Mina addressed Dane. “You were the one Sienna called Hugo, weren’t you?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” the hard man said with a respectful bow of the head.
Thankfully, she did not question where his younger brother was. The one who’d died in battle against an army of Queen Morgrid’s vampires. It was the deciding factor for Dane to join the Black Lily against the evil queen.
“Your Highness,” said Allora. “I would like to introduce you to our four chieftains. This is Bain of the Fingal clan, Kiel of the Lochlan, Niall of the Rodan clan, and finally, my father, Hagan of the Godric clan.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” she said, as if it were every day she met the elusive chieftains of the hart wolves.
They all bore varying shades of golden eyes, distinct to the hart wolf. While the chieftains observed Mina shrewdly, Allora’s father stepped forward and lifted his hand.
“May I, Your Highness?”
Mikhail tightened every muscle in his body. His protectiveness of her was an instinctual reaction. He tightened his fists, reigning in an emotion he shouldn’t be feeling. As her personal guard, of course he’d feel protective. But not to this degree.
“Be not afraid, Captain,” said Allora. “He means her no harm.”
Mikhail eased his stance but kept close to Mina, who lifted her hand to the chieftain.
When he took her hand in his, he closed his eyes. His hard face broke into a smile. When he opened his eyes, they burned bright gold. Mina inhaled a small gasp but didn’t pull her hand away until he released it.
He turned back to the other chieftains and simply nodded. The tension stiffening the three remaining suddenly evaporated like mist in the wind.
“You’ve tasted magic once before, Your Highness,” whispered the chieftain. “You are welcome within the safety of Silvane Forest. As long as you should need it.”
“I told you, Father,” said Allora behind him.
“Yes, you did, Daughter.” He and the other three chieftains marched off into the woods.
Mikhail noted the heavy presence of hart wolves melting away as they wandered off. He smelled their scent growing fainter. Dane and Allora remained, then they marched on together deeper into the Silvane Forest.
“You could’ve warned me.” Mina’s arm brushed against his as she whispered close.
“I was trying to.”
“Allora,” she called to the woman walking just ahead. “What did your father mean? That I’ve tasted magic before?”
“He means exactly that. You’ve been touched by magic before.”
“But how? What kind of magic?”
Allora laughed, a sort of tinkling sound that echoed up into the empty boughs. She glanced over her shoulder. “The magic of the hartstone.”
“But I’d never been to the Silvane Forest before Arabelle brought me here. I’ve never even seen the hartstone.”
“Few people ever have,” she said with another enigmatic smile. “Nevertheless. It has seen you. Somewhere.” She leaped toward the path when a flash of black wolf slipped between the trees. “Dane, you’ll watch them to the encampment, I need to—” She nodded toward her mate.
“Go, Allora. I’ll watch them.”
Allora ran, pulling her tunic over her head, laughing when Bron caught up to her. Mikhail watched Mina, who had stopped, unable to keep her eyes from the scene, her pretty mouth ajar. Mikhail glanced back just in time to see a naked Allora blur in place, much like when a vampire speeds, then a cracking sound and flare of light. A white hart wolf sprang up, bounding after the black one.
“Come on, Mina,” he pressed a light hand to her back to keep her moving.
“Did you just see that?”
“Yes.” He chuckled.
“Oh, don’t let him fool you,” said Dmitri. “He was just as enthralled the first time he saw them do it.”
Dane had said nothing, a stalwart tower beside them.
“Dane, why must you watch us?” Mikhail asked.
He exhaled a sigh, glancing to the left and right of the wooded path. “There’s a faction of the hart wolves who are angry that vampires are here in the sacred forest. The natural enemy of the hart wolves. We naturally sense when vampires cross into the shades of Silvane. But now that the chieftains have offered sanctuary to the Bloodguard, it chafes those who would rather not have you here. And there are some who definitely don’t approve of the princess being here.”
