Keeper of the Flame

by Stephanie Burke

  “Are you jealous?” Kendall queried with a sly look in her eyes.

  “Zealous?” she questioned, purposely mishearing Kendall.

  “No. Filled with destructive envy. Filled with an unholy desire to punish your...sibling,” the word was sneered, “for a quirk of nature and fate that he held no control over.”

  Teeta’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as she viewed this Earth woman. It seemed that she had underestimated the intelligence of this opponent.

  “It seems that my sibling has gained a worthy protector in this provincial planet. How...amusing.”

  “It makes no difference what you call it, Teeta, or how amused you are. It’s still cold-blooded murder.”

  Teeta turned away from that piercing brown gaze to again stare out at the colorful array of flowers. Leave it to Flame to find a champion for his cause.

  “I am bound by my duty,” she finally replied, staring out of the window, focusing on nothing. “If it were up to me, I would forget that he was ever born.”

  “Are you so useless?” Kendall demanded as she walked over to the dark-hared woman. “Have you no skills other than being Tessla’s daughter, future ruler of the House of Fire? Have you no other position other than being the one that nature cheated? Was it your dark hair that led you to believe that you were not woman enough to inherit your rightful place as the next ruler?”

  “You know not of what you speak!” Enraged, Teeta turned to face her tormentor. “You will never know the shame of not being enough, not being the best, of feeling less than an unimportant male! My useless sibling, damn him, should never have been given my gifts, my heritage!”

  “Then take a piece of it and go home!” Kendall held out the quivering lock of hair. “Tell everyone that Flame is dead. Your mother will stop seeking him out if that is what you tell her. Bribe your soldiers or swear them to secrecy. If you have any love for Flame, please do him this favor.” Kendall’s impassioned plea brought tears to her own eyes for she knew that the future of her small family lay within the hands of this woman.

  Teeta eyed the lock of hair and them began to laugh. Gesturing wildly she continued, “Do you think that I hold any love in my heart for that abomination? I never loved him! I never cared what happened to him. I was glad when he was sent to the Brotherhood, but it was not enough! It was I who drew Catla’s attention to him! I wanted him gone!”

  “Have you no guilt or shame?” Kendall hissed. All hopes that she had of trying to understand this woman’s pain evaporated into thin air. “Do you know what that monster put him through?”

  “Oh, I have guilt, Mistress. I was there. I remember seeing what my anger had done to him. I guess that the old sayings are true. You can feel your womb-mate’s pain. I felt his pain, Mistress. So I fixed it so that he would be in pain no longer.”

  Kendall’s mouth dropped open as she realized what Teeta was telling her. “You killed her? You killed Catla?”

  “As you can see, I am no stranger to murder. No matter how I feel about my sibling, he is of the House of Fire. I could not let her shame a member of my house.”

  Kendall stood there, stunned by what Teeta had revealed. Was this woman insane?

  “I had it all planned out. With that simpering fool Catla dead, I could run the House of Ice in any way that I saw fit, in my mother’s name of course. Then when my mother’s life was extinguished, I would rule it all, both of the greatest houses on our planet. So yes, I gladly dropped the poison in Catla’s cup. I was doing Flame a favor really. He was on his deathbed and could not be blamed, so it was the perfect plan. Perfect until he became pregnant and destroyed everything that I had worked so hard to build.”

  Teeta turned towards the window again,

  “The pregnancy was not his fault.” Kendall felt compelled to add. “That was Catla’s doing.”

  “True, that sin belongs to Catla.”

  “Then why kill your sibling and his offspring? Ember and Spark can be raised here on Earth and will have no interest in your quest for power.”

