Rise of the Shadow Warriors (9 page)

Chapter 14

The next evening, Shaina still didn’t know what to make of the Warlord’s behavior. Her stomach wobbled inside and she pressed her palm to it in hopes of soothing the feeling. Pulling on a clean set of clothes, the ends of the Warlords braid brushed her fingers from where she’d placed it on her dresser.

Picking up the braid, Shaina raised it high admiring the length. A leather tie kept the end from untangling and a metal clasp shaped like a claw held the top. She’d loved him with the hair but a possessive part of her wanted to run through the halls of the cavern and wave the black rope in the air for all to see.

Searching her room, Shaina finally decided what she wanted to do. The wall to the right of her bed displayed the weapons she used most. Several hooks were empty.

“Shaina, I must speak with you.”

Finishing her task, Shaina took a deep breath before calling out. “Enter, Ivak.”

The curtain barring the door parted to admit the man.

“Greetings, Shaina.” He smiled broadly and approached her with wide open arms.

Shaina ducked the hug and glared. “Ivak, what brings you here?”

His arms fell to his side and he met her glare with one of his own. The added twist to his lips warned her to be cautious.

“You make things more difficult than they need to be, Shaina. We’ve all noticed the change in you and are concerned.”

“
We
,” Shaina snorted. “No one questioned my rule until now, Ivak. More like you’ve convinced them to be concerned.”

Ivak held his hands up in a placating gesture. His mouth pursed into a frown. “Shaina, calm yourself. This is one of the reasons I was elected to speak with you. Your temper of late has been short. You’re easily distracted.”

Shaina did a double take, barely keeping her lips from parting in surprise. “What?”

“At the circle, we noticed how quick you were to leave when we hadn’t resolved anything. Even now, no one knows where you go off to when you disappear.” Ivak crossed the room and placed his hand on her shoulder, his fingers sinking deep.

Shaina controlled her wince and jerked from his hold. “No one need worry about me. I’m
fine
.”

He sighed and waved his hand in her direction. When he tipped his head down and spoke, his tone reeked of condescension. “Look at you. Wary…cautious of touch. This isn’t like you.”

There was another knock on the wall outside her rooms. Ivak answered for her. “Come in.”

Shaina snapped. “These are
my
rooms, Ivak.
I’m
Queen of the Olak’din.” She pointed at her chest for emphasis but was ignored.

Mandok came in. He sent her a harsh stare as if she’d committed some offense against him. Shaina breathed deeply and reached for her center then eased the air out of her mouth to calm herself. “What is the meaning of this unexpected visit?”

Ivak’s eyes glittered with excitement and her suspicion grew. “Mandok has graciously accepted the idea of taking you to wife since you are not open to an alliance with the Aerilians.”

“Really?” Chuckles bubbled up her throat. Mandok? He could barely stand her and even now his mouth screwed up with distaste. They were both in for a surprise. Argan’s added pledge to her seemed to have come at the perfect time. Shaina laughed until tears watered her eyes.

The man in question tensed and leaned in her direction. Light brown hair curled tight on his head, the front baring a deliberate spike. His silver eyes glimmered in the light of the glow stone. “You’re lucky, my Queen.”

“No, you’re lucky.” Any man that bonded his life to the Shadow Queen would benefit greatly. Mandok would have instant status among their people. Too bad she had no intention of going along with Ivak’s twisted plan.

Something dangerous flashed in Mandok’s eyes before he buried it. His gaze stroked her from head to toe. The leer, no doubt, designed to intimidate did the opposite and she controlled her anger.

“You would be lucky,” Shaina repeated, cocking her hip to the side and letting him look. She hiked her thumb over her shoulder to the left, pointing to her wall of weapons. “Except I have a husband.”

Ivak spotted the long braid first. Red suffused his features as he stormed across the room. Shaina froze. If he touched Argan’s gift to her, she wasn’t sure what she’d do but it involved bodily harm.

Mandok looked on, brows creased.

“What’s the meaning of this, Shaina?” Ivak snarled the question and turned to face her once more.

“That is my husband’s Kutthra. A gift to his,” she hesitated over the word and decided on the Olak’din term. “wife.”

“You dare go against me?” Mandok raged after making the connection. Then he made the mistake of gripping Shaina’s forearm.

All at once the room filled with the snarling hiss and howl of shadows. Everyone stilled. The shrieks increased until the walls trembled. Dark spirals snaked around the room above their heads. Shaina raised her free arm and curled her fingers in a tight fist to keep the shadows at bay. If she lost her temper, as she was close to doing, she’d lose control and the shadows that answered her unintentional call would attack everyone in the room.

“Release me,” she snarled when she faced Mandok once more.

He snatched his hand away, chest heaving. His gaze went from Shaina to Ivak then back to her. The shadows settled around him in clinging threads. Any Olak’din would be afraid when faced with the powers of the royal bloodline. His fingers clenched and unclenched, bulging the muscles in his upper arms. He was tempted, Shaina knew. Tempted to summon his own shadows but they couldn’t compare to the power she could draw on.

As if realizing this, Mandok marched from the room, yanking the curtain closed behind him.

Through it all, Ivak merely watched. Now he confronted Shaina. “You have truly bonded? With who?”

“A Kabanian Warlord.” It wasn’t like she’d keep it secret anyway. She planned to perform
oct’an
in front of witnesses to declare her commitment to Argan. “I’ve met the requirement of our people, Ivak. I’m with a warrior of my choice.”

“You really think you’ve won.” Ivak’s nostrils flared as he sought control. He didn’t wait for Shaina to answer. “I plan to speak with the other elders. You violated the rules of our people and contacted outsiders.”

