Crystal Moon

by Elysa Hendricks

  He felt her pain and fear, her love and sorrow. Her spirit curled

  inside him like a contented kitten.

  Who her father was no longer mattered. She had had no

  part in his crimes. Her hands were clean, her ka pure. Her love

  washed the hate from Kyne’s heart and mind. DiSanti still

  needed to be stopped, but her sweet, fresh love quenched

  Kyne’s thirst for vengeance.

  He cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her face. “You’ve

  crawled deep within me. Where you are, I am. Where you go,

  I go. Run from me, and I will follow. Call me, and I will come.”

  Like liquid crystal the poetic words flowed from his lips and

  hardened in the air around them, ready to shatter if she denied

  their bond.

  “You’re within me as well. Without you I become an empty

  shell. I....”

  The rest of her words were lost beneath the clatter of hooves

  as Katya and Graham approached.

  Kyne felt Sianna’s quick stab of anxiety along with his own.

  “Where is Laila?” she asked.

  Katya and Graham exchanged a puzzled look, then

  comprehension dawned on their faces.

  “Lisha is Laila DiSanti!” Katya’s eyes blazed with angry

  confusion. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded of Kyne,

  then turned on Sianna. “Why did you lie to us? Who are you?”

  “I tried to tell you I was not Laila, but you chose to believe

  differently. I am DiSanti’s younger daughter. When Laila arrived

  at Castle Vareck, I lied to protect her and the child she carries—

  Aubin’s child.”

  Katya sagged. “Aubin’s child,” she whispered.

  “But where is she?” Kyne’s own awe and joy at the thought

  of Aubin’s immortality was tempered by the woman’s absence.

  Graham rode forward. “In the confusion of the fight, she

  followed DiSanti.” Blood streaked his too pale features, but it

  was not his own. He gripped his mount’s saddle with a white-

  knuckled hand. His still splinted legs stuck out and had surely

  been knocked about during his rush through the trees, but he

  made no complaint nor asked for any concessions to his pain.

  “Oh, no,” Sianna cried. “He’ll kill her. We have to stop

  her.”

  “We can’t help her now. The battle is begun. DiSanti knows

  we’re here. There’s no time to waste.” Kyne felt Sianna’s

  quick rush of worry and grief, but was relieved when she didn’t

  argue. “Graham, rejoin our men.”

  Graham nodded his agreement and urged his quinar into a

  run. The two quickly disappeared into the night.

  Kyne moved his mount next to Katya. “Katya, take Sianna

  back to camp.”

  “Where are you going?” Sianna clung to him as he tried to

  pass her to Katya. “You’re going after the queen and princess

  aren’t you? I must come with you.”

  “It’s too dangerous. Go with Katya.” He attempted to pry

  loose her fingers. Of all the people in his care whom he’d failed,

  he would not fail to keep Sianna safe.

  “I can use my skills to help you find them.”

  “No....”

  “She’s right,” Katya interrupted. “I don’t know exactly what

  talent she has, but without her help, you’ll never locate the

  princess. DiSanti has her well-hidden.”

  Sianna’s resolve swept through Kyne. If he forced her to

  go with Katya, she would follow. Better to keep her by his side.

  Nineteen

  Hakan pranced nervously, his hooves slipping on ground

  made slick with blood as Kyne guided him around the edge of

  the carnage. Sianna buried her face against Kyne’s chest to

  block out the sights, but battlefield images burned in her mind.

  The acrid smell of blood and urine scorched her nostrils. Her

  ears rang with the clash of swords and cries of men fighting

  and dying.

  Nor could she shield herself from the combatants’ emotions.

  Her whole being trembled with the force of their suffering, her

  normal barriers dissolving beneath a psychic whirlpool of rage

  and fear, pain and despair, threatening to swamp her senses

  and drown her ka.

  “Sianna?”

  Kyne’s voice broke through the oppressive cloud covering

  her. She reached out for him, and he was there in her heart and

  mind, a sturdy lifeline of sanity. His presence created a dam

  against the chaos. She took a shaky breath and lifted her head.

  His eyes blazed with determination. The battle roused within

  him the sleeping beast that lives in all men, stirred the blood lust

  that allows a man to fight and kill to protect those he loves.

  Only her presence and the need to rescue the royal family held

  him back from joining the attack.

  “Can you sense where the queen and princess are being

  held?”

  She sat up and looked around. Hakan stood in the middle

  of DiSanti’s encampment. With the battle raging, it was nearly

  empty. No one challenged them.

  Cautiously, she opened herself to the emotions flowing

  around her. A flood of anguish poured through the crack, and

  she jerked away.

  “I can’t...there’s so much pain...death...it overwhelms me,”

  she gasped.

  He pulled her tight against his chest. A shudder of

  understanding ran through him. “I know, but you must try. You’re

  their only hope. If DiSanti reaches them before we do, they are

  doomed. Use my strength to keep the emotions at bay. Together

  we can conquer the darkness.”

