Chapter 40

"You see, she is alive and well." Balak stood with his hand heavy on her shoulder. Before entering the council chamber, Avar had warned her harshly with a whisper in her ear to keep her mouth shut or he would be sure that she regretted every word she dared to utter. So Dijana did not speak as she stared at the six elders, two old male warriors and three women before whom she stood now with her father.

She was alive, but she was far from well and when one of the females pointed it out, her father snorted. "Of course she is not well! Her blood has been poisoned."

"By the fiend, Kai," pointed out Garest, one of the males.

"By the Calabrian," he argued with a glare at the elder.

Dijana had ceased to wonder at her father's audacity. The council could order his head removed for his boldness and yet they stood placidly like bovine, their faces expressionless before the man that was answerable to them.

"How do you know this is the Calabrian's doing?" Garest persisted. "Are you privy to information that we are not?"

Of course he was, thought Dijana, through Kai, but Balak would not tell them that since Kai was a reviled outlaw on Teralon. They did not know that Kai had a sumptuous room in the palace that he shared with Sharisse as a reward for what he had done. She wanted to tell them, but the elders were not armed and Balak could probably kill them with his bare hands. And Avar was armed just outside the door with the two guards whose loyalty was suspect. If they were loyal to the council they guarded, Avar would surprise them and kill them before they could act.

When Balak did not answer, the other male, Deryn turned his gaze to Dijana. The old warrior had never made secret his contempt for her, had even cast the one vote to remove her in favor of Sharisse after the Varoonyans had left. "What have you to say, female? Has the Calabrian poisoned your blood as Balak claims?"

"You will speak to Princess Dijana with respect!" snapped Garest.

"You overstep yourself, Deryn!" agreed Kaseja with an angry cry. The eldest of the females, she was the only one that had ever shown Dijana any sympathy. She had argued eloquently to keep Dijana in her position, that despite what had happened to her, she was not the first female of the ruling house to be abused during a Varoonyan incursion.

Now she turned her furious gaze on Balak. "And what of Neria? Have you sent word to her of the dishonor Calabria has done by refusing her firstborn, the child of Nykos?"

Her father rolled his shoulders in the effort to keep his wings retracted, but Dijana looked quickly at him. Child of Nykos? Who was Nykos?

"You swore to raise her as your own, and yet you have failed again and again to protect her," charged Garest.

Dijana's heart was beating rapidly and she could scarcely believe what she was hearing. "You … you are not my father?" Her world was becoming skewed as she realized that she was not who she thought she was. Did Sharisse have good reason to scorn her? Was she a bastard?

Balak ignored her. "Do you challenge my right? Has Neria challenged me?"

"We have no way of knowing what Neria wishes when she refuses to return from the northern palace," remarked Olwyn, another of the females who fixed Balak with an accusing stare. "Bring Neria to us and we will hear what she has to say."

"No one can make Neria do what she does not wish to do," scoffed Balak. "I have sent my men to escort her and they return again and again with her unpleasant words of refusal ringing in their ears."

The council fell silent for several moments as they exchanged glances and Dijana wondered what kind of woman Queen Neria was in addition to being an unfaithful wife.

Then Garest remarked, "If you had been a better mate for her, she would not have abandoned her duties."

The hand on her shoulder grew painful as he took out his ire on Dijana. "Are you satisfied that Princess Dijana has been returned to Teralon unharmed? What of Calabria's insult to Teralon?"

The elders drew together and moved away to discuss the issue just out of hearing and then they returned with their verdict. Kaseja responded for them. "We will abide by Neria's wishes. However, we do not believe that you can muster enough men to challenge the might of the Calabrian empire, certainly not lead by Warlord Taeron."

Balak smiled smugly. "I have been informed that Warlord Taeron has been taken prisoner beyond the frontier where he will be lost to the slave markets like all other Calabrians. And I believe I can find allies in Varoonya. With my winged warriors and the Varoonyans who are still stinging from Calabrian aggression, I can lead them to defeat Emperor Trey's imperial warriors."

Dijana had never seen imperial warriors in battle, but their prowess was legendary. She could not believe her father – nay Balak for she knew now why he had always hated her – could believe that he could stand against the might of Emperor Trey even without his warlord. He had many warlords, not the least his own imperial guard, Lord Taeron's father. Balak had lost his mind if he thought he could defeat them.

