Embrace the Fire Page 37

  Who knew how much longer Sebastian would keep her father alive? He had what he wanted—the throne of Lismaria—and he could wield his power even more cruelly.

  Two options spread before Kinna, and she surveyed them with a clarity she'd never before possessed: either she could march before Sebastian's throne and submit to whatever punishment awaited her, or she could marry Julian, somehow pacifying Sebastian's strange wish that she should be wed to the Pixiedimn. If she chose the first option, the rebellion would flounder just as it was gaining momentum. If she chose the second—despite the fact that she loved another, despite the fact that she would live a half-life shadowed beneath Julian's increasing coldness—she could perhaps find a way to instill hope in the hearts of the people oppressed beneath Sebastian's regime. And she could save her father's life.

  In memory, the flash of Ayden's eyes accompanied his whisper: “It's bigger than you are, Kinna.”

  A single tear slipped down her cheek as she gazed past Julian at Ayden. She took a deep breath. “All right,” she murmured.

  Julian's eyes lit up. “All right? You'll marry me and stay here in Lismaria with me until my term of service has been completed?”

  Kinna nodded as misery pierced her. She couldn't follow her heart, not if it meant the death of her father. How could she ever face her mother again? She pulled herself together and forced a smile. “If I am released. At the moment...” She shrugged, holding up her chains.

  Julian touched her cheek, his dark gaze intent. “Then Sage will release your chains, Kinna, and we can go immediately to ClarenVale's temple. I would not wait for Sebastian; he has yet to turn his attention this way, but—”

  Footsteps interrupted him, bringing their attention back to the path. Several guards hurried toward her, a Leader at the front. Julian leaped to his feet. “Leader Gormand! What do you want?” he demanded.

  Gormand's stare pierced Julian. “You were told to return to your Pixies. The King had no patience with your pleas. You heard him—there is no betrothal, nor will there be a marriage. What are you doing here with the girl?” His voice was clipped. “Your presence here calls your obedience into question, Pixiedimn. Shall I report this to His Grace?”

  Kinna's ears buzzed and spots coated the edges of her vision as she swung her gaze to Julian, the boy she'd known and trusted since childhood. “Wh—what?”

  Julian's tanned cheeks flushed redder than she'd ever seen them and then turned a sickly shade of white. His fingers fidgeted with the flap of his leather vest.

  No one moved or spoke for a long moment. Julian cleared his throat. “I—I have no excuse, Kinna, except that—I love you and would do anything to—I hoped that if we were married, Sebastian would surely show lenience—”

  “What about my father?” Kinna cried, confused. She turned to Gormand. “Tristan Pixiedimn of the Pixie Glades of West Ashwynd—he is Sebastian's prisoner in The Crossings, kept as surety for my obedience in this betrothal to Julian! What will happen to him if Sebastian has annulled the betrothal?”

  The Leader gazed at her stolidly. “I do not keep the lists of His Grace's prisoners. I can tell you nothing.”

  “But—but I received a letter that explained that Sebastian would force the betrothal upon me, if I resisted, and that he held Tristan in his dungeons—”

  The Leader frowned. “Miss, I cannot tell you the status of the prisoner, but I can assure you that the King annulled the betrothal nearly four months ago, soon after the Tournament. He has no desire to see you wed to this boy.”

  Kinna turned to stare at Julian. “You—you wrote that letter! Julian, you—betrayed me!” The words crept out of Kinna's throat, raw with anger. “You made me believe—you made my mother believe—is my father even in prison?”

  Julian didn't answer. He couldn't meet her gaze.

  Kinna slowly rose to her feet. She strained against her chains as she stepped close to Julian. Lowering her voice, honing each word to razor-sharp intensity, she said, “Get away from me, you snake. If I ever see your face again, it will be too soon.”

  Julian blanched. “Kinna, please—”

  Chennuh roared, heat distorting the air behind them. He raised himself off his haunches and advanced toward the Pixiedimn. Julian stumbled away as the soldiers flinched backward.

  The last sight Kinna had of Julian was his slumped shoulders as he trudged to the Pixie quarters. She turned to Ayden. His silver eyes blazed in the sun.

