Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
By the time we stopped for the night, we’d reached the mountain range that separated Faewood Kingdom from Stonewild Kingdom. A pulse of magic washed over my skin when we crossed the barrier into the new territory. Heady power filled the invisible border. Land that had once bred elemental power now birthed shifters.
I’d never been to this kingdom before. As the most reclusive kingdom on our continent, Stonewild wasn’t generally welcoming to outsiders, and since Guardian Alleron had found such success peddling his lorafin in the other kingdoms, he’d never felt the need to venture this far north. So I took it all in, soaking up each new sight and sound as though it were a new day.
Here, if I were to give birth to a siltenite—not a lorafin like myself, a rare anomaly that nobody could explain—the magic in the soil would infuse the infant with shifter magic, igniting each bairn with the ability to turn into a cawing bird or fluffy wolf or prowling cat or some other creature that roamed the Wood.
One never knew which animal the land would choose, but an animal it would be. Or, if the child was blessed, they would develop abilities from more than one kingdom, able to wield not only shifter magic from Stonewild, but psychic magic from Mistvale, or elemental power from Faewood, or sensory magic from Ironcrest. It was uncommon to have magic from more than one kingdom, rarer still to have magic from three, such as the Dark Raider at my back. And I’d never heard of any fairy having magic from all four.
Nostrils flaring, I breathed in the new scents that came with the new kingdom. Dry, dusty air floated around us that carried hints of herbs, magic, and rocky minerals. It was boggling to realize we’d traveled over a thousand miles since leaving Leafton. The stags had moved impossibly fast. In two short days, we’d managed to traverse more land than most fae did in a week of travel.
The sun was falling behind the jagged Ustilly Mountains, like a blazing orb of angry red light, when the stags cantered down the mountain into the new kingdom. Pines covered in sapphire needles rose like spindly cones. Rock littered with sandy soil and course vegetation brushed against the stags’ hooves. Above, the three moons began to glow as the stars winked. And with each breath that passed, the colors of the galaxy came more alive .
Around us, the thick Wood filled the sloping mountainside. Cool air swirled, the breeze dancing around us. It lifted my hair and made the loose strands—that had finally escaped Lillivel’s intricate braids—flutter in front of my face.
Halfway down the mountain, the stags finally slowed to a walk. The slower movement had my muscles protesting. We’d been traveling all day, and despite Phillen’s gait being even and comfortable, his back was hard, my arse was sore, and my thighs felt like mush.
“We’ll camp here for the night,” Jax said quietly into my ear, then signaled for his friends to stop.
I gave a small nod, not replying. Jax and I had barely spoken since we’d reached our tentative truce hours earlier, as though each of us was afraid to break whatever fragile bond had been born between us.
My captor jumped off his friend, his movements practiced, but I sat on Phillen a moment longer. I couldn’t help the sliver of awe that coursed through me when I looked down at Stonewild Kingdom. The kingdom north of mine cascaded down the mountain’s slope to spread out before me like a vast blanket.
A sandy valley waited at the bottom of the mountain. The desert seemed endless, sprawling as far as I could see.
Far in the distance, though, twinkling lights waited. I had no idea what city it was, but I knew it wasn’t Jaggedston, Stonewild’s capital. Jaggedston lay much farther north, near the coast, and its palace was whispered to be constructed of black rock and sheets of onyx stone, so different from the palace in Faewood.
Finally, I slid my leg over Phillen and fell lightly to the ground. Stiff muscles greeted me when I landed, but I forced myself to walk and shake it off.
Magic billowed around the stags, and they shifted one after another. In a blink, all of them were disguised fae dressed in black attire. Masks covered their faces, and bandanas covered their heads. Once more, six male siltenites and my guardian surrounded me.
I arched an eyebrow. “How convenient that you don’t all end up naked when you shift back to fae.”
Bowan’s eyes crinkled, and his earring flashed in the growing moonlight. “Oh, you’d like that, would you, Lorafin?”
