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Sebastian's eyes narrowed. “I don't understand.”

  Paik shifted his gaze back to Sebastian. “King, what is your experience with the Amulet? I ask, because if the Amulet has bestowed its power upon you, it would have only done so after you have had interaction with it.”

  Sebastian licked his lips, his stomach curling into a tight ball. “I—dabbled with taibe as a young man. My father kept the Amulet in his palace vault, accessible only to himself. I once blinded the guards with taibe and took the Amulet, convinced that it would increase the power of my spells.”

  A disapproving murmur hummed in the cavern. “King, the Ancient Wendren did not give the Amulet to the Andrachen line for a plaything.”

  Sebastian ignored the reproof. “It did no good anyway that I could tell. I practiced my taibe with no noticeable effect from it, except...” He trailed off, and the Council stilled as all eyes fastened to him.

  “Except?” Paik demanded.

  “One curse, only one, carried more power than any I've ever done. It was my last attempt at taibe, and the strongest. I had heard of a curse that could place its victim under a spell where he could never touch a living creature without bringing ash and decay. When—a boy I hated—tried to run from me and from the room in which I'd hidden the Amulet, I was more angry than I have ever been in my life, and I wove all of my arts into that one curse and hurled it at him.”

  Paik waved aside the mention of the boy. “What of the spell? What happened?”

  “I missed the first time, but hit the boy on my second try. I didn't see him again until four months ago when he reappeared and handed me that cursed Amulet. I felt the taibe shatter in all directions from that Amulet the first day I cast that spell, I felt it shatter again when the boy handed me the Amulet, and I felt it again last night as the two of us fought in the woods.”

  Silence greeted Sebastian's words. Sebastian impatiently tilted his head back. “So, tell me, wise Ancients, what does all this mean? Why, when I was the original caster of the curse, do I now suffer as I do from the—Ice-Touch?”

  Paik didn't answer for several moments as he stared at Sebastian. At last, he lowered his gaze. “King, from your description, it seems that the Amulet bestows its Touches upon whomever it chooses, but I do not believe it to bestow only the Ice-Touch.”

  “I don't understand.”

  “The Amulet did not only dispense Ash-Touch to the boy when you cast the first curse. Until recently, we have believed that the Amulet held the power to give and yes, to take away its gifts. However, we have discovered in confrontations with ... other strains of Seer Fey that this is not the case. The Amulet will give, but nothing returns. When the Amulet gives a Touch, it gives all Touches—the earthly Ice and Fire Touches and the divine Ash and Healing Touches. It gives all Touches to each recipient, and it holds nothing back.”

  Confusion tumbled through Sebastian's mind. He stood, towering over the leader. The Seer Fey made no attempt to back up. “So—you're saying that I have the Ice-Touch ... forever? And not only do I have this uncontrollable curse, I also have the other three you mentioned as well?” Panic spiraled; he thought of the months of icy pain; what else must he endure? “If I have all the Touches, why have I not exhibited symptoms of the others?”

  “Only fear drives them from your control. Absence of fear restrains them. The Amulet alone chooses which Touch will manifest at which time.” Paik did not move where he leaned over his cane. “The Amulet may have absorbed the darkness of your original curse on the boy and then restrained your Touches for years until, like a malignant sickness, it burst from you, manifesting as the Ice-Touch for now.”

  Sebastian sank weakly onto the bench, his gloved hands rubbing together. Ice still feathered his skin, but since he'd released the power against the Siren, the Giant, and against his own men, the pain had dissipated considerably.

  “Why Ice? Why not the other ones you mentioned? Ash? Healing? Fire? And how can I manipulate it?”

  The leader's brilliant green eyes blazed. “The Amulet chooses which gifts to dispense, and when. When the boy handed you the Amulet, it placed the Ice-Touch in your fingers first, and since taibe always puts two sides of a single element together, the boy likely manifested the Fire-Touch. But both of you now possess all four Touches. When, and if, the Amulet chooses, in your moments of greatest fear, you may see an appearance of the Ash-Touch, the Fire-Touch, or the Healing-Touch.”

  “But how can I control it?” Sebastian shouted desperately. The Ancients stared at him, unmoved as the echoes of his voice died away.

