Rubbing my neck, I scanned the high branches around me. All of them dripped with vines. There were about a million places a young boy could hide. I tapped my foot, anxious for Jicho to appear. The Casters knew that I’d escaped the cave. It wouldn’t take them long to find where I’d gone.
“We’re almost there.” This time, it wasn’t Jicho who was speaking. It was Nan. A weight of worry lifted from my bones. If Nan was with Jicho, then the boy couldn’t be in too much trouble.
“I’m ready when you are,” I called.
The crackle of magick filled the air. Red mist curled around my feet. My stomach sank. Someone was casting a spell with Caster magick. There was no question who was following me. Rowan. He always was quick with transport spells. And thanks to our mate bond, he could probably cast a tracker spell quickly, too.
A moment later, Rowan materialized before me. “Don’t bother trying to run again. You have the Sword hilt, so I’m not letting you out of my sight until I get it.” He loomed above me, every muscle in his body coiled with barely held-in fury. “Now, where is my brother?”
My mouth answered before I could stop it. “He’s on his way.”
“Have you hurt him?”
“Never.” I hated how my voice warbled with grief.
Rowan stepped closer. If I leaned forward, I could rest my cheek against his chest. “It’s bad enough that you’re going after the Sword of Theodora. Who knows what evil you’re really up to? But kidnapping my brother? That was a mistake you’ll regret.”
“I didn’t take Jicho. He insisted on helping me find the Sword. He said he had visions—”
“No, you’re lying. You must have cast a spell on him to make him follow you.”
“Me, a liar? What about you?”
Some of the tension left Rowan’s face. “I’m a king. Lies go with the territory.”
“So you can lie but not me? And not just any untruth, mind you. You gave me your word that I’d be safe. And yet, you sent your palace mages after me without at least giving me a chance to prove myself.” I raised my hand, palm forward. “Just try to share power with me.”
Rowan shook his head. “You’ve cast enough spells on me to last a lifetime. But they’ve all been played against you, witch. Thanks to your enchantment, I can find you anywhere. Your soul calls to mine.”
“That’s our mate bond. It’s why you can cast tracker spells so quickly.” I raised my hand higher. My throat tightened with desire and grief. “Please. Touch me skin to skin with the intent to share power. You’ll see.”
“I don’t know what to make of you sometimes.” Little by little, Rowan set his hand on my hip. It wasn’t enough to share power—there was still the fabric of my robes between us. Plus there was the intent needed as well. Still the touch was there. It was a start.
My hand trembled as I reached toward my mate, resting my palm against his cheek. Some deep part of my soul instantly felt at rest at the skin-to-skin contact. We still weren’t sharing power, but it felt wonderful to be this close again.
“You can’t imagine how much I’ve missed you,” I said.
Rowan leaned into my touch. “This defies all logic.”
“Now you sound like a Necromancer. A wise man once told me that mate bonds aren’t something you can think through. You simply feel them and follow where they go.” I would never forget the moment Rowan gave me that advice: it was the night of our bonding ceremony, and I’d been so worried about what it meant that we were connecting and joining power. Rowan had been all things calm and confident.
Feel the mate bond and follow where it goes.
“Some wise man gave you that advice?” The barest gleam shone in Rowan’s green eyes. “And who was this brilliant philosopher?”
If I wanted to dance before, I could have jumped with joy now. Rowan was flirting with me. This was beyond wonderful. “It’s hard to remember,” I said as I wound my fingers behind his neck. “He may have been a king.”
Rowan leaned forward until our foreheads touched. “Maybe he still is.”
Wings of hope unfurled inside my chest. Rowan was starting to trust in our mate bond, even if he couldn’t remember who I was. I wanted to bottle up this moment and savor it forever. Nothing could break the ties between us.
After that, I saw it.
From the corner of my vision, I could just make out a rope ladder dangling through the layers of ferns and wide palm leaves. Nan stood at the bottom rung. Her left arm was looped around the rope while her right beckoned me closer.
