Kinna crossed her arms, hugging herself defensively. Her eyes shimmered with liquid tears, and her lips were scarlet with passion and fury. “Why would she use her Pixie charm to kiss you, Ayden?”
Ayden shook his head. “I don't know; the only thing I can figure is that she wanted to drive a wedge between us. Well, mission accomplished. She succeeded. Now you won't listen to anything I have to say about it.”
“Tell me, Ayden,” Kinna snapped. “Tell me all of it. I want every detail.”
Ayden blew out a breath, stepping toward her, but she retreated. He stopped, holding up his hands, slowly pacing forward as if approaching an angry, frightened Dragon. Kinna kept pace with him until the trunk of a giant spruce bumped her in the back. “The first part, Kinna—I can only offer an apology. I felt that the opportunity to approach Hazel on Lanier's behalf was too great to pass up. I'm sorry, and I accept any punishment my Queen has to offer.”
Kinna's gaze was still hard, though her mouth had softened incrementally. He took another deep breath. “The—the kiss. Kinna, we left the room after you had adjourned the meeting, and I sought the Council chamber, hoping to discuss some ideas for her creatures in our vanguard...” He trailed off, seeing the temper spark in her eyes again.
He carefully lowered his hands to his side. “Hazel had been drinking a lot of ale throughout dinner—”
“I saw that. I particularly enjoyed the part where she fed you grapes.” Her cutting tone hurt, but Ayden refused to give in now that he had his chance to explain.
“Tried to feed me grapes,” Ayden reminded her. “I resisted.”
Kinna said nothing.
“I was trying not to create a scene, Kinna,” Ayden pleaded.
“Go on.”
Her voice had softened incrementally; perhaps he had a chance. “We reached the Council chamber and entered. She had been rather unsteady in her walk across the throne room, and when I opened the door, she fell against me.”
The color was high in Kinna's cheeks, and a tear overflowed its boundaries, spilling down her face. Ayden reached slowly to wipe it, but she slapped his hand away. “Keep going.”
“I still didn't understand what she was doing, Kinna. I thought she was merely drunk, but as soon as I put my hands on her arms to steady her, she started to sing.”
Kinna said nothing. Ayden searched her face carefully, but there was no change of expression.
“I know you don't know what it's like to be under Pixie charm, Kinna, but—”
“I know what the magic feels like,” Kinna said. “It doesn't affect me, but I can still feel its presence, and even let myself sway under it if I am not guarded against it.”
“So you do believe me?” Ayden asked, hesitant.
Kinna swallowed, finally dropping her gaze, picking nervously at the hem of her tunic. “How did you end up... kissing her?”
“It was part of the Pixie magic, Kinna, I swear it by the Stars. I couldn't stop it. I tried to call the Touches, but I was not myself. I—couldn't.” He paused. “Please, Kinna, believe me. I love you and you alone. I would die for you.” He took her hand gently in his, and this time, she did not resist. “I did die for you, remember? By all rights, I should be dead, floating on the bottom of the lake outside ClarenVale, food for the fish. But I'm alive. I came back to you.”
Kinna's lids slid shut over pain-filled green eyes. Slowly, so slowly Ayden wasn't sure she moved at first, she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his waist, tears soaking his tunic, her shoulders shaking as she cried. Ayden gently rubbed her back, sharp relief spreading through him. “I'm sorry, Kinna, I'm so sorry that it happened. I wish I could turn time backward and redo these last few days.”
Kinna shook her head and tilted her face to see his. “You can't. But neither can we allow her or her games to define our relationship anymore, Ayden. I—I'm sorry for how I've been.”
Her green eyes shimmered with tears, and she reached to gently cradle his face in her hands. His pulse thudded in his ears. Thoughts of his past, his poverty, his years with the Ash-Touch, the people he had killed with it, flooded his mind. What had he been thinking? His Queen stood before him. How could he ever have thought he had anything to offer her?
“Kinna,” he whispered, struggling to find the words, needing to make her understand. She had everything—a kingdom—and he could give her nothing.
But her gaze had traveled from his eyes to his lips and fastened there. She drew closer, a breath away, and then rose on tiptoe and pulled his mouth down to hers.
