her, biting at her skin, drawing blood.
Fire rushed from her in a ball, barreling towards him, and with a flash of speed she could not track, he dodged it. The trees behind him burst into flames.
“Look at you! Unable to understand or wield the gift that you were given.”
“I do not need it to kill you,” she snapped low and hard, lifting her swords before her, parallel to the ground, bracing for his attack.
“My emperor will pull it from you princess. You may or may not survive the process. And then we will show you how the raw beauty of the Phoenyx is to be utilized.”
Her breath caught in her throat and fear cramped her stomach. When she realized he only wanted to taunt her, Xian charged, striking with a blinding speed slashing her sword in an arc toward his midsection.
The General’s speed as he flashed was a beauty to behold. But the writhing mass of fury inside allowed her to keep pace. He thrilled, the beauty and energy from his voice roiled the earth, shaking her with its purity. Pain exploded in her head, and she tasted the raw tang of blood as vessels burst in her ear and eyes. The casual strength and the power of how the General wielded sound was terrifying.
She pulsed her chakra, coatings her sword in molten flames of lava, and slashed her sword in a dancing arc, flames chasing him as he blurred to escape.
A force slammed into her back, and she flicked into the air and landed in a crouch, her swords held forward.
“Do not let them take her,” Prince Baku yelled.
Xian spun, her feet slipping, but she brought her sword up to meet the clash of the Grand General’s sword. The vibration echoed through her shoulders, and she grunted under the strain. She blew fire at him, and it barrelled toward him in a wicked arch.
Another Mevian attacked her flank, and she dropped her weight, kicking away the general’s leg with speed and strength, she rolled on the ground in a blur of speed to avoid a sword stabbing into the ground where her head had been.
With another flash of speed, she was on her feet, breathing through the rage humming in her veins. It crackled around her, and a wash of power blazed from her spinning in a ball of pure fire toward the general. He screamed, and the soundwaves created a vortex, compressing her fire. Before he could suck it away, see saw an openning and she charged with speed toward him summoning all her strenght. As she was upon him he smirked, she’d fallen into a trap, and with narrowed eyes, he clapped his hands together. She collided with a wall of sound. It was as if thunder crashed into her body. Her bones broke, her heart squeezed, and she felt the rupture that split through her organs. Blood spewed from her, and she stumbled, and the darkness of death hovered.
The general lifted her in his arms and leaped onto his kun, and slung her across the saddle before him. Her locks trailed the ground, and as the general's kun sped away toward Mevia, she saw Prince Baku charging toward her, riding a fork of lighting at an unfathomable speed.
“Do not let him take her,” Prince Baku yelled to the warriors flashing behind him. “The empire must not get the Tenzu!”
The sky darkened, the ominous boom of thunder shook the earth, and a bright flash of light spun toward her with dizzying speed. It was a lightning bolt…with a sword coiled within its energy. It plunged deep, ripping through her armor, and scything into her heart, piercing through bones and flesh and into the kun.
The beast screeched collapsing, the general flashed from the kun before its body hit the earth. And the impact as she landed jarred her body with agony. She clutched the sword buried inside her heart, and guttural groan slipped from her as her blood soaked the earth. Xian understood what the prince had done. Her death was preferred than the Phoenyx being in the hands of the Empire. Ajali would burn the earth…and Gavyn…tears leaked from the corner of her eyes.
My love….
“No!”
The scream of torment and rage was a distant call to which she could not respond. Gavyn…she wanted to whisper, but she could not move. Xian slowly felt her soul stretched, a light flickered inside, and she centered her thought on that pinpoint of energy.
Suddenly he was there, his arms closing around. With a distant sense of shock, she noted the changes in him, changes that were still ravaging his body. Swirls of black chakra curled around him, and his bones twisted and break even as he struggled to hold her. He screamed, agony leaked from him, and it was not the metamorphosis of his body that seemed to rip his soul his pieces.
It was her death.
Xian tried to reach for the fire inside her and came upon an empty well. “Gavyn,” she whispered, trying to lift her hand to cup his cheek.
Her brother arrived with Tehdra in a burst of crackling flames, his chain, and swords of fire, jumping and cutting down dozens. The general determined in his ambitions to capture a
Tenzu converged thousands of warriors on them. Tehdra’ was without her beast, but she did not hesitate, calling the shadows and darkness and wading into the thick of the bloody and brutal battle.
“Do not leave me,” Gavyn said, his hands trembling as he poured the elixir of life down her throat. “I’ll never leave your side again. I should have been here to protect you.”
His voice was full of unfathomable promise and a sweet, sharp pain throbbed in her chest. He roared, tipping his voice to the heaves as fire, unable to be contained the flames inhis body blew to the heavens. Gavyn grabbed the sword and pulled it from her wound.
“Ah kings,” he said hoarsely. “Your heart is charred. It is the Phoenyx’s chakra which has kept you alive.”
In desperation, he poured some of the elixir over the gaping wound, and more onto her lips. The elixir trickled in her mouth, and a pulse of heat washed through her, but the darkness was more compelling and insistent. It pulled her toward the abyss, away from her love, and away from the awful pain in her body. A dark coldness had clasped her in an inexplicable embrace…and it was as she floated in a sea of inky nothingness, she understood death had come for her soul.
She drifted further and further away from that lingering pinpoint of energy in her body, and her bones felt brittle with cold.
Open your eyes, my child.
The words, a garbled whisper of power pierced through the darkness.
A bright burning light appeared in the darkness, and her eyes fluttered open. Xian struggled to understand the millions of stars and systems before her. She tried to glance at her hands, not understanding where she was, but only her consciousness seemed to be present.
Before her stood four primordial entities, each glowing with fire, massive wings, clawed feet, and a tail swishing about them.
What is happening?
The entity which glowed with a pure blue fire strutted toward Xian. As it came closer, she could detect the form was a female in nature, its eyes were the blue of the oceans of the Amagarie, and its fire was burning sapphire.
“We are the Phoenyx force, daughter of light. I am the blue Raijin, protector of the ninth galaxy.”