Dragonfly Refrain

by Aimee Moore

  I channeled more fire into him. Somewhere on the edge of my consciousness I wondered if I was burning him. What if I was just burning a corpse?

  A sob wracked me.

  “Oy there, that’s not yours, it’s not,” Lianne yelled.

  “Silence, human,” Karne said somewhere behind me. A clatter of armor sounded.

  Growl roared. Their conflict was a rush of noise in the periphery of my existence.

  I swiped away a tear, smearing Dal’s blood across my cheek. I placed my other hand on his face, despite it being engulfed in purple flame, and bit my lip as another sob threatened to wrack me. Dal’s dark lashes were fanned over his beautiful cheek, his lips parted slightly.

  “Come back,” I whispered. “Please, you have to. I can’t do this again.”

  I glanced down at the hand I was holding, uncurled my fingers, and saw that his hand was whole now, the wound closed. I let the heavy weight of Dal’s hand drop into my lap as I put my other hand over his heart. Over the tattoo I’d placed on his skin.

  Karne’s voice was above me now. “More, Sera.”

  I turned a lethal glare to him, like a wounded animal guarding the last splinter of her soul.

  “The shard… Is of Niall. An artifact of the royal family that I have taken amid the confusion of unrest. Give him more of your power. He will live,” Karne said.

  “Get away,” I hissed, still pressing one hand to Dal’s cheek and the other to his chest. I would kill Karne if he got closer. “What do you care if he lives or dies?”

  Regret passed over Karne’s features as he watched me. “You love him.”

  I turned away from Karne and looked upon my mate. I leaned over him, closed my eyes, and summoned that purple flame in all its glory. It engulfed me. Every inch of Dal’s body lit my consciousness as the flame swallowed him, too. My arms shook as exhaustion tugged at me, and still I forced the burning power in my veins into his body. I willed him to life. I fought. Tears streaked down my cheek, sizzling as they landed.

  “Please,” I breathed. “Please please please…”

  I begged for an eternity. Begged until I was sure Dal’s skin should be cold now, were it not for my fire. Until I was fueling myself with pure denial and clinging to cold hope. And then, a large calloused hand covered mine on Dal’s chest. My eyes flew open, and hazel eyes were looking back at me. My tired mind tripped over my joy. I let off a quiet laugh, watching him take deep breaths of sweet life.

  “Dal,” I whispered. My flame died and the world around us returned to normal.

  He released soft grunt. “Kraw,” Dal whispered, “are hard to kill.”

  I laughed, wiping away my tears. Dal tugged at my hand, and I lowered, brushing my lips over his. “Don’t ever do that again,” I whispered.

  Dal shifted, bringing himself closer to me for another kiss. “I would do it again if I had to.”

  I smiled and shook my head. “I would call you a fool, but I know better.”

  The deep rumble of Dal’s laugh set my heart into a gallop.

  Karne stepped away from us, his movements slow.

  Yasmil, Lianne, and Growl were nearby, too.

  “What in King’s spit happened?” Lianne asked.

  I glanced at Dal, who was catching his breath, readying himself to rise, then back to Lianne. “He made me whole,” I said.

  Dal sat up for a moment, exhaling hard, then stood, letting off an irritated grunt and tensing as his balance adjusted. I stood and tried to steady him myself, but I could no sooner have steadied a falling tree.

  Lianne could. She came to our aid, propping Dal on her shoulder. “Easy there, yeah? Can’t think to go swinging that sword after you’ve been dead.”

  “Curious,” said Karne, lifting the vial from the book and holding it to the light. It contained a single slip of paper.

  “That is mine,” I hissed at Karne, calling my flame once more.

  “That should not be opened,” Dal growled next to me.

  Growl nodded; his eye no longer puffed up. “There is a darkness to that vial.”

  Karne laughed. “For Nialae, darkness is simply a vessel for light. This was meant to be opened.”

  And then he pulled the cork and looked inside as all of us let off a collective gasp of outrage and fear.

