Child of Fire, Child of Ice-A Sci-fi Romance Series (The Waljan Chronicles Book 1)

by JB Trepagnier

  “Botak gave me—”

  She cut him off by grabbing the back of his head and claiming his lips. If he was as nervous as she was, they’d sit there talking all night instead of kissing. If just kissing Elan sent that many sparks throughout her body, she couldn’t imagine what was going to happen when they went further. Maybe the bond wasn’t a total lie.

  Chapter 10

  Elan woke up tangled up with Isolde. Botak wouldn’t even let him try to kiss a courtesan in secret because he thought it would mess up the bond. Kissing Isolde was his first kiss and he thought maybe it was hers too. He regretted breaking it and pulling away, but what she had said about waiting was making a little sense. The bond with Tati was just as difficult as with her bond animal. It shouldn’t be that easy with them or arranged marriages would be easier. It was also hard to break away because the deeper he kissed her, the more Isolde started to writhe against him.

  She pouted when he stopped kissing her, but she rolled over so he could spoon her back when he suggested they get some sleep. Now that the night was over, their legs were twisted together and her long hair was draped over his chest tickling him. He decided to study her face while she slept. She had delicate, doll-like features for someone who was such a fierce fighter. When he ran his fingers through her hair, it was silky and soft.

  She moaned and her eyes fluttered open when he brushed it off her forehead. “Hi,” she said, smiling when she saw him.

  “Breakfast will be here soon. You should get to the straw pallet and hide that nightgown under the blanket.”

  “Kicking me out the bed so soon?” she asked, giving him a feathery soft kiss before she snuck over to the straw pallet. She pulled the covers over her just in time for someone to start pounding on the door.

  It was the captain of the guard, not a servant, but he was pushing a tray with breakfast. Ace glared at him like he wanted to say something, but thought he was above bringing food in to do it. He glanced over at the straw pallet and Isolde was pretending to be asleep.

  “Boy, someone needs to say something to you and it appears no one wants to. If you want to spend your time playing instead of learning to fight, that’s up to you. You’ll be a weak king and you won’t last. But this?” he asked, gesturing towards Isolde. “This has to stop. If you’re getting urges you don’t understand, go to the courtesans. They’ll play whatever games you still play and let you work them out. This girl is pretty, but she’s not here for that. You’re going to put your bastard baby in her because you don’t know better. Your mother is going to allow that child to be born because it’s probably the only one you’ll ever have. That child will be a monster and destroy this entire planet.”

  There was only one way to get rid of Ace and he didn’t want to do it in front of Isolde. He hoped she didn’t open her eyes. He clenched his hands into fists and stamped his feet. He started howling for his mother that Ace was being horrid and trying to take away his toys. He could cry on command by now and started wailing that Ace was saying mean things to him and about his new toy.

  He needed to put out this fire or all of his people would revolt before he and Isolde were ready to be public. “My toy is better than you! She plays dollies with me and we’re going to play hide and seek later! Why would my toy be anything like those dirty courtesans?”

  He knew it would just be another thing for them to make fun of behind his back. He had a beautiful, forbidden slave girl in his chambers and they were playing children’s games. He made it seem like he thought sex was dirty and would never have it with her.

  “Yes, of course,” Ace said, clearing his throat. His eyes were rapidly darting around the room looking to make a quick exit. “You just want to play regular games with her, not the games I thought. Keep in mind what I said, son. If your mother won’t let you grow up, you come to me and I’ll teach you. It’s the only way you’ll last as king.”

  Ace made a hasty exit and Elan pushed the cart over to the table. He felt Isolde’s cool arms go around his waist before he could start moving bowls to the table.

  “How am I supposed to know if you’re lying to me when you can put on a show like that? You’re better than any performer I’ve seen on Avala.”

  “Easy,” he said, whirling around to kiss her now that she was letting him. “I’ll never lie to you and I hope you get to the point you’re comfortable telling me things.”

