Tears of War

by A. D. Trosper

  Kellinar watched Toren’s eyes and saw the man’s resistance wavering. Toren rubbed his face again and let his hands fall in his lap. “I will have to think about this for a couple of days. This isn’t something that can be decided in a moment.”

  “Understandable.” Kellinar nodded. “However, I cannot stay for a couple of days and neither will Kalila. I will take her back to Galdrilene and if you decide to answer the call, I will return her.”

  “My sister will stay with me.” Toren’s eyebrows drew down. “She is under my protection.”

  “No, she is not.” Kellinar leaned forward, ignoring the bolt of pain that shot down his back. “Kalila is a junior mage at the Tower of Air and Water; she is under the protection of Galdrilene and always will be. As the senior representative of the Tower of Wind and Water as well as a Dragon Rider and Guardian of Galdrilene, at this moment she is under my personal protection. You cannot protect her here.”

  Toren seemed stunned but recovered quickly. “You have no say in this.”

  Kellinar smiled slightly. “I have every say in this.”

  “What in the name of the Fates do you possibly think I can’t protect her from here in my own castle?”

  The demanding tone in Toren’s voice irritated Kellinar but he did his best to rein it in. “Sadira, for one. You already failed to protect her from that once, I won’t allow that to happen again. You have no idea what you are up against. Sadira is a Shadow Rider; their black dragons are the dragons from the tales we were all fed with our mother’s milk. She and her fellow Shadow Riders are a living nightmare. If Sadira were to show up here, and she will eventually, Kalila would end up in her hands again. I will not allow that to happen to her. As a junior member of my tower, she is my responsibility and my charge until another senior member arrives to relieve me of that duty.”

  Toren turned to Kalila. “You will not let this man take you away now that you have finally come home, will you?”

  Kalila brought her chin up and sent an icy stare at her brother. “My allegiance is to Galdrilene. Kellinar is a senior member of my tower. If he thinks it is best for my safety to return to Galdrilene while you search yourself for the courage to put me on the throne and answer the call, then that is what I will do.”

  She stood and looked down her nose at him. “I truly hope the draclet has made a good choice in you. You hardly have the backbone to be a rider. You allow yourself to be pushed around and run over by Haden and the other nobles. That is why Markene is in such a mess. You are so busy trying to do everything everyone tells you without making any enemies that you have done nothing that you should. And now, you are offered the greatest gift possible and you are whining about it.” She shook her head, disgust clear on her face.

  Toren stood up and looked down at her from his height advantage. “I am not a coward or weak-willed. I have only done the best I can to keep everything from falling apart and excuse me if I don’t just jump on the wagon when it comes to you being queen. It seems to be the only thing you care about. If that is all you want, then you will not be the best thing for Markene.”

  Kalila stepped forward and glared into his eyes. “I. Don’t. Want. It. I have never wanted to be a queen or ruler of any nation but it’s the duty I am being called to. I was perfectly happy as nothing more than a junior mage in Galdrilene. I could have lived out my life there as a mage and never wanted for anything more.”

  She poked him in the chest with her finger. “Instead, I am here because you have been called to a greater duty and because I am the only one who can take your place. Believe me, if Larna were here, I would happily let our eldest sister take this weight. But Larna is gone. She might as well be dead, and for her sake, I hope she is. Because I have been Sadira’s ‘pet’ in the Kormai. I have seen the evil that happens there. I can’t escape it; it invades my dreams and turns them to nightmares almost every night, even though it’s over a year later. These scars,” she motioned to those on her face and then rolled up her sleeves to show more on both arms, “didn’t appear by themselves. I have more all over my back. I have lived through more pain and terror than you can imagine.”

  Kalila planted her hands on her hips. “So yes, if Kellinar says you cannot keep me safe from Sadira and I should go back to Galdrilene, then that is what I’m going to do.”

  Toren stared at her as if he didn’t recognize her. His eyes kept returning to her scars. Finally, after a long moment he swallowed and turned to Kellinar. “Sadira will come here?”

  Kellinar stood and nodded, wincing slightly as the skin pulled along his back. “She will come and if you don’t know what you’re doing, the people of Markene will fall to her.”

