Chapter 3 Dianna
DIANNA
We made it back right at sunset. Samkiel had been quiet, and although I knew he wasn’t mad at me, I still felt bad.
I shifted fully back to my mortal form and grabbed his hand, raising it to my lips to pepper kisses against the back of it.
He tossed me a half smile, but I could tell his mind was a million miles away.
He wanted so badly to restore these realms to what they used to be, and it felt like every time we turned around, his hopes were doused like water on a flame.
We made it through the front door with barely a peep.
The enormous castle seemed empty, but rattling from the kitchen and the smell of roasted meat proved that at least one person was home.
We rounded the corner, and I strode into the kitchen.
Cameron was half-slouched at the large wooden table.
I playfully shoved at Cameron’s shoulder and hopped up to sit beside his plate, swinging my feet.
Samkiel stopped at the entry and leaned his shoulder against the doorway.
“Hey, people eat here,” Cameron joked, gesturing toward my sitting form.
“Oh, if you think this is bad, you should have been here when Samkiel first showed me this kitchen.”
Cameron made a face and quickly lifted his plate.
“Dianna,” Samkiel said.
I shrugged and waved him off. “It’s been cleaned. I was only joking. Sort of.”
“Well, now that I am scarred by that mental image that I am sure will haunt me for the rest of my days,” Cameron said, “how did it go?”
Samkiel grumbled and rubbed his hand over his face.
“Not well, I take it?” Cameron asked, taking a huge bite of his sandwich.
“No,” Samkiel said. “Regardless of my wife’s chipper mood, not well indeed.”
I stuck my tongue out at Samkiel.
“Why are you so happy if it went terribly?” Cameron asked, around a mouthful of food.
I shrugged. “I blame it on the whole not having a soul thing.”
No one in the room thought that was the least bit funny.
Rolling my eyes at their lack of humor, I tried to explain.
“I don’t know. We’ve made a city here, a home.
People feel safe enough to breathe here.
Miska seems to be getting along and making friends, even dragging Reggie out with her.
Plus, I have you guys, and I know we’ll find a way to save the rest of The Hand and bring them back.
That’s what matters to me, everyone here and our family, not the cranky or rude royals.
I’ll protect this home with my life. So, if they don’t want to be allies, well, they can burn, and anyone who threatens us can join them …
” I shrugged, letting the sentence trail off.
“That’s actually really sweet,” Cameron said around another mouthful, nodding toward Samkiel. “Minus the part where I just pictured a dozen realms on fire. But it was nice, nonetheless.”
Samkiel shook his head and smiled softly at me before rubbing at his brow.
I knew the headache had to be bad if he was showing outward signs of it.
“Dianna will not be lighting anything on fire. She was actually on her best behavior, not a single flame in sight. Even when we were met with weapons or closed doors everywhere we visited. Lord Iver was the only one who spoke to us face to face, and a part of me wished he hadn’t. ”
“Iver?” Cameron asked.
“Yes, he now rules Shorerock.”
A small whistle left Cameron’s lips. “I assumed Lord Orble would have lived forever.”
“As did I,” Samkiel said. “Apparently, this is his son.”
Cameron frowned and sat back in his chair.
“Vena was nice.” I shrugged. “Well, mostly.”
Cameron’s brows went high. “Vena? I haven’t seen her dunes in ages,” Cameron said, taking another big bite of his sandwich.
I snorted softly and said, “I hope you’re speaking about her sand dunes.”
Samkiel rolled his eyes. “You two.”
Cameron grinned. “Hey, I am innocent this time, I swear. We only went with The Hand one time. The weather was amazing. You’d think it would be hotter with how close they are to their small sun, but I enjoyed it. What about you?”
I had to admit I loved Highsand, at least what we saw from overhead.
It had a rolling landscape of dunes and desert as far as the eye could see, dotted with pyramid structures that would put the ones we had in Eoria to shame.
It would have been gorgeous if it weren’t for the screams of people fleeing to their homes as I flew overhead.
