by J. C. Owens
There was a flash of blue light, intense, beyond beautiful, and Raine arched under it, a bolt of pure pleasure shooting through his body, his mouth opening in a soundless cry of ecstasy.
He fell into the beauty of the blue flame, and consciousness flowed away into darkness.
* * *
Hredeen
Hredeen sat upon the bed, shutting out the quiet, worried conversations between others in the room. Gently, reverently, he wiped away the last of the blood from Taldan’s mouth, a surge of relief almost overcoming him as he realized that the flow had finally stopped.
Taldan’s staring eyes had at last closed, and he half lay on his side, curled around Raine who was pressed up tightly to him, as deeply unconscious as the emperor. Raine had not died when the magic had flared to life around them both.
Instead, Raine had become Taldan’s Chosen and saved his life. Even though Hredeen knew the young man had been shocked and terrified, he had still rushed to help Taldan with bravery that Hredeen admired.
Hredeen felt grief almost overwhelm him, and his touch gentled still further, love in every movement as he cleansed away the visual evidence of the earlier violence.
He was covered in Valsen’s blood. He could feel it drying upon his face but made no attempt to wipe it away. He counted it an honor to bear the evidence of his kill upon his skin. He had achieved what he had been sent to do.
Again grief tugged at him, and he fought it back as he touched Taldan’s beloved form. He had always known that a place beside Taldan was not meant to be. It didn’t make it any easier to bear the pain or to wish otherwise.
He squeezed his eyes shut before finding the strength to hide all that he was feeling behind a mask. The mask he had been trained to wear that was as impenetrable as the emperor’s own.
Only Taldan had ever pierced it, seen past it.
He opened his eyes, letting his touch skirt the painful-looking edges of the burn on his beloved’s forehead. The sign of the gods.
“Are you going to tell him what you are when he wakes?” Naral’s voice was painfully neutral.
Hredeen looked up, met those dark eyes fully. He had explained enough to Naral so that now the head of security knew who he was and why he’d been armed with a blade. He could tell that Naral was torn between gratitude and outrage. Right now, only Naral knew the truth…but that would not last. “Do you feel betrayed?”
Naral considered, making the answer more believable. “No. Not truly, but then my heart is not involved. Taldan will not see it the same way as I do.”
Hredeen tugged the blanket up over Taldan’s shoulder.
“You were sent here to protect him, weren’t you?” Naral’s question was quiet so that no other in the room would hear. Hredeen was grateful for the discretion. His secret would come out now, as needs be, but he just wanted a little more time before he would disappear, leave his heart behind in this place he had come to think of as home.
Foolish to imagine such a thing.
A home was never to be his.
“I will tell him when he awakens. When he is strong enough to listen and understand.”
“He will never understand losing you, and that is what is going to happen, isn’t it?” Naral’s words had a bite to them.
“Yes. My duty is done, and they will call me back.” Hredeen fought back the frustration, the denial he wanted to voice.
It was his own foolishness that had led to this. His own training had taught him never to get emotionally involved. And what had he done? Given his heart away freely, completely.
Well, he would have many years to regret that lapse in judgment. Many, many years.
“That is unless you plan to arrest me for betrayal and murder?” His bitterness rang through.
Naral regarded him in silence for a moment, before he bowed deeply, and touched his hand to his heart. “No. I don’t. I have known you here, I have seen you love him, give him a connection to this world, to living, that I don’t believe any other could have gifted him. I saw you save his life today. At that moment, linked to Antan, pulled into his death, that bastard mage could have killed Taldan. I don’t know what his purpose was yet, but his attack would have harmed Taldan far more greatly without your actions. That I know. So no matter where you came from, no matter who sent you, I can only be thankful. I know you are a good man. That is enough for me.”
He laid a hand upon Hredeen’s shoulder, squeezed softly, before turning to join Demarin, Sarnwa, and several Shadows who were conversing quietly just outside the bedroom.
Sarnwa’s dark eyes met his, and he inclined his head, made the discreet signal of their kind.
There was infinite sympathy in that look.
Hredeen’s eyes widened. He had not realized another one was here. He nodded back before turning his attention again to Taldan. For this short while more, he had the luxury to touch freely. That would change when his beloved discovered who he was.
He had been taught never to cry.
He would never admit to the tear that slowly trickled down his cheek.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Taldan
Taldan woke slowly, aware of the pain in his head before anything else. It throbbed dully as though muted by medicines. Certainly he felt drowsy and addled enough to lend credence to that theory.
He was warm, and when he managed to crack one eye open, he realized that he was in his own bed.
Impressions and images floated around his mind, a sense that something wasn’t right bringing him closer to true consciousness.
He gradually became aware that someone was lying in his arms, and he smiled, tilting his head to lay a kiss upon Hredeen’s hair.
He froze, confused. He brought a hand up to touch, to ensure that his senses were telling him the truth.
The hair beneath his hand was exquisitely soft but not straight, not long. Certainly not familiar.
Curly.
His eyes snapped open, body tense as he slowly tilted his head to gaze down at the form beside him.