  Gormand motioned to the soldiers accompanying him, who moved behind Kinna and Ayden and released their chains from their anchors, pushing them forward. “You're to appear before His Grace within the walls of ClarenVale right away,” he said. “We will accompany you to the gates.”

  Kinna swallowed. As much as she dreaded facing Sebastian, she hated this uncertain stalemate more. Lincoln had also risen to his feet. His chains were gone, but the gag remained in his mouth, and the soldiers gripped his arms tightly.

  Despite the chains, despite the procession that would likely end in pain and punishment, Kinna couldn't help but take a breath of relief. Julian—that rat—would never bother her again.

  Ayden moved as close to her as the chains and the soldiers allowed. “Are you all right?” he asked, his silver gaze searching hers.

  She blew out a deep breath. “Aye, for now. Julian's betrayal hurt me, but it didn't crush me. At least, there is hope where my father is concerned.” She glanced at the soldiers and then back at Ayden. “We go to see Sebastian now,” she answered. “Are you ready?”

  “That depends.” A half smile covered his face. “Are you?”

  “Am I what?”

  “Are you ready to be the queen your people need you to be?”

  She stared up at him. “Ayden, Sebastian holds all the cards. It's doubtful that he will release me. If word has reached him of my involvement in an uprising, there is no hope of my life continuing more than a few moments from now.”

  “While life continues, Kinna, hope does as well.”

  Kinna raised an eyebrow. “You wish me to return to the people and creatures of West Ashwynd and stir an uprising, Ayden, but I don't see a way out of these chains.”

  He tilted his head to the side. “It is well, then, that others have better sight than you do.”

  Kinna's gaze flew to his, and then followed his glance over his shoulder at Lincoln, who strode behind them, keeping pace with the Dragons at the ends of their tether-chains, his arms securely in the grip of two of Iolar's Clansmen.

  Hope stirred inside of Kinna for the first time that morning. A smile tilted her lips. “Bless you, dear Linc,” she murmured.

  * * *

  The drawbridge was already lowered when they approached the castle, and a sense of foreboding shook Kinna's confidence as the silence of the procession hit her. She and Ayden walked side by side between guards, and behind them, more guards struggled with the Dragons' tether-chains, though they maintained a lengthy distance from the creatures. Chennuh and Luasa followed, their tails swinging and their hot breaths hissing at anyone who came too close.

  “It's quiet,” she muttered to Ayden as they stepped onto the drawbridge. The mouth of the courtyard yawned before them, but it appeared deserted on the inside. Guards lined the battlements, though, and the drawbridge over the swiftly-moving moat. “Where are the people of ClarenVale? The crowds should be out in the streets.”

  “Celebrating Sebastian's takeover?” Ayden shook his head. “I would be hiding, too.”

  “But the people don't know Sebastian as we know him. They only knew Nicholas Erlane's rule, which I've heard was pretty poor, as well. At least the curious should be out.”

  They crossed the drawbridge. Chennuh and Luasa attempted it, but spears blocked their way. Kinna's dread deepened. What would Sebastian do to Chennuh?

  The Dragon crouched on his haunches. His displeasure was contained by the tether-chains, but they didn't stop him from singeing the clothes of the soldiers who got too close. He roared, making the soldie
rs cringe, but the tether-chains held him too tightly. Kinna could hear his distress. Lincoln remained standing in the middle of the two Dragons, much calmer than she'd ever remembered seeing him when he was so near them.

  Kinna and Ayden entered the silent stone courtyard. Kinna's stomach tightened as the soldiers turned from their posts on the outer wall to watch her progress with Ayden.

  The portcullis crashed to the ground. Kinna turned with a gasp. “Ayden—”

  “Touching, touching,” Sebastian's voice resounded from the stairs leading up to the battlements. At the top, a hangman's noose dangled in the cold breeze.

  Kinna's heart leaped into her throat.

  “So kind of my niece to come to visit.” Sebastian spread his hands, a wicked grin parting his beard. “As you can see,” he waved toward the noose. “I've decided to keep the home fires burning.”