“Hardly.” I gave him my back and strode to an area in the forest that had a large break in the trees. The view opened, allowing me a perfect spot to see the last remnants of the sunset.
A huff came from behind me, and with a start, I realized Guardian Alleron was watching me. His hands were still bound, his mouth an angry slash of a line, and his eyes... They were staring daggers at me.
Guilt hit me when I realized that even though I’d made temporary peace with my captor, my guardian certainly hadn’t. He’d been bound and robbed of his voice all day.
I hurried toward him to offer what help I could, but before I reached him, Jax pointed to a tree and addressed his friends. “Tie him up over there.”
The Dark Raider cast a glance my way, that intent look in his eyes again, but then he strode out of the clearing and disappeared into the Wood.
I scowled after him. “Is that truly necessary? I thought we had a deal.”
But if Jax heard me, he didn’t respond.
“Come on, Slave Guardian.” Bowan made a move toward him.
Guardian Alleron stumbled back, and Lander tsked .
I rounded on both of them. “Please, don’t hurt him. He’s done nothing wrong.”
But my begging didn’t alleviate their rough handling. They had my guardian pinned between them two steps later, and even though my guardian kicked and seethed, they dodged his blows effortlessly, and then hauled him toward a pine and slammed him to the tree.
A squeak of rage emitted from me, but even that didn’t deter them. Within seconds, Guardian Alleron was entirely bound with lashing strands of the same ropelike magic Jax had used to hold him in place. The glowing strands had grown from Bowan’s hands this time, as though they were a part of him, and I couldn’t help but wonder what spell was used for that, or if he was the one who harbored Mistvale magic.
After Bowan’s magic tethered my guardian to the tree, the magical rope shone like stars around him, and every time my guardian moved, the bindings hissed and sizzled.
Despite their humming warning, Guardian Alleron fought against the restraints.
Bowan chuckled. “I’d advise against that.”
Ignoring him, my guardian wrestled more, but when the magic dug deeper into his skin, cutting into him like barbed knives every time he twisted or kicked, he finally stopped.
Blood trickled from small cuts under the magic, and my guardian grew completely still. I had a feeling if he hadn’t, Bowan’s magic would have cut right through him.
Bowan winked. “Tried to warn you.”
He and Lander ambled away, and my guardian’s nostrils flared as he shot me another look. The accusations wordlessly flying from him had me instinctively going to help him again. I wasn’t sure what I could do, but perhaps I could put a pillow beneath his legs or behind his back. Something to make him more comfortable.
“This will all be over soon,” I whispered as I fussed at his side, but Guardian Alleron only seethed more and glared at me, and it struck me that with his voice still gone, he couldn’t say what he was thinking.
And perhaps that was for the best. Given the rage strumming from him, I had a feeling I would be getting a tongue-lashing if he could.
I fussed more, trying to please him and do whatever I could to help him, but it seemed no matter what I did, he only grew more irritated.
“Don’t worry about him, lovely,” Phillen called from where he was erecting his tent. “He’ll live.”
I swung around to face him. “You’re really just going to leave him tied up like this? That’s cruel.”
Bowan laughed, the sound unnervingly joyful. “We sure are, Little Lorafin, and cruel or not, it’s what he deserves.”
“Says who?” Huffing, I bent down to help my guardian again, but Trivan was suddenly there, forcing me upright.
The blond shook his head at me as he pulled me away from the tree. “You’re not to help him, Elowen. Jax’s orders.”
Jaw dropping, I glowered at him, and the truce Jax and I agreed on threatened to fizzle away. “And what about me? Am I to be bound and gagged too at the Dark Raider’s orders ?”
“Do you want to be?” Jax’s question had my spine snapping to attention. The Dark Raider entered the clearing, carrying an armload of dried wood he’d collected from the forest floor. “But to answer your question, no, you won’t be bound. You’ve done nothing wrong. Not like your guardian. Have a seat.” He nodded toward the makeshift firepit that Lars had constructed, then tossed the firewood to the redhead.
