Rahni closed his eyes and shook his head. “Never underestimate the power of a fool. Yorik is the same way. Ten people have already been killed over this.”
“Maybe I should leave.”
“Don’t. I’m glad you’re here. Maybe Royce will listen to you, since he wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Even if he listens to me, he won’t be able to convince those people who turned against you. He would have to stand against half the Clan. He won’t do that.”
“I don’t know how he’ll deal with this situation. It’s a mess, either way. I only know I have to finish this challenge, and that means putting Yorik in his grave. I’m glad you’re here, even if Royce doesn’t listen to you. I’m glad I don’t have to face this alone.”
“You’re not alone. You have your mate here, and Connal and his son and grandsons to support you.”
“It’s not the same as having your own Clan, your own family.”
Rohn turned to Moira. “You don’t know how delighted I am to find you here. The last time I saw you, you were near death in Rahni’s nest. Your friends all think you’re dead. I’m sure Rose and Reyna will be equally delighted to know you’re safe.”
“Rose and Reyna? Aren’t they gone? We saw General Duncan land in front of the Keep. Didn’t she take them back with her?”
“General Duncan came to withdraw the team, but Rose and Reyna decided to stay.”
“What made them do that? They must realize they’ll be cut off from the Allies with no way to get back.”
Rohn smiled. “You’re not the only woman on your team to find love on this planet. Rose is staying as my mate, and Reyna is staying with Damen. Even young Ben decided to stay and be mated with Asya.”
Moira’s mind reeled. “This is incredible. I thought I was the only one. I thought I was alone.”
“No one is alone here. You’re mated to my brother. That makes you part of our Clan.”
Just then, Royce strode into the hall with Rarik and Connal, but Rohn and Rahni clenched their fists at the sight of Tam and Yorik coming behind them. “What are they doing here?”
“This is a Council of War,” Royce replied. “The leaders of our Clan all need to know what’s going on. Since Rohn backs up your message about the coming invasion, I have no choice but to arm for war. Tam will be patriarch in my place after I’m gone, and I think you know Connal’s son Joon and his three grandsons.” He waved to another group entering the hall last. “These are Ulf, Tuva, and Kassin.”
Rohn nodded to the three young men standing with their father behind Connal. Moira recognized them from the battle in the breakfast hall. “We know them all.”
“The time has come to put aside our differences and face this threat as a united Clan. Your father’s message to close ranks against the Allies is a good one. We must all delay and refuse cooperation unless all the Clans on the planet agree to negotiate.”
“The other Clans won’t close ranks if you don’t send fliers to inform them of the danger,” Rohn replied. “That is my father’s message. He sent me here to tell you to send three or four fliers to the next four Keeps. If you can’t spare any more than three, I will fly onward to spread the word. As long as some of the northern Clans don’t know the threat exists, the Allies can still gain a toehold on this planet by ingratiating themselves with ignorant Clans.”
“I can’t send fliers now,” Royce replied. “We have a challenge underway.”
“You don’t need fliers for that. This is more important than any challenge”
Royce closed his mouth and faced Rarik. “I’m leaving the preparations to you. Gather all our weapons stores in the Keep’s lower levels, and step up the fliers’ training. Set watches around the landing bays to keep a lookout for any Allies ships surveying the planet.”
Rohn swelled up to twice his size. “None of that will matter if the Allies win another Clan to their way of thinking. They almost had Clan Harkniss, and they would have succeeded if these three human women hadn’t decided to join us.”
Royce grimaced. “Maybe the other Clans will offer some of their men to mate with women from the Allies. Maybe you think that’s the more effective way to defeat them than fighting them.”
Connal exploded. “How can you joke about this when all our lives hang in the balance?”
Rohn kept his voice steady. “We can’t fight these Allies. They have the military might of hundreds of planets and all the technology we don’t have. It was Rose Cooper who came up with the strategy to align all the Clans together in a common strategy. She came up with the idea to obfuscate, to gain time and delay them so they never gain a foothold on our planet. We wouldn’t stand a chance if we didn’t have these women advising us.”
