by H. L. Burke
“It would only put Kajik in danger if he breaks his vow and returns to Frorheim before the heartbond has faded.” Friya’s gaze burned into her nephew. “He says he will not, therefore no harm will come to him due to the vow.”
Kay ran his fingers back through his hair, brushing a stray raven lock away from his forehead. “And in return no one will harm Arynne or force her to endure any procedure against her wishes? She’ll be safe?”
“We have no interest in harming the girl.” Evyd snorted. “She has value to us. Unlike you.”
Arynne’s breath escaped in an angry hiss, and it took all her willpower not to fling flames in the awful king’s face.
Kay gave a slow nod. “All right. I agree. I will leave the Starspire as soon as I can get my gear together, and I will not return to its light until I am sent for or the heartbond fades.”
Arynne’s whole being went numb.
Olyn stepped around her and placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Kay, you really should—”
“I need you to be safe—both of you.” Kay’s voice cracked. “I love you both, so much. I’m not sure why the bond picked me, but if that puts either of you in danger from Athan, I need to do what I can to help fix the problem I caused.”
“It wasn’t your fault!” Arynne gasped.
“You say that, but fate seems to keep pushing me in the way of the greater good.” He hung his head. “Arynne, you are the Sun Princess, and I’m ... I’m a mistake.”
“Glad to see you realize it.” Evyd rolled his eyes.
Olyn glared at their father, took Arynne’s hand, and traveled both her and Kay into another room.
Arynne blinked and looked around a lightly-furnished sitting room with only a few chairs, a fireplace, and shelves full of well-worn books.
“My chambers,” Olyn explained. “I didn’t want Father to ... look, Kay, are you sure you want to do this? We don’t know that this heartbond was a mistake. Maybe we’re misinterpreting the prophecies, and you were meant to be the one to bond with Arynne, not—”
“I’m not an idiot, Olyn. If I were the Star Prince, that would mean you—” Kay closed his eyes. “That’s not acceptable. I’d rather die than have my fate mean your doom.”
“There has to be another way.” Arynne stroked his cheek. “If something happens to you, it’ll break my heart.”
“I know.” He drew her closer and rested his forehead against hers. “I can feel it through the heartbond, but Arynne, you’re strong, far stronger than I am. You’ll get through this.”
“And you?” Tears streamed down her cheeks.
His hand pressed into her back, and he gently rocked her, as if they were dancing to unheard music. She buried her head against his chest and tried not to cry.
Olyn shifted from foot to foot. “I don’t like this. I really don’t ... Kay, you have to promise me not to do anything stupid. You have to promise me you won’t take risks with your life just because you’re in a bad place. I know how you get when things are going poorly, and you’ve put yourself in a position where I won’t be able to be there to look after you. I don’t like that.”
“I’m not an infant you have to constantly babysit, brother.” Kay gave a half-hearted chuckle.
“No, I know that,” Olyn exhaled. “But you don’t value yourself enough which leads to you being reckless which leads to me being terrified that you’ll do something and I’ll lose my brother.”
“And I don’t want to lose you either,” Arynne murmured, looking up at Kay.
A sad smile quirked Kay’s lips. “I’ll be careful. You two, though, you both mean everything to me. If I’m making promises, I need one from you as well. Don’t let Father harm either of you or bully either of you into doing something you don’t want to do. I know you’re both strong, but you’re stronger together. Take care of each other. For me.”
“We will,” Arynne and Olyn said as one.
Kay laughed. “Yeah, you’ll be all right—both of you.”
Olyn opened and shut his mouth, cleared his throat, then tackled Kay in a hug before Arynne had a chance to move out of the way. Arynne gasped for breath as she found herself squished between the brothers, both of whom were holding on for dear life. Quickly shifting so that she could still breathe, she closed her eyes and savored the warmth of the embrace. Grief, love, and worry filtered through her bond with Kay, further threatening her composure. She tightened her fingers into his shirt and listened for his heartbeat. He kept one arm close about her waist while the other circled his brother’s shoulders, their foreheads pressed together for a long, quiet, heartrending moment.
Finally Kay withdrew with an awkward laugh. “You two know I’m not going to my death, right? It’s just banishment, and I’ll be with the other wardens. Honestly, I’m looking at it as an extended holiday from the family drama.” He gave them his best grin, but with the heartbond, he couldn’t fool Arynne. Her face wrinkled in response to his pain. Kay dropped his eyes before saying in a more somber tone. “It’ll be all right. I spent half a starcycle out there once during a particularly long mission. It wasn’t pleasant, but I’m trained for it. I’ll be fine.”
“I hope you’re right,” Olyn whispered.
Kay clapped Olyn on the back. “I need to get going. The longer I stand here ... it’ll just be easier for everyone involved to get it over with.”
Olyn’s shoulders slumped. “I love you, brother.”
“I love you, too.” Kay turned to Arynne, his blue eyes somber. “I’m sorry things ...” He stopped, shook his head, and bent swiftly to kiss her forehead. The contact was brief—painfully so—but it sent a tremor of joy through her.
She brushed her fingers through his hair. “Remember what I said, Kay. You’re stronger than you think, and you mean everything to me.”
“I’ll remember ... I think I’ll remember everything you ever said to me.” He stepped back and smiled, his eyes momentarily reclaiming their mischievous glint. “You’re a hard girl to forget, Princess Arynne of Solea.”
And with that and a burst of magic, he traveled out of the room and her life.
Epilogue
Evyd glowered at the flickering flames in the hearth as he sat in his study. In less than a single brightening his carefully laid plans had fallen apart, and his attempts too hastily fix the error had been thwarted. Now as the Starspire dimmed outside his window, his spirit grew darker.