"You would dare to suggest an alliance with Varoonya?" snapped Kaseja angrily. "Who is leading them? You say that they resent the Calabrians and yet we have had reports that Lord Taeron had governed Varoonya capably and that he is favored by the people."

"There are many who do not!" scoffed Balak. "You receive the reports that the Calabrians want you to hear." His sly smile sicked Dijana who knew that his alliance was with the Varoonyan who had scores of thralls at his beck and call. "They will gladly join in seeking vengeance against those Calabrian dogs. It is time that Trey is put in his place!"

The same woman shook her head. "Calabria is too strong and the insult is hardly worth the losses we would sustain. We have not even recovered from the Varoonyan invasion and you would take your warriors against the people, the very men who liberated us? You have lost your mind, Balak, but then I suspected that long ago when you murdered Nykos."

Dijana gasped in shock to learn that the man she had always believed was her father had murdered the man that was. He did not even react to the accusation.

Olwyn waved her hand. "I would hear Balak's plan, Kaseja." All but Garest and Kaseja nodded in agreement. "Let him speak. This is not the first time that Calabria has slighted us. Avar was given the first princess, but Emperor Trey took back his word and gave the prize to Bayman instead. Princess Chaela has not given Avar a female child, and the gods have given us the sign that they do not favor the match. The wingless male she bore is of no use to us." She leaned towards Balak with a greedy light in her eyes. "What is your plan, Balak?"

Balak smiled at her. "I have allies in Calabria who have engineered an insurrection that will keep the empire in disorder until my forces arrive."

Dijana realized that Balak was a madman who preferred the warring chaos of the past to the peace that Emperor Trey had brought to the binary system.

"We will not commit our forces without the approval of Neria," insisted Kaseja. She narrowed her eyes at Balak and Dijana read threat in their depths.

"Neria is not here to speak for herself," argued Olwyn. "She has left Balak here to make decisions for her and it is our duty to counsel him. I agree with his plan."

"As do I," said Jaleila who had watched the proceeding quietly. "And I further demand that Dijana be stripped of her position. She is tainted beyond redemption."

"Agreed," confirmed Deryn and Ayrael, and Dijana saw Olwyn smiling with malicious delight. Dijana did not care about her position, but she did not want to be replaced by her duplicitous sister. Yet she dared not speak because she was sure that Avar would beat her senseless if not kill her especially since he would probably have the backing of more than half the council.

"You will not make any such changes, nor take Teralon to war without the approval of our lawful queen!" exclaimed Kaseja furiously.

"I agree with Kaseja. Bring her to us and she will make the final decision. As for the rest of you," said Garest. He looked at each of the elders in turn. "If you act in this matter without consulting her, the gods know what she will do to you. I doubt in the years she has been absent that her tongue has been dulled and I shudder to think what that female would do. Her mother was a weakling, but she has her father's blood and his temperament."

"It is too bad the man had a fondness for strong nectar or many things might not have come to pass had he not fallen drunkenly to his death after his wife's death." Kaseja glanced at Olwyn with accusation but the other woman showed no emotion. Dijana wondered what other secrets they were keeping from her, but Balak's grip on her was painful and she dared not rebel when most of the council stood against her.

"We will abide by what Neria wishes," stated Garest, and he glanced at the others, daring them to argue, but they remained silent. He looked back at Balak. "From her own lips, standing in this room. Do I make myself clear, Balak?"

Balak gave a curt bow, but Dijana was close enough to see the malevolent gaze with which he speared Kaseja and Garest. "As you wish."

He straightened and jerked Dijana closer to him as he headed to the door.

"In the meantime," said Kaseja to his back. "Keep Princess Dijana safe. She does not look well. I suggest you rectify it."

The man holding her stiffened, but he did not respond as he left the council chamber. Avar was waiting further down the hall and Balak shoved Dijana into his waiting hands. "That gods' cursed harpy is worse than Neria," muttered Balak.

"Kaseja?" When Balak nodded, Avar drew his dagger. "Give me the word, father, and I will put an end to her interference." Dijana was shocked that he would dare threaten any of the elders on the council.

Balak put up his hand. "Not yet. We still have need of the council, but once we have entered into war with Calabria, we will get rid of all of them and blame it on Calabrian assassins."

"The Calabrians would not employ assassins," pointed out Dijana with disgust.

Avar seized her chin in his hand and he shoved her hard against the wall behind her. The breath left her and pain shot through her head when it slammed against the rough stones. "You are a stupid female. What do you know of Calabrians?"

