Rise of the Faire-Amanti (The Ascendant Series Book 3) (2 page)

Again.

The dream had started not long after Kyr met up with him in the Dark Lands. At first, it was nothing more than flashes of images and a sense of defeat and powerlessness. With each new incarnation of the dream, though, more details appeared. The sequence of events never changed. It just got more and more vivid and intense.

He reached shakily for Kyr, who still slept soundly beside him. Battling the sharp blade of desolation that threatened to slice into his soul, he pulled her against him and wrapped her in his arms. She slept on, oblivious to his torment.

The light, familiar fragrance of her hair helped calm him, but not much. The fear from the dream haunted him, and would stay with him for a long time to come. There would be no more sleep for him that night.

How could he sleep when he suspected that such a specific recurring scene wasn’t a dream, but a vision of things yet to come?

Chapter 2

The sword whistled past Kyr’s head with enough force to blow loose strands of hair away from her face. Perspiration kept other strands firmly plastered against her temples. Salty drops of sweat fell like tears from her long, dark lashes into her eyes, making her swipe impatiently at her brow with a gloved hand as she whirled to once again face her opponents.

Gren, correcting his balance after the sword swing, circled her to the right. His copper colored eyes were intent on her as he anticipated her next move. It was a small consolation that his ruggedly handsome features were glistening with sweat, too.

Kyr’s amanti, Ty, on the other hand, looked as though he was a casual observer in this skirmish, even though he had done the majority of the attacking. He had yet to break a sweat or breathe harder than normal. He wasn’t even using a weapon, wanting her to learn how to defend herself against any form of attack. Kyr knew his apparent lack of strain was a result of the enhanced physical strength and endurance he had inherited as the
Dem-Shyr
, the male fated to protect her, the Ascendant. Those abilities had been enhanced as their relationship deepened. As the Faire-Amanti, he now appeared invincible.

And sexy as hell.

But appearances can be deceiving
, she thought, looking between the two males.
He may be sexy as hell, but he isn’t invincible
.

Ty flashed a grin, reading the thoughts like they were his own. Indeed, their thoughts were now almost impossible to keep from one another, so deep was their connection. That made it even more challenging to try and defeat him.

And that was her goal. Even though this was meant to be another lesson in defense, she wanted to bring her opponents down.

You’ll have to try much harder to do that
, Gren mused, easily rolling out of the way when she swiped at him with one of the Oro blades she held.

Ty tried to take advantage of her position after the attempted strike, but she anticipated the move, using her momentum to dive into a roll across the practice chamber floor and briskly regaining her feet a safe distance from either male. Rather than remain there for them to approach, she took the offensive, launching into another diving roll and bringing her practice blades up towards Gren’s midsection. He grunted as he swung his sword down to deflect the attack. The loud sound of clashing blades echoed off the stone walls of the cavernous practice chamber.

He pushed her off-balance, sending her into another roll. She knew better than to stay still after regaining her feet. The moment she rose, she continued forward and then whipped around, her blades at the ready. Ty’s leg swept past where she would have ended up if she hadn’t moved. She saw the corner of his mouth turn up with approval when he realized he’d missed her.

During their training sessions, Kyr refrained from using her mental abilities to read her opponents’ moves, knowing she had to learn how to defend herself if thoughts were blocked from her. Ty actually insisted on this with a vehemence that made her understand how important it was to him. Weariness was etching itself into her bones, though. If she wanted to come out the victor for a change, she was going to have to use the skills she had at her disposal.

Tut, tut
, Gren censured, likely feeling her mind touching on his.
That’s hardly fair, Ma’jah
.

Fighting a smile, she retorted,
Neither is two against one. Just consider this leveling the playing field
.

Gren’s scarred eyebrow rose as Ty shook his head. She allowed the thoughts of both males to fill her mind. While it seemed a good idea in theory, it was harder than she imagined to filter their actions from their rambling thoughts. Each of them considered and dismissed a number of possible approaches before finally moving. It was impossible to know exactly how to react, and she came close to getting disarmed a few times.

