“Are you two still alive?” Tifapine stood just below them off to the side of the old bed.
Startled from slumber, Layala’s head snapped up and then feeling Thane’s naked body under her, she pressed her ear to Thane’s chest. His soft beating heart was the most joyous, wonderful sound she’d ever heard.
“He’s alive,” she breathed. She sat up and held a hand to her own chest. “I’m alive. We’re alive!” She sang and threw her hands above her head. “The sorceress told the truth.”
Tif jumped up and down, clapping her hands. “Yay! You’re alive.” She stopped and then cocked her head to the side. “Wahoo!”
Thane’s eyes fluttered open, and he glanced over at Tif. With a groan, he reached for the closest piece of clothing, which happened to be Layala’s underwear, to cover his male parts. “Good lord, gnome. What are you doing?”
“I drew the short stick.” She shrugged. “Someone had to see if you two were alive or not. I thought maybe the dragon lady lied so you would both die, and I would find you both lifeless. Then we’d have to bury you here in Calladira in this ruin and it would be a tragic story for the ages but unfortunate nonetheless.”
“Get out. I’m not dressed,” Thane said.
Tif waved a hand. “I’ve already seen you both naked before. It’s fine.”
“What?” Thane balked.
“Oh, by accident, I saw you. When I was roaming around your room once looking for a snack. You know how you keep chocolate by your bed sometimes, then you came out of the bath as I stuffed my mouth full. I’d never seen a naked male elf before. It’s both oddly satisfying and strange.”
Layala laughed and Thane did too.
Fennan and Piper both appeared in the doorway and immediately turned around but stayed in place. “You’re alive,” they both said in unison.
Layala slapped her arm over her breasts. Thane reached down and picked up the tunic and covered her with it. “Yes, we’ve established we’re alive. I don’t know why you were so worried about it!”
“Now we can go back home, and you can have an official wedding with the kingdom. We have a day before your deadline ends. I know you fulfilled the—latter half of the deal, but you haven’t promised your wedding vows, so we better hurry to the portal,” Piper said with her back to them. “And then we can kick some pale one ass.”
“Layala is rubbing off on you,” Fennan said. Piper shoved him and they both disappeared from view.
“You leave too, Tif.” Layala pointed at the exit. “We’re fine, as you can see.”
She winked at them both then scampered out. Thane and Layala locked eyes and a slow smile pulled at his lips. “That was the most—magnificent thing I’ve ever experienced. I need to have you again. Just once more before we go.”
Grinning, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re going to wear me out.”
“Most certainly,” he said.
After, Layala lay on his chest, twirling a piece of his hair around her finger. Her eyes flicked to his ear and she tugged on it. “So.” She gently slid her fingertips down to his earlobe. He shivered at the touch. “I was wrong. I’ll admit it.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “Wrong about what?”
She smiled and licked her lips. “Remember when I commented about pointed male ears with small tips and therefore small lower bits?”
A slow smirk grew. “I do.”
“So, that was a definite myth.”
He chuckled and pulled her down for a rough kiss. “I told you, you’d find out. And you said you weren’t interested in my male parts. Actually, I think your exact words were ‘not remotely interested’. But have you come to crave me, Laya?” His rough fingers slid along her ribcage, bringing goosebumps to her flesh.
“Yes.”
He cupped her bottom and squeezed. “And will you show me just how much later tonight?”
She smiled and kissed him again. “As soon as I can get you alone again. It will be a long walk back to Castle Dredwich.”
He grabbed his pants off the floor and shook the dirt off them. “And we’ll have to wait until we have the ceremony to finish the spell, but absence does make the heart grow fonder.”
“I need to wash off in the stream.” Layala peeked out in the massive hole in the side of the ruin. “Make sure they’re not close enough to see, please.” She hoped outside and dipped into the water.
“I’ll keep watch, my love.”
