Balfor's Salvation

by Trombley, Susan

  Balfor tried to send confidence to her, but she blocked it and him. She wasn't ready to die, but more than that, she wasn’t ready to fail him, or the umbrose who relied on a victory during this battle.

  “Now it is time for you to use Her power.” The voices swelled inside her head. Then, knowledge filled her, and Stacia understood what she was meant to do.

  She summoned the shadows to her. They surrounded her, forming armor around her body. A swirl of darkness held her aloft and her guards were pushed away from her. She levitated in the air, a dark mass waiting to meet Uriale’s attack.

  When he came into range, she struck. Shadowy tendrils flew from her armor to surround him and encircle him. He slashed his sword and many of them melted away as the bright blade touched them, but Stacia simply sent more, focusing on completely enshrouding him in the dark tendrils. They held him, pulled at him, kept him from getting any closer to her. But stopping him wasn’t enough. It wasn’t all that the Mother demanded. She continued to send out tendrils of darkness, even as he struggled against the ones slowly tightening around him.

  Her power felt endless. More and more darkness flowed into her. Balfor was there with her, now he was channeling some of his power into her, but he did not interfere with what she was doing. Uriale fought the tendrils, destroyed so many that several times he was able to break free, but he never got more than a half meter closer to her. She could feel his struggles weakening as darkness surrounded him. She could sense his rage within the cage of tendrils she formed around him.

  The bars of the cage continued to tighten, becoming a cocoon, completely enclosing the prince of the adurians, shutting him off from all light sources but that which was within him. It was not enough for him to defeat the Mother’s power, not now that the darkness had completely fallen with the setting sun.

  Uriale was soon Stacia’s prisoner, and she gloried in the power within her.

  *****

  When Balfor saw what Stacia was doing, he refocused all of his attention on Anata. He understood what she was only now beginning to realize. She was defeated. Still, she fought viciously, unwilling to submit. She would not allow him to take her alive. Balfor did not blame her on that, as they both knew he intended to have his vengeance for what Anata and Uriale had done to him.

  They clashed, pushed away from each other, then clashed again. Then Balfor grew tired of toying with her and slipped his sword beneath her guard, turning to the side as her spear thrust past him, just missing him by a hairsbreadth. He rammed the point of his blade into the tight seam between her breastplate and battle skirt. Then he dragged it upwards, bisecting her body. Anata shrieked and dropped her spear. Her head fell back. Balfor pulled the blade free as the light in her eyes died. She fell to the cratered ground below, her corpse impaled upon the broken shards of crystal that had once been the Father’s Heart.

  Balfor turned to look at his princess. She still hovered in the air, tendrils that extended from her shadow armor encasing Uriale completely in a cocoon of darkness. They had won the battle, and Uriale was now his prisoner. He had a princess who was connected to him on a deeper level than anyone had ever touched him. Though he was indebted to the humans, and there were still many battles ahead—as the adurians were escaping now that their leaders were defeated—he couldn’t help thinking, life is good.

  Chapter 29

  Stacia lay on Balfor’s chest as they both recovered from their lovemaking. Her new powers increased her stamina, which was a good thing, because he couldn’t seem to get enough of her. Now that his primal was an inextricable part of him, their sex had all the roughness that she’d enjoyed during her time in the undertunnels.

  She stroked lazy fingers over his pecs, enjoying the texture of his velvety skin beneath her fingertips. “I’m glad that you’re One again.”

  His chuckle bounced her on his chest. “I had no idea you liked things so… primal, but I’ve enjoyed discovering that. I’ve also enjoyed the fact that you can keep up with me.” His grin was feral as he dropped his hands to her naked backside and pushed her against his still straining erection.

  She poked him in the chest. “I’m glad you’re happy, because there will be no more concubines for you.”

