“I’m bringing you to me,” he said.
I felt my consciousness leave my body.
I found myself standing in Morlet’s bedchamber. He was crumpled on the floor, not moving. I ran over to him, falling to my knees. “Are you all right?” I asked, rolling him onto his back.
He moaned and his eyelids fluttered open. “Kaia.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The magic is getting too strong. It is trying to work around the curse.”
“To do what?”
He sat up, rubbing his face. “I feel it wanting to make us Heks.” The color started to return to his face.
“Why are you on the floor?”
“I gave you my magic. It depleted me for a moment. I’m fine now.” He stood, going over to the serving table and pouring himself a glass of water.
“The magic is seeking us out because we have magic in us?” I asked, trying to understand what was happening.
He drank the glass of water and then turned to face me. “It’s trying to create a new Heks. I think it senses you’re with child. It doesn’t understand what it is, so it’s trying to create a Heks to regain balance.”
“Will it go outside of Nelebek to do so? Or is it contained in here because of the curse?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I take it you’re not with my men.”
“No, but I’m on my way back to the castle right now.”
“Why did you leave?” he asked carefully.
“To get my bo staff.”
“Are you still in the forest?”
I nodded.
“I’ll send soldats to escort you home.”
The word home sent a jolt through me. The castle was not my home. I didn’t belong there with Morlet. I belonged…well, I wasn’t sure exactly. The treehouse had burned, and my father was dead. I had no home.
“Kaia? Are you all right?”
“Yes,” I insisted. “Just tired. You don’t need to send for me. I’ll be back at the castle in a few days.” I just had to retrieve the medallion from Vidar and make my way to the capital.
“You’re the queen. You can’t be out there unprotected.”
Dread filled me. “I’m not alone.” There was no point withholding the truth. He’d eventually find out.
His fingers curled into fists. “Who is with you?”
“Anders.”
Morlet’s arms started shaking. In two strides, he was at my side. “You’re my wife,” he snarled. “You should not be with another man. Especially him.”
“You have nothing to be upset or worried about.”
He took hold of my upper arms. “He is in love with you.”
“So?” Why did Morlet care? Our marriage wasn’t real. It would be over soon.
Morlet released me, stepping back, a look of shock on his face. “I wish to be alone.”
I reached up and touched his cheek, trying to make peace. “Thank you for loaning your magic to me. I’ll be…home shortly.”
He waved his hand, severing our connection.
19
Anders and I had been walking since midday. I still hadn’t told him about the magic whispering to me or about my communication with Morlet. I don’t know why I withheld the information from him. Somehow it felt too personal to share with someone else.
Since I was unable to use my power to form a shield around me, Morlet knew where I was. I couldn’t lead him to the cave where the Krigers were hiding. Anders would have to go there without me to retrieve the medallion. All I had to do was convince him to go along with my plan without questioning me too much.
We neared a stream. “Let’s stop here to rest,” Anders said.
Pulling off my boots and socks, I rolled my pants up to my knees and waded into the stream. The cold water caressed my sore feet, breathing life back into them.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Starving.”
He opened his sack and pulled out a hunk of bread. “This is all I managed to grab in the chaos of evacuating.” He tossed it to me and I caught it, tearing off a chunk.
“I feel horrible,” I said. “Vidar lost his home because of me.” I sat on the bank next to Anders and handed him half the bread.
“I’m surprised we lasted there as long as we did,” he admitted. “It was only a matter of time.”
“You managed to live there a hundred years. Then I come along and ruin everything.”
He nudged my shoulder. “It’s not like Vidar was going to live there much longer.”
It was still a shame to destroy something so creative and beautiful. And now that it was gone, I couldn’t live there either. “What do you plan to do once we break the curse?”
Anders sat in silence a minute before answering. “The master assassin who raised me will reclaim me. He forced me to swear a blood oath to him. Once I’m not bound by the curse, I’ll be bound to him again.”
Because the master assassin was a Heks. “There’s no way around that?” I asked.
“I’ve had a hundred years to think of a way around it, and I haven’t managed to come up with anything.”
I fidgeted with the edge of my sleeve. “What if I don’t want you to go back with the master assassin?” Now that I was queen, could I somehow protect him? Could Nelebek claim him?
“It doesn’t matter what you or I want. We are bound by the laws and the treaty the Heks and humans enacted all those years ago.” He picked up a stone and threw it across the stream. It skipped three times and then sunk.
“I hoped that when this was over, I could go live quietly with my family on the other side of the mountains.”
He chuckled. “Kaia, for you, life will never be simple or quiet. There is too much life in you.”
“I never wanted this. I never wanted to be a queen and forced to rule.”
“I know, but it’s for the best.” He stretched out his legs and leaned back on his hands.
“How can you say that?” I was tired of everyone telling me what was best for me. How did they know?
“Now that you are the queen of Nelebek, the master assassin can’t touch you or your child.”
“What if he finds a way around the treaty?”
“He won’t.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Because I’ve thought about it for the last hundred years. The master assassin can’t touch the royal family. You’ll be safe.”
