by H. L. Burke
Arynne scoffed. “He’d have better luck bargaining with a grimwolf.”
“That was essentially Lord Clindt’s take on the matter.” Sigid wrinkled her nose. “Clindt thinks at least in the short term, our best bet is pretending you’re still too ill to risk any harm coming to the other half of your heartbond.”
Arynne tapped her fingers against the table top. “I can keep up that charade for a while.” Not forever, though. Evyd wasn’t a complete idiot, just a stubborn fool and a horrible father. “We need to get him out of the palace. Kay’s smart and capable. He can escape if given a head start.”
“But he’ll never see you again, and I don’t think he wants that,” Sigid pointed out.
“I don’t want it either.” Arynne frowned. “I’d go with him in a heartbeat, but even fully recovered, I’m not prepared for a life in the frozen wastes. A few moonnotches traveling through them with Kay to get here, and I almost died three or four times. I’m not like Kay, with his starcycles of training to survive in those conditions. No, as strong as I pretend to be, I’m still a spoiled Solean princess accustomed to a life of warmth in the sunny lands ...” She trailed off as an idea took root. “Solea! If we can get to Solea, we’ll be out of Evyd’s reach. My brother will protect us.” She leaped to her feet.
“But what about the prophecy?” Sigid bit her bottom lip. “The kingdom needs the Sun Princess to bond with the Star Prince to prevent Athan’s return. I don’t mean to sound selfish, but if you leave and never come back, what will happen to Frorheim?”
Arynne’s face heated. If anything she was the one being selfish, putting her and Kay’s needs over that of an entire kingdom—still, what was happening to Kay was unfair, and she couldn’t sacrifice him because of a prophecy. There had to be a way.
“King or not, this whole thing is Evyd’s fault,” Sigid grumbled. “If he’d allowed Olyn to go to pick out his own bride instead of keeping him locked up and wrapped in blankets here in Frorheim, Olyn would’ve picked out the Sun Princess he wanted rather than let Kajik bring home one he liked.”
“Kay didn’t bring me back because he liked me.” Arynne scowled. Well, he had, sort of, but that wasn’t his full reasoning.
“Were you the only Sun Princess in Solea?” Sigid tilted her head.
Arynne’s chest lightened as the idea branched out, expanding into a full-fledged plan. “No, any woman within two generations of direct descent from a king of Solea is considered a princess. That’s why I’m a princess even though I am the sister of a ruling king rather than the daughter of one ... and why my cousins are all princesses ... oh!” Fire sparked within her, sending a shower of sparks from her hands. “That’s it! We take Olyn with us. He comes to Solea, explains Frorheim’s plight to my brother, and then he can take the time to find his own Sun Princess, one who will bond with him and fulfil the prophecy so Kay and I can have each other without dooming the whole kingdom.”
Sigid’s eyes widened. “Do you think he’ll go with you?”
“For the chance to save both his kingdom and his brother?” Arynne pointed out.
Sigid’s cheeks reddened. “Of course he will. He’s such a dear.”
“The question is how do we get away, all three of us, with enough supplies to last us until Solea.” Arynne rubbed her hands together, her fingers glowing from suppressed magic. Normally she was able to keep her power in check so it didn’t respond to her every emotion, but now, in her agitated mental and weakened physical state, it crackled within her, like a small child sensing her mother’s resistance to her pleading was wearing thin and if pushed just a little more, the parent might give her a piece of candy.
“The wardens would have everything you need for such a trip.” Sigid’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper in spite of the private location. “I have it under good authority that there are several among the ranks still loyal to Kajik in spite of his banishment. The rumor is that the three he was on his last mission with helped him get into the palace, but no one can prove anything.”
“Would they help again?”
“If approached carefully, I’m sure they would.” Sigid stood. “I can meet with them. The younger one, Crede, is sweet on my cousin who works in the palace kitchens. I used to smuggle love notes between them, so it won’t be seen as strange if I approach him with some secret message.”
Arynne’s shoulders slumped in relief. This might actually work. With both brothers being travelers, they could easily get a head start, and once they were safely in Solea, Evyd could rage all he wanted.
