Chapter 51
Two weeks had passed since Taeron had returned Dijana to the palace accompanied by his warriors who easily routed the rebels. He had taken Dijana to her chamber and laid her gently on her bed and then sat on the edge holding her limp hand in his own calloused and bloody hand. She had not regained consciousness by the time her parents arrived back at the castle. Her father barked at him to leave his daughter to their care and Taeron bristled with the urge to retaliate, but Amyr had accompanied them and suggested that she would be startled to awaken to find him splattered with blood. She had not reacted well the last time, so Taeron allowed Amyr to escort – drag – him from her bedside when Taeron sensed he would not see her again for some time, if ever given Roehan's reaction to him.
And so two weeks passed in which Taeron had been denied access to Dijana with excuses that she needed time to recover, excuses delivered by servants. Even Chaela had been kept from her side and she was as anxious as Taeron about the sister of her heart. But Chaela received a message from the queen granting her permission to attend her daughter, and while Taeron wished she had done the same for him, he was at least glad that Chaela could be with Dijana.
Taeron understood the need her mother and father felt to protect her, but he was sure she needed him to heal the sorrow of her heart. His own felt raw after hearing how little Dijana's life meant to the very people that should have been protecting her since the moment of her birth. He had once resented being called a bastard, and the sneers of the imperial nobility had never ceased to aggravate him, but he realized how petty he had been when Dijana had suffered Balak's and Deryn's torture without even knowing why. Dijana's anguish made him ache, and yet there was nothing he could do to help her when he was kept from her.
Now he stood before the open windows of his chamber, ignoring the sounds behind him of the men removing his things to be taken to the transports to the north. Neria had called him for an audience the previous day to inform him that his continued presence undermined the authority of her prince consort. What would Trey do in this circumstance? Taeron doubted it would be to regroup his forces and attack Roehan's bedraggled squadrons of winged warriors so that he could take his beloved mate. So he agreed to do as Neria asked and returned to his chambers where he informed his commanders of his decision. He could remain on Teralon no longer when he had yet to deliver Andwar to his assignment on Varoonya before returning to Calabria to settle matters with Crown Prince Staefyn. Trey had ordered him to bring stability back to Teralon and now that he had, there was no reason to remain. He sent Graegor, Andwar and Darlac to the men stationed to the south, east and west to inform them that they would evacuate immediately to the transports waiting at the northern palace.
This morning he had requested an audience with the queen and when he expected to ask Neria for permission to take Dijana with him, he was irritated to find Roehan waiting in the audience chamber instead of the queen. Taeron did not dare to hope that he was grateful to him for having saved his life since he had not thus far, so he was not disappointed to have his request denied, cut off before he could complete his carefully worded speech. He wanted to warn the winged warrior that the emperor would be displeased by the ingratitude of Teralon. He wanted to remind Roehan that his winged warriors were no match for the imperials, that he could take Dijana at will without his consent. His men would be pleased to act against the prince consort when they felt not just slighted, but insulted that the females who had been courted exchanged vows with their suitors a few days after the battle and their lord prince was not among them to wed his mate.
But Taeron told Roehan that he understood even though part of him did not. With a heavy heart, he left his mate's father and returned to instruct his commanders to warn the men not to retaliate even though almost all knew what it was to be bonded to a female and that his life would be difficult without her. Taeron's life would be difficult because he loved Dijana, but it was that love that enabled him to leave her behind. When she was healed, he convinced himself that she would come to Calabria to be with him. She loved him. He was as certain of that as he was of his love for her.
Shortly before he was ready to march out through the northern gate, he received a message from Chaela to meet her in the queen's grotto. Amyr accompanied him along with ever present Stryfe who would not miss a chance to record every agonizing detail of Taeron's suffering. Taeron might have resented him for it if he did not want Trey to know how the Teralonian royals had rebuffed his commander. Since he could not trust Jeshed around Chaela, he ordered him to lead the men who had remained behind to guard their lord prince outside the city walls to wait for him.
