Layala’s eyebrows drew up. That meant someone they knew possessed the stone.
Kail set his mug down and tapped his fingers on the rim. “I know you don’t like the woodland elves here in our land, but I don’t kick anyone out of my tavern unless they cause trouble, and that’s who I heard talking about it. They said their Lord Brunard has it.”
“Brunard,” Thane said flatly. Layala could almost hear his teeth grind. She was instantly transported to Thane bleeding from a hundred little slices all over his body, slumped over with his arms held up in chains, caged like an animal. Jeers and taunts from the crowd echoed in her mind even now, and the same rage that filled her once, burned in her chest.
“I heard about your—run-in with him recently,” Kail said. “How you’ll persuade him to give it to you will be interesting. I almost wish I could be there.”
“When I cut off his head, he won’t need any persuading.”
Kail laughed. “You’ll need to get him to talk first.”
Layala took a swig of ale to wash down her food and cleared her throat. Before Thane went into a rage, cutting off heads, they needed to know more. Something substantive, more than chatter. Layala knew too well that rumors could be complete fabrications. “How do we know for certain he has it? They could be untrue claims.”
Kail shrugged. “That’s the only thing I’ve heard. I don’t see why they’d make something like that up. And if you two know for certain it’s no longer in the tomb, then someone has it.”
Layala shifted toward Thane. “Do you believe Brunard could have gotten through the traps to get it?”
“Brunard is both clever and able. It’s possible. I just don’t know why he’d want it in the first place.”
“He is the Lord of Calladira, enemy to you and Palenor,” Layala said. “At the time, everyone thought your father was dead. He’d likely want it to know how to destroy you so he could take Palenor for himself.”
Thane’s mouth twisted into a frown. “He almost did.” He drained his ale in a few seconds and slammed the mug down loudly on the table. “Of all people, that little prick. A bloody thorn in my side… and yet he knew what to use to poison me. Had the blade ready when I came. As if he already knew I would be there…” He tapped his fingers rhythmically on the wood. The tension lining his face was like a dark storm brewing.
“You’re alive though. He didn’t succeed.”
Thane pushed his shoulders back. “Didn’t he though? There are more ways than one to destroy a person. I have no kingdom, no crown. I had my mate bond ripped from me. And what am I now but a wanted criminal on the run from his father? I would say that High King Thane has thoroughly been destroyed, dead or not.”
Layala placed a gentle hand on his bouncing leg. “We’ll get your kingdom back. And all that has happened can’t be because of Brunard. It was my fault you were there in the first place.”
Kail’s mug scraped on the table, drawing their attention. “If I may offer my input. From what I’ve read about the legend of the All Seeing Stone, it doesn’t know the future because the future’s not set in stone,” he raised a finger with a smirk, “pun intended. So it’s technically not All Seeing. Besides, I hear it takes a mage to make it work. Last I checked, he isn’t one.”
“So,” Layala started. “It should be able to tell us how to end the curse of the Void and the pale ones right?”
He tilted his head to one side. “Yes, if it’s even possible.”
“Thank you, Kail,” Thane said. He turned to Layala. “I guess we have no other choice than to go to Brunard and hope that he does have it.”
“On a positive note.” Layala took another drink. The ale began to go to her head now. A tingle through her limbs and a lightness in her chest. “We can get payback for what he did to you. That prick has no idea what a mistake he made that day.”
Thane smiled, showing off his pretty white teeth. “Vicious, she-elf.”
Light picks on a guitar and a steady drum of the tambourine lifted her toes. Under the table, Layala tapped her boots, and slowly bobbed her head. Didn’t she promise Thane a dance? A couple others in the room took to the floor; a male with curling ram horns and one of the maiden elves at Alisara’s table circled and laughed below the stage. A single man clapped and stamped a foot. A very loud and boisterous man hopped up on his chair and started singing, “Oh the pretty lass with a fine ass,” and most of the room started in. Layala giggled, having never heard the tune before.
“If this is your mate…”
Layala turned her attention back to the elf across from her. The hairs on the back of her neck rose. Could Alisara or Kail have already alerted someone? After Aldrich, it was difficult to trust.
Kail’s eyes roamed across Layala with some trepidation. “Is she the reason you’re on the run?”
Thane lifted a shoulder and took a piece of cheese off the plate. “We’re on the run because I failed to kill my father properly months ago. A mistake I won’t make a second time.” He appeared calm enough but the way he bounced his leg under the table told her a different story.
Kail’s eyebrows shot up. “You—it was you who almost killed him? Now I’m curious how that went awry. I don’t know anyone who’s gone up against the Warrior King and lived to tell the tale.”
Thane’s piercing green eyes dropped to the tabletop. Chest rising and falling in a sigh, he grabbed a handful of green grapes and shrugged.