I didn’t share his certainty.
Anders and I had been hiking parallel to the mountainside all day. I estimated we were about two miles from the cave where the Krigers were hiding. Instead of continuing south, Anders led me east to a cluster of boulders. There was a small opening between two of them that was just big enough for a person to squeeze through. I groaned. “Is this another cave?”
“It’s well concealed and you’ll be safe while I go and meet up with the Krigers.”
I knew I wouldn’t be truly safe until I had the medallion.
“You gather wood,” Anders said, “and I’ll find us something to eat. Then I’ll go.”
Since I was hungry, I didn’t argue. I started picking up small twigs and branches, depositing them near the entrance to the cave. Anders returned a short while later with two skinned squirrels.
Inside the cave, he built a fire and cooked the meat while I leaned against the rocky wall watching him. When the squirrels were finished, he removed them from the fire and divided the food, handing me my portion.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked.
“I’m wishing that I could be in the Tower Room with you and the other Krigers when it’s time to fight Morlet. I’ve spent so many years trying to end the curse that I want to be there when it actually happens.”
I licked the grease off my fingers. “I assumed you would be there, even if you weren’t fighting.” He was an integral part of this, and I couldn’t imagine him not being there.
“I plan to be far away from you during the battle.”
“Why?” After all we’d been through, he planned to leave us?
He sighed and leaned back against the rocky wall next to me. “I know you think I’m cruel because I keep my feelings for you hidden from everyone—including you. But you need to understand, when the borders open, the master assassin will not only reclaim me, he will destroy everything and everyone I love—like he did with my family. It’s imperative he never know that I care for you. I can’t have him extracting the information from one of the Krigers, so you must understand why I behave the way I do. It’s not to hurt you—it’s to protect you.”
I leaned my head on his shoulder. “So what you’re telling me is that I must hide my feelings for you as well. That even when this is over, and Morlet is dead, I must never reveal my love for you to anyone.” The mere thought left me empty inside.
He leaned his forehead against mine. His skin was warm. “That is exactly what I’m saying,” he whispered.
“There has to be something we can do to sever your blood oath with the master assassin.” I couldn’t imagine living my life without Anders.
“When the twelve of you go to fight Morlet, I’m leaving,” he said, his breath caressing my face. “I will get as far away from you as I can. And you will be protected under the treaty.”
I put my hand on his chest, mentally begging him to stop talking about leaving. Right now he was here with me, and I wanted to enjoy what little time we had left together.
“You’re trembling,” he said. “Because of me?”
“Yes,” I whispered. Not long ago, Vidar had forbidden Anders from kissing me. Since Anders was bound to Vidar, he had no choice but to obey. Now that Vidar and I were no longer engaged, he’d taken away that restriction. Which meant that Anders and I were free to kiss. Except I was technically married now.
The cave suddenly felt stiflingly hot.
Anders said, “I don’t know if I’ve told you this yet, but thank you for saving my life. No one has ever done anything like that for me.”
“You would have done the same for me.”
His fingers intertwined with mine and he smiled. “Talk about the tables being turned.” He leaned forward, his lips hovering mere inches from mine. “I’d very much like to kiss you right now.”
“What are you waiting for? An invitation?”
“I’m weighing the consequences.”
Consequences? For kissing me? I closed the gap between us, pressing my lips against his. Damn the consequences. His lips parted, deepening the kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He lowered me onto my back, never breaking the kiss. His body covered mine, and my hands slid down his back, holding him against me.
His lips trailed along my jaw to my ear. “I love you,” he whispered.
Pure elation filled me. I never wanted this moment to end. His lips returned to mine. His tongue slid into my mouth.
“Kaia?” Morlet asked in my mind, his voice ragged. “What’s happening?”
My body jerked, shocked by the unwanted interruption. “Leave me alone,” I thought back to him.
“Is something wrong?” Anders asked. His hand slid up the side of my body, hesitating at the edge of my shirt.
“No,” I assured him. “Everything is perfect.” Except for Morlet being in my head. I wished I could use my power to form a shield and block him.
“If you want to stop, just say the word.”
“I don’t want to stop.” I pulled his face toward mine and kissed him. Pain exploded in my head and I screamed.
“What is it?” Anders asked, lifting his body off mine. “Did I hurt you?”
I rolled onto my side, grabbing my head. It felt as if a hammer was smashing my skull. I couldn’t form coherent words to express what was happening to me.
“You’re mine!” Morlet snarled.
Curling into a ball, tears streaked down my cheeks. “Leave me alone!”
“I can’t do that.”
The pain intensified, and I passed out.
20
When I woke up, my head no longer hurt. The fire had died down and Anders sat by my side, his hands covering his face. I reached out and touched his knee.
He startled and removed his hands revealing red, blotchy eyes. “You’re awake,” he said.
I sat up, and he wrapped his arms around me.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with you. What happened?”
