66. Chapter 66
CHAPTER 66
Lucenna
L ucenna woke completely dry and warm beneath Klyde’s mercenary coat, her nose filled with his scent. Her pulse jumped when she opened her eyes to a view of his bare torso in the morning sun. Remaining still, her gaze drifted across his smooth skin to his defined V line of his hips that disappeared beneath the fabric of his trousers.
The muscles in his arms shifted as he stretched, and she bit her lip. The sun highlighted the defined ridges and mounds of his preposterously perfect abdomen. A swoop of heat sank through her stomach and continued past her navel as her eyes traveled along his well-defined chest, and up the column of his throat. Every beautiful muscle in his arms and back flexed as he bent, but he winced, and muttered a soft curse.
Klyde turned and Lucenna let out a horrified screech.
“Is that a stick in your thigh?” She rolled onto her knees and jerked his waist around to fully face her.
Yes, he did indeed have a stick pierced though his right leg. Dried crusted blood had formed around it, leaving the skin there enflamed. The stick was at least half an inch in diameter and no telling how long.
She peeked around his back and found it hadn’t gone clean through him. “Did you have this in you all night?”
Klyde stared down at her a moment and she looked down, realizing she wore nothing more than his white tunic. The hem ended just beneath her bottom, leaving her legs bear. The wide collar fell loosely around her shoulders, exposing a good deal of her cleavage.
She leaped to her feet with a yelp, covering her chest. “Where are my clothes?”
Klyde pointed to where her black dress hung from a tree branch, keeping his gaze pointed up at the sky. “You took it off last night. Apparently, you weren’t keen on sleeping in wet clothes.”
Lucenna’s face flamed.
Her memory of last night was hazy but she wanted to fade away from existence when she recalled peeling off her soaked dress and letting it drop with a wet splat at his feet, rambling on some nonsense about needing a warm bed.
“Oh, Gods…” She groaned, covering her face.
Klyde peeked at her then handed her his enchanted coat. “Best you wear this too, love.” He placed it over her shoulders and muttered under his breath, “For my sake.”
She was smothered by another wave of mortification. Klyde had said something similar last night as he fought to wrestle her into his shirt while also doing his best not to look at her.
Lucenna snatched the coat shut, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. If only the ground would swallow her whole. “If you speak a word of this to anyone…”
“I will meet an untimely demise, I know.”
“You still might,” she said, arching a brow at the stick. “Did that happen during the flood? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Well, lass, clearly you weren’t in a sober state of mind. I considered taking it out myself, but then I might have bled to death in the night.”
Lucenna groaned at the distant ache that throbbed in her head. “I need to sit down. So do you.” She tugged on his wrist, and he took a seat a the boulder. He already looked flushed, and a sheen of sweat shone on his forehead which told her he might have a mild fever. Sitting beside him, Lucenna bit her lip as she studied the branch. “I will have you know I never did learn how to cast Essence Healing.”
He grimaced. “Shite, I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. Well, there’s no helping it, then. You must cauterize it shut.”
She recoiled. “What?”
“We’re out in the wilderness with no Herb Master, bandages, or the like to stitch me up. I can’t go on with this inside of me, so best option is to pull it out and cauterize the wound.”
Lucenna felt her stomach turn. “Must I do it?”
“You have threatened to flay me alive and remove my favorite appendage, yet this is out of the question?”
Trying not to gag at the churning in her stomach, she nodded. “All right. Give me a moment.” She hesitantly took hold of the rough shaft of wood, but he winced, and she quickly let go. “No, I can’t do it. I can’t.”
Klyde sighed heavily. “Well, I must admit, I’m rather disappointed. You’re not as plucky as you pretend to be.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me?”
He stood with a shrug. “I suppose all women do faint at the sight of blood, but after all your threats, I wouldn’t have taken you for the squeamish sort. Turns out your poised air of importance was merely bravado?—”
Lucenna ripped out the stick. Klyde hunched over with a strained grunt, bracing himself on her shoulder.
“Thank you…” he gasped. “I knew you could do it…”
Yes, it only took angering her, oddly enough.
Lucenna hauled his hips around to face her so she could inspect the wound better. It seemed deep. She tore off her sleeve and pressed against it. “Here. Apply pressure.” Picking up the bloody stick again, she frowned at it. “It’s bigger than expected.”
“Thank you.” He smirked down at her. “I am pleased to exceed your expectations.”
It was then Lucenna realized her face was inches from his groin. She tossed the stick at him, and it bounced off his head.
“Ow.” He sat back on the boulder.
“Another word and you will reach the bottom of this mountain quicker than it took to climb it.”
He rubbed his head. “That is what I like about you, lass. Your boundless sense of empathy.”
She tossed the branch into the fire. “That thing was about eight inches long and at least half of them were inside of you.”
He snickered.
“This is a serious matter, Klyde.” Lucenna punched his arm, and he ducked for cover, still snickering. “Can you stop enjoying this so much? Why are you laughing?”