Eyeing Jax, I tapped my fingers on my hips. Collar vibrating, I fought to calm my rising tide of anger, but I was done with following his commands. I wasn’t going to sit, and if he was hurting my guardian and refused to hurt me since he needed me, then I wasn’t going to stay quiet .
“How does my guardian deserve this?” I demanded.
Jax’s eyebrows rose. “Do I really need to explain? He’s a slave guardian. And you’re his slave.”
My breath sucked in. “Just because I’m his lorafin slave doesn’t mean that’s all I am. He’s also my father .”
Jax’s irises turned into deadly chips of ice. “If you say so.”
My jaw dropped, and it felt as though he’d punched the wind from me.
“Please,” Jax added in a softer tone. “Have a seat. I don’t wish to fight with you.”
I crossed my arms. “I’d rather not sit.”
He sighed. “All right. In that case, don’t sit. Stand or walk in circles or do whatever else your heart desires.”
My hand flew out and slapped him across the face. “ That’s what my heart desires.”
Jax’s head whipped to the side, and he brought a palm to his cheek.
I gasped, and my hand flew to my mouth. Goddess Above, I’m losing it.
For a moment, stunned silence descended on the camp, but then Phillen let out a bark of laughter, and Bowan and Trivan howled. Lander snickered, and I could have sworn that beneath his mask, even Lars was fighting a smile.
Trivan slapped his knee, still laughing. “She has a point. You did tell her to do whatever her heart desires. You kind of asked for that. ”
Phillen guffawed. “The lorafin’s got a temper. I knew I liked her.”
“Goddess, help me,” the Dark Raider muttered under his breath. Jax lifted his mask just enough to wipe a trace of blood from his mouth. In that brief moment, I caught a glimpse of his lips. Full yet firm. But in a blink, that telling detail was hidden.
Jax wiped his hand on his pants, the smear of blood visible despite their dark color.
I staggered back. “I’m...I’m sorry. I was angry at how you’re treating my guardian. I didn’t mean to do that.”
Tensing, I waited for him to strike me back or shove me to the ground or do something in retaliation.
It wouldn’t be the first time I’d been hit. Guardian Alleron typically avoided physical punishment, but sometimes, when my temper got the best of me—as it just had with Jax—and I refused to do a calling, he would hit me. Whenever that happened, his blows had been hard enough to make me see stars. But it was usually only one punch or a back-handed slap. Never more, and afterward, he profusely apologized and begged me to listen to him so he wouldn’t have to hit me.
So, I waited. Waited for Jax to strike me in return.
But the blow never came.
Jax straightened and put his hands on his hips, regarding me coolly.
My self-loathing grew when I saw the trail of crimson glistening again on his pants. Stars and galaxy, I did that to him.
It didn’t help that he didn’t say another word, just kept assessing me. And to make matters even worse, he still didn’t lash out. He just looked at me, as though asking, Are you done?
Cheeks heating, I waved toward the valley and ignored the guilt that spiraled through me. “Is that a desert down there?”
“It is.” He nodded down the mountain’s slope, not even a trace of anger evident in his words. “That’s the Shadow Valley. Magnificent, isn’t it?”
“Um...yes.” I frowned. I hadn’t intended to have a random conversation about the scenery, especially after abusing him nonetheless. If anything, his calm reaction to my fierce one was making me feel like the biggest pile of domal dung that had ever existed. With flustered movements, I waved at the northern horizon. “Where are we ultimately?—”
“Hungry?” Bowan called before I could finish my question. The brunette threw me a piece of dried meat, and I caught it automatically.
Beside him, Lars was quietly cooking food over the fire. Flames now roared in the pit. Crackling and snapping sounds rose as well.
The redhead was placing thick buns on a metal grate and holding it over the heat. Next to that, a hearty stew was simmering, coming from one of their containers.