Frustrated, she circled back to the center of the chamber, keeping both males in sight. A memory occurred to her, one where she was training with Ty’s cousin, Sem. She had used her abilities to intuit his movements. But she hadn’t been as mentally strong then, and she hadn’t had the same level of connection to him at the time as she did now to Gren and Ty. She realized that she had been relying on a more subtle part of her abilities, one based more on instinct and a sort of promotion than on actual thought-reading.

She tamped down on her abilities, narrowing her focus so that she wasn’t listening to their thoughts. Her body went into a state of hyper-alertness. When they moved, she moved. None of their strikes came close to catching her off-guard. And then with a feint and a low kick, she brought Gren down to the ground.

“Ha!” she shouted as she disarmed him. “Take that!”

He grimaced as she grinned down at him with her practice blades held at his throat. “I’m getting too old for this,” he muttered.

“Don’t give me that,” she snorted. “You live for this stuff.”

Her gaze lifted to Ty as he approached. She wasn’t sure if he intended to continue their training session or not. She started to ask him when she noticed his gaze flicker over her shoulder. She sensed the new presence too late to react.

A sharp blade hissed near her ear before it settled at her throat.

“Next time, assume your opponent has additional backup,” advised a cool female voice.

Gren’s lover, Scarlyt, had joined the lesson.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kyr said, slowly rising from her position over Gren.

Ty strode over to her, taking her arm and giving Scarlyt a long look until she removed the dagger. “Why weren’t you paying more attention?” he asked Kyr as he pulled her a few steps away.

Surprised by the heat in his tone, she blinked before replying, “I should have been. I guess I let my success get to my head.”

“You can’t do that,” he said, his eyes intense and his grip on her arm firm. “If this had been real—”

“It wasn’t,” she interrupted, puzzling over the anxiety she read in his thoughts.
Ty, what is this about?

He shook his head and released her arm, shielding his thoughts from her. “I just want you to be more careful. We don’t know what we’ll face when we finally get through the protections.”

“Enemies come in many forms, Ma’jah,” Scarlyt warned as she helped Gren to his feet.

Her tone was emotionless, making Kyr wonder if she was implying herself. Everyone in the room knew that Scarlyt held no particular affection for her. Although Kyr wished it was otherwise, she could understand the other female’s feelings. Because of Kyr, Scarlyt had been banished to the Dark Lands with all of the other Outcasts, leaving Gren thinking she was dead.

That’s not true
, Ty thought, once again stepping towards Kyr and touching her arm, this time more gently.
Vycor is the one who influenced her to attack you
.

Well, I made his job a lot easier
.

Lingering guilt over her behavior so many years ago had her turning away as Gren swept Scarlyt close for a quick kiss. It shamed Kyr that her obnoxious attitude towards Scarlyt back then had been fairly typical for her. She had recently begun remembering more of her past, memories that had been suppressed when she was sent off-planet to learn the life lessons that were deemed too harsh and negative to learn on Alametria.

How ironic, she mused now, that the harshest and most deadly life lessons she’d ever learned had recently occurred right here on her so-called “enlightened” home planet.

“You fought well, Kyr,” Gren said. He seemed oblivious to her inner turmoil, which told her he was deliberately giving her privacy in her thoughts. “Next time, make sure you’re aware of a possible ambush.”

“Indeed,” she murmured, her gaze shifting between Ty and Scarlyt. She couldn’t read anything in either of their expressions.

“Let’s go get cleaned up and have something to eat,” Ty said, taking her by the hand and starting in the direction of the door leading to their temporary home.

“You can join us for food when you’re ready, Ra’jah,” Gren offered. “We’ll get something brought in.”

Kyr found herself smiling over Gren’s use of Ty’s new title as her amanti. He liked to use it at random times because he knew how uncomfortable it made Ty. Indeed, Ty’s hand tensed the slightest bit around hers. Glancing back, she caught Gren’s gaze. He gave her one of his roguish winks, and she knew he had said it to bring her out of her faltering mood.

“Thanks, Gren,” she said. “We’ll do that.”

