by D
Yes. Matriarch have mercy, how was she to deny this pleasure?
“You will destroy me.” He set her from him seconds later before backing away, struggling to right his breeches before quickly reclasping the small metal clips that held the tunic shirt together.
She could only watch him, standing before him naked, swaying weakly as she stared back at him in amazement.
“Dear Sentinel,” he muttered as he jerked the bath sheet from the floor and wrapped it quickly around her. “Heed my warning Princess, stay out of Kai’el’s path for days to come. He will not forget this lapse, nor the fact he was not here to participate, until he has had his due. And trust me when I say his due may be far more than you care to pay at this time.”
Her eyes widened. She trembled at the warning, knowing then she may have made more than a grave tactical error where the Sashtain Twins were concerned. She may have just handed them the answer to her defeat.
Chapter
Coming down from the high and the arousal of being in Caise’s arms hadn’t been easy. It was a long, miserable night, filled with blistering need and a rising tension she couldn’t stem no matter how hard she tried. It left her cranky and on edge the next morning, at a time when she needed to be at her most alert.
She and the eleven sorceresses who followed her had moved more than a mornings ride through the forests toward the nearest mountains to the ruling castle of Covenani. The Wicked Mountain rose tall and mysterious in the distance as they rode hard towards them. The information she received days before that one of the outlying farms could be part of the Secular movement, had disturbed her greatly. But when they arrived, there was no sign of movement, let alone Seculars.
Marina watched with narrowed eyes as the sorceresses she commanded moved into position around the small farm on the borders of the Wicked Mountains. So named for their sheer drops and the sensual moan of the winds through their crevices, the Wicked Mountains was long regarded as a favorite hideaway for lovers. In past years though, the occurrences of attacks on the narrow roads that led into the mountains had been rising.
The Seculars were gaining in numbers and in strength. The lands given to them by the Covenani and the Cauldaran centuries ago was some of the most peaceful, enriching lands on the planets. It was given to the non-magick sects to claim and farm and build as they desired, away from the more magickal lands they seemed to so hate.
But, the rising tide of discontent among the Seculars was reaching a fever pitch. Lawlessness governed their small towns and villages, and now it was spilling more and more often into Covenani and Cauldaran lands.
The attack on Brianna the year before had shown how pervasive the hatred had become, even among those non magick folk that still lived and worked with Covenani lands. Brianna’s own nurse had been infected by their lies and deceit, and had sought to kill the young princess before her Joining with the Verago Twins.
In the months since, attacks along the borders and into the Wicked Mountains that separated this section of Covenani from the Seculars, was growing.
Marina, the farm appears deserted, Cristalie Montair spoke along the psychic link the sorceresses had established when first banding together. He would not have just abandoned it without informing the Queen.
And Marina knew no such declaration had been made. Carhew had traded for goods at the castle not a few weeks before. He had not mentioned sighting the Seculars at that time, but days later, information had come to Marina that perhaps Carhew was in league with the Secular’s himself.
Elias Carhew was one of the few non magick land owners in the Covenani. For the most part, the land responded only to the magick of those working it, it rarely accepted one who did know its gentle heart, to shape its lands. But this portion of land had responded to the man. His bounty was often as prosperous as any Covenani Sorceress or landholder. Because of that, he was afforded much trust and respect by the ruling house. If he had betrayed it, then the consequences to both him and his family would be dire.
Perhaps they are in hiding, she relayed to the others. Let us see what happens before we go any closer. I want proof he is in league with the Secular’s, if he is. Justice is the Queens, not ours.
She sensed the agreement of the other eleven women as she made her way carefully along the border of thornebushes that grew at the edge of the forest and worked her way toward the back of the house.
It was too silent here. There were no beasts nor fowl that could be heard or seen, and Carhew, she knew, had an impressive array of animals. The barns appeared deserted, just as the house had, the fenced yards empty of any beasts.
Do not approach past the forest line, she ordered the others, seeking to understand the strange disturbance she could feel in the air.
Princess, should we call the warriors to our aid? Minera, a cousin and powerful sorceress herself seemed as unsettled as Marina was.
Not unless we know for certain they are needed, she denied the request. We are here because our warriors are stretched too thin as it is. Let us see what we can find first.
She slid her sword from its sheath, feeling the warning of danger that crept up her spine as she moved further along the sheltering line of the farm yards and finally managed to get a clear view of the barn yards to the back.
Sentinel’s preserve us! Her prayer was followed by a chill of horror as she stared, mesmerized at the scene before her.
The fenced in barn yard was awash in blood. Near two dozen cattle, several domesticated unicorns and flocks of fowl lay upon the reddened ground. Many were missing heads, some were completely mutilated, but all were dead. In the center of the grisly scene, tied upon a wooden stake was Carhew, obviously dead if the slash at his neck was any indication.
Retreat! She screamed out the mental order, staring into the scene with a wash of horrific dread, barely able to breath, unable to move herself. Get back to safety. Contact our warriors and seers. Sentinels save us, what have the Secular’s done here?