She tried to jerk her face from his fingers, but he dug them in and she knew she would be horribly bruised, and if she continued to try, he would probably break her jaw.

"Take her to her room. Then bring that worthless dog you mated to care for her." Balak walked ahead, leading them back to Dijana's room, and once there, Avar released her.

Dijana put as much space as she could between her and Balak, and she rubbed the places where Avar seemed to take delight in handling her roughly. She did not know where she found the courage, but she spoke to Balak.

"You are not my father?"

"Have I ever said so?" His lip curled as his eyes moved over her body, finding her lacking. If he were alive, I doubt even Nykos would claim such a worthless female as his daughter."

She opened her mouth to respond and then realized that he had never claimed her aloud. Dijana had always assumed that he was her father because he had never corrected her when she referred to him as such. "You killed my father?"

Balak took the dagger from his belt and ran his finger carefully along the edge. "With this very blade, in fact, in his nuptial bed as he sweated over that harpy. I was only too happy to finish for him and I did not realize I was too late, and you were born with Avar."

Dijana thought she was going to be sick. "My mother agreed to that?"

"Agreed? I cared not what Neria wanted. She should have chosen me, and because she did not, she got what she deserved. That bitch fought me with sharp talons, but I proved to her why males should rule Teralon. Shortly after your birth, I proved it again and was pleased that she gave me the daughter that should rule. But those old fools of the council would not deny you because you were born first, and you were the child of the male that Neria chose."

"Why didn't you just kill me?" demanded Dijana, hating him and hating the life he had subjected her to. "Why did you turn me over to Kai?"

"I cannot kill you," said Balak. "The council would only accept me as Neria's mate with my oath to keep you alive. Kai was supposed to kill you, but he wants you for himself." His disgusted sneer told her that he could not understand why. "Soon enough I will no longer have need of him. I had hoped that the Calabrian warlord would eliminate the Varoonyan, but now I am glad he did not because Kai has made good use of his friendship with Prince Staefyn."

Dijana clenched her fists in anger. "So you and Kai are behind Prince Staefyn's plotting? Whose idea was it to send our craft to the frontier?"

"Staefyn. He despises Taeron who he believes is his bastard brother. Since the Varoonyan conquest he has feared that his father will claim the warrior."

"Crown prince Amyr yet lives, so he should fear his brother's retribution instead," Dijana told him as Avar brought Chaela into the room, the latter walking docilely although she noted a reddening welt on her face that was in the form of a hand print.

Chaela gasped and hurried to her. "My brother Amyr is alive?!"

"When I left Norvana he was with Lord Taeron, the scribe Stryfe and his wife, Lady Quynn."

"His wife!" exclaimed the other woman with surprise. "But I had heard..."

"Enough!" shouted Balak. "Feed Dijana."

Chaela shrank back. "You have never asked me to do this before!"

"I will not feed from her," declared Dijana although it had been too long since she had taken blood and her body reacted predictably. Her mouth began to water.

"You will," predicted Balak and he nodded to Avar who drew his dagger and in a few long strides he was behind Chaela. Seizing her hair, he jerked her head back and slid the blade across her throat, making an incision from which blood bubbled forth.

Dijana nearly panted with need as she watched the blood, but she did not move forward.

"You are stubborn like your mother," stated Balak derisively. "If you do not feed from her and heal the wound, we will let her bleed out onto the floor where I am sure you will lap it up like the vile creature you are."

Dijana could see the terror mingled with shame in Chaela's eyes, shame that she was afraid to die. With a sob, Dijana lunged forward and drew in her blood, but she took only a couple of mouthfuls before she sealed the wound and pushed herself back.

The Calabrian princess' head lolled and her face was flushed as she became limp in Avar's grasp. He thrust her to the side and with a laugh, Balak caught her and lifted her. Without a word, he carried her from the room and Dijana tried to follow to stop him, but Avar seized her and threw her back.

"Do you know what he will do to your wife?" she demanded furiously.

"I let you suck her blood," he pointed out with disgust. "I have no need of her, and I don't care who has her." Turning on his heel, he walked out and after the door shut, she heard the sound of the bolt being thrown on the outside of the door.

That night Kai came to her in her dreams and she tried to resist, but her struggles only seemed to excite him. He told her that they would soon be together, that after a few days of taking the blood of the princess of Calabria, she would be cleansed for him. The following day, Avar brought Chaela to him again, and this time Chaela did not fight and Dijana could see that she was ashamed, that her spirit had surely been broken. Dijana wondered if it would be kinder to allow her to bleed to death when Avar cut her, but she sensed that the daughter of emperor Trey would want a chance to fight back.