When they dressed and stepped out to meet Piper and Fennan and Tif, they sat a ways off near the stream, with Tif in between them and Phantom grazing nearby. “You think they heard us?” Layala asked, feeling a blush creep up her neck.
“I think the whole of Calladira heard you.” She smacked his chest and stamped ahead. He wrapped his arms around her middle and his lips grazed her ear. “I loved it. Don’t be embarrassed.” He scooped her up into his arms and she giggled, pulling herself up to kiss him. “Let’s go home.”
When the Valley of the Sun came into view, lit up by golden light, Layala grinned. It was so beautiful, and it was… home. She once thought it never could be, but Thane was home, and this was where he resided.
Thane cleared his throat. “We’ll need to have a small ceremony, completing the mate spell by voicing our vows, and—we’ll be forced to hit the sheets, I’m sure.”
“What a terrible thing,” Layala said smiling, and took hold of his hand. She brought his knuckles to her lips and kissed them. “I only wish my friends and my aunt could be here for it.” Even if she knew she would never go back to Briar Hollow to live again, she missed them. As much as she liked the luxury of the castle, she’d miss the cottage and her simple life. But Thane was worth staying.
“They will,” Thane assured her. “We’ll bring them when we have our celebration and for your coronation, of course. Anyone you want.”
“Am I going to have to find another room?” Tif whined. “I can hardly be present with you two—naked and doing the nasty.”
Everyone laughed. Layala couldn’t help the blush from taking over her face. “We’ll find you somewhere, Tif,” she said. “A room of your own.”
They started up the slope, leading to Castle Dredwich on the other side when a figure appeared at the top of the hill. Dark blond hair waved in the gentle breeze, black armor glinted, but the sun behind him made it impossible to tell who it was. A soldier by the look of his attire. “Who is that?”
“I think it’s Aldrich,” Piper said and waved. “He’ll be so happy we got this mess sorted out.”
Another soldier joined him and another until the hill was lined with them. A welcome home party, perhaps? Unless something happened while they were gone, and they were guarding the hillside into the city.
An arrow zipped by and slammed into Thane’s thigh. He groaned and stumbled. Layala gasped, keeping hold of his hand and was dragged back with him. He cursed and snapped the arrow’s shaft off, but the metal head was still lodged.
“It’s us!” Piper screamed, jumping in front of Thane, sword drawn.
Fennan waved his arms wildly. “You just shot your High King!” he roared. “Stop!”
“That arrow is laced with katagas,” Thane said. “My magic is fading again.”
Another whistled through the air. Layala dropped just before it flew past her head.
“Something is wrong,” Piper said, backing up into Thane. Driving into him. “They’re not listening. We can make a run for the portal.”
“No,” Thane barked. “I’m not running from my own soldiers. I am king.”
“Thane,” Layala pleaded as the soldiers began marching down the hill. Something was very wrong. They knew who they shot at if the arrow was laced with katagas.
Thane stepped out in front of Piper and Fennan. “Stop! By order of your High King!”
They didn’t falter in their advance.
“Holy Maker above,” Fennan said in disbelief. “That is not Aldrich—it’s–”
“Tenebris,” Thane breathed. “That’s impossible. He’s dead.”
“He looks very much alive,” Piper said, hysteria growing in her voice. “Run!” she turned and shoved Thane hard in the chest. “Run!”
“I refuse to run from him. This is my kingdom.”
Piper pushed him again and this time Thane stumbled back. “He will take Layala! Run!”
Layala stared at the elf who murdered her parents. Her magic itched at her fingers; her blood roared in her ears. “I can kill him,” she said quietly, stepping forward. Another arrow flew by her, barely missing her torso.
Large hands gripped her shoulders and dragged her backward. “No. You can’t,” Thane said in her ear. “He’s immune to magic—your vines would wrap around him and all he would have to do is touch them and they’d dissolve. It’s a rune he has—and I can’t let you kill our people to get to him.”
Thane practically tossed Layala onto Midnight’s back and leapt up behind her.