The princess was a powerful figure in the vampire world. And would be more powerful if Mikhail had anything to do with it. He drew closer to her, keeping a hand at the small of her back, as if contact would keep her safer. In reality, it simply calmed his nerves.
“There’s nothing to fear,” assured Dane.
“Then why did your sister seem to think so?”
“The rebellious ones won’t go against the chieftains. But there are one or two who might be stupid enough to try something on their own, in an effort to show their worth. If I’m here, they’ll cower away.” He grinned, making him look more feral than civilized. “Do not worry.”
Mikhail had never worried. He had complete confidence in his men, and he never entered a fight he knew he couldn’t win. And yet, tendrils of fear had been creeping into his gut ever since he’d pressed his bloody lips to Mina’s. A restlessness he couldn’t seem to tamp down kept growing. Part of it dealt with the woman walking at his side, but there was more he couldn’t quite put his finger on. An ominous tendril circled and hovered. Like a storm rumbling in the distance, he knew danger was coming. He just didn’t know when. But he’d be ready.
Chapter Nine
The familiar whisper of magic wrapped around her, growing stronger the deeper they marched into the forest. Like an old friend. She couldn’t help but look around and smile. The chieftain’s cryptic words swirled in her head. As a vampire, of course, she was touched by magic. All vampires were. But he didn’t seem to be referring to her royal lineage. This wasn’t the first time she’d been told she was touched by magic.
A conversation she once had with her nurse as a young girl sprang to mind.
“Sweet Mina, your hair and eyes shine so bright. Must’ve been that fairy dust the good witch gave you.”
“What good witch, Nurse?”
“The one who blessed you as a babe, dear girl. That’s why you look like the queen of fairies.”
Mina remembered how she’d laughed at being called the queen of fairies. Her nurse was taken away not long after that, replaced by strict tutors to prepare her for her role as a proper queen when she was married off to Prince Marius. Steward Thorwald had told her from a young age that she was promised to the youngest Varis prince. Only then would she become queen.
Glancing at Mikhail at her side, who’d remained aloof since their encounter at the stream, she thought of what he’d told her at Wentworth Hall. He’d declared she was heir to the throne of Arkadia. Why had she never thought to claim the throne for her own? She knew why. She’d been the meek, dutiful princess, awaiting the day she’d be passed from one man’s care to another. Never had she even once considered the fact that it was her right to demand her claim.
“Are you all right?” Mikhail asked, those all-seeing eyes catching her change in mood.
“No. I’m not, actually.” Her blood pumped hard and hot in her veins. The wind gusted through the naked branches above them, knocking limbs together fiercely, as if the forest sensed her ire.
“What is it?” She felt his intense scrutiny, heightened by the deep timbre of his voice. “Tell me.”
Tears stung her eyes. It was so sudden and overwhelming that it caught her unaware. She sucked in a deep breath to keep from sobbing, then stopped beneath one of the towering black oak trees. She knelt and fumbled with her laces.
“My boot laces are loose,” she murmured, needing an excuse to pull her emotions in check. They never whirled out of control this way. She pulled on her laces forcefully, anger making her actions jerky and fumbling.
/> “Go on,” she heard Mikhail tell the others, sensing they’d all stopped when she did. “We’ll be along soon.”
He knelt before her and placed his hands atop hers, where she was yanking so hard she nearly broke the laces.
“Let me,” he coaxed gently.
She settled back onto her other foot curled beneath her. She swiped the back of her hand across one cheek, then the other, hiccoughing on a shaky sigh. Mikhail didn’t say a word. Slowly, he unwound the now-knotted laces with long, agile fingers. He tightened, then looped, then double-knotted with slow precision, focusing his attention on her foot. Not on her.
She realized he was giving her a moment to gather herself together. This rough and broody and lethal captain was being as gentle with her as with a kitten. When finished, he placed both hands around her ankle, cradling her foot with firm hands, the heat of him seeping through the leather boot.
“There, now.” Finally, he met her gaze, his expression serene. “Tell me what has caused you pain.”
