Dragonfly Refrain

by Aimee Moore

  Finally, the bliss subsided, and I stayed in his grasp, breathing hard as his emotions left me. Dal let go of my wrists and hauled my body up against his, kissing my neck, my cheek. I turned to meet his lips with mine, and sweet stars above, his kiss was a force of its own. Again, Dal’s love for me, his need of me, like a tidal wave of sweet pleasure to drown in, it washed through me, leaving a tremble in its wake. A tear escaped down my cheek at the intense beauty of it.

  We rested our foreheads against one another, catching our breath, my dress righting itself as it fell between us.

  “You felt me,” Dal breathed. “As I felt you.”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  Dal’s deep laugh tumbled between us, then he kissed me again. I wrapped my arms around his neck, brushing my tongue against his, tasting, loving. He wanted me again. Here, now. His lust and joy washed through me in an onslaught of senses. I growled, kissing Dal harder, and he let off a laugh as he grabbed my hips and ground me against him.

  “You have a Kraw’s appetite,” I said with a smile.

  Dal’s lips pulled into a smile against mine. “Perhaps I have an appetite for a Sera.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. This man, my mate, would always be all I ever needed in this life or the next.

  “I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Ysiel’s sweet voice came from my left.

  I turned to her, stepping away from Dal as his embrace fell away. Immediately his posture was defensive.

  “No,” I said.

  “Tell us what you have found,” Dal said.

  Ysiel gave a regretful smile. “Please forgive me. I tried. I did. But the books containing the information on the Helegnaur and the shard were taken before I could read them.”

  “I am sure you know where,” Dal said.

  “Karne,” I whispered.

  Ysiel gave a shrug. “Caelund did not divulge where. They were simply gone, a new woman warming his bed. It would appear that your king has grown bored of me,” she said with a slight furrow to her brow. As if the whole notion was incomprehensible to her.

  “My shard? You found nothing?” I asked.

  Ysiel glanced at it, then looked between Dal and I. “I found nothing on your ailment.”

  “You have not fulfilled your end of the bargain,” Dal said.

  Ysiel stooped to pick up a rotting apple, examining the small fruit as white moss bloomed upon it. “I am sorry for your shard. I have fulfilled my part of the bargain, though. The information on the Helegnaur’s core keys is in a book titled Compendium of Ancient Fragments.”

  “Your people are unimaginative in their sciences,” Dal said to me with a smirk.

  “We shall have to write more imaginative sciences, then.”

  “I know not where it was taken,” Ysiel said, glancing between us with a note of nervous upset. “As I stumbled upon the tome, I was drawn from my studies, and then it was gone. Most arresting of that book in particular was a small vial cut into the pages. The vial had only one slip of paper. I am… distressed at having not read it. I made the mistake of assuming the text would always be there.”

  I let off a deep breath. “I have access to it.”

  Ysiel perked up. “Truly? This Karne has possessed Caelund’s tomes of knowledge, and gives you access to such treasures?”

  I thumbed at the elaborate ring around my neck. “I am in bond with him. He wishes to make me happy in his quest for the Helegnaur.”

  “In bond,” Ysiel whispered. “Unless I am mistaken, it sounds as if this Karne truly cares for you.”

  I gazed at her, wondering how her perception of Karne’s feelings for me might serve me.

  “It would seem your motives are in tandem with this Karne’s,” Dal said to Ysiel.

  “You’ve not divulged to me exactly what it is Karne wishes to do with the Helegnaur,” Ysiel said in a gentle tone. “Only that he desires it.”

  “Rather than poison the leyline, he wishes to use the Helegnaur to render the queen completely inert,” I said. “He claims that once she is gone, he will rise as king, and then he can break this bond.” I watched how this information affected her.

  Ysiel frowned, a crease marring her lovely skin. “Our motives are not the same. I wish only to leave her unharmed while returning to my home. I may be betraying my queen but I still love her.”

  “It is amazing to me how often your species pairs together love and betrayal,” I said.