After several days, Kai came to her room, but when he sank his sharp teeth into her shoulder where Stryfe had marked her, he released her immediately and fell back. His face looked as if it were melting, and he paused only long enough to give Dijana an astonished look before stumbling out of the room.

Balak hurried in moments later. "What have you done to the warlord?" He struck Dijana's face with his fist and she had not even recovered her balance when he struck her again. "You have killed him!" He struck her to the floor. "I needed him!" He was frothing with fury, and when she was lying on the floor, he kicked her repeatedly and probably would have killed her had Avar not thrown himself at him and knocked him away.

"Father, stop! We still need her!" He steadied Balak who was still shaking with rage. "The warlord is not dead."

Dijana had curled into a ball to protect herself from his next blow, and now she peeked out. Seeing the blood splattered on Balak's garment, his hands and face and even his boots, she was surprised that she was still alive. Her gown was damp with blood and her entire body felt as if it were on fire. This was how she had felt when she had awakened after Kai's departure when he had torn off her wings.

"He has killed Sharisse in his feeding," Avar told him, "but he has stopped the worst of the damage." Dijana wanted to feel grief for her sister, but she could not.

Balak rubbed his blood flecked face with his hands, and he spared a glance at Dijana before telling Avar to send Chaela to tend to her. Before leaving, he warned her not to harm Kai again and she heard him tell Avar to send Sharisse's head to the northern palace to warn Neria of the consequences of her activities. Now Dijana wondered about the woman she had been told had abandoned her. What was she doing that would make Balak threaten her in such a grisly manner?

Chaela sobbed as she cleaned the blood from Dijana, her tears dropping into the basin water which was soon as red as blood. "I wish I had my uncle's healing powers," she cried with frustration.

Her eyes were swollen and nearly closed, but she could see Chaela through the slits that remained, and despite the stinging pain from her cut lips, she managed to say, "Are you sure that you do not have powers? Your brother, Amyr, has powers as does his son, Yori, and your brother Staefyn."

Chaela paused in wringing out the cloth in the basin. "My brother has a son?"

Since that first day, Dijana's only contact with Chaela had been to take her blood, so now, despite the pain, she told Chaela about her stay on Norvana. When she told her of the suspicions of the Calabrians about her brother Staefyn, Chaela was outraged.

"My brother would never do such a thing!"

Dijana could never feel such loyalty to Avar even though they had shared their mother's womb. "I heard my father tell the elders that he had allies in Calabria who are mounting an insurrection against the emperor. Prince Amyr was sure of your brother's guilt. He and the other Calabrians were training with Lord Taeron on Norvana so that they could be ready to fight."

"Taeron," murmured Chaela with tearful regret. "If only ..."

She fell silent as she worked, and when she had cleaned Dijana's wounds and dressed her in a clean shift, she helped her to lie in her bed, but when Dijana expected her to leave, she lay down with her and she reached out to offer her wrist.

"Bite it," she urged. "You have lost a lot of blood. Balak will only bring me back later, but at least now I can do this on my own terms without fearing that I will die."

She hesitated and met Chaela's eyes. "Balak will still …."

"I know," said Chaela quickly as she looked away. "But this time I will fight him. I will not let that pig touch me again!"

Dijana tried not to hurt her and she took only enough blood to sustain her. Chaela did not leave and as they rested side by side, Chaela began to talk about Calabria, about the family she missed, of the regrets of her life. She felt abandoned by the gods and blamed herself for what she had allowed to happen with Avar. Her mother and father had offered her the option of refusing to marry Avar, but she had been convinced of her love. She admitted that she should have trusted her father, that if he was willing to suffer the shame to his house for her behavior he must have sensed the truth about Avar.

And when she had finished, Dijana felt closer to Chaela than she had to any other person except Stryfe, so she confided in Chaela about what had happened between them on Norvana, how she had fought the feelings that she should not have for the man that she could never be with, and when she had ultimately given in, she knew that she could never love another.

"I fear for him," she told Chaela as they lay facing each other in the light of the first sun. "He bonded with me and he told me that he will be in pain without me."

Chaela smiled indulgently at her. "Stryfe is human. He cannot bond with a female."

Dijana told her how often they had been together, how he confessed he could not concentrate when they were parted, and while Chaela agreed that he sounded as if he had bonded, she told her that she only knew that human males could mate with several females and knew nothing more about their mating behavior.