The hundreds of guards who had rushed out and Vena screaming at us from the highest point of her gates were also detractors, but besides all that, it was marvelous.
“From the short time we were there, yes. It reminded me of home, only their sand sculptures were far larger than ours. Gabby would have liked it if Vena wasn’t such a bitch.”
Cameron laughed again. “The lords of this realm are not ready for you.”
“At least she attempted some dialogue.” Samkiel scratched at his ear. “It was behind locked and guarded gates, but it was something. I just wish they understood that I am trying to avoid war. I want that at all costs.”
“Everyone in this room knows Nismera will not give up that throne without a brutal and bloody fight,” I said.
“Fighting here will only end with thousands, if not more, dead. There are other ways to win wars. Meeting with houses and gathering loyalties are the first steps to claiming victory without ever lifting a blade. There are ways to subdue an enemy before war ever starts. War should be the very last option. It’s violent, bloody, and destructive, and innocence is its greatest casualty.
They may see me as weak, but I won’t risk the innocent. Not for her.”
“I know, and I am always on your side. I’m just saying you have a heart, baby, but the beings you’re dealing with do not. My concern is how far bitch goddess is willing to take it and what the cost will be.”
He forced a smile. “Let’s hope it doesn’t go that far. Maybe speaking to them will ignite change or at least give them something to ponder. Maybe they just need a few days to think about my offer.”
“Maybe,” was all I said. He seemed beaten down these last few weeks with every royal we visited, and I wouldn’t add to his disheartenment.
“Well, I personally think the royals have always been a bunch of dickbags,” Cameron said, breaking the tension. “Except for you, of course.”
Samkiel rolled his eyes as I snorted and nodded toward Cameron as he finished the rest of his sandwich and changed the subject. “Why do you look gross?”
His face and clothes were covered in dirt, and I knew I would be cleaning as soon as he left the room.
Cameron glanced down at his dirt-speckled shirt, the cream color more of a brown now.
The same dust covered his slacks, and his boots were caked with mud.
His hands were the only clean spots on him, probably because he washed them before making his sandwich. At least, I hoped he had.
“I’ve been in the city with Thane and his buddies.”
“Thane?” I asked.
“Yeah. Has a huge burn scar along his right side and short hair. You guys saved him and a bunch of others from Ovinor.”
Ovinor was the small cliffside village we went to weeks ago.
I’d almost forgotten about it. I guess it was understandable, given that we were dealing with the uptick of Otherworld creatures attacking any village or small town on their path or traveling across the realms in an attempt to secure alliances.
“Oh,” I said. “Sorry, I didn’t get names, and that was weeks ago.”
Cameron smiled, but I had started to notice it no longer reached his eyes.
He was also keeping himself very busy as of late.
He was either in town or helping Miska with her herbs and remedies.
Every lead we had regarding Xavier was a dead end, and I felt the light slowly dying in Cameron, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.
Orym would’ve been an enormous help had Isaiah not killed him and his sister.
“Why is he, or you, for that matter, working?” Samkiel asked. “I told you I’d finish a third of the city when I returned.”
Cameron wiped at his mouth before holding up his hands in mock surrender.
“Hey, I know. There are still a bunch of buildings that need roofing, and the townspeople are working themselves to the bone. Thane volunteered and is kind of running it with a small group, so I offered to help. I’d rather not run into the city and find townspeople impaled or squished. ”
Samkiel sighed from the doorway. “I told them to wait. The houses they have to live in are secure. Plus, we are still working on the ones for new arrivals.”
“I know, but they seem stubborn, just like you two,” Cameron said, glancing at us one at a time.
“Plus, they’re happy, and I believe they want to stay that way.
I think they want you to see that they love and value their new homes.
They don’t want to lose their safe haven.
I think it is their way of trying to gain the favor of the gods. You know, like the old days.”
“Samkiel would never expect that of them.” I folded my arms. “He’s not that kind of leader, and he’s not that kind of god. Plus, he will not give rewards for heat exhaustion.”
