Prince of Fire

by Linda Winstead Jones

  “Perhaps you’re lying to me.”

  Her eyes widened. “I have told you many times, I do not lie!”

  “Not even to get what you want?”

  She pursed her lips. “What makes you think I still want you?”

  The too-quick beating of her heart; the telling pink flush on her skin; the sparkle in her golden eyes as she tried to deny what she felt.

  He was so intensely focused on Keelia, he did not see or hear or smell the beasts until it was almost too late. There were three of them, and they screeched as they attacked, two rushing around a bend in the path, one leaping from a ledge high above. Joryn spun and stood in one smooth motion, drawing his knife and placing himself between Keelia and the monsters who had once been Caradon and were now unnatural things which did not belong in a decent world.

  They surrounded him in a half-circle, one straight ahead, one to the left, one to the right. They looked almost amused. All three wore stones around their necks, stones which lay against flesh that was alternately furry and fleshy. These were not innocent Caradon who had been bitten against their will, but three of the original beasts who had chosen to be this way. These were the creatures who were spreading the venom.

  The one in the middle spoke, with great difficulty. “Ya d’not b’long here.” His words sounded muddy, since his snout was misshapen, but his intent was clear enough.

  “Neither do you,” Joryn responded. Such creatures did not belong anywhere on this earth.

  “We will tak the keen and let you liv,” the beast said. “Mof aside.”

  “No.”

  “The keen will be ourzz sun enuf no matter what you say, und so will you.” His eyes dropped to the site of the bite, even though his torn trousers covered the area, and even if they had not, there was no longer a scar or a scratch to mark the injury. “Fur days, and you’ll becum one ov us. He is anxious to haf you, yust as he is anxious to haf her.”

  “We will never be with you.” Joryn wished heartily that he had freed Keelia when she’d asked it of him. Now that the beasts were here, he did not have time to cut her bonds. Before he was done with that simple task, the three mutant beasts would be on top of him, and on top of Keelia.

  “Yur will departs wif yur soul” the beast explained. “There is great freedom in what you will become, broder. Freedom and strenk and puwer.”

  “I am not your brother.”

  The beast grinned, showing sharp, yellowed teeth. “Yu will be.”

  At once, the attention of all three of the beasts was ripped from Joryn to Keelia. He knew why without turning to look, since he heard her step in the dirt and also heard what sounded very much like a growl deep in her throat.

  When Keelia stood beside him, Joryn glimpsed a creature very much like the ones who had intruded upon their camp. She was not human, but neither was she wolf. She possessed claws and wicked teeth, but continued to stand on two feet.

  He barely took time to recognize that she had freed herself quite easily and quickly, and probably could’ve done so at any time in the past two and a half days. So why hadn’t she?

  Keelia and the Caradon beasts moved forward at the same time. They were more interested in her than they were in him, so two focused on her. They wanted her, but why? One beast, the monster that had been standing on Joryn’s left, tried to stop him from interfering in their taking of the Queen.

  These creatures who wore the stones were more intelligent than the others he’d faced. The one he battled fought smarter, protecting himself from Joryn’s knife thrusts and going for the torso with his own short-bladed weapon. Only one hand was capable of grasping a knife handle, since the other was more paw than hand. That paw possessed wicked claws.

  Beside him, Keelia was little more than a blur, attacking with her claws and drawing blood, seemingly unafraid of the knives and claws the attackers wielded and dodging with great ease and grace their attempts to wound or grab her. She leapt out of their reach wim an unexpected strength, seeming to fly out of their range and then just as easily dip back in again to attack.

  From the thing’s muddied words, it seemed that they wished to take Keelia and leave him alive, since he would soon be like them, but they were brutal in their attack. They went for crippling wounds rather than ones which would kill, but they were far from gentle. They would be satisfied to leave here with a badly wounded prisoner.