Raine Yoldis. In his bed.
Granted, it seemed they were both fully dressed, but he could find no reason for this situation. The last thing he remembered was…
Memory snapped back in a painful surge.
His ascension. Antan kneeling before him, blue flame twining about his arms. Blood. Blood from his Chosen. Movement from his right, turning his head in shocked slow motion to see Hredeen, looking like an avenging spirit, moving with the ease and grace of a predator, leaping through the air at an impossible height, blades in his hands.
Valsen Maltes falling, dying, his maddened eyes fixed upon Taldan as he went down.
Then nothing.
He pushed himself up to an elbow, shocked at his own weakness. He cast another look at Raine, then searched the room dazedly. Where was Antan? Antan should be at his side, not Raine. He searched for that newborn link that had felt so warm and welcoming, a link formed at their ceremony—only to find a pulsing pain that he drew away from reflexively.
Beside it, glowing softly, there was a sense of Raine.
He sank back to the bed, stunned, disbelieving.
Raine was now his chosen? How?
Antan must be dead.
That knowledge made him flinch. A maddened sort of grief overcame his senses so that he closed his eyes, not wanting to know, not wanting to see. For that short time, he had felt the truth of Antan, their newborn link had been strong. Now it had been torn away before it could fully bloom into potential.
It was his fault. He had chosen Antan, and it had to have been a wrong decision if the gods had taken him and replaced him with Raine.
Antan’s death was on his shoulders in this entire debacle.
Yet he could not bring himself to move away from Raine’s warmth. Now that he was aware of it, Raine’s presence was discernible, softer than Antan’s had been, perhaps without the edges of reluctance that had colored Antan’s acceptance.
Raine felt good in his arms. So very good.
He felt his eyes slowly closing, exhaustion hovering over him like a veil. He fought it. He needed to know…
* * *
Raine
Raine had never felt so safe or so warm in his life.
Sensations grew stronger, along with a sense that he was not alone. But the presence seemed part of the safety, so he let it go, reveling in the comfort.
It took time for him to rise closer to waking, to become aware that there were things he needed to remember.
That remembrance closed over him like a blow, and he shot up to a sitting position, breath heaving, eyes wild.
Swallowing hard, he chanced a glance down. Yes, he was lying beside the newly crowned emperor. He could literally feel a link, not yet fully formed, between them.
He was Emperor Taldan’s Chosen.
A dream and a nightmare intertwined.
He could not imagine what the man’s reaction would be when he woke and discovered that he was bound for life to someone he had not chosen voluntarily.
Yet… He let his eyes trace over Taldan’s features, remembering all too clearly the horror of seeing blood seeping from his lips, the staring eyes, the impression of intense pain, of loss.
Now Taldan was sleeping, looking younger than Raine had ever seen before, his expression holding none of the intensity and chill that normally characterized him.
Raine found himself reaching out to touch that noble visage before jerking back, curling his fingers into his palm.
No. He had not won the right to touch the man without his knowledge. Enough had been done without his consent. He glanced about the richly appointed room, feeling like an intruder into the new emperor’s private space.
Breath held, he slid from the bed, standing for a moment to find his balance. He felt strangely weak, his legs less than steady beneath him. Cautiously, a step at a time, he made his way across the large room, opening the door to the left and peering out.
Isnay was seated at a large table in the next room. He looked up at the sound of the door, an expression of relief overcoming him as he saw Raine.
The diplomat leaped to his feet and crossed to Raine, tugging him into his arms and holding him tightly.
Raine froze for a moment before tentatively returning the fervent embrace.
Isnay stepped back, holding his shoulders firmly and eyeing him critically.
“You look terrible.” He glanced past Raine, back into the royal bedroom, frowning.
“You shouldn’t be up, Raine. His Majesty will need you close. It will take time to strengthen the bond, seeing as it was created so abruptly and under such stressful circumstances. Until the final joining, it will be weak.”
Raine glanced around the room. Hredeen was wrapped in a blanket upon the nearest couch, only the tip of his head visible, and a short ways to the right, Naral was sprawled over a thickly padded chair, head back, a snore escaping every so often.
No one else was there, for which he was thankful. He felt dazed, out of sorts. Strangers would only have made the situation he found himself in worse.
“Come. You need to lie down again, stay close to His Majesty. I will order in some food. Everyone will be so relieved that you have woken.” Isnay guided him back to the bed. He peered at the emperor with clear worry, then seemed to relax somewhat at what he saw. “He looks so much better.” He wrapped an arm around Raine’s shoulders. “You saved him, my friend. I know it was not your choice, but your compassion and acceptance will be honored by all that hear it. You have saved the emperor, Raine.”
“Will you tell me what happened?” Raine hated how plaintive he sounded.
Isnay tutted, urging him back under the covers. “When His Majesty wakens. It will be easier to tell you both at the same time… Oh, welcome, Your Majesty. I am so pleased to see you awake.” Isnay went to his knees at the bedside.
Raine froze, then slowly looked over his shoulder, meeting ice-blue eyes that seemed remarkably sharp and clear given the circumstances.
