“Oh, and why is that?” she asked, with arrogance in her tone.
She hesitated for only a split second, and that was all I needed. I used all of the strength I had, knocking the blade out of her hand. The force of the blow made her fall to the ground. She opened her mouth, but before she could scream, I held the edge of my blade against her neck. “Because I am the rightful king of the fire court.”
“How did I lose?” Her eyebrows furrowed. “You gave your throne to Liana. You should’ve lost your power when you became solitary.”
I held out my hand to help her up. “I didn’t.”
She rose on her own. “I can see that.”
“What’s your name, banshee?”
“Mikala.”
I slid my weapon back into its sheath. “Have I earned your allegiance, Mikala?”
She dropped to her knees, holding her blade horizontally over her head. “You have my allegiance and my sword.”
There was movement behind me. It was slow and quiet. My palms ignited. I turned my body, catching my would-be assassin by the neck. “Clever, traitor.” I squeezed his throat, making him wheeze. “Thought you’d attack me from behind, did you?”
“Seemed like a solid plan,” Mikala said.
My instincts took over. I reached for the knife I kept in my back pocket, and as I turned my head to face her, I slit her throat. Blood shot out in every direction as she slumped to the ground. “It’s a shame, you know. I could have used someone like you on my team.”
Mikala clutched her neck. She fell to her knee, then onto her hip. Her eyes were fixed on me until they became lifeless. Flames coated her skin as she reduced to ash, and I refocused on her friend. “If you don’t want to end up like your partner, you will answer my questions.”
He pressed his lips together.
Sensing he wasn’t in the talking mood, I thought he needed some encouragement. I reached for my sword, exposing him to the iron. The skin on his arms and face caught fire. His mouth opened as he tried to scream. He tried to wiggle free, but that wasn’t going to happen. I dug my fingers farther into his throat, breaking the skin. “Are you ready to be friends now?”
Still, without air, he mouthed one word: Never.
“Fine, have it your way.” Needing to make an example out of him, I drove my sword into his throat. Blood squirted all over my face and clothes. I held him in place until he reduced to ash.
My audience stood by silently, not moving a muscle.
It seemed they got the message, but to be certain, I said, “Is there anyone else who would like to challenge me?”
One by one, each elemental dropped to their knees with heads lowered to the ground as if they were praying.
I tore off my blood-stained shirt, using it to wipe my face. “Stand up,” I shouted. The crowd stood. “Remember what you saw here. What you witnessed will happen to any fire elemental who chooses to stand with Valac.”
Chapter Fourteen
Kalin
The wedding preparations had begun.
Elementals took up every inch of space in my room. Dressmakers measured parts of my body while they suggested wedding gown fabrics and styles. Pixies from the woodland court sewed flowers in my hair in the shape of a crown. Chefs from the kitchen tried to feed me samples of wedding cakes, while musicians played their instruments during an impromptu audition for slots in the reception orchestra. I tried several times to sneak away, but Ariel caught me each time.
That girl was a ninja.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mom burst into my room. She nearly ripped the door right off its hinges. Her green eyes were wild, like a feral cat. Normally a guard or two would’ve stopped anyone who attempted to barge into my room. I guess they’re afraid of her too. “You’re getting married? What in the hell are you thinking?” I tried to open my mouth several times to answer her questions, but she kept going without pause. “You’re only sixteen. And who is this Sebastian I keep hearing about?”
I wasn’t the only one Dad forgot to tell. I glanced around the room. Everyone silently stared at me. The tension in the room was as thick as butter. “Everyone, please leave us,” I said. Once they had all gone, I attempted to clarify the situation before her head exploded. “Mom, I can—”
“You promised me no more secrets, Kalin.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I know I did. Have you spoken to Dad this morning?”
“I was on my way to see him when I heard the announcement.”
Forget about the healing. I may kill Dad myself. “If you would just take it down a few notches, I can explain everything to you.”
She huffed as she sat on the edge of my bed. “Okay, start explaining.”
“The engagement isn’t real. It’s just a cover to give me more time.”
“A cover for what?”
I sat down next to her. “The council wants to remove Dad from power. They don’t think he will recover from the iron poisoning, and their concern is that his illness will make our court appear vulnerable.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Mom said, waving her hand as if dismissing their accusations. “I’ve never met another elemental as powerful as Taron. He will recover.”
An ache grew in my chest. It was time I admitted the truth. “You didn’t see what happened to him, Mom. They restrained him in iron shackles. The poison flowed through him while he was a captive in the mortal world. Had he been there another few days—”
She placed her hands over her mouth. “Don’t say it.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “He’s lucky to be alive.”
There was silence for several minutes. I could never forget seeing Dad that way. The iron had burned into his wrists. Blood and seared skin lined the metal shackles, leaving permanent scars on his skin. I had been burned by iron during my training with Rowan. The pain was excruciating, but it was only on the tips of my fingers. I shuddered just thinking about the constant anguish he must have felt during those days.
Mom ran her fingers through her hair. “But what does any of this have to do with you getting married?”