“We’ll hold them off,” Fennan said with a dip of his chin. “Get her away from here.”
“Layala!” Tif screamed.
Layala twisted around, reaching a hand toward Tif. “We have to get her.”
Thane shook his head. “We can’t.”
“Run, Tifapine!”
Thane didn’t slow Midnight as they tore down the dirt road. The steed’s heavy breaths shot out loudly with his speed. Layala’s stomach churned as she gripped his mane; it was wrong to leave their friends. Would Tenebris kill them?
“We can’t abandon them.”
“If my father gets you and the Black Mage rises, too many will die.”
They turned at the rotten old tree and tore across the long grass leading into the scary woods. Thankfully it was daylight. A whooshing sound above and a huge shadow cast over them, Layala’s lifted her eyes. Her breath caught in a scream—a huge black dragon flew overhead. “Dragon!” she shrieked.
It dropped like a hawk, hitting the ground in front of them with an earthquaking force. Midnight reared up, screeching. Then the form shifted in the blink of an eye to a woman—Varlett. Oh Maker, was she here to call in her favor already?
She trudged at them with determination. “Get off the horse,” she commanded.
Layala pressed into Thane’s chest behind her and shook her head. Her magic was ready to raise hell.
“Stay with me,” Thane whispered.
“Or don’t,” Varlett said. “It doesn’t matter to me.” She raised her palm up, the necklace around Layala’s neck tore free and flew to the sorceress’s hand.
Layala clutched at her neck. The mate bond can be broken with that necklace… “No!”
The dragon shifter began chanting quietly. Layala jumped down and rushed her, dagger drawn. Varlett held up her other hand and Layala slammed into something invisible and suddenly every fiber of her being was being held hostage. She couldn’t move, could barely breathe. Thane charged past her, but he was stopped just as abruptly.
Layala’s magic broke free, tearing through the ground, gathering around Varlett like a cage but it couldn’t touch her. There seemed to be a barrier around her. Layala pushed more and more, rage fueling the barbed vines until they completely encased the dragon shifter. Layala regained control of herself and crept closer.
If the dragon’s power no longer held them… “Maybe she’s dead.”
A searing, burning pain like fire, dug at her mate-marked wrist. Layala hissed, grabbed her arm, and watched as the mark began to fade, first going a light gray, then pale as flesh. “No!” Layala cried. “No!”
Thane grabbed Layala and pulled her against him. “It’s alright. Whether we are bonded as mates or not, I love you… We must go while she’s trapped.”
The familiar essence of him slowly faded away with the mark. The feeling of love and passion that flowed in her from him, and then her chest started to ache. It was sadness and pain felt like when Novak died, all over again. Her knees buckled and she cried out falling against him. Why did it hurt so much?!
Thane dropped to the ground, clutching at his chest. He pulled in ragged breaths. It was like a limb they shared was severed and bleeding. “Get up,” he said, his voice breaking. “We have to get up.” He grabbed her arms and dragged her to her wobbly legs.
With her arm across his shoulders, and his around her middle, he carried Layala toward the woods. They crossed into the heavy shade of the thick gnarled trees. Loud snapping and popping pushed Thane faster. Layala glanced back; Varlett broke free and was following them. A mass of soldiers crested the hill and ran down. They’d be upon them swiftly.
“You’re making this harder than it needs to be,” Varlett shouted. “King Tenebris got his favor from me and now I’m calling in mine from you, Layala.”
Layala’s foot caught on a root, and she stumbled. Thane held her tighter and kept pulling her along. “Don’t look back,” he warned. “Keep looking forward. We’re going to make it.”
They rushed past the downed tree from when Layala fought the giant, and the mass of her broken and tangled vines from the scorpion. But she heard Varlett’s footsteps gaining on them. Layala pushed through the pain and pulled free of Thane, breaking into a full run. He kept in step beside her but the blood spilling down his leg from the arrow still embedded, and the pain of a severed mate bond slowed him.
