In the end it was brought to our attention that no, Finn had not used magic to manipulate the soldier, but yes, Jonah had used magic to save his sister, and it was magic that far outranked his training level.
‘Who cares?’ I demanded, pacing the throne room.
Quillane was seated on her throne, arms folded. ‘He shouldn’t even be capable of that yet.’
‘But he is. Why not use it to our advantage?’
‘Because it’s against the law. If all warders used whatever magic they wanted without the proper training it would be chaos and people would die.’
I couldn’t argue with that. But it made my chest ache to think we might have to disqualify their whole team for such an act of valour.
‘He knew the consequences,’ she pointed out.
‘Yes,’ I agreed softly. ‘And he did it anyway.’
She threw up her hands. ‘What would you have me do?’
‘Nothing. I will do it.’
‘The other contestants will be furious. Everyone will be furious.’
‘What care have I for that? Besides, no one who watched today could be sore we let them through. They were the fastest team, and lost no members.’
‘They’ll think it’s because of Thorne.’
‘Let them think it.’
‘And paint an even bigger target on his back?’
‘He’s a big boy. He can handle it.’ I turned and ordered the prince’s team to be sent for. We would receive them for a meal.
And I would have Finn of Limontae before the night was over.
Chapter 8
Thorne
There was a party on the beach that night. Our feet were bare, our hands full of wine cups. My eyes found stars and sea spray and Finn, always Finn. She danced with quick grace and she laughed all night, for every moment since the moment we won. Not a minute passed without someone trying to speak with her, dance with her, offer her a drink. She took no alcohol and ignored no one. She wanted them all, and they weren’t enough for her, not even an entire beach full of revellers. She was lightning in a bottle, joy squeezed inside a body, and I feared what would happen when she wasn’t anymore.
Our wounds and injuries had all been healed by the royal warders, and I felt full of restless energy. Jonah and Penn stayed by my side. The three of us wandered to the edge of the water, wanting quiet and each other. Something had happened today, during those long minutes of shared struggle. Some gap had been broached, some divide pulled down. Tonight Jonah looked at me without the open hostility, and with only a tender, hesitant approach to friendship.
Finn did not look at me the same way. She looked at me, instead, with something dark and barely contained in her fire-lit gaze. I couldn’t read it, couldn’t understand it, but I could feel it. My eyes followed her without meaning to, watching the way she moved when she danced. It was with blind sensuality and a freedom I heard in her laugh sometimes. A man kissed her on the neck and she smiled, dancing with him and laughing as she teased him. Witnessing the intimacy of the moment startled me, made me unbearably uncomfortable but also painfully thrilled.
‘She’s always like this,’ Jonah consoled me lightly.
‘Where did Isadora disappear to?’
‘I asked her to dance so she ran,’ he said with a wry smile. ‘She’s probably halfway back to Limontae by now.’
I grinned.
Penn practised handstands while I timed how long he could stay upside down.
‘Thorne …’ Jonah hedged and I looked at him. ‘I … Thank you, for not leaving me. For carrying me. I know it wasn’t easy for you.’ I blushed and looked at the sand, then found myself smiling. ‘You weigh the equivalent of a small child. It was the easiest thing I’ve ever done.’
He laughed and our eyes met for a split second.
‘They didn’t make us fight,’ Jonah pointed out. ‘Not really. A few grapples here and there.’
I nodded. ‘Perhaps it was designed to see how well we could avoid fighting.’
‘Why would they want to know that?’
‘What are your chances of winning a fight to the death?’
‘I don’t know. It would depend on the opponent. Fifty-fifty I suppose.’
‘What are your chances of survival if you don’t have to fight at all?’
He rolled his eyes. ‘A lot higher. Smartass.’ Jonah shoved me and I let him tackle me to the sand, then I pinned him hard, making him laugh. There was nothing like a good wrestle to bond you with another man.
Penn dived on top of us, accidentally cracking me in the head with his elbow – painfully. ‘Smartass!’ he yelled like a battle cry.
