Chapter 71

The days following Quynn's trip into Staefyn's past blended one into another with little to break the monotony. Since that day almost two weeks ago, she had not seen Staefyn although she knew he was in and out of the palace. Quynn wished he would not have left her with his repulsive mate for company, because now that she knew what Xuxa had done to him when he was just a child, Quynn had difficulty keeping her magic in check when she wanted to incinerate the old whore. Xuxa may now wear the costly garments and jewels of an elegant imperial lady, but Quynn saw only the foul creature that had lured an innocent child into her lair and made him her slave. Quynn wanted to tell Staefyn about the relief her mother could provide with her medicine to treat the worst symptoms of bonding so that he could break Xuxa's hold over him, but he did not give her a chance and she wondered if he was purposely avoiding her.

Because Staefyn was not present to demand it, Quynn stopped sharing her meals with Xuxa. The sight of her disgusted her, and she was sickened by the signs that her virile young mate spent the night satisfying her, the dark circles under her eyes, her thin lips puffy, her sagging skin flushed. Even worse, there were many times that Quynn saw her with Kai, and she doubted it was natural that a bonded male would allow his female to have sex with other males. Then again, there was nothing natural about her relationship with Staefyn.

As far as Quynn knew, when Xuxa wasn't making demands on Staefyn, she spent her time plotting more ways to revenge herself on the imperial family. Destroying the life of one of their sons was not enough for her. The woman was a survivor, and to that end she was hedging her bets with Kai in case Staefyn failed, not even realizing that the Varoonyan's future did not include her. Kai's announcement that his wife, Princess Cydeara of Varoonya, was to arrive soon leading an army of thralls had shocked Xuxa. She had not known that another woman had a claim to her lover, and she was more infuriated to learn that his wife was bringing to him the female he wanted above all others, Princess Dijana of Teralon. Since she avoided Xuxa, Quynn had learned of these developments through Vaedra. Although she did not often talk about Xuxa, Vaedra commented that her temper was growing shorter as the projected time for the females to arrive drew near.

Quynn could not believe that Dijana would willingly come to Kai, but then she had not come to know Dijana very well during their time together on Norvana. She had thought that Dijana returned Taeron's feelings, but she must have rejected him when he returned to Teralon to claim her. If what Staefyn had noticed about Taeron was true, her brother had gone to Norvana to have Carrinda remove his bond. Quynn knew nothing about thralls except that they were compelled to obey their masters against their own wills. If Dijana had chosen to reject Taeron, Quynn could only conclude that the Varoonyan had somehow forced her to do so. No woman in her right mind would choose a creature like Kai over the lord prince of Calabria.

Kai had been receiving regular reports from his wife who was en route from Teralon, but on the day he expected his females, they did not arrive. Vaedra told Quynn that the warlord was infuriated to learn that his princess' ship had been detained on Ulfynaeus. Because Staefyn had used up all his space resources attempting to stop Taeron from going to Teralon, there had been no way for Kai to prevent the space forces on the second moon from forcing the Varoonyan vessel to land. Although it was more usual procedure for ships headed to Calabria to land at Edgeland Fortress, the Calabrians must have known what the Varoonyan princess was planning and prevented her from reaching the surface. Quynn was dismayed only two days later when Vaedra told her that she learned that the Varoonyan ship was allowed to leave Ulfynaeus and the warlord was eagerly waiting the arrival of his wife and the princess with whom he had become obsessed.

When Vaedra told her that the ship was approaching, Quynn went out to her garden to watch the ship fly low over the palace, but it continued on without landing. Curious, she was about to go inside to call for Vaedra so that she could find out what had happened, but voices in the garden on the other side of hers stopped her and she was surprised to hear Staefyn's voice.

"I believe you have been outplayed."

"Shut up, sorcerer!" There was no mistaking the angry voice of Warlord Kai.

