Betrayal's Price (In Deception's Shadow Book 1) (3 page)

At his barked
order a set of guards entered the tent. Ashayna followed. Three steps in, her
eyes adjusted to the flickering of oil lamps, but it was the burning metallic
scent of magic, overwhelming in the tent’s confines, which hindered her
concentration. Even breathing through her mouth didn’t help. Her magic awoke,
flooding throughout her body.
Not now, please not now
.

Perhaps taking
pity, her magic remained, thankfully, below her skin.

She turned her
attention to the strangers where they stood around the tent’s lone table. Two
oil lamps at either end of the long table offered dim illumination. The vision
of the phoenix hadn’t given her perspective to gauge his height, and she was
amazed at the sheer size of the two bronze-skinned, winged beings occupying the
tent. Her head might come to the shorter one’s shoulders.

Both females
were dressed in short robes, ornate sword belts slung across their hips. Gold
and jewels shone in their crests and circled their wrists. The lupwyn was
similarly garbed.

With a start,
Ashayna realized the three strangers were free to roam with no signs of rope or
shackles. She turned to one of the guards with a questioning look.

“It’s their
dark magic.” He made a quick sign to ward off the evil. “One moment they’re
wearing shackles, the next their restraints vanished. Three sets gone without a
trace, milady. Never seen the like in all my days. The captain says not to
provoke them.”

Eying the
prisoners’ height and talons, Ashayna was inclined to agree. The lupwyn could
walk upright like a human, but any other similarities ended there. Her thick
coat of fur, and legs that bent at a strange angle, were markedly non-human,
but her pointed muzzle and large mobile ears completed the wolf look.

Stepping away
from the table, the lupwyn approached. Both sets of guards stationed at Ashayna’s
back circled around in front, swords drawn, and their legs braced apart in
silent challenge.

The lupwyn
queen dropped to all fours, a growl rumbling up from in her chest. Both
phoenixes flanked the lupwyn, their hands on their swords in obvious threat.
Each emitted a rattling hiss, gazes fixing upon the guards with the sharp
intensity of predatory birds.

“Easy.” At
Ashayna’s soothing tone, three sets of eyes narrowed on her again. When she
eased between raised swords, the soldiers grudgingly stepped back and the
prisoners relaxed.

“I am Ashayna
Stonemantle, scout for the River’s Divide garrison.” If these strangers hadn’t
held her peoples’ survival in their hands, diplomacy could have waved in the
wind for all she cared. Instead, she wrestled for a polite tone. “Why did you
come?”

Silence
stretched by. Ashayna fought an urge to scream at them. She dragged in two deep
breaths and prayed for calm. The churning of her own magic gave Ashayna an
idea. It had to be good for something, after all.

She reached
inward, determined to harness her magic. It swirled up from the depths of her
bones.
“I like this no better than you, but we must talk.”
Ashayna
formed words in her mind while trying to impress upon the magic her wish the
prisoners might hear.
“If you can understand, show me in some way.”

The shorter
phoenix bobbed her head, her eyes sparkling with a hint of mirth.
“How would
you like to be shown, Stonemantle? My name is Kandarra.”

Rage,
desperation, hatred—Ashayna had expected any of those emotions accompanying the
silent voice. Humor was a surprise.
“Very well, since you can understand me,
why are you here?”
Ashayna glanced at her father’s soldiers out of the
corner of her eye. She noted the way they shifted, the fear evident in the
pallor of their faces, in the tightening of their fingers on their weapons.

“You command
magic, unlike these others.”
The new mind-voice
sounded different, stronger, more disciplined.
“I am Marsolwyn, Queen of the
Lupwyns.”

Straightening
to an imposing height, Queen Marsolwyn gestured for Ashayna to take a seat. Her
long, shiny claws tapped out a rhythm against her thigh.

Ashayna
swallowed. There would be no escaping their claws and talons at such a short
distance. Refusing to be intimidated, she held her ground. Whatever their
motives, they might be the only ones who could save her father. After
deliberating for a moment, Ashayna bowed low, as she’d learned as a child.

