Embrace the Fire Read online

  Kinna stumbled into Chennuh's warm scales, sinking to the ground as she realized the narrow escape they'd just had.

  “So ... what do we do with her?” she asked. She glanced at the cave opening. “Want to send her out that way?”

  “What, you mean drop her into the gorge?”

  The Siren's eyes widened. She renewed her struggles to free herself, but Ayden was like a rock, solid and immovable.

  “No,” Kinna shook her head. “But we could send her on the back of one of the Dragons. They don't seem as responsive to her voice as we were.”

  “I'm not trusting her with Luasa, or Chennuh either, for that matter.”

  “Then what do we do with her?”

  Ayden sighed. “Tear off my sleeves.”

  Kinna raised an eyebrow. “You're going to destroy yet another tunic?” Not that I'm complaining.

  A blush stained Ayden's cheeks. “Only the sleeves, not the rest of it.”

  “What for?”

  “For binding and gagging her with. She'll be able to make sounds, but she won't be able to move her tongue, and that's where the magic lies.”

  “Where's Linc when you need him? I could use his Pixie magic now,” Kinna muttered as she stood and approached Ayden, untangling his sleeve from his wrist. Using her teeth, she started the tear and ripped it clear up to his shoulder. When she pulled the strip free, the rest of Ayden's sleeve hung from his bare arm. She did the same to his other sleeve. Pulling one strip around Ayden's hand that covered the crone's mouth, she yanked the material tightly into the woman's lips as Ayden slid his hand away, holding the Siren still as Kinna swiftly tied the strip behind the woman's gray, frizzy hair. Ayden tied the Siren's wrists tightly behind her back.

  “Linc is safely back on shore, most likely wondering where you are by now. Didn't you tell him?”

  “I didn't tell him where I was going, but he knows I'm with you.”

  “I'm sure he's so comforted by that.”

  “He is. If he weren't, he'd have followed me and found me long before now.”

  “His tracking skills are pretty impressive.”

  “He's a Pixie; of course they're impressive.”

  Ayden pulled the Siren back to the wall. “Sit, crone, if you know what's good for you.” He turned, surveying the cave. “Why do you think she drew us here?”

  Kinna shrugged, also looking around. The only light came from the entrance. Farther back, there was nothing but a deep, black void. Wafts of cold air blew outward from the darkness. Kinna shivered.

  “What do you think is back that way?”

  Ayden shook his head. “You're purpose is to find Cedric, right? Let's not linger here.”

  “No.” Kinna turned toward Chennuh, preparing to pull herself between his fins again, but Chennuh would have none of it. He lifted his head as far as the cave ceiling allowed, and his great maw opened. A fire ball rolled from his mouth into darkness, highlighting in orange light everything in its path.

  Two stone eyes stared at them, huge and round in the cavern wall. A face was sculpted around the eyes, and below it, firm, smooth stone made up the nose and lips.

  Kinna leaped back with a shriek.

  “Come,” a deep, gravelly voice said. “I have watched you and I have been impressed. Approach.”

  As Ayden angled instead toward Luasa, the ground beneath their feet shook. “Do not attempt to leave the Marron Oracle. What I ask, you will obey, is this clear?”

  “An Oracle,” Kinna breathed. There was one north of the Rockmonster Dwellings in West Ashwynd, she knew, and one here in Lismaria, but she hadn't been aware of its specific location.

  “Come closer, young one.”

  Kinna glanced at Ayden.

  “He's talking to you,” Ayden whispered. “I'm older than you are.” He held up his hand, and it lit with flames. The light refracted off the stone walls and the Oracle's eyes.

  “Yes, you're a regular grandfather.” Kinna squinted at the Oracle. In Ayden's flickering light, Kinna noted the Oracle's rock forelegs and haunches. His face was more human than it had originally appeared. The Oracle spoke again, but his stone lips didn't move.

  “Kinna of West Ashwynd, I have a prophecy for you and your brother, and I have had my servant Strynn bring you hither to hear it. Do you wish to know where Cedric Andrachen is?”

  Kinna's eyes widened, straining through the faint light. She felt Ayden stiffen beside her. “What—do you mean?”