His foul mood alarmed Quynn. When the warlord became angry, a servant usually disappeared, and Vaedra told Quynn that it was becoming difficult to bring females into the palace to work, so Quynn hoped he did not turn his greedy gaze on Vaedra. Quynn did not need her to do the things Xuxa demanded of her, helping her bathe and dress, arranging her hair, but she did appreciate her company when she brought her meals and she had grown to like the older woman. Her dedication to Staefyn was commendable since it was the only reason she served Xuxa.

"Your fleet has been detained and now your wife along with your whore have been taken to Edgeland Fortress." By Staefyn's bland tone, he did not seem affected either way by what had happened.

Kai made an irritated sound. "I will get them back, and I will get the army I need to destroy the empire if I have to enthrall every man, woman and child in these gods' forsaken mountains." Quynn knew he had left when his clipped footsteps receded.

"The fleet was to be the bulk of your army," admonished Xuxa several moments after he had gone. "What will you do now?"

"Continue as I have. I have everything I need here: a comfortable palace and a female who fills most of my needs."

"Most of your needs?" huffed Xuxa. "I have filled all of your inexhaustible needs."

"I owe my inexhaustible needs to you, my dear Xuxa," Staefyn reminded her. "But there is one need you cannot fill, that you can never fill."

Since the old female never seemed to leave him wanting, Quynn wondered what he was talking about when Xuxa said, "I have allowed you to keep that useless female so that you can have the child in her belly. What more can you want?"

Quynn stifled a gasp when she realized why they kept her at Guerani Palace when killing her would cause Amyr more pain. If Staefyn wanted her, there was no way he could act upon his desire, something he had long since given up even trying. Xuxa's polite acceptance of her was now understandable when she needed to keep her comfortable for the sake of the baby.

"And if I should want another child, a son?"

"Does she not have a male child? When we slay her mate, you may take that child as your own as well." Quynn put her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out in dismay and she felt the stones at her neck grow warm, but she managed to control her emotions before her magic grew out of control.

"I want my own child." Staefyn's resentment was understandable, but Quynn did not care when he was planning to take her children to be raised by the witch.

"You will be satisfied with hers. Did you not say that the boy has your powers? You will come to care for him as your own."

"I will always know that he is Amyr's son."

"I know how to make you forget."

"This is your answer to everything. Leave me in peace, woman!" But Quynn heard him groan and she knew that Staefyn could not resist her. Xuxa's knowledge of males and especially of him, made it impossible. "Gods curse you, female."

His capitulation made Xuxa laugh before she gasped with pleasure, driving Quynn back into her chamber where she paced for what seemed like hours, wringing her hands as she worried about her children. She missed Amyr terribly, but there was nothing she could do when Staefyn kept her under constant guard. Since the night that Amyr had reached her in a trance with Shamara's help, she had not seen him again, not in the physical world, not even in a dream. If she would begin to dream of Amyr, any pleasant dream that might help with the loneliness she felt would abruptly end, so she knew Staefyn monitored her sleep to keep her away from his brother even in a world that did not exist. For now Yori was safe with Amyr, and no harm would come to Quynn because Xuxa wanted her baby for Staefyn. There was still a chance that she could reason with Staefyn.

A few days later she had a chance to talk to him when she came upon Staefyn in the outer chamber of the receiving hall. A smaller version of the antechamber of the imperial palace, it was nonetheless enormous with a high vaulted ceiling that boasted crystal glass windows with colored designs that were breathtakingly beautiful. When the suns were at equal distance which they were now, soothing blue and pale yellow light flowed through the glass which had a calming effect. As anxious as she had been over what she had overheard, even Quynn became relaxed and she wondered how much was caused by the surroundings and how much Staefyn was responsible for when he saw her approaching.

He had been listening to a man, but he dismissed him and the man bowed before leaving as Quynn came to stand near.

Because he seemed to be avoiding her, she was surprised that he did not leave with the other man. Instead he closed the distance between them. "You look well, sister."

"Am I your sister now? I thought I was your prisoner."