She was giving me a way to escape. My breath caught. I couldn’t go without Rowan.
“Come with me,” I said. “Help me find the rest of the Sword.”
Rowan stood up straight again. My hand fell from his neck as he placed more space between us. “That’s impossible. Tell me where Jicho is, and I promise, I’ll simply let you go. No palace mages or memory spells.”
“That’s not enough and you know it.” I raised my palm again. “Just once. Try.”
The happy light drained from Rowan’s eyes. “You said it yourself before. I am a king. There are certain risks I simply can’t take, and you’re one of them.”
“What about the Sword?”
“There are other ways to fight Viktor.”
“You may be battling far more than Viktor. The Sire and Lady—”
“Please. I’m not foolish enough to think the gods care about the likes of you and me. And I’ll never go after some mythical Sword with an enchantress at my side. This isn’t a fairy tale.”
“We need that Sword.”
“No, we don’t. What I need is for you to drop this entire farce. This isn’t about a Sword or a quest. It’s about a false connection. What I told you before? It must be true. You’ve cast a spell on me.”
“I have not. Part of you knows this is the truth..”
“Drop these silly plans for the Sword and disappear back to your own lands. As long as you stay here, I can’t guarantee your safety.”
“Meaning you’ll send your mages after me.”
Rowan’s voice lowered. “You’re going after the Sword of Theodora. That weapon can kill our gods. Our gods, Elea.”
After what I’d seen with Kila Kitu, Rowan’s words heated my blood with rage. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Maybe those gods aren’t the paragons of virtue you suspect them to be.”
“So you admit it. You wish to kill them?” Rowan stepped away from me. “That Necromancer Petra told me that you planned to murder the Sire and Lady, but I thought she was an elderly Mother Superior who was losing her mind.”
The moment I heard Rowan’s speech, I could have kicked myself. How could I have been so foolhardy? Necromancers don’t speak without considering the implications. As a result, Rowan thinks I want to kill the Sire and Lady. “I don’t want kill any gods. Only Viktor when he attacks again.” Which he will.
“Petra doesn’t believe you. She says that the gods will take care of Viktor, too.”
“And you believe her?”
“I believe that once you have that Sword, there will be a long line of powerful mages trying to take it from you. And yes, with that much magick ready for the taking, I would be one of those mages in line.”
I searched Rowan’s eyes, trying to see the lie there. Surely, Rowan was merely trying to frighten me. But my mate was telling the truth. If I found the Sword of Theodora, it would have to be without him. And if I succeeded in getting that weapon, he’d become my enemy to boot.
From across the jungle floor, Nan waved at me more fiercely. The motion set the dangling ladder rustling through the leaves.
Rowan stiffened. “What was that?”
There was a moment locked in infinity where I debated what to do next. I could tell Rowan the truth and point out Nan. Rowan respected honestly, but it wouldn’t change his decision. On the other hand, I could somehow escape with Nan, but that would only confirm Rowan’s suspicions that I was an enchantress out to ruin him and his peopl
e.
In the end, there was no choice really. This mission was greater than me and Rowan. I simply had to betray my mate. As fate would have it, Rowan’s own brother Kade had taught me what I needed in order to escape.
First, I simply had to have one last kiss.
Going up on tiptoe, I wound my hand behind Rowan’s head, feeling the silky scruff of his short-shorn hair under my palm. After that, I kissed him, hard and fast. My soul soared inside me. Down to the very core of my being, I felt a sense of peace at being connected again to my mate.
Yes.
We weren’t sharing magick, but the kiss was close enough. I tried to hold onto the feeling before I destroyed it forever.
As our kiss deepened, I moved my hand to Rowan’s shoulder. Soon, I hit the very spot Kade had once shown me. It was where, if you applied the right amount of pressure, you could make any mortal collapse. I clamped my fingers onto the right point. Rowan tumbled to the ground, unconscious. Some small part of my being died at the sight.
“Hurry, Elea!” Nan kept up her frantic waving from across the jungle. Rustling sounded in the trees. Someone was heading toward us.
