Bane of the Wild Hunt (Heart of the Tithriall #2)

30. VOLCANOES INEVITABLY ERUPT

Chapter thirty

VOLCANOES INEVITABLY ERUPT

Sage

“ T hat is everything. Get some sleep, we will leave early,” Rian announced before he looked at my father with raised brows and one of his biting smiles. “And what about you? Are you finally ready to return to your mate now?”

My father had a look in his eyes, a sort of sad knowing that I recognized. He wore that expression when he knew I was not being fully honest with him or with myself but had not yet worked out how to get the truth from me.

“I will go with Sage,” he assured Rian who appeared both relieved and regretful to hear it. But my cousin merely nodded and then turned away toward his globe.

Ciaran and Darragh took their leave, but I put a hand on Summer’s thigh before she could stand and gave it a squeeze before I rose to walk in Rian’s direction. I knew he’d sense me moving toward him, but he did not look at me even when I stood right behind him.

“There is another matter we need to discuss,” I insisted once the other two riders had gone, and it was just us, Summer, and my father who had remained behind.

“I already told you that I didn’t want to talk about it,” Rian reminded me without turning.

“It’s not that, although we do still need to talk about what happened,” I assured him. “Do you know anything about spilling familial blood among dryads?” I asked him.

Summer rose from the couch when she realized what I was going to ask him about, and Rian hesitated before he tapped his globe to make it spin again.

“An Díothú Mór,” he acknowledged before he finally faced me and Summer when she stepped up to my side. “There will be no challenge,” Rian insisted to her firmly. “I cannot afford for your people to start killing off all their strongest individuals in a barbaric bid for supremacy right before I require their assistance.”

Summer’s brows rose in obvious skepticism as she crossed her arms. “I’m not sure how you think you are going to prevent them from doing that,” she said.

“I will not. You will,” Rian assured her, and he gave her a smug smile when her cynicism turned to confusion. “Your people respect strength, and once you have been initiated fully into the Wild Hunt, then you will be unlike anything that they have ever seen before.”

“But I am—”

“There will be no competition. You will walk into their little game with a dragon and an army and the power of death at your disposal,” he explained significantly.

I realized what he was intending instantly and inhaled sharply with shock.

“Rian—” I attempted to object.

“I will only ever grant you access to my magic once,” Rian stressed, becoming serious. “You will use it to kill the people who hurt you and your brother and bring the rest of them under our control to stem the bloodshed.”

“I…” Summer trailed off, completely speechless as her eyes darted up to me, but after a moment, I could tell she was playing it out in her mind. I could see her realizing the enormity of what he was offering. Not just his full support and protection but retribution and freedom.

“If I understand the ritual correctly then the clans will have their hands full now with consolidating their strength to compete by the next double full moon in Sumarra. Which is two months from now,” Rian continued.

“My father’s rule has been unquestioned since before I was born, so I’ve never seen an annihilation. Only heard the stories,” Summer admitted, her brows furrowing with the memory of whatever horrors she had been told about.

“I made sure to read up on them,” Rian reassured her. “Considering how convinced your brother was that you were dead, it stands to reason that most of your people must believe the same.”

“My father may have spread misinformation to prevent anyone from coming after me again before he was ready to use me. He was…” Summer trailed off with a glance at me as her ears pressed tightly down. “He was working on a new harness that would allow him to take my magic without the anam bond,” she explained finally.

I bristled, glancing at Rian who met my eyes in equal disgust, but he managed his emotions better.

“But anyone with access to the Tree of Danu would know you are still alive. All the Tiarnaí?” he guessed.

“Unless he has restricted access,” she said, her voice more subdued than I had ever heard it before.

“We go to Sumarra on our terms, and not before, so we must all be on guard for Summer spies,” Rian advised us. “I’ll ensure the others know.”

