Chapter 57

The change in her living arrangement that pleased Quynn most after meeting Lady Xuxa was the modest wardrobe that the other woman had provided her to replace the scandalous clothing Staefyn had insisted she wear. After the first morning when Quynn came to break the night's fast wearing one such garment, Vaedra came to her with an armful of gowns, feminine tunics and leggings that would cover her appropriately.

As she came to breakfast this morning wearing one of those sleeveless tunics and leggings, a pale golden color that complemented her as did all the garments she had been provided, she almost laughed to see Staefyn frown. He had not ogled her anyway when she wore the revealing attire since his mating bond prevented his interest in other females, but she guessed that he enjoyed making her feel helpless in the scraps of cloth he had insisted she wear.

Lady Xuxa gave her an approving nod. "Your appearance pleases me this morning, Lady Quynn." The woman spoke like a queen reigning over court.

Quynn took her seat opposite Staefyn who was sitting next to the older woman. He did not look at her, but he did not look at his mate either. "I appreciate your gift, Lady Xuxa." She could be polite this morning. "I had a wonderful dream last night."

She hadn't been sure if her dream had really been a dream and when Staefyn gave her a silent warning with his eyes, she had her suspicion confirmed. The dream had been a trance and she had been with Amyr. Why had Staefyn allowed her to be with him? Dared she ask him to allow her to escape? By the sour expression on his face he had read her mind and was probably regretting his kind act. She doubted she could plan on any other visits from Amyr, not even with Shamara at his side.

Lady Xuxa's thin lips curved in a smile and she reached out to curl her long, bony fingers around Staefyn's. "I live my dream every day."

Quynn swallowed her revulsion, especially when Staefyn gave the elderly female a hot glance and she hoped they would wait until after breakfast to engage in the activity that kept them busy more frequently than a couple of teenagers without parental supervision. She wondered how Lady Xuxa could even handle a young man in her bed or wherever they chose to rut because neither seemed to care when and where they did. For that reason, Quynn remained in her room although Lady Xuxa gave her more freedom to move about in the palace.

Taking her eyes off them, she pushed around the grubs on her plate for a moment wishing she had a slice of buttered toast, a muffin, maybe some eggs and bacon. A steaming cup of coffee would be a nice addition instead of the tepid fruit juice that had a bitter aftertaste. The tea from Ulfynaeus would be glorious, but Amyr's orders to stop shipments of any kind meant she would have to go without along with everyone else until the emperor reconciled with his son and his imperial guard.

She was about to announce her intention to return to her room where she planned to spend the morning sleeping, perhaps recapturing her dream, but warlord Kai stepped onto the terrace. Did the temperature drop? She shivered all the same. She hoped he did not have a beating planned because she was in too good a mood to have him and his partner spoil it this morning. The Varoonyan glanced at her warily, made a wide berth around Staefyn and bowed to Lady Xuxa.

"I am delighted you have joined us, warlord. Do you care to eat?" She signaled to the young woman that had served their meal.

She moved forward to hold out her arm to the warlord. When Kai took it and brought her wrist to his mouth, Quynn looked away with disgust, but she heard the girl gasp and she winced at the noises he made as he drew in her blood. She caught Staefyn's expression and saw that he was as revolted as she was, but Lady Xuxa was smiling as she watched. After witnessing that, Quynn was not going to be able to eat anything. She rarely saw the warlord, but when she did, he did not fail to repel her before finding some excuse to strike her, although if Quynn were honest with herself, her mouth was usually to blame.

Although she was repulsed by him, it was not difficult for her to understand how a naïve young woman might be seduced by the handsome Varoonyan. On the return trip from Norvana when she was his captive audience, Kai had bragged about seducing Princess Dijana, how he had persuaded her to betray her people. Yet while he mocked the 'pitiful princess' he betrayed that his own feelings for her had grown out of control. He had grown obsessed with the woman whose innocence he had destroyed.