  “Can I really destroy my own people with my magic?”

  “Yes.” Kellinar wished this guy would hurry up. His back hurt. “A rider, even one not yet bonded to his dragon, has powers that are magnified to many times that of a regular mage. As your powers grow, without training, you could easily turn Markene to ashes.”

  Toren stared at him for several minutes then nodded. “It appears I am ignorant of things that are happening outside my borders. I think it’s time I learned. I have no wish to bring harm to my nation. It seems I have no real choice.”

  Kellinar crooked a half-grin at him, the memory of Emallya’s words filling his mind and said, “You always have a choice. If you decide to go to Galdrilene and hatch your dragon that is your choice. If you decide to stay here and maybe burn your kingdom down that is also your choice. We will never force you into it. I will take Kalila home now and be back in two days for your decision.”

  They started for the door but Toren stopped them. “Wait.” He took a deep breath. “I choose to go to Galdrilene. I will call the nobles together and Kalila will be queen by the morning. It is highly irregular and it won’t go over well, but it will be done.”

  Kellinar nodded and reached out with his magic and placed weaves of air across the windows. “Then you both will stay here in this room with you until I return with her protection. I will be gone no more than a few minutes. And if any of your guards shoot any more arrows at me, I will let my dragon eat them.” He wouldn’t of course, but Toren didn’t need to know that yet.

  Toren nodded. “I have already given my order to them. If they disobey, I give my own permission for the dragon to do as he will.”

  At least the man had some sense. Kellinar turned to walk from the room but Kalila’s gasp stopped him

  “Fates! Kellinar, you’re bleeding.”

  He looked over his shoulder. This was the first time he’d had his back to them. “I’m well aware of this.”

  Toren stepped forward. “Sit down. I will send for a healer.”

  He shook his head. “I’m headed to Galdrilene where the best healers in the world are. I won’t die before I get there.” Kellinar opened the door and walked from the room, closing it firmly behind him. He’d done a good job ignoring the pain until now. He gritted his teeth against it and placed a weave over the door before starting down the hall.

  When he emerged into the courtyard it looked as it had before. Guards still lined it, pressed against the walls, clearly afraid to move in the presence of the dragon, especially since they weren’t allowed to defend themselves now.

  Shryden reached out to him, “You’re still bleeding.”

  He grabbed the catcher strap and started fastening it around his ankle, biting back a groan as fire lanced up his back. “How very observant of you.”

  “One of us has to be. Considering the amount of time you spent sitting conversing while you lost blood, I thought perhaps you had missed it.”

  He glared up at the dragon’s face that was cocked so one big blue eye watched him. “I had to get this done. I can’t run off to a healer every time I get a little scratch.”

  Shryden huffed a puff of smoke as Kellinar climbed into the saddle, breathing through his teeth at the effort. “What is on your arm is nothing to worry about Kellinar, but the injury to your back isn’t a s
cratch. I can feel it too you know.”

  In moments, the safety straps were across his legs. He rubbed his forehead with a shaky hand, surprised to find cold sweat beading there. “I know and if I could keep you from it, I would. Unfortunately, I’m not a Silver, so I can’t play those mind tricks like walling people off. Let’s get this over with. Anevay is going to chew my hide for waiting.”

  Shryden launched into the air and climbed just high enough to open a Slide. They were tugged into it and then they were gliding toward the crater at Galdrilene as the sun slowly sank behind them. A large group of people gathered on the inner terrace.

  Anevay was the first to Shryden’s side when the dragon landed. She glared up at Kellinar. “What in the name of the Fates were you thinking? You should have come back immediately to be healed.”

  He gave her a weary smile as he unbuckled the safety straps and climbed down. “Sure, that would have went over well. ‘Toren, you need to go to Galdrilene and hatch your dragon, and your sister here is going to be queen even though there has never been a queen, and she can use magic too. See ya, gotta leave now.’” Kellinar pulled the catcher strap off. “Yep, that would have settled things nicely.”

