Amber eyes stared out from the darkness, another pair of green eyes appearing next to it. No. It wasn’t darkness. That was their fur. She placed her walking stick against the ground and tried to pull herself up. Her legs gave way immediately. Low growls and hisses echoed around her. She tried to drag herself away. There was no way she could out-crawl them. Even if she could stand, even if she wasn’t injured, she couldn’t outrun the Demalyn. No Solviso, even the non-disabled ones, could. She looked ahead and more Demalyn appeared. Big cats, dogs, bears.
She was surrounded.
Chapter Two
The Demalyn formed a circle around Vitoria. Her hands shook as she fumbled around, searching for her bag. If she could get her gun she might have a chance.
The shifters moved closer.
The cocoon around her heart ached. Where was the damn bag?
Her breath came in short gasps as her hands scrambled in the dirt.
It had to be there. She had to get it.
She whimpered. Her whole body went cold, goosebumps springing up on her bare arms and a wave of nausea rolling over her. This was where she was going to die.
A howl came from somewhere outside of the circle. The tension around her heart eased and she stilled, staring towards the sound. Two large animals leapt into the circle. No, not animals. More shifters in their animal form. One she recognised as a Wyla, a large cat shifter, the other a Lan, a large wolf-like shifter. She’d seen them in books. The Lan turned away from her and growled at the other animals. The Wyla strode towards her.
She should be terrified. The Wyla was inches from her, close enough to touch, close enough to feel the heat coming from him. But the cocoon around her heart felt warm and safe. The Wyla circled around her protectively and her heartbeat began to slow.
She looked back to where the Lan had been. A woman stood there. She turned towards Vitoria and their eyes met. Vitoria’s breath caught. The woman was stunning, with long auburn hair. She stood tall, her naked body strong and toned, skin sun-bronzed. She was familiar, but there was no way she could know her. She’d never left Calibrai before.
The woman tore her gaze away from Vitoria and looked around the circle. Her eyes settled on a bear.
“Lieutenant, what are you doing?” She barked out the question in the common language.
The bear shifted to his common form.
“She crossed over onto Demalyn territory, Your Majesties.”
He sounded confused.
The Wyla turned into a large, muscular man with long black hair and tanned skin.
“She is just a Solviso.” His voice was calm, but Vitoria sensed an edge under the calmness. “Does it take a whole regiment to take down one Solviso?”
“Majesty, we didn’t know what she was. Her hair was covering her ears.”
The woman nodded.
“Go back to your patrols, we will take care of her.”
The bear nodded.
“Very well, Majesties.
”He shifted back and the other Demalyn followed him away.
As soon as they began to move, the female turned towards Vitoria. Vitoria wiped away the tears from her cheeks and looked up at her rescuers.
The man dropped to his knees next to her. “What’s your name?”
“Vitoria,” she responded. “Who…Who are you?” Her voice shook.
“My name is Antonio, this is my mate, Matilda. We are the ruling monarchs of Kiilasalia.”
“Kiilasalia?”
“That’s the country you’re in. I’m sorry for the fright our army gave you. They are under orders to detain anyone who crosses onto our land. Are you injured?”
Vitoria nodded and Matilda dropped down next to Antonio. “Where are you hurt?”
“I twisted my ankle, both of them.”
Matilda helped her into a sitting position and gently pulled each of her legs straight in front of her so that she could see the damage done. She removed each of Vitoria’s shoes. Both ankles were already beginning to bruise and one was swelling considerably.
“Ow,” Vitoria whimpered as Matilda gently touched one ankle, pain shooting through her. Tears fell down her cheeks. It was unbearable.
“We will take you to a healer,” Matilda said.
“I don’t know that I can walk,” Vitoria said. “I have a stick.” Vitoria held up her walking stick. “But I don’t think I can put any weight on either ankle.”
“You were injured already?” Matilda asked. She didn’t look at Vitoria’s face as she spoke, her gaze was intent as she focused on her swollen ankle.
Vitoria shook her head. “Not injured, no. I have a condition.”
Vitoria balled her hand into a fist and bit down on one of the knuckles as the pain became overwhelming.
“We need to bind your ankles,” Antonio said. “Do you have anything in your bag we can use?” He waved a hand towards her discarded bag a few feet away.
“No. Just food and water. And my gun.”
Vitoria took in a couple of deep breaths and closed her eyes. She could hear a bird singing and the soft hum of insects. Even the gentle breeze against her ankle hurt.
“We’ll carry you back to the city,” Matilda told her.
“You won’t be able to carry me,” Vitoria said.
A smile played at the corner of Matilda’s mouth as she bent and lifted Vitoria easily into her arms. Vitoria placed her arms around Matilda’s neck.
“Hold tight, kitten,” Matilda said, and then began to run.
*
She passed out from the pain somewhere in the forest, and woke in a hospital. The room was as big as the place she had once shared with her father. The walls were painted a brilliant white, and sunlight flooded into the room from the large arched windows that lined the wall to her left. It was light and bright and everything her home in Calibrai hadn’t been.
