Prince of Fire (34 page)

Keelia reached around to touch the wings that had sprung from her back. Joryn caressed a feather that had sprouted in her hair, one of a few that were mingled with the red strands, and Keelia wondered what else about her had changed.

"Only the eyes," Joryn answered, as if she had spoken aloud.

His eyes were drawn to the woman bathed in white, and he jumped to his feet. "Grandmother."

The old woman smiled. "I'm simply Vala now. What was the Grandmother now resides in Druson. You must protect him."

"Druson pushed Keelia over the edge. She might've been killed."

"He knew she would not." She shook her finger at Joryn like a censuring mother might. "You were told not to use this doorway. Things in your world are not as they should be. The dark magic which is at work in your world disrupts all energy, even that which creates these doorways."

Here in this place, Keelia's gifts were at full strength. It had been so long since she'd experienced a powerful rush of knowledge, she was stunned. How could she not have known months ago that her talents had been tainted?

Because she could now see so much of Joryn, Keelia knew what doorways the old woman spoke of. She also knew that Vala held the answers to many questions. Their time here was short, and she wanted as many of those answers as she could collect. Keelia scrambled to her feet, feathers and all.

Joryn smiled. "You scold me for using the doorway, and yet you are here to speak with me. It's not as if I could allow Keelia to fall to her death."

"She might've gained control of her wings," Vala argued.

"Or not."

Keelia hated to interrupt the easy banter, but she had too many questions to stand by and wait patiently. "I don't understand any of this. Where did these wings come from?"

The old woman reached out and patted Keelia's face. Her touch was peaceful. Heavenly and welcome. "They come from inside you. You see so much of others, and yet you do not see that which rests inside yourself. You have the power of all the creatures of the earth. They need only to be unlocked. Freed. Experienced."

"But..."

"Joryn and Druson know the rest. They will tell you all that you need to know." Vala turned her attention to Joryn. "The wizard is not dead."

"I saw him die."

"He is
not
dead. He will try to claim the Queen before the cycle of the full moon ends. You must stop him, Joryn, or else all is lost. Do not allow him to touch her. Do not allow his poison to infect the mountains we love. Now go, before you're both trapped here. You'll do the world no good resting in the land in-between."

Joryn nodded. "Where will the doorway lead us?" Vala smiled. "As always, the doorway will open on the same place where you entered this world. That is as it must be."

Keelia fluttered her new wings. They had entered this world in midair.

* * * * *

Druson held his breath as he watched. What if he was wrong? He didn't think he was wrong, but what if he was? Behind him, Keelia's mother screamed, and her father bellowed. They both ran to the edge after Joryn leapt into the air, but they did not follow. The large Anwyn grabbed Druson with large hands which would soon be paws. Druson was moments away from death, but he had no regrets. He'd done what needed to be done.

He glanced up into angry golden eyes. "Look," he said softly. "Look, look,
look."

The old Queen was already watching, and it was her word that saved Druson from a quick death at massive Anwyn hands. "Wait." A stilling hand came up, and Druson did not die.

The Anwyn and his mate looked over the edge and saw what Druson saw. The Queen sprouted wings, large wings that slowed her descent. The circle of fire appeared, and Joryn shaped his body in a fashion that allowed him to reach Keelia. He caught her, or she caught him, and they fell through the fire.

And disappeared, for the span of a heartbeat or two.

When they reappeared, the Queen's wings were spread wide, and Joryn held on to her, in essence riding on her back as they glided into the valley below and landed.

It was time for the full moon transformation, for him and for the Anwyn pair beside him. Druson felt the shift begin. Unlike the Queen, they could not control the shifting from human to animal and back again. He managed to voice one warning before the change robbed his ability to speak.

"Tonight beware the black cat who wears metal at his throat."

* * * * *

The ground rushed up quickly, but not dangerously so. Keelia did her best to control the wind with her wings, but flying was a skill she'd need to practice in order to perfect. Joryn's weight on hter back did not help matters any, but this was the only way for the two of them to make it safely to solid ground.