Entering the grotto, Taeron marveled at the beauty and serenity when not so very long ago there had been violence and death. As well as trimming back the overgrown shrubs and vines, leaving beautiful flowers to flourish, the servants had managed to clean away all evidence of the battle, leaving not so much as a stain where Deryn had died in a pool of his own blood. As Amyr and Stryfe remained near the arched entrance, he walked through the gauntlet of statues of winged females, and when he came to the last one that stood near a young version of Neria that reminded him eerily of Sharisse, he stopped to look at the unfinished statue. The artist had completed all but the face and Taeron stared at the winged female that he had never known, the Dijana who would one day rule Teralon, wings outstretched behind her. Her once long hair flowed over one shoulder to her waist and he reached out to the stone, knowing in his heart this would be the closest he would get to touching her again.
"I know why it was never completed now."
Hearing Dijana's voice, he blinked up at the blank face of the statue for a moment before turning around. She stood with Chaela at her side and her parents behind her, her father's hand on her shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye he noted that Guillem and Valter had landed on two high arches nearby. What did Roehan think he would do? As Taeron looked at Dijana's pale face, he knew what he wanted to do. He was a Calabrian, after all, so it would not surprise them if he seized her and tossed her over his shoulder to carry away. But that would strain relations with Teralon and probably start a war that would decimate Teralon. Trey would not like it after all the trouble the planet had given him already. And Dijana did not look as if she would be a willing captive.
She did not look at Taeron as she stared at the empty face of the statue. "I was excited when Deryn ordered Balak to commission the artist to carve my statue," she said softly, her voice resigned. "But he never meant for me to rule, so they did not chisel my face. Balak planned to add Sharisse's face and Deryn planned to add his daughter's. I was never more than an obstacle to them all."
Her parents did not offer her any argument although her father's hand gently stroked her shoulder and she closed her eyes for a moment, accepting his comfort. Taeron felt a moment of breathless pain in his chest because he wanted to be the man easing her pain.
"The gods have something else in mind for you," Taeron told her. "You will be an imperial princess of Calabria."
For a moment she did not respond and then she said, "I am sorry, Taeron, for what I have done to you, but I cannot be for you what you want."
"You are already what I want, Dijana," he told her softly, taking a step towards her and noting that her father's shoulders rolled with the effort he made not to unfurl his wings. He saw that Guillem and Valter had stirred restlessly where they perched and Amyr had moved his hand to the hilt of his sword. Taeron did not want Dijana to witness more bloodshed.
She shook her head and then looked up at his face. "Your mating bond makes you say these things."
"Is that what they tell you?" Despite his resolve, Taeron could not help the anger that crept into his voice.
"You never would have done it had I not be-spelled you when you allowed me to take your blood," she continued without responding to his accusation.
He reached out to touch her, but Roehan's wings flew out and Taeron took a step back as the queen's guards left their perch to hover close enough to attack. Amyr had half-drawn his sword before Taeron frowned at him and Stryfe put his hand over his wrist. Taeron was confident that the prince consort would not attack him, and he was even more confident that he could disable him without killing him. The queen was biting her lip in uncharacteristic silence so Taeron knew she was deferring to her husband. Taeron wondered if he had lost his mind in wishing she would start berating someone for leaving her daughter without her mate, but he could see that Roehan had effectively shut her down.
Taeron looked at Dijana, hating the unhappiness he saw. "I loved you long before you took my blood." He had loved her from the first moment he looked into her eyes when she stumbled onto his ship.
"You are close enough to the frontier now," she said softly. "My mother has contacted Norvana and made arrangements with the healer, Carrinda. She will be waiting near Varoonya to remove your mating bond."
"Why would I do that?" he demanded, anger coursing through his veins as he trembled with panic at losing her. "You are my mate!"
"Taeron!" Chaela's soft warning did little to ease him and he saw Amyr leave his place by the entrance to approach.
Dijana had not reacted to his outburst. "If you love me as you say you do, Taeron, you will do this for me. I cannot bear knowing that I have entrapped you."