Power radiated
off them, filling the tent’s narrow confines. She waited. Her magic hummed
louder in her mind. Sweat beaded along her neck, lower back, and under her
arms. Her pounding heart jumped up a notch and her breathing increased.

“You abase
yourself prettily. However, it’s not necessary.” The lupwyn’s voice was deep,
full of rich tones, musical in quality. “Given the strength of your magic, you
must be the one we seek.” She tilted her head to the side at Ashayna’s gasp. “Don’t
fear. Your secret’s still safe. The guards are no longer aware.”

Ashayna froze
in disbelief. With a sickening clarity, she realized the silence was enough of a
warning. She glanced behind. Her heart leapt into her throat.

Of the six
guards who had accompanied her, four still remained upright. They stared off
into shadowed corners of the tent, their faces still as statues. Two other
guards lay where they’d collapsed. A profound sense of dread settled in Ashayna’s
stomach.

“Hmm, they had
a little more resistance to magic than the others.” Marsolwyn gestured to the
two prone guards. “It was easier just to command them to sleep.”

Ashayna
released the breath she’d been holding. The guards’ chests still rose and fell.

“Lady Ashayna,
take a seat.” Queen Marsolwyn gestured again at a chair where it sat tucked up
against a low table.

Ashayna debated
the command. She’d prefer to stand, but to refuse a queen would be a blunder
she couldn’t afford. She bowed, retrieved the chair, and sat down.

“We have come
to speak with you about your magic.” Marsolwyn flicked her pointed ears
forward, towards where other guards waited outside. Satisfied with what she’d
learned, she continued, “What your Priests of the Revealing Light falsely name
demons, we call Larnkins. They are creatures of spirit—an ancient race, not
physical in nature, with no flesh, blood, or bones such as we have. We serve
them as hosts. In return they grant us vast stores of power and knowledge.”

“Spirit
creatures? Only a fool would take you at your word. I would know if I was
possessed by one of your Larnkins.” Ashayna felt a chill, as though someone
with winter frosted hands caressed her.
Do they know something of my secret,
or is it pure speculation on their part?

“One day, when
your Larnkin awakens, she’ll convince you of your mistake.”

‘Awakens’ didn’t
sound good. Ashayna narrowed her eyes. What the woman said sounded all too
familiar, yet distrust and old bias threaded doubt through her mind. To believe
the falsehoods could prove deadly. Though, who would deal the death blow was
something she didn’t like to ponder.

“These two are
dear friends of mine. Kandarra and Vinarah are daughters of the phoenix queen.”
Marsolwyn tipped her muzzle to the taller phoenix. “Vinarah shall speak of the
rest.”

Ashayna’s mind
crowded with questions, yet she held her tongue. She would gather what she
could before passing along the information to her father’s men.

The taller
phoenix stepped forward, her hand, with its long talon-tipped fingers, rested
on the table directly in front of Ashayna. Trapped in her chair, Ashayna had
nowhere to go as Vinarah leaned closer, tilting her head one way and then
another. Under the intense scrutiny Ashayna dug her fingernails into the chair’s
arms.

Vinarah took a
half step back, her expression settling into a pensive, unhappy look. “My
mother named me Vinarah, which means ‘The Far Sighted,’ for my ability to see
fragments of what is or what may be. One vision is more persistent than all
others. In it I see a young human woman, taller than many of her race, with
hair of night and bearing a Larnkin of unparalleled power. I have seen this
meeting come to pass, in this tent.” Vinarah paused, perhaps studying Ashayna
for reaction. “It was you I saw. You are one of us. A mage—host to a Larnkin.
You belong with us, not these other humans.”

“You came all
this way because you think I am one of you?” Fear ripped through Ashayna’s
chest. Her heart lurched into a steady pound, as sweat trickled down her back.
She bolted upright, tipping her chair over when its back legs caught on a rug. “I’m
not anything like you. I’ll never betray my people.”

“We are not
asking you to harm your own kind.” The shorter phoenix’s words were accompanied
by a slight curving of her lips. “There can be peace between our races. We
offer to train you, to help protect your people as well as ours. Why would we
come all this way to lie to you?”