“Will you dance with me?” Layala blurted out to distract Thane so he wouldn’t have to relive the details. He’d once regretted he fed his father to pale ones and now, he regretted that it hadn’t worked properly. Tenebris didn’t have to say it for her to know that Mathekis must have stepped in after Thane sent him into the Void. Either that or he’d commanded that his minions didn’t touch the elf king. An oversight Thane should have taken into consideration knowing that his father was in communication with the pale one’s leader.
“How could I ever say no?”
They slid out of the booth, leaving Kail with a grin on his face. Layala held Thane’s hand behind her back and led him through the rowdy, singing crowd. Mugs in hands crashed into each other, spilling over the sides onto the floor. Her boots traipsed over small puddles and the stench of fresh ale pierced her nose. She stifled a cough as the cloud of pipe smoke thickened in this area. She wasn’t used to it anymore. In many ways this place reminded her of the Smoky Dragon in Briar Hollow. She just missed the good company her childhood home offered. They reached the clearing for dancing below the stage and Layala spun on her heel and faced Thane. He smiled at her with soft eyes. He took hold of her wrists and tugged her flat against him. Gentle hands slid down her back.
He leaned down to her ear and gripped her hips. “I never got to dance with you in Doonafell that night.”
“Well, maybe because you ignored me and danced with a host of other beautiful maidens. I was incredibly jealous. I’ll have you know.”
His deep, midnight chuckle sent shivers down her body. “Oh, I certainly know. I felt your raging jealousy. Like a wild boar ready to spear me. I’m surprised I survived the night.”
“Don’t act like you weren’t jealous I gave that boy a kiss on the cheek.”
“You used him like a pawn, naughty girl.”
“And you didn’t use the maidens? You knew exactly what you were doing.” She pushed her hands up his chest, hooking them around his neck.
His smile could have lit up the room. “I would never do such a thing.”
“Liar.”
“I may have danced with them, but it is you that dominates my every thought. You are the fire that burns inside me and without it, I’d surely die.”
“Silver tongue,” Layala teased.
“It’s this silver tongue that made you fall hard.”
“Actually, it was your pretty words that made me wary, as much as your pretty face. If you remember, I thought you made your lovers go mad and murdered young females.”
He laughed. “Ah yes, the sacrificial use of beautiful young maidens, what a beast I am.”
He slid his hand up the back of her arm, across her elbow and took her hand, then spun her around. Sweeping a hand behind her back, he dipped her low and then with a tug pulled her back up. “You say you don’t know how to dance but you move like the wind.”
“I have a wonderful partner.” As they swayed and moved to the beat of the drum and the violin’s wistful melody, she got lost in it. The crowd around them seemed to fade away and with it, the pain and sorrow of the past month. Right now, it was them and a song. She pressed her cheek against his chest and reveled in his woodsy masculine scent, an escape from the acrid smoke.
“Since we’re intimate now, one of us should get a preventative tonic. A baby is the last thing I want to bring into this chaotic world of ours. I can’t even imagine what your father would attempt to do.”
Thane stroked her hair, twirling a piece of the black strands around his finger. “I’ve been drinking a tonic since Doonafell. You don’t need to worry.”
Layala looked up at him, one eyebrow arched. “Since Doonafell, huh?”
He laughed at her. “I’m prepared and since I’m irresistible I knew you’d give in to me eventually.”
“There’s that big ego of yours popping up again.”
A hand gripped Layala’s shoulder. “Mind if I cut in?”
The playful smile on Thane’s face faded to dark thunderclouds and those brilliant-green eyes of his shadows and the object of nightmares. The human man standing beside them, with his hand still on Layala’s shoulder, was tall, taller than even Thane, broad shouldered and had massive arms. He looked like he could lift a horse, and the low partially-unbuttoned beige shirt revealed a hairy, barrel chest. He had a patch over one eye but looked young, maybe in his late twenties.
“I do mind,” Thane said, holding her a little tighter around the waist. The growing tension was palpable, and she knew exactly where this was headed if the man didn’t back off.
“I don’t want to dance,” Layala said, pushing his hand off her. “Now run along and find someone else.”
Completely ignoring her, he kept his gaze trained on Thane. “Come on, elf. There are only so many wenches in here, and I want this one.”
Oh, here we go. A blanket of raw power coated the air around them so thick she could taste the bitter tang of it. Even the floorboards creaked as Thane’s power leached out. To her it felt like a gentle caress of a lover against her skin, but fear flashed across the man’s face. Yet he was either drunk or stupid because his feet didn’t move. Layala stepped out from between them. No way was she about to get into the middle of this one. As soon as she was out of the way, Thane’s fist cracked the jaw of the man. His body went slack, his eyes rolled back and he hit the ground with a bang. The stillness of the man was a little unnerving. Layala wasn’t sure he was even alive until he groaned.
