by C. Swallow
Zarcar – and I acknowledged this – knew I would be safest without too much knowledge. This was due to Rey’s short tempered disposition towards rebellious Draconesses. Lixar – and I acknowledged this too – knew that information could empower me and I could use it to fight.
Both positions were scary. Blissful ignorance or knowledge that could convince me to commit treason.
There’s a knock at my door before it opens and I’m thankful I don’t have to drown in thoughts of the unknown. It was more comforting to get on with it, meet Torrent and just see it on from there.
“Lixar, before we go, can I ask you a question -?” I turn and my heart leaps from my chest unexpectedly.
“Lix has gone to meet Torrent early,” Zarcar stands in the door way, a little shocked by my growing grin as I take in his fully black suit. His brown hair lies in perfect locks to his shoulders, he is freshly shaven and stunningly handsome!
“Oh, handsome sorcerer, my dearest Warlord… we seem to be tying bonds tonight,” I raise a brow and twirl in my white dress once, blushing just a little when I clumsily knock into one of the pots.
The broken pot. Damn it.
Soil immediately taints the dress and I see Zarcar go from awe struck to irate.
“You’ll ruin it!” Zarcar storms forward after scolding me and he squats before me, grabbing my dress and lifting it, he uses his scarred Warlord’s hand to pat off the soil.
I reach forward one of my own hands and run my fingers through his hair.
“You have a heart after all,” I speak with coy amusement, still smiling… but what I see on Zar’s face as he stands back up in front of me, is not what I expect.
He’s seemingly… furious… but why?
“Am I a joke to you, Chyronex?” Zarcar growls, low, “Do you consider me less now that you have slept with Lixar and Rey… am I like your favourite pet in our Venatores? You think you can stroke through my hair?” he looks away to the fire, embarrassed a bit by his rough words that he’s just blurted out, “Let’s go, Torrent’s looking forward to meeting you –”
“Zarcar, wait,” I jump forward into his side as he turns to lead the way in a rush. I grab his arm and I pull him to a stop. I turn him towards me and he raises a brow, “I choose you as my mate, and –” I halt when Zarcar’s brows rise even further in a slow mockery.
“How very funny,” Zar turns and grabs my elbow tight, yanking me along, while laughing, “I know your kind well. You’ve told Lixar you’ve chosen him, you’ve told me and you’ll soon beseech yourself to Torrent. Before we know it, we’ll all be competing and you’ll be chuckling like the coy witch you are while one of us feeds you grapes from a damn bronze platter…” Zarcar is rambling, but his words have downright moved me.
And I’m far from impressed. In fact, my heart throbs in sharp pain from his words.
I try to jerk out of his grip.
“You pig, how dare you not believe me!” I try to lurch away from him but Zarcar holds me steadfast until I’m wriggling on the spot uselessly while his bulging biceps barely work to keep me in place at his side.
He does decide to take me, however, to our favourite window.
Oh, this could only get worse, couldn’t it…
“A word before we go,” Zarcar is deeply serious, his tone is icy cold and I can tell he has out right dismissed my claim at choosing him. He does not believe it. He thinks it’s a game I play. I knew I liked to act as a sultry moon priestess but I also had my truth to share… and he didn’t even hear it. I open my mouth many times, but I don’t even know where to begin!
“…a word?” I eventually squeak, turning to face Zarcar as he holds my arm needlessly by the window, staring into the night sky.
“I’m holding off a storm,” my Warlord murmurs, “But yes…” Zar turns to me and catches my outraged glare, “We need to discuss tonight. That right there, that attitude must be shoved away. You’re on your best behaviour tonight, do you understand me?” I open my mouth yet again to reply but he continues before I can get a word in, “I’m warning you, sweetheart, I will publically punish you if you even think to rebel while meeting Torrent. Don’t get smart on me. Do you understand?”
“Do you?” I snap, my voice almost cracking as I get on my tip toes to bring my raging eyes closer to his.
Zarcar gazes closely over my features, from top to bottom, assessing my mood.
“We will fuck in the Moon Tower afterwards –”
I cannot contain myself.
I jerk back a bit, just to raise a hand and slap him as hard as I can, hissing in his face, “You bastard!”
“Chyronex!” Zarcar couldn’t avoid the contact to his cheek but he snatches up my wrist and holds it before me, so tight it starts to throb with my raging pulse. I wince as he snarls into my face, “What’s gotten into you?! Did Lixar push you so hard in training that your brains fell out?” Zarcar suddenly focuses on the tears that leak out of my eyes. A few long moments later, he unhands me so quick, I stumble backwards and he straightens his tie, and his spine. He so suddenly realises what he’s been missing and his hands shake, “… by the moon… you were… you meant it… you meant what you said? You actually… choose me as your mate?”
Slow witted bastard.