“I don’t know.”
Ashayna choked. “But I can’t be who you seek.”

Her magic
stirred fitfully and Ashayna knew her own words were false. She had power. What
they said explained the strange magic living within her. A shiver crawled down
her spine. At the motion, the feather shifted underneath her vest. Its spicy
scent wafted up, reminding her of alarming events from earlier. What lived
within her seemed more sinister than the beings they described.

Ashayna stared
at the oil lamps, their flickering light dancing along tent walls and furniture
alike. Soft breathing was the only sound for many moments, and it occurred to
her the others communicated in a silent language beyond her hearing. Before she
realized what she did, the magic obeyed her unformed wish and she heard the
murmuring undertones of the prisoners. Fragments sharpened into true speech.

“She is the
one.”

“You are
certain?”

“Yes,
however I fear our brother will be less than pleased.”

“On the
contrary, I think he’ll be delighted. What male wouldn’t, seeing his bondmate
wearing his—”

“Kandarra,
what have you done now?”

“Made this
sordid mess a little more interesting. It’ll be fun watching them struggle with
their pride.”

“This is no
time for games.”

“She is
aware!”

As a foreign
power reached out to Ashayna’s mind, she instinctively slammed her shields back
in place. From behind her dubious protection, she could feel where their power
brushed up against her mental barrier. For one moment, their startled thoughts
reached her.

She’d surprised
them. Should she feel elation or dread? Probably dread. Even though Ashayna
hadn’t understood half of what they’d said, it sounded like they’d come a long
way to find her.

“So you say I’m
to become a mage.” While Ashayna admitted to herself her magic problem might be
linked to a Larnkin, she wasn’t ready to confide in total strangers. “Vinarah,
you have seen it, but have you ever been wrong or perhaps mistaken the meaning?”

Vinarah looked
peevish. “The vision is clear. It is exceedingly rare for a human to possess
enough natural magic to be host to a Larnkin. What part of my vision do you
think I have misinterpreted?”

None. Their
words made sense. She did, without a doubt, possess some kind of magic, and it
had a mind of its own. Yet, for all she knew, they had some hand in her
emerging magic—a magic hazardous to her family if an acolyte of the Revealing
Light found out. At the moment, she feared the priesthood more than the
prisoners. “Can you take this Larnkin and place it in another host?”

Kandarra
snorted and shook her head. “If it was such a simple thing, do you think we’d
be here? No, a Larnkin’s choice of host is permanent. We cannot order around
such beings on a whim. They choose us and we honor them with the use of our
bodies.”

“You want me to
come willingly.” Ashayna’s cool statement gained no response, so instead a new
tactic was in order. “What is it worth to you?” A thin shift of muscles along
Kandarra’s jaw told Ashayna she’d hit upon the right trail.

“Isn’t it
clear?” Kandarra was quickly hushed by Queen Marsolwyn before she could reveal
more.

Marsolwyn
tilted her head to one side, gaze fixed. She remained motionless for ten
heartbeats, then her eyes snapped into focus. “Go tell your commanding officer
a delegation will arrive shortly to negotiate for our release. Pray they get
here before my mate does. I hear his warsong carried on the wind. It will not
go well for your people if Ryanth gets here first.”

“Your mate
leads the army of lupwyns? The ones my father was trying to slow?”

“Yes. Perhaps I
should have discussed this with Ryanth, but time was short and I was visiting
in Grey Spires, the phoenix city. While I was there, Vinarah had a vision of
danger to you—from a priest. I didn’t have time to inform Ryanth. Unfortunately,
he’s reacted faster than I anticipated.”

“If your
oversight leads to my father’s death, you’ll never have me or my magic at your
command.” Ashayna couldn’t stand the tent’s confines any longer. Their magic
threatened to steal her breath. She backed away, heading towards the entrance
when she remembered the six guards. “Undo whatever you did to them and don’t
use magic upon a human again. I might come with you peacefully, if my father
still lives.”