A deadly vow, p.12
A Deadly Vow, page 12
“It’s not a surprise, believe it or not—he actually prefers it,” I said with a smirk.
Drakkon shoved the doors open, and the heat heightened as twelve pairs of red glowing eyes stared straight through me behind their masks. Each of the warriors dressed in the same black cloaks and face coverings as Keahi when we entered the mountain. Realization threaded through me in bursts of fear. These were not just any sorcerers of Solstice, they were the Volkan fighters.
They racked their various weapons lined along the wall, walking across the massive training floor to form a unified line as their gazes remained on me. Several battle rings spread upon the floor for hand-to-hand combat, and a sizably larger ring captured the center in the form of an infinite dragon wrapping around itself.
The man that I had seen in my rooms was only a fraction of how deviant he appeared as he crossed his arms behind his back. “We have a lot to prepare for in the next coming weeks. We must ready ourselves for the worst in order to carry out our plans.” Drakkon nodded over to the farthest soldier on the left. “Kane will dispute the matches. Today we will invoke Volkan’s ring.”
They found their positions knowingly. The Volkan who Drakkon had instructed eyed the two of us carefully, sighing deeply before heading toward the center ring.
“You could not even afford an introduction?” I said to Drakkon as we watched them, my arms crossed.
“Giving them your name would be like handing out your obituary, Novear. They do not care who you are, they just care to see you dead.”
I brushed off his remark. “Solstice still has many powerful sorcerers from what I can see, more so than any other kingdom, including my own. I was not the one to close the veil to the Gods magic—it is my father you are speaking of.”
Drakkon turned slowly to face me, scowling as he looked down at me through gritted teeth. “Tell that to them, when there are only thirteen of the Volkans left after your father closed the veil—your husband one of them. It does not matter how far removed you think you are from what he has done. They see you all the same.”
He walked off shouting commands, leaving me to seethe alone. What he did not know was I already knew that I was nothing. I had been greatly reminded of that my entire life, but I was going to leave a mark on this realm by the end. I would take my father and his entire kingdom down with me, no matter the cost.
“Hand to hand combat, no weapons!” Drakkon shouted, pacing against the edge of the center ring with two warriors in the middle. “If the round does not end within five minutes, magic is fair game.”
Kane remained at the outer edge of the ring. He knelt low to the ground, fire igniting in the palm of his hand as he touched the chalked outline. It sparked, dispersing to opposite ends as the line of his flames searched to greet one another. The two opponents, trapped within, unleashed themselves as the fire connected into a complete circle—vicious and unrelenting.
It was obvious they were highly skilled, throwing a series of maneuvers at each other that could easily take out any other opponent—but not them. One fighter had finally gotten the upper hand after several minutes, his fist connecting with the other Volkan’s jaw. It threw him off balance just enough to seize a killing blow. The winner’s fist halted right above the other’s chest. Kane released his hold from the ring of fire he maintained during their challenge, and ash fell around them.
We proceeded to watch a series of guards, all of whom showed as much strength and skill as the initial soldiers. None of them had fought to the five-minute marker yet. Drakkon came back up beside me after some time, running his hand through his sweaty hair. The room was sweltering, and their flames did nothing to help the rising temperature.
“Have you seen what you needed to see, Novear?” Several of the Volkans cut a glance toward me as Drakkon spoke. “I would love to know what you are storing in that head of yours right now, to report at a later date when you have finished off my brother, no doubt.”
Yes. I had seen everything, and I was more than terrified. Maybe not for the reasons he was thinking, but I did have something to report to him.
“Impressive,” I said, as his incompetent smirk grew. “Although I noted some weaknesses. They are quite minor, of course.”
“Weaknesses?” Drakkon scoffed. “These are some of the best warriors in all the kingdoms.”
“Every soldier has a weakness, Drakkon.” I stepped away and looked toward the center ring, smiling to myself. “Easily being riled is yours. Though, I’m sure there are more.”
“You have no idea,” he said, glowering. “Just as ignorance must be yours. There is no doubt with a ruler such as your father that you nor any other female in Novear has stepped on a battlefield because of his prejudices. Know your place here before I find it for you.”
I held my tongue, buzzing energy tingled my skin, begging to be released. My power answered to me, only me, and no one else now. I reared back at him. “I will ask this of you again, Drakkon—do I look terrified to you?”
“No, but I feel it is time for a demonstration.” His grin turned wicked as he motioned toward Kane, who was already on his way over to us. “It would seem our new Princess has found some weak spots in your training, Commander.” Kane’s eyes seemed to flicker for a moment as he looked me over. “If that is the case, I am sure she will find it in your technique,” Drakkon said flatly, grasping my shoulders as he pushed me toward the center ring.
Kane positioned himself across from me. His calm demeanor unnerved me slightly, but my blood roiled underneath for the challenge I hoped to match. Drakkon ignited his palm, and my heart jolted in place. Orange flames rushed behind me, entrapping me in the circle with Kane.
He moved around our enclosure, testing my initial response to his movement as I mirrored him. I stilled every part of me that wanted to react as Kane rushed at me, analyzing the power radiating from his steps. Whatever weakness that ailed me prior was consumed by my magic. I crouched down, holding one arm out for balance. Our eyes locked right before he made contact.