When he had his fill of the serving woman, he ordered her to await his pleasure in his chamber, and she wandered out as if not in control of her own actions, heading in the direction of the suite that was provided for his use. Quynn glanced at Kai and their eyes met briefly before he glanced at the collar and looked quickly away. If she did not have that collar she would blast him with an inferno spell that would consume him in seconds. But there was no way for her to remove the collar since it had been magically tied to Kai's life and at the moment it was uncomfortably hot against her neck.

Staefyn was frowning at her, his eyes on the collar, so she imagined the stones were bright.

Lady Xuxa smiled at Kai. "I heard that you met with your contacts at the fortress. Do you have news for us?"

"That bastard Taeron has returned to Imperia where the people cheered his success on Teralon." He ran his tongue over his lips and Quynn felt her stomach churn. "One day I will cross swords with him again, and after defeating him, I will drain him and then listen as he lies dying at my feet begging pitifully to spare his life."

Quynn thought the likelihood of him killing him was slim and even slimmer would be the odds of hearing Taeron beg him for his life. "I think you shall have some difficulty doing either of those things. My brother is not a pampered prince. He has earned his position."

Although he was obviously reluctant, he turned to look at Quynn. "I have already bested him thanks to my lovely Dijana. She brought him into our dream world and I nearly gutted him."

He had bragged of this before on the ship after he had awakened from what Quynn had thought was a very active dream. Carrinda had told her that Varoonyan masters could reach their thralls in their dreams if they were physically close enough, so Quynn knew he might be telling the truth when he told her of coming upon her brother and his mate in Dijana's dreams. If Taeron had been there, it was more likely that he had slipped into a trance that they had shared.

Quynn gave him a half smile. "Since he entered the imperial city amidst the adulation of all of Calabria, he is no worse for the experience of having crossed swords with you. Next time your Dijana might not be there to help you."

His eyes narrowed and she wished she had not mocked him. If Lady Xuxa did not speak to dispel the tension between them, he probably would have struck her.

"I don't know whether to be amused or revolted that Larya's bastard has risen so high in the empire," remarked the older woman. "In Zeno's day, Lord Prince Taeron would have been strangled at birth as a fatherless bastard."

"He has a father," remarked Staefyn, his gaze dark and dangerous as he looked at his mate. "You told me that my father had gotten him off that whore, Larya, but Lady Quynn told me that her own mother performed some test on his blood that satisfied Lord Duo."

Xuxa held his gaze. "Are you going to believe her?"

"Lord Duo denied him for too many years for him to suddenly accept him without proof."

Quynn could scarcely believe that Staefyn believed her. She looked at Xuxa to see her reaction. The older woman shrugged. "Believe what you will, Staefyn."

"Lady Trynity has no reason to lie," he argued.

"I do not like your tone," snapped Xuxa. She looked at Quynn and her soulless blue eyes chilled her as much as Kai's presence. "Do you think you can poison my mate with your lies?"

"I am not lying. My mother ran a genetic test on Taeron to prove that my father is also his. As for poisoning Staefyn, I think you did that."

Staefyn flinched and Quynn saw that Lady Xuxa's fingernails were biting into his flesh where she held his hand. Then she relaxed and took a deep breath in an effort to control her anger and she did not speak until she had succeeded. "You have your mother's arrogance. She never knew how to shut her mouth." She leaned forward and the smile on her artificially colored lips sickened Quynn. "Did she ever tell anyone what Dax did to her? How often he did it?" She leaned back and Quynn checked the impulse to throw her food in her face. "And yet your mother continued to challenge him. Perhaps she enjoyed his domination. I doubt that sycophant Lord Duo can satisfy her."

"Lady Trynity is a kind woman," remarked Staefyn aloud, surprising Quynn with his defense. Hearing Lady Xuxa malign her parents was not new, but Staefyn speaking up as he did today certainly was.

Xuxa turned her gaze to him. "Do you lust for the human healer as well as her bastard daughter? Will you find some way to use your powers on her as well?"