  “Only by careful thought and absence of fear, King,” Kayeck finally answered. “You already control it more than you know. If you didn't, you would have frozen the whole clearing upon discovering me this morning.”

  Sebastian held up his hands before Paik. “I cannot contain this!” he said, frustration flooding his voice. “I don't know how!”

  “It will come in time. Seek detachment from your own emotions. Controlling the Touches is much like controlling your own mind. Meanwhile, King, we are most interested in the fact that you have the Amulet.” The green eyes that watched him flashed with something beyond curiosity; Sebastian recognized the greed that tinged the irises.

  “Why would the whereabouts of the Amulet interest you, Grand-Master?”

  “The Ancients require the Amulet, King. Since the Bond of Blood and Fire, we have been beneath the curse of the Stars, bound into an oath with the Andrachen line, and it is time for freedom. The treaty as it has stood for nearly five hundred years is void.”

  “What has the Amulet to do with this?”

  Paik stared at him for a moment, then slowly paced to the side. “The Amulet is what holds us to our ancient treaty. The majority of the Seer Fey believe that if we can regain the Amulet, we can dissolve the oath that holds us to the original Bond of Blood and Fire.”

  “The majority?” Sebastian asked.

  Paik sighed and shook his head, resuming his seat at the head of the Council. “Not all of the Seer Fey see the way forward. Some still insist that the Stars divinely placed us as Guardians of the Andrachen lineage. We who are enlightened, however, wish to regain the Amulet so that we can destroy the ancient Bond.”

  The Seer Fey are split. Taking advantage of such divisions might help him win his war against Erlane, if only he could make use of the rift.

  Paik interrupted his thoughts. “Where is the Amulet, King?” His green eyes traced down Sebastian as if the King had hidden the thing in his breeches pocket.

  “I destroyed it,” Sebastian answered, not about to explain that Lanier had never had a chance to throw it into the sea or that it had been stolen before he could complete the act.

  To his surprise, deep-throated laughter rose from the entire Council.

  “If you have the Touches, Your Grace, the Amulet is not destroyed. The Touches exist only as extensions of the Amulet—which is not so easy to destroy.” Paik leaned forward, his stare piercing Sebastian. “So, that begs the question, King—why are you lying to us?”

  Anger flared Sebastian's nostrils. He stood, his gloves balled into fists. “Why should one of the Andrachen line hand an Amulet back to the Seer Fey Council simply because they ask?'

  Eyes blazed all around the circle. “Beware, King, of the power in this cave. You don't know the danger we hold for you.” Warning laced Kayeck's voice.

  “Danger for me? I am the King of West Ashwynd,” Sebastian shouted. “I hold the power of the Amulet in my fingers, as you have only just told me, and I can turn you and your cursed breed into ice should I so choose.”

  As one, the Council rose, and the leader stepped forward. This time, his voice was not quiet and rusty. It was strong, and his eyes flamed green fire. “You are a fraudulent son of the Andrachen line. The power of Aarkan has bypassed you and carried on to Liam's twins, and you will not live to see their ascent to the throne. You will die by the hands of two, and your days of glory will end in blood and fire.”

  Sebastian
's face twitched. “Cedric, my nephew, sits in chains in my armies, to be commanded as I bid him, and his twin sister can do nothing but hide in fear of me. Neither will ever rule anything, because both will be dead as soon as I regain my throne in Lismaria.”

  Echoing silence pulsed in the cavern. Sebastian turned for the exit, striding between two Council members into the brilliant sunlight. It didn't occur to him to wonder until he'd exited the cavern and made his way along the ridges to the north why they didn't try to stop him.

  * * *

  Sebastian didn't calm down until he'd descended slopes and climbed several outcroppings to where the path leveled out. By then, his fury had dissipated to a dull anger. He kicked at a root that rose in his path, and when he looked up, he stopped short in surprise.

  Lianna Erlane rounded a turn in the path, stumbling to a halt when she saw him. She drew back a step, her stance rigid.

  Sebastian raised a brow. “My lady.” He appreciated the view. She was well put together, and the tunic strapped with a wide belt over snug breeches did nothing to hide her curves. All at once, the heat in his body challenged the ice in his veins. He started to speak, but she beat him to it.