‘That’s not how they’d prepare you in Pirenti, though, is it?’ Jonah asked once we’d recovered.
I shook my head, digging my toes into sand still warm from the day’s hot sun. ‘There’s no use trying to avoid fights in Pirenti.’
‘Why?’
‘It’s impossible.’
Waves crashed behind us.
‘How long will we be on this quest?’ Penn asked abruptly.
‘Don’t know,’ Jonah replied. ‘As long as it takes.’
‘Will we be home in time to feed Griggor?’
‘No, mate. Your grandma will look after him for you.’
Penn’s eyes dropped to the sand. I felt a sudden fear in my chest for him. It wasn’t that I thought him incapable – if anything, today had shown us how brave and capable Penn really was. But his childlike view of the world seemed too innocent to corrupt, and if anything happened to him I didn’t think any of us – myself included – would recover from it.
‘Who’s Griggor?’ I asked.
‘My horse.’
A horse named Griggor. Excellent.
Finn arrived, ephemeral in the flickering bonfire light. She swept Penn to his feet and danced him around the sand in an acrobatic routine they had obviously worked out together. Jonah and I watched quietly.
I cleared my throat. ‘When this ends …’ I tried, gesturing up to her, to her energy and laughter. I had seen her shadow side, and knew it to be far more powerful, a tugging riptide.
‘I will be there,’ Jonah said, firm like a vow or a truth, a fact ingrained inside the very core of who he was.
We were summoned to the palace, and we weren’t given time even to change or don shoes. I was not by nature an angry man, but I was starting to feel that way by the time we were shepherded into the throne room. Doors and windows were open to balconies that overlooked the cliffs and crashing sea. Candles were lit and hung from sandstone pillars. And before us on their thrones sat the Emperor and Empress of Kaya.
Finn, Jonah and Penn were blindfolded; I had not permitted myself to be. Finn wore a flimsy dress made of gold shimmering material. Her hair was tangled, her cheeks flushed, but she looked gorgeous and alive, and I knew Falco thought the same as soon as I saw him lay eyes on her. His gaze raked over her body, unhindered by any sense of shame or propriety.
We sank to the ground in a bow.
‘Prince Thorne, please,’ the Empress exclaimed, coming to meet me. She kissed me on each cheek and then on the backs of my hands as was their custom.
‘Do we keep bowing?’ Finn muttered, unsure.
‘You may rise,’ Falco smiled from his reclined position on the throne. ‘Courage has earned it.’
‘Welcome to Kaya,’ Quillane said to me, her black hair swaying silkily. She was slim and lithe, and with the luminous green eyes she seemed almost cat-like. ‘We are grateful and excited to have you here, Your Majesty.’
‘I am pleased to be here,’ I told her. ‘Thank you for having me. Ava and Ambrose send their regards.’
‘We’re so sorry about the mix up concerning your arrival. It’s mortifying. We meant to receive you, of course, but –’
‘I got drunk and forgot to send the invitation,’ Falco said with a titter of amusement.
Quillane shot him a hard look but he ignored her, eyes sliding back to rest on Finn’s body.
&nb
sp; ‘Your companions.’
‘This is Jonah, Finn and Penn, from the Cliffs of Limontae.’
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you all,’ Quillane said, helping them rise and kissing each of them. ‘Apologies for the blindfolds, but even we aren’t powerful enough to sidestep that rule.’
‘It’s exciting,’ Finn announced. ‘I can hear a million things at once.’
‘Where is the other – Isadora?’
‘She does as she pleases,’ Finn explained. ‘She’d disappeared into the night before you even came for us.’
We were escorted onto the balcony and seated around a table. A servant was placed at the elbows of Finn, Jonah and Penn, there to help them with anything they wished. Finn asked for food, so her serving lady started feeding her. Finn erupted into laughter and the poor girl accidentally smeared sauce on her chin, which made Finn laugh even more, and by the time she’d been wiped clean we were all laughing, even the servant.
‘Welcome to our lives,’ Falco grinned.
