Stone Heir (The Kahlian Series Book 1)

by Aimee Hunter

  "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Regardless of whether or not I marry your son, I will recommend the alliance to my father." She reassured him, a kind smile crossing her face. Alexander returned the smile and nodded reaching over to place his hand over hers.

  "Thank you, Rena. But please, give my son a chance?" he asked hopefully. Her smile became slightly strained.

  "We'll see, Majesty." she conceded, glancing over at Mason out of the corner of her eye. Mason saw the look and met it with a puzzled one of her own. Alexander turned to Captain Dumas.

  "What are we going to do with that boy, Xavier?" Dumas shook his head.

  "I don't know, Alex." he replied. No one noticed Damian standing in the shadows eavesdropping. A malicious grin split his face, they'd just given him all he needed to implement his plan. Sorry old friend, he apologized silently. As much as he liked King Alexander Corlando, he was only a means to an end now.

  Chapter Six

  Two days later, Mason and her sisters were in the training area in front of the soldier’s barracks, behind the Palace. At the moment, Mason was facing off against Captain Dumas. They were both using practice swords, as it was a friendly sparring match.

  "Come on, Captain. Don't be scared." She teased, earning a good natured laugh.

  "We shall see who is scared, my Lady." Dumas countered. She laughed and they crossed swords. They stayed like that for a moment, grinning at each other, testing each other’s strength. With a heave, Mason shoved him back, laughing at the shock on his face. Swishing her blunted sword back and forth before her, motioning him forward. Dumas approached more cautiously this time, their swords clashing and separating, only to clash again. As they traded blows, Diana and Lana watched on.

  "What do you think, Lana?" Diana asked. Lana looked at her eldest sister quizzically before answering.

  "I think trouble lies ahead, Sister." She said simply, Diana nodded in agreement still gazing at the duo in the ring and smiled.

  "I think so too, but I think Mason is blind to it." She added, sharing a look with Lana.

  "Blind to what?" asked a voice just behind them, causing both women to spin, startled. Their shock only growing when they saw the owner of the voice.

  "Rena!" they said simultaneously, surprised that she had managed to sneak up on them.

  She laughed.

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." She apologized, they smiled and waved her apology off as she joined them. "So, what is Mason blind too?" she persisted.

  "Huh?" Lana grunted, having turned back to watch Mason. Rena started to repeat herself, only to choke on the words as Mason was thrown to the ground and didn't move. The three women moved to the prone woman's side as Xavier stood making room for them.

  "I don't know what happened!" he exclaimed, "One minute, she was kicking my ass and the next, she's on the ground." Diana knelt beside her and felt her pulse.

  "It's slow, but strong." She told them. Quickly, she leaned down and sniffed around Mason's face. She whipped around and pinned Xavier with a fierce glare. "Poison." She ground out through clenched teeth. Rena and Lana gasped and crouched next to her.

  "But, how?" Lana asked. She never got an answer as hard convulsions ripped through Mason's body.

  "Hold her still!" Diana ordered, leaning her weight on Mason's shoulders while Rena and Lana each grabbed a leg. After the convulsions ceased, Diana surged to her feet grabbing Xavier by his shirt and yanking him close, eyes fierce as her nostrils flared and she drew in his scent. Xavier found himself unable to break the woman’s hold on him. As suddenly as she had seized him, she released him. Xavier stumbled back from the force of her shove.

  "I apologize, Captain. I had to be sure you weren't carrying the poison on you." She told him. He looked at the other two women and saw Rena looking at Diana with something resembling suspicion. He was starting to get a headache.

  "We need to make her vomit. It was most likely in something she ate." She explained turning Mason on her side and sticking her fingers down the sick woman's throat, withdrawing when she felt the bile rise and spew forth.

  "Oh, that's gross." Lana grimaced. Rena patted Mason's back as she started to cough after she was done vomiting, groaning as she regained consciousness. Rena sat back and tried to get her quacking insides under control, she looked at the vomit on the ground and tensed.

