Chapter 59
Quynn worried all day about the attack the warlord had planned on the group that left Edgeland Fortress. Unable to sleep, she stayed awake all night trying to think of some way to contact the fortress. Amyr and Yori would be in the group and they would not be expecting an assault from Kai's battle thralls, so it made her desperate enough to leave her bed with the intention of sneaking to the communication center at the palace. But when she opened the door, she saw that not only two guards stood on either side, but there were several more lining the corridor. Cursing her Guerani captor for reading her mind, she smiled and winked at her sullen guards before shutting her door quietly although she wanted to slam it with anger. Burning herself when Staefyn was busy with his mate and unavailable to heal her would be foolish after he had warned her that he could do nothing if her body had already begun to heal. She had enough scarring from the burns she had inflicted on herself on the trip from Norvana to Calabria and did not want to repulse Amyr with any more.
Some time after the second sun rose, she fell asleep and did not awaken until late afternoon when Vaedra came to tell her that Lady Xuxa was annoyed with her absence at the morning meal – she enjoyed flaunting her power over Staefyn and Quynn was her only audience – and she would send guards to bring her for the evening meal if she did not come voluntarily. She did not have an appetite, not when she was worried about her husband and son, but needed to know what had happened and hoped they might speak of the attack. After bathing and dressing with care so not to offend the harridan, she followed Vaedra to the terrace where they took their meals. The only hope she had, a slim one at best, was that Staefyn had grown a spine and told Kai to abort the attack that would kill nearly all the remaining Guerani on Calabria.
But upon arriving on the terrace, she knew she could not count on him. Staefyn sat sullenly while his mate and the Varoonyan creature chatted amiably about his recruiting efforts among the clans hiding in the hills , and from the fumes rising from his bejeweled cup, Quynn knew he was gulping wine that must have been fermented from the bitter fruit she had grown to dislike. She wondered if Staefyn had made the wine since Calabrians could not tolerate alcohol and it had only been introduced by his human grandmother who never took an evening meal without it. Before leaving for Calabria, Quynn had gone to visit her grandfather and learned that his wife had purchased a vineyard on Earth. Her heart ached to imagine that Staefyn was drinking wine to forget what he had allowed to happen to his family.
Lady Xuxa was dressed elegantly and Quynn could see past her age to the beautiful young woman she must have once been, beautiful enough to attract the attention of the crown prince, beautiful enough to tempt his imperial guard into betraying him. Even now she could command the attention of males, using her sensuality as she had in her youth, and as she did now on the warlord.
When Kai leaned toward her to catch the words she spoke in her low, throaty voice, Staefyn glared and drank deeply from his cup then demanded that it be refilled. Xuxa glanced at him, but Quynn saw the scorn in her eyes before she turned her attention back to Kai. Since they were flirting under Staefyn's nose, Quynn wondered how it would play out. She did not expect that Staefyn would tolerate the attention to his female or that his head would suddenly drop forward to hit the table.
The Varoonyan snorted with amusement and then offered his hand to Lady Xuxa, and Quynn watched them leave together. There was no better time to persuade Staefyn to her side, so Quynn waited for the serving woman to take away the dirty dishes before she prodded him by poking his arm with her knuckles.
At first he did not move, but after a harder shove, he raised his head and blinked several times. Two cups of wine were a lot for a Calabrian to handle, so Quynn was impressed that Staefyn had regained his senses, but he seized her hand and she suddenly found herself on his lap with his face buried in her bosom. His hands were shaking as he moved them down her back and over her thighs before she managed to struggle away from him.
"Gods!" he muttered thickly as she scrambled off his lap, and she turned to watch him vomit what he had eaten.
"Wonderful," she grumbled, her own stomach rebelling at the sight of what touching her had cost him. She managed to swallow her nausea. "Why did you do that? You knew what would happen, and I did not appreciate being mauled like that."
Staefyn raised his head as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and he met her gaze with watery, bloodshot eyes. Quynn had known some pilots at the colony who could drink all night and not look so bad as Staefyn after two – no, there was still half a cup of wine before him – one full cup of wine.
"She told me to stay away from her tonight." He snatched up the cup and drained it before throwing it over the balustrade into the valley below.
Quynn flinched. "Why do you put up with her? You know what she did to your grandfather!"
He glared at her. "You mean what she did to both of my grandfathers? She boasted of how furious Dax was that she had born him a child, but there was nothing he could do without exposing himself. Once my grandmother came into his life, he was afraid of losing her."
"She shared this with you?" Quynn hadn't thought that their relationship included pillow talk.