My shame grew even more as I watched the males work. They’d continued readying the camp and cooking supper, carrying on despite my theatrics. And other than wiping the blood away that I’d drawn, Jax hadn’t shown any reaction to my momentary display of rage either .
The feeling of being a huge pile of domal dung grew exponentially.
Absentmindedly, I chewed on the piece of dried meat as Lars dished heaping ladles of stew into large bowls.
“Supper’s ready,” Lars called.
“Elowen?” Jax indicated for me to go first. He gave me a bowl filled with fragrant soup, then grabbed one for himself, the others doing the same.
Feeling even more foolish, I sat on the ground by the fire and picked up a spoon. Delicious aromas of tender meat, thick gravy, and root vegetables rose from the bowl. My stomach howled in anticipation.
“Try one of these.” Bowan winked, his earring flashing in the firelight. “Best honeybuns in all the kingdoms.” He pushed a plate with two doughy buns toward me. Rich butter was melted all over them.
Stomach rumbling in appreciation, I picked up the plate but was too hungry to bother watching what everyone else was doing. I dug into the stew, closing my eyes in rapture when the first taste hit my tongue. The thick, soft buns complemented it perfectly, and I wolfed all of it down.
“Galaxy, that’s good,” I whispered more to myself than anyone.
A chuckle came from beside me. “A female who likes to eat and isn’t afraid to fight.” Phillen sat on the ground next to me, his thick thighs straining against his pants in his crossed-legged position. “My wife would like you. ”
Wife? I eyed him curiously as he tucked into his food. He ate with as much gusto as I did despite his mask staying in place.
I set my empty bowl aside and wiped my lips, then cleansed my buttery fingers with my magic. Around me, all of the males were still eating.
Jax sat directly across the fire from me. His eyes never left me despite eating quickly and efficiently. It amazed me that he could bring his spoon under his mask so easily, the fabric not slowing him even slightly.
Still reeling that I’d hit him, I hastily looked away.
Sounds of spoons scraping on bowls and the crackling fire filled the space. I waited for one of them to order something of me now that everyone was settled. My entire life, orders had come regularly.
Sit straighter, Elowen.
Wear that gown, Elowen, not this one.
Wake at sunrise, Elowen. We have a calling just past seven .
You’re to entertain this lordling, Elowen. He wants more than just a calling, so flirt with him, make him feel special.
For full seasons, my life had been a string of demands and expected responses. I’d learned to be dutiful and appeasing, and after hitting Jax, a part of me was hoping he would ask something of me. Demand it. Orders were familiar. Orders I could handle.
But this companionable silence, after I’d abused him so egregiously, made me want to jump out of my skin.
I eyed my guardian again. He was still tied to the tree. No food had been offered to him, and he was staring at me as though all of this was my fault, which it was.
My stomach sank, and as the minutes ticked by, I grew tenser and tenser, yet the easy quiet continued. Everyone finished their meals, and other than Jax silently watching me, nobody seemed to even care that I was there.
The only thing that seemed out of place was that nobody fed Guardian Alleron.
“What about him?” I finally asked when my guardian’s angry gaze practically burned a hole into my back. I knew he had to be as ravenous as I’d been.
“You want me to nourish your slave guardian?” Jax cocked an eyebrow.
“I’m sure he’s hungry. He hasn’t eaten all day.”
Jax set his bowl to the side. “No, Elowen. He won’t be eating.”
Before I could ask anything further, Jax rolled to his feet and prowled toward Guardian Alleron. I tensed and shot to standing, but Jax only crouched at his side.
The Dark Raider whispered something, and a cloud of magic lifted from my guardian.
The second it did, Guardian Alleron sucked in a breath and spat, “You’re a cunt of a male!”
It took me a second to register that Jax had just removed his Ironcrest magic from my guardian, and my guardian’s first words to him had been an angry curse .
The Dark Raider glanced nonplussed over his shoulder as everyone else began to clean up. “Did you hear that? I’m a cunt of a male.”