  Her eyes dropped and she pulled away. She always withdrew when he tried to get serious with her about their relationship. She started plating her food and asking what it was.

  “You said we were playing hide and seek today. Isn’t that code for training or hunting? What are we really doing?”

  “I’m not taking you out in the open where someone could put a spear through you. We’re doing espionage today.”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him and grinned. “Your secret passage, my mind reading, and your ability to move things with your mind?”

  “In time. We need to talk to either Botak or my mother to find out if they suspect anything in the faction.”

  “If Botak threatens to beat me again, I will hurt him. And I’ll be upset with you if you stop me again.”

  “He knows better now. Let me get him on COMM like I need him in here to deal with my meltdown.”

  “You really were brilliant,” she said, catching his hand as he walked past her to get his COMM. Now that she was willingly touching him, he never wanted her to stop. She squeezed his hand and went back to eating. Her green eyes were locked on his face as he dialed Botak.

  “Get in here. I had to make a scene in front of Ace and Isolde has some interesting revelations. She wasn’t the only one lied to,” he snapped. He slammed the COMM down and went back to eating, then realized she was staring at him. He met her eyes not knowing why she was staring.

  “You have so many layers,” she said, avoiding his eyes again. “You’ve got the performer, the man who sparred with me, the firm side you show Botak when you’re angry, and the lover.”

  “And when did you meet the lover, Isolde?”

  Her eyes came up to meet his again. “Then who was it that kissed me like that last night? And stopped it.”

  He chuckled. “I stopped because you said you wanted to wait and it didn’t seem like you were going to. Did you like it when I kissed you?”

  He knew she did, he just wanted her to say it. She deflected like she always did. “I would have stopped when I was ready.”

  He sighed. That was something they would need to work on. There was a hard knock on the door. He assumed it was Botak, but he asked for a name in a whiny, upset voice just in case it wasn’t. He let Botak in and he just brushed past him to eat food he wasn’t invited to eat. He glared at Isolde in her nightgown.

  “Did you do it? Complete the bond?” he demanded, grabbing her arm. It looked like it was hurting her. Her hand was out in a flash and she had Botak’s finger twisted back. He was sweating and it looked like it hurt.

  “If you lay a finger on me again, I’ll break something. Your hand, your pretty face, I don’t care. Whatever is close,” she snapped, throwing his hand at his face.

  He brought his wounded hand to his face and glared at her. “Jovin swore you would cooperate. He said you knew your duty.”

  “You and Jovin don’t know what you think you know,” she snapped. “You’ve been ordering Elan and I around for years and you don’t even know who’s been pulling your strings.”

  “I can’t talk to her,” Botak swore. “Elan, what is she talking about?”

  “Botak, you’re going to need to learn to address your future queen. She obviously doesn’t like being manhandled by you.”

  “So, you did complete the bond,” Botak said, grabbing Elan this time. He looked like he was desperate for one of them to confirm it.

  “If Elan doesn’t like you touching him either, I’ll break your face for him,” Isolde promised.

  Elan had been scared of Botak for the longest time. Botak had never beaten him
like Isolde had apparently been beaten, but Elan was obedient and never challenged anything for the longest time. Maybe the bond had already started if Isolde knew this and was trying to protect him. He didn’t feel any different.

  “Both of you are upset with me and I don’t think it’s because of something I did.”

  Elan took the lead this time. “You come in here grabbing her and demanding to know if I bedded her and you think you’ve done nothing wrong? You should have asked what she’s discovered in the short time she’s been here instead of worrying about sex.”

  Botak rubbed his temples with his fingers and looked entirely irritated with the both of them. “So, tell me what she’s learned that I don’t know?” he asked in choppy words.

  “My mother is in the faction for one. So is Isolde’s mother. There is possibly a mole in the faction that is also part of the underground. They might know who I am and who you are.”

