Warriors of Wind and Ash - Page 98

After Thelise dismounts, Ashvelon transforms into his human self. I don’t want to stare because he’s naked, but I’m terribly curious about his appearance, so I sneak a glance while he’s putting on the clothes she brought for him.

Ashvelon is slim and tall, with a pale, boyishly pretty face, light blue eyes, and wavy blond hair down to his shoulders. Even though he’s twenty-five years older than Kyreagan, his human form looks around the same age.

Kyreagan is watching him too, yellow eyes narrowed. He doesn’t say anything, and I can’t tell what he’s thinking.

“You should shift,” I tell him, unslinging the bags I brought. Back at the palace I packed one bag with some food and a change of clothes each for Kyreagan and me. The other bag contains more food and a few necessities for Rahzien’s survival.

Thelise doesn’t look away when Kyreagan shifts. She takes in every inch of him, then winks at me as if to say, You’re welcome.

Kyreagan has barely pulled up his pants when Rahzien moves, quick as a wildcat. He charges Kyreagan, head down, barreling into Ky’s gut and knocking him over. Rahzien stomps his boot at the dragon prince’s face, but Ky rolls just in time. With a shout, Ashvelon leaps onto the King’s back, locks both arms around his throat, and squeezes. Rahzien crashes backward into the wall, smashing Ashvelon’s body against the stone.

Seething with anger, Kyreagan scrambles up, ready to join the fight, and I’m lunging forward too—but Thelise beats us both. She’s in front of Rahzien before we can blink, her fingers splayed clawlike over his heart, crackles of violet lightning dancing along her palm.

“Enough,” she says.

Rahzien snarls a laugh. “You can’t kill me without killing Serylla.”

“Oh, I don’t need to kill you. I know how to put a beast down for a while.” Her fingers flex, and Rahzien’s face goes rigid. He topples sideways, limbs locked in place, and he hits the floor with a resounding thud.

“You alright, pet?” asks Thelise

Ashvelon peels himself away from the wall and wheezes, “Never better.”

“Poor thing.” She ruffles his hair with her fingers. “I’ll give you a treat later. Time to dispose of the garbage, dragons. I assume you want him in the tower?”

Clearly Kyreagan and Ashvelon haven’t thought about it beyond put the bad king in the ancient human fortress, but after a glance at each other, they nod sagely, as if that was their plan all along.

“Good boys.” She snaps her fingers toward the stairs. “Off you go.”

While Ky and Ashvelon drag Rahzien’s body up an interminably long circular stairway, Thelise and I follow at a slower pace. I’m slightly unsteady during the climb to the top, possibly from weariness… or perhaps I took one too many sips from the flask Thelise tossed me.

Rahzien remains open-eyed and rigid, even when he’s hauled into the tower room and tossed onto a wooden cot. It’s a bare space, with a stone floor cloaked by a ragged bit of moldering carpet. There’s no fireplace, and no furniture except the cot. A few rusted weapons lean against the wall, but Ashvelon picks them up and tosses them out the window.

“Tomorrow we’ll bring him a dyre-stone for warmth and light,” Kyreagan says. “We don’t have the keys to his shackles, so he’ll have to remain chained, at least for now.”

“As long as he can reach his mouth to eat and his ass to wipe, that’s fine.” Thelise picks up a pair of wooden buckets and holds them out. “How perfect! One to catch rainwater, and the other for shit. All the luxuries the asshole deserves.”

I can’t help giggling, which seems to please Thelise greatly. She sets down the buckets and takes my hand. “Alright, my friend, tell me about this life-link between you and the King.”

At first I’m hopeful that she’ll be able to free me completely from my bond with Rahzien. But after I explain everything to her, she shakes her head with an apologetic grimace.

“I’m afraid I can’t sever it, either,” she says. “Proximity spells are easy to break. Life-links, not so much. Some magic simply cannot be undone, or it can only be unraveled in specific ways. There’s no way around this, unfortunately, so we must keep him here. The good news is that his condition won’t affect you in any other way. If he breaks a bone, you’ll be fine. If he’s ill, you won’t feel it.”

“So we don’t have to keep him comfortable,” Kyreagan says darkly. “We just have to keep him alive.”

“Yes… except he might grow tired of this existence and leap from the tower, killing both Serylla and himself,” Thelise muses. She plucks a few red-gold hairs from Rahzien’s head, then plops down on the floor and opens her satchel. “Give me some time and space, while I devise an appropriate spell to prevent that.”

Kyreagan and I leave her and Ashvelon in Rahzien’s new quarters, and we head downstairs to one of the shabby, musty rooms. We stand together in the archway that leads onto the parapet, looking out over the dark, rocky landscape.

“I didn’t expect a volcanic island to be so cold.” I suppress a shiver.

“The volcano is dead,” says Kyreagan. “No warmth left, or we would not risk leaving Rahzien here.”

“I know.” I rub my arms, conscious that I’m still in the white dress Rahzien ordered me to wear today. “Back at the palace, I took the time to pack but not to change. Silly of me. I intended to put on something else, but then I got to talking with Parma, and I forgot.”

“Your mind is tired,” Kyreagan consoles me. Then, stiffly, as if he’s forcing himself to ask the question and pretending to care: “How is Parma?”

“She’ll be fine, now that she’s free of Rahzien.” I squirm a little, remembering the awkward conversation between me and my former maid. “I offered to find her a new position, or bring her to Ouroskelle, but she didn’t seem to want any help at all. I think she’s done with life as a maid—and possibly done with me, at least for a while. I don’t blame her. I’m now part of some of the worst memories of her life. She needs time, and space. I told her to take anything she wanted from the palace and just go. Start a new life. I hope she does.”