  Ysiel gave me a soft smile. “Sweet Seraphine. When you have thousands upon thousands of years of life to live, then wounds are simply another interesting color in the weave of your fate. They can be as wine; bitter and unwanted at first, but over time become appreciated for their complexity and finish.”

  Dal spoke, then. “I very much doubt your queen will ever come to appreciate the taste of betrayal, especially served in simple decanters born of this foreign world.”

  “You will be long dead, Child of War, by the time my actions have rippled into the ocean of my people’s fates. We are a patient species. But, of this time, it is no matter. All that matters now is the retrieval of the Helegnaur before this Karne finds it. So that no harm comes to my queen.”

  “Yes, you must find it before him,” I said slowly.

  Dal glanced at me, and I gave the barest twitch of a smile at the corner of my mouth. It was too easy to use Ysiel to bring us closer to our goals.

  “Can you bring us to Karne’s city?” I asked Ysiel.

  “I cannot step within his city boundary,” Ysiel said. “Even if I could, I cannot take you with me, your bond ring is warded against the power of others. It would seem that your Karne thought your life would be at stake.”

  “I will convince Karne to take me to his library so I may find the book. But I will not go alone. Dal must be sent as well.”

  Ysiel raised her chin. “Perhaps you did not know, Nialae do not chauffeur other species around the world at their whims.”

  I adjusted my dress with an air of superiority. “Yes, and perhaps you are not aware, but Gifted such as myself do not fetch objects of our world for the whims of other species. You offer me little incentive to do your bidding while Karne offers freedom from this deceitful bond.”

  “He does not know you are mated to this Child of War?” Ysiel asked.

  I wasn’t as good at this as I thought.

  Dal spoke first. “It is of no matter. I need to know if you will take me.”

  “Very well. This is unexpected, but I shall take the Child of War to the edge of Lambston. Once you are there, Seraphine, I cannot find you. We need another way for me to locate you.”

  “Leave that to me,” Dal said.

  Ysiel glanced between us for only a moment. “A plan in motion. At last. I can nearly taste the sweet air of Niall,” Ysiel said, and then she breathed in deep with a look of rapture on her face.

  I turned to Dal, placing my hands on his chest. “They may be hostile to you when you arrive.”

  His hand met my elbow. “You know what I am capable of. There is no cause for concern.”

  I quirked my mouth up in half a grin. “We’re running out of Chatska’s healing paste, you know.”

  “Worry not for me. You must have this Karne bring you to his library, and then make him leave so I may arrive without distraction. Are you able?”

  “I think, yes. Give me ten minutes to bore him or insult him and he’ll pitch a fit and leave.”

  Dal gave a nod. “I will find you there.”

  “I know,” I whispered, placing my palm over the place on his shirt where the trace tattoo rested underneath.

  “There is danger,” Ysiel said, gazing off into the distance, toward the palace. “You must not return to the palace alone.” Then she turned to us, extending a hand to Dal. “I must give you a way to summon me.”

  Dal regarded her hand as if it were an unsavory hunk of meat.

  “I offer you the ability to call me at your whim. I am giving you a beautiful gift, Child of War; none other h
ave been offered this.”

  “I see nothing in your hand.”

  “I must taste you to leave my name on your lips.”

  I glared. “No, you must not.”

  “Come now, you are attaching emotion to a simple thing,” Ysiel said with a soft smile. “I can see he desires you above all others, even when my allure is heightened. I will not use my allure to leave him my name, it will be methodical.”

  “I have summoned Karne by calling his name. My mate should be able to do the same,” I said.

  Ysiel’s musical laugh lilted through the air. “Well yes, that would work, except I cannot locate Children of War, no matter how often they call my name, unless I leave my name on their lips.”

  I frowned up at Dal, who was scowling at the creature before us.

  “Time grows short, her husband will wonder at her absence,” Ysiel said, extending her hand to Dal once more.

  Adrenaline fluttered in my stomach as Dal frowned down at Ysiel’s hand. Finally, with a long exhale, he reached his hand to hers.