The portal came into view. Tears flowed down her cheeks faster. We’re going to make it. We’re going to make it. She chanted silently. The portal was so close now, only a handful of yards away.
With a strangled cry, Thane was wrenched backward. Varlett’s dragon paw protruded from his middle. Her hand now covered in black scales and with talons at least three inches long. Blood and pieces of his flesh covered her hand. Layala screamed.
“Go Layala!” Thane bellowed. “Go!”
She ran at Varlett and slashed her dagger across the woman’s arm, nearly severing it. With a hiss, Varlett wrenched her hand free of Thane and he dropped to the ground. Layala hacked at her again, driving the blade deep into the right side of Varlett’s chest, missing her heart. She jerked it free and was thrown back with an invisible force and crashed into a tree trunk knocking the back of her skull hard. Her breath whooshed from her lungs and her head throbbed. Black spread across her vision. Thane lay unmoving on the ground. She wanted to call out to him, but nothing came out of her open mouth. Layala tried to lift her arms, begged her body to rise, but she succumbed to darkness.
When Layala woke, she lay on a straw cot. The domed ceiling above had wood rafters across where birds nested. The one window in the dark gray brick room let in a fresh breeze and warm sunlight. Placing her hand on the back of her head, she sat up. On instinct she reached out to feel for Thane but there was nothing. She turned over her wrist and no trace of the mate mark ever being there existed. A single tear slid down her cheek. The last time she saw him he was unconscious and gravely wounded in the woods. Where was he? Did they—she couldn’t let her thoughts drift to that dark place. But Maker, why had the dragon sorceress broken their bond if not to be able to kill Thane without Layala dying too? She said she did Tenebris a favor. Would he want Thane dead?
Shoving herself up she hurried to the door and tugged on the handle. It was locked from the outside. She dashed to the window of the tiny room. She stood in a tall tower of Castle Dredwich. Perhaps its highest peak. Soldiers patrolling below looked like small creatures from this height. The next level down, a peaked stone roof was at least seventy feet, a fall she wouldn’t survive without the aid of her magic—her power was absent.
She ran to the door again, jerking harder, slamming her fist against the thick, hard wood. “Let me out! Where is Thane?!”
The sun moved significantly across the sky before the door creaked open. Layala jumped to her feet. The blond elf king stepped out from the shadows. His harsh face looked nothing like Thane’s. With his hands behind his back, he stepped into the room. In the dark hallway behind him, Layala spotted Aldrich.
“Aldrich!” she called stepping toward him. He closed the door. Her jaw dropped. Was he on Tenebris’s side? Was he just following orders until he could help?
“Layala Lightbringer,” Tenebris said, in a clipped tone. “I’ve waited a long time for this moment.”
“Piss off,” she snarled.
“That isn’t any way for a lady to speak.”
Clenching her jaw tight, she stared at him. Waiting for him to make a move. She might be able to take him in a hand-to-hand fight.
“Thane is dead. Even though he was my first-born son, he was a traitor.”
Panic clawed at her chest. Her hands trembled at his words. It couldn’t be true. She slowly shook her head. No no no no. She wouldn’t accept that, couldn’t accept it. The rush of her blood filled her ears. Tenebris’s mouth moved but she heard nothing. The room began to spin.
“You will stay in this tower with no food or drink until you decide to cooperate.” His voice finally broke through. “It’s time for the Black Mage to rise.”
“I will never do it,” she said, swallowing the lump in her throat. “I’ll die first.”
“We’ll see about that.”
He turned away; she took the opening and charged. She leapt onto his back and hooked her elbow around his throat. His nails dug into her arms as he scratched to break free of her hold. “You fool,” she spit. “Never turn your back on an enemy.” She squeezed harder, willing this prick to die. The satisfaction of hearing his ragged breaths brought a crazed smile to her mouth. The king who killed her parents. The king who hurt and abused her Thane, would be gone forever.