He tried to move into a half bow, which most likely looked ridiculous given his place in the bed, but he had to…
A hand caught his arm, stopped the movement in mid-motion.
“You are my Chosen it seems.” The emperor’s voice was hoarse and broken. “I will not have your reverence in my own bed. Here at least, I am just a man.”
Raine drew a quivering breath, then nodded, fighting to keep his gaze level, his manner calm.
He could not believe that he was in this situation, so close to his hero, now bound to him in a way he had never dared dream of. “As you wish…”
“Taldan. I think you can call me by my given name, seeing the way things are.” There was a certain wryness to Taldan’s tone before his gaze swung to Isnay. “I want to know what happened.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Just let me get Naral and Hredeen. They are just outside. As well, your father told me to ensure that he is called when you awakened.”
Taldan considered things for a moment, then finally nodded with clear reluctance. “First Naral and Hredeen. I don’t want this turning into a melee. I just want to know what has happened, what went wrong. Antan…” He choked off, looked away and gathered himself.
Isnay bowed deeply and backed away toward the door, disappearing swiftly.
* * *
Taldan
Taldan listened to Naral’s report without interrupting, trying to take in the immensity of what had occurred. Had Valsen acted alone? Was this part of a far larger plot against the empire? What had the man truly been after? The power of the Illumitae? Or Taldan’s death?
He glanced to his right, meeting his father’s grim stare.
Whatever had happened in the ascension, it felt as if he and his father had a link now, a passing of information between them, a joining that he would have given anything for when he was younger.
What it would become now was anyone’s guess.
He looked away, staring into the distance, aware of the silence that had fallen in the room.
He should be focusing on that threat, yet…
His gaze fell upon Hredeen, who was sitting a small distance off in a comfortable chair, though there was no sign of his usual grace. Indeed, he was rigid, hands clenched upon the chair’s arms, his face utterly expressionless.
The concubine met Taldan’s look fully, his eyes deep and dark with secrets.
Secrets.
Taldan felt a surge of pain, of betrayal, that threatened his sanity.
“You are an assassin,” he finally said, ice in his words.
Hredeen nodded.
“Your true name?” Taldan could not prevent the rising fury from coloring his tone.
Hredeen did not flinch. His chin rose, but there was pain in his expression. Only a flash before the expressionless mien returned.
“My name is Hredeen Leesian, sixth-level assassin of the War Guild.”
There was a soft gasp from Raine, Isnay, and Naral. The War Guild was almost mythical. No one even knew where it was, beyond that it was rumored to exist within the mountain ranges of Nartisa. Taldan shot a glance at his father and Sarnwa, and the lack of surprise struck him deeply.
They had known. All these years they had known and not told him, not warned him to guard his heart, to protect against what was to come.
The betrayal, it seemed, was far more widespread than he could ever have imagined. Lies. All he had known had been lies.
He bit his lip against the snarl that wanted to take form before returning his complete attention to the one that had lied to him most all these years. Had allowed him to form an unwise attachment without ever indicating that it was not returned. But then, an assassin would have been trained in the arts of seduction, of lies, and the methods of concealment.
The almost eerie grace and otherworldly beauty now made sense.
Terrible sense.
Hredeen slid from the chair to kneel fully upon the floor, facing Taldan as the emperor he was. That gesture, full of respect for the ti
tle if not the man, made Taldan’s heart spasm. If it was an apology, it had missed the mark entirely. He clenched his jaw so tightly that he feared it might crack with the pressure.
“Your Majesty,” Hredeen said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I was sent by the guild eight years ago because our shaman had received a vision of a threat against your life. The shaman knew you would be murdered unless we intervened, but the details were vague, merely an impression of fire, shadow, and threat. For eight years I have done all I can to protect you in secret, but I was nearly too late.” He shook his head, his expression stricken. “If not for Raine… Regardless, my masters wanted you protected at all costs. They believed that your ascension would bring a time of great learning, great progress.”
Taldan’s rage rose like a tide. “Masters? You speak as a slave does.”
Hredeen inclined his head slightly. “Some would say I am, as are all who take up the life within the guild. Our lives are sworn to them unto death itself.”
Taldan burst out into a pained laugh. “I guess that the life of a concubine was not so far outside your experience then. No wonder you could play the part with such skill. How many years of study did it take to become a skilled courtesan, to come here and lie beneath me knowing…”
He cut off, flinging back the covers and sliding from the bed, having to grasp the bed post with whitened fingers to keep himself upright.
Several people made an aborted move to aid him, ceasing when he flung a curse in their direction.
His attention returned to the kneeling figure before him.
“You have lied to me for eight damned years.” He hated the emotion in his voice, wanted to remain cold and every inch an emperor.
“Only as to my purpose.” Hredeen held his gaze steadily, but his fists were clenched upon his thighs, trembling ever so faintly.
“You expect me to believe that?” he snarled. Realization flowed over him like an icy cold shower. “You’re going to leave now.” The flinch from Hredeen solidified his newfound understanding. “You’ve done your duty, now you’re going to return to your ‘masters.’”