Chapter 43
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
LYVIA
Existing magical bond must be in place before beginning.
– Forbidden Whispers of Persuasion, Restricted Root Level, Living Library.
Lyvia – Ayla, Lotrennia
“Dismissed?” The word left Isla’s lips in a deadly hiss. Her amber eyes were wide, and her brows hiked to the mystical ceiling. She snatched the correspondence from my hands, skimming the note before shaking her head.
“Who does he think he is?” she snapped, barking the question at the empty hall as if Bayne could hear her.
“Likely the king of Lotrennia,” Vulcan muttered, seemingly unfazed.
“The king of my ass.” Isla bristled.
“It could be from the queen,” Drystan signed, his dark brows narrowing.
Isla’s eyes softened on his as she paused.
Four servants shuffled through the nearest archway, their smooth leather garments reflecting the soft glow of the lights above.
“Fine,” Isla murmured. “You two go get fancy. Drystan, let’s see if we can find the master of spells.”
The servants reached us, and the notion of having dinner with Antares and Bayne… and Kellan…suddenly sank into my gut and tied my intestines in a knot.
“I don’t want to get fancy,” Kellan growled beneath his breath. His dark brows narrowed as the servants waited for us to follow.
I suppressed the urge to laugh, my eyes scanning his rugged face and cutting to the faded stain on the front lapel of his bright blue coat. I’d left that for him after I’d fallen from Tempest last year.
His eyes followed mine as I straightened his jacket. His lips kicked up into a smirk as if recalling the incident.
“I’ll see you soon,” I murmured, reaching up onto my toes and planting a soft kiss on his lips.
Black. Always black.
I pinched the slippery fabric through my fingers. The subtle wings of pixies were woven into the beaded designs of flowers that sparkled in the evening light, floating through the open window.
Queen Antares knew how to send a message. The unlucky creatures were hated in Lotrennia. Death follows their flight, she told me last year. And always black for me. For the darkness and death that lived within me.
The truth was, though it wasn’t my favorite color, I loved black.
I looked damn good in it, I realized, as I scanned my reflection in the long mirror built into the wide trunk of a silver tree.
The sparkly material wrapped snuggly around my breasts, leaving my shoulders bare, and hugged my hips before splaying into a soft pool at my feet.
I twisted, letting a little appreciation slip through my nerves as I spied my ass in the mirror, rounding just beneath the sheer cape-like train that stretched several feet behind me.
The elves had twisted my hair into a knot of waves, several long whisps hanging just above my bare back. A dark line of charcoal highlighted my eyes, and a few swipes of rosy red painted my lips.
My hands went to my hips as I tapped my foot. Black.
A strand of Transcindiel notes flitted up from my chasm of powers, curious as I examined the color. I formed a question in my mind, and the golden power inched forward before slipping from my fingers and circling the fabric hugging my body.
Sea blue, perhaps? My mind wandered to my date.
Energy sputtered from my body as golden Transcindiel sparks flitted from my palms and wrapped around my form. They bounced off the fabric, dissipating into the air surrounding me as I tried to transform the color of the dress. No, I shook my head. Too different. The change must be a nudge…
Golden light exploded in my vision, and I blinked my eyes open. Satisfaction bloomed as I scanned the light gray dress, now highlighted with the black, beaded design. I scanned the pixie wings, now feeling a solidarity with the creatures the queen hated. I didn’t mind those.
Violet and indigo twilight filtered into the round room as I reached the top of the spiraling stairs. The beauty of the room would have stolen my breath if the pirate lord standing in the center hadn’t first.
Kellan’s dark eyes were wide as they landed on me, his nostrils flaring as his chest expanded with a deep inhale.
The elves had draped him in raven, snug formal pants, the expensive fabric hugging his long, muscular thighs.
His hands rested casually in the pockets.
A matching formal jacket wrapped around his broad shoulders.
A striking line of silver embroidery bordered its edges, disappearing into the subtle designs stretched throughout, only visible when they caught the light.
The top three buttons of the light gray shirt beneath remained undone, and the snaking lines of his neck tattoos ran down to the top of his tanned chest.
