Dragonfly Refrain

by Aimee Moore

  “I’m really glad you made it.”

  Lianne gave a bit of a shrug. “Can’t say it was all my doing. Dal kept me going after that ristulg. Nearly lost my leg on that one, nasty infection. Then that tondithil.” She gave a slight shudder.

  “What is a tondithil?” I asked.

  “Another creature of Niall,” Dal said.

  “King’s spit, the gods cursed thing was the stuff of nightmares, it was. Thought I found something nice for once. Crystal. Loads of it. Balled on a pole ten or twelve feet high, looked like a small moon. Maybe this big around.” Lianne spread her hands to roughly the length of the foot of her bed.

  “So thought I’d give it a look, yeah? Course I didn’t listen to Dal, who would have rather fired an arrow into it. No, my stupid arse walked right up to it and offered myself up like a steaming filet.”

  “What happened?” I breathed.

  “The moon on top turned, and then there was this damned eye. Not even a nice eye, was like a demon eye with a slit in the middle. Couldn’t look away, ya know? It turned to me and then it got closer and closer all slow like. And all I could do was stare.

  “And, seven hells, I wanted to scream but no sound came out like the bloody thing was choking me without touching me. And then it was right in my face, leaning on to my forehead here,” she tapped her forehead with the tough part of her wrist.

  “Couldn’t see nothing after that, only that eye right in my face, but I didn’t see it ‘cause I was seeing other things. Every demon-awful, stupid thing I’d ever done or suffered, I was there doing it or seeing it again. But that eye was there in my face while I was watching that son of a bitch hitting my mum again, then he was hitting me, then I was in those stables again as that bastard held me down, and then I was getting my face shoved into the mud as the entire training squad laughed at me, then—”

  Lianne reddened as her gaze came back into focus, and she turned away from me. “Wasn’t there doing those things for real, was I, just felt like I was. Forever.” Then Lianne turned to me. “Those Nialae, they’re demons in angel skins, that’s what they are. We can’t let them stay in our world.”

  “I don’t plan to let them. Can you walk?”

  “Not well,” she said, shifting with a grunt.

  I watched Dal for a moment. “What was said between you and Ysiel after I fell asleep? What price did she demand?”

  “Her price was knowledge of this Karne. She wanted his motives.”

  “Expected,” I said. “What of my shard?”

  “She is seeking access to Caelund’s private library as we speak.”

  I exhaled. “There was a Kraw in Karne’s mansion who pledged to help me find information on the shard after he learned I was the Warlord. I would like to see if he’s made progress.”

  Dal furrowed his brow at me. “What have you told him?”

  “Warlord?” Lianne asked.

  “Not much,” I said, casting Lianne an apologetic look. “He knows I am mated to another, though I would not say who. He reads the old language,” I said, holding up my marked arm.

  Dal gave a nod. “You must return to see his progress.”

  “And perhaps he’s found more information on the core keys,” I said, perking up.

  “Core keys?” Lianne adjusted her seated position with a grunt.

  “Yes, Karne took me to the temple where the Helegnaur lies. We found it, but it can’t be accessed without some kind of core key.”

  “Bloody pain in the ass this Helegnaur, whatever it is,” she muttered.

  “It’s icefire,” I whispered, furrowing my brow at the floor.

  Dal frowned at me as I turned to him. “Two opposite forces in one artifact,” he said.

  “Polar opposites, they are,” Lianne said.

  “Hence, the Polar Construct,” I whispered.

  “Why did Karne want it?” Dal asked.

  “He wants to turn it on the queen and render her inert so he can rule.”

  “Well tossing the cursed thing into a leyline should render her inert anyway, according to Ysiel, yeah?”

  “You believed him?” Dal’s gaze penetrated my own.

  Lianne frowned. “Aye, someone here is lying. One says toss it into the fire to save the world, another says toss it to him to save the world.”

  I sighed. “That’s just Nialae for you. If you’re careful, you can earn crumbs of information that validate what you think you know.”

  “Nightmare,” Lianne muttered.