  Shadows spilled out of the vial, enveloping Karne completely. Dal pulled me closer, protective, as Karne struggled for a moment. The terrible image of his mouth opened wide in a silent scream would be forever etched in my memory. And then the shadows took Karne back into the vial, and the stopper sucked itself back into place with a squeak as the vial clinked to the floor.

  Yasmil screamed, dropping to her knees and shaking her head over and over again as she cried.

  I glanced at Lianne and Dal, then I rushed to the vial.

  “Do not open it Sera,” Dal said.

  I held it up in shaking hands. Karne was in there, but not as himself. As a disgusting, golden, translucent blob with honey-colored eyes. Like gooey mead. And the note was still there with him, easily read since he only took up a third of the vial’s space. I shook all over as I read it.

  “Seven hells,” I breathed.

  “What’s it say?” Lianne asked.

  Yasmil was hugging herself, shaking her head some more.

  I took a deep breath before I raised my lashes to Dal and spoke. “It says… ‘Love, Mother.’”

  Chapter 28

  The World Can Wait

  No sooner had the words left my lips than the collar clicked at my throat and clattered to the floor. I put my hand to my bare neck with a gasp, stepping back as the symbol of trickery and captivity came to still at my feet.

  “King’s balls,” Lianne breathed over Yasmil’s sobs.

  I raised the vial to my face, staring at my fake husband with shock.

  “Ain’t no way anyone’s mother anywhere would do that to ‘em. Poor bloke stumbled on something not meant for him, yeah?”

  Tiny, honey-colored eyes stared at me with sadness from within the vial. “I don’t know,” I whispered. “There has to be a way to get him out.”

  “Have care,” Dal said. “The powers woven into that vial are complex, Sera.”

  Light caught the corner of my eye, and I turned to see Yasmil, face still wet, drawing a burning door with candle flame.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Taking matters into my own hands,” Yasmil said, voice cracking.

  “Yasmil. Tell me what just happened. Please.”

  Yasmil laughed. “You’re a fool. The day Karne drew you to that vault and detonated it was the day he sealed his own fate. I will unmake his mistake, princess, and you will atone for your ignorance.” Then in one swift move, she grabbed the book and disappeared into her doorway amid our protests. I clutched the tiny vial and dashed to the doorway as Dal yelled for me, but I was too late. Yasmil’s doorway had fizzled out of existence, taking her and the book with it.

  I stumbled on my bad leg with a grimace; it was returning to its normal injured state.

  “Bloody thief,” Lianne said. “I’ll run ‘er through when next I see her.”

  “Dal,” I whispered, “what did she call me?”

  Dal was listing in Lianne’s grasp. His gaze brushed mine in grim confirmation. “Princess,” he said.

  Growl picked up the collar. “You did not know?”

  I put my hand to my neck again. “How was I to know?”

  “Wait just one rat-humpin’ minute. Bloke was… A prince?”

  Growl gave a nod, clicking the collar into a whole. “Karne is Tanebrael’s son, the prince of the Nialae. I am surprised he never told you.”

  I covered my mouth as I read the tiny slip of paper in the vial again. “Oh, gods.”

  Everything; months of plotting and learning and hating my fake husband, it all came crashing down on me then.

  “Oy, she’s gonna hit the floor,” Lianne said, hoisting Dal.

  “Help her,” Dal said to Growl.


  Strong hands gripped my arms as I wavered. “I’ve been such a fool. He told me, only days ago, what Nialae were capable of and I didn’t listen. Why didn’t I listen?” I whispered.

  “You could not have known such treachery would transpire,” Dal said.

  “Treachery,” I whispered.

  But I was clutching my head as I remembered a moment in our room. I was so short-sighted in my anger at his manipulations. Karne, my prince husband, had warned me I was playing a dangerous game.

  Nialae won’t challenge you to your face, they’ll let you think you’ve won the argument while they put the battle in your bath and drown you in it.

  They’ll send someone you love to trap you in a pretty cage and that loved one won’t know what they’ve done until it’s too late.

  I looked into the vial. “Stars above, you were right. I wasn’t ready. And neither were you, Karne. Why did you not heed Corinth’s warning?”