Although he had been forgotten, Kai reminded them that he was still there by clearing his throat, and Quynn suspected that it was because he was uncomfortable with talk of magic. She smiled as she thought of how Kai was going to fall to Taeron's sword and she hoped she could have a front row seat to watch as he cowered from her brother's holy magic.

"Upon my return from Imperia, I discovered that the Guerani sorcerers are at Edgeland Fortress. I tried to find a way inside, but it is secure."

"Which sorcerers?" asked Xuxa with interest.

"Along with Apolo, my mother, my sisters Shamara and Chaela, my brother Amyr and his son Yori," answered Staefyn calmly although Xuxa spun to look at him furiously.

"You did not tell me that whore had returned from Bayman!" Xuxa snatched her hand from Staefyn and Quynn could not tell if he was relieved or dismayed to lose contact with her. "I want her dead! Are you not strong enough to enter her dreams to kill her?"

Quynn was horrified at the suggestion.

Staefyn shrugged and turned his attention to his food. "I do not enter dreams and I am not willing to try to kill her in a trance." Then he raised his gaze to his fuming mate. "You underestimate my mother. Do you not remember that she took Dax into her trance and that he did not leave it alive? And he had been possessed by the being Camridaeus, so what chance would I, alone, have, especially after trying to kill her once already?"

Lady Xuxa slammed her hands on the table and she rose, unsteady in her anger. "You tried to kill her? Are you taking credit for that now when you could not do as I asked you that day? You are a worthless mate! I would have been better off bonding that bastard Taeron!" Then she left the room, her long skirt swirling behind her like a snake's tail.

There was silence after her departure for a moment before Kai spoke. "I left a squadron of battle thralls behind to ambush them when they head to Imperia. In the meantime, there is a village on the eastern slope of the mountain that I have not yet paid a visit to. I may be able to cull a few of the men for our cause. Will you join me?" The tone of his question suggested that he would rather not be burdened with the company of the Guerani sorcerer.

Staefyn snorted. "I will be busy." His lips twisted in disgust as he stared at the door through which Xuxa had exited. "Very busy."

Kai turned his reluctant attention to Quynn. "Are you enjoying your stay?"

She smiled at him and reached up to finger the collar. "How sweet of you to ask!"

The stones were hot and she could feel her skin burning, but it was worth it to see Kai's gaze widen with fear. He stood abruptly, and nodding to Staefyn, he hurried away.

Chuckling, Staefyn reached out to snag her hand, and when he blew across her fingers, his breath was cool and her blistered skin healed instantly.

"That is a nice trick," she remarked with a sigh, wondering if there was hope for Staefyn.

"No," he said in answer to her unspoken question. "There is no hope." He came close to her and she knew that he could heal her with his touch, but he leaned in so that his lips were almost touching the flesh of her neck and she almost moaned from how good it felt for him to blow his healing breath where the collar had burned her.

He then sat back in his chair and she could see that he had felt pleasure from the experience as well and it spoiled her own.

"You are a strong healer," she remarked when she was able to speak.

"That is why I am a disappointment to her," he responded. "I could not even kill Amyr when I had the chance. You cannot begin to imagine what she made me suffer for that debacle."

She looked at the doorway to be sure that the old female was not skulking nearby, then back to Staefyn. "What did she mean by what she said? How could she have chosen Taeron? When did she do this to you?"

He did not answer at first as he silently contemplated his untouched plate of food, and then he met her gaze. "I will not speak of this now. She will expect me to come to her." His gaze dropped as he stood. "I have to go to her. I need her."

Quynn did not want to feel any sympathy for him, but she did as she watched him leave in the direction Xuxa had taken. He was a handsome young man who had grown up among people that loved him, whose strong healing magic should be used to help others, but he had been twisted by that horrible woman, a woman who hated everyone he loved, who was destroying him day after day in her need for revenge. She hoped that he was wrong, that it was not too late to save him.