  “Impossible! Faction members go through heavy vetting on both planets. Even I don’t know who all is in the faction. The underground couldn’t get into the faction if they knew about us if they tried. We interrogate them with truth serum from Avala. They would have slipped.”

  “The underground may not be able to breach the faction because of the serum, but it’s entirely possible one of the faction has defected into the underground and the underground knows what they are allowed to know. Sartika has cameras everywhere Elan trains and frequents. If they are linked to a satellite, it would just be an issue of picking up the right frequency for anyone in the underground to watch everything Elan is doing. I refuse to discuss anything further until we know Sartika turned off the cameras in Elan’s chambers like she promised.”

  Botak looked like he wanted to strangle her. “She’s right. Anyone could be listening to us,” Elan said.

  “You’re hiding something, Botak,” Isolde said. “Jovin told you I can hear thoughts and you’re trying to keep me from hearing something. I can force it out of you, but it’s not pleasant for either of us.”

  What was Isolde playing at? Botak had been pushing for this since he could understand what he was saying. It was Botak that gave him the forbidden book to teach him how to please her. Botak taught him everything he knew. He just let this play out because he didn’t know what she was up to.

  “What are you hiding, Botak? If I force it out of you, it will hurt.”

  Botak sat there with his arms crossed refusing to talk. He didn’t react when Isolde stood and placed her hands on his head. Botak went totally rigid and Isolde’s eyes went white instead of green. Isolde was totally stiff and Botak was shaking like he was having some sort of fit. Isolde’s voice came out cold when she spoke.

  “Botak joined the faction when he was sixteen. Your father died when he was twenty-one. Botak only has two contacts within the faction. He speaks to my uncle Jovin and Galih in the faction here. Before you were born, Galih told him the sixteen children might be special. He warned him since he was your cousin, he should take an interest in you. It was Galih that told him you needed to be seen as weak to your people. Most of your training that Botak did with you came from Galih. Botak and Galih are in a secret relationship. They would be burned if the council found out. This is what he hid from me. He doesn’t know about your mother or the cameras, but Galih might.”

  Isolde let go of Botak’s head and collapsed in a chair. Botak finally came to his senses and wiped his bloody nose with a cloth. Once he was in control again, he glared at her.

  “Are you satisfied now? I don’t think Galih knew about the cameras either. All you’ve done is expose me to my king and risk my life.”

  “Botak, I’m getting rid of that law when I’m king. No arranged marriages, nothing that prevents people from loving who they want,” Elan said, putting his hand over Botak’s. “When I’m king, you and Galih can be together.”

  “We have the same law on Avala,” Isolde said, eating her eggs again. “It’s outdated and unneeded. It’s still in place because it produces children. When my people join yours, it won’t matter. I’m with Elan on this. Can you get Galih in here?”

  “Not if you’re going to do that to him! There’s no excuse to bring him in here with the story we have out about Elan and it’s not safe for you out in the forest. I’ll go talk to Galih. You two, sit tight.”

  “You underestimate her, cousin. With my passage, we have access to the entire palace. She can read what people are thinking and you know what I can do. Go to Galih and we’ll go into the passage.”

  “You think they don’t know about the passage?”

  “Just go, we’ll handle it.”

  He grabbed Isolde’s hand and helped her through the entrance in the armoire. She glanced at his costume again, but kept going. They stopped at every room in the palace and she was able to let him know if anyone was in there or they were wasting their time. They had been listening between the walls for hours and she kept saying she wasn’t hearing anything. She wanted to be taken to the area underneath the castle where the fighting pits were held, even if there was no fighting at this hour.

  She stiffened outside the wall. “There’s a man and a woman in there,” she whispered. “I don’t have names. The man has always been underground and the woman started faction. She’s been training one of your sixteen. Nia? She loves Nia like her own. Her target is us.”

  “I know Nia. Botak tells me about her. She can use her flame to make pretty lights in the sky. She can’t move things with her mind like I do, but she can plant pleasant images. The woman you’re hearing, Meida, she’s supposed to have been teaching her to plant beautiful images into the sick and dying. Make their transition easier.”

