Chapter 5
5
The tongue of your competitor flaps loudest.
~ Derias Halkor, shipping magnate
A soft spring rain fell, hiding the sunset as Vlerion walked Kaylina most of the way back to Stillguard Castle. When they neared the closest stone bridge arching over the river, he gazed toward the structure, its towers visible over intervening rooftops. As usual, the magical purple glow emanated through the window where the plant resided.
A mulish expression on Vlerion’s face suggested he was contemplating accompanying Kaylina all the way to the castle. Maybe what they’d heard eavesdropping on Spymaster Sabor had him concerned about her safety.
Kaylina stopped on the bridge and gripped his hand, hoping to deter him from such thoughts. When they’d believed the plant only capable of sprouting vines from the mortar to attack people, it had seemed an acceptable risk for rangers to walk close to the courtyard walls. Now that they’d seen it shoot deadly beams out to the street to kill enemies, she didn’t want Vlerion anywhere near it.
“Has it given you any more visions regarding me?” he asked.
“No, but I’ve been avoiding letting it rub its tendrils all over my forehead.”
“Perhaps wise.” He gazed speculatively toward the castle.
“I’m looking forward to trying your second gift,” Kaylina told him, hoping to drive thoughts that she needed protection from his mind. She patted her pocket to indicate a pouch he’d given her after their discussion in his office.
In the weeks that had passed since the Kar’ruk had been killed or driven out, the city had been quiet. Other than the Virts sabotaging factory equipment a couple of times, there hadn’t been much trouble. The destroying of machines might irk the aristocratic owners of those factories, but Kaylina found that much less alarming than murders and assassination attempts.
“Since I expected that response,” Vlerion said, “I won’t be chagrined that there’s much more enthusiasm and delight in your voice when speaking of that than the sword.”
“Trying the first gift would mean eviscerating an enemy, so speaking of it with enthusiasm and delight might be weird. With this —” Kaylina patted the pouch again, which contained five high-quality varieties of local yeasts, “—I can make people happy. All I brought was our white-wine yeast, since it works with a lot of mead recipes, and is tolerant to different climates and temperatures, but I can’t wait to try these.”
“Good. Since I can’t reward you in quite the way I wish…” His eyelids drooped, making her certain of the exact type of reward he was referencing. “I’m glad to at least give you something that you like, to let you know I appreciate all the work you did to help the city—and me. Captain Targon, if not the king and queen themselves, should have given you praise and recognition for your role in defending Port Jirador against the Kar’ruk.”
“The queen has decided I’m no longer a criminal and ordered the wanted posters taken down. That’s good enough for me. The calendar tells me summer is approaching, even if warmth and strong sunlight are rare here, so I might have started to look silly skulking around in a cloak with the hood pulled low.”
“When it’s raining, such a fashion choice is always appropriate, and it rains a lot here when it’s not snowing.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed how delightful the weather is year-round. At least there aren’t hurricanes.” Those came by a couple of times a year back home. “I can handle light rain.”
It was little more than a mist now, and she let her hood fall back, not minding the dampness on her cheeks.
“You can handle much. As you’ve proven.” Vlerion’s voice was a rumble, and he gazed into her eyes.
His pride for her, especially when he’d been so indifferent and dismissive of her when they’d first met, pleased her. It made all the danger seem worth it. “Thank you.”
“And you deserve more of a reward than you’ve gotten. One day I will give it to you.” He bent to kiss her on the cheek, warm lips brushing her skin and sending a shiver of delight through her.
They couldn’t linger and tempt the beast, but she caught herself leaning in, molding herself to him. Why was he so hard to resist?
Another rumble emanated from him, a growl without words. With only desire.
His lips lowered, tracing her jaw, then her neck as he lifted a hand to her head, threading his fingers through her hair. Amazing. His touch always felt amazing.
“I’d better go,” she whispered, resting a hand on his chest to stop him, or so she intended, but her fingers curled into his shirt, feeling the hard contours of his pectoral muscles. He wasn’t wearing his armor, so it would be easy to slip her hand under the fabric for an even better feel.