  I sat up straight. “I know three things for certain. First, Nialae can’t touch it, as both of them seek to use me for that purpose. Second, Nialae were forged in a clash of light and dark, and so this icefire is similar to that somehow. And finally, the damn thing is going to help me rid our world of them, because I can touch it.”

  “That’s the stuff,” Lianne growled. “Give me my sword, I’m here for this.”

  “Also, something more is coming.” I leaned in and whispered, “The Nialae are gathering forces in the realms outside of Elanthia. Tanebrael plans to rise here and I don’t want to be anywhere near when she does.”

  Lianne looked incredulous, “But the bloody capital—"

  “Sera is right. We can be here and powerless, or we can gain the Helegnaur and repair the damage.”

  “And hopefully, find a cure to my shard,” I said.

  “Great, now all’s we need’s them core keys.”

  “Karne thinks the answer is in Caelund’s library. I’m close to accessing it, as is Ysiel. As soon as I have what we need, we’ll leave to collect the Helegnaur.”

  Lianne gave a hoot. “Betray the demons, save the world; that’s the meat of it!”

  Dal nodded. “Betrayal at its finest. Perhaps Ysiel will see the irony in it.”

  ∞∞∞∞∞

  “You have been gone most of the day,” Karne said. “I trust your search was fruitful?”

  “No,” I sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed to look out the window.

  I could feel Dal, now. The poetic words of the trace mark were perfect, for he was the new sun in my life. His warmth was southwest of here, perhaps a day’s travel, in the healer’s quarter.

  “Perhaps I can be of assistance,” Karne said, sitting behind me on the bed.

  I stiffened. A calloused finger ran from my shoulder down to my hand. He stilled when he got to the foul yellow paste on my markings.

  “What in Niall is this?”

  I pulled my hand away. “A conditioning paste, to bolden my marks.”

  “How… crude,” Karne said.

  “It’s a Kraw recipe. What did you want?”

  Karne hesitated, then leaned in to me. “I’ve sent more books to my library.” His words whispered heat across the back of my bare shoulder.

  “Books that may contain information on this malady in my shoulder?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “And where did you acquire them?” I asked, turning my head toward Karne.

  “Caelund’s library. He requested Yasmil specifically in exchange for them. It was a simple trade; I’ll call another to service us.”

  Disappointment shot through me. “She was your head of house, Karne. Was she willing?”

  He straightened away from me, giving an arrogant shrug. “She accepted without complaint, as is her duty.”

  “You are cruel to her,” I said.

  Karne scoffed. “I fail to see how. She is fed well, clothed, given freedom and resources to pursue her desires.”

  “Even if you are her desire?”

  “If I wish it, yes. I’ve bedded her many times; she has no reason to feel neglect.”

  I scowled at him. “You should have taken Yasmil in my place. She would have been a better wife. I do not love you.”

  Karne gave me a mocking grin. “And what am I do to with every female who falls in love with me, Seraphine? Profess and undying love to her in return? Send her away with all the cruelty of a paying customer in a whore district? Perhaps I should ar
range a stranger to be in bond with her?”

  “How about not selling her off to an inept boy king in exchange for books?” Books that were now across the continent, damn it all.

  “Have you never been in love with someone you could not have?” Karne whispered.

  I scowled. “What do you think?”

  Karne’s eyes roved between my own. Skimming truths off the surface of my vision. “Some would rather love in proximity than suffer afar, Seraphine. I offer them this choice.”

  “Until you trade them for ancient parchment.”

  Karne frowned. “And what of my desires? I wish to make you happy. Does it not speak volumes of me that I would put all else second to you?”

  “Why? I don’t serve any purpose to you, Karne. My gift is silenced, I’m lame-footed, and I despise Nialae.”

  “You’ve intrigued me from the first moment you resisted me, Seraphine. Surely you’ve noticed.”

  I stared into honey-colored eyes. “This bond was never a ruse, was it?”

  Karne rose, striding toward the window to cast his scowl through it.

  I rose, too. “You lied to me. You tricked me into being your wife in truth. I wasn’t willing; not aware of what was being done. I want this collar off.”