Leaving Rowan behind, I raced toward Nan and her ladder. There was nothing left for it now. I had the hilt and would hopefully find the rest of the Sword soon. In the process, I might lose my heart, but too many people were relying on me across numerous worlds. I couldn’t fail them now.
Chapter Twenty
Racing away from Rowan, I quickly reached Nan and her rope ladder. Wrapping my hands around the rough cords, I held the ladder steady as Nan climbed upward.
I shivered, thinking of Rowan’s prone body lying on the jungle floor. How did it come to pass that I would hurt my own mate? Shaking my head, I decided not to think about Rowan any more. There was a ladder to climb and—with any luck—once I reached the treetop, Nan had planned some way for us to hide or escape.
Once Nan had scaled high enough to give me room, I began to climb up behind her. I was only a few yards from the jungle floor when it happened.
The ladder began to rise.
And when I say rise, I don’t mean that it happened because I was climbing. The entire rope structure lifted up into the trees. Panic tightened every muscle in my body. I clung hard to the rough cords.
“Nan!” I called. “What’s going on?”
There was no sense of magick in the air, so whatever this was, it couldn’t be a spell. Were there people in the trees hauling us up higher? That didn’t seem likely, either. The motion was too smooth for the heave-ho of physical pulling.
“Wait for it,” cried Nan. “It’ll be glorious.”
I didn’t have much of a choice, considering. The thought flitted through my mind that this was all some kind of trap from my one-time friend. After all, Nan seemed to change her opinion of me rather rapidly. Back then, I thought it was because I’d faced Kila Kitu, but who knows? Maybe I’d lived through what that mage showed me only to be killed now.
Tree branches and wet leaves smacked against my body as the ladder rose higher and higher. It was an effort to keep my breathing even. I recited every Necromancer meditation I could think of.
“One more moment!” yelled Nan.
I’d have replied, but I was halfway through my mantra of calm. I really didn’t need to lose any further focus—the leaves and branches in my face were distraction enough.
After that, we broke through the treetops. What I saw was so shocking I almost lost my grip on the rope ladder.
The MAJE had transformed. All those yards of silk in the hull had been blown up into a great balloon that was somehow holding the entire ship aloft. I blinked hard, wondering if the vision before my eyes would change. It didn’t.
Jicho leaned over the side of the vessel and beamed a gap-toothed grin. “Wonderful, isn’t it?”
I gripped the rope ladder so tightly my knuckles whitened. “It’s a bit of a surprise.”
“If you’d let me tell you about the MAJE, I would have explained. After I finished my story about the bolts. And the metal.”
At that moment, an arrow sped by me. Glancing down, I could see the heads and torsos of Caster warriors peeping out from the treetops.
“Better get moving,” said Jicho. “Your friends are already on board.” He lowered his voice. “They’re really nice.”
My mind blanked. “My friends?”
Nan then looked out over the edge. “It’s me and Mrefu, silly.” She rolled her eyes. “I thought you said you were come kind of climbing prodigy.”
This entire situation still had me flummoxed. “I was. I am.” I’d spent five years learning Necromancy at a mountain cloister. For exercise, I used to climb the rock walls.
Nan rolled her eyes. “Then get your bony arse up here.” Another arrow sped by. This one came fairly close to Nan’s head. She ducked out of view.
The bony arse part jogged my head back into working condition. I scaled up the ladder at top speed. More arrows flew by as I continued my ascent. Within seconds, I reached the MAJE and slipped on deck, landing on my back. Nan, Mrefu, and Jicho all knelt around me.
“Took you long enough,” said Nan.
Mrefu let out a grumble. Nan translated.
“And Mrefu says you need to regain your magick soon, since your skills as an athlete are rather poor.”
“Mrefu said something? I only heard a grumbling noise.” I tilted my head. “I can understand what he says, you know.”
Nan winked. “I enhanced things a little.”
“Can I tell you about the MAJE now?” asked Jicho.