Summer had been reassured when I reminded her that a challenge issued to her was a challenge for me as well, and that the Wild Hunt would stand with her. But hearing this confirmation from Rian himself seemed to finally put her fully at ease. She even swayed to brush against my arm as if to share her relief with me.

“When will I be initiated?” she asked Rian.

“I suppose that is your decision. You made it clear that my cousin and his people are your priority, but are you ready to surrender yourself? Because once you are a part of us in this way, there is no way to undo it.”

Summer considered his words, her lips pursing while her ears perked up with her thoughtful intrigue.

“I’m not sure Ciaran—” she began.

“Ciaran hated your brother when he first met him. They still became close friends,” Rian informed her.

Summer grimaced and shuddered in evident disgust at the thought, and Rian laughed, surprising even my father with such a genuine outburst of amusement.

“Think about it, but do not make Ciaran a part of your consideration. He is an exceptional rider and a protective and loyal friend once you earn his trust. You will be glad to have him at your side then,” Rian reassured her.

Summer nodded and then looked at me rather coyly. “Shall I… wait outside?” she suggested, and I felt a surge of appreciation for her cogitation. I glanced at my father who was waiting silently at the door, and he understood my wordless request right away.

“I’ll wait with you,” he offered, and Summer nodded, inclining her head respectfully to Rian before tipping her forehead briefly against my shoulder as she turned away. Such a seemingly innocuous gesture, but from a female who did not often show affection, it was significant.

She went to my father, allowing him to tuck her arm with his before they walked through the door.

“You care a great deal for her already,” said Rian, and I glanced back to find him watching me with his head tilted. “Ciaran was right about that, at least.”

“The bond is—”

“A binding of magic that will grow into whatever you feed it. Do you think I do not know you well enough to recognize when your heart is walking away from you? Sage, you feel with your whole body. She will also know it soon if she has not figured it out already,” he said.

“You are deflecting,” I dismissed, narrowing my eyes.

“Can you really not let it go?” he asked.

“No. You may not want to hear it, and perhaps I have no right to insist that you do, but I cannot move forward until this is resolved properly between us.”

Rian drew in a deep breath, tipping his head back as if searching for patience among the beams of his tent.

“Very well, Sage,” he sighed, before turning to face me directly as if waiting for a punishment or a blow.

At first I was not sure where to start or how to convey the depth of how I was feeling. I could only stare at him, remembering the way he had staggered to his knees with overwhelming grief. There was no trace of that anguish in his face now, because I knew he felt he had to repress it in order to stay in control. Ever since he killed a scouting party in a fit of rage and pain when his father was killed by Fuath, Rian had been opting to suppress himself rather than risk killing anyone again. Upon hearing of the death of his mother and the annihilation of his village, he would have killed us too if not for Summer absorbing enough of his power to prevent it. And he would have overwhelmed her too if I had not overridden his shields and smothered his magic at its root inside him. Something only another rider could have done to him thanks to the access he had granted me. Access he had entrusted to me. Violating that trust went against every single code my brothers upheld amidst ourselves in the Wild Hunt.

“I will not try to justify what I did. It was wrong to abuse our bond and your trust—”

Rian looked confused and then rolled his eyes.

“Stop. I would have killed you,” Rian reminded me in apparent exasperation. I blinked in surprise which made him sigh and then reach to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Not everyone is deserving of your conscience. You did what you had to do,” he informed me before he lowered his hand to look at me sternly. “You did what I want you to do if, gods forbid, this happens again,” he stressed.

“You are not angry?” I verified in confusion.

“Oh, I am angry, Sage. Angry that you had to do that. I’m angry you had to choose your anam over someone that you trusted to lead you. And I am deeply ashamed ,” he admitted, voice growing so faint that I barely heard. “And when I feel these things, I am dangerous.”

He had not been avoiding me because he was angry with me , I realized. He was avoiding the emotions that being face-to-face with me was evoking.

“Rian—”

“I don’t want to hear you try to justify or absolve me. I’m the leader of the Wild Hunt and commander of our armies in Ahnnaòin. There is no excuse for losing control and endangering my brothers. My blood,” he stressed.