Ty led her to the chamber that they had resided in since shortly after they became unexpected guests of the Peace Keepers nearly twenty nightfalls before. It never ceased to amaze her what Scarlyt and her band of female warriors had accomplished out here in the cursed Dark Lands. Through bartering, scavenging, and winning skirmishes against MalakDane’s Marauders, the Peace Keepers had established a habitable and secure home buried deep within a large series of caverns beneath the Dark Lands. They had food, clothing, armor, weaponry, and basic furnishings, as well as air filtration and water filtration, two things vital to surviving in the harsh environment.

In part because they knew to use water sparingly and in part because they enjoyed it, Kyr and Ty took a quick shower together before changing from their practice armor into more serviceable clothes. Kyr didn’t give much thought to the simple brown pants and white long-sleeved shirt she pulled on. She had gotten used to the coarse, unadorned clothing available to Outcasts, and only rarely found herself comparing it to the fine garb she had been used to at the Vawn palace.

That passing thought had her thinking about Vycor and her parents. The Advisor and Guardians were essentially ruling at the palace in her absence while most of the planet believed she was dead. Vycor and Shaya, who had been conducting an illicit affair right under her father’s nose, could be doing any number of horrible things on the other side of the barrier separating the Dark Lands from the rest of the planet, but Kyr was powerless to stop them.

We’ll get through the protections, Kyr
, Ty thought, stepping closer to her and caressing her cheek.

She leaned into his touch.
How? We’ve been trying for so long. Nothing seems to work
.

Don’t get discouraged. We’ve made good use of this time, haven’t we?

He was right, of course. It had taken them longer than anticipated to gather support on this side of the protections. Outcasts were scattered all over the Dark Lands. Those who weren’t being held prisoner in Vycor’s mine weren’t exactly eager to reveal themselves to strangers, and even if they did, they weren’t enthused over the idea of going up against the palace. Seeing as how it was Vycor and his Inquisitors who had gotten most of them cast out in the first place, Kyr understood their reluctance.

She and Ty had decided not to reveal their true identities to Outcasts in an effort to keep news of her survival a secret, so getting support was even more difficult. They were making headway, though. It was nice to know they had some allies now.

We’ll find a way to get through
, Ty vowed, running his thumb lightly over her lower lip.

The caress made her forget about her troubles. Her gaze moved to his mouth, which turned up at the corners. He leaned down, and she rose on her toes to meet him halfway.

Geez. Can’t I ever pop in without you two pawing each other?

Kyr returned to the flats of her feet as Sem’s thought broke through the moment. She frowned as she met Ty’s gaze. They weren’t due to “chat” with Sem yet that day.

This couldn’t wait
, Sem explained.
I just got back from spying on another rendezvous between Shaya and Vycor
.

Kyr’s eyes widened as she grasped Ty’s forearm. Her worry over Sem was bad enough when he was merely pretending to still be under Vycor’s influence so he could gather intel from within the palace. But this…

Sem
, Ty thought warningly.
We told you not to risk that
.

Yeah, yeah. I was getting bored. I haven’t gotten you any new useful information in days. I had to do something
.

Ty sighed.
What did you find out?

The V’larians are still on Alametria
.

Kyr’s brow wrinkled in puzzlement. She felt Ty’s concern, too. The V’larian ambassadors, Telad and Ravina, had gone back to their planet before Ty was banished to the Dark Lands.

I figured since you mentioned seeing some V’larian weaponry and supplies out there in the Dark Lands that you’d want to know
, Sem conveyed.

Why would the V’larians return here so soon?
Kyr wondered.

That’s the thing
, Sem replied.
I don’t think they ever left
.

Chapter 3

As soon as they closed the connection with Sem, Ty and Kyr headed over to the chambers that Gren shared with Scarlyt. Ty figured that Gren already knew what they’d just learned. Not long ago, he and Kyr had used their combined abilities to join with Gren’s mind in the same way that they were joined with Sem so that they could hear each other over long distances. They had wanted to be sure they could remain in touch when Ty and Kyr broke through the protections and headed towards the palace while Gren and Scarlyt rescued the Alametrians being held prisoner in the Dark Lands’ tajeria mine, a plan that had yet to be realized.