  "Wolfsbane." Mason's head whipped around at that, she closed her eyes against the wave of dizziness that washed over her.

  "What?" Lana gasped. Mason opened her eyes to see Rena's pale face as she repeated herself.

  "Wolfsbane. Though only a very small amount was used, otherwise she would be dead by now." Mason struggled to sit up as Diana addressed Lana.

  "Inform the others. Tell them to only eat what they prepare themselves." Lana grasped Mason's shoulder then left to tell the rest of the clan what had happened. Diana continued to watch Mason closely, remaining vigilant for any other signs of the poisons devastating effects.

  "Why would someone use Wolfsbane to poison you, Mason? Better yet, why aren't you still unconscious and a lot more ill or even dead?" Rena questioned suspiciously. Mason and Diana exchanged glances with each other, then Mason shrugged.

  "I guess I'm just lucky," she lied. Rena gave her a long look, then finally stood and walked a few steps further into the practice circle. Mason frowned, remaining where she was.

  "What is she doing?" Mason murmured to her sister, who shrugged.

  The practice arena faced the setting sun so that soldiers who were training could train until nightfall. Rena stood in the middle of the circle gazing at the beautiful evening sun. She sighed and slowly turned to face the two sisters. She gazed at them for a long moment, collecting her thoughts.

  "Someone tried to kill you, Mason." She said quietly, Mason's brow drew together in concern.

  "I know," she replied. Rena stared at her incredulously.

  "How can you be so nonchalant about it!? Mason. You nearly died!" she exclaimed.

  "I'm not. I take what happened very seriously, and I will find the person responsible." She reassured her. Rena looked into her eyes, searching for answers but finding only very high walls.

  "I want to help." She announced. Mason's head was shaking before she even finished speaking.

  "No. It's too dangerous." She stated firmly, her tone broking no argument. Rena lifted her chin defiantly, refusing to back down.

  Diana sensed an argument brewing and stepped in; she had an idea.

  "Actually," she intervened, earning a puzzled look from Mason while smiling at Rena. "She might prove useful." Diana continued, "Think about it, she can go places we can't go. She can ask questions that would raise suspicions if we asked them." She explained as a brilliant grin lightened Rena's face.

  "That is true. As the representative of a visiting kingdom seeking an alliance with Culville, not to mention the fact that the Prince still thinks I'm his bride to be, there are very few if any, places I can't go. As for asking question, it's well known that I'm just naturally inquisitive." Diana snickered as Mason squeezed the bridge of her nose.

  Suddenly, Mason gripped Diana's shoulder as she fought off another wave of dizziness. "Maybe you should lay back, Mason." Rena suggested, concern flashing in her eyes. Mason shook her head, straightening,

  "No, I'm fine. Diana. You know what that would mean." She said cryptically. Diana nodded and gave Rena a long assessing look.

  "I think she might surprise you, little sister." Rena looked between the sisters, getting an uneasy feeling that she was missing something. Important, judging by the way Mason was staring at her.

  "Um, what would it mean?" She asked, not really sure she wanted to know. There was a tense moment before she was answered.

  "We would have to share certain secrets with you that very few people in this world know. We would also have to tell you our true reason for being here." Mason explained quietly, giving Rena a measuring look, who frowned at her words,

  "What secrets?" she persis
ted, wondering at her sudden stubborn curiosity.

  "In time, Princess. Everything will be revealed in time." Mason told her. Rena gave her an arch look.

  "I hate it when people get all cryptic." The sisters laughed,

  "I know how you feel. My father used to do the same thing to me. Do you think you can arrange for me to be taken to my room?" Mason asked touching Rena's arm to get her attention.

  After watching Rena fawn over Mason with concern, the familiar touch from Mason was the last straw that sent Devon stalking closer to the grinning women.

  "Get your hands off my fiancé!" Rena's eyebrows climbed into her hairline.

  "Excuse me?" she spat at him. Devon frowned at her before turning his attention back to Mason.

  "You heard me Lady Mason." he warned. Mason tensed, turning the touch to a grip on Rena's arm, arching a challenging eyebrow at him.