He looked as if he wanted to reach for my arm the way he would have done without hesitation before Aodhan’s death rocked him, but his face hardened instead.

“You cannot purge everything real from inside of you,” I objected. “Surely repressing your magic will only make it more volatile and difficult to manage.”

Rian was silent and contemplative before he seemed to decide to try and explain himself.

“I make no excuses, but try to conceive of my power as an active volcano. Eruption is ever imminent, and even the tiniest of cracks can become a point of weakness from which the power may find its way into the world.”

I knew right away this would be a difficult concept for me to fully comprehend because my magic had never felt as though it were bursting from me. Much of it was still and muted beneath a mirrored floor in my mind in which I could see naught but my own face reflected back. Difficult to use.

“Volcanoes will always inevitably erupt in order to know peace, Rian. Perhaps there is a way to do so safely before it is no longer your choice?” I suggested.

“Perhaps, but not knowing the extent of my power or its destructive potential makes me reluctant to experiment with the possibilities,” Rian admitted, and I grunted in a reluctant understanding.

Then I stepped determinedly forward to grip his biceps first before allowing my hands to slide up to his shoulders and squeezed them.

“You are my leader, the cousin I always admired, and a mentor I aspire to emulate, but you are also my brother. My friend. Your powers keep us all safe, they are the prod that keeps this army together and this court unified, so we need to find a way to share the burden. Summer is… Ornella’s magic seems even more versatile than Aodhan’s. Perhaps having access to it after her initiation will be a source of grounding for you even more so than he was.”

I certainly hoped so, especially if he really planned for her to wield it. Rian had never allowed anyone to wield the deadly element of his power because it was dangerous and had taken him centuries to control. I could only hope that with her healing magic, Summer might be able to soothe it enough to make it pliable and less chaotic.

Rian nodded reluctantly, fighting a brief furrowing of his brows that betrayed an emotional reaction which he had quickly stifled.

“I cannot say I… have not considered the same thing,” Rian admitted, and I could tell the words were difficult for him to speak aloud. “I simply cannot deny that I was never in better control than when I was with Aodhan.”

“I know none of this can be easy for you, it is not easy for her either, but I will champion for you both,” I swore.

“She must come first now as your anam —”

“And you are my brother. My blood,” I insisted firmly, leaving no room for an argument in my tone.

I meant to reassure him, but I was still surprised by the immense relief he seemed to feel as he nodded. He was intoxicated and more expressive than usual, but Summer predicted he may perceive her to be taking me from him, and it seemed she was right. After she had killed his lover, she had then claimed his next closest companion, and now he had to protect her. Not only because she was his rider and my anam , but because he may desperately need her to help control his magic. So I could not begin to imagine the sheer complexity of what he must feel about her.

“Will you tell your father that I am sorry for speaking to him so harshly earlier?” Rian asked me, and I nodded.

“Of course, but I know he would probably like to hear it directly from you as well,” I said.

“I know. I will tell him myself as well, but I am sure you will understand why it is complicated for me when he shares his concerns. Which I have no doubt he will do,” Rian admitted with a sigh and a shake of his head.

I narrowed my eyes at him as I considered what he might mean. “I will tell him for you,” I confirmed

“Thank you,” he said before glancing toward the wall of weapons across his tent. “And you may take Pyrope’s saddle for Ornella to use during tomorrow’s flight. It has already changed in the way Pyrope has undoubtedly done. It is no longer Aodhan’s,” he admitted, his jaw clenching, and my heart ached for him as I nodded in thanks.

“I will return for it in the morning.”

Outside, I found Summer and my father watching a group of dwarves drunkenly play their rowdy instruments at full volume. Thankfully, most fey could cast a silencing ward over their tents or no one would ever get any sleep in our rather lively camp. The exception being for the horn that would warn of an attack which could override all wards.