“Damn,” Layala murmured to herself. The music came to a screeching halt and the loud chatter quieted down almost as if someone had snapped their fingers for silence. Several men at tables stood.
“Hey!” one man yelled, rising to his feet. “That’s my captain, elf!”
The scrape of many knives and swords being pulled from their scabbards lilted around the room. Layala’s magic itched down her arms and tingled her fingertips. A swell of joy filled her chest. She had her power back and Maker above; it felt good. Not that she would use it here. Kail’s place would be utterly destroyed if she let loose her destruction.
Thane’s mouth quirked into a half smile, and he held out his arms. “Your captain was in need of a lesson in manners.”
Maker above, I love him. Layala stepped to his side, bumping her shoulder into him. “Nice punch. We should call you the one-hit wonder.”
Thane’s smile only grew, and he announced to the room. “And I’ll be happy to oblige anyone else who needs enlightenment.”
“Are you trying to start a brawl?”
“Why not?” He rolled his shoulders back. “I’m feeling agitated.”
“Oh, and here you told Leif and Gunner not to start a fight.”
Chairs scraped and clattered to the ground as several men shoved away from their tables. At least twelve moved in with wicked grins as if they were going to enjoy this fight. Layala withdrew her dagger and pressed her back against Thane’s ready for the first assailant. He didn’t pull any weapons out, but he didn’t need them.
Leif slid in front of Thane, rolling his red head side to side. “All you little petered humans better step back.”
Gunner, Siegfried, and several other elves from around the room joined the line of defense.
“Your captain is scum and had no business even asking her to dance,” Gunner said and shoved his finger into the chest of a man with mangy brown hair and yellowed teeth with bits of black in between.
“Take that back,” the man barked.
Layala looked over her shoulder and glanced up at Thane. “Seems we have friends to take care of our light work.”
“Not that we need them.”
“Certainly not,” she agreed. “I could take this whole room myself.”
Thane slowly shook his head but laughed. “I wouldn’t let you have all the fun on your own, but it would be entertaining to watch you take these bastards down.”
A shove in the chest by one of the elves was all it took for the room to explode into chaos. Splinters of wood flew through the air as chairs crashed over backs. Tables tipped and ale sloshed across the floor, splattering on Layala’s boots. She flicked her ankle, kicking some of it off. Grunts and roars of anger, and filthy curses that even made Layala cringe, ground against her ears. Fists cracked against bone, and it seemed the weapons drawn were only for show. No one died yet. The elves were quicker and stronger, but these gruff human men fought dirty; clawed and bit and sucker punched.
Suddenly, a wailing sort of singing voice bellowed out from behind her. What in the hell? Layala turned to find Tifapine standing on a stool, arms spread wide, yodeling. Her high-pitched voice was like nails scraping on metal only adding to the chaos. “Get down!” Layala demanded and marched toward the stage. She slapped her palm against the raised platform. The tiny menace was supposed to stay in the room.
Tif only yodeled louder, tapping her foot, and pushing out her chest. How could anyone that small be ear-piercing? And where did her acute fear of jumbos go all of a sudden? She’d barely come out of the bag or Thane’s hood, but she would take the stage in the middle of a brawl?
One of the men made it past the other elves and Thane popped him hard with an elbow.
“Shut that thing up!” someone shouted and tossed a half loaf of bread. It sailed right by Tif but with her eyes closed and her mouth wide open she didn’t even notice.
Layala groaned and hopped up on the stage, snatching Tif by the back of her dress and lifting her up. “What in the world are you doing? Are you blind and deaf?”
A blush spilled across her cheeks, and she adjusted her little red hat. “I wanted to sing.” She pointed out at the fight still going on. “And I have an adoring crowd.”
The room was in shambles at this point, with men and elves rolling on top of each other, tables cracked, chairs split in half, food, and drink everywhere. Alisara and her group of friends disappeared and Kail still sat in his booth, head resting on his fist watching everything with a miffed expression.
Layala rolled her eyes. “Yes, they look so adoring, don’t they? I told you to stay upstairs.”
“I may have gotten a few thimbles full of this juice that turned out to be wine and suddenly I got real brave.” She pulled a tiny sword from under her skirts. “Let’s get ’em.”
The entrance door crashed open, and sunlight spilled inside. Palenor soldiers in navy uniforms stepped inside. At first there was only a couple, but they kept coming. Thane hopped up on stage, grabbed Layala’s arm and started for a shadowed corridor. “Time to make our exit.”
“You think they are here for us?”
He shrugged. “They could be. Or someone got help from the street patrol for the fight. Either way, we need to go.”
“I can take ’em!” Tif said, slashing her weapon through the air.
“We’ll get our things and take the back door.” They rounded the corner that led upstairs to over a dozen guards blocking their path.