“Because I find you rather adorable when you’re cross with me.”
Lucenna rolled her eyes. “Let’s get on with this then. I will be beyond cross if we are caught in Greenwood without the escort before we ever reach Evos.”
Klyde drew back the bloodied cloth and Lucenna’s stomach roiled again at the sight of the dark hole in his leg. Blood steadily leaked out.
“I don’t know where to start.”
“I’ll hold here…” He pushed the skin around the wound together, forcing it shut. More blood and other substances spewed out. “Then you seal it with a bit of fire and give me a new scar. Simple.”
Lucenna balked. Why was this so difficult? Looking at the wound, it made her sick … and angry.
“You need a distraction, lass. Talk to me. Tell me about your mother.”
“What? Why her?”
Klyde canted his head. “She’s part of what made you. To know her is to know you.”
That knocked the breath out of Lucenna, and she stood, moving back. “No, were not doing this.”
“Do what?”
“I am not going to tell you my sad story simply because you told me yours,” she snapped. “I don’t need a shoulder to cry on and I certainly don’t need a man to jump to my aid every time I’m in danger.”
Klyde stared at her a moment, then his mouth thinned. “If I didn’t jump after you, then you would have drowned, Lucenna. You can’t swim, need I remind you. Are you that confident in your magic?”
“I am confident in myself! I would have made it out. Now you have this horrid hole in you because you can’t cease to be a hero.”
Klyde’s chest expanded with a heavy sigh, and he applied the cloth over his wound again. “I thought we discussed this already. It’s all right to need help.”
She clenched her teeth. “I don’t need anyone.”
He fell quiet a long moment, his deep blue eyes observing her, seeing through her glare, though her . Always understanding more than she wanted him to.
“No...” he murmured. “It’s not that you don’t need them. You’re afraid to need them.” Lucenna froze, her chest shaking. “Because the people you relied on let you down?”
Her fists clenched. “ No ...”
“Then why?”
Lucenna looked away from him to the fire. She stared unto the flames until the heat dried her misted eyes. “Everyone who has ever helped me …”
“Has died?” Klyde guessed, so easily, as he continuously seemed to do. “Beginning with your mother…”
Lucenna throat tightened with the emotion she forced back.
Klyde reached for her hand, his skin warm and tan compared to her pale hand. His thumb stroked the back of her fingers. “Lass,” he called softly, prompting her to look at him. “You don’t worry about me. I am hard to kill, if I haven’t proven so already.” His mouth lifted in a half smile. “Then again, I may not have long with this hole in me.”
That made her scoff faintly, if only to push back the knot in her throat. Kneeling down front of him, Lucenna drew raw Essence into her fingertips. It heated the air like a torch. Klyde removed the bloodied cloth, and she cast out a thin beam of fire beginning at the top of the wound.
“I was eighteen when my mother died,” Lucenna said. His skin sizzled as she slowly sealed it shut. Klyde’s fists clenched tight on his lap, but otherwise, he didn’t make a sound. His gaze stayed on her as she worked. “Her name was Lucilla, and she was extraordinary. She taught me not to be afraid of who I am or of my magic. I suppose that confidence … is what led to her death.” Lucenna finished cauterizing the wound and stared at the fresh scab a moment. “My father … he found us because I cast a stupid spell that revealed where we were.” Her voice broke and she struggled to make herself say the words. “My mother stayed behind to distract him, so I could run. We both thought he would simply take her back to Magos...” Klyde brushed away the tear she hadn’t felt fall and she looked up at him with her blurry vision. “But … he siphoned her.”
“You saw it?”
She shook her head. “I felt it. A siphoning is not something you can mistake. When Essence is torn from a body, it feels like the air is being pulled from atmosphere until their presence is simply … gone.”
She had been powerless to stop it.
Klyde pulled her to him, holding her as though he knew she needed it. Lucenna’s first instinct was to push him away, but she inexplicably sank into his warmth. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “You weren’t ready to lose the one who raised for you.”
She shut her eyes. Was anyone ever ready for that?
A sudden spark of magic above their heads made them jump apart. From the small puff of smoke in the air, came a torn piece of parchment fluttering down. Lucenna caught it. Quickly wiping away her tears, she read her brother’s messy scrawl in fresh ink.
I cannot reach you through the orb. Forgive me for yesterday. Please tell me you’re safe.
“Your brother?”
“Yes,” she sighed. “I’ll send him a message later. We need to find the road.”
While Lucenna changed into her dry clothes, Klyde put out the fire. Then they gathered their belongings and headed south. Evos was not very far, according to her location spell on Dyna. They fell into an easy silence as they hiked down the mountain together.
Lucenna constantly glanced at the sky though, because she was worried about Rawn. He’s been captive for over a week now and she shuddered to think of what he suffered. Each day they delayed his rescue, was another day lost.