  "Why should I?" she asked defiantly. Rena looked at Mason in shock. Was she trying to get herself killed? Devon took a threatening step forward.

  "You will release my fiancé now, because I have ordered you to do so." he said menacingly.

  "You forget, boy. You are not our Prince and your father is not our King. Your orders mean next to nothing to us." Diana shot back.

  Rena places her hand over Mason's protectively, "I don't want to go with you, Devon, and I'm having second thoughts about marrying you." She told him. Devon snarled and lunged forward to grab her arm, intending to jerk her away from Mason. He never saw Diana move, and the next thing he knew he was on his back on the ground with a broken nose.

  "If she doesn't want to go with you, you will not force her." She growled standing over him. He looked up at this woman who dared to strike a High Prince and saw in her eyes a total absence of fear, only loathing. For the first time in his life, High Prince Devon Corlando feared a woman and that made him angry beyond reason.

  He surged to his feet and flew at Diana, tackling her to the ground fully expecting to be able to pin her down. After all, she was only a woman. It was to his utter surprise, that she not only broke his hold and flipped him on his back, but pinned him down, and he could not break free.

  Captain Dumas had been standing back letting them handle it themselves thinking that the Prince had deserved to be knocked on his ass, but now he grabbed Diana's shoulder to pull her off and found he could not.

  "Lady Diana. Let him go. It is not worth it." he pleaded with her, pulling at her shoulders. Rena moved beside him and wrapped her arms around Diana's waist. Nodding at Xavier, they pulled together and finally succeeded in loosening her grip on him enough that the Prince was able to wiggle free.

  Devon immediately scrambled to his feet, his face flushed with embarrassment and rage.

  "I will have your head for this!" he screamed at her. Mason bared her teeth, feeling a rush of adrenaline and surged to her feet, taking a step towards the sputtering Prince. Rena darted in front of her and placed a hand in the middle of Mason's stomach, surprised when the other woman stopped and simply glared at the spoiled young man. She took a quick glance at her and saw her eyes had taken on a strange, metallic cast.

  "Mason?" she inquired uncertainly, flinching slightly as those eerie eyes slanted down to her. Upon seeing Rena's reaction to her, sanity reasserted itself in Mason's mind. Rena could feel her rapid heart rate slow and approach normal. She turned slowly, keeping her back against Mason and stared reproachingly at Devon.

  "I think you had better go." She told him. He stuttered indignantly and took a step toward her. She reached back to touch Mason's arm when she felt her tense. "Devon. If you don't go now someone will get hurt." She pleaded with him, still he refused to leave. Mason put her hand on Rena's shoulder, preparing to step around her when a voice brought everyone's head around.

  "What the hell is going on here?" The King demanded as he approached the group with Damian at his side and Lana a few steps behind, looking confused. Devon threw a smirk at Mason.

  "Father. I'm glad you're here. Mason has severely overstepped her place and I demand satisfaction." he said arrogantly.

  "What has she done, Son?" Alexander asked.

  "She has accosted Princess Rena and then Lady Diana struck me for trying to defend her honor." he exaggerated, pointing to his broken nose. Alexander took a closer look at Devon's nose and turned to the sisters for an explanation. Before they could speak, Rena stepped forward.

  "Your Majesty, it's not true. I was simply assisting Mason after she had fallen ill. He tried to force me to go with him and when Mason spoke up, he tried to attack her and Diana defended her." She contradicted him. Alexander's eyebrows rose as he glanced back at his son.

  "She's telling the truth, Alex." Xavier added his support, earning a scathing glare from Devon. "He threatened to kill Lady Diana for protecting her sister." Alexander continued to look disapprovingly at his son.

  "Damian. Would you be so good as to escort my son home and make sure he stays there until I arrive?" he requested. Damian bowed and gestured for the young Prince to proceed him. Devon glared at his father and walked proudly past him.

  Alexander turned back to the group behind him.

  "Mason, I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into him. Rena, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't marry my son after the way he has acted." He told them quietly. Neither woman said anything as he followed after his son.

