Tournament of Fire

by Toni L. Meilleur

  “Can you use your magic in the tournament?’

  “Nay. ‘Tis forbidden. We are only allowed to use the brute strength and cunning the gods gave us.” The last of the armor clanked to the floor. “The gods were most especially kind to Ghort.” He sighed heavily now, peeling the protective garments off that kept the armor from chafing him. Kegan cringed at the bruises that adorned his body.

  “I thought you said Keir had gone soft? Looks to me he got in quite a few hits.” She stood and walked around him, perusing the injuries.

  “Keir did not give me all these bruises. It was five men I was fighting, I cannot deflect every blow, little one.” He laughed.

  “You fought five men at once?” Kegan asked in awe. Da’rak was definitely an alpha male. She felt herself getting aroused.

  “You’ve no idea what Ghort is like. Metinaan are a big, strong people and he is big even for a Metinaan.” He went into the cleaning area in the chamber to cleanse his dirty, sweaty body. Kegan followed close behind. Insisting on running his bath for him. It was a small pool with steps that led down into it. It looked to be made of black granite. It was big enough for five people to bathe comfortably. She made the water a little hotter to soothe his muscles and bruises.

  Da’rak felt Kegan settle in behind him as she began to gently wash his body. Her hands on him, despite the gloves, felt like paradise. He felt his penis growing strong just having her this near and touching him. That would have to wait, for now.

  Kegan talked lightly telling him of her day spent with the servants. Da’rak ordered food for them both through the small box that Kegan had no idea what it was for, until now. She kissed him in the places that were especially bruised and he loved the feel of her lips on him, anywhere. He would be glad when this business was over with. He wanted to spend time with her, get to know her. He wanted his time alone with his shanzah.

  He allowed her to wash his hair and every part of his body. By the time she was finished drying him off, he wanted to throw her on the floor and bury himself in her, but he could not. Truth be told, he was bone tired and tomorrow would be more of the same. Ghort was a formidable enemy. When a knock sounded on the door, he insisted upon answering it himself, just to be safe. Elgia handed him the tray of food and he nodded gratefully. Elgia could be trusted. She had prepared the food herself.

  He watched Kegan as she ate. Her hands still gloved and his heart truly broke for her. How must it be to have your hands like that all the time? He would speak to Lode. He hated revealing something so personal about his queen, but she could not live her life that way. Surely the Elder healer would have a way to fix that.

  After they partook of their meal, Kegan insisted that he go to bed. He held her close and whispered softly to her until she fell asleep. He joined her soon after, but not before promising himself he would do whatever it took to win. If he did not win the tournament, her life would be forfeit as his would be, and Da’rak could not let that happen. Suddenly the tournament was no longer about his regaining his crown; it was about him keeping his wife alive

  Chapter Nine

  Though it had been so easy to fall asleep in Da’raks’ arms, it proved to be something of a task to remain sleeping. For a reason Kegan could not fathom, she had abruptly woken up and could not fall back asleep. Eventually the need to relieve her full bladder prompted her to find her way to the cleaning chamber. Being in the room for almost forty-eight hours straight, one would think she’d know it by heart and not manage to hit every sharp corner in the room. Eventually, however severely bruised from her ankle to her knees, Kegan stumbled into the cleaning chamber. The lights automatically came on and dimmed as if sensing her blind state at the sudden onslaught of light.

  After tending to her bathroom needs, Kegan splashed warm water on her face to help induce sleep. Hell, she was always sleepy as hell after a bath anyway, it was worth a shot. The eerie sound of hissing barely reached her preoccupied mind. She stood stock still, trying to find out where the noise was coming from. Lowering the soft cloth she had used to dry her face onto the sink, Kegan slowly turned around. The scream that immediately rose was stopped by her own gloved hand.