She landed hard, and Joryn rolled off her back and away, shifting to mountain cat as he whirled across the grass.

Keelia did not shift. Her wings retracted, and she took a deep, calming breath. A moment later those wings were gone, though she suspected—no, she
knew
—that she could now call upon them as she called upon her claws. Falling, finding her wings, entering the world between life and death, speaking with the white witch who was no longer Grandmother, exiting that world with Joryn on her back, and making their way safety to the ground... it had all happened in a matter of minutes.. Perhaps two.

While she lay on the ground trying to catch her breath, the blond cat sauntered over to her and sniffed at her throat, then her hair, then her cheek. He only wanted to know that she was all right; she knew that as she reached out to stroke Joryn's head.

"Now I understand why you're afraid to make a child who might have your gift for fire. It isn't simply fire at all." Her fingers traced the streak of red in his fur. "That doorway can be dangerous if misused."

Yes.

A child with such a gift would need intensive training, as well as constant supervision, until of a certain age.

"Why didn't you tell me?" It would've made a few days of heartbreak much easier if she'd know Joryn's reasoning for keeping his distance. "I suppose you didn't trust me enough." She continued to stroke his fur. Her feelings were not hurt by the revelation. Joryn had never been one to give his trust easily. The Grandmother was. likely the only person on this earth he'd ever truly trusted. Until now. He had not said so, but he did trust her.

"You leapt off a cliff after me," she said softly. "What if the doorway hadn't worked properly in the air?"

A chance I had to take.

She had offered Joryn her throat, and he had jumped off a cliff on the
chance
he might save her. Could anyone doubt that they were mated?

Keelia sat up quickly, disrupting Joryn's position. "Is it possible that Maccus is not dead, as Vala and Druson said?" When she remembered how compliant his enchantment had made her, she shuddered. She didn't want to lose herself again, ever. "He can't possibly make it down the mountain as quickly as we did, but..." She looked into Joryn's green eyes. "But my parents don't have any idea what he's capable of, and they're directly in his path."

She shifted instantly to red wolf. Perhaps she could transform herself to another, faster animal, but now was not the time to experiment with untested abilities. The wolf was still a very large part of her, and she needed it now. She looked into Joryn's green cat eyes.
We must hurry.

* * * * *

Maccus came across the three of them well past midnight. The red wolf, the insane black and gray cat, and a blond... wolf? Was the Queen's magic so powerful that she could command her chosen mate to shift into the animal she called her own? He did not wish to be a wolf, but then once he had control of the Queen, she would do whatever he desired, as she would have no desires of her own other than to obey him.

The three animals seemed to be alert, and Maccus studied the situation with calculating eyes. He no longer had his soldiers to call upon for assistance. Those he'd kept close to him were dead, thanks to Joryn's fire. Those who were far away from him, fighting the demon's war, had been stripped of their powers and would find themselves weak and bewildered, soulless and dedicated to doing the demon's work, but without Maccus's direction.

He must take the Queen on his own.

Certain parts of the ritual to make her his bride must be followed, but all would not be precisely as he and the Isen Demon had planned. Keelia had destroyed the stone which had enchanted the half-transformed creatures, so he would not be in that enhanced state when he made her his bride. They could not be washed entirely in moonlight when the ceremony took place, as he would change into his feline form without his full power. No, the ceremony would have to take place when both moon and sun shone, and he maintained his human shape. How else was he to make his daughter?

But Keelia
would
wear the blood of her lover. That was required. It was necessary. Even if it were not required, he wanted to see the man who'd burned him suffer. Maccus studied the large blond wolf below, and then his eyes were drawn to the red wolf who would soon be his. At the moment, all three animals were very much on guard. He could see and sense their tension, their readiness. Three against one was not favorable odds, and Maccus had never been one to place himself in danger if it could be avoided.

The silver and gold medallion, all but ruined by the Queen and yet not entirely without power, hung from his neck. In the morning he would have full use of his magic, and he could take them at that time. Once he made the Queen his again, the others would be easy to take.

