Was this what it had been like for her? Where was she now? Had that bastard Nalik taken her to the high king?
He assumed that was what had happened.
Damn her. If she hadn’t have tripped over him a year ago, he wouldn’t have dragged her into this hell.
He shook his head, both fists clenched in the soil. He had done it to her; she had done nothing to him. Except be there, right in front of him and so damned vulnerable.
He’d seen her, he’d wanted her, and he’d taken her. What she’d needed hadn’t figured in his thoughts at all.
Shame hit him. Again.
She was the only living being who had ever made him feel shame. What did that mean?
He pulled himself to his feet. He still had his sword, and he’d been trained on how to use it. He’d even trained blindfolded. He understood how to use his other senses. Koios would compensate for his loss.
He pulled his sword free. He would find shelter, find food, and then wait out the damned week. And he would plan.
The girl flashed in his mind, as he had last seen her; he still had her taste on his lips.
Koios had not meant to claim her as his gamata. That was a bond kept only for the closest of lovers, who chose to bind their souls to only one being. Forever. Many—most—warriors avoided joining in gamata, fearing...choosing to avoid such a lasting soul bond.
His saying it in front of the High King and the girl not denying it—if she hadn’t, even if she didn’t yet know of his claim—made it as good as done. For a king to make such a claim of a common girl, it was definitely almost as finished. The girl would not escape it; Koios already felt some of the bonds between their souls growing.
Even before the day was finished, the gamata bond would have his soul and hers so intertwined the bond could not be broken easily. He had heard of some bonds where the gamata’s felt the other’s very thoughts.
When he returned to her, he would make it clear where she belonged. Directly at his side, Queen of Lothicano. How would his people react to having a blinded Dardaptoan healer as their queen? And how was he to keep such a fragile being safe from the threats she would inevitably face?
First, he had to return to her.
He could not wait a week, he needed to get to her, now. Because there would be those who knew what she meant to him now, and would be those who would use her against him.
She was not safe now without him.
Koios used his sword to feel his way along the narrow path he found hours after he first woke. His progress was pitiful; never had he moved so slowly in all of his days. He kept walking, though.
Thoughts of the girl kept slipping into his mind. Worry for her was foremost, though he knew Malickus would care for her. But she was Koios’ gamata now, he needed to be at her side.
His attention from mere walking slipped more inward, toward how his life would be once he’d claimed the girl.
Not the girl. Bronwen. He would call her by her name by here on out. Bronwen.
His inattention cost him, dearly. Koios walked right into the sink hole. The ground collapsed beneath him.
His body hit the rock bottom of the cavern, nearly thirty feet below the surface.
His semi-mortality served him well in that moment. Few things could actually kill him, but others sure could hurt like the three hells.
Falling thirty feet was one of those hurt like the fires, but it didn’t kill him. His sword was lost, and it took him quite a while to find it. Longer than he would have expected.
He cursed when he realized the blade had snapped in two. He was damned lucky he hadn’t impaled himself on it. That could have killed him, if the blood loss was significant enough.
He cursed the Laquazzean once again for taking his sight, even if just temporarily.
Without the ability to see his surroundings, could he truly protect himself in this place? How was he supposed to get out of this cave? If he chose the wrong direction, he could end up far too deep inside. He would not miss the week’s deadline.
Sudden indecision filled him; what was he to do?
Just how dependent on his sight he was began to sink in. He wandered around for hours, but never found a clear path out.
“Feeling trapped, twin king?”
He cursed and pulled what remained of his sword before him. “Who is there?”
“What is the matter? Can you not see, Koios?” The voice giggled after it asked.
“Do I know you?” No sword, no sight. No idea where he was, or what threat he faced. True vulnerability; had he ever experienced such before?
“We have never met, though I do know you.”
“Then what is it that you want? Where is this place?”
“This world is my home. And I am called Phaenna.”
He had heard the name before, but where? He could not recall. “Explain yourself, female.”
Light feminine laughter surrounded him and bounced off the rock walls. “I explain myself to no one. Best get used to that. You are in my world now.”
“Why? And where is that bastard Black?”
Another Laquazzeana trick? ”What is this about?”
“Nalik is with his mate, of course. It is where he belongs. He has his soft spots, that male. His female, Aureliana, even young Bronwen. I, on the other hand, have no soft spots.”
“What is it you seek from me?” A chill had coated his spine and it had nothing to do with being beneath the earth. This creature was dangerous and he half suspect mad. Laquazzeana were often said to be insane, after all.
“It is not what I seek, but what I seek to show you.”
“What is that?” He had been there when the female Aureliana had been changed into a Laquazzeana. He had witnessed with his own eyes the sudden power filling her. And this female had been there as well, hadn’t she?
Of course she had. She had been the damned Beansidhe who had killed more than fifty red demons just with her voice alone. He would never forget that sight.
“Nalik is far more patient than I.”
An ephemeral hand grabbed Koios around the neck and shook him. When she was done fucking with him, Koios struggled to pull in even a breath. “Explain, female.”
