Page 20 of Fated Unkindness
“We move. I want a strong team to stay here with the… assets, but the rest of us will head out. Back to Ravendene. I want to see the look on Raelle’s face when she arrives too late, and that bastard Dax is already dead.” I say this as I’m already walking out the back door of the cabin. “Ready the—” my words get stuck in my throat at the sight I see. Blood-red skies. I knew there was a storm, but this… I knew this. I’ve seen it before. The nightmare.
I spin back to Flynn, catching his shirt in my fists. “Why didn’t you tell me the storm was of this caliber? Blood-red skies and so unnatural? I wouldn’t have wasted the time I did on those sorry pieces of shit in there!” I bellow in his face. He squints with every word. I start to think the nightmare was maybe more than it seemed... Perhaps it was a warning from the gods.
“Damnit!” I curse. “Ready the horses, we leave with haste!” Everyone around me scatters into action. We are on the road in a matter of minutes. Concerned, I rack my brain trying to remember the details of the nightmare. I should have known; I should have sensed something was off when I had the dream. The cliff I was standing on in the nightmare. “FUCK!” I yell out in frustration, but my curse is eaten up by thunder as it booms so loudly that it startles the horses. Lightning strikes a tree to my left and a fire erupts from where it was hit. The smoke chokes me, and the scent sticks in my nose.
“LET’S RIDE!” I yell, and we take off like a stampede back to Ravendene.
Hours pass with the skies still red as blood and churning angrily. The wind whips at us relentlessly, but I am determined. I push the group to go as fast as we can back to Ravendene or to catch up to Raelle, whichever comes first. The willow is out of the way, but I’m sure Raelle made it there at least. If she didn’t run into any of my scouts or Raskin's that are in these woods, that is. I’ll need to cut her off, on her way back to Ravendene.
As much as I liked her warming my bed, what she is doing—will not be easily forgivable. The Apus family has been a thorn in my side for too long, and I’m not going to stand for it anymore. She doesn’t remember, but she and I had been acquainted long before she ventured into Ravendene with my guidance. We were just kids. Our parents had a meeting in Loema. My father was close to Dax’s, Travis Ravendene, the Lord of our territory. They had planned for my father to act as a diplomat for Ravendene. They planned for Ravendene and Loema to come together to challenge Demetrey for power after the kingdom fell. Dax and Trent were always around; we grew up together, but they never listened to themen in the meetings like I did. I was interested in the politics and the possibility of war. The thirst for power was engraved in me by my father from a young age. He was a smart man; he knew that power is what rules the people. The last words he ever spoke to me were before he left on a mission for the Ravendenes.“Don't forget, the power of knowledge is far greater than brute strength, but when you have both, you will be unstoppable. Never be afraid to take what you want, Cano.”
I learned later in life that the meeting I had with her was one of the most important they conducted before their deaths. The topic of discussion was the rightful ruler of the Aldramani Kingdom. When the king and queen perished in the uprising, the queen was pregnant. She gave birth on the night of their deaths. They left their only living heir in the care of one of the queen’s trusted handmaidens. That heir lived beyond the war, and I made it my life’s duty to find out who they were. My family fell trying to place a crown on the head of an infant who didn’t earn anything. An heir to the throne by birth only. An order from Lord Ravendene, and I lost everything, including my best friend. Dax and I have never been the same since.
When the time came to fight, I was not yet old enough to fight alongside my brothers and sisters, mother, and father. I was left in the care of the Fornax-Ravendene caretaker, Miles. Miles sought to train us all in our parent’s absence; he even trained some of the other kids who had one or both parents away at war. Kait was one of them. We all excelled in different aspects, Kait and Trent with their smarts for the fight. Maki was always the planner and information seeker, but it didn’t help him in combat. I was amaster of cunning, getting my opponent to work for me and then hitting them when they least expected it.
Dax was the only one who could rival us all at our best. Though, I didn’t know it when we were young, the lessons my father was teaching me would pay off. At the time, I was upset with the coldness with which he taught me, but I was storing the knowledge of my training with each of them for future use. My so-called childhood friends and I aren’t training for the possibility of combat anymore. We are at war without armies, even as we speak, and I’m going to destroy them and take what is owed to me, just as I had learned from my father. Dax is the only one who sensed my animosity with the group, for which he shared his concerns with Maki. Being as I couldn’t get the Loema Territory leader to budge with his armies. No worries; in the end, I found those who were willing to work for me, and with their aid, I will become the ruler of theentirekingdom of Aldramani.
Chapter eighteen
This is it—what dyingfeels like. I was struck by lightning, and the earth opened up to eat me whole. That has to be what happened. I'm falling and falling—floating? I don’t feel like I’m falling anymore. I’m floating. I’m too scared to open my eyes. Have I crossed over, beyond the veil? My body feels like it’s lying on a cloud. The humming I’ve felt in my chest flares, and liquid fire burns through my veins. My eyes snap open. I’m not on a cloud, but rather a bed.
When I realize my body is still my own, that I’m not dead and beyond the veil, I sit up and take in my surroundings. Lying next to me is a very still, very handsome, but ill-looking man. The hum in my chest flares again, sending warm vibrations out of the center ofmy being through every nerve ending of my body. I stand, staring down at him.
“Dax,” I whisper on a gasp.
My thoughts are still scrambled from what must have been me portaling somehow from the willow at the cliffs to Dax’s bedside in Ravendene. I wonder what could’ve happened to Miles—I’m not sure, but I can’t waste any time thinking about it. I shake my head to clear it.Focus on what is most important at the moment, Rae.I need to create the elixir and get Dax to drink it.