I lifted myself into the air as I swung my legs over my center, landing behind him. He was quicker than I anticipated as he rounded the moment my feet hit the ground, rebounding fiercely with enough power to knock a man over three times my size.
This was the type of fighter that never underestimated his opponent. I cursed myself for that minor setback, but it was not the worst I have had to endure. I blocked a series of blows that he rained down on me, sweat dripping off me as I threw my first punch. He snatched up my wrist like he saw it before I had even thought to make the movement.
I acted on pure instinct, twisting myself behind him, attempting to grab hold of his neck, but he had already calculated my intent.
He jerked my wrist over his shoulder, and I felt the bone snap. Fury broke through me as I saw the color red. My shoulder drove into the ground as I rolled over with a groan. I used every bit of momentum I had to smash into his legs. I threw him off balance, giving me just enough time to create distance.
As I reclaimed my stance, I saw Drakkon in my peripheral vision. The intensity in his gaze produced a deep malevolent sound in my chest as I circled the outer rim, banking that our time was almost up.
Kane looked as if he was ready to tear me limb from limb as Drakkon stood, holding up a hand that hushed the entirety of the room into a palpable silence. I watched the rise and fall of Kane’s chest, refusing to take my eyes off him. Fire simmered in his eyes, and my power reveled with its own response.
Taking a moment, I ripped the belt I had used to cinch in the oversized shirt I had found, and I sent it clattering to the floor. My sweat-slicked tunic slopped down beside it, and I was covered only by my wrap. I shook out the wrist Kane had grabbed, broken. . . definitely broken, but I barely felt it compared to what was rushing through me. It charged me with a burning intensity, and soon I would have to make my own fire.
“Ready!” Drakkon yelled over the cracks of the raging flame. Kane took his stance, revving his magic in his palms as they bloomed with a sinister heat. His magic prickled up his forearms, ready to be ignited, but I stood still. I watched Kane in what felt like slow motion, demonstrating the movements to breed fire.
Pity, I was not even going to give him the chance to use it. Closing my eyes for half a second, I connected with the piece of myself I could finally claim for my own, and it came running to me with open arms. My eyes glowed a bright white, my vision turning into a kaleidoscope pattern that allowed me to see every beam of light in my path.
Kane was finishing his motion now, preparing to blast me off the ring, but as he went to finish his movement, the flame died in his hands as they came forward. A solid thud erupted as his knees hit the floor; his breath that once appeared controlled, now rapid. I walked over to him with slow purpose, drawing out my attack. Drakkon and the Volkans completely stilled off to the side.
I had brought their most valuable soldier to his knees. It would be a warning I might come to regret, but I felt infinite in my power. I felt in control as every eye in the room watched it unfold.
It was my father’s favorite technique to use before he stripped away another sorcerer’s power by siphoning. The strain it placed on my magic was heavy, but I pushed through it with force. I refused to ever be seen as weak again.
It. Was. Mine.
I surveyed him as I kneeled behind him. I spoke into his ear with a soft hush that only he was supposed to hear, but I knew the sorcerers surrounding us picked up on every muttered detail as the room reached its boiling point.
“There is no weakness in your training, Commander, for I would know. What I do know is that you have clearly never battled one on one with a lightbringer. For if you did. . . you would have never stepped inside this ring. I can control the very light that allows you to see.” I leaned down closer, pinning my eyes on Drakkon as I trailed a single finger across Kane’s throat. “That gives me the ability to kill you, and you would have never known the moment I brought death upon you.”
His whole body shook, cowering in the emptiness I created for him. Their eyes burned into me, as I held their commander on his knees.
Their stares grew numb as a new presence emerged from the shadows. I felt as if there was a phantom string attached to me, so faint, I did not understand how even my own power could not resist the urge to look. Kane gasped with air beside me as I let go of him. Directly in my line of vision, a thirteenth cloaked figure appeared.
He sent flames down our connection, with every ounce of bleeding wrath that I could not see from his exterior alone. Our eyes clashed together as if the rest of the world was on fire. The magic suspended between us was irrefutable—even more so than my own power, what I had finally laid claim to. It infuriated me, knowing I had felt nothing of the sort when I first met him.
I sent my own blaze of wrath down that invisible line because it did not matter if he was my bonded sorcerer or not. This power is mine. I would never cower to anyone ever again, let alone a future king.
Do you want to be next? I inclined, wading through our connection I irrefutably sensed fully for the first time.
Keahi was as still as night, but a whisper traveled through the room that rattled my power to its core.
I would like to see you try.
18
SABINE
Envy ground my teeth to the bone, fighting my power’s betrayal as it flared from his response. My power was not invigorated by a threat, but a challenge as I watched Keahi’s cutting gaze slice down my form like a knife.
He harbored enough rage in one look that I almost argued if it was as insatiable as my own. I crushed the sensation with a fist as I ripped myself away from him, severing what I could of the bond.