  With a jump to the side and a quick thrust, Joryn was able to kill the beast he fought. At the same time, one of the mutants who battled with Keelia fell. She swiped out, and the thing was dead before he hit the ground. Faced with taking on both of them, the monster in the middle, the one who had spoken, ran. Keelia made as if to follow, but Joryn stopped her. He laid a stilling hand on a furry red arm, and instantly—instantly—she was woman once more.

  “Let him go.”

  “But he will tell the wizard where we are and that we’ve defeated them, and he’ll send more of those things to attack us!” she argued, turning to face him. She was so beautiful: Moments ago she had been a monster much like the ones who had attacked, but now… she was once again the woman who had bewitched him-She was the woman who made him question everything he had believed to be true for so long.

  Anwyn were the enemy.

  No woman was worth the sacrifice of his freedom.

  He could never be satisfied with the same woman, day after day after day.

  He could tell her none of that. Not now, not ever.

  “Yes ” Joryn said. “The beast who escaped will no doubt go directly to the wizard.” A smile bloomed on his face. “And we will follow.”

  *

  11

  The attack added even more urgency to the mission they had set for themselves. Apparently the wizard wanted her, and they fully expected Joryn to become like them when the full moon rose. The wizard and his monstrous soldiers knew too much. They knew that Keel ia was coming, that Joryn had been bitten.

  Keelia experienced a chill. Perhaps it was no mistake that Joryn had been bitten and they’d survived the initial attack. Perhaps everything that had happened to this point was a part of the evil wizard’s plan, and they were walking into a trap.

  Why did the wizard want her? It made no sense.

  As she walked along an almost Hat slice of trail, Keelia attempted to remove the silver bracelet. She did not want to toss it away, since it was all she had of Joryn, but if the simple piece was somehow interfering in her ability to see what lay ahead, then she had to be rid of it.

  The bracelet had conformed to her wrist too well, and would not release. The wide band of silver hugged her small wrist and would not budge. Joryn seemed to have forgotten about the discussion they’d been having before the attack. He hadn’t mentioned the bracelet once since they’d moved away from the site of the ambush.

  Eventually, Keelia stopped trying to twist the bracelet off. Joryn had put it on her; perhaps it was required that he be the one to remove it.

  Darkness fell long before Joryn said it was time for rest. AH afternoon they’d followed the path the fleeing Caradon beast had taken. The correct path, they hoped. On this patch of flat land, Joryn built a small fire. The fire might give away their location, but he didn’t care. “Let them come,” he’d said as he built the fire.

  Keelia had told Joryn that her fertile time was over. In truth it was waning, but it was certainly not over. She still wanted him, but she no longer felt as if her body was hurtling beyond control. Even though she did not lie, she believed this small falsehood to be justified. She was tired of being unconscious, of being carried, of being denied.

  If they were not able to end the curse in time, the man she loved would become a monster… unless she did as he insisted and took his life before that happened. What if this was her only chance to know what it was like to hold the man she loved during her fertile time? What if this was their last, their only, chance to create a child?

  Her gaze was drawn up to the growing moon. Four days until it would, be full ag
ain. Four days, and if they did not destroy the wizard’s stone, then Joryn would die.

  She didn’t like the possibilities that whirled in her head, but if it became necessary, she would kill the man she loved to keep him from becoming like the things who had attacked them. It would take great strength and it would hurt beyond all imagining, but she would not allow the man she loved to lose his soul and become a monster.

  Oddly enough, just weeks ago she had not thought “monster” and “Caradon” to be so very far apart.

  Joryn stretched out on the ground close by her, but he did not sleep. Keelia wondered if he would ever sleep again. She scooted closer, but not so close that she could touch him. Yet. If she allowed her falsehood to continue, she could have everything she wanted. Joryn; pleasure; his child. No matter how desperately she wanted him, she wouldn’t allow a falsehood at the root of their union. It just wasn’t right.

  Keelia offered him her arm. “Can you remove the bracelet from my wrist? I tried, but it won’t cooperate with me.”