I let out an exaggerated breath. “The air court has never been ruled by a half-mortal. The council believes I need to be married to a full-blooded air elemental to secure my position. Sebastian was chosen by Dad right after I was born. He had anticipated the council’s reaction.”
Her face reddened. “It looks like I need to have a serious conversation with your father.”
She looked like she was about to chew Dad a new one. I couldn’t let that happen. I was irritated that he approved the announcement without me, but I didn’t blame him for all that had happened. “It’s not his fault. Everything changed after his kidnapping. He never expected me to come here and rule at sixteen. I doubt he ever expected me actually to go through with the marriage, either. He probably figured by the time I was ready for the throne, I’d have a husband of my choosing.”
Mom put her hand on my knee. “Kalin, do you think you’re ready to take his place?”
I wasn’t sure. I spent most of my life preparing for the crown, learning the rules, trying to understand my position at court. But sometimes, I just wanted to be a normal teenager. I wanted to think about dates and prom dresses, not war and politics. It was selfish, but it was how I felt nonetheless. “I don’t think I have a choice.”
Mom rolled her eyes. “This whole thing is complete bullshit.”
I had to laugh when she used profanity. I could count on one hand how many times I had heard her utter a bad word over the last sixteen years. “I know. That’s why Bash offered to pretend to be my fiancé. It gets the council off my back while I try to find a solution to this mess.”
Lowering her voice, she said, “Taron told me about the akasha journals. He said you’re close to translating them.”
With all this wedding stuff, I hadn’t had a chance to try again. But since she brought it up, maybe she could answer some of my questions. “Why did you believe I was the akasha when I was born?”
Her eyes bore into mine. It was like she was staring into my soul. “I don’t believe you are the akasha. I know you are.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Dad told me that I called to the storm, but what if he was wrong? I can’t read the akasha journals.”
“You did call to the storm, but there was more.” Mom put her arm around my shoulders. “When you were born, your skin was covered in symbols. They glowed with a bright light, and they moved. Taron told me they were the symbols of each of the four courts.”
I stared down at my freckle-filled arms. “What happened to the symbols?”
“When I took you out of Avalon, they faded away.” A sadness fell over her face. She looked away, staring solemnly into the distance as if she were replaying the events in her mind.
“You could’ve visited Dad,” I offered. “You didn’t have to end your relationship.”
She pressed her lips together. “How could I come here without you?”
Guilt rippled through me in waves. All these years, I had wondered why Mom never dated anyone else or why Dad had never found another queen. They were still in love. “I wish you hadn’t sacrificed your relationship with Dad for me.”
“I would have sacrificed my life to keep you safe.” Mom cupped my face in her hands. “If you ever have children, you’ll come to understand that. There is no greater love than a mother’s love for her child.”
A few hours later, Bash showed up at my door. He offered to get me away from the castle so I could attempt to read the journals. Two knights followed us as we made our way into the forest outside of the castle. The skies were full of clouds while the temperatures stayed comfortable at seventy-five degrees. Inside the woodland, the air was a bit cooler. I was happy I brought one of my hoodies with me.
I sat by the river’s edge. I noticed the canal in the distance led to a massive waterfall. I ran my hands through the lukewarm water. “Why don’t you join me?” I asked, waving my hand.
Bash shook his head. “No, thanks. I’m good back here.”
“What’s the matter? Afraid of a little water?” I teased, cocking my head to the side.
“Afraid of drowning as I plummeted to the bottom of that waterfall is more like it.” His eyes widened as he watched the rapidly moving water. His fear was real. Just talking about it made his skin pale.
“I’m sorry.” I got up and sat next to Bash. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
He smiled, showing off his perfectly straight, porcelain-white teeth. “You need to stop apologizing. How would you have known I had a fear of drowning?”
Why was I always apologizing? It seemed like it was a recurring thing when he was around. It was like I wasn’t myself in his presence. I was nervous. Although he had been nothing but kind to me, he made me feel inadequate. I seriously needed to pull it together. “You’re right. That’s the last time I’m going to apologize. Unless I need to, but you know what I’m saying.”
He chuckled. “Yes, I do.”
I had to figure out why he made me uncomfortable. Maybe it was because I knew so little about him, yet he seemed to know everything about me. “Would you mind if I asked you a question?”
Leaning back on his forearms, he replied, “Anything.”
It was time to get it all out in the air. “You said you had been preparing for a marriage with me since you were a kid. What did you mean?”
His cheeks blushed as if I had embarrassed him. “That’s difficult to answer.”
Had I gotten too personal? “You don’t have to answer. It’s fine.”
Bash waved his hands in front of him. “No, I meant it’s difficult because the answer isn’t simple. Growing up, I had always known you were my betrothed. I doubt I even knew what the word meant as a child. But I was well aware that I was raised differently from most elementals. I spent a large amount of my childhood away from the other elemental children.”
Ariel mentioned she had only seen Bash once during her childhood. He must have been so lonely. “Did you attend a school?”