“I’m fine.” Before I had a chance to explain, something rustled outside the cave. Anders held a finger to his lips, indicating for me to be silent. He crawled over to the exit and peered out into the gray light of dawn. His shoulders tensed, and he unsheathed two daggers. Grabbing my bo staff, I crawled over to the exit and joined him.
“Soldats,” he mouthed. “At least a dozen of them.”
They were here for me. I’d kissed Anders and Morlet had known, maybe even felt it. Guilt washed over me.
“Stay here,” Anders said. He sheathed one of his daggers and withdrew his blow dart. “I only have four darts. Once I’ve used them up, I’ll have to kill the remaining soldats.”
“Please don’t.”
“Do you want me to let them drag you back to Morlet?”
“No, that’s not it. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He smiled. “I can easily handle these men.”
Under normal circumstances, he could. However, given Morlet’s reaction when Anders and I kissed, most likely the king had sent these men to kill Anders. There would be no mercy here today. “Let me go first. I’ll try talking to them.” Hopefully, they would listen to their queen and never know Anders was here. Then he could sneak away and meet up with Vidar.
“You’re going to hand yourself over to them, aren’t you?” he said.
“I have to go back to the capital anyway. This way you’ll remain unharmed.”
His face contorted with indecision. I reached out and touched his cheek. “What happened to the Anders who showed no emotion? Who thought logically with his end-goal always in sight?”
“You’re right.” He let his head fall back, banging it against the cave’s wall in frustration. He put his dagger and blow dart away. “I’ll go meet up with everyone. Good luck.”
Clutching my bo staff, I climbed out of the cave. I’d originally planned to raise my hands in surrender so the soldats would know I didn’t pose a threat. However, I was their queen and needed to act like it. Even though I couldn’t see the soldats, I could feel their presence nearby. “My husband, King Morlet, said he would send a group of men to escort me home. Show yourselves.”
Three dozen soldats stepped out from behind trees—far more than I expected.
“Let’s be on our way,” I said. I didn’t know proper protocol for servants and officers when it came to royalty, but I was certain they should bow, kneel, or do something to show their respect for me. The fact that they weren’t doing so indicated they thought very little of my authority.
“We have orders to arrest your kidnapper,” one of the men said. “Is he in that cave?” He nodded behind me.
My heart beat frantically. I had to make sure nothing happened to Anders. “No.” I stood in front of the entrance, the vines concealing most of it.
The soldat in charge fumbled with something in his hands.
“Is there a problem?” I asked.
He cleared his throat. “Um, no. Just that we have instructions to, um…” He scratched his head.
This was not good. I adjusted my grip on my bo staff, prepared to use it if necessary. I’d have to remember not to call on my power which hummed below the surface of my skin, begging to be released.
The man moved closer to me, still fumbling with something in his hands. A flash of silver caught in the light.
I took a step back. “What’s that?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, “but I need to…I have instructions to…well I’m supposed to use this on you. It’s a potion that will put you to sleep until the king wakes
you with his magic.”
Fear overtook me. What if Morlet never woke me? Would I be stuck in some sort of magical state, asleep forever? “I’ll willingly go with you. There is no need to administer that potion.” I always wondered what sorts of things the apothecary sold in his back room. Now I knew.
“We have strict orders. If we don’t follow them, Morlet will kill our families. I have a wife and daughter.” He looked helplessly at me.
I couldn’t let these men suffer. “I understand.” I took a step forward.
“Kaia, no!” Anders snarled as he came out of the cave.
A whoosh filled the air as every soldat raised his bow or sword, pointing it at Anders.
“I thought you said your kidnapper wasn’t with you,” the soldat said.
“This isn’t my kidnapper,” I replied, pointing at Anders. “This is my guide, and I order you to stand down.”
No one moved. What good was being queen if the soldats didn’t obey my orders? Something shifted in the air. My hands pulsed with a dull pain—my power warning me of imminent danger.
The four closest soldats dropped to the ground, impaled by Anders’s darts. And then complete chaos ensued. Soldats rushed toward Anders. I angled my bo staff, prepared to fight. When the first one reached me, I swung, knocking him across his head. I spun and kicked the next man rushing toward me. Anders and I fought back to back, protecting one another. My arms moved faster than I thought possible as I disarmed soldat after soldat. They were being careful not to injure me, which meant they were being careful with Anders as well so I wouldn’t accidentally be hurt.
“This would be much easier if you let me kill these men,” Anders said over his shoulder to me.
“Just stay at my back.” We would not kill these innocent men for following Morlet’s orders. Once we rendered them unconscious, we could get away.
Anders moved with ease and grace. Moaning bodies were on the ground all around him as he continued to fight.
I swung and a sword struck my bo staff which vibrated from the impact. The soldat pulled his sword back, preparing to hit my side. I spun and kicked him. He stumbled and another soldat came at me. Sharp shooting pains radiated in my hands, alerting me of danger. Something hit my thigh and excruciating pain exploded in my leg. I screamed, collapsing to the ground. An arrow protruded from my thigh, blood trickling down my leg. I’d been shot.
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