“I need to talk to Kay and Olyn. We have to do this. It’s the only way to keep Kay safe.”
“Let’s do it!” Sigid sprang to the door. Arynne followed after her, her pace more measured but her heart still pounding.
As soon as she entered the sitting room that stood between her bedchambers and bathing room, all three men leaped to their feet. She focused on Kay. He stared at her, ice-blue eyes wide and sincere, lower lip quivering ever so slightly, like a worried child begging for comfort. Longing and anxiety filtered through their heartbond, and her chest cracked open. He was so sweet, so kind, so perfect, and he was in so much danger ... and all because he’d returned to save her life.
Anguish burst within her, and her words escaped in a rush. “Kay, you complete and utter imbecile!”
He recoiled.
Tears spurted from her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me your father ... did you think I wouldn’t find out? That he’d take you away and execute you and what? I’d just assume you’d wandered off into the wastes without so much as a good-bye?”
His gaze dropped to his feet. “I would’ve said good-bye,” he mumbled.
She glared at him.
He sighed. “I meant to tell you—”
“It’s my fault!” Clindt stepped forward. “I wanted to be sure you were strong enough before you were introduced to any unnecessary stressors.”
“Because I’ve always been such a wilting flower.” Arynne rolled her eyes.
“In fairness, my princess,” Sigid tugged at Arynne’s sleeve, “for the last two moonquarters, you haven’t exactly been your usual self.”
Arynne’s rage settled into her grief like a hot rock falling into a cold pool, leaving her insides roiled up and her hands shaking. “I don’t want you to die for me.”
“We all know that.” Olyn came to his brother’s side. “You told me you were keeping him from sensing your distress through the heartbond, but Arynne, if he hadn’t found out on his own that you were in danger, I would’ve probably sent for him anyway.” His shoulders slumped. “I want Kay to live as much as you do, but if he lost you ... there are some things worse than death.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks. Olyn and Clindt pulled equally dour faces, Olyn deflating as if a sack of grain had been dropped on him.
Kay gave an awkward chuckle. “I’m not dead yet, you know.” He eased closer to Arynne who found her chin sinking towards her chest, unable to meet his gaze. He stroked her cheek, gently guiding her to look at him again. “We have a short while left before ... I don’t wish to spend it with you angry at me, or sad. I did what I had to do to save the woman I love, not because I don’t wish to live, but because without her, life would lose all warmth and light. I don’t regret that, Arynne. I’ll never regret that.”
Arynne fell against him, one arm twined about his waist, the other hand behind his neck. She pulled him closer and set her lips to his. He returned the kiss, unbothered by their small audience. She squeezed his bottom lip between her teeth, savoring the quiver that cut through him in response.
Their kiss broke, but she remained close to him. “I’m not going to let you die, Kay,” she whispered into his ear. “I’m going to save you.”
Prying herself away from him, she faced Olyn. “I have a plan. It won’t be easy, and there is a lot we need to do before I can enact it, but if we can pull it off, both you and Kay will be out of your father’s reach.” She reached for Kay’s hand.
“And Kay and I will be able to be together without endangering the kingdom.”
Olyn’s eyes shot towards his hairline. “It must be some plan.”
“She wants to escape to Solea!” Sigid piped up. “With both of you.”
“Both of us?” Olyn’s lower lip hung slack.
“Arynne, you’re brilliant!” Kay pulled her into a hug. “I mean ... we’ll have to get out of the palace, and find supplies—”
“I’ll take care of the supplies.” Sigid gave Kay a thumbs up.
“But why me?” Olyn frowned. “I understand Kay. He needs to get as far away from Father as possible—and you, Arynne. You should go with him, but my place is here. I can’t abandon Frorheim.”
“No, she’s right. I think I see what she’s planning.” Clindt grasped Olyn’s shoulder. “Remember when your father first decided to send a delegation to Solea to find a Sun Princess to fulfil the prophecy? How frustrated you were that he wouldn’t let you go to pick out your own bride?”
Olyn flushed. “Yes, well, considering how it turned out, it seems I had a point.”