He was pleading with her, not asking. His brows lifted in quiet patience.
“I am such a fool,” she admitted, the shame of it making her squeeze her eyes shut a moment, trying to stop a fresh well of tears. No good.
He lifted one of those perfect hands and brushed the roughened pad of his thumb across her cheek.
“You are no such thing.” His usually commanding, even domineering, timbre rumbled soft, as if coaxing a timid mare to his hand.
“I am. You mentioned last night that I would one day be queen. The truth is, I should have been a true leader to my people long ago. Why have I never demanded that position? The steward was to safeguard the throne till I was of age. I’ve been of age for quite some time. Yet, I never even thought of stepping up and leading my people.” She gritted her teeth for a moment, then let out a disgusted exhale. “Actually, that’s not true. I had thought of it once. About a year ago, I mentioned it to Steward Thorwald, but he told me it was best to wait till I was married to Prince Marius, then we would ascend together. And I just accepted it. As if I wasn’t good enough, strong enough to lead on my own.” She let her chin drop, staring at her fingers in her lap, twisting the fabric of her skirt. “I suppose I’m not.”
He trailed those long fingers around her neck and lifted her chin with his thumb.
“Listen to me, Mina.” The dominance was back in his velvet-dark voice. “You are far stronger than you know. Did you realize that less than half the vampires put into a bloodless sleep actually survive imprisonment for even a week? It’s not the starvation that kills them. It’s the dark isolation. Those who do survive awaken unhinged, their minds broken.”
He squeezed his fingers at her nape, brushing his thumb over her cheek once more. A fervent look hardened his features as he swept his gaze over her face.
“You not only survived for months, you came out whole.” He shook his head, a sharp sound of disbelief escaped him. “Not just whole.” He cupped the other side of her face, keeping her gaze locked on him as if what he said now was of the utmost importance. “You came out stronger, fiercer, more alive and more brilliant than the Northern Star.”
A wave of adoration enveloped her entire body, humming with heat directly from Mikhail. She’d not felt this emotion directed at her in all her life. Not with such intensity and certainty. Her chin quivered, but she bit her lip to keep from making a sound.
“Lesser men have died having endured what you did. But not you. No, not you.” His voice dropped to a rough whisper, as if he were almost speaking to himself, not to her. “You bring me to my knees with the strength that is inside you. A woman whose external beauty is nothing compared to the powerful goddess who resides within. Ascend your throne?” He brushed the pad of his thumb across her quivering lip. “Oh, Mina.” He shook his head, like a man lost. “You already are a queen.”
She wanted to weep again for such lovely words that no one, not a single soul, had ever spoken to her. It was a gift. A greater gift than luxurious silk or jewels or lands or castles. One that couldn’t be bought with gold. It was acknowledgment that she was worth more than what others had seen in her. The steward, the lords, the Legionnaires who’d orbited around her for her entire life, keeping her sheltered, keeping her helpless. They’d seen the little princess whose only worth was tied to the husband she could buy for the kingdom. Mikhail cut them all down in a single conversation, wiping them away with one stroke.
This man. This beautiful, fierce warrior wasn’t simply tugging on her primal impulses anymore. He was tugging on her heart. As if he heard her thoughts, those otherworldly eyes widened a fraction before he let her go quickly and stood. He held out a hand to help her up while glancing up the trail.
“We’d better go.”
“Of course.” She swallowed the lump of emotion still weighing her down.
As she stood, she braced one hand on the trunk of the black oak. The second she placed her palm on the rough bark, a pulse of magic from wherever the hartstone resided in these woods pumped a beat through her palm into her body. She sucked in a sudden breath, relishing the tingle of enchantment coursing through her veins, washing her anew with an electric serenity. A message that all would be well. The forest, the hartstone, was speaking to her.
“What is it?” he asked, having let her go, but still standing close, his features schooled into his grave expression. “Did you hurt your ankle?”
She couldn’t explain this sensation to him. It was a knowing she couldn’t put into words. She dropped her hand from the tree and smiled. “No. I’m fine now.”