‘I bet you’re very good with your other senses.’
‘Touch is my favourite,’ he agreed, and I couldn’t see Finn’s eyes, but I’d bet they were rolling.
‘So, Prince,’ he turned to me. ‘Why is it that you wish to go on this mission?’
‘For my friends,’ I replied simply.
‘For your friends. I see. And these would be friends you have known for …?’
‘Not long, I admit. But trial by fire has a bonding effect,’ I answered with a crooked smile.
‘It has nothing to do with your aunt and uncle?’ Quillane asked.
‘Of course it does.’
There was a short silence.
‘Do go on,’ Falco implored.
‘Ava is Kayan,’ I pointed out. ‘She is your cousin. She cares deeply about her homeland and her people. She cares even more about the peace treaty. So I am here, in her name and in Ambrose’s, to help you as best I can in finding the end to the bond, for the good of both nations. Take it as an offering of good faith, of peace and of family – for that is what we are: family. I am bound to this mission as you are bound to your country.’
‘You honour us,’ Quillane said softly, ‘as we have not done you, Prince Thorne. I apologise, truly, for the way you have been welcomed to our country, and I thank you for the generosity of your offer. We are the luckier for having you here, to strive in our names.’
I inclined my head.
‘I fear it will be difficult for you,’ she warned. ‘There are those who will stand in your way, not just because you are from Pirenti, but because of what you search for.’
‘Yes.’
‘And what’s more we don’t even know if the rest of the prophecy will lead to anything.’
I nodded politely.
‘Leave him, Quill. He’s not to be deterred,’ Falco said. ‘The boy wants an adventure!’ Which was patently dismissive of everything I’d just said. I wondered if he’d done it on purpose or was really just that boorish. Falco took a long gulp of his wine, sloshing some of it down his shirt. ‘Tell me, Thorne. Is it true that your father used to devour his enemies and keep their bones on a necklace?’
There was horrified silence on the balcony, an abrupt lack of air.
‘We’ve all heard the stories. It sounds excitingly macabre.’
And just like that, I knew that the Emperor of Kaya was not what he seemed. I could smell it. He played a beautifully crafted part; I had spent a life being asked questions like those from people who understood nothing about what they spoke of, and they all shared that same excited awe in the face of what a monster my da had been. But under Falco’s façade there was a deep understanding of the world and its darkness, and I could smell it on him as though he’d bathed in vinegar.
He reeked of cunning.
‘I did not know my da,’ I replied softly. ‘Your guess is as good as mine, Highness.’
Falco sat back, the very corners of his lips twitching in an almost imperceptible way. ‘How dull.’
‘Wine please,’ Finn asked loudly, and I almost laughed again as she was fed the cup.
‘Are we permitted to ask about the tournament?’ Jonah asked.
‘Of course. You’re permitted to ask anything you wish,’ Quillane told him.
‘Doesn’t mean we’ll answer,’ Falco added.
‘It was interestingly designed,’ he pointed out slowly. ‘Thorne and I were speaking earlier about how we found it curious …’
‘That there wasn’t a lot of combat?’ Quillane predicted. ‘You’re right. We had it designed by an architect and then we took out the one-on-one bouts that would have come at the end.’
‘Why, Your Majesty?’
‘Because we are not sending you out into the world to commit acts of violence or shed blood.’ There was something in her tone, and for the first time tonight, I saw the Empress in Quillane.
‘The riddles were designed to torture me, weren’t they?’ Finn asked, and Quillane smiled.
‘I was tortured too. Trust me. I didn’t get a single one during the practice run.’
‘Who wrote them?’
‘They were found in our library.’
‘By old-fashioned people who enjoy reading,’ Falco added with a grimace of distaste.
‘They’re designed to test lateral thinking,’ Quillane explained. ‘Problem solving.’
‘So you’re saying that as long as we have Thorne in our lives then our problems will be always be solved?’ Finn turned towards me, despite being blindfolded, and smiled widely. ‘Did you hear that, Thorne? You’re an essential item.’