The black cat with metal at his throat settled down to watch and wait.

* * * * *

After much discussion, it was decided. Ariana and Sian would march to Arthes to heal Arik and send Sibyl and Bronsyn to safety; Merin and his men would descend upon Giro and his unholy army so that they would never reach the capital city; Sophie and her husband, Kane, would search for Liane and her lost children—the lost heirs to the throne.

Ariana wasn't sure who had the toughest job ahead of them. Merin and his soldiers were prepared to fight, and their task was, perhaps, the most straightforward. Some of them would die, but they would die nobly and with purpose. She planned to rejoin them once her task of healing Emperor Arik was completed, so that she could tend soldiers and return battered gray and dark souls to those of Ciro's Own who were captured. Healing was her most important gift in this war. It always had been.

With her newly enhanced powers, could she heal the emperor? Could she save him? He'd been so ill when she'd left him, she couldn't be certain that he was still alive. Sibyl was a talented healer. If anyone could keep him alive, it was Ariana's little sister. Facing what his son had become would be more difficult than death, she knew, but Arik's survival was necessary.

Her parents' task would, perhaps, be the most difficult. Not only did they have no idea where to search for Liane and her children, but if Ciro found out that he had elder cousins who could lay claim to the throne, none of them would be safe. In truth, no one was safe while Ciro lived.

Hie three parties would travel together for a few days more, and then they would part company and go their separate ways. Ariana had so hoped to have Keelia's counsel before continuing on, but she could not turn back, and she could not wait any longer in the hopes that her cousin would find her. Lyr and Duran were surely on their way to join Merin by now.

Ariana wasn't quite ready to face her brother, not after sending him away before telling him of her part in this war, and she didn't know what to tell Lyr. Was he to wield the crystal dagger as she suspected? If so, they first had to find it and she had no idea where to tell him to look.

She studied the full moon. Where was Keelia? The Anwyn Queen had her part to play in this war, and perhaps she was entrenched in her own battles at this very moment.

While she could not know with any certainty, it made sense that Keelia's part in the Prophesy of the Firstborn was betrayal of love. Lyr was the logical bearer of the crystal dagger, and Keelia... Keelia was capable of betrayal, of that Ariana was certain. Even as a child, Keelia had always held something of herself back. She'd been quiet and thoughtful and secretive. Not for the first time, it occurred to Ariana that the love Keelia was destined to betray might be the love for a cousin. Maybe Keelia knew she was desperately needed, but chose not to join me fight. The very idea made Ariana's heart feel heavy.

Betrayal in the name of victory. Of course, the prophesy had not said whose victory that betrayal would bring.

It was late, well past midnight, but few in camp were able to sleep. As far as Ariana could see, beneath the light of the moon, fires blazed, and soldiers sharpened their swords and spoke in low tones. Merin and some of his most trusted soldiers studied maps and battle plans. Sophie Varden and her husband planned their own route of travel. They knew in which direction Liane had been traveling when she'd left Arthes, and they also knew she'd planned to get as far away from the capital city as possible. With that in mind, they made their own battle plans.

Ariana paced alone, near enough to a blazing fire to be bathed in its light, but not so close that the heat was too overpowering. She saw Sian walking through mat light, his face stark against his long black hair and black clothing, his every move sensuous and graceful and strong.

She did love him, so much.

He had a determined look on his face as he approached her, and she wondered what was wrong. She didn't have long to wait before he informed her of the reason for that resolute expression.

"There was a preacher among the troops that joined us tonight."

"That's nice," she said. "The men will need spiritual guidance, as well as Merin's leadership."

"He can also marry us."

"We're already—"

"You call me husband, I call you wife, we are bound together, yes," Sian interrupted. "But I want it all. I want the words in front of friends and family. I want God's blessing. I want—"

"I want all that, too," she said, cutting him off. "But I also want a perfect wedding day, wimout the knowledge that tomorrow is uncertain."