Tam darted forward. “So now you want to start taking advice from women? Maybe you should join them in the Keeps and leave the fighting to the men.”
Royce raised his hand for quiet. “This arguing gets us nowhere. I’m in charge here, and I make the decisions. We can’t move until we settle this challenge. Rahni and Yorik will meet again tomorrow morning. In the meantime, Rarik will prepare our battlements to repel any presence from the Allies.” He held up his hand once more to stop Rohn interrupting. “That’s my final word. Now all of you go home. We’ll finish this challenge in the morning.”
Everyone filed out and left Rohn and Rahni alone in the hall with Moira. Rohn’s shoulders slumped. “This is the worst disaster imaginable.”
Rahni didn’t answer. He stared after the receding procession. Rohn’s head shot up, and he studied his brother. Then he sighed again. “I shouldn’t have brought this up. You have more important things to worry about.”
Rahni shook himself out of his trance. “At least I’ll have you behind me tomorrow.”
“Don’t tell me you were worried about that black puffball.”
“I wasn’t worried, but I won’t rest easy until I see him on his back.”
Moira spoke up. “Thanks for trying, anyways. We can only hope for the best tomorrow. Hopefully, after you settle this challenge, Royce will see the light and take this threat seriously.”
Rohn snorted. “If he doesn’t take it seriously now, how can we count on him after this challenge is over? He’ll just find some other distraction to get in the way of doing what he has to do. He’s useless. We ought to depose him and put Connal in his place.”
Rahni turned around to face him. “Don’t talk like that around here, and don’t let anyone else hear you talking like that. Don’t let me hear another word about deposing Royce. We have enough to worry about with Tam and Yorik, and I’m in this position now because Tam thinks we want to depose his family. Don’t make it worse by confirming his worst fears.”
Rohn’s eyes flashed and he opened his mouth to reply, but when he saw the expression on Rahni’s face, he wilted. “All right. I’m sorry. I’ll follow your lead.”
“You better.”
Moira watched the interplay between the brothers. Rahni’s tone surprised Rohn. He never took Rahni any more seriously than the rest of his relatives. Everyone expected Rohn to take over Clan Harkniss. Now Rahni asserted his authority for the first time and told his brother what to do. He would take over as patriarch after all, against all odds.
Rahni went back to staring at the place Yorik disappeared. He couldn’t get his mind off the challenge. He would concentrate on Yorik and nothing else until he defeated his cousin in battle. He wandered in that direction without a word to Moira or Rohn.
Rohn frowned at his brother. “I’ve never seen him like this.”
“He’s been like this since this morning. He went down to the Great Hall long before the challenge, and he hasn’t taken his eyes off Yorik since. He’s crossed over into a different world where only he and Yorik exist. He won’t come out until he defeats Yorik or Yorik kills him.”
“I only wish I’d gotten here a few hours sooner.”
“It wouldn’t make any difference. Nothing would have made any difference unless Rahni
and I never came here.”
“He wouldn’t be the man he is now if you hadn’t. I can see that. You made him the way he is. He never would have faced Yorik before. Tam and Yorik would never have seen him as a threat if he hadn’t met you.”
“That’s nice of you to say, but now his life is in danger because of me. Sometimes I wish none of this ever happened.”
“This will pass. He’ll defeat Yorik, and you two will come home with me. You’ll see your friends again, and our Clan will thrive.”
Rohn went to his own room in a different part of the Keep, and Moira wandered back toward the quarters she shared with Rahni. On the way, she noticed groups of people whispering and nodding toward her.
She came upon Pariri and Carila walking side by side toward her, but when she stopped to talk to them, they walked right past her without saying anything. Pariri made a sour face and swept her eyes down to Moira’s feet and back up to her face, but Carila looked straight ahead and pretended not to see Moira at all.