  His laughter reflected the contentment spiraling from him through their link. “They have new protectors, as you commanded, my princess.” Perhaps sensing her lingering hurt in their link, his expression sobered. “I hurt you by keeping knowledge of them from you.” He took her fingers in his hand and brought them to his lips, kissing each one. “I apologize for that. I would defend the omission by saying it truly is not the business of an umbrose concubine to concern herself with her protector’s other concubines, but the truth is, I feared that you would leave me if you knew about them, and I couldn’t bear the thought of that. I was already making plans for them to have other protectors when you discovered the truth.”

  Though she’d already forgiven him, after everything that had happened between them, his confession and apology warmed a cold place within her where he’d wounded her by his lies. “I shouldn’t have behaved the way I did when I found out. I’m sorry for that. I should have asked you in private about it.” She folded her hands on his chest and rested her chin on them. “They probably despise me now. Were they very angry when you told them they had to have new protectors?”

  Balfor’s heavy sigh lifted her. “I am difficult to follow. Their new protectors will undoubtedly disappoint them.”

  She shook her head at him, grinning. “No argument there, but I was asking a serious question. Am I going to have problems with them?”

  “Relax, Princess. They weren’t angry. My people do not suffer from the jealousy you humans do. They’re new protectors are wealthy and well-favored and strong. It was not a huge step down in the world for them.”

  “So the umbrose don’t get jealous? That’s good, because I was looking at Marquise Danhal the other day and he—” She shrieked as Balfor suddenly flipped her onto her back and rolled over her, pinning her beneath his heavy body.

  “Don’t even joke about other males.” His words were growled out, his primal coming to the surface. “You are mine! Forever. We’re bonded in a way no other umbrose can be with his concubine.”

  Grinning, she stroked her fingers over his hard jaw, then up to smooth the frown lines that had formed between his brows. “So much for ‘the umbrose don’t get jealous.’”

  “This is a different situation.”

  “Really? Because I saw Ranove have a fit when Lilith paid a casual compliment to another male a couple of weeks ago.”

  Sharing the memory with her through their mental link, he laughed. “She certainly has changed my duke, hasn’t she?”

  “He seems happy with the change.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down until she could reach his lips. His weight settled over her, though he still braced most of it off of her.

  When he broke the kiss, her breathing was heavy and her mind almost mush since she now shared his pleasure in the act as well as her own. “I finally understand what Ranove always saw in humans. I’m happy with the change you’ve brought me.” Then he kissed her again, proving his words.

  She was the one to break the kiss the second time, but only because she could feel the distraction at the back of his mind through their link. It mirrored her own concerns. “What’s going to happen now?”

  She didn’t need to elaborate about the change of subject. “Now that we have Uriale imprisoned in the undertunnels, we’ll hunt down the rest of the adurians and—”

  “No.” Stacia pushed against his chest until he sat up, freeing her to sit up also to face him on the bed. “No more attempted genocide. This must end, now.”

  Though his expression remained neutral, displeasure at her words sparked from him to her through their link. “The only way this war will ever end is if one side is completely destroyed.”

  She shook her head. “I disagree. We can find a better way. Peace talks, treati
es. Now that Anata is dead, perhaps the other adurians will listen to reason.”

  Balfor scoffed. “While we hold their prince hostage?”

  “All the more reason for them to listen to our proposals for peace.”

  He sighed and leaned back against the carved headboard of the bed, crossing his arms over his bare chest. “You think we haven’t tried this path before?”

  Mirroring his stance, Stacia crossed her arms over her bare breasts. She smiled a little when she felt his disappointment at the obstruction of his view come through their link. “I think we need to try it again. You’ve made me your princess. The Mother has Chosen me. My words must mean something to you.”

  Balfor looked away from her for a moment, but the turmoil in his mind was not entirely concealed from her. She felt some of it through the link. She couldn’t read his thoughts unless he shared them with her, but she could feel his emotions. He was irritated that she was already trying to change things. It had only been a month since they’d returned to Sanctuary with the captured adurian prince and the announcement that Balfor had finally chosen a princess who’d been accepted by the Mother.