  “Stand before me, Kinna.” The voice was light, nearly playful, but the eyes brooded as they watched her. There was something disturbing about them.

  Chennuh's roar shook the cavern, and Luasa spit a fireball past Ayden into the darkness. Ayden wrapped his fingers around Kinna's upper arm. It was the first time he'd touched her in days. Goosebumps swept over Kinna's scalp.

  “Don't,” Ayden whispered.

  Kinna shook her head. “I have to.”

  Ayden stared at her, and Kinna saw the knowledge in his eyes. If once an Oracle uttered a prophecy, there would be no escaping its outcome. Many had searched out the Oracle to hear their fortunes, but were instead treated to unfortunate demises when the Oracle uttered less than pleasant forecasts.

  “You don't have to,” he whispered. “We can find Cedric on our own.”

  “You don't know that.”

  Though it pained her to do so, she unpeeled Ayden's hot fingers from her arm and stepped toward the Oracle.

  She stopped a span away.

  “Which would you have first, Kinna? Your future or your brother's?”

  Kinna opened her mouth to say Cedric's, but stumbled to a halt before the word even left her throat. An Oracle only ever gave one prophecy. One and only one. So the question had to be a test.

  She breathed a prayer to the Stars and opened her mouth. “I want only to know of Aarkan the Firebringer's heir.”

  A soft chuckle colored the cave. “Very good, Kinna.” The Oracle's deep voice continued. “Then hear this:

  Death at the hands of a friend,

  No suspicion of how it will end.

  Death within a family bond,

  Kinship is so very fond.

  Death resulting from the passion

  A love gone cold after a fashion.

  Three loves in three forms pave

  the path so smooth down to the grave.

  So then, Kinna, Aarkan's heir

  One of two, a royal pair,

  Which of these kinds of love

  Will you fulfill from above?

  The end of all things swiftly comes

  When wars arise and Power numbs.

  Aarkan's heir will meet with Fate,

  And Fate will open up Death's gate.

  The Oracle closed his stone eyes. Kinna glanced at Ayden. He looked grave.

  “What does that mean, Aarkan's heir will meet with Fate, and Fate will open up Death's gate?” Arkaan's heir dies. That's me, or that's Cedric. Kinna licked her dry lips and waited for the Oracle's answer, but the stone statue was void of life and character.

  “An Oracle only gives his prophecy once,” Ayden muttered.

  The words of the prophecy burned into Kinna's mind in letters of fire. She kept repeating the phrases over and over to herself, ensuring that she would not forget.

  Muffled sounds turned Kinna's attention to the Siren who struggled silently against her strip of linen. Noises issued from her throat, but the magic stayed blessedly at bay.

  Kinna twisted her braid around her wrist, thinking.

  “Kinna, I think you should go back.”

  “Back?”

  Ayden nodded as he came forward. He allowed his flaming hand to fade to skin tone, and she could only see his outline, a silhouette in the darkness. He gripped her upper arms, squeezing gently. “You've talked for a while about pulling your people together, staging a coup to pull Sebastian off the throne, building a new creature system where they are not down-trodden or mishandled.”

  Silence fell; only a gentle snort
from Chennuh broke it.

  “It's all a bit silly, isn't it?” Kinna asked, her voice small. “The grand revolution of the girl from the Pixie Glades. The outcast, the misfit. Why would I think they would ever follow me anyway?”

  Ayden's hands fell away. He took a step back. “Why would they ever follow you?” Disbelief colored his tone. “Kinna, you are hope. You are inspiration. You're for whom the people and the creatures of West Ashwynd have been waiting for years, you and your brother. You are the change people want to believe in.”

  Tears pricked Kinna's eyes. Ayden went on. “After a power-hungry tyrant who has no regard for the lives of those who serve him, you will be the fresh air that sweeps through the stagnant mire of Sebastian's corruption, bringing hope and healing.”

  Kinna shook her head. “You're making too much of this. I am heir by a birth accident only, and I don't feel that such an accident necessarily prepares me to assume a throne.” Her breath hitched when Ayden caught her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers.

  “You doubt yourself too much,” he whispered.