His heart seemed to stop beating as he realized that he must do as she asked. "Nothing will change, Dijana. I love you."
She turned to give Chaela a sad, teary smile and then nodded to her father who slipped an arm around her waist and Taeron watched in frustration as he shot into the air and flew with her in the direction of the palace tower.
Neria had remained behind. "I am mindful of my obligation to Calabria," she told Taeron who did not look at her until he could no longer see Dijana.
"You have a strange way of showing it," he snapped bitterly.
"Dijana would have this no other way and my daughter is stubborn."
Taeron had a good idea where she had gotten that character trait.
"Roehan believes he can have a battalion ready to serve the emperor within a moon's cycle," she continued. "You may inform him of the circumstances of our delay, so I am sure that he will understand." Taeron doubted it when Trey had been consistent in proving he could not fathom, nor could he forgive, female inconstancy. Taeron wished he did not understand him at this moment.
"You are certain there are no other threats?" Taeron did not give a gods' damn if there were any threats because he could not leave Teralon fast enough now.
Neria seemed to understand his shift in mood. "If there are, Roehan can handle them."
"Did you know what Deryn had planned?" If she admitted to it, he would be hard-pressed not to strike her for subjecting Dijana to the former councilor's vitriol.
"Deryn hid his ambitions well, but the fact that Balak did not kill him along with Kaseja and Garest was telling. He never brought his daughter to Nidum, never offered her for courtship, so all assumed she bore some defect." She sighed deeply. "He had vied for my grandmother's hand, but no one guessed he resented not being her choice. He had been a loyal warrior, and when he could no longer fight, there was overwhelming support to his appointment to the council. We will never know for certainty, but my guess is that he and Olwyn plotted together after my father rejected her."
If Neria's mother had chosen Deryn, Olwyn would have had the man she wished and none of the subsequent horrors would have occurred. Trey would consider that justification for his own feelings regarding females and the foolish decisions they made.
"We have nothing more to say then." He bowed to her curtly, glad at least to see the last of Neria. "I will give the emperor my report and you may count yourself fortunate if the scribe does not embellish his accounts with the emotion I will use when I tell him what happened on Teralon." Nothing good had ever happened for him on this dung covered planet – not the first time he was here and lost his honor and certainly not now when his heart had been crushed in his chest.
He looked at Chaela. "You will take care of Dijana."
Her gaze went to Neria and the queen pursed her lips for a moment before saying, "My husband insists that she return with you to Calabria. There is nothing for her here."
Before he could react with the fury he felt at their callous disregard of Chaela and Dijana's friendship, Chaela put her hand on his arm. The cooling waves of calm did little to ease his anger, but it was enough to keep him from acting foolishly now. He barely realized that his hand was on the hilt of his sword or that Guillem had landed a pace behind his queen while Valter remained ready to act, quills in his hand.
"Taeron, I would like to remain with Dijana, but for now I wish to return to my family."
Taeron saw Amyr's troubled look and knew that she was not being completely honest, but he could not gainsay Neria and Roehan in this matter. If they wanted Calabria gone from Teralon, then he would comply.
He forced a smile to his lips. "Your parents will be happy to have you back." Her father would be furious at the circumstances, and both her parents would be devastated by the news of their grandson's death. Sending Chaela back was probably the smartest thing they could do after Trey learned of Avar's heinous treatment of the second princess.
There was nothing more to say, so Neria spread out her wings and after a regretful look, she took off in the same direction after her husband with Guillem and Valter behind her.
In the long march north, Taeron did not allow anyone to comfort him, and when Amyr offered him the medicine that would make the separation from his mate bearable, he refused to take it, knocking it out of Amyr's hand. He ignored Amyr when he warned him of the consequences because he did not care. Taeron welcomed the physical pain and weakness of his body because it mirrored what he felt in his heart and soul. When they took off from Teralon, he marked the event by vomiting on himself and losing consciousness, and when he awoke to find himself in his cabin, he did not even have the strength to rise.