  The creature was hideous and Kegan was being kind. It looked to be about four feet in length and the way it moved its wiggly body brought on a wave of disgust. Half of its body looked like a long rat’s tail, the upper half resembled a centipede. Two long, antennae-like protrusions waggled in an agitated fashion. But the most horrifying of all was the huge yellow eyes that didn’t blink. The gaping jaw with only two long incisors opened and snapped closed only to repeat the process. What. The. Hell. Was. It?

  Whatever it was seemed focused on her. It began to move slowly towards her, its jaw still gaping, a fine stream of mucus flowing from the corner of its mouth. Kegan stood ice still. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out if she moved quickly, so would it. And with its many legs, she no doubt knew it would reach her long before she made it out of the door.

  The creature took its stance directly across the path to the door, directly down the middle. She’d have to come much too close to it to make it out of the door. It hissed at her again. Kegan’s panic began to blossom full fledge. Her heart beat a wild tattoo in her chest. Her breathing became quick and shallow. She prayed to whatever god this planet had that she wouldn’t pass out and wake up dead. Visions of the creature tearing her apart while she slept gave her another wave of chills. The creature’s thick, rat-like tail began to twitch furiously as its hisses grew louder.

  In slow motion, Kegan watched the creature use its tail to launch off the floor and straight at her face. She held up her hands in a defensive maneuver and waited for its teeth to sink into her arm. Only it never came. She opened her eyes to find the creature pinned to the wall across from her, Juchon embedded deeply in its body. Da’rak stood in the doorway, his eyes a dark lavender as he rushed to her side.

  “My shanzah, did it bite you? Please tell me you are all right.” He gathered her stiff body into his arms, her eyes still trained on the creature nailed to the wall. She felt her body shaking and chastised herself for acting like such a girl. Oh hell, she was a girl. Kegan allowed her body to collapse into Da’rak.

  “What was that thing?” Kegan asked, her voice muffled against his chest.

  “It is a mula serpent,” Da’rak answered, leading her out of the cleaning chamber.

  “Was it in here the whole time?” Kegan shuddered to think that thing had been in here with her two days and she’d had no idea. “Are they like pests here like the rats we have back on Earth?” She sure as hell hoped not. There were pests and then there were pests.

  “I doubt it. I believe it was put here as we slept. No doubt meant for you.” Da’rak sighed heavily and, with a wave of his hand, bade all the lights in the chambers to come one. He set her on the bed—feet up of course—while he checked the rest of the apartment. After being satisfied no other dangers lurked, he sat next to her on the bed.

  “Why do you naturally assume I was the one trying to be hurt? After all you’re the one trying to be king again.” Kegan knew it was silly, but why did it have to be her?

  “Because the bite of a mula does not affect a sorcerer.”

  “Then what can be gained from my death? Surely your assassins do not believe you’re so in love with me, that you would be too devastated to fight?” Though she hated sounding so flippant, Kegan knew his feelings for her did not run that deep. It was well she got that in the open more for herself to remember.

  Da’rak looked at his shanzah and shook his hand. While he admitted he did not know the depth of his feelings for her, he suspected they ran very deep. He briefly remembered the feeling of his mark on his chest painfully pulsing in response to her fear, his heart nearly coming out of his throat when he saw the serpent attacking her. It was time he was a little more forthcoming with information about the bonding. He knew she was under the impression that they had married in some flimsy primitive way—he needed to make
her understand. He took her small hands in his and prayed that she would forgive him.

  “I am a sorcerer, very hard to kill. My power lies in nature; therefore, nature would never turn against me and harm me. However, you are human and easily killed.”

  “I still do not understand what killing me would have to do with you?” Kegan stared at him with those big brown eyes. Eyes he knew would be flashing in anger, any moment now.

  “You and I are bound. Our life forces are combined, shanzah.” He waited a moment for her to understand the full weight of his words.

  “Combined as in one continuous thread? As in,” her eyes grew round, “are you telling me that if I die, it would kill you as well? That if you die, I die?”

  “To be honest, my life force is stronger than yours. While I may not die, my strength, my power would be severely limited. The loss would render me as human as you, and then easier to kill. If I die however, it will not affect you.” He kept eye contact with her, he owed her that much.