  “Sebastian?” Her voice was as chilly as the mountain air. “What are you doing here? And by yourself, unprotected and unguarded, in enemy territory?”

  It was a rare moment when anyone dispensed with his title and called him by his name to his face. The last time had been when his mistress, Selena, had lain in his bed to minister to his pain-filled thoughts after a confrontation with his nephew, Cedric.

  He took a step toward Lianna, and she tripped backward. “Wh—what are you doing?” Frustration washed over her expression, presumably at her stumbles. She'd showed weakness, and Sebastian liked that. She wouldn't be hard to tame.

  His pulse beat through his neck, his fingertips, and his chest. He could feel the fiery heat of temptation, and the strange way it contrasted with the ice that flooded his nerves. Recalling Paik's explanation of the Touches, he willed the ice to the tips of his fingers, played with their frosty bite, and decreased the chill with stubborn focus. He wondered if he could touch her without...

  “What are you doing?” she gasped as he slowly pulled his gloves free of his hands, stepping purposefully toward her. Her hand fumbled with the knife in her belt, but he was quicker than she. He reached for her hand and yanked the knife from her grip. Her eyes widened.

  He tossed it aside, moving closer. She took a step back, and his gloves caught her shoulders, stilling her.

  He wondered; he had to know how far his control went. Fear was key. Controlling the Touches is much like controlling your own mind. He stared into Lianna's blue eyes, and no trace of fear touched him. The sphere that had shattered over him last night had terrified him, and as a result, left him feeling helpless, no doubt infesting his body even more deeply with the Amulet's Touches. But now, no fear clouded his mind. Only desire, a desire that gave him power and control. He could make Lianna feel whatever he wished.

  So while Lianna stared at him in blue-eyed horror, he lowered his head and claimed her lips in a kiss that was at once fire and ice.

  Gray edges creased her cheeks as ice began to smother her scream.

  Quickly, Sebastian tugged on the ice in his veins, and almost at once, the fleshy tones of healthy skin reappeared on Lianna's face.

  Sebastian traced down her arms, pulling her hands behind her back, and holding her wrists firmly at her waist. His mouth spread into a slow smile. He'd done it; he'd controlled his Ice-Touch. He felt powerful. Desire surged.

  Lianna gulped. Her eyes were so wide, he could drown in them. “P—please, Sebastian, let me go.”

  “Nay.” His smile grew wider. “I find I like your fear. It relieves my own.” The girl was shaking like a leaf, and small wonder. She'd been half an orlach from frozen death.

  “What—are you going to do with me?” she asked in a whisper.

  Sebastian pulled her more tightly against him, holding her absolutely still. He made no mention of his baser instincts. “You asked me why I am alone and unguarded in the Marron Mountains. I might ask you the same question.”

  “And if I say that it is none of your concern?”

  Sebastian allowed the ice to brush her wrists and sink beneath her skin. She tried to jerk back, but he held her fast. Her breath came in great gasps. “I—I came seeking the Council to discover if they know of the whereabouts of the Amulet of the Ancients.”

  Sebastian allowed a laugh to escape his throat, and a crease appeared between Lianna's eyebrows. “What is amusing?”

  “I find it diverting how very popular the Amulet has become. I tried to rid myself of it four months ago, and all at once, it is the desired object of not only your uncle, but the Seer Fey Council and you as well.”

  “You tried to rid yourself of it?”

  Sebastian was surprised. “Your uncle did not inform you?”

  “I have not seen my uncle since—before all this.” She tried to step back, but Sebastian stepped with her, still holding her wrists. Lianna bumped against a tree beside the path. Her trembling fingers brushed the rough bark, seeking a handhold, but Sebastian kept his grip tight. “Sebastian, please—”

  “Please, what?” he asked, his gaze on her lips. They were tantalizingly close.

  “Where is the Amulet?”

  “That, my lady, I cannot reveal.” He transferred both of her wrists to one hand and raised a cold thumb to brush across her cheek and into her hair, leaving a trail of blue, glittering ice that dissipated instantly.

  “Do you still have it?”