  Warmth spread through Kinna's chest. “Do you think I can do it?” She desperately needed his encouragement. What she hoped to do was monumental; she didn't know if she'd have the strength to push through on her own.

  A heavy silence coated them, and then, “Do I think you can do it?” Ayden's hands curled around her face, and the warmth of his body enfolded her. “Kinna, you can do anything you set your mind to.”

  The quiet was a quivering pulse-beat between them, loaded and full. Kinna knew it was coming; there was nothing else for them to do but join their lips, opening, searching, and exploring. Ayden was warm and solid and real, and his touch set her on fire.

  “Kinna,” he murmured, pulling back and tracing a fiery trail along her collarbone. His hand wrapped around the back of her neck before pulling her firmly against him again.

  Familiar fear choked Kinna. To her absolute surprise and dismay, she slipped her fingers between their faces, pressing them to his lips, interrupting the kiss.

  “Ayden, wait.”

  “What?” Fear thickened his voice—fear of what she might say, perhaps. Icy chill pressed her skin beneath his hands, and she gasped. Ayden pulled his hands back, staring at them. “That's never happened before.”

  “What is it?” Kinna touched his hand, pulling it into her clasp. His skin was as heated as it had been for months.

  “I don't know.” Ayden's fingers wrapped around Kinna's hand, pulling her forward.

  Kinna turned her head as he lowered his lips to hers again. “I—I can't.”

  Ayden's breath released in an angry snort. “It's Julian, isn't it?”

  Two tears swelled in Alayne's eyes, blurring her vision of Ayden. “Yes. No. It—it's my father. Ayden, he's Sebastian's prisoner, chained in his dungeons beneath The Crossings. Julian sent a letter to my mother soon after the Tournament, informing her that Sebastian had declared that if I should break our betrothal, he would kill my father.”

  All color fled Ayden's face. His silver eyes flashed in the dim light of the cave. “Why didn't you tell me?” he whispered.

  Kinna dashed her hand across her eyes. “I—know you and Julian are—I know you both love—I just didn't want to bring you any more pain.”

  Ayden still stared at her, thunderstruck.

  Kinna turned away, bitterness at the situation spiraling through her. “And I owe him everything, Ayden. He—he saved my life in the woods, when I was stabbed. He used Sage to heal my dagger wound. I'm—I'm alive because of him. Maybe I don't love him, but how can I betray him when I owe him my life?”

  Ayden's hands ignited suddenly. He held one close to her, and the light sharpened the angles and planes in his own face.

  He said nothing, but his silver eyes blazed. The muscle in his jaw tightened and loosened. After a moment, he pried his lips open. “Julian saved your life.” It was not a question.

  Kinna stared at him helplessly. “Yes.”

  “Julian saved your life,” he repeated.

  “Yes!” Kinna snapped. “You can stop repeating it.” She couldn't understand the disbelief she saw in his expression, the almost animal rage. She'd known he hated the fact that Julian was her betrothed, but she'd never seen this before.

  Ayden's brittle smile hurt her. It was a small, tight curve of his lips with no humor in it. “Well, let's get you back to your betrothed then, shall we? I'm sure he's worried. As he said, he saved your life. What a tragedy it would be if he weren't around to save you a second time while you roam the wilds of Lismaria.”

  Kinna's jaw dropped as Ayden stalked toward the Dragons and the entrance to the cave. “Ayden, what is the matter with you?”

  Ayden didn't pause or answer. He hoisted himself onto Luasa's back. The Dragon looked at Kinna grumpily, hissing when she approached. Chennuh nipped Luasa's neck, and the she-Dragon snorted at him.

  Kinna reached Luasa's flank. Ayden's closed expression did not invite more conversation. She sighed, smoothing the Dragon's heated scales. “What about Cedric?”

  “What about him?”

  “We haven't found him yet—”

  “He's not along the Silver Rush between here and the Channel. We can check farther up, but it may take more time and effort than we have if you are to travel with Julian's Division.” Kinna opened her mouth to argue, but Ayden cut her off. “If you want to begin the coup for Sebastian's throne, then you'll need to get some inside help from one of Sebastian's own Council.”

  “Wh—who?”

  Ayden turned back and smiled. This time, the bitterness was shaded and less obvious.