  Ysiel gave him a soft smile, put her hand in his, and stepped toward my mate. I wanted to rip her apart as she rose on her toes to kiss Dal. He held still. Relaxed, bored almost with the gesture, as she brushed her lips across his.

  I balled my hands into fists at my side.

  “I cannot taste you if you will not open your mouth,” Ysiel whispered to him, both hands on his shoulders.

  “That wasn’t part of the bargain,” I hissed.

  There was a tense moment where Ysiel, in her delicate beauty, clung to Dal’s strong shoulders, and he, still and uncompromising, allowed her to. And then he kissed her back as hot betrayal rose up within me.

  Dal cringed for a moment as their kiss got deeper, his revulsion peaking to flow into me through the blood bond. Then pain lanced through the bond, igniting lust, and Dal shoved Ysiel away, wiping his mouth and glaring at her. I resisted the urge to smirk at Ysiel as she stumbled from the force.

  “What have you done?” Dal growled, pulling his wrist away from his mouth to see a smear of blood.

  I went to Dal, putting my hand on his shoulder as Ysiel righted herself. “What is it?” I whispered.

  Dal continued to glare daggers at Ysiel for a moment longer, then turned those beautiful hazel eyes to me. With one hand, he rolled his lip down to reveal something black. A worm? A small snake?

  I frowned, looking at the thing she’d bitten into him, which was roughly as big as my thumb. It was crossed over itself a few times to form an intricate knot. The mark was raised, as if there were something just under his skin.

  I lifted my gaze to Dal’s as he let go, anger in his eyes as he turned to Ysiel. She’d righted herself, looking as serene as ever.

  “Answer me,” Dal said to Ysiel, threat lined in every muscle of his body.

  “You are not harmed,” she said. “The mark is only one use, you utter my name and I arrive at your location, no matter what I am doing.”

  “Will this mark leave him then?” I asked, my hand on his rigid arm.

  “Yes,” Ysiel said.

  “Fine,” I said. “It’s done.” I turned to move back to the palace, Dal following close.

  “Seraphine,” Ysiel said.

  I stopped, turning to glance at the woman who just kissed my mate.

  “He has only you in his heart,” Ysiel whispered. A soft wind stirred the pearl tendrils of hair trailing by her bottom, her light blue dress shifting in the breeze as regret seemed to radiate out of her.

  “I know,” I said. We left in silence.

  Once Ysiel was gone, we spoke freely.

  “You mentioned Karne breaking the bond,” Dal said.

  “Yes. His plan is to succeed Tanebrael as king once he has the Helegnaur, and that will make him royalty which can remove this cursed thing.”

  “This complicates matters.”

  “Terribly. I might have to give it to him after all.”

  The walk back was slow, given that we chose to stay hidden in back alleys and orchards. More than once, I saw the whirring eye of a ristulg rise over the Elanthian walls, spin about, and then lower. I wondered when Caelund would address them, if he hasn’t already. It was not yet noon and already so much had happened.

  Dal and I filled our journey back with easy conversation. Our problems forgotten for a time as we spoke of the tomes of knowledge and prose we would create when we finally got to our place of peace. I would write songs for our children. And he would teach them to be warriors and scholars. I would grow all manner of food and flowers, and he would tame large animals as I sighed and thanked the fates for making him mine.

  I laughed as Dal argued that it would be logical to plan our offspring, so we could build a home accordingly. “You cannot plan these things,” I said with a smile.

  “Humans cannot, but Kraw can.”

  “Oh, more of your damned self-restraint,” I said with a grin, stepping over Jacinthe’s dead blooms in our clearing.

  “Only because I must.”

  I curled my hands into Dal’s shirt. “Impossible,” I whispered up to him. “You can’t keep your distance from me.”

  Dal laughed quietly. “I have made my desires too obvious,” he said, running calloused knuckles down the side of my face and neck.

  I sighed, closing my eyes. “You’re welcome to make them more obvious.”

