Page 32 of Crowning of the Sword

Sten decided he’d like to see the gardens after all, and they and their entourages wandered through the park-like setting, talking. Apparently, the gardens in the Kingdom of Stones were a rather rockier affair, only worth seeing at night.

“Isn’t it dangerous, stumbling around on rocks in the dark?” she asked.

“Yes, but dragons roam the gardens during the day. Far more dangerous.”

“Dragons?”

Sten burst out laughing at the incredulity on her face. “The ones in the grounds are small, but they can still set you aflame if you’re not careful.”

“Goodness!” Ember broke into startled laughter and Sten joined her, although his amusement appeared to be directed at her astonishment, rather than his words. That was where Cole found them, laughing together in a secluded part of the gardens, and his brows knit together in an increasingly familiar frown.

“You’ve been a time.” He gave Sten a courteous bow, although it was shallow and perfunctory.

“We’ve been having a delicious time.” Sten slipped his arm around Ember’s waist and hugged her close. She watched uneasily as Cole fixed Sten with an icy glare, and gracefully slid from Sten’s grasp with an apologetic smile, moving to Cole’s side.

“Are you sure you don’t want to give her up?” Sten said. “She’s quite enchanting. I have a cave of gold with your name on it.”

In response, Cole kissed Ember, hard and insistent, bending her back against his powerful arm as though she were pliant bamboo. She couldn’t have escaped if she’d tried; his grip was unrelenting. She kissed him back, but there was something in it that felt repellent, forced, muting her usual automatic physical response. There was no melting of her loins, no rapid tattoo of her heart. Instead, she felt … nothing.

Sten laughed, and Cole pulled away from Ember, his eyes glittering. “Tea is being served in the west wing dining room.”

“I love tea,” said Sten. “Are you joining us?”

“Oh no,” said Cole, tucking Ember’s arm under his and walking her off. “We have other things to do.”

Ember twisted around to bid Sten farewell, but Cole jerked her back, and she returned her gaze to the path ahead. There was a familiar churning in her stomach, a sensation she hadn’t felt since her time with … with Bruno.

Cole was hurrying her, but she still heard Sten’s deep chuckle and his remark, “You’d better hope he wins, Ember. Ashe won’t want Cole’s cast-offs.”

Chapter 27

Cole used her in that moment, and afterwards, as she lay in the rumpled sheets, she wondered how long it had been since he had made her feel truly content. As always, her body was satiated, but her mind was restless, a flurry of thoughts and impressions, too ephemeral to pin down. The only images she could see clearly were that of the tree, the pendant, and Tana the Blade trapped inside.

She sat up and winced. The bites on her shoulder stung, and at once a maid was by her side, dabbing an ointment on that took away the fire but left an ache inside. A servant attended to Cole as well, and as he took a glass of wine, his face was grim.

“The Stones are against me,” he said, as though they were already halfway through a conversation. “Sten has made that perfectly clear. And with the Stones go the Skies.” He looked at her over the rim of his glass, at the maid brushing her hair so that it shone ebony black in the candlelight. “Are you not concerned?”

“Anything that concerns you, concerns me.”

Her tone was reassuring, and he gave her an abstracted smile. It was true she was worried, but not about the same thing that worried Cole. If what Alena had said was true, that the kingdoms had an influence on Earth, then a fight between the Skies, Stones and Swords could only spell disaster for her world, the world that was growing more distant and dimmer with every passing day. Every time Cole took her, she lost something. She was aware of it, a gnawing absence, but she couldn’t recall that which she had already forgotten.

The maid brought her a robe, and she slipped it on as she rose from the bed to use the bathroom Cole had conjured especially for her. When she returned, she paused by the mirror and stroked a finger along the carved frame. It showed a cityscape, somewhere alive and vibrant, with tall buildings plastered with signs in a language she couldn’t understand.

“Hong Kong,” Cole said. “When I’m the Sword, we’ll go there. We’ll go everywhere. Nowhere will be forbidden to us, there will be no limits.”

“Will you show me …” she wanted to say home, but here was her home, wasn’t it? “Show me where you found me?”

The mirror clouded and then came a picture, foggy and indistinct at first and then crystal clear. It was an unremarkable street, old houses with weather-beaten facades, dry weeds poking through cracks in the pavement. It looked untidy and unloved, as though those living there had given up a long time ago.

“I don’t remember it.” She tried to still the rising surge of panic within her. She should know this place, but she didn’t.

“You don’t remember it like this. It’s been years there since I found you.”

“Years?”

“Years and years.”

“Oh.”

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