The others all laughed or chuckled, and a moment of unease stole through me.
A spark of energy simmered around the Dark Raider. His aura felt like a storm that had begun churning over the sea, the waves beginning to rise as the clouds rolled.
Jax exhaled, his posture calm and non-threatening, but in my next blink, he had his hand locked around Guardian Alleron’s throat.
I shrieked, but Jax ignored me and said in a low, lethal tone, “I hear there’s a device you use to control her. Where is it?”
Guardian Alleron kicked, but the stinging magic tightened around him. “I don’t have it.”
“That’s a lie. She said you always carry it.”
My guardian shot me a glare, his eyes narrowing to slits. Ice sped through my veins. I knew that look. Punishment was coming, usually in the form of a full dousing from the collar when he looked at me like that.
I’m sorry , I mouthed.
Jax growled and jerked my guardian’s chin back in his direction. “You don’t look at her. You look at me .”
Guardian Alleron spat right in Jax’s face. Unfortunately for my guardian, it landed on Jax’s mask and not his skin, and in a whisper of Jax’s magic, the spittle fizzled and then was gone.
“Bowan?” Jax said calmly.
A rush of magic clouded the air, and the bands encircling Guardian Alleron disappeared.
But before my guardian could begin swinging, Jax hefted him up and slammed him to the tree, dangling him a foot above the Wood’s floor.
Everything happened so fast it was as if it happened simultaneously.
Jax’s hand tightened more around my guardian’s throat as he held Guardian Alleron aloft, and my guardian clawed at him but to no avail.
“I’m not asking again,” Jax said in a deadly calm voice. “Where is the device?”
Feeling entirely helpless, I twisted my hands. “Please stop! Please don’t hurt him, Jax.”
But the Dark Raider ignored me.
My guardian kicked, his hands continually trying to claw Jax off his throat, but Jax’s grip only tightened.
“ Where ?” A pulse of magic shot into Jax’s word, and the urge to please Jax and do whatever he requested fired through me.
“It’s in his pocket!” I called just as my guardian shouted, “In my pocket.”
My heart thundered, and my jaw dropped. What in the realm was that ?
But whatever magic Jax had just used in that command disappeared on the wind. He loosened his hold on my guardian, and Guardian Alleron sank to his feet. The Dark Raider kept his grip on Guardian Alleron’s throat, however, and used his free hand to fish the device from my guardian’s pocket.
A flare of triumph surrounded Jax when he pulled the adaptor free. The device was a slim wand constructed of smooth metal. At its center, a purple gem glittered—a stone identical to the one in my collar.
“How does this work?”
Guardian Alleron’s nostrils flared so dramatically that his skin looked sharp enough to cut glass.
“ How does this work ?” That same strange magic channeled into Jax’s words again, but this time it was more streamed, directed entirely at my guardian, so I didn’t feel the overwhelming urge to respond.
Goosebumps rose along my arms despite that, and I shot a wild look at the other five males. Strange sorcery seemed to be at work here, but all of them continued cleaning up the remains of supper and unpacking sleeping rolls from their sacks, as though completely unimpressed at what Jax was doing.
Breaths coming faster, my eyes bulged when Guardian Alleron replied through gritted teeth, “The stone on the adaptor connects with the stone in her collar. It responds to my fingerprint only”—he gritted his teeth more, as though fighting whatever magic had gripped him, but then his mouth opened again, and more words poured out even though rage twisted his features—“so when I activate it, the power containing her lessens, and she’s able to call upon her lorafin magic and wield it. If I don’t minimize the collar’s power, her lorafin magic stays suppressed, and if she tries to use her magic without permission from me, the collar punishes her.”
I’d heard this explanation so many times I’d lost count. Every lordling who desired my services had been curious how Guardian Alleron’s device controlled me. My guardian had always been more than happy to boast of its superior magical ability, touting that it was a one-of-a-kind creation and not to be found anywhere else in the realm.