  The firm warmth of Dal’s body pressed against my front then, and his mouth was on my neck. “Do not tempt me,” he growled. “Or I will take you here and now.”

  I trembled. “Take me then. Here. Now. In five minutes. In five years. Never stop wanting me.”

  Dal gave a soft laugh. “I could not stop, even if I wanted. Not covered in mud. Not spattered in the blood of my kin. And not painted as one of these Nialae.”

  I lifted my lashes to the man I loved.

  Dal continued to speak, hazel eyes reading me like an open book, seeing into me as no other had in all my life. “No force in this world or the next could keep you out of my heart. My dragonfly.”

  I wrapped my arms around Dal’s neck and kissed him then. Kissed him as if I could never find the words to tell him what I felt. As if it was the last time I might ever kiss him.

  A sniff sounded at the entryway to our grotto, and Dal stilled as I startled. We both looked upon the intruder.

  Yasmil, red eyed and drooping, startled as she happened upon us in our embrace.

  I let off a soft breath and untangled myself from Dal.

  Yasmil lowered her hands and straightened, her mask of calm coming into place. “He lives,” she said to me.

  “You never knew?” I asked.

  “You’re in bond with Karne,” Yasmil said.

  “The bond was not my choice,” I said. “You knew that from the first day.”

  “You cannot even taste your own ignorance,” Yasmil said in her strong voice.

  “I never wanted him; I begged him to take you instead. I told him he was cruel to you when he traded you. I am not the enemy.”

  A smile that didn’t meet her eyes curled up her cheeks. “Karne’s barbs have turned on him.”

  And then she left in a lavender swish of dress. I stiffened for a moment, dizzy at how poorly this could go.

  “Seven hells take me, when will I wake up?” I whispered.

  “Go,” Dal said. “You must keep the discovery from him long enough to get to the library.”

  I nodded, turning to go. I dashed to the spot where Yasmil was standing a moment ago, cursing my bad foot, then turned and looked at Dal. He was watching me.

  “I love you,” I whispered.

  A smile touched Dal’s lips. “Your heart is the beat to the song which I live by. Only ever you, Sera.”

  Chapter 26

  By Its Cover

  The clouds stretched over the noon sky like hands choking out the sun. I rushed into the palace, unsure of how I would stop Yasmil once I found her. She could already be where Karne was now, telling him of my betrayal
, dashing any chance I had of getting to those books.

  Worries and epiphanies played cat and mouse through my head as I hurried back to my room, hoping to be the first to find Karne. The woman from this morning rose from making the bed, a serene smile on her face.

  “Oh, you’ve returned. Your husband was just here looking for you. He worried you would not arrive in a timely manner to his lunch. But,” she said with a sly tilt of her head, “I said that you agreed to attend, and so kept faith you would arrive. And here you are.”

  I was still catching my breath.

  She frowned at me. “Do you wish to wear that now that you’ve exerted yourself in it?”

  I looked down at my dress, which was still mostly clean. “This is fine,” I said.

  The girl beamed at me. “Very well, come with me.”

  I followed her through the many halls, heart thundering in my chest as images of what was to transpire chased themselves through my mind. At long last we stopped at double doors and the young woman turned to me with a sweet smile.

  “Enjoy,” she whispered in her cheery voice, and then swept the doors open.

  My doubts hitched to a pause as I entered the space. There was no ceiling, but a beautiful sky of such deep purple that the silver disc of the moon looked as a jewel. The room itself was bursting with plants. Trees whose marble-like trunks twisted together to form nothing short of artistry rose to support canopy after canopy of sparkling blue leaves.

  White moss trailed here and there, pale blue flowers rising from it in clusters. Tendrils of a deep green vine would drip from this place or that, sparkling, teardrop-like fruits as long as my thumb adorning them now and again.

  It was pure magic, and if I wasn’t careful, I could lose myself to its poetry.

  “This is a pale representation of Niall,” Karne’s voice came from my right.

  I turned to him, and despite the fact that it was a poor imitation of his world, he seemed to glow with it.

  “You did all this?” I asked.