Shaina had read the bylaws extensively. She was well within her right to seek a mate bond outside of the Olak’din if she accepted no other. Mandok wasn’t the first warrior she’d denied her commitment. “I’ve done nothing wrong. The laws state that there can be no penalty for sharing the secret of our people with the one we bond if they are an outsider.”

For several moments, he could not speak. Anger pulsed in waves to shimmer around the room. “We will see what the elders have to say.” He stormed out with jerky steps.

Shadowy wisps lingered in the air awaiting Shaina’s command. She stared at her door a moment longer. This Ivak wasn’t the man who’d stood by her father’s side when he lived. More and more he revealed a side of himself that Shaina disliked. At some point a confrontation would explode between them. Battling the tension as her anger waned, Shaina pulled the shadows back absorbing them.

Shaking off her feelings of misgivings, she decided only a heavy sparring session would distract her from this suspicious visit and power play.

Once she completed
oct’an
, Ivak would have to accept her choice. The question was, how far would he go in his futile quest to wrest the rule from her?

***

Argan thought he imagined the streams of smoke that trailed through the open window in his room and curled from under the crack of his door. Night had since fallen and obscured his quarters. He sat up in bed and flicked his hand across the glow stone. Shadows spread along his wall to advance until the dark tendrils rolled over his bed.

Shaina.

Argan waited for her familiar appearance or to hear a witty remark in her pleasant voice. Seconds ticked by. His room remained empty save for the crawling shadows. Worry and concern replaced the anticipation of her arrival.

He got to his feet and pulled on his pants. The knife under his pillow was quickly tucked in his hand. The urge to go to Shaina overwhelmed him yet he had no idea how to reach her.

The shadows trailed over his skin, the coldness of the touch sinking into his pores. Argan left his room to check the household driven by a need to do something. He looked in on the youngling first. Both girls slept deeply, curled around one another in their shared bed. Argan eased the door shut and bypassed Vaan’s closed door. He had no worry for Mikayla with his Overlord at her side.

Down in the lower levels, the hall echoed with a particular silence. The Raasa and his fellow Kabanians had long since gone to bed. At the main door Kiel, and Marek stood guard during their shift. They nodded to Argan, stepping aside to let him leave. With fear pounding at his heart and mind, Argan performed a thorough perimeter search, waving off the patrolling Raasa who sought to approach him. Across the yard, the sturdy gate and crossbar remained secure. Tolan leaned against the formidable structure, gaze focused on Argan and his strange appearance at this hour.

Once assured that there was no imminent danger to their home, Argan returned to his room. The shadows hovered around him in a misty cloud the moment he entered. Once he closed his door, the strands wrapped around his legs and inched up his torso.

“Take me to her.” Argan didn’t know why he spoke the command but his view of the room shifted and from one moment to the next he transported to what had to be the land of the Shadow Warriors deep within their hidden caverns in the mountains.

Glow stones lit the space, creating flickering shadows on the smooth walls. He gazed around the tunnel, listening for sounds of activity but all was silent. A stream of gray slivered in front of him curving around the bend ahead. Instinct and worry drove Argan forward as he followed the path created by the bands of spiraling ribbons.

The trail ended at the opening of another cave-like room. When he stepped through the entrance, the shadows faded away. His gaze was drawn to the center of the room where Shaina fought with an imaginary opponent. Her arms slashed at the air in coordinated strikes, her hips twisting and turning. She kicked out with a sharp snap of her long limbs and followed with a jab of her right arm and a double strike with her left.

Every move flowed into the next like water running over a fall. She glided across the floor, making the most of her steps. Breath stalled in his chest at the skill she displayed. Fascination held Argan enthralled and desire drummed an insistent beat between his legs. Never before did he think he’d be drawn to a female warrior but this woman called to him as no other.

After a series of kicks and punches she came to an abrupt halt. Panting, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and Argan decided to make his presence known.

“You fight well.”

Long pony tail spinning, she whipped around and faced him with her sword in one hand and a knife in the other. Her actions impressed Argan all the more since he did not see her go for the weapons.

“Argan?”

Silver eyes narrowed as he stepped further into the room and crossed its length to her side. Surprise filled her gaze for a brief moment but her stance relaxed as she lowered her weapons and laid them on a table. Her sweat dampened skin glistened.

“How did you get here, Argan?” She reached for a jug and filled her cup with water from the same table as her weapons.

He wished he could answer the question himself but had no logical response for the mystic means which brought him here. Argan’s head cocked to the side studying her in a serious light and without desire clouding his judgment. “I believe your shadows did the honors.”

Her every muscle stilled and Argan realized she hadn’t deliberately lured him here. The silver of her eyes whirled, the manufactured light catching on her pupils before fading. He’d thought her eyes unusual when he first met her but now the sight of the glowing orbs created a visceral reaction Argan could not explain.

“The shadows came for you?”

Since he already stated that, Argan merely nodded.

“I see.” Her head dipped, causing her hair to slide across her shoulders. She wore the length tied back with the exception of the small braided strands which hung about a face shiny from her exertions.

“I’ve never witnessed hand to hand combat of the like which you used.”

Delicate red brows arched over her ever changing eyes. “What did you think?”

“Impressive,” he admitted and shifted his weight to lean against the wall now that he was assured she was well. His heart continued to bang against his chest but at least with her standing before him, he could ease the fear that had raced through him when the shadows first appeared without Shaina.

“We call it martial fighting. It involves being one with the spiritual and mental aspects of combat. Not all battle is based on physical strength.”

Due to the brutal nature and fighting skills of Kabanian Warlords, Argan found her concept interesting. “Does this only apply to hand to hand or do you incorporate it with your sword fighting skills?”