  “I might know of someone.”

  “What about the Siren?”

  “I'll leave her a knife. She can cut her own bonds after we leave.”

  * * *

  Chennuh and Luasa had moved along the banks of the Silver Rush three fieldspans before the river bed rose to level with its banks, and the water slowed to a calm flow. There was no sign of Cedric or the encampment from which he'd disappeared, and Kinna was beginning to lose hope.

  A shout startled her. “Kinna!”

  Julian's dark form strode toward her through the woods. Behind him, Sage waited for him on the back of his horse.

  Kinna glanced at Ayden. His jaw was tight, his eyes narrowed as he watched the Pixiedimn approach.

  “Kinna, where were you?” He gestured to the horse and Sage as he drew closer. “I looked all over the beaches for you, but you'd disappeared.” His eyebrows knit, and anger emanated from his hands where they curled into fists at his side. “The Division is moving along the neighboring ridge with the rest of the army, but Sage and I have been combing the mountains, looking for you for at least an hour. What possessed you to leave my protection?”

  When he reached her, he didn't stop walking. He grabbed her hand and pulled her farther along the river, out of Ayden's hearing. Ayden didn't look at them. He remained, his back stiff, on Luasa.

  Julian dropped her hand when they were far enough away. He strode from her, his hand running through his thick, dark hair, before returning again.

  “What was the purpose of leaving?”

  Kinna played nervously with her braid. “I—had something I needed to do.”

  “You were supposed to wait near my horse until we were ready to leave. I looked everywhere for you! When I couldn't find you, I wondered if you had been taken by Erlane's men.”

  “Why would Erlane's men want me? Sebastian's the only one who seeks me.”

  “Why would—they want you because you are Aarkan's heir, or did you forget?”

  “No, I haven't forgotten,” Kinna fired back, “but lest you forget, I also have a brother, who shares the same blood I do.”

  “It doesn't mean that you are safe, simply because your brother is out there, too.” Julian stopped and took a deep breath. “Kinna, you were supposed to stay with me so I could keep you safe, especially in Sebastian's army. Don't you know how terrified I w
as when I couldn't find you?”

  “You assured me that I was safe in Sebastian's army,” Kinna shot back.

  “Only because I was there to protect you! Not when you go wandering off to who-knows-where!”

  They stared at each other, the air between them rife with tension. Kinna shoved back her irritation. She tried to hold back, but a sentence still leaked out. “I'm not bound to you yet, Julian.”

  He flinched, and his dark eyes narrowed as he drew closer. “Not in the sense that there is a chain binding you to me. But we are bound; we've been closer than siblings through childhood, and now, King Sebastian has betrothed us. If you break that, your father dies.” He stopped, his hands resting on her shoulders, his eyes intent on her face. “Do you really want that, Kinna?”

  Fury lashed Kinna, followed swiftly by helplessness. How dare he remind her of her father's fate unless she remained entangled in this engagement! But what could she do? Any effort to break it off would end in Tristan's death.

  An internal war raged. The last year had not been for nothing; as her time in the Rues with Ayden had progressed and as she'd fled from the King all these months, she'd learned a little of who she was and the fire that flowed through her spirit. She wanted to break the betrothal, shout the truth of her feelings for Ayden, and erase the bitterness that spiked his silver eyes.

  But she was too afraid. She couldn't be responsible for her father's death, she couldn't, and there was an end to it. She had to marry Julian to save Tristan's life.

  Before she could answer him, he sighed and dropped his hands. “I'm sending you home, Kinna.”

  It stunned her. “What?”

  “I'm sending you home, back to your mother, back to the Pixie Glades. It's not safe for you here. If we find Cedric in the battlefield, I'll send him to you as well.”

  Kinna slammed her fist into the tree behind her. “I'm not going home, Julian. First of all, do you remember how we left it? People are frightened, hungry, and impoverished. Sebastian has taxed the heart out of them to pay for this war he's waging. I don't even know if my mother remains in the Glades. I'd have no place to go, Julian.”

  “You can go give them hope, then,” Julian said. Ayden's words from earlier that day washed over her. Kinna, you are hope. You are inspiration.