Two days after Taeron had gone, the communications system was restored and one of the first messages received at Edgeland Fortress was the request for Amyr to come to Imperia to meet his father. So on the following day, Amyr, along with his sisters, mother and son headed out after second sunrise. Apolo had provided an escort for the journey which would take the next two days on horseback because the transport had not returned after taking Taeron to the city. Amyr's mother did not want to wait any longer, and against his advice, arranged for them to leave that morning so that she could be with her husband as soon as possible to tell him what they had learned about Staefyn.

The first day of travel was uneventful and they camped at a pleasant grove near a stream where they found plenty of food. Yori had been excited by the journey and after the meal, as they sat around the campfire, he entertained them with stories about his time on Norvana, particularly about his adventures with the hunters. Amyr sensed that he missed the close-knit group among whom he had spent the first years of his life, but he understood that they had betrayed his mother. He was saddened that his son had learned so early that even people you thought of as family could not be trusted. Even worse, he was aware that even family could turn against him.

The following day, after several hours of travel, their group was attacked on the main road cutting through the plains between Edgeland Fortress and Imperia at nearly the same point where Amyr remembered being attacked a few months ago after clearing out the thralls from the fortress. The imperial city was barely visible on the horizon, so Amyr knew they could not expect help. They were outnumbered by the large force of battle thralls, but Staefyn's men were poorly trained when they hadn't been possessed by warlord Kai and becoming possessed by the Varoonyan had not improved their skills.

Amyr charged with the first wave of men to attack the onslaught, leaving his family behind with a couple dozen men to protect them. He tried not to take his mind off the hacking and slashing at the mindless creatures with red eyes with the sword Apolo had provided for him, but when he saw two more forces bearing down on them from different directions, he worried about his family and earned a slash across his back because of the distraction. The pain was excruciating, but he fought on, knowing that he had to push back these men before he could return to help the females.

He should not have underestimated the woman that had given him life. Once again she showed him a side to her that he had never seen. Amyr was amazed when she drew her own sword to rally the men of her guard who were facing insurmountable odds. But with the females leading them, the remaining imperials followed her charge into battle. Amyr had no time to worry about what he would say to his father if he had to bring his mother's lifeless body back. The press of mindless thralls was overwhelming and he could see the dust cloud kicked up by another force from another direction.

"Shamara!" The battle cry was echoed as it rose over the pounding hooves of the mounts racing towards the battle and Amyr was bolstered by the streak of gold that disappeared into the dark mass, two swords swinging, their blades turning the thralls to dust.

Amyr did not know how Taeron could have known they were coming or that they would be in danger, but he gave a silent thanks to the gods that he brought his imperials joined with Darlac and his men. The battle raged until the setting of the first sun when the last of the thralls fell to his mother's sword. Because they were too far away to reach the city before dawn and she wanted to treat the injured, she ordered her men to make camp at the stream they had followed west to Imperia. As Amyr joined her and his sisters in healing the men who had injuries, Taeron and Darlac supervised the burning of the corpses of both the thralls and the imperials that had been killed in the battle, collecting their swords to be returned to their houses.

Yori was horrified by the carnage, but it was not the first battle he had witnessed and it would probably not be the last. When they had set out that morning, Amyr had no objection to his riding on the horse with his grandmother, and he was chagrined to realize that Yori had remained with her as she fought. Amyr found him at the stream with Chaela who was washing the gore that had splattered him when his grandmother used her sword to butcher the mindless thralls.

"You are injured," Chaela observed as she used the hem of her own tunic to wipe the dark blood from Yori's face. "Go to Shamara for healing. I am too exhausted."

"Is Yori unharmed?" he asked.

"Grandmother kept me safe," Yori said and demonstrated by bringing up a glowing shield. "I helped."

Shaking his head in amazement at his mother's power and that of his son, he left Yori in Chaela's capable hands and went in search of his mother or Shamara. He found them both standing with Taeron, and Amyr almost expected Taeron to scold him for not preparing adequately for the trip, but Taeron's frown eased when he saw him and as he grasped his forearm and pulled him into a hug, Amyr winced with pain.

"You are injured," observed his mother. Now Amyr saw that she appeared exhausted and he knew that she had probably used the last of her power in healing the wounded, especially after maintaining a shield to protect the grandson who had clung to her during battle.