  "I'm gone for two minutes and all hell breaks loose. Can't you stay out of trouble for two minutes, Mason?" Lana teased. Mason laughed and ruffled her youngest sister’s hair.

  "Your life would be too boring if I behaved myself, Lana." She replied sarcastically. "Now, if you ladies don't mind, I think I'd like to lie down for a while." She told them swaying on her feet, before collapsing back against Diana. Captain Dumas and another guard rushed forward to escort her to her room.

  Damian looked at Devon out of the corner of his eye.

  "Sounds like everyone's turned against you." he murmured. Devon stopped and glared at him.

  "Only because of those damn Stone women. If it weren't for them, none of this would be happening. Princess Rena would be planning our wedding right now and my father...." he trailed off, thinking about how his father had so easily believed the others over his own son, his heir! Damian smiled at him and tilted his head to the side.

  "What would you say if I told you, that I could help you get rid of Mason Stone and her sisters?" he inquired softly. Devon gave him a calculating look before answering.

  "I'd ask what was in it for you." Damian nodded approvingly.

  "Smart man," he praised him, smiling cunningly when the Prince puffed out his chest in pride. It was going to be almost too easy. Almost.

  "Your Highness, I believe we have some business to discuss." Damian walked towards the palace, not looking back to see if Devon followed him. He knew he would. The young Prince followed his father’s friend, wondering what he was really after.

  Three hours after leaving the Prince's rooms and eavesdropping on the father-son argument that ensued upon Alexander's arrival, Damian slipped out of the guard door beside the main gate. Everyone was asleep or drunk, making it easy to steal away unseen. He walked for an hour, always checking behind himself to make sure he wasn't followed. When he felt it was safe, he stripped and stood with his arms outstretched and let the change take him. A brilliant flash of black light and an instant later a massive black wolf with emerald eyes stood where a man had a moment before. The black wolf took off at a ground-eating canter across fields and through woods for another hour before stopping. He made a meal out of two curious rabbits then lifted his muzzle to the night sky and howled the ageless cry of a lone wolf. Fifteen minutes passed before his cry was answered by the unholy screech of mutants. He transformed, remaining in a crouch as he waited. Mutants were unpredictable at the best of times.

  Silently six shadows separated from the trees, slowly approaching the kneeling man. Most mutants were hideous, disfigured creatures having reverted to more primal instincts. The m
utants that approached him, however, were colorless. Tall and eerily beautiful, male and female alike had long white hair, and skin. Their eyes were varying shades of violet. They were not a race of albino's, far from it. Their skin was able to change pigmentation like a human's. However, due to their mutations, this usually equaled death to them. Extreme sensitivity to sunlight notwithstanding, these people learned how to thrive in the night.

  There had been a handful of people who had survived that last brutal blast of nuclear power. They had changed on a molecular level. Even their DNA had been altered. These were their descendants. This breed of mutants had strange abilities. Some could control the weather, others the mind, a few could breakdown a person’s molecular structure and reassemble it a thousand miles away. Still others, could conjure things out of thin air, whether it ever truly existed or not.

  "Greetings, Damian." the mutant in front bowed slightly. "How goes your plan?" A shiver ran down Damian's spine when those shining purple eyes settled on him.

  "It progress's nicely, Sylvan." he replied accepting a white robe one of the others offered. He slipped it on, keeping his eyes glued on Sylvan and his entourage.

  "Still don't trust us, Damian?" the mutant asked calmly, as if he were asking the time of day. Damian stared at them for a moment, then smiled his most charming smile.

  "Of course I do." he said reassuringly. Sylvan inclined his head in acknowledgement.

  "What have you summoned us for?" he asked in that same soft voice.

  Damien’s face became animated.

  "Can you control the Impure?" he asked without preamble. Sylvan nodded his head once.

  "Yes." A bright wicked smile split Damian's face.

  "I want you to attack the city of Culville in seven days." he told him. A slight crease marred Sylvan’s flawless skin.

  "To what end?" he questioned. Damian made an impatient sound in the back of his throat.