He gave her a half-smile that was so much like Amyr's that her heart beat a little faster. "As much as I abhor the thought of that boor having such a precious female, I cannot deny that you are my brother's mate." His gaze dropped to her belly and when he stepped closer so that he could lay his hand on the small mound, she wanted to shove him back, to deny him any access to her child, but Quynn could not even move and she realized that she wanted him to touch her. She could not imagine where these feelings came from if not from her condition. Amyr had not been with her when she carried Yori, and he was not with her now, but there was a male offering comfort and she could not rebuff him when she craved the affection of another.

There was no need for words for Staefyn to sense her need and he slipped an arm around her shoulders to bring her close to his body. "Close your eyes," he murmured softly, his lips against her forehead.

She closed her eyes, hating that she enjoyed feeling his arm around her, the warmth of his body. Was she betraying Amyr to feel like this in Staefyn's arms?

"Open your eyes." Staefyn's words did not seem to be spoken; she no longer felt him against her, and yet she heard him clearly.

Doing as he commanded, she was no longer in Guerani Palace, but was sitting in a small room on an uncomfortable chair before a table. When she saw Amyr sitting on a bench under an open window across the room, her heart beat faster with the happiness that flooded her body. For only a brief moment, she watched him and she wanted to drink in the sight of him, but against her will her head turned away and her eyes focused downward on what she realized were symbols of Calabrian writing on a parchment. There was an old man speaking, extending his bony finger to point at the symbols, telling her what they indicated, but she raised her eyes to look at Amyr again when he spoke.

"I see that Taeron is taking his obligatory morning stroll with Lady Keilana," Amyr remarked.

"I want to see."

She gasped in joyful surprise to see Yori, who had been sitting nearby, drop the scroll he had been studying to scamper onto Amyr's lap. The old man grumbled that he had not been given permission to leave, and he made a sound of exasperation when Quynn left her place to join Amyr. While she wanted to put her arms around her husband and son, she could not control the body from which she was seeing.

Her attention was drawn to the courtyard beneath the window where she saw Taeron walking with a pale, dark-haired female who was delicately beautiful. He was leaning towards her to listen to whatever she was saying, but Quynn detected a hint of annoyance on her brother's face that the woman did not see and she sensed that he was not enjoying her company.

"I don't like her," she heard Yori say.

"Prince Yori," admonished the older man who Quynn guessed was his teacher. "Lady Keilana of house Caron is an honorable female."

The body she was borrowing leaned toward Yori and whispered, "I do not like her either."

"I don't think our opinion matters, Jeshed," said Amyr. "Nor does Taeron's."

Quynn was surprised to realize that she was in Jeshed's body, and she wondered if he could sense her, but he must not because he would have told Amyr by now.

"The crown prince will do his duty for the empire and if that means he will marry Keilana of house Caron, then he will do so." By his brusque admonishment, Quynn knew the teacher did not approve of their discussion. "The merger of the two greatest houses of Calabria will make the empire stronger."

Amyr looked at Jeshed, but he did not see Quynn looking at him although her heart ached to meet his golden gaze. "Better Taeron than me."

"Or me," Jeshed responded. "She is colder than the frostiest wind I have encountered high in the skies."

Yori turned to look at Jeshed, but he did not say what he intended because when his eyes met the shapeshifter's, she saw recognition and Quynn realized that he sensed her presence. Before he could say anything, she was drawn so quickly away that she became dizzy and collapsed against Staefyn.

Staefyn held her in his arms as she recovered from the experience, and while she knew it must certainly repulse him, he stroked her back. They did not speak for several moments until Quynn raised her head from his chest to look up at his face.

"How can you hold me?" She expected him to be physically sick by now.

"Because your child and I share our blood," he told her.

She wondered if she should be offended that he no longer seemed to view her as a desirable woman. Then again she would rather he not vomit in her presence as that had ceased to be flattering.

"Your son is powerful," he remarked after a moment. "But I knew that he would be because of how he came to be."

She raised her head to meet his gaze. "In a trance?"

"Like the shapeshifter, he lives among us, but he is from another world."

His explanation startled her and she looked up at his face. "What will become of him?"