The door burst open, and Sunshine pulled his sword. Layala lifted her head, now was his chance. He cracked her on the temple with the pommel of his weapon. She fell to the ground, clutching her searing wound. Aldrich kicked her in the ribs, and she wheezed in pain. She scurried back until her shoulders hit the cot. It hurt even more than the physical blow to know that Sunshine turned on her. What was happening? Why would he do this?
He held Tenebris’s arm and led him to the exit. The High King gave her one last look, “You were born to raise the Black Mage. It is inevitable. It is your destiny.” Then he was gone.
A minute or so after the door closed behind Tenebris, Aldrich appeared. Layala still held her bleeding temple, trying to make sense of everything. She flinched when he stepped into the room, the sound of his boots heavy in the silence.
He stood near the window and looked out. “If Thane was smart, he would have surrendered and lived to negotiate with our father. But he had to get himself killed.”
“Our father”, echoed in her mind. Our father?! “He’s alive.” She said as much to herself as to him. She wouldn’t believe anything else.
Aldrich sighed. “When I shot you in the woods, it was to get him to bring you home. I didn’t foresee—everything else. It should have been simple, but then you went to the dragon and Thane to Brunard and screwed everything up. He didn’t need to die.”
“You shot me? You?” Her voice was barely a whisper. Maker above, it didn’t make sense. “You almost killed me. And you nearly shot Talon.”
“My aim was—off. I meant to injure you less severely.”
“Were you working for Tenebris this whole time?”
“I was promised things if I remained loyal to my father. He contacted me shortly after Thane tried to kill him. And yes, Thane was my half-brother, but no, he never knew.”
She was going to be sick. Aldrich was the traitor; the reason Thane might be—gone. “Where are Piper and Fennan?” And Tifapine?
“In prison.”
“I won’t help you or him. I won’t raise the Black Mage. It won’t matter what you do to me.”
“You say that now, but you will change your mind when he starts to kill people you care about. I already told him about Briar Hollow and your aunt.”
She felt the blood drain from her face. “Aldrich,” she wheezed. A sharp pain throbbed in her chest. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because one day I will be High King of Palenor.”
“Bastard,” she gritted out. “That’s all you are and all you’ll ever be. Bastards never rule.”
Aldrich finally pulled his gaze from the window. “You should give Tenebris what he wants. He’s already taken a lot from you, and he will take more.”
“Get out.”
Aldrich slipped silently from the room. Layala lost all composure and sobbed into her hands. Her chest still ached from the severed bond. Pain throbbed all over her head making it difficult to think, and she was trapped here with her worst enemy, not knowing if Thane was dead or alive. They could just be saying it to leave her hopeless. But she had to prepare for the possibility that it was true. If he was truly gone, what would she do? If all there was left was watching her friends be tortured to death or raising the Black Mage and watch the world burn… She glanced toward the window. The fall would kill her…
Night came and went, and the morning sun shone brightly. She hadn’t slept. The anxious energy coursing through her body like fire wouldn’t allow it. She’d searched every inch of the tower room for a way out, but it was only the door or the window. The stone on the outside was too flat and smooth to climb down. If only she had her magic, she could use her vines to escape and find Thane, but they wouldn’t be foolish enough to allow her to regain her power. She saw a steady dose of katagas serum in her future.
Caw! Caw! A raven flapped onto the ledge. Its head cocked to the side and it ruffled its feathers. Caw! Layala grabbed the pillow and tossed it. “Go away!” The pillow fell short and hit the wall.
The bird lifted into the air, flapping its wings loudly and then settled back down. Caw! She jumped up to shoo it off when she caught sight of the small piece of rolled paper tied to its ankle. She smacked herself in the forehead; it was a raven. Her heart thudded loudly when she reverently tip-toed toward this raven. “I’m sorry I threw the pillow—don’t leave,” she whispered.
The bird cocked its head again and chittered its black beak when she reached for the paper. She pulled the string free and unrolled the note.
I’m coming for you, Laya.
~ Thane
~ To be continued ~