The agony in her ankles was gone. The pain she usually experienced throughout her body had disappeared too. Matilda and Antonio stood at the foot of the bed, sarongs covering the bottom half of their bodies.
“One of your ankles is broken,” Antonio said. “The healer wrapped it with the strongest pain relievers we have and said that you’re to rest.”
She looked up at Antonio. Her face grew hotter as her eyes fixed on his hard, chiselled chest. She looked away quickly, her eyes settling on Matilda’s bare breasts. Vitoria looked down at her hands, wringing them together over blanket-covered thighs. Where she was from, people covered their chests.
“How do you feel?” Matilda asked.
“The pain relievers are working. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
The lack of pain felt odd. She had grown accustomed to constant aches, and it had been many lunar cycles since she could afford any pain relievers at all, and certainly not the dosage that the healer had administered. She couldn’t afford anything that Matilda and Antonio had provided her with. She certainly couldn't afford the private room she was in.
“I'm pleased to hear that,” Matilda said. “We’ve sent someone to fetch your van. Our mechanic will fix it.”
“Thank you.” Another service she couldn’t afford. “When it’s here I can sleep in it.”
“Oh no,” Matilda said. “There are no motor vehicles allowed within the city. You’ll stay here until you’re healed.”
The two Demalyn moved in unison towards her, graceful, predatory. Matilda perched on the edge of her bed, so close that Vitoria could feel her body heat. Antonio stood behind her, his big hands on Matilda’s bare shoulders.
“Do you mind if we touch you?” Matilda asked.
Vitoria shook her head and instinctively shifted a little closer. She didn’t mind at all but she appreciated the question.
“I don’t mind. I’d…” She paused and bit down gently on her lip. “I’d like it if you did touch me.”
Matilda smiled, reached out and stroked a finger down Vitoria’s cheek. “What were you doing so far from Calibrai?” She asked softly.
For a moment Vitoria
couldn't think properly. She leaned her head towards Matilda who cupped Vitoria’s cheek in her palm. What had she already told them? Only that her van had broken down.
“I had to leave,” she breathed out the words, barely aware that Antonio was moving. How could a simple touch affect her so much? She felt the bed dip on her other side and one big, masculine hand begin to stroke her hair, the other hand taking one of hers and lacing their fingers together. Her whole body felt alive. A warmth settled in her stomach and the cocoon around her heart felt electric.
“Why?” Antonio’s voice was a deep rumble.
“I lost my job. I couldn't find another.”
Antonio’s hand trailed down from her hair and caressed her shoulder while Matilda continued to stroke her cheek. She closed her eyes and let out a small sigh. A fog had descended over her mind, not like the usual fog she sometimes had; this fog was pleasant. It was a fog she could lose herself in and never want to come out of.
“You were hoping to find one here?” Antonio’s voice was like a caress.
“No. Not here.”
“Where?” Matilda. Softer, higher.
“There.” Her eyelids felt heavy. Not because of them. It was the pain relievers, her condition. It often did this to her. “Lucky I'm not driving.”
It had been one of her worries, that she wouldn't make it to the Inn because of her condition. That she would fall asleep at the wheel or have to stop where it wasn't safe.
“She needs to rest,” Antonio said. Then there were no hands on her and the weight lifted from the bed. She opened her eyes to find Matilda and Antonio standing.
“If you need anything, there's a button just here,” Matilda pointed to a button next to the bed. “Just press it and the healers will come. I put some things together for you.” She picked up a bag that Vitoria hadn’t noticed. “There's just some books and other bits to stop you from getting bored.”
“Thank you.” It was so thoughtful.
Matilda placed the bag on the table next to her bed.
“The healer will bring you food, but if there's anything else you need, please just call them.”
“Well, I guess we should leave you to rest,” Antonio said. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Rest well, precious one.” His words made her heart flutter.
Matilda leaned down and kissed her cheek. “We’ll be back to check on you.”
Vitoria watched as they left the room. The door closed behind them and then she heard something sliding into place. She took hold of the two crutches that they'd left by her bed, much better than the old stick she’d been using, and dragged herself to the door. She turned the handle and pulled. It didn't budge. She was locked in.
*
When Vitoria woke the first time, she could barely open her eyes. The familiar, heavy feeling of fatigue had settled over her during her slumber, and she didn't have the energy to keep her eyes open for more than a couple of seconds. They were seconds enough to see that Matilda was sitting at her bedside. As her eyelids fell heavily, she could feel the weight of Matilda’s hand on hers, and the cocoon around her heart felt warm.
When she woke the second time, the fatigue had lifted, and Matilda was gone. Antonio sat in her place. The pain relievers had faded leaving an unbearable ache in her ankle.
“It hurts,” Antonio stated. How did he know? Did she look like she was in pain?
“I will fetch the healer.”