Moira’s heart sank, and she turned her feet toward home with a heavy heart. She would follow Rahni’s advice and lock herself in her room until tomorrow. Whatever the outcome of the challenge, she would leave this Keep tomorrow and return to Clan Harkniss. That’s where she belonged now. She didn’t belong here, with enemies hemming her in on all sides.
A little farther along the same passage, she came upon Tam and Yorik with their heads together. Yorik glanced over his shoulder at Moira, but he gave no sign even of recognizing her. Rahni must be right. Yorik got what he wanted when he dragged Rahni into a fight to the death. He didn’t really care about Moira at all.
That realization should have left her relieved, but being used as a political pawn by these unprincipled brats annoyed her no end. How dare they! How dare Yorik attack her, for no other reason than to provoke Rahni. Didn’t he have any scruples at all?
Moira turned away from them to find Orana coming toward her. Moira shrank from confronting Royce’s wife, but Orana marched right up to Moira with flashing eyes. “Don’t pay any attention to them. They’re idiots for ignoring your message. I told Royce that, but he won’t even listen to me.”
Moira’s eyes widened. “Really? I thought maybe there was something wrong with the messenger.”
“The only thing wrong is he didn’t think of it himself. Now he has to throw more obstacles in the way by refusing to send out fliers until after the challenge. He turns against anyone and anything that interferes with his plans.”
“That’s what Rarik said. He told us he agrees with us, but he has to remain silent to keep his position with Royce.”
“Well, I don’t have to keep my position and I don’t have to remain silent. After all, what can he really do to his own wife? I’ve given him half a dozen children and dozens of grandchildren. I can tell him to his face he’s being an obstinate old fool.”
“How did he react to that?”
“He blew up, of course.” Orana chuckled. “He ranted and raved and threatened the way he always does, but he can’t do anything about it. Once Rahni wins the challenge, Royce will have no choice but to send out fliers to warn the other Keeps the way Rohn told him to. He’ll have to put the expansion on hold while we arm and prepare for invasion.”
“I wish I was as certain as you that Rahni will win the challenge. Yorik is bigger and stronger than he is.”
“Bigger and stronger doesn’t win fights.” Orana tapped her greying temple. “This wins fights, and Rahni has that all over Yorik. He always has.”
“That doesn’t do me a lot of good. No one in this Keep will even talk to me anymore. The women I thought were my friends think I provoked Yorik into challenging Rahni.”
“If they really think that, you’re better off without them. If you want to come talk to someone, you come and talk to me. Connal’s wife Rega and Tuva’s wife Alana support you, too.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to know somebody out there supports us.”
“A lot more people support you than you might think. You just have to look beneath the surface.”
Chapter 13
Moira got all the way back to her room when she spotted Rahni farther down the passage. He stood in a circle in the big bay window at the far end of the passage with Connal’s three strapping young grandsons, Ulf, Tuva, and Kassin. Rahni wasn’t as tall or burly as they, but he commanded their attention with his presence. They kept their eyes locked on his face while he spoke to them.
Moira couldn’t understand what he was talking about. “And don’t bunch up, either. Spread out. Don’t give them a single target. If you get too close to each other, they’ll surround you. Play to their weaknesses. Their great strength is their numbers, so we have to turn that into a weakness. Spread them out and keep them busy. Don’t let them trap you into depending on each other. Any one of you can take four or five of them, but the three of you together can’t take all of them working in unison.”
Tuva nodded. “Yes, sir. You can count on us.”
Rahni clapped him on the shoulder. “Good.”
At first, she thought he meant the Allies. Could he be planning an alternate strategy to defend the planet? Then she understood. He was giving them orders for the next day’s challenge. He expected Tam and Yorik’s sons to make trouble, and these three young men gave him his only support.
Moira counted up the number of men who would stand behind Rahni tomorrow. In addition to these three, he had Rohn and Connal. That was all he could expect to cover his back against Tam and Yorik’s sons, not to mention all their cousins, nephews and other distant Clansmen.
In the middle of Rahni’s orders, Rarik appeared. He frowned at the little group. “What are you all doing standing around here? Every able-bodied man should be downstairs getting armed and receiving orders to respond in case of invasion.”