The days that followed were blurred by pain and weakness. Taeron drifted in and out of consciousness, and during a rare moment of lucidity, he awoke briefly to find that he was tied down to his bed. Amyr sported a bruise on his face that he could have healed but decided to leave it to prove to Taeron what he had to endure for him. Amyr muttered about warning Lady Trynity of the side affects of prolonged use of the medicine. She would probably appreciate receiving what she called 'data' for her research.
By the time they reached the rendezvous point and found the ship from Norvana waiting, the agony of his physical pain made it impossible for him to do anything but lie flat on his bed even with the healing Chaela and Amyr attempted on him. He did not know when Carrinda came aboard the Calabrian transport, but he awoke suddenly, feeling as though a bucket of ice water had been thrown on him. Gasping for air, he saw the beautiful healer beside his bed smiling, her eyes half-closed as they met his in open invitation. Taeron could not help the sudden reaction of his body, a reaction that he had not had to another woman but Dijana for many months. But when she reached out a hand to touch him, Amyr growled and his imperial guard seized her wrist and yanked her away from the bed.
"You have been paid for your services already. Return to your ship."
Carrinda pouted and leaned toward Amyr who jerked away without hiding his revulsion. "Prince Amyr, you disappoint me. After all that I did to help you, you have turned around and put yourself in the same predicament."
"It is not a predicament," he retorted.
"I can take it away, my lord prince, and perhaps the three of us can find a pleasant way to spend a few hours together."
"You disgust me. Consider yourself lucky that we do not force you out an airlock for your betrayal."
She laughed softly as she moved to go past him to the door Amyr had opened showing men waiting in the corridor to escort her from the ship. But she stopped to face Amyr. "Your Guerani powers have grown stronger." She reached up to stroke his cheek with the backs of her fingers. "I would reward you greatly if you would share them with me."
He seized her wrist, and after roughly shoving her into the corridor to the men who grasped her arms, he closed the door but they could hear her laughter as the men took her away.
"The ancestors did not like her," Amyr muttered under his breath as he went to Taeron and undid the bonds that held him to the bed, the bed in which he had expected to spend the trip back to Calabria with Dijana.
After a moment he said aloud, "I am sorry, Taeron."
"Sorry? For what?" Resentment crept into his voice. "You did not want me to bond with her in the first place! Well, that is over, Amyr. You need not worry that you will be bothered with that drudge's presence now!"
Amyr reached out to touch him, but Taeron wanted the pain that made his heart ache so he avoided him. "I am sorry because I know how this feels, as if a part of you has been torn asunder. You sang about it, remember?" He turned on his heel and left him alone then.
Taeron did sing about it on Teralon but he had never imagined he would feel it. The loneliness, the despair, the emptiness. Nothing remained where his heart had been.
"Well?" Stryfe had not looked up from writing on his parchment when Amyr entered the cabin he shared with the scribe. He thought it strange now that they could be more than civil after those weeks on Norvana when he had spent many hours planning how to make the scribe disappear.
"She is gone," Amyr reported. "I don't think I have ever wanted to do a woman more violence than I wanted to do to her." He shuddered as he recalled the warning cries of the ancestors when she had touched him. What did she mean by sharing their powers with her? Was that even possible?
"You wished, once, to cause great harm to my sister," pointed out Jeshed who was studying his fingernails as if they were an amazing find.
Stryfe raised his head to spear Amyr with a glare and Amyr felt his face heat.
"She infuriated me," he said in lame defense, and then he glared at Jeshed. "I did not harm Quynn. Just because we have evil thoughts from time to time does not mean we intend to act upon them. Perhaps you should keep them to yourself or not intrude upon the thoughts of others in the first place."
Jeshed frowned and raised his hand to his mouth where he began to gnaw at his fingernails.
Stryfe chuckled. "I think that hangnail will keep him distracted for at least a day." His smile faded. "How does Taeron fare?"