“Yes,” he whispered, nuzzling her ear, cupping the back of her neck, holding her in place. “Though I want to keep you safe, it’s good that you’ve insisted on sleeping elsewhere, not in the barracks, not close to my room. I could easily wake up in the middle of the night and make the unwise decision to visit you, and then…”
She swallowed and stepped back. “Yeah, and then we’d be in trouble.”
At first, he resisted letting her go, and the thought of him pushing her against the railing and taking her leaped to mind, along with such an intense longing for him to do so that she almost sprang onto him.
But he released her, stepping back himself, and took a long breath. His voice husky, he said, “I always think I’m just going to kiss your cheek in a brief parting, but as soon as I get close, I want so much more.” He tore his gaze from her, looking toward the water. “I want you.”
She remembered their shared hallucination, a byproduct of a powder from an altered plant that the taybarri had given them. In it, she’d seen her brand trickling a green strand of magic—of power —toward him, drawing him inexorably toward her. Even before she’d been branded, something in her blood—whatever made her an anrokk —had done the same.
In the hallucination, she hadn’t seen a similar trickle of magic wafting from him, some indicator that the curse of the beast had power to draw her, but she didn’t doubt that it did. From the beginning, she’d been far more aware of and attracted to him than any other man.
“I want you too,” she whispered, though he knew. He’d always known.
“Yes.” Vlerion met her gaze again and looked like he would say more, but the clip-clop of hooves on the street leading to the bridge drew his attention.
Horses pulled a familiar carriage through the drizzle, but it wasn’t until it headed up the bridge, and the occupant gazed out the window, that Kaylina remembered when she’d seen it. It belonged to the Saybrook family, those leasing the cursed castle to her and Frayvar.
When the carriage stopped, Lady Ghara, the elegant and beautiful blonde-haired woman who liked to touch Vlerion while leaning all over him, looked out the window.
Kaylina tried to smile at her. It may have looked more like a badger baring her teeth to protect her young from predators. She resisted the urge to step closer to Vlerion, wrap her arm around his waist, and possessively claim him. That wouldn’t be a mature and self-assured move. She did hope Ghara had seen Vlerion nuzzling her and grasped that they were…
Craters of the moon, what were they? Not lovers. The curse ensured that. Were they friends who gave gifts and did things for each other? Yes, but would that keep Ghara from flirting with Vlerion and inviting him to her apartment in the city?
The door opened, and Ghara lifted the ermine-fur-trimmed hem of her cloak to step out.
“Why, good evening, Vee. I didn’t expect to find you randomly roaming the city.”
Vee. Kaylina had forgotten about that nickname. She wondered if Vlerion would let her use it, or if he would want that. He and Ghara and another Saybrook sister had made play forts together as children, Kaylina recalled. They were all of the same aristocratic rank.
When Ghara looked curiously at her, she offered another badger smile.
“I am accompanying ranger trainee, Kaylina Korbian, home,” Vlerion said.
Kaylina tried not to wince at his classification of her as ranger trainee.
“Do you accompany all trainees home?” Ghara asked in a teasing tone, but no humor reached her eyes. Instead, wariness—or was that suspicion?—lurked there. “Or only the female ones?”
“The ones whose lives are regularly threatened.” Vlerion’s tone was stiffer than when he’d been alone with Kaylina, and that aloof mask he often adopted made his face seem harder.
It wasn’t until that moment that she realized he softened himself for her. Or was it simply that he let his guard down? Now, he was the cool and distant ranger that Sergeant Zhani saw.
Ghara looked at Kaylina more closely, then blinked in recognition. “Kaylina Korbian, lessee of Stillguard Castle?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t recognize you without—” Ghara waved to her own hair.
Kaylina winced, remembering she’d been disheveled, covered with cobwebs, and in rumpled clothes when they’d met. After spending her first night in the cursed castle, Kaylina thought her state had been understandable, but a childish part of her wished Ghara had seen her freshly washed and made up, dressed in elegant clothing that made her look ravishing.
“Well, your hair is damp today,” Ghara finished, waving toward the rain clouds, then lowering her arm. She had more tact than most noblewomen that Kaylina had encountered. “What is this about you being a ranger trainee? I thought…” She trailed off as she looked toward Stillguard Castle, the purple-glowing tower more noticeable as it grew darker, twilight settling over the city.
“I got conscripted,” Kaylina said. “Apparently, I’m an anrokk , and the rangers like that.”