  A roar shook the wall at the back of the courtyard, and at Sebastian's nod, two doors opened, and two massive Poison-Quills lumbered into the open area. The blood drained from Kinna's cheeks as they released flaming rivers into the air.

  “They're angry,” Ayden whispered unnecessarily.

  “You think?” Kinna glanced back at the portcullis, to Chennuh, and gasped. The soldiers who had kept Chennuh and Luasa back with tether-chains were striking the creatures with heavy maces. The Dragons' mouths were open in thundering roars that were only drowned out by the closer and louder ones of the Poison-Quills.

  “Ayden, what do we do?” Kinna shouted, panic paralyzing her body.

  Lincoln yanked the gag from his mouth, and began to sing, but over the pandemonium of the roaring Dragons, no one heard him. The soldiers saw him, though. One raised a sword, but the Elf beside Lincoln blocked it with his own. Lincoln drew a blade from his belt and engaged the soldiers on the drawbridge with the second of Iolar's Clansmen.

  Hands grasped Kinna, yanking her away from Ayden. A dagger pressed against her throat. “Ayden!” she shouted.

  Ayden struggled between two soldiers as they dragged him toward the stairs and Sebastian. He yanked an arm free and rammed his foot into one soldier's stomach. The man bent double, and Ayden turned on the other, but the remaining soldier clung to his arm. “You'll kill her, mate!”

  Ayden jerked his head toward Kinna, pain shimmering in his brilliant eyes. His hands in their chains blazed.

  “If you want to see the blood drain from her pretty throat, continue your actions!” shouted the soldier who held the dagger to Kinna's neck.

  “Do it, Ayden!” she wheezed, but the flames died from his skin. He couldn't risk it, or wouldn't.

  The soldiers wrestled him up the stairs, but when they reached Sebastian, they did not stop. They continued to shove Ayden until he reached the gallows. They jerked him around to face the courtyard below.

  Kinna couldn't take her eyes from him. As the guards had prodded them down into ClarenVale, she'd allowed herself brief thoughts of standing up to Sebastian, demanding a return of justice, perhaps martyring herself in a blaze of determination and fire. Instead, she could only feel the weakness in her knees and the dagger at her throat.

  Chennuh, help! she pleaded. His frantic roars rang out from beyond the portcullis. Dragonfire blasted above the battlements, upsetting the Poison-Quills who paced the courtyard not far from her.

  Kinna cringed away from the knife on her neck, but the soldier's grip was relentless. Somehow, someone, please, help! Tears streamed from her eyes, and she could hardly see.

  A soldier at the top approached Ayden and placed a hood over his head, followed by the noose.

  “No!” Kinna sobbed. Her panicked gaze found Sebastian's, and she clasped her hands in front of her. “Please, Sebastian, don't do this!” The Poison-Quills shrieked.

  “Oh, Kinna. My dear niece Kinna.” His mouth parted in a cruel grin. “I only wanted you to see this. This is my parting present to you before it is your turn to swing. I hope you enjoy it, my dear.”

  He gave the signal for the soldier to drop Ayden over the edge, but at that moment, a louder roar sounded above them.

  Chennuh appeared over the wall with Lincoln's brilliant hair visible on his back. The two Elves rode just behind him, clinging to the Dragon's fins. Lincoln's mouth was open in a piercing Pixie song, his eyes wild with anger. Behind him, Luasa rose, speeding like a streak of lightning toward the battlements where Ayden stood, colliding with the soldiers lining the wall. With a swipe of her tail, the soldiers plunged over the outside of the wall where they fell into the lake below.

  Chennuh crashed to a stop directly in front of Kinna and sprayed fire all over the courtyard. The soldier holding the dagger to Kinna's neck dropped the knife and screeched as he fell backward. Lincoln stood, his arm outstretched, reaching for her.

  Kinna ran forward, but a dark shadow passed as a Poison-Quill arched above her, his wings beating furiously. He lurched his heavy, quilled body toward the wall and Luasa.

  “Ayden!” Kinna screamed. “Ayden, look out!”

  Ayden didn't hear her; his back was turned as he mounted his Dragon.