I did not hate him for the sake of knowing he was a fragile alliance at best in the path to my own desires, but I despised his very essence. Keahi would always be my enemy on the fault line, a betrayal in hand when the realm tore us apart. I have never held the expectation of loyalty to anyone, let alone those whose fates were sealed by the Gods.
For the Gods and all they embodied would be the rival I hoped to destroy in the end, with or without him, until I was nothing, but dust shed upon this realm.
Kane’s palms lifted heavily from the floor as I turned to him.
Each breath staggered to regain control. I would not fault him for any transgressed plots against me for what I had just done to him. Darkness made one feel isolated until it beckoned what had been hiding within the depths all along. I should have seen anger when he looked up at me, but it shadowed his eyes with an emotion I did not fully understand.
There was no sign of defeat in the brief appearance I could gather from, as the Commander placed one solid foot on the ground. He forced himself upright and crossed his forearms against his chest. His two forefingers lit on fire as he bowed to me.
Kane did not rise from that position, not until I turned to see that it was not just him who bowed, but the rest of the Volkan fighters as well around me. Their respect I had earned, but it was their fear I wanted. I kept my head lifted, knowing I had failed.
The Volkans righted themselves in unison, following their commander’s lead as he nodded toward me and walked outside of the ring. A hint of what I could have sworn was a smile lingered in Kane’s eyes. They followed his movements, continuing their training in the outer rims. I willed my fists to remain calm as the warriors went on, as if nothing had even occurred.
The opposite was to be said about the half-brothers hovering behind me, exchanging tense unspoken glances between each other. I refused to look at them just yet, giving myself enough time to recover.
I casually strode to where I flayed my shirt to the ground. The outer edges of my scars from the ritual were on display, peeking above the top of my wrap as I leaned down to retrieve my shirt. It chilled my skin as I drew the soaked material over my shoulders. I quietly hissed through my teeth as I made quick work to latch the belt I had found in place.
A broken wrist was nothing compared to what I had handled before, and it tingled with a familiar numbness I found comfort in.
Drakkon and Keahi stood side by side behind me, muttering quick and harsh words to each other I could not make out with my back turned.
Drakkon had an unfriendly twitch at the corner of his lip as I made my way over to them. “That was quite the party trick, wasn’t it, brother? I think we now know why she had been held in her father’s captivity.”
I straightened the bottom of my shirt, brushing off a bit of ash that had fallen on my shoulder. “Why does it not surprise me you would talk about women in such a way? Does it make you feel more. . . powerful?” I raised my brow. “Besides, I have been told that it is everyone’s favorite.”
Drakkon reeled forward, his breath hot on my cheek. “What is it exactly my brother has picked up on our doorstep? A traitorous woman who thinks she has something to prove?” He mocked, lowering his voice. “Do you think your petty act made them fear you, Novear? It just made them hungry for your blood, and I cannot wait to see them drain it from your neck.”
My voice remained calm in comparison, despite the light that flared in my palms. “Are you scared I will have you on your knees too, Drakkon? Because I can make that happen if you wish.”
“Threaten me all you want but know I will not bow to a whore who no doubt got on her own knees to get here.” The light in my palms I had summoned flickered as he shot back. His laughter braised my cheeks as he witnessed it.
“Enough, Drakkon.” Keahi stepped between us, disrupting his watchful silence.
“What? Am I not allowed to say what we are all thinking, Keahi? You may be blind to it, but I am not. If you will not get to know your wife, I will.”
Keahi’s shadow floated away from his form, wrapping around his lower half. If Drakkon noticed it, he did not let it show, but his face changed as Keahi looked down at him.
“If you so much as insinuate my wife upon her knees like that again, I will finally demonstrate to you the ways I have killed men who can withstand fire.” Drakkon flinched, as if Keahi had struck him directly across the face. “You will see a side to me you wished you knew to be dead, but I promise you. . . it is very much alive.”
Drakkon’s face dropped to mine, his mouth slightly parted. He looked between us with a hint of confusion as he took a small step back. He attempted to clear his throat; conviction written across his face.
“I understand,” was all he said as he turned to rush out of the room without another word. I fumbled at the swift change in composure, but I did not have a chance to linger on it long.
Keahi single handedly dragged me out of the room by the hook in my arm, putting on a display even though he could have used his shadowfire to remove us from their view. I did not dare look back to see if anyone was watching, knowing that I could not hide my utter shock and annoyance.
As soon as the doors closed behind us, I pushed against him. “Let go of me!”
His cloak flew the opposite direction.
“Who. Trained. You?”
I mockingly leaned in closer, but it was to my great displeasure to find I was no longer repulsed by his proximity. The last of the crystal’s removal was an unexpected counterattack to my senses.
The sorcery he possessed overwhelmed me in a whole new way as his amber scent swarmed around me in an intoxicating smolder. It flushed every inch of my skin in an inviting warmth to discover the wicked and untamed nature rising within him to a fever pitch.
Keahi’s head tilted to the side, his chest shuttering as he inhaled deeply against me in a trance. His thick eyelashes fluttered, plagued by the same carnal affliction. Our powers diverted their loyalty under the same maddening duress in search of each other.
I was about to fix that.
My lips lifted with an aggravated smirk. “Is it not obvious who trained me, General? My father.”