He could not resist her. He gave in, his eyes sliding shut. With one hand, he cradled the back of her neck; his other hand spread across the small of her back, pinning her body against his. He felt her breath quicken against his cheek. The thudding of his heart matched the tempo of hers; he felt the music their pulses made as they thundered in unison. Her small hands gripped his tunic, pressing him closer. Ayden's hands grew hot, but not with the uncontrollable heat he'd felt before he'd gained control of the Touches. Fire raged inside of him, and then appeared on the skin of his hands, flickering along his fingers where he held her. Kinna broke apart from him, pulling her hand into his, her eyes wide as she watched the flames. “They don't burn me, Ayden.”
“Fire can't burn you, Kinna. You're an Andrachen, born in the fire of Dragons.”
Kinna shook her head. “I know, but the heat of that fire is different. This fire... it feels like—home. Like rest, belonging. I—don't understand.” The wonder that softened her face faded when her gaze met his. A pucker appeared between her eyebrows. “What is it?”
“I am no one's home, Kinna.” He spread his arms wide. “I can offer you nothing but a past blackened with curses and death. That's all. For a few brief weeks, I'd allowed myself to think—”
“That you make me happy?” A scarlet flush rose in Kinna's cheeks. “Aye, you do, Ayden, happier than I've ever been, despite our recent—drama. That when I thought you were dead, my life had turned to ashes around me? Aye, that's true, as well.” She stared up at him, her face serious. “Ayden, where you are, that is where I wish to be. With you. You are my home.” She shrugged. “Is that so hard to believe?”
And suddenly, it wasn't.
She was his—his hope, his life, his love. A slow smile spread across his lips. “No,” he whispered. “It's that way for me, too, Kinna.” He slid his hands down her arms, pulling her close to him again, brushing his lips over hers and trailing kisses over her jawline. “Wed me. Be my wife in every way, and let there be nothing between our souls, our hearts, and our bodies.” He came back to her lips and cradled her cheeks as he slowly broke the kiss, staring deeply into her green eyes. “I love you, Kinna Andrachen. Will you?”
Kinna's gaze, so close to his own, warmed visibly. “Aye, Ayden Dragun Scai. I will marry you.”
He smiled, rubbing his thumb lightly over her bottom lip. “What does Dragun Scai mean?”
“It's a word of the highlands,” Kinna said, “from my adopted mother's people. It means the Dragon's home, the place where it goes for rest, for care. I'm sure it traces back to the ancient Bond between Seer Fey and Dragons. You are my home, Ayden. When this war is over, you and I will go to the Seer Fey and seek their blessing.”
“I want no blessing but yours,” Ayden whispered. The wedding to which Kinna referred was a specialized ceremony for royalty. Most common weddings took place with only a simple ceremony in a city's Temple of the Stars, followed by the bride entering the house of the bridegroom beneath the Stars of a clear evening and eating a meal together the following morning.
“And you have it. I will enter your house and join you in your bed.” Her hand cupped his cheek, smoothing the skin beneath his eye. She blushed. “And I'll break a fast with you, Ayden, but I want the Andrachen lineage to recognize the tie. You will be my husband before the eyes of nations, too. I will have it no other way.”
Ayden smiled, his happiness complete... almost. The dark taint of dread that had followed him si
nce he'd mastered the Touches in the woods with Kayeck spread through his thoughts. He gathered Kinna's hands in his, staring down at them, his thumbs lightly brushing her soft skin.
“What is it, my love?” she asked, her eyes wide.
He saw the nervous shade of her expression. He looked for the words to explain, knowing they would cause her pain no matter what he said. “When I mastered the Touches, Kinna, I knew—Kayeck explained to me—what must happen.” He searched Kinna's face, but she remained silent, waiting. “The Amulet must be destroyed; you've said as much yourself. Helga decreed it, and so did Kayeck.”
“Aye.”
“The only way to destroy the Amulet is a ritual that calls for the blood of Seer Fey, Man, and Dragon.”
“I know,” Kinna said. “You will have to give some of your blood once we have regained the Amulet to make it happen. Helga explained that it must be destroyed by the blood of one who controls the four Touches. But Ayden,” her eyebrows arched, “it need only be a little of your blood. You will not need to give all of it, right?” Worry etched her face. “Is that what Kayeck said?”