Took him long enough! Horse shit!
My hands rub across my cheeks and I smear the coal around my eyes.
He’s lips twitch up in the corners. The demon smiles as I gulp down more tears that are threatening to escape.
Zarcar takes a bold step towards me but I scream at him, with true meaning because there is no game this time, “Do not touch me, you brute!”
I shove past him as I see his face drop.
Zarcar lets me get a head start, guilt riding his ass hard.
But it is too late.
The night had barely begun and he had already ruined it.
Chapter 33
Zarcar eventually found my skulking form outside the Moon Tower and he led me a short walk down into an awaiting carriage. We sat opposite one another and neither of us spoke. My arms were crossed and Zarcar was looking out of the window, always about to speak, but then holding his tongue.
I’d attack and lose my temper if he tried to reason his reaction away now, so he was indeed smart for keeping it in until later.
“We’re arriving at the premises, Warlord Zarcar!” the driver of the wagon turns the carriage down a tightly paved road that curves through an overgrown green garden.
I look out the window and I see a black gothic mini castle that bordered the river which wound its way through Swendula’s centre. The black stones were hugged by green vines and many influential guests were already walking in.
Only the high born were attending this welcome dinner for Torrent.
I see one mess of brown hair at the steps and she wears a golden lacey dress that looks two sizes too large. I assume she stole it.
Andoll waits at the steps, practically drooling when Zarcar stands first and opens the door. He waves to her and he holds out a hand behind him towards me. Zar hesitates when I do not grasp it.
“…come on … you first,” Zarcar stands back, forcing out the polite words.
Without looking at his perfect face in his perfect suit, I lunge out of the doors and head straight for Andoll.
She nods in approval of my dress and fishes out a piece of root from her bra. She hands me the Horse Root.
I promptly throw it into the garden.
“Not needed, but thank you,” I walk past her as she snarls and then clutches onto Zarcar’s arm.
I walk up the steps, barefoot once again.
I pass the butlers and servers, refusing drinks as I promptly decide to lose myself in the crowd.
Many rooms held groups of people, while one spacious area held a ball room of some kind with a large long balcony overseeing the river.
I head to one corner of the packed ball room and I stand there, as still as the decorative pillar beside me.
The who
le inside of the castle was contrastingly white and grey, compared to the black stones of the outside. I watch from my corner as every man and woman ignore me but pay me some respect. In other words, they don’t bother to stare or watch me with judgement. They ignore me, respectfully enough.
Eventually I see one head of hair bobbing towards me through the crowd.
Zarcar has tracked me down quickly and he almost apprehends me, until Lixar appears from nowhere and intercepts.
With a hand on his shoulder, Zarcar stops and looks over everyone to grasp my gaze.
Zarcar holds my stare and gives me a generous glare, a warning not to try anything funny.
Lixar glances at me for a brief second but them turns to Zarcar, speaking about something else.
They turn and Lixar motions Zarcar towards the other end of the ball room. I follow with my eyes. I see a table set up on the balcony in the furthest corner opposite from me. It was luxury privacy for the two men already there.
I see Rey lounging back on a fancy throne, scowling as he listens to the words of the man opposite him.
I can’t see his face, I can only see his back.
His entire uniform is star white edged with silver, like his hair, which lies in a fairly wavy, combed style to his shoulders but no further. While this man was seated forward, I could not tell much besides the fact he equalled Zarcar’s large warlord physique.
Clearly, this was Torrent of the silver hair.
When I glance at Lixar and Zarcar, they are already making their way there.
I am now ignored. As Lixar predicted.
However, I am intercepted by someone else.
“…ey, you stay with me, Queen,” Andoll jumps into my side and her crazy red eyes hold mine, as if she’s trying to read my thoughts, “…you’ll arrive to them when called,” she forces those words out as if she’s repeating them.
“Did Zarcar tell you to pass that on if you found me first?” I ask, raising a brow.
She simply mimics my eyebrow raise and her lip curls up, disgusted.
I guess I was right.
“…let us go above…” Andoll growls.
“Hmm?” I’m confused by what she means. She turns and shrugs her shoulder towards a set of stairs out in the nearby hall, “Up to the next level?”
Andoll pauses, but then raises her hand and taps her ear lobe, but holds her other finger in front of her lips.
Listen and be quiet.
At first I want to yell at her, but then I realise she meant we’ll listen to them but we had to keep quiet.
I nod and Andoll turns, scurrying away. She hops between men and women while I dance around them in my more graceful way.
She scuttles up the stairs on all fours and I prance up two at a time.
Once on the second level, Andoll swiftly grabs my hand and forces me to a halt while she stares into the dark corridors beyond.
She squeezes my hand as if to say it’s safe and then she pulls me forward.