Samkiel grunted in agreement.
Cameron nodded. “I know, but these people have been beaten down, taught to please rulers who see them only as stepping stones. I fear they assume that if they eat and enjoy themselves even for a second, they’ll be punished, and this will all be taken away.”
A thought churned in my head as I chewed the inside of my lip. He glanced at me as I sent my idea to Samkiel through our bond. I’d ruminate on it further and ask Samkiel what he thought later.
Cameron got up and walked to the trash, disposing of the crumbs of his meal.
“Where is everyone else? Miska? Reggie?” I asked.
“Well,” Cameron turned toward us after cleaning his plate.
He placed his hands in his pockets and rocked on the balls of his feet.
“No offense, but I figured your efforts would be a bust. Even beneath Unir, the royals were dicks long before Nismera ever came into power, and I doubt they will leave her after she’s pretty much given them all the power their tiny, greedy hearts could want.
Plus, she’s a psychopath, and to follow her, they are not much better.
So, anyway, I did you all a favor. Reggie is in the city with Miska and her new friends, planting gods knows what, and I’m about to head back to make sure no one accidentally kills themselves while sprucing up their new home.
That means you guys have this whole place to yourselves for the next few hours.
Just don’t pull a three-day fuck fest again.
My poor eyes can’t take it, and I don’t think the castle would survive either. ”
I burst out laughing as he smirked at Samkiel.
“Cameron,” Samkiel all but growled.
“You’re too kind.” I snickered.
Cameron smiled. “I tell everyone that, you know.”
“More like a troublemaker,” Samkiel added.
“Have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Cameron grinned and waved before leaving.
“That’s a very short list,” I called after his retreating form.
Hopping off the table, I walked over to Samkiel. He watched the door, the wear of the last few days etched into his face. “Are you going to tell me why you keep rubbing at your fingers?”
His head snapped toward me, and his thumb stilled over the third finger on his right hand. It was where he had worn the Oblivion ring for eons.
“It’s simply a nervous tic.”
“I know your nervous tics, and that’s not one of them.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “So we lie to each other now?”
He offered me a half-smile. “You worry too much.”
My hand ran over his. Only a pale tan line remained on that finger, and there was no darkness or sign of the powerful ring that used to live there.
“Is it Oblivion?”
“It’s not important right now. Not with everything else happening,” he whispered, his gaze focused on our hands.
“You summoned it without your ring during a nightmare. You’ve never done that before. I think it’s something to think about.”
That earned me a full smile. “Another time. Right now, maybe we can not make any jokes, small or not, about your soul,” he said, his eyes filled with reprimand.
I wrapped my pinky around his, holding our hands between us. “Promise.”
He smiled and said, “We still need to find out what we can about your missing soul. Reggie has no idea what it could mean, and I am unsure where to start looking.”
“Okay.” I let go of his hand and leaned in close to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and grabbing his ass with both hands. I pressed my body flush with his and grinned up at him.
His fingers threaded through my hair, and he cradled my head with his big palms before leaning down to place a kiss on my lips. “You’re a menace.”
I smiled slowly. “I know. So since the house is empty,” I said against his lips, “hot screaming shower sex that probably ends in a broken bed?”
Samkiel’s eyes flicked to mine as if I had ripped him from some pressing thought, a lightness returning to the warrior king’s expression. Whatever demons had raised their ugly heads receded, chased out by the promise of play and connection.
He sighed and rolled his eyes as if I’d asked him the most mundane, boring question before a slow, wicked smile danced across his face. “Well, if you insist.”
“I’ll race you,” I said with a smirk.
He frowned and peeled my arms from around him. “Dianna, do you truly think me immature enough to—” Samkiel took off running, not finishing his sentence.
I gaped after him, and he was nearly at the stairs when I yelled, “You cheater!”
His laughter boomed, bouncing off the palace walls and echoing in my heart as I chased after him.