“A what?”
The carriage driver, a man sitting in the mist with his hood up, looked over at them—at Kaylina—for the first time. But he didn’t say anything, as was doubtless appropriate for commoners working for the Saybrooks. For any aristocrats.
“We believe she has the blood of druids in her veins,” Vlerion said. “She has a way with the taybarri. Captain Targon leaped at the chance to take her in.”
Kaylina bristled at the words take her in , as if she were a wayward orphan that Targon had adopted out of the goodness of his heart, but she didn’t correct Vlerion. Besides, he shifted to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her as they faced Ghara. It wasn’t a definitive statement that they were a couple, but it seemed to convey that.
“But what about the castle?” Ghara asked Kaylina. “I received your menu and was coming to check the preparations for your grand opening. To see if you need anything to help ensure it goes smoothly. That would be ideal. The captain of the Port Jirador branch of the Kingdom Guard came to see my grandfather last week about some Kar’ruk that died in front of the castle during the invasion. There are rumors that the tower was responsible, but I can’t imagine that. It’s preposterous, isn’t it? That glow can’t kill people.” As firm as Ghara’s statement was, a hint of doubt touched her eyes as she gazed toward the tower again. “Didn’t that used to be more of a red glow than a purple glow? I’ll admit I’ve not spent much time in the area, especially at night, but…”
“It was red,” Vlerion said. “With her anrokk power, Kaylina has altered it.”
“That was more the honey-water fertilizer,” she murmured, not wanting to explain her druid weirdness to a near-stranger. Especially one who had, intentionally or inadvertently, stepped closer to Vlerion as she looked toward the castle.
As if absently, Ghara reached out and rested a hand on his chest. “How strange.”
She glanced at Kaylina, her elegant blonde brows drawing together. Though Ghara didn’t say it, the look proclaimed that Kaylina was strange.
The words of her former lover, Domas, rang in her mind, as they did so regularly: “What is wrong with you? You look so normal.”
“Does that mean the castle did attack and kill people? Kar’ruk, I mean.” Ghara eased closer to Vlerion, her hand still on his chest. “The guard said a human man claimed it struck him a blow to the shoulder, leaving a burn mark. He was someone who has nothing to do with the rangers. I’m aware of the rumors that it’s killed people of your profession, but… this man is a cobbler. The guard came to my grandfather because he’s concerned the castle has grown more dangerous and might need to be demolished.”
“That’s not necessary. It was targeting the Kar’ruk. The man may have been nearby.” Doing her best to divert the conversation, Kaylina asked, “You said you saw our menu? My brother and I have been distributing copies, but I didn’t realize they would reach you at your estate in the country. Or are you, uhm, staying locally?”
“Your brother—that’s Frayvar Korbian, right?”
“Yes.”
“He was the one to send the menu. He even signed it. Is it common for the chef to do that in your part of the kingdom?”
“Very common. It, uhm, wasn’t doused in perfume, was it?” Well aware of her brother’s infatuation with Ghara, Kaylina could imagine that. They’d even discussed such treatments for love letters.
“No.” Ghara tilted her head, looking puzzled at the idea.
Good.
“It did smell of rosemary and something else. Herbs. Like one might dust on baking bread.”
“Ah.” Kaylina suspected that hadn’t been an accident. That probably was the kind of perfume her brother would employ in an attempt to woo a woman. “He must have written it while working in the kitchen. But there’s no need for you to come, if you don’t wish. We have the castle under control. Well, not exactly under control , but the weather has gotten warmer, so we’re going to seat everyone outdoors for the meal. I don’t think the tower will attack anyone.” She hoped. When she’d asked the plant why it had killed the Kar’ruk, it hadn’t responded in any way, other than waving a vine in the air toward her head. Since she’d been determined not to receive any more visions from it, she’d backed quickly away from the offering.
“Weren’t the Kar’ruk who died outdoors at the time?” After asking, Ghara eased even closer to Vlerion and gazed into his eyes, her chest brushing his. “They were horrible. The Kar’ruk burned the Lavertok estate next door, and my sister and I were sure they would come for us next. We were scared and could only tremble as the fires burned. That night was so awful. The staff were armed, and we have a handful of bodyguards for Grandpa, but… I wished you were there. You would have killed them easily and protected us.”