With a nod, he gestured up the path. “We’re almost to Sienna’s cottage.”
A cacophony of voices overlapped in the near distance. Then high-pitched laughter.
Mina touched Mikhail’s arm, puzzled. “Children?”
He smiled. “Yes. Remember I spoke to you of Friedrich Volya, the Duke of Winter Hill, and his new wife, Brennalyn?”
“Yes.”
“They have a cottage not far from Sienna’s.”
“A duke in a woodland cottage?”
“Aye,” added Aleksei, on her right as they rounded the bend where Dmitri waited for them. “And wait till you see how full with children their home is. I daresay the duke has never had to live in such a tight space with so many bustling bodies before.”
“Nor has he been happier,” added Dmitri, walking on just ahead of them.
Mikhail nodded with a wider smile but said nothing.
“You are close to this duke?” asked Mina.
“Yes. I served him at Winter Hill, knowing he wasn’t in league with his grandmother the queen or with his uncle, King Dominik. I’d hoped to discover he might be willing to fight against them. What I didn’t know then was that he was already allied with the Black Lily.”
The energy of vampires grew, sparking the air with a familiar aura. The stone cottage came into view, its yard full of soldiers—vampire and human. Not quite the same scene she met last time she was here, when the Black Lily had held her captive in hopes of bargaining with the queen. Instinctively, she drew closer to Mikhail as the entire company stopped and turned. Two men who were sparring with short swords paused and looked their way.
“It’s all right,” he murmured with a comforting hand at her back.
Mina didn’t recognize anyone. The cottage door flew open and out hurried Sienna, her beautiful smile bright as she opened her arms.
“Oh, Mina!” she cried as she swept Mina into her arms and embraced her close.
When Arabelle had kidnapped Mina as a means to negotiate with King Grindal and Queen Morgrid for the Black Lily, Sienna had kept her here at her cottage. Sienna had treated Mina like a dear friend, rather than a captive. She still felt that kinship they’d formed those months ago.
“We were so worried about you.” Sienna pulled her at arm’s length, gripping her by the shoulders. “You look lovely as ever.”
“Thank you, Sienna. It’s so good to see you.” Her heart me
lted at such a welcome into the arms of a true friend.
“You look a little tired as well.”
“I am.” Mina glanced nervously at the entourage of fierce-looking men still staring. “Where is Arabelle?”
Sienna wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her toward the cottage, where she saw the former lieutenant Nikolai leaning in the open door. “Let’s get you inside and away from prying eyes so we can talk.” She flashed a chastising look over her shoulder. “And prying ears. I know they look rough, but they’re harmless. Well, to us anyway.”
Dmitri, Gavril, Aleksei, and Gregoravich joined the black-clad vampires with brotherly handshakes and pats on the backs, muttering greetings as to old friends. So, these men were other members of the Bloodguard.
Mikhail stood and watched her go, an unreadable expression fixed in place. Part of her wanted to beckon him to follow, to insist upon it, but many eyes watched them. And one thing she was certain of: Mikhail was uncertain of their relationship, if they even had one.
“We expect another snow tonight,” said Sienna sweeping her into her pretty little home. “We’ve had none for over a week, but Nikolai tells me it will certainly snow tonight. We’ve got a small cottage set up near Brennalyn’s home. Actually, it’s one of the children’s art studios that Friedrich built. The poor duke dotes on those children.”
“Or he wants his youngest, Izzy, more occupied,” added Nikolai, closing the door behind them and strolling to a cupboard.
“Oh, Nikolai. As if. Izzy has that man wrapped around her little finger. You’ll adore Brennalyn’s children. They are all so lovely. Seven orphans she took in on her own. Can you imagine?” Sienna urged her to sit on her sofa next to the crackling fire.
“Seven?” Mina was genuinely shocked. “No. I cannot imagine. Brennalyn must be a very energetic woman.”
The Emerald Lily Page 8