Staefyn snorted. "I have read every disgusting thought that whore has had, and I, alone, know how black her heart is."
"And yet you do her bidding!"
He waved his hand dismissively. "Go to your bed and your safe dreams. You cannot possibly understand what one decision made in a moment of prideful arrogance can do to your life."
"Don't I?" she demanded, hands on her hips as she faced him. "My own pride made me run away from Amyr and I have regretted it ever since."
"That was not your mistake," grumbled Staefyn. "Your mistake was returning with him, forgiving him."
"I love him."
"Love," he scoffed. "Love makes you humans weak. It made my father weak ..."
"Did it make Shamara and Dagan weak?" she demanded. He did not answer and she pitied him because she knew as well as he did that he would never be able to love or to understand how it felt. He was bonded to a female that used him in her twisted vengeance but had no feeling for him. "I am sorry, Staefyn."
"I won't abide your pity!" he snarled furiously.
"Then I won't trouble you with it any more."
As she walked away from the terrace, she heard him shout for another cup, so she guessed he would spend the night unconscious while his mate entertained the warlord. She returned to her room, and she sent Vaedra away after undressing and laying on her bed. It had been difficult to rest because each time she closed her eyes she saw battle thralls attacking Amyr or Yori and she would open them in a panic. Somehow she had fallen asleep only to awaken when she dreamed that Amyr was standing over her and she convinced herself that Amyr had taken her into a trance. But her room was empty and she was dismayed to realize that it had been a dream.
Vaedra brought her food in the morning, telling her that Lady Xuxa was eating in her chamber and Prince Staefyn seemed to have disappeared. After eating, Quynn walked in the garden, trying desperately not to think about the fate of those that she loved. She had traveled her usual path several times when she heard a shriek of anger and then Lady Xuxa's voice raised to demand that the servants find that Guerani bastard. If Staefyn's mate was angry, then Quynn had a reason to smile although she had no way of knowing what Staefyn might have done, but she quickly schooled her features to surprise when Xuxa appeared in the entryway from her chamber to the garden.
"Where is he?" she demanded furiously. Her gray hair was mussed, her makeup smudged and she wore only a dressing robe. If that was what Staefyn woke to every day, Quynn wondered why he had not yet thrown himself off the highest tower of the palace.
"Why would he be here?" asked Quynn with annoyance. Was the woman actually accusing her of seducing her bonded mate? Was such a thing even possible?
"I know he tries to mate with whores when he drinks that noxious fermented juice," snarled Xuxa. She came to Quynn and her bony fingers dug into her arm as she hauled her around to face her.
Quynn was surprised she could remain calm in the face of Xuxa's insanity. "In the first place, biologically speaking, Calabrians are not able to do what you suggest, and in the second place, I would not welcome him, drunk or otherwise, to my bed."
The old female glared at her, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she considered what Quynn said, and then she released her. She ran a shaky hand through her tangled hair, then smoothed out her robe. "I cannot find him," she said when she was calm enough to talk. "The warlord has gone, so I will allow him to visit me again. I was going to forgive him, but now I may need to punish him."
Although disgusted by her, Quynn did not show it. "If I should see him, I will tell him that you await him." She was more likely to tell him to stay away from her, but Staefyn would probably run eagerly to her chamber. The thought of how he would spend the day with this repulsive female made her so queasy she had to swallow several times to keep from vomiting on the spot.
Xuxa licked her lips and her eyes sparkled with excitement. "He will be very penitent, very penitent indeed."
The door to her chamber had barely closed on the departing woman before Quynn lost the contents of her stomach on a nearby bush. As she heaved, she congratulated herself on her self-control because Xuxa would never know how close she had come to wearing vomit back to her chambers. She doubted even that would deter Staefyn.
Weakened by Xuxa's visit, Quynn laid down on her bed, and when her stomach finally settled, she concentrated on happier moments with her husband and son and she was able to drift off to sleep.
A noise awoke Quynn from the peaceful nap she was taking and for a moment she thought it had come from the open door leading to the garden, or that it might have been a bird. She felt a cool breeze and saw that the first sun had set, but she sensed that she was not alone, and she turned her head to see Staefyn sitting on the floor across the room, his back against the wall, his eyes closed. She wondered if he had spent the day appeasing Xuxa.
"If that is a question you mean to ask, then the answer is yes. I left when Kai returned with news from the battle." He opened his eyes to look at her and Quynn could not even breathe as she waited for his news. "They underestimated my mother and my brother. Indeed, I doubted Amyr's ability to lead men, but Taeron must have taught him well."
She heard the resentment in his voice and her heart swelled with the hope that Amyr and Yori were safe. "They have spent many hours together training."