My eyes flick across his still form. Is he breathing? Please don’t tell me I’m too late. I scramble up, pulling items out of my inner cloak pockets. There is soil all over the bed where I was. So, I scoop some of that up. I find a mortar and pestle in one of the cabinets and start setting things up on the bedside table. My head snaps up when I remember I need to look for the book that has the instructions for the cure. As I pull the small jar of Moonflowers out of my cloak pocket, a sheet of paper falls out with it and drifts to the floor. Unfolding it, I can’t believe my eyes. I’m looking at the directions for the elixir right in my hand, almost like I conjured it with just the thought.
Without hesitation, I get started. I sprinkle the blessed soil into the mortar, followed by the Moonflowers, which glow. They have the moon’s light entrapped in each petal. As the two ingredients touch, a wave of energy ripples over them. When I begin to muddle the ingredients together, a milky white, opalescent substance comes from the flowers. It looks like what I imagine magical water from the moon would look like. I scan the paper with the directions for the elixir, not lingering on some of the things I don’tunderstand. I bring the mixture to the window along with the dagger.
I slice through the meaty flesh of my palm with the moonstone dagger. I let the blood pool in my hand. I get the hum in my chest again, but instead of liquid fire, it’s warm and spreads out through my stomach and arms. My magic vibrates. I turn my head, looking over my shoulder at Dax. His features, even with the shallowness of his cheeks and grayish pallor to his skin from the curse, he is beautiful. He’s covered by a white blanket. His broad, muscular chest, covered in tattoos and random scars of all sizes, is on display. His disheveled hair is long on the top, so it falls across his forehead. He has a thin scar that trails from the end of his left eyebrow and stops just below the eye, and I find myself wondering how he came to get it. He looks peaceful, at least.
I turn my hand over and let the blood that’s pooled there spill over into the mortar. When the blood hits the other contents, it sizzles and pops like a fried egg in a pan, and sparks splash out of the bowl. Once I mettle it more, there is a magic ripple of white light. As the contents mix, the muddy, blood-colored substance turns to a glowing iridescent white. I smile at the completed elixir and turn toward Dax.
The hum in my chest intensifies, causing my hands to shake. I reach out and take his hand in mine. The contact sends a shock through my fingertips and up my arms. I bring the elixir up to his full lips. They are slightly open already, and I pour the small amount of liquid into his mouth and send a silent prayer to the gods that I’m not too late. I don’t even want to think about the possibility that I am. After all we have been through, my memory is gone, Trent, Kait, and Melani. I pinch my eyebrows together justthinking about it. I can’t fail them; they have been nothing but kind to me, and the feeling I get from being around these people has to mean something.
After placing the jar on the bedside table, I hold his hand in both of mine as I wait. I keep my eyes trained on him, watching for any sign of movement. Any indication that the elixir is working? There is nothing.
Resting my head on our hands, I close my eyes. The hum in my chest intensifies, igniting a surge of emotions I can’t place. Dax lays just as still, his chest rising and falling with slow breaths. There is no hint that the elixir is working or not. A tear escapes my closed eyes and drops to our hands.
I hear Dax take a quick influx of breath; it’s so faint I almost miss it. Lifting my head, my lips part in awe. Dax is beginning to glow from within, like—the light of the moon lives just below his skin. I sit up straighter, gripping his hand tighter. I feel an icy warmth starting to tingle its way up my arms from where I hold onto Dax. The glow moves into me and my blood. I feel it moving through my veins, each pump of my heart is like a siphon collecting magical energy. When it reaches my chest, I gasp as the air is knocked out of my lungs. The burning sensation creeps further up my chest and neck, causing me to tilt my head back. My eyes flutter shut as I let the emotion and icy warmth take me over.
“Raelle?” A deep, raspy voice brings me back to the present. Dax’s warm, hazel-green eyes are open and fixed on mine. An intense fire of emotion builds as his gaze bores into the very depths of my soul. Relief washes over me, and I drop my head back to our clasped hands, whispering my thanks to the gods.
We don’t have time to talk about anything that just happened, about the curse, or—
“Dax.” I smile, relieved that he’s staring back at me. I did it. I saved him.
I hear men arriving in the square, shouting and clamoring about. “Fuck. Cano.” I seethe. “Dax, there isn’t time to explain everything that is going on right now, but we need to get out of here. Are you ok? Can you walk?”
“Such a dirty mouth. Yes, love. I can walk, and I feel better than ok.” He grins, and it makes my heart flip in my chest, which confuses me as much as it intrigues me.
“Good to hear, love…” I mock him with a rueful smile of my own. Am I flirting with a man I basically just met? What is happening to me right now? I shake my head and stand. I rush to the closet in the corner of the small room. “We need to hurry, Trent and Kait—well, I’m not sure what has happened to Trent and Kait.”
“What do you mean happened to them?” he asks. I startle at the closeness his voice comes from. He has gotten up from the bed and is standing behind me—oh gods, in only… The blush takes over my face so fast that there is nothing I can do; he sees it.
“You should get dressed. Um, quick… here.” I push the clothes I’ve taken from the closet into his bare chest. The muscles there twitch as he looks down and takes the bundle of fabric, covering his nakedness. I catch his smile, showing a gleam of perfect white teeth, before I spin around so fast I’m at risk of whiplash. “We need to get somewhere we can lay low for a short amount of time. Discuss… things.” I sneak a peek to see if he is dressed, just as he’s pulling a tunic down over the taut muscles of his stomach. The blush rushes me again as he catches my gaze. I turn oncemore. I snatch the dagger from the table with a little more force than necessary and sheath it on my thigh. I take a second to grab anything else I think may be useful, as does Dax.