She could feel the sorceresses confusion, but they moved to obey her quickly. Combining their powers they sent out the call to the Covenani and Cauldaran warriors within the land, telegraphing their position but unable to interpret the images that even Marina could not believe she was seeing.
What had she gotten herself into?
She stared at the nightmarish picture of death and violence, shaking, shuddering, unable to move from where she hid, her muscles locked, her inability to believe what she knew she was seeing, filling her mind.
Marina. Marina Wizard Twins are moving in. Owls are in the air and your sister warns that Caise and Kai’el come with them.
She was shaking with cold, chills were racing over her body as she fought to reject the end of innocence for this beautiful land. She could feel the disturbance now, and knew it for what it was, the very land was screaming in outrage. The heart of Sentmar had sliced open with this violence, never known before, and it was vibrating with its horror.
How long she stood there, she wasn’t certain. She was unaware of the tears on her face or the whispered prayers that moved past her lips.
Matriarch save us, Sentinels preserve us.
Hold us in your arms, safe from harm.
She hadn’t known Carhew well, but she had respected him for his love of the land. A land that now lay soaked with his blood and that of all he loved.
“Woman have you lost all sense?”
She was jerked from her stooped position, straightening in reaction and staring back at Kai’el in dazed fascination. She could feel warmth suddenly surrounding her, swirls of pale blue and amber gold power shelter and enfolding her. For the first time in her life, she welcomed the thought of male power.
She watched his lips open as though to say more, before his gaze moved beyond her. He stilled, all expression wiping from his face as his eyes lightened, becoming the palest gray a second before he jerked her to his chest, his arms enfolding her.
“They killed everything,” she whispered as she stared over
his shoulder into the canopy of brilliant green to the sky beyond. “Can you hear the land screaming, Kai’el. I hear it screaming…”
“Enough.” His voice was dark, hoarse. “You will return to the castle where we will address this recklessness of yours later.”
“No…” She tried to jerk away, pushing against him. “He was a part of our land, one of us.”
“Sweet Sentinel Magick, Marina.” He gripped her shoulders, staring down at her with dark, intensity. His eyes were almost colorless now, his expression desperate. “This is not the place for you Sorceress,” he whispered. “Not in the midst of this blood and violence. Return to the castle, for I do not believe my soul can bear the guilt that I did not protect you from this.”
“Protect me?” She shook her head, her mind still filled with blood as she stared into the gaze of a man that she knew would take her soul if she allowed it. “I need no protection.”
“Then I do.” He shook her, his hands hard, his face appearing a bit pale. “You will go now woman, or Sentinel’s be my witness, I will ensure you never leave that damned castle again.”
She assured herself it was only shock that allowed him to drag her to the gathering of huge owls that carried the Wizard Twins across the lands. There, he deposited her on the leather saddle seat strapped between the wings and wrapped her fingers around the high curved front.
Marina stared down at him in shock.
“You have no right,” she whispered.
“Then I take the right,” he snarled back at her. “Count yourself lucky I force nothing else. Now return to the castle before I lose what is left of my temper and my control woman.”
He stepped back, a startling, beautiful sound coming from his lips as he gave the great owl its commands. Immediately huge wings unfurled and within seconds it was lifting from the ground, followed by several Cauldaran Sentinel Guards and winging its way to the Covenani castle. But Marina had a horrible feeling that the nightmare had only just begun.
Chapter
“I cannot believe you would dare such a dangerous task. That you, a Princess, an heir to a throne that has survived for a Mellinia, would dare to place yourself in such danger.”
Queen Amoria in a rage was not a comfortable sight. Her green eyes snapped with outrage, her slender body quivered with fury, her normally composed, serene features were anything but placid at the moment. A flush of anger mantled her cheeks as her power whipped in the air around her.
Marina stood silently, refusing to meet her mother’s gaze, staring silently past her to the windows that looked out on the palace gardens beyond.
“Marina, what were you thinking?” the Queen, not her mother, Marina reminded herself. The Queen was demanding an answer.
“I was thinking many things, Your Highness,” she answered respectfully. “Uppermost was the safety of Covenani lands. My home, Your Highness, is under attack.”
“And we have warriors just for situations such as this,” the Queen reminded her harshly. “You are not a warrior. Those sorceresses running with you are not warriors. You are no more than little girls playing an exceedingly dangerous game.”
“Only because you have refused to allow us training,” Marina pointed out coolly, forcibly tamping back her own anger. She didn’t fault the Queen for her fury, for she knew it was a mother’s fears driving it. “I have requested training for nigh unto five years now. Had you not refused us, we would have been better prepared.”
“Matriarch have mercy!” The prayer was more a curse. “Have you lost your senses, child? Have you completely slipped from reality into some realm of fantasy that even reason cannot reach you?”
Marina turned her gaze to her mother then. She saw the fear that raged in her mother’s eyes, the desolation and the memories.
“They have stolen enough from us, Mother,” she said then, acknowledging the woman rather than the ruler. “I will lose no more to those bastards!”