"Not well. I sent Chaela to clean him up, but I don't think a washed body and fresh tunic are going to make him feel any less bitter about losing his mate and his bond." No one deserved happiness more than Taeron, and for a few days on Teralon when he was courting Dijana, Amyr believed Taeron was going to get it. Now he doubted Taeron would ever feel anything but the desolation of losing the woman he loved to forces beyond his control.
"Once we have returned to Calabria, he will be able to ease his sorrow," said Stryfe. "He has two fathers that have plenty of experience in dealing with the loss of their beloved, so I think they can help him."
Since Lord Duo had made himself physically sick even though he had not been bonded and Amyr had heard that his father had tried to kill himself, first with vile human medicines and then by blowing himself up in a space contraption that Amyr still could not imagine, he doubted they would be of any help to Taeron, especially with their beloved mates within reach. Amyr had read Roehan well enough to predict he would never allow Dijana to be with Taeron again. He feared the violence in Taeron's life would be too difficult for her to handle. Amyr suspected that Roehan would probably learn that his daughter was not as fragile as she appeared to be at the moment. The fire in her spirit had been momentarily dampened, but Amyr knew it still burned.
Jeshed frowned. "How does a man have more than one father? I thought I understood how Princess Dijana had more than one father, but I do not understand this in conjunction with my brother."
Amyr patiently explained the Calabrian custom pertaining to the birth of children before Stryfe told him the tale of Taeron's birth.
When they had finished, Jeshed said, "Then the emperor must have felt the power of the paladin in his hands the moment of his birth."
"You gave him that power," Amyr told him. "Don't you remember when you were in dragon form and you blew that fire on him?"
The pale man pursed his lips and his forehead wrinkled as he thought and then he said, "I recall the day, and when Taeron entered the trance to protect you, I knew instantly what he was, but I do not remember blowing fire on him."
Amyr was joined by Stryfe in staring at him incredulously. Then Stryfe said, "You did not consciously do that? Amyr, Quynn and Yori told me the same story and you do not remember it?"
"The gods," Amyr murmured in awe. "He has been given holy power as I have been given healing power."
"Does that mean he will lose his holy power if he has been embittered by what happened on Teralon?" wondered Stryfe aloud.
Amyr had never seen Taeron in the mood he had been in before he stopped taking medicine and lost all reason, but he felt sure that the man he had known all his life was still there.
They fell silent, all three of them probably thinking about Taeron, and they were like that when Chaela entered the room. Amyr noticed that Jeshed stirred restlessly whenever his sister was nearby but he assumed it was because his sister was a beautiful woman. He also knew that Jeshed felt deep sympathy for the loss of her child and he was mistaking it for something else. Chaela had the feelings of an older sister for Jeshed. Amyr hated to think that the only way Jeshed would get her out of his system was for Stryfe to introduce him to some of the lovely young women at the palace who would be more than happy to instruct Jeshed in the ways of females. Amyr had thought himself in love with each female that had come to his pillows, at least until another took her place, and after many such occurences, his heart ceased to be involved. If Taeron hadn't scolded him on Teralon, Jeshed would already have fallen in and out of love several times.
"He is resting peacefully."
"In a trance?" asked Stryfe.
"Even if I could take him into a trance, he would not let me touch him," Chaela said. "I left him water to bathe and he told me to leave him alone."
"Then how do you know...?" Amyr raised a brow.
"I seeped his bathing water with Lady Trynity's calming leaves before taking it to him."
"Have you always been this devious?" asked Amyr with a shake of his head.
Chaela shrugged. "You were always too busy annoying our parents to notice. I think Shamara was the only one who did and no one believed her when she tattled."
Amyr laughed. "Poor Shamara! The weight on her shoulders was staggering."
"And the weight on your own has been lifted," Stryfe commented. "Staefyn may be the crown prince, but Taeron has been given all the responsibility. Let's hope my brother can handle it on top of everything else he carries on his back."
Jeshed stood, and avoiding looking at Chaela he announced, "I will sit with my brother."