"I do not know Stryfe well. He had only just arrived on Calabria when I left for Teralon, but I know that he has studied the customs of my people extensively." Reaching out, she touched the place where Kai had bitten that was now completely healed but where a faint mark was still visible from the bite Stryfe had given her. "He seems to have gotten carried away. He marked you in the old way."

"The old way?"

Chaela explained to her that the tribesmen of the hills and plains claimed their mates in such a manner while imperials had an elaborate ceremony in which both the male and female placed blood in a chalice filled with water from the sacred hills. Thereafter, the male was bonded to the female and the female made a sacred oath to care for him all the days of her life.

"When I learned of the bonding in the old way," admitted Chaela, "I dreamed of a male who would want me so much that he would do such a primitive thing."

"It did not seem primitive to me," remarked Dijana as she remembered the moment.

Chaela pushed herself up with obvious reluctance. "I should go. Balak or Avar might be looking for me." She had just left the bed and was headed to the door when it opened to reveal Balak.

"You have fed her?" he demanded gruffly and Dijana knew he was angry to be excluded.

Chaela raised her chin. "I have, and I certainly have no need of you!"

He reached for her and dragged her against him. "Do you think I care?"

Dijana looked away as he buried his face in Chaela's neck and his hands moved over her body. She struggled against him, but he threw her down on the floor, and Dijana was horrified when he would have covered her body with his own had she not rolled and hopped to her feet. Dijana watched with amazement as the second princess of Calabria raced for the door, and when he tried to stop her, she leaped in the air and spun in midair to avoid his hands. She managed to strike his face with her feet and he stumbled back, his nose bloody. He lunged at her and she side-stepped him again with the legendary speed of the imperials, this time smacking his face with the heel of her hand and sweeping out her foot to drop him to the floor before she leaped back to land ready to fight again.

Balak rose and wiped his face with the back of his hand, staring at the blood, panting from the effort of trying to catch her. When he raised his head, his face was dark with malice. "You will regret that, Chaela of house Trey."

"Do your worst," she challenged him, already crouched and ready for another attack. "You have already proven that you are not a worthy adversary."

Suddenly Avar rushed into the room and as Chaela changed her stance to defensive, Dijana wondered if the smaller woman could actually hold them both off.

But Avar had not come to rescue his father. "Father, Neria escaped the northern palace! That bastard Roehan has turned against us. He provided her with a ship and an escort and they are already headed in the direction of Calabria. Kai has followed, but they have a head start and Roehan has abandoned the northern palace with his men."

"My father will send his imperials," boasted Chaela. "And when he finds out what you have done ..."

"Shut up, you dog!" Balak ran a nervous hand through his hair and then he looked at Avar. "We will have to raise our allies now. Roehan is probably gathering his winged warriors to fight for that harpy, and we can assume that she will return with the emperor's imperial warriors."

Avar turned to leave, but Balak stopped him. "Wait. I have something more important for you to do." When he raised his brow in question, Balak turned to look at Chaela. "Kill her son."

Dijana gasped in shock and Chaela cried out. "No! I beg of you! I will do anything! Anything you want!" She hurried to him and fell to her knees before Balak, pressing her face against his inner thigh in a wanton example of the lengths she would go to save her son. But he looked down at her with cold contempt before shaking her off and walking out.

Now Chaela hurried to Avar and desperately grasped his arm to keep him from going. "Please, Avar, do not do this! He is your son!"

There was no feeling in his eyes. "I wanted to kill the monstrosity when he was born, but my father told me that he might be useful in our alliance with Calabria. Now I do not have to suffer the shame of having produced a wingless male." Shoving her back, he slammed the door shut and the bolt was thrown to trap them both inside.

Chaela stared at it without moving, without even breathing, and then she crumpled into a heap.

Dijana sat on her bed, her eyes burning, as the horror of her life slammed against her and she opened her mouth to wail with anger and sorrow, but no sound came out. Everything about her was a lie! Balak was not her father, but a deranged beast who had killed her sire. Balak had claimed her mother over her father's corpse and after raping her again to produce a female child, he had imprisoned her in the northern palace. The mad warrior had so many supporters that he could get away with inviting his Varoonyan allies to invade and so many men and women had lost their lives all so that he could cover for the murder that Kai did not even commit.

Now Balak was taking the life of a helpless child. He was a being of pure evil and she despaired that anyone could stop him.