Queen Amoria paled. Marina watched her silently as her mother groped for the chair behind her before sitting down heavily and staring back at her in horror.
“You have no power,” she whispered then. “No sorceress has the power to combat such evil. I will not allow you to attempt what even your father could not do.”
“And I will not sit idly by while the land is awash in yet more blood,” Marina declared quietly. “We are careful, not foolhardy. We do not battle, we merely search for answers and make certain that information is given to the warriors. We can defend ourselves if we must, but we do not look for blood.”
“You will cease at once!” The declaration was given by the Queen.
“No Mother,” Marina refused softly. “I will not. You may demand acquiescence from those who have followed me, but I will not stop.”
The look Queen Amoria gave her should have had her shaking in her shoes. She should have been terrified by the cold purpose she saw in her rulers gaze.
“Then I will seek an audience with the Sashtain twins,” The Queen announced. “The Joining ceremony shall be held at once.”
Marina straightened her shoulders, knowing she would have to face this last desperate act of a mother to save her child.
“Do you attempt to force me into an alliance with the Sashtain’s Wizards, Mother, than I will renounce my title and leave this castle forever. I am not Brianna. I will not bow beneath the pressure of your demands simply out of love for you. You are reacting as a mother, not as my Queen.”
“You dare to defy me so arrogantly.” Amoria came from her chair, trembling in fury now. “You dare to stand before me, as though you were a warrior rather than a Princess with no concept of evil and tell me, your Queen, what you will or will not do?”
“I will tell you the unfairness of your demands at any time,” Marina raged then. “I will tell you that what I saw this day will haunt me until my death. And I will tell you that this is my land, my people, and I will not sit in comfort as they are killed one by one and the land I cherish screams out in horror. I tell you I will not be patted on the head, sent to my room and forced to fuck whatever you decide will occupy my bed, Your Highness. I would lie beneath a low born commoner before I would give into such demands.”
“You speak as though I would whore out my daughters,” The Queen screamed furiously then. “Do not blame me that they are sniffing at your door daughter, it is not I who decides such matters.”
“And do not blame me for telling you that I will die before I allow you to order a Joining,” Marina screamed back. Anger flowed through the room, thickening by the moment as mother and daughter faced off in a battle that both had avoided for nearly a year now. “I am not a bargaining chip mother, nor am I some Secular cow that will willingly spread her thighs for the very men who steal her power and her freedom before allowing her to follow her heart.”
“Her heart? Her madness is more the like,” Amoria fisted her hands, her eyes blazing as she began to pace the room. “Your words are those of a child, not a woman as you would pretend to be. Joining with Wizard Twins steals nothing and gains you much in return.”
“Then I have no desire for their dubious gains,” Marina snarled.
Amoria stilled, breathed in deeply, then turned to face Marina again.
“Do not do it, Mother,” she warned then. “I will not willingly abide it.”
“You will return to your rooms,” her mother snapped. “The guards will be alerted that you are not to be permitted from them until such time as I order otherwise. You will remain within this castle, Princess Marina. And you will abide by your sovereign’s commands or face the consequences. And trust me, those consequences could be much harsher than merely lying beneath a commoner,” she sneered. “Now remove yourself from my sight before I forget you are a woman grown and attempt to paddle your behind as I did as a child.”
“Pardon me, Mother, but it was my nurse who delivered the punishments. As usual, you merely decreed them,” Marina reminded her sharply. “Should you wish me to actually fear your rep
risals, perhaps you should deliver them yourself.”
“Leave.” The single word was harsh, and delivered in a voice that Marina knew to obey immediately.
She turned stiffly and stalked from her mother’s receiving room and back to her own. She wasn’t unaware of the guards following her, or the curious eyes that watched her exit as she left. She was certain their raised voices had carried much further than the closed room they had been in.
Her mother wouldn’t let this go. Marina had seen the fear in her eyes, had seen her awareness that her youngest daughter wouldn’t be controlled, wouldn’t be set up on a shelf for Queen or Consort. She had shown her mother her determination, had stood firm in the face of her rage rather than playing the subtle game she and her sisters had played for years to comfort the mother they treasured.
The time of innocence was over, both for the Queen and for their country.
“Well, at least she will never be boring.” Caise stepped from the adjoining room at the Queen’s command, followed by his brother and the quiet, reflective dragon, Garron.
Queen Amoria turned at his quietly spoken words, the long skirt of her royal blue cloud silk dress flowing around her as she faced them furiously.
“Garron, I blame you for this nonsense,” she snapped, her eyes glittering with tears as she fought to maintain control. “You assured me you could guide my daughters as needed. That you would keep them from harm if I maintained the reins of leadership. That.” She pointed imperiously at the door Marina had exited through. “Is what you have done for me.”
“She did seem rather stubborn, did she not?” Garron observed in his typically mocking way as he scratched at one scaly cheek with the point of a dragon claw. “I wonder where she gets it from?”
The look he gave the Queen was nothing less than sarcastically knowing.
“From her father!” Amoria snarled then, the rage burning inside her glittering in her eyes. “She is as foolish and as her sire and just as reckless.”