  “Together,” she whispered. Together they were stronger

  than the sum of their parts. Together they were invincible. She

  reached out to him. A bolt of energy surged through her. “We

  can do this.”

  Amid the emotional labyrinth of injured, angry men, she

  hunted for the soft aura of two frightened women. While she

  searched, the force of Kyne’s presence in her mind held back

  the tangle of negative emotions.

  Feminine strength and outrage blasted her.

  “The queen is here. That way.” She pointed toward the far

  edge of the encampment and a large tent shrouded in red-black

  gloom.

  “Laila and my father are there also.”

  With her talent merged with Kyne’s, Sianna found her

  family’s emotions were no longer barred to her. In Laila, anger,

  loss, and grief metamorphosed into a wrath that left a bitter

  taste in Sianna’s mouth, but DiSanti’s hatred and destructive

  quest for power stole her breath. Their intent was crystal clear.

  “Hurry! They’ll kill each other.”

  Kyne kicked Hakan into motion.

  At the tent, Kyne dismounted. “Stay here.” Sword in hand,

  he strode toward the tent.

  She felt as Kyne readied himself to do battle, then he blocked

  himself away from her. His absence left a dark, cold void in her

  heart. If he were killed in his fight with DiSanti, her ka would

  shrivel and die. But if he killed her father out of revenge, part

  of Kyne would perish, and in death DiSanti would triumph as

  he couldn’t in life. Kyne must choose his own path. She could


  only pray he followed the right one.

  She slid down Hakan’s side. Something warm and furry

  brushed by her legs. She strangled a shriek before she

  recognized Warda. Her legs wobbled, but she quickly followed

  Kyne to where he stood just outside the tent’s entrance.

  She slipped up behind him and crouched in the shadows. A

  lamp illuminated the scene within and hid them from the

  occupants’ view.

  His back to Kyne, DiSanti held the dazed queen before

  him, a shield against Laila.

  “Are you a coward as well as a madman, Father?” Laila

  taunted. “Hide behind a woman’s skirt if you want, but it’ll not

  stop me from killing you.”

  “But I’m your father.” His tone echoed his encroaching

  madness.

  In the maze of his mind, he justified his actions and blinded

  himself to the evil he sowed. Even now, faced with reaping a

  bitter harvest, he refused to admit his guilt.

  Grief tore through Sianna. Like wormy fruit, at his core,

  her father was rotten.

  “Father?” Laila spat the word like a foul curse. “A pity you

  didn’t remember that when you killed the man I loved. Fight

  me, Father, or die where you stand. You’ll not escape.”

  “Very well, Daughter. Prepare to die.” DiSanti shoved the

  queen aside. She hit a support post, slid to the ground and lay

  still. The lamp swung to and fro. Harbingers of doom, shadows

  careened around the tent. He pulled his sword free and faced

  Laila.

  Their dark fury rocked Sianna’s hope. She grabbed Kyne’s

  arm. “Stop them. She’s no match for him.”

  Sword drawn, Kyne darted into the tent. “Face me,

  DiSanti!”

  Breathing hard, his gaze wild but still filled with cunning,

  DiSanti slashed through the side of the tent. “Some other time,

  Cathor.”

  “No,” Laila screamed. She blocked Kyne as he lunged

  after DiSanti, then she crumpled at his feet.

  Sianna rushed to Laila’s side, further aborting Kyne’s chase.

  He tried to push past the two women when Queen Theone’s

  grip on his arm brought him up short. “Rul Cathor? Is it you?”

  “Yes, Your Highness.” Frustrated rage churned in his gut,

  but he stopped as DiSanti disappeared into the night.

  “DiSanti?” she asked.

  “The coward has fled.”

  At the sound of her satisfied chuckle, Kyne’s head shot up

  to meet her gaze.

  Though battered, her clothing torn, her hair hanging lank

  around her face, the woman held herself regally. Eight years

  under DiSanti’s control had taken its toll on her body, but had

  not diminished her pride or bearing.

  “You have my gratitude, young Cathor.” She inclined her

  head and held out her hand. “Your assistance, if you please.”

  Despite his protests, the queen insisted on rising. Wobbling

  slightly in Kyne’s respectful embrace, she looked down at Laila.

  “How does she fare?”

  Sianna examined her sister’s injuries. “She’s opened her

  wound, but she’ll recover. Her babe rests safe and secure.”

  Sianna tore a strip from her shift and rebound Laila’s wound,

  then took a step toward the queen and motioned toward the

  bruise forming on her head. “May I?”

  Queen Theone hesitated.

  “Sianna is a trained healer. She’ll not harm you,” Kyne

  said.

  With a simple touch, Sianna lent the queen strength. The

  queen gave a startled gasp, then smiled her thanks and started

  to speak.

  “We need to return to camp,” Kyne interrupted. “Can you

  walk, Your Highness? Or shall I carry you?”

  Queen Theone gave a regal sniff, and her spine went rigid.

  “I can most certainly walk, young man. See to the other woman

  and let us be on our way.” She shrugged off Kyne’s hands and

  strode out of the ragged tent.