The others laughed, but I gazed at her, at her lips, and I smiled slowly.
‘What a conundrum you’ll be in when he returns to the ice,’ Falco pointed out, and I watched as Finn’s smile turned brittle and she asked for more wine.
‘Speaking of which, have you walked the ice caps, Prince Thorne?’
‘I haven’t, Majesty.’
‘Why is that?’
‘Because the ice caps are where the berserkers dwell. Anyone else would perish in such conditions.’
He leant forward, lacing his hands together. I met his eyes, which were pale like glittering diamonds, and had not shifted colours all evening. ‘I heard a story once,’ he said softly. ‘It was just a whisper. But it spoke of your father going north into the ice caps and returning a changed man.’
I knew instantly that he must have spies in Pirenti, and that he wanted me to know. ‘My ma would know the answer. She knows many stories of her late husband. If you wish it, I can ask her to write you about him.’
I would do no such thing, and he knew it.
‘I wouldn’t want to unsettle her with memories of the past,’ he conceded.
‘Best not unsettle us with them either, then,’ I murmured, and it was very clear: I had just admonished the Emperor of Kaya, and everyone here knew I had the power to do it.
It was the first moment in my life in which I had used my status for anything, used it against anyone. But if ever I were to apply my position to this world, it would be because I wanted no one alive to think they could use the identity of my parents against me. And as uncomfortable as the awareness made me, a prince of Pirenti still commanded more fear than the highest-ranking Kayan. We had won more wars, after all, despite their magic, despite their warders.
That was when Lutius and another man I hadn’t met arrived. Lutius was the head warder of Kaya and I knew him a little – we had met upon my arrival in Limontae, only we had spoken but one greeting to each other and then I’d been handed off to the army general. I’d been uncomfortable around him then, and I was uncomfortable around him now. It was that damned warder magic I had no problem with intellectually, but seemed instinctively averse to within my body.
‘Greetings, Highnesses. Greetings, Prince Thorne, I am pleased to see you again.’
‘And what of me, you old dog!’ Falco exclaimed. ‘Are you not pleased to see me?’
Lut
ius rolled his eyes and turned to me. It was patently clear he did not respect the Emperor, and I wondered what game Falco was playing. ‘Well met today,’ Lutius commented. ‘Your performance was impressive.’ As if we were caged bears on display.
The second man was introduced to me as Osric, the only first tier warder still alive. It was explained to me that although Lutius was the head warder of Kaya, he was not the most powerful wielder of the soul magic. I didn’t understand the distinction, nor why someone less powerful would be higher in rank than a first tier warder, but I kept my mouth shut, sensing that any questions I had would only highlight my ignorance.
I caught the scent of deep dislike coming from somewhere around the table and was surprised to track it to Finn. Though she couldn’t see the warders, I was sure she could sense them. And clearly, she did not like them one bit.
‘Go on, Lutius,’ Falco sighed. ‘Explain to the children how your world works and bore them to death as you have done me a thousand times.’
Osric stared at me as Lutius went on to explain the various methods of training novice warders. I tried to listen, but found myself appraising the two warders before me. Unlike Lutius, who was old and leathery from too many years in the sun, Osric was young; I imagined him to be around thirty years of age. He had long white hair like most of the warders I’d seen, but it was not bound in braids or dreadlocks; it hung loose to the small of his back. His eyes were not entirely white; I got the impression they’d once been green, but now the colour had bled away, leaving only streaks that reminded me of falling stars flashing across his gaze. He was watching me without any of the lofty detachment that Lutius wore; instead, his expression was wry and somewhat amused. I got a sense of why he might not be in charge. He had a restless quality, a kind of … defiance in the playfulness of his mouth.
You read me well, a voice said inside my mind and I startled violently. Easy, it warned quickly, and I realised it was Osric, speaking to me inside my head. I’m not supposed to do this, so pretend you’re listening to Lutius.
I immediately moved my eyes back to the older warder and tried to focus on what he was saying.
Thorne (Random Romance) Page 13