Leaning his head back against the wall, Staefyn closed his eyes again. "Go back to sleep, Quynn. The life in your belly needs for you to rest."
Quynn was going to ask him for more details of the battle, but she suddenly felt very weary. She moved towards the pillows on the floor as if she did not have a will of her own, and when she realized that Staefyn was controlling her, she tried to fight it and stopped shy of laying on the pillows. The stones around her neck were burning her as she resisted him with the magic she could not control.
But Staefyn left his place at the wall. "There is no reason for you to hurt yourself. I will not harm you." The pull he had on her body became stronger, but she fought it until she lost when he reached her, lifted her from her feet and bore her to the pillows where he laid beside her. As he leaned in close to blow his cool, healing breath across her neck, he took her hands in his own and she was ripped away from consciousness to a black void.
When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in Guerani Palace. She was outside, somewhere in the hills where there was a spring from which tendrils of steam rose. She heard running footsteps and she turned to see a naked boy running towards her. He had long, dark hair and his wide eyes were deepest purple. He paused to seize a stick from the ground and he grabbed her shoulder, shoving her back behind him.
"Stay away!" The boy held the stick defensively, and Quynn saw that there was a filthy bedraggled woman nearby. She was shocked to realize the crone was Lady Xuxa. She carried a bucket filled with filthy chipped and broken pottery that she must have brought to the spring to wash.
Now she straightened and her icy gaze rested on the boy trying to ward her off. "I mean no harm." Her voice was hoarse as if she were unused to speaking. She nodded to her bucket. "I have come to wash."
"Leave her alone, Taeron." Quynn had not spoken; the body into which she found herself had spoken and glancing down, she saw that she, too, was a naked little boy. She looked back at the other boy, shocked to realize that it was her brother many years ago.
"I will not harm her if she stays away from you," announced Taeron, waving the stick menacingly.
Xuxa's eyes narrowed on Taeron, then she looked over his shoulder at Quynn, or rather the body into which she found herself. "Who might you be?" she asked gruffly.
Before the boy could answer, Taeron snapped, "Who are you? Are you a clanswoman?"
"You overstep yourself," snapped the boy who straightened his shoulders and moved forward, shouldering Taeron out of his way. "I am Prince Staefyn. If you can show us the exit so that Taeron and I can return to my uncle, Lord Apolo, I am sure that the emperor would greatly reward you."
Quynn was shocked to find herself in the past, trapped in Staefyn's body.
"My lord," hissed Taeron angrily.
Staefyn glared at him, still furious that he had spoiled their fun by proving that he was stronger and faster, and now he was treating him like a foolish child. He ignored Taeron and gave the hag a smile, remembering that when Apolo wanted a female to do something for him, he had but to smile.
The old woman stared at him without speaking for a long moment in which Staefyn felt his nerves tingle. A breeze was swirling in the canyon now, and Staefyn thought he could hear voices, but he guessed it was just the rustling of the leaves in the trees.
Finally she said, "Get dressed. I will show you to my cottage and then point out the path to one of the roads. It is a long walk, but you may yet reach the road before second sunset."
Taeron did not speak as he spun and stomped back to where he had put their clothing over a rock. He took Staefyn's tunic and leggings and balling them up, he tossed the still damp clothing at him. "Do you want me to dress you also, my lord prince?"
His resentment hurt Staefyn. Who did Taeron think he was? He was a whore's bastard who did not have a male to claim him. Just because he ran with princes did not make him one! Glowering at him, he pulled on his tunic and leggings, dressing before Taeron and when he went to where they left their boots, he did not take Taeron's to him, but kicked them into the water and stomped away, sneering at Taeron whose clothing was drenched after the effort of finding his boots in the spring.
Staefyn went to the old woman who was smiling as she watched Taeron pour the water out of his boots before slipping them on. "We can go. He will follow."
She reached out her hand to him and Staefyn hesitated at first, not liking the bony fingers and sagging skin of her hand. Unlike his elegant grandmother, she was pitifully thin, her clothing ragged and filthy, and her hair, while held back with a torn strip of cloth, was matted and stiff. When he breathed in, his nose wrinkled from the stench, but there was nothing about her face to convince Staefyn that she was anything but a poor old woman trying to survive. She might even be a Guerani healer who had been hiding in this forgotten canyon since the days that Dax the Demon had hunted them.
"Don't touch her," warned Taeron who came to them with one boot on and one off. He hopped as he slipped on the other, but his eyes were on the old woman.
Staefyn took her hand and ignored Taeron to walk beside her. "Are you Guerani?" he asked after a moment when she did not speak and they could only hear Taeron huffing with annoyance.