Well, fuck me. I love black.
My throat bobbed as I paused at the top of the steps. Kellan’s lips parted as his eyes drew a long, slow line from where my dress pooled at my feet to my chest, lingering on the length of my neck before meeting my gaze.
“Bonscaíh,” he breathed, extending a hand to me.
“Lyvia,” Queen Antares’s sing-song voice crooned from the opposite end of the room.
I froze, my arm outstretched as my hair stood on end.
Emotions swarmed as events from last year surged forward: her manipulation of our air oath, ensnaring Bayne in her delicate, cunning web, my training sessions, her savage treatment of Tiberius, her disgusting greed.
The monster lurked in a stunning body of power, hiding a tangle of thorns and festering rot.
My gaze remained frozen on Kellan’s. His jaw clenched for a moment, but he kept his eyes on me as he ignored the queen of Lotrennia and took four long strides across the twinkling room.
Kellan’s fingers slipped beneath my palm as he reached me, his head dipping as he brought the top of my hand to his lips.
Dark eyes gazed up from beneath narrowed brows as he kissed my hand, and an intoxicating wave of cedar and leather surrounded me.
The pirate lord’s easy warmth wrapped itself around me, laying a calming hand on my frantic heart as he straightened and pulled me toward him.
“You’re exquisite,” he said, his clear voice carrying across the open room. Heat crept to my cheeks, and Kellan’s face softened as he ran a thumb over my hand before twining our fingers.
Bodies shuffled in behind the queen, and I finally lifted my gaze across the room.
Bayne’s stare darted to our joined hands, his lips pursing for a glimpsing moment.
The air pulsed with power as he took a step forward, and my throat bobbed.
A golden crown twined with living vines and tiny white flowers adorned his dark hair, which had been slicked back.
The king was draped in a forest green formal suit, the shadow of dark ferns snaking up the sides of his jacket.
Ravindra green eyes slid from Kellan’s clasped hand in mine, up the darkness displayed on my bare arms and neck, and finally to my face, where he coolly masked the lurking suspicion that had narrowed his brows.
“Please,” Queen Antares crooned. “Sit.” Her ivory, manicured hands gestured to the small glass table in the center of the room, where four servants pulled out white, wooden chairs.
The queen’s hips swayed as she sauntered forward, a thin leg slipping out of the fuchsia evening gown painted on her body.
A delicate crown of connecting ferns sat on top of her loose, almost disheveled, golden curls.
Her fingers trailed the outline of a long, shadowed scar down the deep plunge of her bodice.
The tips of them lingered in the space between her full breasts.
If a goddess of sex, seduction, and manipulation had existed, it would be her.
The queen took a delicate seat before her eyes slipped to Kellan, and she patted the chair next to her. My hand tensed in his, and he squeezed back before dropping it and taking his seat, keeping his eyes from the queen’s plunging neckline.
Bayne and I converged as we reached our seats, and a cold discomfort seeped through the gorgeous space.
I took a seat, forcing my gaze on the rest of the beautiful room.
Large, arched windows lined the circular walls, the thick, round trees supporting the space like massive pillars…
And then there was the table… The size and shape closely resembled a certain altar…
My eyes snapped to Kellan’s, and his lips kicked up in the slightest smirk as he tracked my gaze.
The sudden, forced discomfort blew away like an unsavory scent.
Kellan kept his eyes on me, and his chin dipped.
Confidence swelled in my chest, and I turned to the queen and king of Lotrennia with a broad smile on my face.
“Thank you for seeing us,” I began. “We have an important request.”
The queen’s sky-blue eyes remained pinned on Kellan’s face as she twirled the stir stick of her cocktail with one finger. The pirate lord’s features remained amused, and he took a long sip of elven ale.
“It’s quite a vile request,” she said after a moment. “Asking to harvest leaves from a tree so ancient, so powerful, so incredibly important to Lotrennian culture and society. How do we know it won’t endanger the organism? Endanger our history?”
I finally looked at Bayne and raised my eyebrows.