  She turned her gaze away abruptly, and his heart gave a definitive lurch. He had taken away her right to choose. He had taken her life.

  “The branding…that is why you branded me. You quite literally made me yours. I am tied to you for always.” The shock of it made her voice drop lower and lower. “No wonder I was a target. Why would you do this to me?” She turned angry eyes upon him. “Why would you take away my rights?” Her voice choked at the thought of his betrayal.

  “You are my shanzah. I could not risk losing you. I am strong, shanzah, the longer we are together the stronger your life force will become until it matches mine. We are but joined early, ‘tis a vulnerable stage is all. You complete me, make me feel whole. You have made me feel something for a woman I never have.”

  “But you had no right.” Kegan snatched her hand away. “You could have asked me.”

  “If I had, would you have agreed to share your life with a complete stranger?” he challenged her. “As it was, you were my prisoner. I know of your importance in my life. I admit it was wrong, but I would do it again, shanzah. You are mine. Astrakiba gave you to me. It really was not a matter of choice.”

  “At least not mine.” Kegan felt tears threatening, her throat burned as she tried to swallow.

  “I promise to give you everything you could ever dream of and more. You will want for nothing.”

  “Except for someone to love me, not own me.” Kegan threw back at him. She wanted to hurt him. Somehow, for reasons Kegan would ponder later, her words had hurt Da’rak. He rose from the bed and turned. When he spoke again his voice was devoid of all emotion.

  “I will spell the doorways. The guards are obviously not to be trusted. I will assign you a guard personally. I know of one whose loyalties are unquestionable. It will also allow you a little freedom until the tournament. You must hate being trapped here. I know how much you hate enclosed spaces.”

  Kegans’ heart did a little flip thing. He was trying to make up for his indiscretion. It was not enough of course, but the fact that he showed remorse in hurting her was a start.

  “It is not so small in here, but fresh air would be welcome.” She tried to soothe him. Why, she did not know. She was the wronged party here. Kegan rose from the bed and stood behind him, encircling his waist. She felt him stiffen in surprise, and she laid her head against his muscled back. She frowned, realizing that not one bruise remained from his practice.

  “You have no bruises,” she murmured against his back.

  The feel of her soft lips against his back was sweet torment. “I heal very fast. It is a talent you will also share given time.”

  “How did you know I was in danger?” she asked, and traced a small pattern with her tongue on his back. He shuddered in response.

  “The tattoo on your neck tells me of any strong negative feelings you have. I felt your fear.” The last part he said on a growl, angry with himself that he was not aware that someone had slipped the mula into the room.

  “It is not your fault, Da’rak.” Kegan correctly guessed his line of thinking. “On Earth, we have a saying, if someone wants to kill you bad enough, they will find a way.”

  “Good. Because I want to kill whoever is behind all of this very badly.” He turned around and looked down at his beautiful shanzah. His queen. “Then you and I will have time alone.”

  “I would like that, Da’rak.” Kegan smiled up at him. “Elgia told me a mula can’t kill you just paralyze you. I suppose that would have an effect as well.”

  “Yes, well, Elgia also forgot to mention a mula can’t kill a Paa’evaian; humans have not been so lucky.”

  “You’ve had humans here before me?” Kegan was truly intrigued.

  “Humans dwell on more than one planet, little one.” He laughed at her innocence. The planet seemed more primitive than ever, if the inhabitants thought they were the only humans in existence.

  “Oh,” Kegan replied, fascinated. This was the first time she felt as though she and Da’rak had actually talked. A small conversation albeit, but a start no less. She felt confident enough to push.

  “Will you tell me of Onn?” she asked gently, still he stiffened but slowly relaxed.

  “It is a tale that needs to be told,” he said heavily. “You have a right to know the reasons your shanzahn is fighting to be king again.” He led her to the bed and waited until they were comfortably spooned before he began.