We walk to the end, to a second corridor, this runs on top of the ball room and has large arch windows, almost the exact same as my Moon Tower. They overlook the balcony below.
Andoll slows to a silent tip toe when we get closer to their location and their masculine voices can be heard.
I also glide forward as silently as possible and I drop to my knees with Andoll, beside the large and low window overlooking the meeting. Andoll spins to face me and I spin to face her.
We listen, but do not watch so we’re out of sight from their detection.
“It’s polite to ask…” Lixar growls, audibly irate.
“No, it is not polite to ask about riches of those you do not know, it does not matter that we are family, it is beyond rude,” Zar scolds Lix.
“You have been quite the guest,” Rey speaks with mockery towards Torrent.
“Yet you can only be the guest, this is Arkraxy after all,” Torrent’s reply is so perfectly timed, with whatever meaning he has implied, that every man falls silent.
For a whole minute.
“…I can only assume you were here…” Rey sounds rattled when he finally speaks.
“Indeed. Arkraxy is the place we both become legendary Kings,” Torrent seems to be totally cool headed. That meant ice and fire were speaking right now.
“Please explain,” Lixar asks, “Is it what I think it is?”
I hear Rey make some kind of snarl but he cannot stop Torrent from answering Lixar.
“The day I became the bearer of the Ash of Eden was the same day Rey became a Commander of Hellfire. It is, also, the same day Vampyre Lord Reyn, commanded his kind to retreat to Hemon… that is all other prominent demons, centaur, goblin, fae and vampyre. They all went below ground. Rey, for whatever reason, was left behind. Rey, you burned half of Arkraxy to the ground in an act of arson that same day, killing a hundred thousand, while I arrived from the south and saved a hundred thousand more. You razed this city, and I built from the soil my first home; Swendula. I do not boast it. I left some Arkraxy ruins to commemorate the needless deaths. I have not visited here for over a century. It’s been neutral… until you waltzed in and made yourself comfortable.”
“Oh, I know that, Torrent,” Rey grumbles over a cup of wine, I can hear him gulping it down.
Clearly, he was anxious with Torrent here. Or maybe it was the conversation.
“So, you are in fact, my guest, Rey,” Torrent murmurs, but I can hear the condescension loud and clear, “For now we are at an armistice by my word. Until the Surge begins and ends, we are… allies. When it’s done, you’ll be nothing more than a trespasser.
“I will consider the same of you, tamer of lizard women,” Rey scoffs, laughing, “Zarcar did seem to inherit that talent of yours.”
Torrent hesitates at the mention of ‘lizard women’ which I assume means a Draconess in Rey’s book… when I peek over the balcony, I see the new handsome man cock a smile but I can tell he does not wish to give away his secrets, “…that is warming to hear of my brother… but we are out of wine.”
Torrent is opposite Rey and Zarcar and Lixar are in between.
“Chyronex,” Lixar pipes in, rather ambiguously, and I drop my head, almost believing he must sense me… maybe he does… I did not think of it! “She believes when we fuck her consistently that she is sharing power or that it empowers us.”
“…she actually believes that?” Torrent asks.
“Yes. None the wiser,” Zarcar murmurs.
My ears burn, even as I hear it all.
“So, you have a completely useless Draconess... finally I can seek answers from what intrigues me most… why do you want a Venatores, Rey? Least of all with an unhinged and untrained Queen?” Torrent is curious.
“Not quite. She is witless and they won’t know that. When they come back, and they see a mastered Draconess by a Commander, they will consider surrender,” Rey explains.
“I see. So, you all fuck her consistently, to…?” Torrent inquires.
“…to totally disengage her from the real nature underneath,” Zarcar answers.
I almost gasp, but I grit my teeth and press my forehead to the stones of the wall before me. I hope the coolness of them will keep me calm.
“Is she beautiful?” Torrent seems to catch on to the edge in my Warlord’s tone.
“Would you like to see her? I’ll fetch her soon. You’re welcome to her bed... we share on Rey’s command.”
“So, Rey, you’re a master of ingenious ideas. You go against the grain. I hear you do not allow females to practice magic either, why?” Torrent is smooth with words and I’m thankful his mastery of language and total command of the conversation at least briefly takes them away from the topic of me.
“It will attract the demons to mate so I forbid it,” Rey growls.
“That sounds like a rather personal grudge, wouldn’t you say?”
“That’s none of your damn business, Torrent.”
“And how many Draconesses have you slaughtered?”<
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“Too many. I will not face critique or consequence from a female lizard. They obey or they perish.”
“So, this… Chyronex… she obeys you?”
“Precisely,” Rey hisses.
“And what are your plans for Chyronex?” Torrent wonders.
“To train her slowly,” Rey sighs in frustration by all the questions, “Lixar is in charge of her knowledge in war should it ever come to that. Zarcar is her Keeper.”