Klyde lifted a low hanging branch out of her way, and she caught him looking at the Luna Medallion. She had been absentmindedly twisting the chain around her fingers. He moved on ahead of her.
Lucenna stopped. “Why don’t you pry into our business anymore?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Eh?”
“Before you wouldn’t cease to question us on our story and where we’re headed, but you stopped.”
“If I remember correctly, you did warn me to stay out of it.”
“Klyde,” she pressed.
“All right then, what is the story behind your missing jewel?”
“No, it’s my turn. I answered your question earlier, now you answer mine.” Lucenna crossed her arms. He tensed and she narrowed her eyes. “You figured it out, didn’t you?”
Klyde took a breath and raked back his messy blond hair out of his eyes. “I have been tracking Tarn’s activity for many years, lass. Once he began collected the Sacred Scrolls, it was clear he searched for Mount Ida. Then when he put a bounty on your heads, and well, with how secretive you were, it was easy to guess you were headed there as well.”
Lucenna eyed him carefully, wary of whether she should be worried about that or not.
Reading the suspicion on her face, Klyde frowned. “Where you were going didn’t matter to me. I am no Relic Hunter in the pursuit of treasure. The only thing I hunted was Tarn.”
“To protect Tavin?”
Klyde looked to the horizon on valleys and hills. His blue eyes caught the light of the sun, making them pale blue. And she read the worry in them. He may not have been Tavin’s father, but he loved him as one.
“Tarn has the power of the Ice Phoenix now and a right to the throne of Azure. It was no question what he would do if he ever learned there was another out there with Morken and J?kull’s blood. Once I discovered he planned to become immortal on that godsforsaken island, I was desperate. I was willing to do anything by whatever means necessary to protect Tavin against him. At whatever cost … even if I came to later regret it.” Klyde’s gaze returned to her, and his brow furrowed as if it weighed on him.
Lucenna had seen the darkness that lurked beneath his jests and amusement and could only assume what things he might have done to get answers. And how he must have felt when he decided the only thing he could do was kill his brother.
“You did it for Tavin’s sake,” she said. “You truly believed Tarn would have killed his own son?”
“I was not going to give giving him the chance to try. Fortunately, I have the fates to thank for preventing me from carrying my brother’s blood on my hands.”
A mixture of resolve settled on his face, shadowed by distant sorrow. Lucenna felt a twinge of guilt, then. She never did ask him how he felt now that his brother was gone.
“A part of you mourns him.”
“I mourn the memory of who he used to be.” Klyde continued on. “He was dead to me a long time ago.”
She watched him go, and couldn’t help thinking even from the back, he looked sad. Tarn had committed many vile deeds, beginning with killing their father. But what had wounded Klyde was that the one person he had admired the most left him to die.
Lucenna caught up to him at the top of a hill and he nodded at the view. Nestled within the forest below rose a small city.
“Not far now,” Klyde said. “We should find the road soon. Meanwhile, tell me more about your medallion. It’s my turn, right?”
Well, she didn’t know they would be trading questions, but she didn’t feel so mistrustful of him anymore. “It’s missing a jewel that I need to find. A Moonstone.”
“Which is on Mount Ida?”
“Yes. So when did you discover?—”
“Wait,” he laughed. “That is all I am getting? I expected a better tale rife with danger and all-powerful mages.”
Lucenna scoffed as they made their way down. “What mages have you met that were all-powerful?”
He paused, blinking at her.
“You mentioned meeting mages before.”
“Ah.” Klyde took her hand as he helped her down a rocky ledge. “The Elites Enforcers in Dwarf Shoe.”
She curled her nose. “Those mages were not all-powerful, Klyde. They would never hold a candle to Azeran.”
So she told him about her great ancestor, and how he revolted against the Archmage to fight oppression. That he had created a Moonstone that helped him during the War of the Guilds. Then she told him of her life in Magos, the things women suffer there, then the Liberation enlisting her and her mother. Klyde listened intently, all of his attention absorbed by her story.
“War is brewing again. It’s my mission to find the Moonstone to help my people.” Lucenna looked up at the faint roll of thunder to the rain clouds were gathering in the south. “I will finish what Azeran started.”
They had finally left the woods and came out onto a paved road. Up ahead rose Evos within the trees and she spotted a few of the Norrlen Guards waiting for them.
“Finally, we made it.”
When Klyde didn’t answer, she found him watching her steadily, the sea blue of his eyes glinting with something intoxicating and focused.
“What?” Lucenna asked.
“Even the most powerful people can be made to feel powerless. Yet you found your strength regardless of when an empire declared you had none. And here you are, making a stand like a true force.”
The way he was looking at her with such wonder, it made Lucenna’s skin warm, because somehow, despite not knowing him for long, he had always had a way of seeing her in way no other had.
“Is that to say you believe I have a chance of defeating the Archmage?”
Klyde brushed the silvery locks from her face. “You are a storm, lass. May the Gods have mercy on whoever stands in your way.”