Chaela watched him go and sighed. "I wish I understood him better. Does he not like me?"
"More than he should," Stryfe remarked when Amyr would have preferred that he not interfere with whatever was or wasn't going on between them.
His sister frowned. "Jeshed is attracted to me?" She seemed truly surprised that any male would want her and Amyr knew it was because of the horrible things Avar had told her during their marriage. He eased his anger now by remembering how Avar had left a trail of blood in the air before his body had smashed into the fields in the valley. Amyr hoped he had not lost consciousness before his body was splattered into the dirt.
"Jeshed is attracted to a beautiful female," Stryfe told her. "Give him a couple of days at the imperial court to glut himself on the beauties there and you will not have to worry about him howling to the moons under your window."
Her brows raised. "You think it is that bad? Howling to the moons?" She seemed too thoughtful to Amyr.
"Do not toy with him, sister," he warned.
"I will not toy with him," she assured him. "I have no interest in seeking the companionship of a male and certainly no interest in a male as naive as Jeshed. He hardly seems older than Ginaesa."
"You will break his heart," predicted Stryfe. "And I, for one, do not want to be around when a dragon breaks his heart."
Taeron slept for two days, and when he awoke, Amyr wondered if he would ever again see the man with whom he had grown up. The optimism that led Taeron to work for his father's approval even when there seemed to be no hope that Lord Duo would acknowledge him was gone. Taeron was reserved, and while he joined in their conversations and did his duty as a commander, even the men he visited in the transport hold remarked on the change in him. The imperials on their ship predictably wanted to turn the transport back to Teralon where they would storm the palace and carry the princess away for their lord prince. Amyr feared they were making plans to do just that when he caught Danlaer in a hushed conversation with the men in the hold. He drew the pilot aside to warn him of the consequences of not maintaining the course to Calabria, so if there had been plans to abduct Princess Dijana, they did not act on them.
As they drew closer to Calabria, Amyr began to anticipate seeing his wife and son again. He had expected her to return to Teralon, but in all the time they remained on the planet, she had not, nor did they pass her transport making the return trip. She must have had a good reason to remain on Dagmaeus and he hoped Yori was not ailing because he could think of no other reason for her not to return to him. When they were together, she would probably laugh about this anxious feeling he had that all was not well, but as Calabria came into view and they drew close enough to see the two moons, Amyr had an ache in his chest that had nothing to do with his eagerness to see his wife. Now he feared for her.
The derelict pirate satellite from which Staefyn had launched his previous attacks came into view, and Taeron entered the command center to take a seat. Amyr could see that he did not want to be there because he expected a battle that would have the ship spinning and flipping to avoid direct hits to the shield, and with Danlaer piloting there was going to be enough movement to empty Taeron's stomach several times before he lost consciousness. But Taeron knew that it was his place to be there and not hiding in shame in his cabin.
But there was no movement from the dark station that looked as lifeless as it always had. Amyr had heard stories that the station was almost like another moon, that in centuries past, Bayman had built the station and then abandoned it when they found little of interest on primitive Calabria. Primitive Calabria had been visited repeatedly by people from nearby planets that made the same types of deals with them that the Cinq Kingdom had in providing them with technology that Calabrians were still too primitive to invent on their own. They had precious, rare minerals with which to barter and in ages past, warriors to provide as mercenaries in exchange for ships and armaments.
The station abandoned by Bayman was soon inhabited by unsavory individuals in the binary system that preyed on ships that had to pass by on their way to Bayman, and those same pirates turned around to sell their spoils in goods or women to Calabria. When they began to prey on Calabria, Amyr's father had put an end to their practices by sending Lord Duo who knew how to render the pirate satellite station uninhabitable after scattering the pirates by offering them a place on the moons as pardoned citizens of the empire or by having them escorted to the frontier. Until Staefyn had recently used the station, it remained dormant.
