Chapter 14
“Bonded our tygress?”
An older, stocky pewter-haired man stepped forward, dressed in a richly embroidered tunic, his voice outraged. “This cannot hold. The tygress coordinates the entire ambush of tygers. We cannot allow an Azure that kind of power.”
The nobles exchanged quick glances, the air thick with disbelief.
Eyes that had skimmed over me with disdain or desire now fixed on me with growing unease.
Blake shot a pointed glance at Jace.
“Magistrate,” Jace said, stepping forward and bowing twice, varying the depth of his bow by just a few degrees each time before returning to my side, “we found this to be a matter for His Majesty to decide in his boundless wisdom.”
“Lord Axefire”—the king lifted a brow as he turned to Blake—“why was the tygress queen not locked in her stall during the Bonding? How could you allow our only living tygress to possibly injure herself?”
“She was, Your Majesty. She escaped. Twice,” Blake said, turning his body on the dais to face the king. “I believe Flame sought the Azure out yesterday, leading to the attack against our tygress. During the Bonding, Flame chewed through her restraints to reach her in the Arena.”
He was…not telling the entire truth. Blake had as good as admitted to me that he allowed Flame to escape because he saw signs of Bonding. He was lying to the king to…what? Help me?
Like he hadn’t told me straight to my face that my people couldn’t be trusted.
“She attacked the tygress. That is punishable by death,” a large man said. Ire, I realized, dressed in noble garb, arms crossed. He stood on the other side of the king with several other official-looking men.
“Lord Frostbane, it appears the Bonding had already begun last night. Injuries sustained between rider and tyger are part of the Bond and not subject to criminal charges,” Blake snapped, his eyes finding Ire’s.
The king’s gaze was steely and only focused on me.
Jace stepped away from my side and closer to the throne. “For the first time in the history of our people, the tygress queen has Bonded. This cannot be undone.”
“Unless the rider dies,” Malissa said. “She is useless and knows nothing of our ways. It would be a mercy to execute her now,” she continued with an elegant shrug.
I inhaled sharply.
“You overstep. You do not and shall not ever rule, daughter.” The king dismissed the princess, his gaze cold.
Malissa blanched, stepping back and nearly into Blake’s side. People whispered that she might not be truly his child. They said the king was infertile and was covering it up with his refusal to remarry after the queen died, despite the need for a male yang heir.
“At best,” the king went on, his tone turning smug as he looked at Blake with clear favor, “you’ll marry someone strong enough to take the throne. Then you might stand beside him. Or behind him, like a proper yin. Like your late mother did.”
Blake. Malissa. Were they to be engaged? My fingers drifted toward the ribbons at my belt—the ones he’d returned to me. The Ambush Master’s face gave nothing away. Malissa tilted her chin and leaned slightly into him. No ring on her finger. But she looked like she wanted one.
Then Ire spoke from across the dais, his tone scathing.
“This Azure would be able to influence all the Tyger Warriors. A yin, a peasant, a foreigner, and a woman? Not only does her presence bring dishonor to all of the Tyger Warriors, but her so-called Bond with the tygress is a threat to our security. Who knows if the Bond is even a true one?”
He stepped forward, closer to his king than anyone had dared, executing that same bow I’d seen Jace do earlier.
“Your Majesty, the solution is simple. We have proven the tygress queen can Bond. Kill the Azure yin and allow Flame to re-Bond with a Silver yang, as is appropriate.”
A sinking dread pulled at me. Could this get any worse?
The king gave him a nod. “Nephew, your views have been noted.”
Nephew. And things just got worse.
I wanted to roll my eyes at myself as I made the connection. Lord Ire Frostbane of Clan Frostbane, one of the eight most elite and powerful families that were the Octagon.
Ire was not only related to the king; he was the heir. For now.
The king’s expression didn’t change. “Executing the Azure may be an option.”
It was an effort not to move.
Blake stepped forward, apparently not needing to bow. “My lord, the Bonding today has made history. As the Ambush Master, I would like to observe this Bond and this Azure, before we destroy both.”
I took in a breath, waiting for the king’s verdict.
They will not harm you. Flame’s mental voice rang with determination. How dare they even speak of it. I am their queen. We are their queen.
Everyone stilled as a sound came from outside: a powerful growl low and deep, a rumble that slithered beneath the stones of the throne room like distant thunder. It was joined by another tyger’s voice, then another, and another.
The hairs rose on my arms as the sound spread, swelling as one tyger after another added their voices. Growls turned into deep-chested roars filled with fury, and the very walls of the palace seemed to tremble.
Ire’s gaze darted to the great doors as if expecting them to burst open. People grew pale. Then the roars stopped. No one spoke for a long moment. The Tyger Warriors had pained expressions. Malissa staggered. Blake’s expression was concentrated, as if he were listening to something.