  Kinna watched in helpless horror as Poison-Quill crashed into Mirage, gallows, Ayden, and all, his fury twisting his neck upward in a spray of fire that billowed from him like a volcano's eruption.

  In slow-motion, the whole mass of them tumbled over the battlements, crumbling the stone wall as they fell.

  “No!” Kinna screamed, lurching toward the wall.

  “Kinna, no!” Lincoln called. “We'll check from the air!”

  “But—”

  “Kinna, the guards!”

  They were scrambling across the courtyard to her. Sebastian was screaming unintelligible words, his face purple with fury.

  Kinna reached her chained wrists to Lincoln, who hauled her onto Chennuh. “Let's go, Chennuh,” he shouted, and the Dragon snapped his wings, furling them outward, crashing the air against the stones as he lifted himself upward.

  They passed over Sebastian on their way to the wall, and then cleared the battlements as spears hurled against Chennuh's armored stomach. Lincoln slid around Kinna and crawled to the top of Chennuh's neck, quickly twisting his fin. All of them vanished.

  Ayden, Ayden, please, please, please. She couldn't find any more words for her frantic thoughts, but she could feel Chennuh's wordless agony.

  Gone. Gone, gone, gone.

  Despair strapped Kinna to Chennuh's fin as the Dragon left the roiling frenzy of the courtyard beneath them.

  Below, the story finished as Kinna dreaded. She leaned her cheek against Chennuh's smooth scales, and allowed tears to trace the seams between them as she gazed down at the lake below.

  The dead Poison-Quill rested on the side of the lake. There was no sign of Ayden or Luasa, but the lake still foamed with the evidence of the Dimn and Dragon mouthful it had swallowed.

  Hope disappeared as Chennuh arched farther from the walls. Kinna felt the Dragon's despair, too. His forlorn whimper floated back to her as they drifted on the wind.

  Epilogue

  Lincoln's fingers slit the seal that held the scroll closed. His gaze quickly scanned the contents, and then he handed it gravely to Kinna where she sat on the porch step of Helga's woodland cottage in West Ashwynd.

  She took it wordlessly, unfurling it, and reading it with dull eyes.

  Lincoln, my dearest son,

  I am sorry that we were not able to connect before your escape from Lismaria. How thankful I am, though, that you were able to leave safely, and that you kept Kinna Andrachen safe upon your exit. She and her brother remain the beacons of hope for our sad kingdom.

  I wished you to know that I have once again hidden the Amulet and set it amid safeguards. However, I believe it will be intrinsic to the uprising and the final reunification of Seer Fey, Man, and Dragon, once blessed by the Stars.

  But Lincoln, my good son, I do not believe the Stars bless the Bond of Blood and Fire anymore. The power has split too many times, and the Seer Fey have ruptured into factions
that will never see eye to eye. Once the uprising comes to fruition, the Amulet must be destroyed.

  It will take more than my wish to make this happen, though, my son. The Amulet is far too powerful to be trifled with, and its destruction will mean certain death for some.

  At times, however, the Greater Good must be observed at all costs. I will say more on this when I see you in person.

  Until then, take care of Kinna, keep well, and keep the peace of the creatures.

  All my love,

  Helga.

  THE END

  A Message from the Author

  Thank you for reading

  What did you think of Embrace the Fire?

  I would so appreciate it if you would leave a review for this book at the book review site of your choice. Word-of-mouth is still the best way for indie authors to gain readers, and the online version of word-of-mouth is reviews.

  Thanks so much!

  Index

  of Creatures and Terms

  Dragons:

  Mirage – a Dragon covered with mirrored scales, hard to see, capable of turning completely invisible with the right touch.

  Poison-Quill – a Dragon covered from head to talon with poisonous spikes. The poison is deadly to beast and human; quick treatment is necessary if the poison gets below the skin.

  Nine-Tail – a Dragon that has, as its name suggests, nine tails, each one with the ability to operate independently, each one with a sharp spike on the end.

  Ember – a Dragon whose scales burn with constant fire, sometimes hotter and brighter, other times smoldering and low.