“Simpleton, are you not?” She laughed again. “No wonder young Bronwen wishes nothing to do with you. Here is how it will go. I am usually far less direct, but time is of essence now. We cannot afford to wait, even a week. This girl is endangered. You are set to protect her. You cannot do this as you are.”
“What threatens her? Tell me now and I will dispatch it.”
“You really think it would work that way? We are facing a war that terrifies those who are more powerful than gods, and you think a mere male warrior such as yourself can face such threat?”
If possible, even more unease filled him. He tried to rise from his knees, but though she never touched his skin, he could feel the cold of her hand on his chest. She held him in place with a force he knew he could not fight.
This icily powerful female terrified him. Was she as mad as the legends proclaimed? Would he be best served by feigning a humility that he had been bred to disdain?
Koios lowered his head reverently. “My lady, tell me that which you need of me so that I may serve you.”
She laughed. “Think you I do not know your heart, warrior? I sense deception as easily as you can smell the sageplant on the wind in your world. But I will take you up on your foolish offer, because I have need of you now. Humility that is without truth behind it is a nasty thing. And serves neither of us well.”
The chastisement sat ill with him, but he looked at the female as he managed to get to his feet. His sight had returned fully, but he found it too difficult to look directly at her. “What do you want from me?”
“War comes. The girl will be right in the middle of it, if she is not already. You must understand this, she has a destiny you and I cannot be privy to. And these wars we will face, wars that threaten us all, hinge upon her and her actions. She cannot be w
orried and fearful of you while she is saving us all. Do you understand what you must do?”
“I have taken her to gamata. She will be protected with my sword, and with my life if necessary. Is that not enough?”
She looked at him with obvious despair in her eyes. “So there is little hope for us, then. You cannot seek your heart to understand what one such as she will need, can you?”
“I am a warrior king. I am capable of many things.”
“Of fighting, perhaps. Of forcing others to do your will, most definitely. Of taking what you want. But that is not what she will need of you.”
“Then what is it she will need? Tell me, and I will see that it is done.”
“You wish to see what it is she needs? How about why she needs it?” Anger tinged her words and had him stepping back. She stared at him for what seemed like an eternity. “Very well then. Enjoy.”
She waved a hand and Koios was knocked back more than twenty feet, until his back slammed into a wall.
His head cracked against something and darkness pulled him under.
Chapter 6
THEY returned to a castle at war. Bronwen heard the yells the instant they flashed into the main hall. Rathan and Ren both cursed, and began barking orders at everyone around them. Bron felt someone tugging at her hands.
Eaudne. Bron recognized the scarred hand and the power that emanated from the other woman. Eaudne just felt different whenever they touched. “Come child, you are needed in Thrun.”
Thrun, the once Rhacshas city that many of her people now lived in. It was overseen by Nalik, and she was aware of him flashing himself out an instant later. He’d somehow learned that demon trick, hadn’t he? Was there any limit to what he could do?
Pain shot through her. She could feel the suffering of many, though they were at least two hundred miles from Thrun. “What can I do?”
Eaudne laughed. “Every healer will be needed, you most of all.”
“Why?” Did the woman ever give a straight answer? Bronwen didn’t think so.
Eaudne put a hand on each of Bronwen’s cheeks. Heat blazed across her skin, and for an instant only, Bron could see her. She gasped and stepped back. “This is not how it was intended you learn of it, but time waits for none. When in Koios’ keeping months ago something was changed in you. You’ve gained your full power centuries before you should have. It is one reason for your disorientation now. But your skills as Healer are needed, your calling awaits. It is up to you whether you answer that call.”
She couldn’t understand it. “I don’t—”
“Decide, child. This is what you were meant to do. Think you would have survived infancy, as weak as you were, if there were not a greater plan in store for you? I tell you this, you are as my own child, and I would lead you not wrong.” Eaudne was still touching her. Bronwen wanted to push the older woman away, but didn’t.
What else was she to do? “How can I heal if I cannot see? I have never been to war. I do not know how to help.”
“Child, you were not born to help. You were born to lead.”
Eaudne wrapped her in her arms, and then Bron felt the air around them pulling on her. Just as it had when she’d been flashed by Koios, and then by Ren a few moments earlier.
This time she controlled her stomach contents much better than the last. “I wish people would stop doing that to me.”
“Then stop letting them.”
“How do I do that?”
“You’ll figure out the answers to that question soon. But we have more important things to be concerned with now.”
They both could hear the screams of the dying. Bronwen froze, afraid to move, afraid to think about what was happening in this city. Her next words were whispered. “What do we do?” She had never healed anything on a grand scale before. Her work had been done at Kindara’s side for as long as she could remember.
“We find the center, find the wounded. Together we do what we do best. We heal. Stay at my side; I will do what I can to keep you as sheltered as possible. Aureliana and her male arrive soon. They will protect you as you do what you must. You know what lies within your hands, within your heart. Use it. Trust. Every Dardaptoan healer of your Kind has one thing in common—you possess a piece of the greatest healer’s soul. I know this; I see it in you. It is the soul of my son Dekimos; it shines bright in you. Brighter than so many others. Do not waste his gift, but embrace it.”