  “Is that what he named the girl child? Ember? That was to have been my name if I had been born with the energies. The Family always chooses an appropriate name in hopes that their generation would be blessed with a child with the energies.” Then she added, “The children are no longer an issue. That was said to make him run. Flame has a habit of destroying all of my best-laid plans. Did you know that the Matriarch was considering letting Flame have a say in his daughter’s upbringing? I guess that is information you would not know. Not even Flame had any idea that my mother supported the idea that he should have influence over the girl-child. If I allowed that to happen she would never be my little adoring puppet. She would never be just a figurehead if Flame were to teach her to question everything about our way of life, as he does. So you see, Mistress, The House of Fire does not want Flame dead. I do.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Flame!”

  Kendall turned and dashed up the stairs, two at a time, to the bedroom, beating Teeta there by seconds. Slamming open the door, she found him sagging between the two women of the Execution Squad, one woman pulling a small dart out of his chest. The reason was abundantly clear. A wall of flame was slowly dissipating from in front of the bathroom door. Flame was protecting his children without harming the two women. He still felt bound by the laws of his of his society.

  “Teeta killed Catla!” she screamed before she was tackled from behind.

  “Heed not this woman!” Teeta screamed, before a solid right hook caught her in the jaw.

  Rolling around on the floor, the two combatants took no notice that the two women had eased Flame to the ground and were now staring at each other in confusion.

  “Only Teeta wants him dead!” Kendall screamed before Teeta slammed her to the ground.

  Teeta was bigger, but Kendall had had one week of ups and downs that lead up to this hell. She had a shitload of frustrations and anger to draw from, and she had a target for an outlet.

  With a scream that would serve the ancient warriors well, Kendall broke the woman’s grip and turned to face her. Target spotted and locked in!

  Kendall slammed both of her palms down on Teeta’s ears causing her to shriek with pain and grab at her head. Rising to her feet, she delivered a kick to her jaw and watched as she collapsed to the floor. Thank goodness for Tai Bo!

  Turning to the stunned women who watched their fallen leader in confusion, she declared, “He is to be set free immediately. The Matriarch did not decree that he was to be put to death.”

  Haughty as a princess in her ripped T-shirt and jeans, she walked over to Flame, and dropped to her knees in front of him.

  “You are free,” she declared as she brushed his hair back from his face sweaty brow.

  He lifted his head, a look of wonder in his drug-hazed eyes before they widened and he opened his mouth to shout.

  A sharp pain exploded in the back of her head and everything went black.

  The sound of an engine brought her back to consciousness. She tried to sit up but gave a low moan of pain instead.

  “Flame?” she forced the words past her dry lips.

  “Shh, My Mistress, I am here,” came his reply before a soft touch caressed her face.

  “Where is here?” she again tried to sit up but a flash of pain in her skull convinced her that maybe she should stay right where she was.

  “In the back of your ground transport. The children are here and we are safe for now.”

  “Who is driving?” she asked wondering if they were going to die by at the hands of the Execution Squad, or because of a fatal wreck.

  “Teeta,” was his curt response as if he was more aggrieved by a woman driver than by being captured and drugged by a death squad.

  “Teeta can drive an Earth vehicle?” Kendall was a little awed by the woman’s...tenacity.

  “She has read the owner’s manual,” he replied in a droll voice that was so unlike her Flame.

  “How did th
ey find us?” she asked. She knew that the coordinates he gave them would have led them far away from the house.

  “They used a sophisticated tracking device that is attracted to heat,” he explained.

  “You mean infrared?” she asked and tried not to laugh at his disgruntled look. Despite the fact that Flame obviously respected her intelligence, he was still a bit of an intellectual snob.

  “We have some great leaps in technology since the wheel,” she couldn’t help but add.

  “Yes. With all of the heat that we were generating, we made an easy target to find.” He watched as a blush added color to her pale cheeks.

  “Yeah,” she added at last, her blush under control. “I think we set the mattress on fire.” She smiled at the color that highlighted his cheeks.

  “What were you saying before Teeta hit you on the head and rendered you unconscious? They will tell me nothing.” He motioned to the two women who eyed their tête-à-tête with suspicious eyes that watched every move they made lest they try to escape.