  “Would you have cared if I was honest with you in the beginning? You were letting yourself die. I was losing you. You wouldn’t have cared if I wed you to a Kraw grunt, the prince of the Nialae, or a pauper in Elanthia’s trade district. This way I could keep watch on you while fulfilling your debt to me and finding the Helegnaur. It was all done with purpose.”

  “No, it was done with manipulation,” I said. “So you could gain the Helegnaur for yourself and use me as your conduit. I had no desire to be in bond with you. Break it.”

  Karne turned to me with a furious look, and I backed away a step.

  “I can’t,” he said.

  “Can’t, or won’t?” I glared up at him.

  Karne smiled down at me. “The red hair suits you more. I should have left it.”

  “Answer me.”

  “Can’t. Only Nialae royalty has the power to break bonds.” He was giving me a tiny smirk.

  “You are a coward to have me trapped like this.”

  Karne gripped my shoulders. “I warned you, Seraphine, that Nialae politics are not for the weak. Once Tanebrael is ousted, I will use the Helegnaur to rise as king of Nialae in this world. I can then break the bond if you still wish it of me.”

  It was succinct and brilliant and I hated him for it. I glared so hard that I shook.

  “I see no reason why I would not wish it,” I whispered. “I am mated to another.”

  “He is gone,” Karne said in a gentle tone. “If you can’t let the dead go then you lay with them.”

  “Perhaps love, for Nialae, is as fleeting as their pleasures.”

  Karne dropped his hands from my shoulders. “I shall endeavor to show you otherwise. A Nialae king, they say, can make the cosmos bow to his love, time itself stilling for the pleasures he shares. I hope to show you one day.”

  I huffed half a laugh, stepping away from Karne’s heated gaze. “None of that compares to what I had with Dal.”

  I walked away from Karne’s dark look, pausing in the doorway to the bathing room. “I was given a warning today,” I said.

  “What sort?” His voice was flat, irritated.

  “Corinth approached me, kindly, and told me Tanebrael tires of your treachery.”

  Karne laughed. “We shall see.”

  I turned into the bathing room. To lick my wounds alone.

  I thought I knew their game. That I had stopped being a pawn and seized a place on the board. The cursed collar on my neck said otherwise. And worse, if only Nialae royalty could remove it, that meant I had no choice but to deliver the Helegnaur to Karne, enabling him to rise as king.

  He was right; I wasn’t prepared.

  Chapter 25

  Taste

  The next morning, I awoke in the large bed alone.

  Well, mostly. The bed was covered in blue flower petals. When I sat up, the blue curls spread across my vision to encompass the floor, too. The entire room. It was as if the ceiling turned to sky while I slept, opened up, and rained flower petals upon me.

  Their perfumed scent was unlike anything I’d ever smelled. Sweet, yet musky, yet promising of foreign delights in heavenly places. I picked one out of my hair and rubbed it between my fingers. It rubbed raw like any flower petal would.

  Rising to ready for the day, I crushed footprints into the sea of them with each step, a delightful rebellion rising up in me at their destruction. They were a nuisance, a reminder of Karne’s gilded trickery. If he thought to woo me into complacency then I’d use that in my favor, too.

  I settled on a dress of jade. The pale green part attached at the neck, then trailed off to a full flowing skirt. The dark green corset that slit at the breasts, as if they were full enough to exude that sort of pressure, trailed down my hips loosely, matching the sleeves that draped down my bare shoulders. It suited my shard just fine.

  The whole ensemble was embroidered with a beautiful white scrollwork design, winking gems hanging from the length of shining string between the parts of the corset that stretched.

  I braided my hair and twisted it into a bun, tucked the ridiculous dagger into my skirts, then tried to slip out of my room to find Dal so we could plot our next move. I came face to face with a woman carrying breakfast.

  She gasped as I nearly upset her tray. “Oh! You’re out. Have you eaten?”

  Regret stabbed at me. I’d gone long enough starved of food in the past; I should know better than to slip off without first sustaining all the nourishment I could.

  “I’m not hungry,” I said.