  The celebrations were still ongoing. This was a time of joy for the umbrose, and should have been a time of victory for her and Balfor. But this needed to be cleared up, because she wasn’t going to just sit back and allow anyone to commit genocide, no matter how valid they believed their reasoning was.

  She laid a hand against his tight abdominals. “Listen, Balfor, I know you don’t like the idea of trying for peace again. I know that you and the rest of the umbrose have suffered greatly at the hands of the adurians. It’s hard to imagine a peaceful resolution, but it must come. Your way is not the answer. You know this! This isn’t what the Mother wants.”

  His lips twisted into a snarl. “You will find that what the Mother truly wants is always a mystery, revealed only in bits and pieces. You may not even live to see Her endgame.” His eyes met hers and he clasped her hand tightly in his. “Sometimes I regret cursing you like this.” He brought her hand to his lips and nipped at her wrist, then kissed it. “She can be cruel, and will sacrifice her pawns if it serves her purpose. She allowed my concubine, Yuki, to lure me away from Sanctuary and poison me so the adurians could capture me and imprison me. There was no warning from Her or the shadows about Yuki’s plot.”

  Stacia gasped and leaned forward, throwing her arms around his neck as she pressed kisses against his cheek and trailed her lips to his. They kissed for a long moment before she broke away. “I’m so sorry that bitch is dead, because I would love to kill her myself.” She hadn’t realized that Yuki had been his concubine too. Apparently, the female had really gotten around.

  Balfor’s grin was wicked. “So fierce. But I understand the sentiment. I was also disappointed to discover that Ranove had already had her executed for treason. I wanted to kill her personally.”

  “Are you certain the Mother even knew about Yuki’s plot?” She stroked her fingers through his hair.

  Surprise filtered from him through their link. “She’s the Mother. She knows everything. The past, the future, and what goes on in the present. There’s no way she couldn’t have known.”

  Stacia wasn’t so certain. She was new to this whole deity thing, so maybe that was why she had her doubts, but she couldn’t see any purpose served by allowing Balfor to become a prisoner of the adurians. It just seemed like a mistake, that maybe the Mother missed something important. Since that entity never answered her questions in a manner she found satisfactory, she didn’t bother asking Her.

  The shadows themselves talked a lot, but much of what they said was just chatter or vague guidance that mirrored the visions she’d been given by the Mother. It wasn’t all that helpful, yet Balfor was convinced that his deity was omniscient. She could tell by the feelings of betrayal that came through their link that he truly believed he’d been sacrificed for some plan of the Mother’s. “You know, I love you, Balfor. I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”

  His smile was small, but the joy inside him swelled their link until it was wide open. “You’ve said that before.”

  “You’ve never said it back. Lilith said that the umbrose don’t think about love the same way we do.”

  He shook his head. “It isn’t that the umbrose don’t understand love. If I didn’t love you, and you didn’t feel the same, I couldn’t have made you my princess. That was why Yuki betrayed me. It was why she hated me. She wanted to be my princess, but I never loved her. The connection would not have formed between us. For my people, love is not something common. It’s a rare gift, a blessing not to be taken lightly. We live for thousands of years. In that time, we take many mates, often growing bored with each other after only a century or two. To bind ourselves to another for life is a heavy commitment.”

  Stacia’s laugh was a little strained, and she wondered if Balfor felt the spear of sadness that pierced her at the idea of growing old and dying long before he did. “Well, at least your commitment to me won’t last nearly as long. We humans only get about a hundred years, give or take.”

  His eyes were intent on her. “Your lifespan will be extended by the Mother’s power. Your body has already changed so you heal much faster and do not age as most humans do. You will live a very long time for a human.”

  His words had her conflicted. In theory, it sounded awesome, but as she thought about it, she realized all the drawbacks. Her human friends would age and die around her, her human life was completely over. Yet even with the power of the umbrose, she wasn’t one of them and never would be. She would live for ages as someone outside of either human or umbrose.