“Oh, you definitely did.” Clindt grimaced. “But that’s exactly what I mean. You didn’t get a chance to choose the girl you had a connection with, so your brother picked one he had a connection with assuming that it would transfer somehow.”
Kay coughed. “That wasn’t exactly what I was thinking.”
“Either way, you were right in the first place, Olyn. If the prophecy of the Sun Princess and the Star Prince is to come to pass, you need to form a bond with a Solean princess, and obviously that isn’t going to happen with Arynne.”
For a moment Olyn’s mouth worked but nothing came out. Then he cleared his throat. “So I just saunter up to a powerful foreign king and demand he gives me another princess because the first one didn’t work out?”
Arynne rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t phrase it quite that way. Maybe let me do the talking?”
His cheeks reddened. “I’m not an idiot, but your brother already entrusted me with his sister, and I’ll be returning her, empty-handed, asking for more favors. How will he have any respect for me? And if he doesn’t respect me, why would he allow me a bride from his household?”
Arynne massaged Kay between the shoulder blades, not releasing the hug to address Olyn. “I know how to deal with Vanya. For one thing, he’ll be more than willing to blame me for the whole thing going up in a sandstorm.” She winced. “He didn’t want me to come here, said I was too selfish, stubborn, and shortsighted to marry a future king of any kingdom. Considering how awry everything went, maybe he was right.”
“For the record, I think you’d make a fine queen.” Kay kissed her forehead. “I’d just rather have you as my princess.”
She beamed up at him. Hope kindled within her. This might actually work.
Chapter Sixteen
The small group huddled in Arynne’s sitting room, discussing their plans and what they needed to do to accomplish them. Kay tried to give it his full attention, but sitting next to Arynne on the couch, her body pressed against his side, her head on his shoulder, was more than a little distracting. He kept bending down to smell her hair—which now carried the fragrance of honey and spices—or kiss her forehead. Her focus was obviously on the meeting, at least more so than his, but she didn’t object to his affection.
“The good news is, after Kay returned, I had a feeling I might need to help him escape—not go with him, but I wanted to have a plan in case my attempts to talk Father out of killing him failed.” Olyn drew a deep breath. “It will be hard, but not impossible, and the two of us being together will make it easier. Do you have something I can draw on?”
Sigid hurried to Arynne’s writing desk and produced a sheet of paper, an inkwell, and a quill pen—one of Sol’s quills, to be exact, long and white with a pattern of silver spots.
The cat-owl now slept, tail curled around his body, wings neatly folded over his back, on his mistress’s lap as she leaned against Kay. He purred lightly, apparently glad to have his mistress awake and well again. At first the possessive creature had tried to push his way between them, but when that failed he’d flicked his ears in Kay’s general direction before peevishly settling in his current spot. Kay occasionally scratched at Sol’s ears, just to tease him. He couldn’t blame the animal for being a little jealous.
Olyn sketched a rough floor plan of the family wing and another of the floor directly below them. “I tested the wards, searching out their limits. He really only warded the family wing.”
Relief coursed through Kay. “So we just have to get down the stairs? That shouldn’t be too hard.”
Clindt clicked his tongue. “That seems shortsighted. If his goal was to keep Kajik away from Arynne, it would’ve only been slightly more work to ward the entire palace. That would’ve been an inconvenience to the few travelers who live and work here—mainly you, Olyn—but Uncle Evyd usually doesn’t go by half-measures.”
Olyn’s mouth wrinkled, and his gaze dropped to the floor.
Kay sat up straighter, his muscles stiffening beneath Arynne’s touch. “What?” He frowned at his brother. Arynne likewise focused on Olyn.
The prince gave out a heavy sigh. “I’ve started to doubt that Father’s intent was to keep Kay from Arynne. As you said, Clindt, he could’ve done it easily enough just by warding the whole palace or even the whole Starspire, but he didn’t. He only warded a small section around her, like the wires of a trap ready to spring with Arynne the bait in the center.” He raised his eyes to his brother’s, his grim expression sending a shiver through Kay. “I don’t think he wanted to keep you out, Kay. He only wanted to be sure that once you got in, you wouldn’t be able to leave again.”