Just as dormant as it appeared to be now as they passed it and Amyr could see by Taeron's frown that he was perplexed by their unmolested passage. Whatever Taeron was thinking, he did not voice, but he did not look surprised when they were hailed from the planet when the station was behind them.
Danlaer turned his head to look at Taeron. "The transmission originates from Guerani Palace."
"I expected as much," he muttered. He nodded to Danlaer who put the feed on the screen.
Amyr grit his teeth to see his brother sitting on the ornate chair in the receiving hall that had been meant for his father. "Welcome home, brothers! I am sorry if you are disappointed that I did not send a welcoming escort, but I have tired of that particular tactic."
"Because you have failed at it every time," Amyr told him. "Have you run out of gliders to send after us?"
Staefyn's smile unnerved Amyr and he felt as if he were standing in the room with him. "I do not know if I should congratulate you, Amyr, on receiving your powers or if I should console you on losing your position as crown prince."
"I don't need you to do either," he snapped. Why had he never seen the deceitful creature that now looked back at him?
"Chaela is with you. I feel her presence."
Amyr could not feel Staefyn so he was amazed that his brother had become so powerful. "She is returning home."
"Without her little wingless boy." Amyr was infuriated when Staefyn shook his head slowly with what was surely false sympathy. "Father will be devastated when he learns what happened to Kaerwen. Of course, I already knew when he joined the ancestors, just as I will know when you do."
Amyr was going to retort, but Taeron looked at him sharply. "Stop arguing with him. He is demented."
"Demented, Taeron? I can feel the turmoil in your soul from here. What causes it?" He was smiling smugly, but then the smile faded and he seemed disconcerted. "You … you have had your bond severed? How can that be? To what manner of vile sorcery have you submitted yourself?"
"The sorcery of healing," Amyr told him before Taeron could stop him. "He was in pain and that pain was taken from him."
For a moment Staefyn said nothing and Amyr wished he could read his brother's thoughts as easily as Staefyn could his even from that great distance.
Then Staefyn shook his head. "I have something of yours, brother." He raised his hand to motion to the side and Amyr felt as if he had been kicked in the chest when Quynn appeared, dragged to Staefyn's side by a man he did not recognize.
But Taeron did. "Kai!" he hissed furiously.
"Quynn!" Amyr was horrified that his mate was in her hands.
There was a bruise on her cheek and her wavy hair appeared tangled, but there was no mistaking the indomitable look she gave as she raised her head to look at the viewer. "Oh, hey guys! I took a wrong turn and ended up here. That is what you should write, Stryfe, because I don't think the emperor wants to hear that his warriors allowed this Varoonyan bastard onto my ship after he tricked me with a false message from Taeron ordering me to take the wounded back to Calabria without him."
Amyr was starting to feel panic so great that he feared when he might do. "He did not hurt you." She must be able to protect herself with her magic.
Staefyn made a clucking noise. "Her fire burns low, brother. If she wasn't such a cursed stubborn female, she would let it burn out."
The Varoonyan warlord laughed. "Oh, I knew about her fire all along from my friends on Norvana." He grabbed a handful of her hair and Amyr growled with fury when he handled her, but he saw a collar around her neck studded with red gems that glowed. "Her magic is useless. When she tries to use it, the magic is channeled into these gems where it burns her."
He leaned his face close to hers and Amyr saw the gems glow brightly in the collar as she tried to lean away. Her mouth opened as smoke rose from her flesh and she pressed her eyes closed, but he saw the pain and his very soul cried out for her as she became limp and would have collapsed had Staefyn not caught her around the waist and brought her against him.
As Staefyn brushed the back of his fingers against her cheek, he lowered his face to the searing flesh on her neck and suddenly blue-white light flowed from his parted lips and the blistered, damaged skin smoothed out and the bruise on her cheek faded away. She stirred in his arms and as his brother moved his lips to whisper in her ear, Amyr felt as if a wild beast at exploded inside him. He lunged forward, but he suddenly felt his hair seized and his head was shoved ruthlessly forward to smash onto the edge of the control console.