“It was my duty to protect the king and queen.” Vlerion looked at Kaylina but didn’t add that he’d also been busy protecting her at the time. The beast, especially, had.
She wished he would. Oh, she knew he wouldn’t share his secret or explain everything that had been going on, but her fingers curled into a fist as she longed for him to make it clear to Ghara that he wasn’t available. She shouldn’t lean her boobs all over him because…
Because why? Kaylina and Vlerion hadn’t sworn fidelity to each other. They couldn’t swear anything until she found a way to lift his curse.
Still, the urge to see if she could summon some druid magic to knock Ghara away from Vlerion flirted with her mind. She resisted it, instead looking toward the river, trying not to watch them out of the corner of her eye, but it was difficult.
“I understand you have your duties as a ranger, Vee, but it was so scary.” Ghara’s fingers curled into his shirt. “We all wished you’d been there. And I wish… you know what I wish.” She licked her lips, not a nervous lip-licking but a sultry drawing of her tongue along them to capture Vlerion’s eye, to make him want?—
“I am aware,” he said, then caught her hand and pushed her gently back.
“Come to my apartment tonight,” Ghara whispered, determined despite his rejection. With her gaze locked on him, she seemed to have forgotten Kaylina stood nearby. Or maybe she didn’t want to acknowledge that any competition might exist. “Let me show you what I’ve learned in the years since we were together. You’d enjoy it immensely, I’m certain.” She ran her tongue over her lips again.
Vlerion grimaced, probably thinking of what might happen if he enjoyed himself immensely with any woman.
“I am with another now, Ghara.” He stepped close to Kaylina and wrapped his arm around her waist.
Relieved and pleased by the acknowledgment, Kaylina kept herself from flashing a triumphant yes-he’s- mine smile at Ghara. But she did slide her arm around his waist without hesitation. Not claiming him, she told herself. Simply reciprocating the gesture to demonstrate that their feelings were mutual.
“What?” Ghara asked, more dismay than shock twisting her face. “But she’s…”
Common was the word that she didn’t say, Kaylina suspected, though it might have been something more derogatory. No, probably not. Whatever Ghara thought, she seemed to maintain a civilized veneer.
“Your mother wouldn’t approve,” Ghara said instead. Then she blinked in surprise—or realization? “Your mother doesn’t approve. This is the girl, isn’t it? That your cousin, Beatrada, said has her hooks in you and is a danger to the estate.”
“Ah.” Kaylina lifted her finger. “I’m not hooking anyone, and I’m far from dangerous to his estate or…” She wanted to say him or anyone else but realized she couldn’t, not honestly. Since their kisses could lead to Vlerion turning into the beast, she might legitimately be a danger to everyone around.
“You have the mien of a schemer,” Ghara said coolly.
Cursed craters, her brother would have agreed. And Vlerion snorted.
Kaylina hit him on the chest with her free hand. “You’re not helping.”
“You let her touch you like that? A commoner?” Ghara sneered. So much for her civilized veneer. “Vee, it’s so presumptuous.”
“She is that.” Vlerion sounded amused.
Kaylina lifted her hand to thump him again, but she paused, self-conscious now that she’d been called out as a schemer. Even though she had much more important things to worry about than what high-society women thought of her, she hated the idea of being accused of chasing after Vlerion for his money and status. That was the last thing she cared about. She intended to acquire all she needed by working hard and opening a business that people adored, not latching onto wealthy men.
Vlerion clasped her hand out of the air and lay it on his chest.
“Beatrada said there will be consequences,” Ghara warned. “That she’s dangerous. And your mother won’t allow it.”
“I have been a ranger for years, risking my life to defend the kingdom,” Vlerion said coolly. “I respect my mother and listen to her counsel, but I am long past the age where I obediently do as she wishes.”
“You should always listen to your mother. Do you remember when she said we’d make a handsome couple? I know she was also thinking that we’d be an appropriate couple. The Havartafts and Saybrooks are of similar social rank. It would make sense.”
Kaylina frowned at Vlerion, wondering if that was true. Had Isla of Havartaft tried to encourage Vlerion to be with a woman? When she was intimately aware of how such relations tempted the beast to appear? Lady Isla had tried to get Kaylina to stay away from her son.