  She rolled her eyes. That eye roll, the one that said she thought he was an idiot and if he bled to death it was his own fault. How did women manage to make eye rolls have so much meaning? Kind of like when they argued with you and then all of a sudden agreed. Yeah, like that wasn’t a trap.

  Anevay pulled his shirt up. “What happened? This runs from midway up your back to your shoulder. Sit down.”

  Kellinar sank to his knees next to Shryden and the dragon turned a concerned eye on him. “They were shooting arrows at us,” he motioned up toward the saddle where the shaft of an arrow still protruded from the second seat. “I had to shield Kalila or they would have killed her.”

  Anevay laid her hands on his back. “You can tell me about it in a minute. Right now hold still.”

  Warmth spread through him, the heat gathering in the wound on his back. The burning pain slowly faded until it was gone completely. The warmth moved to his shoulder, healing that as well. He drew a deep, relieved breath and reached to steady himself against Shryden as he stood.

  Anevay’s worried dark eyes filled his vision. He reached out and stroked his knuckles down her cheek. “I’m fine now, thanks to you.”

  Kellinar glanced at the others in the caldera. “Is everyone ready to go?”

  She placed her hands on either side of his face and made him look at her. “You’ve lost quite a bit of blood. You aren’t going anywhere until you’ve had food and tea. You can either walk yourself up to the kitchen cavern or you can sit here, but either way, you stay until I say so.”

  He shook his head. “Anevay, I have to get back. I don’t like leaving her there with tenuous protection at best.”

  She stepped back, crossed her arms and raised one slim eyebrow. “Fine.”

  Kellinar eyed her warily. “Fine?” This wasn’t good.

  “Yes, fine.” She gave a sharp nod of her head, her dark eyes full of innocent challenge. “Do what you want. Don’t listen to me. If you think you are well enough to go, then go.”

  Oh rotting piles of shadow carcasses, she was agreeing with him. He wasn’t falling into that trap again. He gestured toward the kitchen cavern. “You’re right. I should eat and drink something.”

  She smiled sweetly at him and stood on tiptoe to brush a kiss across his lips. “Of course you should.” She turned and started for the kitchen cavern. He sighed and followed her.

  “You held your own for a moment there,” came Shryden’s amused sending.

  He shot a glare over his shoulder at the massive blue. “I will remind you of that comment the next time Paki and Latia are harassing you.”

  The rumble of Shryden’s equivalent to a laugh followed him into the kitchen. Anevay promptly pushed him onto a bench at one of the long tables and then Madra was there, pushing food and drink at him and fussing like a mother hen.

  Kellinar had taken no more than two bites when Shryden’s happy sending came bursting into his mind, “Maleena is pregnant.”

  Kellinar nearly choked. “You are certain?”

  “Tellnox tells me that Maleena told Mckale a few days ago and Nydara has confirmed it as well.”

  Maleena was pregnant. He felt a rush of happiness for his friends. “Send my congratulations and sincere happiness to them.”

  “I will. Maybe one day one of your bondmates will have a child.”

  “Honestly, Shryden, we have enough to worry about right now. I’m thrilled for them, but I don’t envy them. One day, in the future, it would be great if Taela or Anevay became pregnant.”

  Anevay sat down across from him, a dreamy look in her eyes. “Did you hear?”

  Kellinar nodded. “I’m happy for them.” Marda stood off to the side of the kitchen, dabbing her eyes with her apron. “I guess she has heard already?”

  “I was talking to her when Latia sent me the message.”

  He smiled. “Someone new for her to mother.”

  Less than an hour later he sat on Shryden. Kellinar looked back to make sure everyone who was going stood well behind the dragon. The other dragons had retreated to the ledges in front of their lairs. He reached for Shryden, “Looks like everyone is ready.”

  The blue lifted himself into the air then opened the large Slide all the way to the ground and held it as the people on the ground moved forward. The dragon entered it slowly, making sure to pass through with everyone on the ground. In moments, Shryden was hovering above the inner courtyard of the castle at Markene.

  Shryden let the Slide close and landed carefully to give the people under him a chance to move. Kellinar unbuckled the safety straps and jumped down beside the dragon as Toren appeared at the door to the keep. He ground his teeth together; the man didn’t listen very well.