  She could hear confusion in his voice and knew that the drug that he had been given was wearing off.

  “Your family, your mother, doesn’t want you dead,” she whispered. “Teeta does. With you out of the way, she can rule through Ember and have control over both houses when your mother dies. She even killed Catla so she could rule when you were sent back home to the House of Fire. With no clear heir, your mother would have allowed her governance over the House of Ice. I think that Catla knew of your sister’s plans and that would explain why she had you impregnated so soon after your mating and why she would risk drawing the anger of your mother’s house. She was desperate to keep women of her bloodline in power. These poor fools following your sister don’t know it, but she will probably kill them too. No one can know what she has done here if she wishes to rule unchallenged. Any witnesses will be too much of a risk to her plans.”

  “Silence back there, or I will silence you myself,” came the surly voice of the other woman beside Grilla.

  “Sure,” Kendall taunted. “I want to be alive to see the punishment you get for killing the father of the future leader of the House of Ice. That is, if you live long enough to see your home world again.” The last was said almost at a shout.

  There was absolute silence in the van. Both women looked at each other as if something had become quite clear. Grilla nodded to her companion and began to eye their fearless leader with a look filled with awareness and quite a bit of cunning.

  “You will not have to worry about being a witness to any event.” Teeta’s voice sounded smug and sure. “As soon as we get to the area where I have chosen to leave our ship, you, that man, and those accursed children will all die. Laser burns will be easy to disguise in the charred wreckage of this vehicle after I push it off of a precipice. You will all be victims of a tragic accident.”

  “What proof do you offer as to the death of the future ruler of the House of Ice, Mistress Teeta?” Flame now taunted after seeing the reactions of his sibling’s minions. “With no bodies to take back for burial, how will you prove that we are dead? With witnesses that may or may not be alive to testify?”

  “Shut him up!” Teeta screeched at Grilla who now wore a thoughtful expression on her face.

  Before he could plant more seeds of doubt, the van pulled to a stop.

  “Why not kill us at the house, Mistress Teeta? Or do you plan on killing your accomplices while they are occupied with causing our deaths? Maybe it will be a large group of people who die in this vehicle this day. I think that they will be easy enough to overpower while they carry out your orders for the death of my Mistress, the children and I.”

  Flame had caught on to Kendall’s earlier attempt to sow the seeds of distrust among the small group. It was a sound plan his Heart had come up with, an excellent strategy. His Kendall was a warrior in her own right.

  “More impertinence, Flame? You may close your mouth, sibling. I will rule the House of Ice as my own no matter what you say. You are the powerless one here.” Then to the women, “Bring those two, but leave the children behind. We can deal with them later after we give their loving father exactly what he deserves.”

  The side doors were slammed open and Kendall was dragged from the van as Grilla’s unnamed companion grasped her arm in a punishing grip and yanked her from the car. Kendall bit back a moan as pain and nausea vied for dominance of her body. By taking several deep breaths, she was able to fight down both reactions and steady herself outside the van. Her escort gave her a moment to reorient herself before forcing her to step away from the vehicle.

  Grilla hurried Flame’s exit along by prodding him in the back with the tip of her weapon. Flame only had a chance to longingly eye his children before he was pushed out of the van and onto the grassy knoll that Teeta had selected for the site of their sudden demise.

  Once everyone had been herded from the van, Teeta ordered the women to draw their weapons as she drew hers and caught her sibling within her sights.

  “Your proof is in your lock of hair, Flame. I will tell Mother that you were running from us with this Earth creature.” She looked derisively at Kendall. “And that you had a little accident. They can easily come back here and substantiate my claims. Everyone knows that a Keeper must be dead before anyone could remove a lock of hair. After all, it is a major source of your energies.”

  She held up his hair, which still throbbed with his life force and smiled. “I grow tired of this shameful business. Let us put it to an end.”