A sickening feeling rippled through Kay’s gut. Rage shifted through the heartbond, and Arynne’s grasp on his hand tightened to an almost painful degree.
“This was a trap? And I was the bait?” Arynne said through clenched teeth.
“That’s the gist of it.” Olyn gave a weary nod. “I don’t ... I know he disapproved of you. I know he was furious about the heartbond, to the point of demanding your blood, but you accepted banishment. You left, just as he desired, and instead of accepting it, he set it up so that if you did return, he could capture you. It’s no wonder he wouldn’t listen to me when I asked him to lift the banishment.”
“He wants me dead.” Kay scratched at his beard. For whatever reason, he didn’t feel hurt, and he certainly didn’t feel surprised. From the expression on Olyn’s face, however, Olyn was both.
“Do you think he somehow caused my sickness?” Arynne glanced at Clindt.
A shudder cut through Kay. His jaw clamped down until his teeth hurt. “If he did, I swear—”
She placed her other hand on his knee. “Easy. I’m all right now. I just want to know what it was that happened to me.”
Clidnt’s brow furrowed. “I don’t think it’s possible. I mean, what happened to you was odd, to say the least. You literally had dark magic inside of you. However, for all his malice, I have seen no evidence that Uncle Evyd is in concert with dark spirits.”
“It’d be unlikely. For one thing, the Starspire wouldn’t connect with someone in such an allegiance. Athan failed in part because my father could channel magic from the Starspire, and after he communed with the dark spirits, Athan couldn’t.” Olyn sunk his face into his hands, his fingers tugging at his pale locks. “No, to use dark magic with that degree of accuracy and stealth, someone would have to be a full-on sorcerer.”
Kay bit his bottom lip. He had suspected for some time that Athan still had followers hiding in the shadows of Frorheim. The existence and strength of the various grims alone proved that dark forces were again on the move within the kingdom. However, to have one close enough to Arynne to poison her with their evil powers sent a noxious mixture of anger, horror, and disgust through his veins.
“It wouldn’t be the first time the dark spirits tried to kill me,” Arynne pointed
out. “They made at least two attempts on our journey here, and I’ve always suspected that the avalanche that killed our traveling companions wasn’t an accident. Also, remember the grimowls that one time before the heartbonding ceremony?”
“It makes sense that before the heartbonding ceremony they would’ve gone after you.” Kay scowled. “They wanted to disrupt the prophecy of the Sun Princess and the Star Prince, the one that’s supposed to prevent their leader from conquering Frorheim ... but after the ceremony bonded you to me instead of Olyn, why would they have a reason to continue? If anything, they should just sit back and wait for their inevitable victory. I stopped that prophecy for them.”
Arynne rolled her eyes. “Yes, you did that, all on your own. You had no help from me, and definitely none from the star spirits who created the bond of their own volition—against your will, for that matter.”
Kay brushed off her objection. It had been against his will but not against his desires. Perhaps that had been enough to muddle the star spirits’ instincts.
Arynne clicked her tongue at him, probably sensing his self-doubt through their connection. He winced and tried to focus elsewhere. Sometimes the heartbond was as much a curse as a blessing.
“Whether he had a hand in my illness or not, the sooner we’re out of your father’s reach the better.” Arynne sniffed. “So we just need to get down the stairs. That should be a simple matter of either distracting or incapacitating the guards. In Solea, we had an herbal extract called milksap that could induce sleep without causing long term harm to the imbiber. I don’t suppose that grows in Frorheim?”
“No, but other substances with a similar purpose do.” Clindt tapped his fingers against his knee. “I’d rather not be seen getting my hands on them right before our plans go into effect. For one thing, as a mender, I don’t need them to ease pain, so I would have little reason to request them. For another ...” He cast an apologetic look at the others. “I want to help you all, I really do, but once you three leave, and it’s just me and Uncle Evyd ... I have a family, Kajik. Two daughters, a wife. I want to make sure you’re safe, but I can’t risk their safety for anything. I need to take as many precautions as possible to ensure that once you’ve made your escape, I will still be able to provide for them.”