Shamara moved behind Amyr to inspect his wound. "Did you not shield yourself, Amyr?"

He did not want to admit that he had not thought of it, but then why should he? His powers were still new to him. His mother and sister had theirs from birth, so they knew how to use them in battle by instinct.

"You fought well," Taeron told him and he was mollified by his praise. "We came as soon as we received word that there would be an ambush."

Amyr was going to ask how he knew, but his mother answered. "Taeron told me that Staefyn called to brag about how he was going to leave your bloody corpse in the road to be spit upon by imperials that know the truth of your birth."

Frowning, he looked at his mother. "Why does he believe that lie?"

"Because of who is giving him the information," she told him. She shook her head and put her hand on his arm. "I know that you are angered by his words, but you have missed the significance of his ridiculous display of arrogance."

Amyr could not think of anything but how he would like to beat Staefyn senseless although he knew he never could.

"He called me this morning," Taeron told him. "I had enough time to gather the men to ride out to meet you."

"Staefyn is trying to break free of her!" his mother exclaimed. Amyr wished he could feel as confident as she did that Staefyn was anything but vindictive and that his call was nothing more than ill-planned boasting.

Shamara put her arms around her mother's shoulders. "You know that is impossible and so does he. He was not warning Taeron. He is a fool that does not know how to keep his mouth shut."

"And if he was warning me, and if Kai and Lady Xuxa are controlling him," Taeron pointed out, "he will be in danger from ruining their plans today."

Remembering how frantic Quynn had been about Lady Xuxa's influence over Staefyn, Amyr would not want to be his brother when his mate held the means to torture him.

They had not planned to stop before reaching the city although it would have taken the entire day to do so, so they were not prepared to spend the night in the open under the moons. Taeron ordered the men to forage for food while Amyr and Darlac organized the warriors into guard duty as well as scouting the countryside for any more of Kai's forces. By the time the second moon rose, Amyr had time to settle down at the campfire where his mother was cradling his sleeping son in her arms. He had seen her feeding him earlier with whatever Taeron left for them before leaving to confer with Darlac.

"We are fortunate that Taeron came," remarked his mother softly. Her smile wavered with exhaustion. "He reminded me of Duo, coming out of nowhere to save my life." Now she turned to look at Amyr and in the light of the fire he could see that her smile had faded. "I never told Trey and I made Duo swear to me never to speak of it, but the night you were born, I almost lost the palace to assault by house Caron."

Because her defense of the palace and the imperial city was a remarkable feat in Calabrian history, Amyr was surprised to hear her account.

"The battle began in the afternoon after Duo had gone out on patrol, expecting to meet your father," she continued. "We all knew that you would be born that day, our son and his potential heir, and he was on his way to be with me, but Caron and Meridon had made a pact to stop him. Caron had planned to challenge Trey for control of the empire and knew that my death would break him."

Taeron returned to sit and he must have heard what she said because he remarked, "Stryfe is going to regret not being here to hear what you have to say."

Amyr sighed. "He is going to ask so many questions about the battle on our return as it is."

Chaela sat near Taeron and she handed him a large leaf on which rested many beetles that made Amyr's mouth water. "I thought you might like something to eat, my lord prince."

Amyr raised a brow and he caught Shamara smiling as Taeron frowned. "Not you too, Chaela," muttered Taeron. "I have been tripping over females since the sun rose this morning. I was glad for the excuse to leave Imperia."

"Chaela, do not bother Taeron," Arora scolded her daughter. "You know that his heart is engaged elsewhere."

"I know," she sighed, "but I cannot help it. There is something about him that makes him suddenly so appealing."

"His golden glow?" Yori's head popped out from inside his grandmother's cloak.

Shamara laughed when Taeron muttered a curse about his golden glow. "No, Yori, it is something very different. Some day you will understand."

Amyr looked back at his mother. "What happened the night that I was born?"