This time, she was the one to curl her fingers into Vlerion’s shirt and shift closer to him.
“I do not wish to hurt you, Ghara,” Vlerion said, some of his aloofness fading, gentleness in his tone as he met her gaze. “This simply is what it is.”
“What it is is her rubbing her chest on you and you liking it.” Ghara stepped back and sent Kaylina a scathing look, as if she were an expert seductress and Vlerion a simpleton falling for her advances.
“I do like it,” Vlerion stated. “And I like her. I apologize that we were not meant to be more, Ghara.”
Though Kaylina appreciated Vlerion making that clear, she worried the words were turning Ghara into an enemy. Kaylina wouldn’t have wished that, not from another person with the financial power to make her life difficult. What if Ghara ripped up the lease and drove them out of Stillguard Castle after they’d done so much to make it ready?
The plant and all its quirks didn’t change the fact that it was a far more affordable building to rent than any other they’d find in the city. The location was also excellent. And, given that Jana Bloomlong was still targeting Kaylina, having a sentinel keeping an eye on the place wasn’t that bad. With luck, the plant would keep any more would-be arsonists away.
“I see,” Ghara said, her tone stiff. “Ms. Korbian, should you need assistance with your opening, I am available, but I will give you the message my grandfather sent me to deliver. If the castle harms any citizens who attend, or are simply walking by on the street, the Saybrooks will not be responsible in any way. Before you stepped into that building, it had not killed in generations and only rangers. Nor did it have the power to shoot beams to murder people. Now that I’ve spoken with you, I believe the rumors may be true, and that you are responsible for the changes.”
Kaylina opened her mouth to protest, but could she? She hadn’t been there when the plant killed most of the Kar’ruk, but it was possible that she had, with her infusions of honey, given it more power. The power to kill more easily. But it had shared that it would allow her customers to dine in peace, as long as those customers didn’t have ill intent toward her.
“Be careful, Vee.” Ghara stepped into the carriage but met his gaze before shutting the door. “She’s a beautiful woman, and she knows it. She’ll use her body to manipulate you, to get as much of your wealth and prestige for herself as she can.”
The door slammed, and the indifferent carriage driver clucked to the horses to get them to continue over the bridge.
Kaylina, stung even though she barely knew Ghara and there was no truth in those words, lowered her hand, intending to step back. But Vlerion pulled her close, his arms locking her to him.
“I know the truth,” he murmured, his lips brushing her ear. Warm pleasure swept through her. Amusement laced his words as he added, “And how much my family’s wealth means to you.”
“It’s not what makes me wake in the middle of the night thinking of you,” she whispered, glad he knew the truth even though she’d never doubted it.
“With only your own hand to satisfy the ache within you,” he murmured, the amusement gone, huskiness in his voice.
“Yeah.” She swallowed, aware of the danger rising, a threat that Ghara had no idea about.
“You’d better go,” he rumbled even as he inhaled her scent and nibbled on her ear, muscled arms holding her tight against him.
She arched into him before she could stop herself. By the gods, why couldn’t they enjoy one night together?
With a growl of frustration, Vlerion released her. He didn’t push her back, the way he had Ghara. Instead, he looked to the sky, the mist dampening his cheeks as he struggled to gather himself.
“I’m sorry.” Kaylina hated that she distressed him. She stepped back, lifting her hands in an apology.
“Don’t be. You are not a beast.”
“No, but I don’t want to tempt you. I don’t mean to. I just…”
His eyes were fiery with his passion when he lowered them to meet hers. “ You were not trembling and afraid before the Kar’ruk.”
“I…” Kaylina knew it was a compliment and that he liked her bravery, but a savage glint mingled with the passion in his eyes, the hunger and the promise that the beast lurked, ready to erupt. “Wasn’t delighted by the experience either.”
“I’ll have you one day soon,” he vowed.
She nodded and stepped farther away, for both their sakes. “As soon as I figure out a way to lift the curse, and I will. I promise.”
His eyes narrowed with speculation, and she wondered if he’d meant he would have her whether they lifted the curse or not. That hunger in his eyes made her want to return to him to find out. Instead, she hurried off the bridge and down the trail toward the castle. She could feel him watching her but didn’t look back.