  “Nia is not her target. She thinks Nia’s purpose is to make pretty things and she loves her for it. Meida knows about our bond. The man wants to throw you into captivity and force you to give them the gifts you have. They think it will give them the knowledge to fix the swarms and they won’t have to leave. The faction knows the paradise planet is real. They’ve had people on the ground. The underground has only heard about it from Meida. They think it’s a fairy tale. A pipe dream. It’s not real.”

  “Do they know my secret?”

  “No, that is where this gets strange. They think you are this way because your mother doesn’t want you to have the gifts of the sixteen. They’ve bought the lie you sold. They think you are weak and don’t know how to use your gifts. They believe the lie I was told. That I was going to get here, seduce you, and teach you to use fire. Their target is me, not you. They think you are weak now and if I get you to sleep with me, you’ll be under my spell. They won’t be able to use you to gift fire. You’ll want the alliance because I do.”

  “The man in the mask, my costume, was them?”

  “They are dying to know what is going on in your chamber. You haven’t rejected me yet and you pitched that rather public fit. You made it sound like we weren’t sleeping together and you found that disgusting. They know it won’t happen for a while. Be quiet! They are thinking and talking about the attack on Avala!”

  There were two peepholes in the wall, so he pointed them out to her and they each took one.

  “What is taking the Avalian scientists so long? They’ve had Engkus’ body for months now and they haven’t figured out if there is a gene they can tweak to give fire?” the man said.

  “Hikmat, you know neither of us knows what that entails. Engkus might not even have that gene. It would be easier if we could send them Elan,” Meida argued.

  Isolde gave a little protective growl and Elan squeezed her shoulder. “Over my dead body!”

  “Um, Isolde, that’s what they want. Your dead body and me in the hands of Avalian scientists.”

  “Because they don’t know how science works on Avala. They don’t experiment on the living. They could deliver you in chains to the big glass science building and say you are the key to getting everyone’s gifts back. It’s an ethics thing. They would test you on things that were easy and wou
ldn’t hurt you, but they wouldn’t cut into you like the dead because you are alive.”

  “Our science is quite far behind yours, but can’t they get my DNA without hurting me?”

  “Yes, but they won’t. They won’t give the Cendians their fire back because they know they would use it to attack. They definitely wouldn’t give it back if they brought you in chains and wanted them to hurt you for that information. I think the man they sent died because he wanted to and this may open the door for more experiments on my people, but the Avalian scientists are not going to want data out there for how to give your people fire back.”

  “We aren’t supposed to give that back either, right? Has anyone said something like that to you? I was under the impression we lead our people to paradise. We start the tradition of mixing by you and I having a child, then let the people follow. We create a new race of people on a paradise planet that can handle things like swarms and dirty water.”

  “Elan, I don’t think we are meant to just handle the paradise planet. We need to give it a name, by the way. I think we a meant to fix Cendis and Avala too. Your swarm problems could be solved by manipulating a deep freeze. I still don’t know how to fix our water problem. All of our solutions have only been temporary. The water just gets deadly again.”

  “You need charcoal. Someone with fire can easily make it for you. You filter your water through that and you’ll never get sick again.”

  “And Sartika withheld that information why?” she snapped.

  “She didn’t know, Isolde. Botak and I have been trying to figure out your water problem. We both knew there would be people on Cendis and Avala who don’t want to leave. The least we could do is let them stay on a planet that won’t kill them.”

  “You surprise me all the time, Elan,” she said softly. “It would be easier if I could touch Meida and really dig through her thoughts. I can only hear what she’s thinking right this minute unless I’m touching her.”

  He walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He shared her peephole. Now, it was his turn to impress her. “Watch this,” he whispered in her ear. He remembered last night when she nipped at his ear. It surprised him and sent jolts through his entire body. He nipped at the tip of her ear while she relaxed back into his chest.