  She motioned to her accomplices to raise their weapons as she raised hers. All three of the women’s weapons were now trained on the unarmed victims.

  Immediately Flame took a protective position in front of Kendall. His head raced with the thoughts of what he might have to do.

  “Leave her out of this, my sibling. I am the one that you want dead. Leave her to raise my children here on Earth. No one need ever know that they survived.”

  Behind him, Kendall’s heart was being painfully ripped right out of her chest. He loved them enough to sacrifice pride and his very life for them. Never before had she heard him beg for anything and now he was pleading with the one person who had no reason to hate him.

  “Please, My Womb-mate!”

  At his impassioned words, Teeta’s arm began to shake, and slowly the barrel of the weapon began to lower.

  Tears welled up in her eyes as Teeta again felt the anguish of her twin. Damning the bond formed between the twins while they shared the same womb, Teeta strengthened her resolve and focused on her goals.

  “I will rule!” she cried out just before a silent blue light hit her in the chest lifting her off of her feet and throwing her several yards back.

  “I think that you have also just suffered from a little accident, my dear Teeta.” Grilla slowly trained her weapon on Flame and away from the woman lying in a crumpled heap on the ground.

  “You and your Earth woman made a valid point, Flame. Teeta never showed us our orders, and if she indeed killed Catla, the Matriarch could hold us all responsible. Catla was no fool. She knew Teeta was going to make an attempt on her life, so she had Flame impregnated in the event that she actually succeeded. She would have done the same thing if she were placed in Catla’s position.” This was said as she gestured to the still- smoking body of her fallen leader.

  “Still, you must die, Flame. One day, for your daughter’s sake, you might decide to take a trip back to our homeworld and expose us to gain your child’s power and place within the House of Ice. We cannot allow that to happen, Flame, for you see, we will be the heroines of the House of Ice. We will return your daughter to her grateful family after we tell them that we had to kill the power-hungry Teeta. We will tell them that she managed to kill Catla as well as all of you before we could stop her, that her mind had been warped and corrupted with the need for power. I wish that we could help you, but we have our own positions to think of, Flame. I’m sure you will understand.”

&n
bsp; She nodded to the other woman to keep her sights on Flame. “And I will enjoy watching your pain as I kill the earthwoman first. She is an annoyance and needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.”

  She pointed the weapon at a startled Kendall whose headache and nausea grew to dizzying proportions. She knew that she was staring death in the face, so to speak, and that she would never see her Flame or her precious babies again. She closed her eyes and braced herself for her trip to the afterlife.

  “No!” Flame felt all the ties to the laws that bound him to such women evaporate as the power in him begged to be set free.

  His primitive need to protect drowned out all training that had been bred into him since childhood. The energies rose steadily throughout his body as his eyes glowed from within with the unholy light of power that demanded release. His flame red hair stood out on end as a violent trembling shook the ground. The air around them became still in anticipation, as the Keeper of the Flame unleashed his awesome deadly power.

  Kendall looked to Flame at the sound of his loud objection, and felt her world tilt on its axis. The gentle soft-spoken man she knew was no more, replaced by the human fire torch that stood protectively in front of her. She could feel his power, so familiar to her after all the passionate love making that they shared, vibrate throughout his body in full force. She could feel a dry heat, almost comforting in its warmth and terrifying in its intensity, seep into her pores and envelop her trembling body. What had these foolish women unleashed?

  A small dome of white light circled Flame. Kendall, who had fallen to her knees, stared in amazement at the sight of Flame in all his glory. Her startled eyes could not adjust to the brilliant white that surrounded them. She covered her face with her hands just as Grilla began firing her weapon.

  Screaming, Grilla shot wildly at the freighting apparition that seemed to grow right before her very eyes. The beams from her weapon struck, without causing visible damage. In fact, it looked as though the swirling light absorbed the energy of the blast. She was now facing the wrath of a true Keeper.