  “Oh. Of course. Your husband, Karne, hopes to meet you for lunch. He promised an experience unlike any other,” she said with a hopeful smile.

  “You may inform him I’ll attend,” I said, not really caring if he sat there alone or not.

  She beamed, gave a soft bow, and then retreated into my room to tidy up, exclaiming surprise at the sea of petals as the door closed between us.

  I made my way to the stone bench in the gardens and waited. Dal’s presence grew closer, but I grew impatient and wandered toward him, the warmth and light of my world. I emerged in the streets of Elanthia, the vast upper-class portion of the city.

  Men and women bowed to me in respect, despite the hitch in my stride that was less than regal. Nialae had begun to intersperse themselves into the populace, their elegant and regal architecture shining between plain human stone now and again.

  I returned curt nods to the people, human and Nialae alike, like the fraud I was.

  Eventually, I could sense Dal through an alleyway. As if someone was standing to my left, their heat warming my skin. I followed the trace, emerging in a secluded orchard. I walked on for a time, under the dappled green canopy, the green beads of new apples peeking above. I hurried my steps, pursuing the trace until it nearly overwhelmed me with its screaming tingle in my skin and blood. I rounded a large tree and there he was.

  My breath stopped, and Dal smiled at me. “Your trace was successful,” he said.

  “Yes, I can feel you all the way up in the palace,” I whispered with a smile.

  Dal gave a nod, running a finger down the shoulder of my dress. I shivered and moved closer. “I am pleased to know you enjoy this gift,” he said.

  I leaned into his firm body, my own lighting up at the contact. “You know I do, you arrogant Kraw,” I said, smiling.

  A large hand came around the nape of my neck. “You like my arrogance,” Dal growled.

  “True,” I whispered with a laugh. Dal’s mouth claimed mine then in a hot kiss that lit my body on fire. Oh, how I wanted him. I clung to my warrior, barely able to breathe through the tide of his kiss.

  “It’s been too long,” I whispered between our lips.

  Dal only growled in consent, turning me, p
ushing my front against the tree. “Here?” I gasped. My body throbbed at the prospect.

  “Now.” The skirts of my dress were being pushed up behind me, and I arched my back, presenting all of myself to him. Dal kissed my bare shoulders, wrapping a thick arm around my middle and pulling me to his body while still pressing me against the tree. It was exhilarating, his soft bites all along my tender flesh, the wall of the tree trunk pressed against my front, his firm body shoved against my backside. I was already letting off soft moans for him when he entered me, filling me with his hot length.

  Oh, exquisite bliss. Dal was pressed against me, his breath hot in my ear as he began to thrust. I took all of him, greedily, pushing back at his thrusts, meeting him, demanding more. Dal obliged, his breath coming more strained in my ear. I bit my lip to keep from making noises as I trembled.

  I gasped as his other hand encompassed my breast, possessing. I spiraled higher as he took me, there against the tree, under the lively shade of the quiet orchard. Nothing else existed when we were like this. I could never have enough.

  I pressed my palms to the tree, stretched and arched my back to take more. Dal’s hand left my breast and pinned my wrist against the bark while his other hand moved to my hips, pulling me with bruising force as he took me rougher. His breathing was faster now, soft groans touching his breath now and then. It was a drug to me, every sound he made, every thrust, it was a drug that pushed me toward sweet oblivion.

  And then he leaned forward and kissed at the back of my neck as he drove into me. No, the teasing pressure of his teeth sent shocks into my skin as he crushed me against the tree with a euphoric groan. Something new happened then. I could feel him. Dal’s emotions; his fierce pleasure, his overwhelming love for me. So strong, so endless, this oneness of our loving.

  I found release at last, crying out as wave after wave of blissful ecstasy robbed me of all senses. Purple flame hazed the blackness behind my lids, and Dal’s own groan of release followed mine as he buried himself deep.

  How long we came undone with each other, there against the tree, I couldn’t have known. I didn’t care if the entire city saw us. Nothing in this world or the next could have touched this exquisite surrender. This soul-possessing euphoria where I experienced both his love and mine.