Summer had not yet seen me, and I stopped within the shadows around my cousin’s tent to watch her. There was no denying she was beautiful, I had known that from the beginning, but I was astonished to suddenly realize that her beauty had also been changing. There was no doubt she was still defensive and sharp when she felt the need, but the smile she shared with my laughing father was soft. Comfortable. Radiant. And it was beautiful in a way that I’d never known before to watch her literally blooming before my eyes. I could not look away from her laughter or the spark of joy that ignited her silvery-green eyes as she clapped and tapped her foot to the offbeat music.

Rian had described our bond as a binding of magic that would grow into whatever we fed it. I had consciously been feeding it patience, acceptance, and security, so what had she been feeding me to make me feel this… fixation? Like I could not look away from her for fear of missing a single moment of her.

I’d been reluctant to consider our evolving relationship too deeply because it was truly unlike anything I had ever known before. Love had always been a feeling, of course, but also an active choice to be committed to someone that I was learning and shaping while they did the same to me. Growing and changing together in a mutually beneficial partnership.

This was not like that. This was in spite of everything. This was so instinctive and impulsive. Uncompromising. And although I had already chosen to embrace the urge to protect my anam … allowing her to possess my heart fully like this was very different.

Rian had warned me that she would soon recognize it, if she had not already, because I had never been any good at concealing or denying my heart, and it was all over me. This vicious, all-consuming impulse might as well have been carved into my skin.

But the thought of her figuring it out was especially gut-wrenching now after she had told me about her past. There was a chance my feelings would make me into the same sort of monster she had contended with all her life. Worse even, since she had actually laid down much of her armour with me. And the concern that she may feel some kind of pressure to cater to me or risk my abandonment made me want to be sick.

I could not do that to her. I needed to preserve myself as a place of safety for her as best as I could.

I was so focused on Summer that it took me a moment to notice the two orcs standing on the other side of the wily band of dwarves. Watching her in much the same way that I was watching her except they were murmuring to one another, and I could see their eyes raking over her. They grinned as they watched her sway.

The violence of my ire was terrifying as it rose to the surface in a flush of heat that made my clothing suddenly begin to steam. I could feel the smoke already tickling my throat and wafting off my hands.

One of them elbowed the other and moved toward her in a determined march around the dwarves.

And I was moving before I had thought about it.

Summer saw me first, her ears perking up in the way that I loved which betrayed her excitement and eagerness. It made me want to smile, but there was too much brutal aggression and defensiveness churning within me.

I glanced up at the orc covertly so as not to draw her attention to him. He had seen her turn in my direction and was now assessing me, establishing his perception of my worthiness and deciding whether to challenge me for her. I almost welcomed it, almost beckoned him to try just so I could punish him for threatening to make her feel unsafe.

But then he recognized who I was and ducked his head before turning quickly away.

I reached Summer, stopping a respectful distance from her rather than crowding her the way I was compelled to, but she stepped into me. Her hand rested on my stomach as she closed the distance between us, and I couldn’t help allowing my arms to settle around her waist. She had been wearing heavy wool and fur clothing since she came to my village, but in her cotton dress, I could feel every one of her delectable curves. My hands could not seem to help moving over her in hapless appreciation while I breathed in her scent of rain and honeysuckle. It enveloped my senses and finally soothed the fire inside me that was so eager to be unleashed in vicious defense of her.

I forgot about the orcs as she tilted her head up toward me and leaned against my torso with that smile that could ignite the spark of Light inside of me. Her wooden antlers had long ago shed the summer flowers and greenery that had grown on them when we captured her. But I noticed now the tips of new green shoots beginning to emerge.

“Gods, you feel like an inferno, Sage, are you okay?” she asked as she touched my hands on her waist before I could comment on the change on her antlers.

“I’m alright,” I assured her.