“I always had private tutors. Mostly they focused on my impending future. I had a standard elemental education regarding our powers and responsibilities in the mortal world. I also learned about the mortals, the Avalon court system, and simple things like proper manners. Once I became a teenager, they added leadership lessons. It was all a grooming process.”
I thought I had it bad when I had to read all those books. My childhood was a cakewalk compared to Bash’s structured life. “Did you ever want to sneak away and, I don’t know, just be a kid?”
“Sure,” he smiled. “I was jealous of the other kids for a long while. It wasn’t until I got much older that I appreciated the honor bestowed upon me.”
The honor being his betrothal to me. I cringed. I wasn’t an expert on marriage, but it seems like it should be about love. What he was talking about sounded more like a contract. There was no emotion in anything he said. Really, how could there be? We barely knew each other. “It doesn’t sound like much of an honor to me. It seems like you missed out on a lot.”
“I gained plenty,” he countered. “I’ve had the best kind of education, and I got to visit every corner of the world. Not to mention learning from the secret books. Had I not been chosen to be your future husband, I would never have had access.”
The books brought to Mom’s mortal home? I assumed only the royal members of the court had access to those. “You mean the books from the caverns?”
“Yes,” Bash nodded. “My teachers used the same books.”
With all his worldly experience, he was more suited to rule than I was. I had spent years in training, but I never left my hometown. And since I was always with Mom, I never learned about proper court behavior or how to carry myself like a royal. Instead, my childhood was kept fairly normal. “I guess we have more in common than I thought.”
“Yes, we certainly do.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
The touch of his fingers sent a tingle down my neck. But immediately after, my insides filled with an overwhelming ache of guilt. As silly as it sounded, sharing a tender moment with Bash, as innocent as it was, made me feel like I was cheating on Rowan. I backed up, putting some much-needed space between us. “I’m falling in love with Rowan,” I blurted.
I jolted at the shock of my own words. Was I really in love with Rowan? Had we spent enough time together actually to call it love? Then I noticed the expression on Bash’s face. Total disappointment didn’t begin to describe it. Regardless of my feelings for Rowan, now wasn’t the time to try to figure it out. “I didn’t mean to sound brash. I don’t think it’s fair to make you hope for something that will never be. You’re fantastic, and you deserve to be with someone who can give you her whole heart. But my heart is already taken.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I had a feeling you might say that.”
“You did?”
“King Taron warned me,” he said, playing with a piece of grass. “He said if you fell in love with Rowan, he would forfeit the betrothal.”
“My father said that?” I questioned, not sure if I believed what I had heard.
“Yes, he did.”
My chest warmed. Dad did care about my feelings. I worried that he might force me to marry Bash because I had a greater duty to my court than I did to my own heart. He certainly wouldn’t be wrong if he had said that. If I were to be the queen of my court, I would be expected to consider the welfare of my people over anything else. No matter how much it broke my heart. “And you’re okay with us being just friends? Even if it means you will never be king?”
“I care about you, Kalin.” Bash took my hand into his. “Sure, I’m disappointed that it didn’t work out. I had hoped you would give us a chance. But if I’m not that guy, I’m okay with your decision as long as we can be friends.”
Rowan’s warnings echoed loudly in my ears. He was right when he said Bash had everything to lose. Bash arrived at the castle, intent on marrying me
. The guy was bred to be a king. Why would he give up so easily? “I don’t see how you could be okay with this. I’m taking away your chance to rule. Why aren’t you angry? Why aren’t you fighting for it?”
“You’re right. I guess I should be angry.” He crossed his arms. “But what can I do? Force a marriage?” He shook his head. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with someone who’s in love with someone else. And if you’re saying there will never be anything between us, I have nothing to fight for.”
It was as if a hundred pounds of tension had lifted off my shoulders. I didn’t want to hurt Bash. He was one of the most selfless, understanding elementals I had ever met. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“I think I do.”
I had to do something for him. He certainly deserved it for the sacrifice he was making for me. “I don’t want you to feel like you’ve missed out. When I take the throne, you will play a key role as one of my advisors. I will need elementals around me that I can trust.”
Bash pulled out his pouch, offering it to me. “Shall we drink to that?”
“Absolutely,” I said, accepting his wine pouch. I drank every last drop. “I need to get a bottle of this. It’s fantastic.”
He smiled, seemingly appreciating the compliment. “I’ll have one sent to your room this evening.”
I glanced at the canvas bag sitting next to Bash, remembering why I had come out here in the first place. “Now, let’s see if I can make sense of these akasha journals.”
“Absolutely,” he said, handing the sack to me.
I reached inside, pulling out one of the leather journals. The tips of my fingers hummed, getting stronger the longer I held the book in my hands. I prayed that it was a good sign. Crossing my legs, I opened the book over my lap. To my utter disappointment, the strange hieroglyphics remained on the page. I flipped through several pages. The symbols didn’t move as they had last time. I let out a sigh. “Nothing.”
Mortal Enchantment Complete Box Set Page 38