  Her voice had risen in pitch, and as he traced a finger across her neck, he felt her fluttering pulse, like that of a frightened rabbit. He restrained the Ice-Touch as he dipped his mouth to the place where her jaw met her ear.

  “My Commander, Lanier, holds it in safekeeping,” he lied. Let her assume what she wanted; he refused to give her the upper hand. She'd never know that the Amulet had been stolen and that neither he nor Lanier knew of its current whereabouts.

  “S—Sebastian, I'll make you a trade.”

  “Oh?” He raised his head, interest tingeing his thoughts. He did love to make deals. “What trade?”

  “Your nephew, Cedric, in exchange for the Amulet.”

  Sebastian froze. Taking a step back, he gripped her shoulders in both of his hands. “What do you mean?”

  Lianna's blue eyes shone with fear and something else—victory? “I will give you Cedric, bound however you please, if you will allow me to take the Amulet.”

  Sebastian struggled to keep control of the ice and not to give way to his own growing terror. He swallowed. “Cedric is my prisoner, Lianna. He travels with my armies.”

  A smile played on her lips, and one fine eyebrow rose. “Nay, Sebastian. Cedric trains Dragons in my uncle's keep in ClarenVale. I know. I received a message about Cedric from my uncle only this morning from one of his Dryads.”

  Terror hit Sebastian so strongly he stepped back, releasing Lianna. Cedric had been his strongest asset. He'd planned to force the boy's Dragon-command to gain access to ClarenVale when they reached the gate. If Lianna's words were true, his plans lay moldering at his feet, and his men would be outweighed by Erlane's greater armies.

  Lianna rubbed her upper arms where Sebastian had clasped her so tightly. “Do we have a deal, Sebastian? You can have your Dragon-Master back for the simple matter of a small Amulet; that is all I ask.”

  That's all? The Amulet, with its Touches, its power that it wielded over all peoples and creatures with a simple brush of the skin? Why should his enemies have the Amulet? If he could regain it, all of the armies of Lismaria couldn't stand in his way. It might be of more use than his nephew. Clearly, Erlane and Lianna thought so.

  Sebastian kicked aside a branch that stood in the way, his confidence flooding back as a newly built plan unfolded in his mind—one with the Amulet as the centerpiece. He pushed Lianna back against the tree, and
this time, he didn't bother to play with the ice in his fingers. He knew he already held the control.

  “Why don't you leave the bargaining to your uncle's diplomats?” he murmured. “No deal.” His lips met hers, and this time, he kept the ice far away with a rush of hot desire.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kinna

  Bright lights and heavy weights and cold warmth skipped lightly through Kinna's dreams for days. Occasionally, she would find herself waking to her mother's gentle words and her father's fond smile, but both Tristan and Joanna faded into nothing when she stretched out her arm to touch them.

  Ayden always hovered in the dark, his silver gaze wounded. She wanted to comfort him, but he stayed out of reach.

  Julian's warm hand was the only thing she could touch. She felt the sturdy width of it in her own, and she relaxed. Somehow the pain didn't seem so close when he was there.

  Distant nightmares of a dagger and a dead Valkyrie, a Valkyrie she herself had slain, haunted the blackness. She remembered the pain, the empty, draining feeling as she'd slumped to the ground, and the hatred in the eyes of the Valkyriedimn. She couldn't blame him. If someone had pierced Chennuh's hide and forced the light to fade from his wise old eyes, she would have done the same.

  Her abdomen burned, and the comforting blackness was growing thinner. She wondered dreamily if her wound had become infected.

  “Kinna.”

  She was racing toward the light, and the fire in her stomach grew hotter. Muscles she had forgotten were there clenched in pain, and a low moan escaped her lips.

  “Kinna.”

  Kinna could see the backs of her eyelids and the bright light somewhere behind them. A warm hand covered her own. She opened her eyes and blinked at the familiar face of her best friend.

  “Julian.”

  A smile creased his tan skin, and his brown eyes sparkled. “I thought I'd lost you. It's good to see you back on this side of day again.”

  Kinna glanced to the side. The ever-present orange hair gave away Lincoln's presence. He grinned his quirky grin at her, and she couldn't help but smile back.