Staefyn gave her a half-smile. "Do not worry about your son. He is as real as any other child, just as real as the shapeshifter. But unlike every other child, he can move freely between the worlds, just as the dragon can shift to the form of a man. He is both, yet he is neither. I would not be surprised to receive a visit from Prince Yori in the future."

"You will not hurt him?" She hated asking when he had been kind enough to allow her to see Yori and Amyr.

His brows rose in surprise and then he remarked, "In a way, I feel responsible for him."

"Because you put Amyr in that trance?" Quynn frowned and stepped back. "You were trying to kill Amyr, not providing him with a means to procreate."

To her annoyance he shrugged. "He did not die, did he?"

"You meant for him to die!" Quynn did not understand Staefyn. One moment he seemed rational and the next he did not deny trying to cause the death of his own brother.

"If I meant for him to die, I would have devised a means for it to happen." The look he gave her now challenged her to deny his ability to do just that. Quynn had seen enough to know that Staefyn was capable of doing as he said. "Perhaps I meant for his enslavement to be a test, a test that he ultimately failed because he needed Taeron to rescue him."

"Taeron was doing his duty," argued Quynn.

Staefyn frowned. "Taeron is a slave to his duty. To his mother, to his father, to Shamara then Amyr and now to my father and Calabria."

Quynn did not respond when she did not understand his feelings towards Taeron. When he had believed Xuxa's lie that the emperor was his father, Staefyn had been resentful and knowing what she did now, Quynn could understand why he felt betrayed. He had been closer to Taeron than to any other person, so hearing from Xuxa that Taeron was the product of his father's infidelity must have shocked him. At least Quynn had been able to convince him otherwise. And when he had learned of his disinheritance in favor of Taeron, Staefyn had not seemed to care. She suspected that he was proud of the man his childhood friend had become.

"Will he sacrifice his own happiness for his duty?" wondered Staefyn aloud.

"Do you care about his happiness? I thought you only cared about yourself, that everything you have done is to ensure that you do not suffer."

"Nobody wants to suffer, Quynn."

"How do you think I will feel when you take my child?" She put her hand on her belly as if she could protect her baby.

Staefyn frowned at her. "I would not take your child."

"I heard you discussing it with that whore!" Quynn was furious that he would deny his plans.

"Of course you did," he snorted. "You spy as much as my sister, Chaela."

"How else am I to learn what is going on when you ignore me?"

Staefyn laughed softly and reached out to stroke her cheek. "I did not realize you were missing me."

She slapped his hand away. "You have not denied your plans for my child."

His hand dropped to his side. "I would not keep you from your daughter." He met her gaze and she saw that he was speaking in earnest. Whatever Xuxa had planned, Staefyn was not in agreement. Was he using his magic to convince her, or could she trust him?

Sighing she said, "You could have helped your people, and yet you choose to harm them."

"I must protect myself."

Staefyn would always think of himself first, proving that she could not trust him. If there were buses on Calabria, he would throw her under one in a heartbeat if it meant protecting himself.

"Who was that man you were speaking to?" she asked, changing the subject when she knew that she could not get through to him. "I have not seen him before."

"One of my men stationed at Edgeland Fortress." She was not surprised that he had a contact there. "My mother and Larya have gone to the fortress to meet Lady Trynity and her guests. Princess Cydeara has been imprisoned, but Dijana of Teralon is treated as an honored guest along with the Teralonian queen who has arrived with her mate and a squadron of warriors." He pursed his lips for a moment in thought and then said, "What are those females planning?"

After what she had witnessed through Jeshed's eyes, Quynn did not believe it had anything to do with Taeron since he appeared to be courting another woman. "I don't know what the Teralonians are doing, but I suppose my mother is collecting blood samples. She was disappointed when Queen Neria refused her request on her first visit to Calabria, so she is probably nagging her for blood." She met Staefyn's gaze. "She would be ecstatic to have a sample of yours."

Staefyn raised a brow. "Why would she wish to study my blood?"

Quynn shrugged. "I don't pretend to understand her or her studies although she spends many hours analyzing blood. You are Guerani and she has made comparisons between the blood of all the Guerani that she knows to see if there is any physical difference between them according to their level of power. She is very interested in changes to the body that allow one to use magic."