Deep bags darkened the space beneath his eyes, and his lips drew a thin line as Queen Antares spoke.
He’d kept his gaze off the queen the entirety of this painful meal, his posture rigid as I explained what we needed and all that had transpired.
I didn’t care if we had our own rocky history.
He had to see the importance of the múritinne rings, of protecting our minds and our bodies from Sintarrak.
Bayne’s gaze slid to mine, and he blinked once.
My stomach tensed as his brows pinched upward, and his lips pursed to the side, a look I’d become familiar with.
Doubt.
“This is all based off what Tynan, one of the very creatures we are preparing to fight against, told you,” he said at last, raising his eyebrows and turning toward me in his chair.
“The God of Death sent you to the Arx to find this information. How do we know this isn’t exactly what the Embodied want us to do?
What if it weakens us, instead of protecting us? ”
My gut plunged.
“The Starlings left clues on how to fight against the other Embodied. And we’ve proof they work.
The rubellines.” I paused, and my eyes cut to Kellan’s.
They darkened as if he could hear Ganmira’s chilling scream, and I replayed the moment he chucked the rubelline dagger at her.
“Poison testers,” I continued, glancing back at Bayne, “even Water Witches to defend against…”
I paused, swallowing as Bayne’s brows lifted. To combat his power, I added silently.
“And the names that were crossed off,” I plowed forward.
“Bayne, if Sintarrak has stolen the rest of the Embodied’s powers, he’d be nearly invincible.
We have to take this chance. Isla is on board with this,” I urged him.
“You trust her. She would not suggest we harvest the leaves if she thought we had another choice.”
A muscle in Bayne’s jaw twitched as he considered. A pulse of power rippled over my skin, the heat from Bayne’s inner flames riding the invisible force. I scanned his face. My brows furrowed before I looked back at the queen. A sheen of near-invisible light emanated from the two of them. Power.
Had the soulbinding done this? Their powers had grown considerably. That much was clear, but it was as if their bodies could barely contain the forces within their borders.
“We’ll need to discuss this with Khato,” Bayne finally said, and his Ravindra eyes cut to mine. “The master of spells should have a say in this.”
I blew out a sigh. Khato would understand… I was certain of it. The ancient master of spells was wise, and I had a suspicion he wasn’t entirely loyal to the queen of Lotrennia.
“What shall you give us in return?” Queen Antares asked, her golden brows raising as she tapped her painted nails on the table, the claws of manipulation hiding beneath.
“We’re preparing for a war against beings with powers we can scarcely imagine,” I cut in. “Every human and elf in this realm must fight together. We fight together, or we lose together.”
Kellan’s eyes softened on mine as he pulled an enderleaf smoke from his jacket and held the tip to a taper at the center of the table. A scoff ripped from Bayne’s lips as the pirate took a long drag, and the queen’s attention zeroed in on him. Her eyes widened, and she leaned forward.
“You don’t smile much,” she purred, resting an elbow on the table and turning toward the pirate. “And you’ve been rather quiet this evening.”
“My lady has done a fine job of outlining the situation,” he replied, leaning back and propping a heel over his ankle before taking another drag.
“The Conduit surely has more to say on the matter,” she pressed, her eyes lingering on the hand Kellan rested on his muscled thigh. “Sintarrak…” she mused.
Kellan’s eyes cut to hers as the name dripped from her lips with an almost reverent air.
“If you are descended from the god we so fear,” she continued, arching a delicate brow, “you have the ability to transfer power.”
Something powerfully vigilant…something bone-deep inside of me blinked an eye open, calling my powers awake.
Queen Antares crossed one leg over the other, the slit in her slippery gown spreading as she shifted her weight.
Her fingers slipped to her exposed knee as she angled herself toward Kellan, and her gaze dipped to the hand resting at his thigh.
Kellan exhaled the enderleaf smoke through his nose as he tracked her line of sight.
The queen’s eyes glazed over in foggy lust as her hand lifted, and a surge of something wild and primal wrapped itself around my powers before they lunged.
A ribbon of shadows shot forward, wrapping the queen’s delicate wrist in a vice.