But how was she supposed to do that?
Chapter 7
WHEN next Koios opened his eyes he knew something was different around him. For one thing, his skin seemed too small, too tight, and too damned soft to be his. He was in a long hallway, and it was mere seconds before he recognized it.
The south tower of his castle. Where the girl had been kept so many months ago. He looked down at his hand, expecting to see the ring his father had given him when he’d assumed the high seat along with his brother so many years ago.
Instead he saw small, pale fingers and light skin.
A hand that trembled. And one that he recognized.
He tried not to curse.
The Laquazzeana had somehow put him in the body of the healer girl.
Someone yanked on his hands—her hands—and he realized they were bound. And far too tightly. He wanted to strike out at the one pulling him along but he couldn’t.
Ramorakin had a hand fisted in the girl’s tunic and he jerked her around far harder than any male should ever touch a woman. Was this how the slave keeper always treated the females?
An open palm landed against Koios’ cheek, his gamata’s cheek. He felt the force behind the blow all the way down to his knees. What was Ramorakin trying to do? Why did he feel it necessary? The girl hadn’t spoken, nor had she resisted the slave keeper at all. So why the abuse?
Koios could hear her thoughts; or was he thinking them along with her?
Absolute terror, pain, and betrayal. Mixed with hope.
The hope was what hurt him the most.
The instant he had spoken her as his gamata ancient forces that no one in Relaklonos had ever been able to identify had started weaving his heart and hers together. Only if she denied him for years—perhaps centuries—would those bonds start to lessen. That she had suffered so greatly hurt him.
That he was the cause of such hurt sickened him. It took everything he had to keep the girl’s body from retching.
Ramorakin wrapped his hand in the long dark hair that Koios now knew was softer than the finest silk and yanked so hard Koios knew handfuls of Bronwen’s hair would be broken—if her scalp was not bleeding as well.
The girl was crying now and trying to fight; that just seemed to enrage Ramorakin even further. He slammed Bronwen into the white rock wall so hard Koios felt her ribs crack.
He would kill Ramorakin as soon as he was able. As soon as the Laquazzeana freed him from Bronwen’s body the slave keeper would be dead. And Koios would make sure the male knew exactly why.
Her tears fell unchecked to the tunic she wore.
Ramorakin finally spoke. “You cry now? You will cry more for me when the king is finished with you. He will forget about you, and you will be mine. To do with as I wish, Dardaptoan.”
She was dragged farther down the hall and toward the last room. Koios recognized it; he’d ordered it left empty until repairs could be made within it. It was not fit for a prisoner of any ilk. There was no glass in the window—a long gone sorcerer had destroyed the windows, and the rock wall surrounding them. Instead, thick metal bars prevented anyone from escaping through the hole.
The room was too damned cold for even a warrior prisoner; why was Ramorakin putting a Dardaptoan female there? Everyone knew the Gaian Kind was far too susceptible to low temperatures. Had Ramorakin been trying to kill her from the onset?
There was no bed in the room, just a pile of old blankets and a crude toilet.
His gamata had been kept here? Koios had given specific orders that she was to be well cared for, had told
Ramorakin specifically that the girl was worth a fair amount of coin, even if she hadn’t been taken directly from the High King. Yet Ramorakin had treated her thusly?
He’d known she had been misused in Ramorakin’s keeping; that had been evident by her condition when she had been found. But that she had been abused from nearly the moment he had given her into the other male’s keeping surprised him.
Koios had thought much of her injury had been due to her being an obviously fragile example of her Kind.
Perhaps he had been wrong? Perhaps…she had been extremely ill-treated while in his care? Perhaps he had more than just wronged her?
Was that the reason for her great sense of betrayal?
He had promised her the night he had taken her that she would be safe while in his keeping, and she had seemed to trust that. Had been so meek with him. It had surprised him, but after he’d turned her over to Ramorakin he’d damned near forgotten her as he’d dealt with other pressing matters in his kingdom. But he had vowed safety to her…
Koios had never been proven a liar before, especially by one of his own people. He had trusted Ramorakin with the girl’s keeping. And that betrayal of trust would be harshly dealt with.
He was pushed inside the room and his head—his gamata’s head—banged into the floor. Hard hands pulled the girl to her feet, then up until she could see the warrior more fully. Until Ramorakin’s face was right next to hers.
Not that she saw that well to begin with. What was it like, to never know where a threat was coming from?
“Please…” She could barely speak, the pain in her ribs preventing it. Ramorakin showed no compassion for one so weak compared to him.
“I shall please myself with you, once the king is done with you.” Ramorakin—strong and an experienced fighter—had little difficulty tossing the healer girl to the blankets. Koios felt the impact as it jarred her, as an already broken rib punctured her lung. “This is your bed. Best not get used to it. Soon it’s my blankets you will warm.”
The girl shook her head. “No…Auri will come for me. They’ll come for me.”
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