Should’ve found a way to kill that aberration when he was still too young to escape me. How hard would it have been to make it look like an accident? Toddlers are always tripping over things, falling into things, putting things in their mouths they shouldn’t ...
He knew why he hadn’t, of course. After his wife’s appeal to the court for Kajik’s safety as an infant, there had been too much scrutiny. If the boy had died, it would’ve been investigated, and even if the truth remained hidden, the rumor of it could stir up the populace. No, if Athan’s uprising had taught Evyd anything it was that the loyalty of his subjects was not to be taken for granted.
He rubbed the space between his eyes, trying to will away a swiftly forming headache. There had to be some way to fix this. Maybe the Ever would have mercy and some accident would befall Kajik as he wandered the frozen wastes. Maybe the girl would come to her senses and request that they try and remove the heartbond. After all, how devoted could she really be to that fool Kajik?
Though females in general weren’t known for their wisdom.
Someone rapped on the door.
“Come in!” Evyd growled, not bothering to rise.
The door opened, and Friya glided in. “You look as if you ended up between a pair of charging moss-elk.”
“And you look as flawless and unnerved as ever.” He frowned. “Which has me wondering if you’re oblivious to the dire situation we’re in?”
She perched on the edge of the chair across from him, her long fingered hands folded elegantly in her lap. “I’m highly aware of our plight; however, to my kn
owledge me looking unkempt and irritable won’t improve the situation in the slightest.” She tilted her chin into the air. “A warden has his spear and sword. You have your blustering. I, my dear brother, have my grooming and decorum.”
“If that’s what you call it.” He scoffed, but then settled deeper into his chair to simmer.
The pulsating energy of the Starspire was calmer in the dimming, more a steady hum than a constant vibration within his blood, but he still felt it. In his youth it had seemed a gift, being entrusted with a connection to an artifact gifted by the Ever himself and charged with the energy of the star spirits. However, as the starcycles had gone by he’d seen it less as a blessing to be shared and more as a treasure greedy hands sought to snatch away from him. Athan had been the first and foremost.
His brother’s idealistic views that the power should be spread among multiple users rather than restricted to the royal line had at first shocked Evyd. He’d tried to talk his brother out of the dangerous nonsense, before he realized it was too late, that he was too far gone, and that he’d chosen the path of betrayal both to Evyd and their ancestors.
Now, decades later, even Evyd had some confusion about who had struck the first blow beyond harsh words. Either way, it didn’t matter. His brother’s divisive opinions were enough to condemn him in Evyd’s mind.
And now the discord had infected his son’s generation.
He tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. He needed a drink.
“What are you musing about?” Friya asked.
He mulled over the whole of his thoughts before choosing a single point to scratch out of the snow. “Do you think the Ever wants Frorheim to end? Why have two generations been cursed with an unwanted second son? Both of whom seem doomed to destroy our kingdom? Did we do something as a nation to deserve darkness and death?”
“We have somehow avoided darkness and death in spite of Athan and Kajik existing.” A wrinkle deepened on one side of Friya’s mouth. Perhaps an attempt at a smile. “I think if the Ever were truly against us, we would not have endured to this point.”
“Perhaps, but if we can’t fix this heartbond debacle, our luck might be coming to an end sooner rather than later.” Evyd stood and crossed to a small table where he kept a carafe of liquor and a set of tumblers. He poured himself a thumb before holding the carafe aloft to exhibit to Friya. “Drink?”
“No, not now, thank you.” She stared past him, into the shadows deepening in the corner of the room. Though the area around the Starspire never grew as dark as the wastes, the dimming provided a sense of twilight and rest for the Frorians. Now, however, the world felt dreary, and Evyd was tempted to use his magic to increase the light level. Instead, he downed his drink in one swig then poured another.
“We have to prepare for the worst.” He returned to his chair. “We need to assume Olyn will be facing Athan’s return without the benefit of the heartbond to the Solean princess.”
“Perhaps—or perhaps we need to consider the suggestion I made several starcycles ago that rather than depend on defeating Athan, we should find ways to prevent, or at least delay, his return in the first place.”
Displeasure wrinkled Evyd’s mouth. This again? He took a sip of his drink savoring the warmth it spread across his tongue. “I would consider it—if it were remotely possible.”
“According to my research, it is. We only need the soul of an individual with a similar magical energy to Athan to bind them both together in the Lingering Dark.”
A shudder cut through Evyd in spite of the warmth of the fire. “The populace will never allow us to sacrifice a citizen in such a manner, though. It would be one thing if the cost were only the person’s life, but this—this is much worse.”
“Yes, but remember, as a starcaster, Prince Kajik will have the right sort of magic within his blood, the same as Athan.” Friya’s eyes shone with a cold light. “And the boy made a life oath to you just this brightening.”
Evyd froze. Yes, the idea of having Kajik’s life finally in his hands had been his reason for pushing the fool into a life oath, but he hadn’t considered that they might use this in Friya’s binding spell. His mouth watered at the thought, and he had to swallow it down. “He hasn’t violated the oath, though.”
Friya’s mouth-wrinkle expanded into a full smile, terrifyingly strange on her usually frigid face. “He hasn’t violated the oath ... yet.”
End of Book One
The story continues in
Ice and Fate Duology, Book Two: Prince of Stars, Son of Fate.
ABOUT H. L. Burke
Born in a small town in north central Oregon, H. L. Burke spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and always accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic.
An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, or television series (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek all took their turns), but she has grown to be what she considers a well-rounded connoisseur of geek culture.
Married to her high school crush who is now a US Marine, she has moved multiple times in her adult life but believes home is wherever her husband, two daughters, and pets are.
For information about H. L. Burke’s latest novels, to sign up for the author’s monthly newsletter, or to contact the writer, go to
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