Jax cocked his head. “ How do I remove her collar ?”
Veins strained in Guardian Alleron’s neck, and his entire face turned red. His jaw worked, and his hands fisted, but that strange magic clouded around him even more. Teeth clenching, almost as if the words were physically pulled from him, he growled, “You...can’t.” His teeth gritted more, but it was no use. The words still came. “It can...never be removed.”
My head snapped back. It can never be removed? What? No. Surely, I’d misheard him... Or he’d misspoken. Guardian Alleron had probably meant it could never be removed unless he commanded it, which he’d never done before.
Jax glanced my way, his jaw working beneath his mask, before he addressed my guardian again. “ Can her collar be removed if you remove it ? ”
Guardian Alleron side-eyed me. His jaw pumped, his teeth grinding, but then his mouth opened, as though physically forced by a phantom. Hissing, he said, “No, it can never be removed. Not even I can remove it.”
I stumbled back. “You’re lying. He’s lying!” I proclaimed to Jax. “He’s going to remove my collar when I turn thirty. That was always our plan.”
Jax glanced at me again, concern evident in his gaze.
“ Don’t move .” The Dark Raider released my guardian and took a step back, then he began to prowl back and forth. It reminded me of the pacing he’d done when I’d been unconscious, following the collar’s full dousing effects in my kingdom’s Wood.
But that thought flitted through my head like a shooting star, there and then gone. I was still reeling at what my guardian had claimed. Surely, he was lying. Somehow, he’d lied despite whatever truth magic Jax was using on him.
Gasps soon emitted from Alleron’s mouth, and Jax said dismissively, “ You may breathe .”
A suck of air lifted Guardian Alleron’s chest, and his lips, which had started turning blue, bloomed with color.
The complexities of Jax’s magic hit me like a clap of thunder. With stunning clarity, I realized who in the group commanded Mistvale magic. “You can not only wield the elements, control one’s senses, shift into an animal, but also command one psychically too?” I whispered more to myself than anyone in particular .
“He sure can, lovely,” Phillen said from behind me. He stood near his tent, arms folded over his massive chest. But his brow was furrowed, and it struck me that he’d also been watching me as I denied what my guardian was claiming.
Blood thundered through my ears. To command one psychically, that was Mistvale magic. Goddess. Jax was the one who commanded magic from that kingdom, which meant he had magic from all four kingdoms.
But nobody had that kind of power.
I swallowed the thickness in my throat, not wanting to believe what was staring at me right in the face.
It was as though someone else was speaking when I said, “So what Guardian Alleron just said...It’s true? Jax’s magic is like a truth serum? It forces responses from fae, which means there’s no way my guardian can be lying?”
Phillen’s eyes dimmed. “Correct, Elowen. Nobody can lie when Jax commands them like that.”
My breaths came faster, my chest heaving. “That means my collar can’t be removed, and I’ll never be free of it.”
Phillen’s eyes dimmed even more.
My throat grew so thick I could barely speak. I blinked my eyes rapidly as quickened breaths lifted my chest. I shook my head, not wanting to accept the truth.
It will never come off.
It will never come off.
It will never come off.
Yet my guardian had promised to one day set me free .
He’d promised to remove my collar.
My entire life he’d told me that all I had to do was be a good, dutiful lorafin, and once I reached my thirtieth birthday, that pliant behavior would be rewarded. He would remove his device, I would go to the supernatural courts, I would be awarded my freedom, and then he and I would be father and daughter only. No more callings. No more ownership. No more demands. We would be a true family in every sense of the word.
But if what he’d just told Jax was true...
The full blow of Guardian Alleron’s confession hit me like a million strikes of lightning.
I jolted in place, my entire body going rigid. Because if my collar could never be removed, then my guardian had never planned to release me.
My entire life he’d been lying to me.
He’d never planned to let me go.
Which meant he intended for me to always be his slave, and I was never to be his true daughter.