“Not yet.” I couldn’t say that without chuckling, however. The boy looked simply too pleased with himself. “We have to get out of here first.” In truth, there were a ton of things I wanted to know. What else could this mechanical ship do? Why were Nan and Mrefu along with us? But there wasn’t any time, especially because the archers had changed their target away from me.
Rowan’s warriors were shooting at the balloon itself.
Great rips sounded as the arrows found their target. Our flying ship lurched, sending me rolling onto a pile of metal tools. I get a few scratches, and that was certainly fortunate. Some of Jicho’s tools looked more deadly than knives.
“Right,” said Jicho. He turned to one of the panels of gauges and levers that lined the interior of the ship. “We need to get back to the water.”
I scanned the distance to the shoreline. “It’s close, but we’ll make it.”
Possibly.
Mrefu, Jicho, Nan and I all crouched on the deck as the MAJE lurched closer to the water.
Thirty yards.
Twenty yards.
Ten.
With a great splash, we landed in the river. Jicho cheered. “We did it!”
I peeked over the stern of the ship. Sure enough, Caster warriors were taking to the water as well. Flashes of crimson light appeared as the mages among them brought sea monsters and flying beasts to life. The warriors took to their mounts. After that, they all took off after me.
The Caster fighters weren’t the ones I feared, though. Rowan stood at the edge of the water, staring right at me as red smoke curled around his feet. With our mate bond, he could always find me. And Rowan was nothing if not a master at the transport spell.
If I didn’t do something, Rowan would be at my side in a matter of seconds.
I turned to Jicho. “I need to go where Rowan can’t transport beside me.” A mage would know if a spot was too tight, and they would never transport themselves into a wall. Or in this case, a ship. I gestured along the ship’s deck. “Are any of those compartments big enough of for me?”
Jicho pulled open a latch. “Sure, try this one.”
“Good. Once I’m hidden, we need to get out of here quickly.”
Nan grinned. “You just get below deck and let Nan, Jicho, and Mrefu take care of the rest.”
Moving swiftly, I slid into the tiny compartment and snapped the door shut above me head. Nan paced the deck
. Although her voice was distant, I could still make out her words as they echoed into my metal chamber. “Crank up that engine. And take the fork to the right.”
“Oh, I can see that in my visions,” said Jicho. “That’s a major waterfall. Perfect.”
I rapped on the metal door above me. “Hey, I heard that. How is a waterfall perfect? Don’t boats usually avoid those things?”
If anyone heard me, they didn’t reply. Instead, I only heard Jicho speaking to Nan and Mrefu. “Over there are some storage compartments big enough for you two. I’ll take this one here.” The boy’s voice sounded far too excited about this for my taste. “No one will follow us past the waterfall. They’ll assume we’re dead.”
“What about Rowan’s magick?” asked Mrefu.
“I can see my brother. The transport isn’t working. He’s casting a Solar Burst now.”
“Can you say that in non-mage talk?” asked Nan.
“It’s an advanced fireball spell,” said Jicho. “He’s trying to melt the metal boat, but he doesn’t know we’re going under water. That fireball will fizzle out the second it touches liquid. Plus, the MAJE can keep us below the river for a short time. Rowan will really think we’re dead then.”
I pounded on the door again. “Jicho, that sounds impossible.” I couldn’t help but notice how the water was getting choppier. My shoulders were slamming against either wall of the hiding space.
We were definitely heading toward a waterfall.
This time, Jicho answered me. “No, it will be fine. I’ve had a vision.” His voice quivered as he said this, though. In the distance, I could hear the roar of sea monsters and the caw of giant birds. The Caster warriors were closing in. A low voice echoed over the river.
It was Rowan.
He was speaking an incantation. I recognized the words—Jicho was right that it was a Solar Burst. What I didn’t have the heart to tell Jicho was that, thanks to our mate bond, Rowan could sense me wherever I went. Sooner or later, he’d figure out that I was alive and know where to find me.
Crowned Page 13