  Tiny pops of shadow exploded against the glass as those eyes cast indignation at me from atop the glob that was my husband. The slip of paper incinerated in his shadowy rage. No, of course the prince of the Nialae would heed no warnings.

  “Come up there, big fella.”

  I turned to see Dal listing further, his breath coming faster with effort as Lianne tried to hoist him. I went to him, placing my hand on his cheek. “You need rest,” I whispered, propping myself under his free arm. I staggered under its weight.

  “I will be restored, soon. You are unharmed?”

  “Dizzy is all,” I murmured.

  “Come,” Growl said. “Let us find rest this eve and decide our fates tomorrow. Much has changed, and we will need clear minds to assess our places in all of this.”

  We passed Zraine’s smoldering corpse as Growl led us out. There was still no sign of K’cine, and regret tugged at me during our somber march to an elaborate guest room. After I pulled back the comforter in our room, Dal lay back on the bed with a heavy sigh, his lids already heavy. I set Karne’s tiny vial upright on the desk next to the bed, sitting near Dal.

  Dal looked at Lianne and Growl. “Thank you, both.”

  “Least I could do,” Lianne muttered.

  Growl gave a nod.

  Dal’s large hand swallowed my own with a squeeze, and then he closed his eyes. I looked at his hand, healed now, and ran my fingers over the star-shaped scar at the bottom of his palm.

  “Matches yours,” Lianne said.

  “I wonder when fate will cease to mark us in our trials,” I murmured, reaching up to shift a rope of Dal’s hair aside. His breath was already coming shallow on the shores of sleep.

  “It is no wonder I did not find a cure for your ailment, the shard was of Niall,” Growl said. “It was a clever deception on Karne’s part.”

  “Yes, too clever. Letting me believe that it was an object from the vault enabled my complacency all this time.”

  “Well bloody thing is out now, yeah?” Lianne’s gaze touched on my shoulder where a scar to match Dal’s shone pink on my fair skin.

  “It’s still in there,” I said.

  “King’s spit, it’s under there?”

  I poked at the hard spot just under the starburst mark.

  “Oh balls, it makes sense now. Make them whole, pain and fire. I reckon that Jacinthe fellow might not be as nutty as we think.”

  I frowned, then looked up at Lianne. “I thought Nialae weren’t allowed in the healer’s quarters.”

  “They’re not. Dunno how he got in there, but there he was, plenty of healin’ happening all around him.”

  “Jacinthe?” Growl asked.

  I perked. “Perhaps you know of him? He looks to be sun court, shaved bald, deep voice.”

  “Crazy bloke only speaks in riddles.”

  Growl frowned for a moment; the injuries on his face nearly gone after Dal’s assault. “No, I cannot recall anyone like that passing through Karne’s halls.”

  I glanced again at Dal. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” I murmured.

  “Your mate fights with a ferocity that should make you proud,” Growl said.

  I smiled up at him. “Everyone in this room makes me proud. Lianne, I can’t tell you how happy I was to see you arrive.”

  “Makes two of us, it does. Felt damn good to hold a sword again.”

  I stood, and her warm brown eyes regarded me with curiosity. “I owe you so much, Lianne.”

  “Nah, just wrestlin’ destiny, like I set out to do.”

  I gave her a half laugh. “I threw a lot of daggers in your absence.”

  Lianne grinned, full of pride. She put an armored hand on my shoulder. “Well then, looks like we kicked destiny in the teeth, don’t it?”

  I pulled her in for a hug. Her plate armor was girthy and cold under my arms, but I didn’t care. After a few moments, hard arms came around me, patting me on the back. “Right then.”

  I smiled, straightening away. “Thank you for calling me friend.”

  “King’s spit, woman, what’s gotten into you?” Lianne said, raising one eyebrow.

  “That shard,” Growl said with a smile.

  I laughed. “You two should get some rest.”

  Lianne looked at Growl. “Sounds like a plan. Come on, Growl, you ain’t seen nauseating till you’ve seen these two alone.”

  Growl gave me a serious nod, then turned to leave.