Ayden shook his head, and relief chased the worry from her expression. He hastened onward. “But it is not only my blood that is needed, Kinna.”
“What do you mean?”
“Destruction of the Amulet requires the blood of two. Two who wield control of the Touches.”
Kinna's eyes widened. “Helga did not say—”
“But Kayeck did. She explained it to me in detail. The Amulet must be destroyed by Touch wielders, in a ceremony with the four Great Dragons and a Seer Fey who wields the knife of the original Bond of Blood and Fire. As Sebastian and I were polarized by the Amulet when it passed between us, it gifted its Touches to us both. To destroy it, the ritual will require my blood and Sebastian's blood—to complete and reunite the split powers of the Amulet. Sebastian and I, once we both control the four Touches, must come together in the final ritual to destroy the Amulet.”
Kinna looked horrified. “But... if what you say is true, Sebastian must be taught control of all four Touches, and then... Ayden, the thought of a man like Sebastian mastering the Touches is—is—”
“Reprehensible. Yes. But it must be done.” Ayden sighed. “I've wished to tell you this before, but with everything that has happened since I've returned...” He shrugged helplessly.
“You haven't had a chance. I haven't let you close enough.” Kinna laid her head on Ayden's chest, wrapping her arms around him. “I'm sorry.”
Ayden gently stroked her back. “But do you see, my love, that we must destroy the Amulet before—we wed? We cannot bring the shadow of the Amulet into our marriage. It could destroy us. What if something went wrong in the ritual, and I became corrupted with the Amulet's power? What if I hurt you? I'd never forgive myself. I must destroy the Amulet before we wed.”
Kinna tilted her head back, her green eyes full of pain. “I do see, Ayden,” she said slowly. “It is because of that corruption that the Amulet must be destroyed as soon as possible. What Sebastian could do with unchecked power...” She shuddered. “First, Kayeck will need to teach him, as she did you. How will she do it?”
“Kayeck has her ways. At the moment, she is still a member of the Seer Fey Council in good standing; they know nothing of her position as mole among them. Paik, the Grand-Master of the Council, and Sebastian, are hand-in-glove, and Kayeck,” he shook his head, blowing out his breath in a rush, “plans to use her influence with Paik to gain access to Sebastian to teach him the mastery of the Touches.”
Kinna's lips parted. “She intends to tell Paik—”
“I don't know.” Ayden shrugged. “Kayeck does things her own way. She'll have to tread delicately, certainly. If she does, she can fool Paik and hide her ultimate motives for teaching Sebastian—destruction of the Amulet—while she maintains her position as mole within the Seer Fey Council.”
Kinna's hand played absently with his tunic. “But—Paik must never know of the plans to destroy the Amulet, for surely...”
“Aye. If he learns of the plot and Kayeck's part in it, it will fail, and he will kill her,” Ayden said. “She takes a great risk, but it is a necessary one. Once Sebastian has been taught and forced to comply with the ritual—only the Stars know how we’ll accomplish that—Kayeck's more difficult challenge will be to convince the Great Dragons to participate in the ritual.”
“The Great Dragons?” Kinna began to pace. “Helga said a Dragon—”
“Helga must not have spoken in specifics. Kayeck said the ritual must be a mirror of the Bond of Blood and Fire that was wrought among Seer Fey, Men, and Dragons. In order to break it, a Seer Fey—that's Kayeck—must be present, as well as two Touch-wielders—Sebastian and me—and the Great Dragons who contributed their blood to the Bond, the same Great Dragons you hope to recruit to your side in The Rebellion. And the blood must be brought by the Seer Fey blade used in the original ceremony.”
“The Stars only know how we will gain that,” Kinna muttered.
“Aye, it is guarded by taibe, warding off theft by human or Seer Fey hand,” Ayden said.
“Human or Seer Fey?”
“Because they represent the hands of the ritual. Paik would desire that the knife stay in its resting place in the Council chambers.”
“Then what about Dragons?” Kinna asked, blinking her wide green eyes at Ayden.