Ulf nodded to Rahni and followed Rarik. “We’re coming.”
Rahni watched them out of sight. When he turned around, he smiled at Moira, but she recognized that far-away mist in his eyes. He still traversed the Great Hall floor in search of Yorik’s blood. He wouldn’t return to her until he found it.
They entered their room together. Moira sat down on the bed, but Rahni went to the window and gazed out over the frozen landscape. A kaleidoscope of shimmering icicles reflected the sun in rainbow prisms over the jagged ice spires, but he didn’t see any of that. He saw only Yorik.
Moira watched him, but he didn’t move. He didn’t even know she was there. She tiptoed up behind him and put her arms around his waist. She nuzzled her face into his back and took a deep breath of his pungent dragon scent.
That scent smarted in her nostrils stronger today than she remembered since he first brought her to his mountaintop nest. He changed to fight Yorik, and some residue of the dragon clung to him. It would remain until he removed the threat hanging over his head.
He leaned his head back against hers and stroked her hands across his chest, but he didn’t turn around or speak to her. She hardly recognized him. So, this was what taking over as leader of his Clan did to him. It changed him into a hardened fighter. Everyone saw it. Even Rohn, who spent his life preparing to take over his Clan when his father died, bowed to the new Rahni.
How did she become this, the consort of a dragon lord? How did she get caught up in these political intrigues of competing loyalty and betrayal? Would it always be like this from now on?
At least she had Rose and Reyna to look forward to back at Harkniss Keep. She wouldn’t face this unknown future alone after all. So, Rose fell in love with Rohn and Reyna fell in love with Damen. She wasn’t the only human woman to fall under the spell of these dominant men.
Rahni pried her arms away, and her heart sank. He would drift farther away now, and she wouldn’t see him again until after the challenge. Maybe she wouldn’t see him again at all.
He didn’t pull away, though. He turned around inside her arms to embrace her himself. He gazed into her eyes and kissed her, but even then, he
was long gone.
Without looking, he removed her clothes. She displayed her nubile flesh to his touch and his eyes. Maybe that would bring him back to her. She would feed him her strength for tomorrow. He could take what he needed from her, and she would ask nothing in return.
She searched his eyes for some sign of the man she knew and loved, but found only this warrior instead. The red dragon smoldered just beneath his skin. When he kissed her, the swirling shapes and organic forms showed the dragon’s pointed face and spiked head. Smoke roiled from his nostrils.
His tongue explored inside her mouth in search of anything he could use against Yorik. It found her churning passion and drank it down in one gulp. He licked around her mouth and nibbled at her lips and tongue. She offered him an untapped well of energy, and he merged it with his own to become more dominant and unstoppable than ever.
Nothing could stand against his power. He devastated every obstacle with his straightforward gaze. He had only to lock his eyes on what he wanted, and it fell into his hands. Everyone saw it in the Great Hall. Even Yorik saw it and could not stand still before his own inevitable defeat.
Rahni lifted Moira off the floor with massive arms. He set her on his hips with her legs wrapped around her waist. She couldn’t look into those eyes anymore. He devastated her, too, with his fierce glare, and she crumbled into his hands.
He kissed her while he appraised her naked body with his hands. He checked it over and judged what to use and what to leave alone for now. He cupped her breast to his mouth and snacked on her nipple.
Moira moaned and writhed, but he held her where he wanted her. His teeth brought the slippery jiz to her nether lips, and she tortured her clitoris against his crotch. He propped her against the window frame and jammed it into her with rapid strokes.
He held her against the frame to free his hands, and he attacked his pants to free his brutal cock against her. It never raged so big and hard. His own dominion made it bigger and more powerful than ever.
As soon as he let it loose, it took on a mind of its own. It embodied his indomitable will to conquer, and she would be his first conquest. She would be the first domino to fall before his kingship. They both knew it. Everything else was just formality.
Rhani (Dragons of Kratak Book 3) Page 9