  Kyne lifted Laila in his arms and shared an amused smile

  with Sianna as they hurried after the determined queen. He

  would deal with DiSanti—soon. First he must see to the women’s

  safety.

  Queen Theone and a groggy Laila shared Hakan’s back

  while Kyne and Sianna walked. They picked their way by the

  dim glow of the stars. Warda trotted at their side.

  Around them, with the setting of the joined moons and

  waning light, the sounds of battle faded. Kyne found the silence

  deafening.

  “Is the battle done?” Sianna’s voice quivered with

  exhaustion.

  Each passing moment strengthened the link between them.

  Her emotions and thoughts became his as his became hers. He

  knew her inner struggle to block out the pain and fear swirling

  around them. To shelter her battered ka, he projected a mental

  barrier. She smiled, and he felt the tension drain out of her.

  Would that he could protect her from every horror this world

  inflicted on the innocent.

  “Mayhap in the darkness they cannot tell friend from foe,”

  Queen Theone said.

  Kyne glanced over his shoulder and asked, “Do you know

  where DiSanti holds Princess Thomasa?”

  “I know not.” Darkness couldn’t hide the look of raw pain

  in the queen’s eyes. “Three annum ago we attempted an escape.

  We were betrayed. DiSanti’s guards caught us along a mountain

  trail. When one reached for Thomasa, she kicked her quinar to

  evade him. The beast reared, and she fell down the mountainside

  into the Aron River. The current snatched her away. Her

  screams yet haunt my dreams.” Her voice dropped, along with

  her head, hiding her tormented gaze from Kyne.

  “Over the years, DiSanti has taunted me with various tales

  of her capture, torture and death, but he could never show me

  her body. A loyal servant confirmed what I already know.

  DiSanti didn’t recapture her. She is out there somewhere.

  Alone.” Her voice broke on a strangled sob.

  Kyne doubted a child of eleven annum had survived a plunge

  into rocky river rapids. That DiSanti never found her battered

  body was no proof the princess lived. The river ran for hundreds

  of leagues and split into three branches.

  Proper decorum abandoned, Kyne took the weeping

  queen’s hand in his, surprised at how fragile she felt. Her

  imperious tone and commanding attitude had effectively hidden

  her physical state. Her strength was all mental. There were no

  words to ease her ache.

  “It will be dawn soon. We must hurry. My camp is but a

  league away. You can rest there.”

  Queen Theone straightened. “Of course.” Though her voice

  trembled, her mask of control was back in place.

  Kyne led, cutting a path through the forest undergrowth

  with his sword. He grimaced as the finely honed instrument

  took a beating from the tough saplings and rough bark. His

  crystalsmith would complain when he saw the condition of the

  blade.

  Sianna walked beside Hakan to help the queen hold Laila,

  but her gaze constantly strayed to Kyne’s broad back, watching

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bsp; the easy flow of his muscles as he slashed a way through the

  forest. Firmly joined with him, she easily channeled him strength.

  In turn, he maintained the wall protecting her from the mental

  chaos roiling around them. She smiled. They made a good team.

  She allowed herself only a brief moment of sorrow for her

  father’s wasted life. In the end, his quest for power would

  destroy him. She could only pray it would not ruin Kyne as

  well.

  Despite the cool harvest air, sweat trickled down her back.

  She longed to return to the bathing cavern of Castle Vareck. At

  the thought, images of being there with Kyne made her squirm.

  Heat rushed to the juncture of her thighs. Her heart began to

  pound.

  Soon. She started at Kyne’s amused thought.

  Other than with the people of Andacor, she had never been

  able to send or receive thoughts, just emotions. With each passing

  minute the bond between Kyne and her grew. How far it would

  progress she could only guess.

  By the time they reached their encampment, dawn lightened

  the eastern sky. Tents camouflaged with paint and brush blended

  into the wooded glen, invisible until they were practically on

  them. Tired, wounded men rested around small fires clutching

  cups of steaming gana. The smell of wood smoke and the sweet

  aroma of the nourishing drink barely covered the stench of

  blood.

  Katya rushed forward, hugged Kyne and burst into speech.

  “Thank the Eternal One you’re safe. The battle is won. Runners

  carried the news of DiSanti’s desertion. Demoralized, his troops

  surrendered immediately. Graham has gone to coordinate the

  disposition of DiSanti’s commanders, disperse the men and see

  to the care of the wounded. Are you hurt? Sianna?” She looked

  over Kyne’s shoulder and saw Laila slumped in the queen’s

  arms. Her voice died away as she dropped into a deep curtsy.

  “Your Highness.”

  “Rise, my child. Please show me to a spot where I might

  lie down. I fear I am quite done in.”

  “Of course. Forgive my poor manners.”

  Queen Theone’s chuckle eased the strain of the moment.

  Kyne lifted Laila from Hakan’s back and handed her to the

  waiting arms of another man, then lifted Queen Theone down.

  Katya slipped her arm around the queen’s waist and the two

  headed toward one of the small tents.