I did not want to touch her more than was necessary or excusable, especially when the feel of her was so terribly addictive to me. But gods, she was beautiful. I could not help reaching up to brush away a strand of her hair that had escaped the braid I’d created for her before the battle with the Fuath. It was now messy and frayed with mud and blood and leaves stuck in it. She had asked about a bath, and I would make sure she got one, but it was late. We were both utterly exhausted from helping my people move and then getting into a skirmish.

“I need a bath,” she said as if reading my mind, and I could not help laughing.

“I know an incredible place we can go tomorrow after the meeting with the Sua if you will wait that long.”

“If I were not ready to collapse right here in complete exhaustion, I would insist on it tonight but…” she trailed off with a shrug.

I reacted before thinking and bent to loop one of my arms around the backs of her thighs. I hoisted her up over my shoulder with a forearm locking under her ass to keep her securely in place.

“Sage!” she gasped, but then she laughed and relaxed, content to allow me to carry her back to the tent. Even my father chuckled and followed when I turned to lead him back to my tent for the night.

“How is everyone settling in at home?” he asked.

“Everyone is well, and Shay had her baby. A boy she named Ronan,” I informed him.

“Ronan. For your mother’s father,” he realized aloud, and I inclined my head in confirmation.

I could tell he was immensely pleased. My maternal grandfather had been like a father to my father who lost his entire family during the first war with the Fuath when he was young. My grandfather taught him everything he knew as the miotas , the keeper of lore in our teine .

“Were our losses heavy?” my father asked after a few moments walking through the camp.

“Not as heavy as they could have been. Less than three hundred dead, but many were injured,” I told him.

“Three hundred. Still so many,” my father muttered, shaking his head before he looked up at Summer. “It was your magic that kept many of us fighting even when we might have faltered. I don’t know what you did, but it felt like I could do anything,” he admitted.

“Adrenaline,” she said, and I felt her shrug as if this were nothing when she had undoubtedly saved hundreds of lives with this power. “I channelled healing magic in its raw state into all of you to help you keep moving through almost anything and heal faster for a short time.”

“Well, it was extremely effective,” he assured us.

“Are you and Rian alright?” Summer asked hesitantly, obviously deflecting the conversation away from her.

“I believe so,” I replied and then glanced at my father. “Rian asked me to apologize on his behalf for speaking to you harshly. He does not mean that last comment to you about returning home,” I guessed.

“No,” my father confirmed, looking a little uncertain before he seemed to decide to elaborate. “Do you recall that nymph he was involved with before he met Aodhan? The one who… liked to be told what to do.”

“Yes,” I said, glancing at him in skepticism of where he was going with this bizarre segue.

“I believe he is nurturing a similar relationship with the fire witch, but the girl has been severely abused, Sage. It makes me worry for her.”

“I thought he just went to get her? They are already fostering that kind of relationship?” I gaped.

“He says it was her choice; it makes her feel safer not to make decisions. I suppose she is terribly overwhelmed. But Rian also admitted it serves his purposes; he desires something in his control. I know he would never hurt the girl intentionally, but I do fear the effects this may have on both of their healing journeys. He’s been clear that he does not want me prying into his affairs, but I hoped you would keep an eye on it to ensure they are safe and well,” my father admitted. “Rian is more open with you.”

I nodded, although I was not sure I wanted to concern myself with the private, romantic habits of other people. The gods knew I’d done some things that would probably worry my father as well, although I did understand this was a unique situation. Rian’s losses were still so fresh, and the witch’s abuse was evidently severe.

“I will try to keep an eye on it,” I assured him.

“I just wish he would be a little more open to healthy relationships. He could really benefit from one of those,” muttered my father, shaking his head in exasperation.

“So… Rian enjoys telling his partners what to do?” verified Summer with interest. “That sounds sexy.”

“What?” I gaped, since she was the last person I could have envisioned ever willingly giving up her control.

“He wants control and she doesn’t. It’s kind of what humans call a win-win,” she explained proudly.

“Perhaps,” my father conceded, although he did not sound very convinced.