  He barely touched the silver, and she knew, even though she could not read his mind, that no matter how difficult it made their journey, he did not wish her to peek into his mind. Eventually he made a halfhearted attempt to twist the silver band off, but it would not move.

  His hand dropped away. “Perhaps it is not time for the bracelet to leave you.”

  “Perhaps you do not wish for me to know your thoughts, no matter what the cost might be.”

  He remained silent, not bothering to deny her accusation.

  “I did lie to you a little ” Keelia said when die silence stretched too long.

  Joryn did not seem surprised. “About what?”

  “My fertile time isn’t entirely over. Almost,” she added quickly, “but not entirely.”

  “Do I need to tie you up again?” he asked, half joking, half pained.

  Keelia toyed with the hem of her skirt… what was left of it. “I don’t think I have enough fabric remaining to fashion new bonds. Sorry.” She scooted a bit closer and reached out to touch his hair. “Would it truly be so horrible to make a child with me? Do you hate the fact that I’m Anwyn so much that the idea of giving me a baby disgusts you?”

  He groaned a little. “Nothing about you disgusts me, Keelia.”

  “Are you bothered by the fight this afternoon? Are you frightened by the fact that when I changed in part, I was very much like the Caradon beasts?”

  “No,” he said quickly. “You’re nothing like them.”

  She moved so close that her leg rested against his. He was warm and hard and wonderful. “Then why?”

  He grinned, and she could see the pain in that smile. “This is more difficult than denying you when you were demanding and throwing yourself at me, and trust me when I tell you that wasn’t at all easy.”

  “I did not throw myself at you,” Keelia said as she draped her leg over his and placed her head against his arm. “I only made it clear in every way possible that I needed you. Only you,” she added.

  His body wanted hers, that much was clear. And still he fought against her.

  “I could tell you that my heat is over and we can lie together without making a child, but that is not so. The most fertile time has passed, but to make a child is still possible.”

  He glanced sideways at her. “Possible or assured?”

  “At this time, possible. Perhaps even probable. But not assured, as it would’ve been yesterday.”

  He held his breath, then sighed. “It’s a chance we can’t take, Keelia. Your Anwyn blood doesn’t bother me, not anymore. In the beginning it did give me pause, but… no longer. I like you. I admire you. You’re beautiful and passionate and amazingly brave, and no matter what happens, I’m glad that my path led me to you for a while. But to leave behind a child with my gift—”

  “Do you think I can’t handle a bit of magic in my offspring?” Keelia interrupted. “I can teach a child to control fire if need be. I can see that he or she is trained by the best Anwyn wizards and priestesses if you are not there to see to the training yourself.”

  “No matter what happens in four days, I will not be mere,” Joryn said, and she was reminded that he didn’t believe they were mated. Even if she saved him, would he walk away from her? Yes, yes he would. Without a second thought, without a single doubt, he would walk away.

  “I don’t care,” she whispered, and then she touched his cheek and made him look at her. She rose up slightly and placed her mouth near his ear. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I love you. You are the man I was meant to spend my life with. Maybe our time together will be short, maybe it will be long. I don’t know. I should know, but I don’t, and it’s maddening.”

  His green eyes remained calm. “You think you love me because it is your duty as a Queen to make babies, and I am here.”

  “It’s more than that.”

  “I don’t believe in love.”

  “I do. Maybe I can believe enough for both of us “

  He looked away from her, then back again. The firelight flickered on his face, and she saw a muscle in his jaw twitch. “My gift is more than making campfires and lighting torches, Keelia.”

  “I know.. .”

  “No, you don’t!” His voice rose sharply. “You don’t know,” he said again, more softly.

  “I could know if you would only open yourself to me,” she argued gently. “Open your mind.” Your heart, your soul.

  “I would have nothing left for myself if 1 gave everything I am to you,” he confessed. “If I open my mind to you, I -will no longer possess that part of myself which is meant only for me. I will lose my freedom, my dignity, my honor, if I give everything I am over to you.”