The healer administered more pain relievers, wrapping the potion-soaked bandage around her ankle so it would be absorbed directly into the affected area. Antonio stood behind her, his intent gaze making contact with Vitoria’s, and Vitoria wondered what he must think of her. Matilda, too. They were strong and brave and she must seem like a weak coward to them. She wished they had seen her in different circumstances. She wished they'd been there the time that she found someone breaking into her van, that they had seen her fight him off with her stick. Or that they'd watched her run back into the burning bakery to rescue the owner’s dog. She hadn't been helpless then. She could still feel the heat coming from the kitchen as she’d ran through the smoke-filled front of the shop and up the stairs. Her joints hadn't even twinged as adrenaline pumped through her, but she'd felt it afterwards.
Antonio frowned at her. The healer finished, and with a smile to Vitoria, left the room.
“What were you doing in a burning building?” He demanded as soon as the door clicked closed.
“What?”
How did he know?
“You were thinking so loudly that I could see it,” he told her. “You ran into a building where there was a fire.”
“There was a dog. I had to get to the dog.”
His face softened and he perched on the edge of her bed. He placed a hand on her cheek and things felt better. The cocoon around her heart felt softer, lighter.
“That was very brave, but do you not have rescue workers to save dogs from burning buildings in Calibrai?”
She shook her head, then stopped because the relievers were making her light headed. “Not for dogs. It's illegal to have animals within cities in Calibrai. If they had found him, they would have killed him anyway. Can all Demalyn read minds?”
“You don't need to worry about that. No one else will read your mind here and I did not do so intentionally. What happened to the dog?”
“He was okay. We…” She paused. She couldn’t tell him that they had used their blood to heal the dog. How common was the knowledge that Solviso blood could heal in Palici? “We got to him in time.”
“Good, but you could have died.”
He ran a hand through his hair and Vitoria could sense that he was agitated.
“It took less than eight minutes.”
The time that Solviso could go without breathing. “There was no smoke inhalation.”
“I do not like this subject. Dog or no dog, you should not have gone into that building. Your life is more important than the life of a pet dog.”
“It was a puppy.”
“I don't care if it was a litter of puppies, you put your life in danger and that is not acceptable.”
Surprised by the anger in his tone, she turned her head to look at him properly. His frown lines were deep, his eyes worried. His full lips were set in a line. Instinctively, she placed a hand on his knee, over his sarong, and squeezed.
“There was no real danger.”
“The building could have collapsed,” he grated out. He took her hand in his and laced their fingers together.
“But it didn't. It took no more than two minutes. I was out again before the rescuers even arrived.”
With enough time to hide the dog.
He let out a sigh and raised their entwined hands to his mouth. He brushed his lips over her knuckles and her breath caught.
“That was luck. You won't be so reckless here.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” she responded sarcastically. “Whatever you say, Your Majesty.”
“That's not what you're to call me.”
“My Lord? King Antonio?”
“Master. You're to call me master.”
“Whatever you say, master.”
Her tone was sarcastic but the word felt right. Master. It made her stomach do strange things and the cocoon around her heart buzzed with an unfamiliar excitement. How could a word have so much power? Perhaps it was the pain relievers and nothing to do with Antonio at all.
“I mean it, precious one. It’s my job to keep you safe and while you’re on our land you’ll live by our rules.”
Vitoria’s eyelids felt heavy and she let them drift shut.
“Yes, master. As long as they’re rules that I like.”
Antonio chuckled and squeezed her hand. “We’ll discuss them when you’re feeling better.”
“Yes, m-” she began, but sleep took her before she could finish the word.
Chapter Three
A week passed, and Antonio and Matilda visited several times a day. Each day was a little better
than the one before, the pain was becoming more manageable and she was feeling less sleepy. She had even stayed awake long enough to read a chapter of one of the books they’d left for her. She looked forward to their visits and felt disappointed every time she woke and found herself alone. Sometimes, they sat in a companionable silence. Other times, they talked until Vitoria no longer had the energy to do so. It felt like she had known them forever.
A week to the day since she’d arrived, Vitoria sat up in bed reading. Her head felt clear even though it was evening, and she had only taken three naps that day. Even at full health, Solviso slept twice a day, so she figured three naps was pretty good progress. She had barely read a paragraph when Antonio came in. He didn’t sit down, as he usually did. He paced up and down the room, not saying a word to her.
“What’s wrong?” She asked him. She closed her book and placed it on the bedside table.
He paused, his gaze locked with hers and he shook his head.
When he didn’t say anything, she asked: “Will you sit with me?”
He sat on her bed and she placed a hand on his knee in a way that was becoming familiar between them.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “We’re having some issues with our council.”
“What kind of issues?”
She began to stroke his knee, instinctively wanting to soothe him.
“There are certain expectations they have of Matilda and me, and they are quite persistent.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry, I knew I shouldn’t visit while I’m in this mood.”
“Then why did you?” She asked curiously. As she stroked his knee, the sarong fell aside so that her hand glided over bare skin.
“I wanted to see you.”
He opened his eyes, lowered his intent gaze to her lips. “I needed to see you.”
His breathing seemed heavier.
“I’m glad you came,” she said. “I look forward to your visits.”
Bound to the Monarchs Page 2