The old woman's laugh was harsh to his ears. "They are all dead."
"My mother is not dead," he told her. "And my uncle is alive as well. I have a sister that has powers, but my brother does not. Nor do I." Staefyn wished he had powers, and that way he could prove himself superior to Amyr.
"There are no Guerani in the hills," she told him. "I have lived here for many, many years and have not seen any since the Demon hunted them."
"He was my grandfather," Staefyn said. He was not proud to be Dax's grandson, but it was an inescapable fact.
She did not respond as she led them through thick bushes on a path that was so narrow that she had to release his hand to keep moving forward. He reached out to grasp her ragged skirt so that he could stay near her and he could hear Taeron swatting at the shrubs behind them. After several minutes of pushing through the thick foliage, they came out and what she had called a cottage appeared to be no more branches piled together and sealed with mud. There was no door, and when she slipped inside a narrow opening, Taeron kept Staefyn from following her.
"What do you think you are doing?"
Staefyn yanked his arm from Taeron's grasp. "She has not harmed us! She has shown us the way out. You would not have found the way."
"You do not know that!" snapped Taeron. "I had not even looked yet!"
The old woman came out of her hut carrying a large leaf on which she had piled a collection of beetles and grubs. "I do not have much, but I will share what I do. You have a long way to walk."
Staefyn took the leaf from her and began to eat.
Taeron frowned at him and then said to the old woman, "Thank you for your generosity." Even when he was so distrustful of the female, Taeron did not forget to be annoyingly polite. But then he asked brusquely, "In which direction is the road?"
"I am not done eating," snapped Staefyn, his mouth full. He did not bother offering any to Taeron who was glaring at him as he ate.
"Come inside, my young prince. I have some juice that I pressed only yesterday from ripe rosenberries that I found along the road." She headed back inside without waiting for his response.
Taeron put out his hand. "Do not go in there," he warned Staefyn.
Staefyn glared at him. "Do not tell me what to do!" Gods, he hated Taeron almost as much as Amyr!
He pushed his way into the hut and closed the door on Taeron when he tried to follow him. For a moment he could not see anything in the windowless structure, but then his eyes adjusted and he saw a pile of weeds on one side that must be her bed and on the other there was a large, flat rock. Staefyn realized she must have built the hut around the rock because it took up nearly the entirety of that side of the hut. While the surface was uneven, it was flat enough to serve as a table and she now stood over it with a stone mug that was cracked. She was stirring the contents of the mug with a twig and when he moved further inside, she started and turned around quickly as if she were surprised that he had come in although she had invited him.
"My lord prince!" she gasped and her hand went to her ragged skirt where she buried it in the filthy cloth but not before he saw a red stain.
With her other hand she held the cup to him, but his eyes were on the hand she was trying to hide as took it from her. "Are you hurt?"
She raised the hand and he saw that her palm had a cut and that blood seeped from the wound. "Do not trouble yourself. I have cut myself on the cup on many occasions." He glanced at the cup in his hand, worried that he might cut himself but he did not see any jagged edges.
"I was going to enjoy the juice myself for I picked the sweetest berries, but I would be honored, my lord prince, if you would share."
Staefyn looked back at her bleeding hand, and then he looked into the cup at the dark red juice. His gut wrenched and he was suddenly afraid, but he had no reason for his fear. The old woman was watching him expectantly and he thought she might be afraid that he would not appreciate her gesture, so he raised the cup to his lips.
He heard the wind again, now rattling the branches of her hut. Her eyes widened and she looked around fearfully before laughing nervously and turning back to Staefyn. "Have you tasted it? Is it not delicious?"
As he imagined Taeron's voice telling him not to do it, he took a mouthful of the liquid in the cup and he was almost surprised to taste sweet rosenberry juice. He enjoyed the taste so much that he took another swallow and then he realized that he should share.
"Do you wish to have some?" He held out the cup to her.
Her smile made the hairs at the back of his neck rise and he heard the wind again, but as she took the cup for a sip, she did not react to the rustling branches and he wondered if it was his imagination.
She handed it back to him. "Finish it, my prince."
He took another sip. "Can I give some to Taeron?" he asked after lowering the cracked cup and licking his lips.
She laughed softly and reached out to take the cup from his hand. "This is only for us to share, my lord prince." He watched her drain the cup and set it aside. For a moment she stood staring at him and he felt disquieted as the wind died down. Oddly, he had felt better with the wind threatening to blow down her hut.
She smiled and patted him on the head. "You should be on your way, my young prince. Your imperial guard is waiting for you."