  “So you won’t lie with me when we might make a child, and you won’t allow me to so much as peek into your mind.”

  “No.”

  Anger replaced desire. “You would prefer to be alone in all ways until death comes for you, whether it comes tomorrow or in four days or in forty years.”

  “Yes.”

  She knew she loved him then, because he broke her heart with that one word. No one had ever dared to hurt her this way before, and she was unprepared for the sharpness of the attack. After slowly untangling their legs, she scooted away from him, “Fine, then.”

  “Tomorrow when you’re sure you won’t conceive, we will—”

  “No,” Keelia said sharply. Joryn wasn’t the only one concerned with dignity and honor in mis relationship. “I want all or nothing from you, and it looks as if you are not willing to part with anything near all.”

  “Keelia…”

  “Do not try to sweet-talk me,” she said as she continued to scoot away from him. She moved away until her hip met rock. “You’ve made your wishes clear. We will do our best to destroy the wizard’s stone, and if we cannot accomplish that mission, I will kill you before the rise of the next full moon.”

  Joryn tried to jest. “It sounds as though I’ve made that possibility a bit easier for you.”

  She wanted to say yes in a very definitive voice, but couldn’t.

  *

  When the next day arrived and Keelia was very obviously not in her fertile time, Joryn might’ve tried to seduce her. He thought about it. He was still in pain from need, and he certainly still wanted her. It seemed he always wanted her. But she had actually said she loved him, and mat alone was enough to cool his ardor. Best to maintain this distance he had created in the name of remaining childless.

  If only he didn’t want her so much.

  He could not dismiss die way she had leaned in last night and whispered in his ear. In the dreams she had often whispered words he could not decipher, but he’d known that they were important words, a message of great weight, words that would change his life. I love you couldn’t be the message he’d dreamed of. It did not carry the import he’d known her dream whisper to have.

  Following the trail of the mutant Caradon was easy enough. The creature stank to high he
aven, and the scent permeated everything. Joryn could only hope that the beast was leading them along the path to die wizard, and not along the path to death. A great fall, Keelia had said. There were certainly a number of possibilities for great falls as they climbed higher in these unfriendly mountains. At times the trail tiiey followed was not much wider than the width of one foot, and a slip at the wrong time and place would send a careless traveler to a nasty death below. Keelia made her way with the grace he had come to expect from her, and a strength that continued to amaze him.

  When they reached a wider section of the trail where death did not await with every misstep, Keelia relaxed visibly. Her breathing changed, and her limbs relaxed, as much so as was possible given the circumstances. There was very little left of her gown, and in actuality it could no longer be called more than a rag that barely covered her breasts and her belly and the tops of her thighs.

  He rather liked it, but the garb did nothing to cool his ardor.

  “When I get home, I’m going to have a bath straight away. A long, scented, bubbling bath.”

  It was good to think of what might come later if they survived. “I wouldn’t mind a bath myself,” he said. “And something to eat that didn’t come straight from the tree or charred from a campfire.”

  “Redberry pie,” Keelia said dreamily.

  “Hunbeast stew.”

  “Bread still warm from the oven.”

  “Roasted, seasoned tilsi.”

  “Aunt Sophie’s chicken and dumplings.”

  “Greasy fried tubers.”

  Keelia wrinkled her nose. “I don’t care for fried tubers.”

  “More for me,” he said, as if they would ever share a meal when this task was done. No, he would return to the Grandmother, his chore completed, and Keelia would return to her throne, where she would be waited upon and adored for the remainder of her life.

  There were times when he was certain that Keelia would never appear less than queenly, no matter what the circumstance. But it was also easy to forget, now and then, that she was a Queen. It was more than the ragged clothes and tangled hair that sometimes made her appear less than regal; it was the way she attacked this chore. The way she was determined, as any soldier would be. She was a remarkable woman, but he could never tell her so.