The queen’s hips swayed as she sauntered forward, a thin leg slipping out of the fuchsia evening gown painted on her body. A delicate crown of connecting ferns sat on top of her loose, almost disheveled, golden curls. Her fingers trailed the outline of a long,shadowed scar down the deep plunge of her bodice. The tips of them lingered in the space between her full breasts. If a goddess of sex, seduction, and manipulation had existed, it would be her.
The queen took a delicate seat before her eyes slipped to Kellan, and she patted the chair next to her. My hand tensed in his, and he squeezed back before dropping it and taking his seat, keeping his eyes from the queen’s plunging neckline.
Bayne and I converged as we reached our seats, and a cold discomfort seeped through the gorgeous space. I took a seat, forcing my gaze on the rest of the beautiful room. Large, arched windows lined the circular walls, the thick, round trees supporting the space like massive pillars… And then there was the table… The size and shape closely resembled a certain altar…
My eyes snapped to Kellan’s, and his lips kicked up in the slightest smirk as he tracked my gaze. The sudden, forced discomfort blew away like an unsavory scent. Kellan kept his eyes on me, and his chin dipped. Confidence swelled in my chest, and I turned to the queen and king of Lotrennia with a broad smile on my face.
“Thank you for seeing us,” I began. “We have an important request.”
The queen’ssky-blue eyes remained pinned on Kellan’s face as she twirled the stir stick of her cocktail with one finger. The pirate lord’s features remained amused, and he took a long sip of elven ale.
“It’s quite a vile request,” she said after a moment. “Asking to harvest leaves from a tree so ancient, so powerful, so incredibly important to Lotrennian culture and society. How do we know it won’t endanger the organism? Endanger our history?”
I finally looked at Bayne and raised my eyebrows. Deep bags darkened the space beneath his eyes, and his lips drew a thin line as Queen Antares spoke. He’d kept his gaze off the queen the entirety of this painful meal, his posture rigid as I explained what we needed and all that had transpired. I didn’t care if we had our own rocky history. He had to see the importance of the múritinne rings, of protecting our minds and our bodies from Sintarrak. Bayne’s gaze slid to mine, and he blinked once.
My stomach tensed as his brows pinched upward, and his lips pursed to the side, a look I’d become familiar with.
Doubt.
“This is all based off what Tynan, one of the very creatures we are preparing to fight against, told you,” he said at last, raising his eyebrows and turning toward me in his chair. “The God of Deathsent youto the Arx to find this information. How do we know this isn’t exactly what the Embodied want us to do? What if it weakens us, instead of protecting us?”
My gut plunged.
“The Starlings left clues on how to fight against the other Embodied. And we’ve proof they work. The rubellines.” I paused, and my eyes cut to Kellan’s. They darkened as if he could hear Ganmira’s chilling scream, and I replayed the moment he chucked the rubelline dagger at her. “Poison testers,” I continued, glancing back at Bayne, “even Water Witches to defend against…”
I paused, swallowing as Bayne’s brows lifted. To combathis power,I added silently.
“And the names that were crossed off,” I plowed forward. “Bayne, if Sintarrak has stolen the rest of the Embodied’s powers, he’d be nearly invincible. We have to take this chance. Isla is on board with this,” I urged him. “You trust her. She would not suggest we harvest the leaves if she thought we had another choice.”
A muscle in Bayne’s jaw twitched as he considered. A pulse of power rippled over my skin, the heat from Bayne’s inner flames riding the invisible force. I scanned his face. My brows furrowed before I looked back at the queen. A sheen of near-invisible light emanated from the two of them.Power.
Had the soulbinding done this? Their powers had grown considerably. That much was clear, but it was as if their bodies could barely contain the forces within their borders.
“We’ll need to discuss this with Khato,” Bayne finally said, and his Ravindra eyes cut to mine. “The master of spells should have a say in this.”
I blew out a sigh. Khato would understand… I was certain of it. The ancient master of spells was wise, and I had a suspicion he wasn’t entirely loyal to the queen of Lotrennia.
“What shall you give us in return?” Queen Antares asked, her golden brows raising as she tapped her painted nails on the table, the claws of manipulation hiding beneath.
“We’re preparing for a war against beings with powers we can scarcely imagine,” I cut in. “Every human and elf in this realm must fight together. We fight together, or we lose together.”
Kellan’s eyes softened on mine as he pulled an enderleaf smoke from his jacket and held the tip to a taper at the center of the table. A scoff ripped from Bayne’s lips as the pirate took a long drag, and the queen’s attention zeroed in on him. Her eyes widened, and she leaned forward.
“You don’t smile much,” she purred, resting an elbow on the table and turning toward the pirate. “And you’ve been rather quiet this evening.”
“My lady has done a fine job of outlining the situation,” he replied, leaning back and propping a heel over his ankle before taking another drag.
“The Conduit surely has more to say on the matter,” she pressed, her eyes lingering on the hand Kellan rested on his muscled thigh. “Sintarrak…” she mused.
Kellan’s eyes cut to hers as the name dripped from her lips with an almost reverent air.
“If you are descended from the god we so fear,” she continued, arching a delicate brow, “you have the ability to transfer power.”
Something powerfully vigilant…something bone-deep inside of me blinked an eye open, calling my powers awake.
Queen Antares crossed one leg over the other, the slit in her slippery gown spreading as she shifted her weight. Her fingers slipped to her exposed knee as she angled herself toward Kellan, and her gaze dipped to the hand resting at his thigh. Kellan exhaled the enderleaf smoke through his nose as he tracked her line of sight.
The queen’s eyes glazed over in foggy lust as her hand lifted, and a surge of something wild and primal wrapped itself around my powers before they lunged.