  Lianne watched his backside with a slight tilt to her head. I placed my hand on her shoulder as he left and stood on my toes to whisper into her ear. “Show him your strength and you’ll have the night of your life.”

  Lianne thrust her pelvis out as she hiked up her armor. “Oh aye, I’ll do more than that.” She exited the room after him, and the door closed with a final click.

  I laughed to myself with a shake of my head. Flicking careless fingers at the fireplace, I barely had to stir the gift in my blood to set purple flame roaring. I went to Karne’s vial, looking at him for a long while. He watched me back with mournful little eyes.

  “It’s no more than you deserve,” I whispered.

  The golden blob vibrated; tiny eyes narrowed in fury. The vial began to heat.

  “I’m sorry, but it’s true. It was you, all this time Karne. You took my mate from me and made me believe he was dead. You tethered me to you with this cursed shard, then you tricked me into being your wife and paraded me unknowingly on the arm of the prince like a fool. I can never forgive you for any of it.”

  The blob continued to glare.

  “But you helped me save him,” I whispered. “And for that, I can never hate you.”

  The angry little eyes let up, softening.

  I sighed. “This is going to be hard until I can get you out of there. I was going to put you over the fireplace for the night, but your people seem to like the cold, and I want privacy, so I think it shall be the window for you.”

  Was that a hint of sullenness in the golden blob?

  I pulled the curtain back on the window and put Karne’s vial in the sill. “At least it’s pretty out there,” I said, sparing a glance for the enchanted night scene beyond. He blinked at me, then turned away. I took it as acceptance and closed the curtain over him.

  Undressing, I crawled into bed next to my mate. Desire stirred within me at being so near him, but so too did contentment and wonder. Karne had tried to take him from me and still we were inseparable. I placed my hand over the trace mark on his chest.

  Such cleverness. Without it, we would have been lost to each other; me bound to my grief and him forever searching for the Nialae princess.

  The steady thump of Dal’s heart lulled me to sleep in time.

  ∞∞∞∞

  “Sera.”

  I melted out of the dream I was having, smiling at the dream I was living as I opened my eyes. “You’re awake,” I breathed.

  Dal’s smile was the sunrise in the dark room. He was laying on his side, facing me. “You were dreaming.”

  I made a noise in my throat as I frowned. “D
id I wake you?” I whispered. “You died; you need rest.”

  “I am rested. Tell me, Sera, what you were dreaming of. This is the first time your dreams have not seemed torturous.”

  I let my gaze get far off. “I was dancing,” I whispered. “With Patroma.” Her essence was still soaked into my consciousness. Lingering, as dreams do, with all the smells and emotions of events that seemed so real only moments ago.

  I brought my gaze back to Dal. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

  He brushed his hand up my side. “I am not. I spent many nights wishing for this.”

  I smiled. “Does it live up to your expectations? I am a Warlord and a princess, you know.”

  Dal’s deep laugh vibrated between us. “I should have put everything together sooner. I confess that Kraw have not the minds for Nialae games.”

  “It scares me, Dal, to know these Nialae played with our lives like this. And then to see what Tanebrael did to her own son, wielding me as the instrument of his confinement from the shadows. I fear the day she sends her sympathizers to march upon Elanthia; the humans won’t know they’re being conquered until it’s too late.”

  “You have less to fear than anyone. The Nialae shard in your blood will carry consequences to them, an ironic twist to Karne’s trickery.”

  I smiled. “Think Ysiel will see the irony?”

  Dal gave me a soft laugh. “Only if we allow her the privilege of seeing us again.”

  My smile faded, then. “You still can’t take me to your world with the shard embedded in me like so, can you.”

  “It would not be wise to attempt; I do not know how that new part of you will respond to my people’s gifts.”

  I cast my gaze between his beautiful eyes. “Then perhaps our place of peace shall be here, in my world.”

  “Such a goal will bind us to the Nialae conflict, for peace will not come easy so long as they exist.”

  “You’re right. But they will not subdue us so easily now that I have their shard. If we’re going to stay, then we need to get the Helegnaur before they do. To beat them at their game.”

  “And we shall.” He pulled me up against him, pressing us together. “But not right now, Sera.”