He glanced at the collar at her throat. Quynn had gotten very good at controlling her magic and her temper, so Staefyn had not had a reason to heal her for many days. "She has studied you?"

She nodded. "She would rather we return to our system so that she can scan my brain with the sophisticated equipment in the colonies, but that is not going to happen any time in the foreseeable future. My father will not leave the emperor and his duties, and my mother will not go without him." Her mother would not consider any prolonged separation from her husband after the many years that they had been parted. Quynn could not blame her for wanting to stay by the side of the man she loved.

Staefyn seemed to be thinking about what she had said, so Quynn decided to give him more to think about. "My mother has studied the plants extensively and made many medicines."

"I know of the medicines," he told her. "She has written of them. Her healing is not as efficient as mine."

Quynn doubted anybody's healing was as efficient as Staefyn's. "My mother has made medicines that she has not published and made available because your father forbids general use."

His brows drew together. "Why would my father forbid medicine to anyone? What are these medicines that so offend him?"

"They interfere with the physical debilitations caused by the mating bond," she told him and she watched his reaction.

Staefyn's frown deepened. "Is that how Taeron's bond with the Teralonian thrall was broken?"

"There is a sorceress on Norvana who can perform a spell to break the bond. She broke Amyr's." Quynn doubted Staefyn could afford the price that Carrinda would demand and wondered briefly what Taeron had done to get her to cooperate after how they had left Norvana. "She is a greedy bitch that cannot be trusted."

"Amyr is still bonded to you," scoffed Staefyn. "Her sorcery is weak."

Quynn smiled as she remembered the night he had bonded with her in the old way. Seeing Staefyn scowl she realized he had read her thoughts, but she did not care when the memory was so precious to her.

"Tell me of the medicine," he demanded. "Is that what keeps Amyr from losing his mind in your absence?"

"He told me that the growth of his powers was making the medicine unnecessary."

Staefyn was going to speak again, but his lips pressed together and Quynn heard footsteps approaching. Turning, she saw Xuxa step into the antechamber, but when the colored light fell upon her, it was not flattering. She glanced at Staefyn, and Quynn saw a brief look of disgust, but as Xuxa came closer, his gaze moved over the much older woman in such a way that Quynn doubted he would ever consider using any medicine that would interfere with his need for Xuxa.

"There you are." Xuxa's dark gaze rested briefly on Quynn, but she was not suspicious to find her with her young lover. She was confident in Staefyn's fidelity, had every reason to be when he looked at her as he did now, like a starving hound panting after raw meat.

She came to Staefyn and when she reached out to stroke his cheek, Quynn was revolted by the sight of her bony, thin hand against his tanned, firm flesh, her thumb brushing his full, lower lip.

"What did your spy at Edgeland report to you?" she asked huskily as she leaned into him.

If Quynn stayed much longer she was going to be physically sick. She had seen them together enough already and when Staefyn snagged the old woman around the waist and pulled her against him, she turned on her heel and hurried away. When she came into the corridor near her room, she came to an abrupt stop because the Varoonyan warlord was between her and her chamber. Quynn was nauseated by the sounds he made as he sucked blood from the neck of one of the female servants he had backed against the wall. His victim was moaning as loudly as Xuxa had been when Quynn left Staefyn behind. There was no way around him and retracing her steps would take her back to what she had fled.

The warlord must have sensed her presence because he lifted his head and speared Quynn with his crimson gaze. When he suddenly released the female and shoved her roughly away, Quynn braced herself for a confrontation as the female stumbled past her. Kai came to her then, but he stayed an arm's length away from her and she almost laughed at his ridiculous attempt to put distance between them because of his fear of her magic. Not only did the collar prevent her from blasting him as she wanted, but if she could use magic, the paltry distance he considered safe would not keep her from turning him into a pile of ashes.

"What have they done to my Dijana?" he demanded, clenching and unclenching his fists at his side. "I do not feel her presence, and yet my spies tell me that she is at the fortress."