  “Onn and I were not life companions. There was no love between us. Our marriage was more political than anything. I did not want a wife, but Onn, she was a gentle soul who tried to make the best of it. I fought her every step of the way. Though it is customary in a marriage to give your mate your brand, I refused. I let everyone think that I had.”

  “How? Wouldn’t it be on her neck like mine?” Kegan asked.

  “No, it is where the shanzahn wishes it to be.”

  “So you purposefully put it on my neck for everyone to see?” Kegan knew she should be angry, but the thought of this man wanting everyone to know she was his was heady to say the least.

  “Yes, I did.” It was a simple statement, clearly indicating he was not regretting that move. “Onn became with child, I was indifferent. When my men begin to jest that Onn had domesticated me, I, being young and stupid, felt I had to retain my image as a strong king, unfettered by any woman. Not even his queen. I let it become known that I had not branded her.”

  “Thereby making her open season to those who wished you harm. But how could they harm you if you were not joined?” Kegan asked, still not connecting the dots.

  “Yes, indeed. My enemies were of great cunning it would seem. They did not attack her openly. She was given the milk of the Pahn stone.”

  “What is that?” Kegan felt her insides chill when she realized this was the moment she had been waiting for. Would Da’rak’s reason for killing Onn be one she could forgive him for and live comfortably with him? Or from this moment on would she live in fear of him?

  “There is a rock that can be found on Paa’eva. It is a beautiful rock that grows here. The more you care for it and water it, the more its center fills with a milky fluid that causes hallucinations. When a Pahn stone becomes fully grown, it cracks from the fullness allowing it to be cracked open.”

  “Someone used the milk to make Onn see things?”

  “It would not have been bad if it were given in small quantities. She might have had a chance. But she was given a large amount over a period of time it seems. Making it seem as if she were slowly going insane. She tried to tell me she did not feel right in the head. I assumed it was from the pregnancy and demanded she not bother me with her trivial feminine problems.”

  Kegan could only guess at the guilt that must be eating him to this day. To know someone came to you when he or she needed help, and was spurned was truly awful. No wonder he never wanted to speak of it.

  “I had kept Lekki in my bed and did not hide that fact. I had dishonored Onn with my foolishness.” She felt Da’rak shake
his head at his memories and squeezed his hand to urge him on. “In the Consumption Hall during lunch, Onn was acting particularly peculiar. Given to bursts of laughter, conversations that only included her. Lekki came to me and sat upon my lap, my men cheered this on. Onn became enraged and reacted violently, overturning tables. Needless to say again, I should have known something was amiss, but all I could think of was my embarrassment. I ordered her to our chambers, she refused, so I carried her bodily and locked her in. Days went past and she got progressively worse. She escaped her chamber one morning and confronted me in the Consumption Hall. She was wild and crazed. It was at that moment I realized what was wrong with her. She was too far gone. The milk from the Pahn stone slowly breaks down your mind as well as your body—it would be a slow, very painful death. All I could remember was approaching her, seeing the pain and insanity in her eyes. A beautiful woman that my negligence had helped destroy. I owed her. She had lost her home and never regained one when she married me. She had been lonely the whole time she was with me. She bore the pain of losing our child alone. I prayed as I plunged my Juchon into her that she would find peace.”

  “Your enemies knew you would not let her suffer so.” Kegan let a tear fall, thinking what a terrible way to die.

  “Yes, they also knew the Pahn milk would be absorbed into Onn’s body. There would be no proof of her being tainted. It would look as if I killed my queen in preference to my mistress.”

  “Da’rak, you once told me you could see now what you could not then. I won’t say there was no way you couldn’t have prevented what happened, but you have used your time in exile well. You figured it out and now you can rectify what can be, and pray for forgiveness for what cannot. I assume since you said at one time there were crimes against your father that he died at the hands of your enemies as well. This is the time for retribution. You will do well at the tournament and I am here to help you figure out the faces of your enemies.”