"He is not my imperial guard," he snapped resentfully. "He is just a bastard and he has no house, so my father has him in our house."
She stopped him from leaving by putting a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her. "Your father has a bastard in his house? Who is his mother?"
Staefyn wrinkled his nose. "They call her Lady Larya, but I have heard some call her a whore."
The fingers of the hand on his shoulder dug in for a moment and when he tried to shrug her off, she instantly removed her hand. "Let us go meet the bastard."
Taeron was standing just outside the hut, the stick gripped in his hand as if it were a weapon. He was visibly relieved when Staefyn stepped out into the eerie light from the setting of the second sun.
"I am sorry that there was not enough juice for you," Staefyn told him as he licked his lips. He could still taste the sweetness of the berries, but suddenly he detected a metallic aftertaste and he began to have a queasy feeling in his stomach. He glanced at the woman and saw that she was smiling kindly at them.
"I shall ask my father to send you a reward for helping us," he declared.
She shook her head. "I do not need your lord father's thanks."
"I told you she was a clanswoman!" hissed Taeron. "I hope she did not do you ill!"
Her eyes were frosty as they rested on Taeron. "Why are you so suspicious, my young friend?" She reached out to touch Taeron's face, but he stumbled away from her hand and Staefyn saw that she had not wiped all the blood from her palm.
"Show us the way and be quick about it," demanded Taeron fiercely.
Staefyn hoped that he did not offend her for she might lie to them, and he worried that she had sent them in the wrong direction as they followed the barely discernible path to which she had directed them while remaining behind. But they came to a well traveled path that wound through the forest and the sun was at the edge of the horizon when they came to an imperial road that was paved with flagstones.
By that time, Staefyn was exhausted and he felt warm although he could see that Taeron was shivering in the evening breeze. Staefyn did not want to tell Taeron that he felt sick, but he soon had no choice as his stomach flipped and he leaned over to vomit on the side of the road. He was heaving uncontrollably before Taeron reached him, and when Staefyn tried to straighten, he thrust his finger in his mouth and into his throat so far that Staefyn gagged and he retched on Taeron. He did not stop until there was nothing in his belly and Taeron was standing over him where he knelt by the side of the road with his belly heaving.
"She has poisoned you!" cried Taeron in horror, and in the light of the moons, Staefyn could see the tears streaming down his cheeks.
"No!" insisted Staefyn although his body felt as if it were on fire.
Taeron dropped to his knees and he pulled Staefyn into his arms. Staefyn felt dizzy and disoriented as Taeron shook with sobs, rocking him as he cradled him in his embrace. "Don't die, Staefyn! Please don't die! You are the brother of my heart!"
Gulping for air, Staefyn felt an overwhelming wave of sorrow and he realized with shock that it had come from Taeron. He heard the wind again, and this time he heard heart-breaking cries and Staefyn knew at that moment that he had received his Guerani power.
He suddenly laughed although his body ached and he wondered if this was part of the change that had come to him.
"Taeron, you are hurting me!" He felt Taeron's relief as if it were his own, and when Taeron set him back to look at him, he seemed to sense that something was different.
"I have my powers," he told him joyfully and he reached out to take Taeron's hands. The feelings were weak, but he felt Taeron's mingled surprise and happiness.
"Apolo will be overjoyed," Taeron predicted. "And your mother too!"
"Amyr will be very angry." They shared a laugh and then Staefyn had an idea. "Let us not tell anyone." Staefyn would be very amused to be able to use his powers against Amyr and his brother would be none the wiser.
Taeron seemed skeptical at first and pointed out that he would not be able to hide it for long, not when his mother, Apolo and Shamara would know the first time he used his powers.
"Then I will not use my powers around them." Staefyn thought it would be easy.
There were sounds of approaching horses and Taeron drew Staefyn off the road to hide in the bushes so that they could see if the approaching travelers were imperials or clansmen. Taeron finally whispered that they were imperials and that Apolo was riding among them. Staefyn strained to see that his uncle held Amyr on his horse and that he appeared to be very worried. He knew if he tried to use his new senses that he would feel Apolo's concern, but then Apolo would sense him so he did not try.
Taeron stepped out into the road and Staefyn hurried to stand behind him as Taeron hailed them. He leaned forward to whisper in his ear as the imperial warriors spurred their mounts towards them.
"Taeron, are you going to tell them about the woman and the warm spring?" he whispered anxiously.
Taeron looked over his shoulder at him. "That is a very small secret compared to the other you ask me to keep."
Staefyn reached down to grasp Taeron's hands and Taeron smiled at him. He would keep their secret.