  Balfor squeezed her hand in his. “Don’t despair. You’ll never be alone, Stacia. I will always be with you.”

  She looked down at their hands clasped and suddenly the memory returned. Now she knew why the feeling of him holding her hand was so comforting and familiar to her, even from the beginning. She remembered regaining consciousness after losing her jaw. The painkiller in the medicated bandages had not been enough to stave off the agony that pulled her from blessed darkness. She’d arched her back as she suffered and then flung her hand out seeking something to hold onto that would anchor her in this sea of pain. Her fingers came into contact with something warm, velvet skin over hard muscle. Something strong enough to grip with all the pain that wracked her body. Then her hand had slipped to cold, smooth fabric. Suddenly a large hand had grasped hers and held onto her as the warmth of his grasp gave her the strength to endure.

  Epilogue

  Stacia stood above the Abyss, looking down into the Mother's Heart. She was drawn to the place now, just as she was drawn to the shadows, and to the comforting coolness of darkness.

  Months had passed since the decisive battle against the adurians. Balfor, at her urging, had agreed to hold off on pursuing the last of the adurian strongholds and destroying them. She now had the Mother's will to back her up on this. He could not argue with that, as even he knew that the Mother did not wish for him to commit genocide.

  Plans were in place for the umbrose to expand now that it was safe to move beyond Sanctuary. They were going to reclaim some of the ancient underground cities that lay in ruin. She was eager to travel to those places, as she would be required to help oversee rebuilding and reinvigorating the Mother's Heart in the new cities.

  The alliance with humanity had grown more entangled than ever. Balfor was not happy about it and still restricted humans from entering Sanctuary, but more and more umbrose came into contact with humans. Balfor even allowed some of the umbrose to travel to DC and learn what they could about human society. With Lilith, Stacia worked as a liaison to the humans, though they tended to avoid her when they could. Her powers were not well known, but Commemoro soldiers had returned to DC from the battle at the Father’s Heart with enough rumors to make people suspicious about her, if her relationship with the prince of the umbrose hadn’t been enough to encourage them to keep their distance.
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  The only one who Stacia refused to deal with personally was General Caruthers, who was the liaison between the Commemoro and the umbrose for the alliance he had forced Balfor into accepting. Once again, Jack had used her to extort something from someone she loved. She would never forgive him, no matter how many times he apologized. She did not, however, share any of that with Balfor. The alliance was shaky enough as it was. Balfor honored it—despite the manner in which the alliance was formed—because he and the umbrose were honorable, but he hated Caruthers now, so Stacia didn’t want to give him any more reason to wish to kill Jack.

  Stacia.

  Stacia lifted her head when she felt the summons. It was from one of the few people who dared to summon her. Lilith was calling her. They were supposed to meet at the shopping center a few minutes ago. Stacia had forgotten, she'd been so deep in her thoughts. Fortunately, one of the many new abilities she had, especially this close to the Mother's Heart, was to travel with the shadows. She could be at Lilith's side in a moment.

  She pulled the shadows around her and allowed them to take her, settling into the strange shadow world where they existed, before they deposited her back in the shopping center to meet Lilith. She took a long look around the shopping center where her best friend waited for her.

  Life is good.

  Author’s Note:

  Thank you for reading Balfor’s Salvation. I hope you enjoyed Stacia and Balfor’s story enough to anticipate the upcoming sequel, Jessabelle’s Beast, tentatively scheduled for release in the summer of 2017.

  If you like this book, please show the love by leaving a review to help other readers make the decision to try it out. Reviews are critical for me as well. Not only do they encourage more readers to take a chance on my book, but they also let me know whether I should continue to publish the series. Much of what I write is experimental fiction that does not have a wide enough audience to publish, so I use reviews and other reader feedback to determine what manuscripts should get the most attention and what to keep on my personal library shelf.