At the dais, the king stilled. His fingers curled against the armrests of his gleaming throne. His jaw tightened, his gaze sharp, calculating. “What does this mean?”
Jace held his fingertips to his forehead. “I can feel that my tyger Xane is upset.”
“Venom feels furious,” Malissa said.
“The reigning tygress queen speaks mind-to-mind to every tyger in her ambush,” Blake said.
He seemed to be the only one not in pain or hurting from his connection to his tyger.
“Flame is enraged at the thought of harm coming to Rubi Morningtail, her chosen rider. She will not allow her to come to harm. She will not re-Bond. Without Rubi, our tygress queen would not Mate at all.”
An outcry broke out. The king’s face drained of color. The assembled nobles murmured in a tremulous tide of disbelief and indignation.
Are you all right, Flame? I asked in my mind.
They cannot imagine the vengeance I shall wreak if they were to touch you. How dare they question me and my choice. Her mental voice vibrated with fury.
I’m okay. They will not harm me. Though I didn’t feel as confident as I sounded—and I could tell Flame sensed it.
Ire spoke up. “We only have his word for this. Indeed, the current Ambush Master has allowed the tygers too much freedom in their training, and as a result, their natural selection process has been tainted.”
“Are you questioning my honor, Lord Frostbane?” Blake stepped toward Ire, his voice carrying a chilling edge. “I would be pleased to show you exactly how lax my training has been.” He radiated the lethal power of the Zenith metal mage he was.
Ire took an uneasy step backward. There was a roar outside, and he clutched at his head.
There, that rusthead will know no peace from Wrath. Wrath, his tyger, I assumed. Flame sounded satisfied with herself.
The Magistrate stepped forward again. “Let us not be hasty. The Azure may not be a bad choice. It is a mystery how the tygers make their picks.” The Magistrate turned to me. “Perhaps she has been selected because she has powerful battle magic. What is your magical ability?”
My cheeks flamed red as I said in a small voice, “I can sing. A little.”
Laughter swept the room.
The king was considering me. Behind him, the tygers carved into his throne stared with their gleaming eyes. His decision about my life was balanced on the edge of a blade.
The problem was, Flame’s display of power might only convince the king I was more of a threat, one he should eliminate as quickly as possible.
Much as I loved her for her loyalty, she couldn’t help me if I was already dead.
If I wanted to survive, he had to see me, an Azure yin, as one of them.
But how could I convince him of something I didn’t even believe myself?
I emptied my thoughts, forcing my breath to steady.
When the mind and body speak with one voice, then you have transcendence, Edith’s voice whispered in me.
Something instinctive rose from my heart like a half-remembered melody. It coiled in my ribs, an unformed note, a song without words. I knew nothing of their ways, but I let the harmony guide me.
Just as when I danced, I trusted my body together with my mind. I stepped forward with my weight balanced. My internal music pulsed through me like a current in my veins, threading through my muscles. I did not belong here, but my body moved as if I did.
I glided forward, lifted one hand in front, the other behind. The fabric of my gown whispered against the floor. I spiraled downward, folding into a low, sweeping curtsy that ended with my head held low, both hands braced across my chest in fists.
“Mighty Tyger King, may your blades be sharp and your prey tender. My sword is your sword, my throat in the jaws of the tyger should that be your desire.”
I held the difficult position without a wobble until I heard the king’s raspy voice, edged with surprise, respond to the ritualistic greeting.
“May the winds of fate blow ever behind you.”
I rose gracefully in the utter silence. Malissa’s mouth was agape, matching the shocked expression of Ire. Blake stood silent, brow dipped in confusion. It was only Jace who grinned openly.
His Majesty looked taken aback. Then he gave a faint smile. “She may live. It is the Will of the Tyger.”
Everyone echoed, “It is the Will of the Tyger,” with their fists pressed to their hearts.
“However,” he continued, “her loyalty must yet be ensured. She—”
His voice cut off abruptly as everyone dropped to their knees. My own knees buckled as if an invisible hand had struck me down. Even the king was prostrate in front of his throne.
Next to him, a tall crimson figure had shimmered into existence. “We are intrigued, Flame Rider, and We wish to see more of you.”
Her voice. It was more than sound. It filled the air, slipping into my mind. She did not speak in the Common Tongue, but in some other language I somehow understood perfectly.
She was taller than any human, her form flickering as if she were shifting between some ephemeral world and our reality.
She floated in the air, and I couldn’t quite tell if she was there in the flesh.
Her red robes clung to her, shifting like mist, weightless.
And that scarlet mask. Smooth, with no eyes.
It should have been lifeless, but I felt her gaze cutting through me, as if she saw every thought I had ever buried.
“You may stand,” she commanded. “I am the Diviner and I come with an urgent message from the gods themselves.”