His eyebrows lifted. “Surely Paik—”
“Would not expect a Dragon to take it. Why would they? They are wild creatures, too big to gain access to the smaller entryways of the Seer Fey chambers. We could send Chennuh, Luasa, even Ember. Their talons could break apart the walls with some work—”
Ayden nodded slowly, the idea taking root in his mind. “Aye, it's a good thought. Not yet, though. Kayeck is of the opinion that we must wait until the final moments before the ritual to retrieve it; if we take it earlier, the Ancients will disrupt our plans for the Amulet destruction.”
Kinna shook her head. “The timing leaves much to be desired. The knife, the Great Dragons...” Kinna trailed off, looking thoughtful. After a moment, her eyes began to spark with excitement. “Ayden, I see what must be done. You must go to Kayeck. Tell her that I am to meet with the Great Dragons while I am here in Ongalia to seek their aid in our rebellion. I will try to persuade them to agree to the destruction ritual as well. Perhaps they may better heed the word of an Andrachen who promises an end to the Bond of Blood and Fire, than to a Seer Fey. We can hope so, anyway. You must help her, in any way you can, to succeed in teaching Sebastian the Touches.”
Hope flushed her cheeks again, and her green eyes snapped with purpose. And yet the idea of leaving her again so soon tore Ayden in two. “Can't we send one of the others?” he asked, though he already knew the answer.
“No, Ayden, you know we can't,” Kinna replied. “I can't trust them the way I can trust you. This is too important for me to send Hazel or Jakkob.”
“And we are to be parted yet again.” Ayden's mouth curved into a sad smile. “Why did you choose me to love, Kinna, when you might have had your pick of the Clans?”
“My taste runs to silver-eyed Dragondimn,” she chided him, tilting her head to the side, “and my taste is unerring.”
Ayden arched his eyebrows. “Is it now?”
“It is. I admit, I dislike having to wait for the Amulet to be destroyed, but I suppose one can't have everything.”
Ayden grinned. “After all, what would you do with a silver-eyed bloke who always has touch issues from an Amulet?”
Kinna nodded seriously. “It would get inconvenient if you kept turning the household staff into piles of ash or frozen statues.”
“I'd try to be careful, you know,” Ayden muttered before kissing her again.
Hazel and Jakkob looked up when Ayden reentered the house with Kinna. He held her hand, their fingers interwoven. Hazel smirked, taking a bite of another starfruit. “Well, Kinna, didn't take you long to forget, did it?” She s
hrugged. “Enjoy him; he's a great kisser.” She slid by them on her way to the outside terrace. Fury flooded Ayden, but Kinna squeezed his hand, shaking her head. She sank into a chair. Jakkob glared balefully at them from the shadows of the room before turning his back and leaning against the window.
“Has Lord Fellowes come back?” Kinna asked the Trolldimn. Jakkob answered with a short head shake.
Ayden turned to the opposite window, staring up the hill at the palace. “It's taking them a while to get this hammered out.”
“I wonder if I should go back up there...” Kinna's voice trailed off.
“No need,” Jakkob said. “He's coming now.” He motioned through the window toward the eastern road, which led to the opposite side of Allande from the one they had entered.
Ayden moved to the window beside Jakkob. “What's he doing? I thought he would be coming from the palace.”
No one answered. Lord Fellowes rode a horse at a fast trot up the steep hill, sliding off the animal at his steps and entering the comparative darkness of his own dwelling. “The Dragons bid me... to beg you to come,” he rasped. “I am to issue the invitation and to see you safely to their valley.”
“The Dragons? I thought you had only been to King Bennjan's palace.” Kinna glanced at Ayden. “The Dragons dwell fieldspans to the east, do they not?”
“Aye,” Lord Fellowes nodded. “It is why I tarried so long before returning. King Bennjan refused to give his consent to sending any of the Ongalian nobility or their soldiers unless the Dragons agree to join forces against Sebastian. I left the palace at his request to see if they would consider, but they will make no decision until they can speak to the Andrachen heir. They—” he cleared his throat, his gaze dropping to the wood planks of his floor. “They wish to discuss terms of warfare.”
Kinna stared at him for a long moment before nodding. “It is a reasonable request. Will they take your good word, as psuche partner of the Great Mirage, that I mean no harm when I make my requests to them?”
“They trust me, yes. But Kinna—whatever they decide, even if it is a negative response, I will not ask them to overturn their decision.”
Unleash the Inferno (Heart of a Dragon Book 3) Page 14