  He crossed the courtyard in long strides. “Toren, I said Kalila stays with you in that room. Not leave her alone when you feel like it.”

  Toren looked over his shoulder then back at Kellinar. “She is still in the room. She is safe.”

  Kellinar brushed past him. “Yes, just like she was safe when Sadira took her.”

  Toren caught his arm. “Who are all of these people?” He eyed the soldiers warily.

  Kellinar glanced back and waved his arm absently at the group. “Toren, this is everybody. Everybody, this is Toren.” He pulled his arm away and strode into the hall. Stupid. He should have taken her back with him. Kellinar didn’t draw an easy breath until he yanked open the door to the study and saw her standing in front of the empty fireplace.

  “Your brother has trouble listening. He was to stay in here with you.”

  Kalila laughed but it held a bitter sound. “Do you really think if Sadira had shown up that me being in this room with Toren would have saved me?”

  “Actually, yes. It would have saved you both.” He scowled. “I placed wards over the windows and door. Anyone trying to pass through that used Shadow magic would have found a nasty surprise. It wouldn’t have held them for a long period of time, but maybe long enough for me to get back to you. However, Toren passing through the wards weakened them.”

  She looked away from him. “Oh, we didn’t know.”

  He crossed the room and took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look up at him. “You are not a Dragon Rider but that doesn’t mean you aren’t important. You have a purpose. If you want to fulfill it, you will have to be more careful.”

  Kalila stepped back, pulling her chin away. “I will be more careful.”

  He nodded. “Good. Now come with me. There are quite a few people in the courtyard. Hemmen sent the Defenders you requested.”

  A look of surprised relief swept over her face. “He did?” She took a deep breath. “You have no idea how much more confident that makes me.”

  Kalila followed him back to the courtyard. As they stepped into the darkness, Toren saw her and wal
ked over. “Who are these soldiers? Why are they here?”

  She looked at the gathered men. Hemmen had sent fifty Defenders. Kalila lifted her chin slightly. “They are here by my request to be my personal guards.”

  “Foreign soldiers? Are you insane, Kalila? You really will have everyone against you.” Toren glared as if he could somehow put sense into her.

  Kalila gave him another of her frosty, high and mighty looks. “I will have every hand against me anyway. At least this way, I know my guards can’t be bought.”

  Five women flowed out of the evening shadows. All of them wore dark blue robes, and their hair hung in a multitude of small braids with blue and white beads at the ends. The oldest approached and stopped in front of Kalila. Kellinar saw the gratitude spread across her face.

  She bowed her head slightly. “Thank you Katian, for coming.” She glanced at the others. “All senior mages?”

  Katian nodded. “Dhovara thought it best to be on the safe side. I agreed with her. I don’t think when it comes to Shadow Riders that we can take too many precautions.”

  The Defenders moved into defensive positions, already taking up their task. The leader strode over to where Kalila stood. “I am Arryn Warrick, Hemmen’s brother. My second is Hammel. We will work in shifts.”

  Kalila smiled graciously. “Thank you, Arryn.”

  A tall woman in silver robes with long red hair spilling down her back, flowed to her side. She gazed at Kaila with pale blue eyes. “I am Lalani, your advisor. I will help limit your mishaps when handling your nation as well as other things.”

  “Thank you for coming.”

  Toren looked at Lalani. “What experience do you have ruling a nation?”

  The Silver mage gave him a cool look. “Twenty-five years ago, I was the heir to the Boromari throne. As the eldest child, I was groomed for the position from the time I could walk and talk. In Boromar, we have no…restrictions against a woman ruling the nation. It is based upon birth order and capability, not whether one is male or female. I grew up working alongside my father until it came to light that I possessed Spirit magic in my twentieth year.” She smiled slightly, her tone cool. “Boromar does not follow the barbaric laws dictating the slaughter of magic users. We keep up the pretense to avoid the backlash from other nations—although thankfully that pretense can be done away with now—but the ‘private executions’ in Boromar are an illusion. Magic users who turn themselves in have been sent to Galdrilene for the past two hundred and fifty years.”