Quynn shrugged. "Hey, I don't know what they did to her, but I doubt that Dijana is feeling too sad about you not creeping around in her dreams."

His face darkened with anger and he took a step towards her, but Quynn did not step back, knowing that if she did he might realize how little he had to fear from her. Now he was so close she could feel the heat from his body, smell the cloying scent that attracted females so that he could feed from them.

"I will take my Dijana back over the drained dead body of Taeron of Calabria."

"I have heard you boast of that several times now," Quynn sighed deeply and shook her head. "And yet here you are and he is at the imperial palace."

His hand suddenly seized her throat and he slammed her against the opposite wall. Quynn was dizzy from the force of his attack, and as he held her above the floor, she fought to breathe when he brought his face to hers. "The sorcerer is not nearby to protect you and heal you now."

Her stomach churned as he slid his tongue down the side of her face to the pulse racing at her neck just above where his hand held her captive. She was becoming weak from lack of air, her lungs were burning, but he suddenly released her and she fell to the floor at his feet. Quynn gasped for her breath as he stood over her and her throat was too raw to make any remark. Her neck was throbbing with fiery pain, so she realized that she must have lost control of her magic.

"When the sorcerer is dead, there will be no one to protect you." Kai turned on his heel and strode away.

That evening, Quynn remained in her room and was barely able to ask Vaedra to bring her some food. Her throat felt as if it were afire, and by the horrified look on Vaedra's face when her eyes lowered to Quynn's neck, the blistered flesh was not a pleasant sight. She ate very little of what Vaedra brought to her, and then she tried to sleep, but she could only manage short naps before the pain would awaken her. If she did not see Staefyn for several days again, her flesh might become irreparably damaged. She already had scarring left from the burns she had given herself during the trip from Teralon to Calabria. Staefyn had done what he could to heal her, but too much time had elapsed and there were patches of scar tissue beneath the collar. Imagining how hideous her flesh would be if she ever escaped this prison, Quynn wept until she fell into an exhausted sleep.

The gods must have had mercy on her because she dreamed of Amyr taking her in his arms between first and second sunrise, of kissing her until she was breathless, of brushing his lips against her throat as he pressed his body against hers. When he blew a cool, healing breath across her damaged flesh, she closed her eyes and cried out as her body shuddered with the pleasure he gave her.

When she opened her eyes, she was disappointed to find that she was at Guerani Palace and she was laying in Staefyn's embrace.

She was not ungrateful. "Thank you, Staefyn,"she whispered with a sigh. If she closed her eyes, she hoped he would allow her to see Amyr.

"I sensed your pain," he told her softly and he reached up to stroke her hair.

Quynn raised her head to look at him, seeing only the outline of his face in the light of the moon. "So you gave me a fantasy as you healed me?"

Staefyn laughed softly. "You did not seem to mind so much." He fell quiet for a moment and then he said, "When I left my mate, I put into practice what you suggested and used my powers to block her influence. You did not tell me that using my power takes away the physical pleasure." Quynn wondered how he had discovered the undesirable side affect. Did he try to seduce one of the few female servants left in the palace?

"I do not like it," announced Staefyn.

"Do you prefer her controlling you because you cannot resist her?"

He did not speak for a moment and then he said, "I have needed her too long to stop now."

"I know who would understand," she said as she raised herself to look at him in the dark. "Your father was bonded to your mother when they were children," she reminded him. "Surrender yourself to him, ask for his forgiveness and I know that he will help you!"

"You think my father will help me after everything I have done for Xuxa?" Staefyn shook his head vehemently. "What I have done, what I have allowed her to do, is unforgiveable! I know that; you know that, Quynn. Before this is over, I will probably do worse." He reached up to draw her head to his shoulder. "Close your eyes."

She obeyed because she was sleepy and after the concern that Kai had irreparably harmed her and the realization that he was losing his fear of her, she needed sleep so badly that she was drifting away before she felt Staefyn's power urging her to sleep.

He did not let her dream of Amyr.