She sighed deeply. "I was tired from fighting all day, and I was injured because I could not keep up my shield, not when I expended so much energy trying to keep you safe as you struggled to come into the world. Caron and his men had trapped us in the royal chamber, and we fought for our lives, but soon enough the few warriors remaining to me were dead around me and I stood with only my sword between me and a dozen men. I could barely stand."

"Mother, this story is upsetting you," said Chaela, her own voice emotional and Amyr felt the tendrils of his mother's feelings creeping into him as well.

Yori reached up to wipe the tears that had spilled over her lashes onto her cheeks. "Do not cry, grandmother."

"I am sorry, but I felt that hopelessness today, that feeling that I did not want to die without seeing Trey again." She reached out to take Taeron's hand to squeeze. "Caron wrenched the sword from my hand and struck my face with his fist before he ..." She paused to gulp a breath and Amyr's body shuddered with the horror she must have felt. He could see that his sisters were equally affected by the feelings her memories brought out. "He held my own imperial blade to my throat and I could see in his eyes that he was going to cut off my head with the sword Trey had given me."

She squeezed Taeron's hand again, "Suddenly Duo dived into the room from the window closest to us as dozens of his men poured in from the others and before Caron could even draw a breath, his own head was rolling on the floor, his blood drenching me where I had knelt before him ready to die."

"My father never spoke of it," Taeron told her. Amyr could see that Taeron adored his mother every bit as much as he adored his own, and when she caressed his face, Amyr was surprised that he did not feel jealous as he once had when she would show him affection. Taeron had always been a part of his life and he understood now more than before why his parents had taken him into their lives. Duo had saved her life and she repaid him by raising his son.

"Duo carried me to my bed and he could have gone for help, but he stayed with me to bring you into this world, Amyr." Now she smiled at him. "You can not know how much joy I feel to know that you have taken his beloved daughter as your mate and that the two of you have given us this precious child." She leaned down to kiss the top of Yori's head. "As much as we would not wish to admit it, Staefyn had a hand in that, whether he foresaw it or not."

Darlac was standing several paces away and he must have been listening because he said, "My father was led to believe that Prince Dilan sired Prince Amyr." He was silent for a moment, then he said, "The old woman in the hills spread her poisonous lies, and the clans believed her. We had all made vows to Zeno and his line and could not allow one not of his blood to take his throne."

"Xuxa must have been that woman," murmured Arora. "There can be no other."

"I do not know who she was, for I was a only a child, but my father claimed that she had been in a position to know the truth. The houseless female stayed long enough for a meal of scraps and to tell her story, then she disappeared into the night."

"By the gods!" snarled Amyr furiously. "How can Staefyn have taken her as his mate? What grub is eating his brain?"

"The same grub that eats the brain of any male that has bonded to a female," his mother said. "He has no choice in what he does now."

"Nor do we," said Taeron.

"If we can separate him from her..."

"Mother," admonished Shamara. "You surely know she must have gotten the bond long ago if Staefyn has done all that he has since even before the attack on Teralon. He has been her mate at least seven years if not longer, and you heard Apolo say that females have never reacted to him as Chaela has to Taeron."

"We will have Stryfe study the archives," Amyr said. "I doubt he will find any record of Staefyn dallying with an old crone because we never would have forgotten that. If I had known, I would have teased him mercilessly."

Taeron scowled at him. "You were never very nice to him anyway. I had to stay back with him countless times when you left us behind if he stumbled."

"He was clumsy," remarked Chaela. "I did not think he would ever make it through imperial training." Then she glanced at Amyr. "He did a better job than you."

"With Taeron's help," Amyr pointed out before shrugging. "The gods had other plans for me."

"The gods have plans for us all," said Arora. "Their plan now is for us to get some sleep. Come sleep by me, Amyr, and help me keep your son warm." She glanced at Chaela as Amyr moved towards her. "Stay away from Taeron."

Chaela moved to Shamara who held open her cloak to invite her to share her warmth. "Who is going to keep Taeron warm?"

"My golden glow," grumbled Taeron as he pulled his cloak around himself and lay on the ground.