Page 290 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
“I…” Akira faltered, her fingers tangling into the fabric of her dress. Her eyes flashed to the males towering behind Tessa. “I wish to embrace you, but I can’t. My magic is too much here, and you still have fury. It will try to devour that.”
“Okay,” Tessa whispered, wrapping her arms around herself.
“But I wish to speak more. When you are ready,” Akira added.
Tessa nodded, and Theon cleared his throat lightly. “Actually, there is a reason you are here. Aside from your daughter.”
“Who are you?” Akira asked again, her eyes narrowing. “You are too far removed from Death to carry the power that you do.”
“That is a tale for another time,” Theon said, and Tessa snickered as he avoided the story. “But we are told you can facilitate the transfer of power from one being to another. Or at least, you can teach Tessa how to do it.”
“Perhaps,” she agreed, still eyeing him. Her gaze shifted to the left. “I know who you are. You were scarcely walking when I saw you last. You are hers?”
“I am,” Luka answered.
Before Akira could ask about the rest of their company, there was a burst of flames that had Tessa lurching back. She’d never get used to magic messages. With a grumble of annoyance, Theon reached into the fire, plucking out a piece of paper. His eyes scanned it, brows arching in surprise.
“What is it?” Luka demanded, taking the paper from him.
Theon turned to Tessa, “We’ve been invited to the Anala Kingdom. We will be escorted in the morning.”
50
AXEL
“Thanks, kitten,” Axel murmured, feeling her flames dance around him.
It was cold in Idalia, the capital city of the Anala Kingdom. He’d known that, of course. Geography had been part of his studies, and Idalia sat just on the outskirts of the Sulien Forest. In the northernmost part of the realm, it was always cold, and from his understanding, the forest often had snow even in the summer months. At least in the southern part of the forest, the year-round snowfall didn’t seem to affect Idalia quite so much.
Of course, none of that mattered much to the Anala Kingdom. Not when a good number of their population had fire magic. Aside from the Anala Legacy, they never let other kingdoms claim fire Fae. Katya was one of the rare exceptions, and he still wondered how she’d ended up in the Falein Estate.
They’d arrived via portal station, stepping into the daylight, and Axel had immediately pulled up the hood of his jacket to shield himself from the sun. Gloves in place and completely covered, the cool weather helped hide his new nature well enough.
The portal station was on the water’s edge, and Axel could see the faint outline of the Ozul Mountains across the body of water between their two kingdoms. It was brilliant really. With the mountains butting right up to the water’s edge on the Arius Kingdom side, there were no inhabitants. If they did send anyone to spy, all they’d see was the same thing a person saw if they entered the kingdom through the portal station. Axel had only been to the kingdom one other time, and that was due to the tradition of all heirs touring the capital cities and Fae Estates. Otherwise, Lady Kyra rarely granted entry.
Kat held Maddox to her chest, keeping him plenty warm. They were staying in Idalia for a few days’ time, which meant they’d needed to bring him along. There was no way either of them were missing out on entering the Anala Kingdom.
Tessa walked ahead of them, pulling her fur-lined jacket tighter around herself, and Luka stepped to her side, presumably doing the same thing Kat had done for Axel by providing some of his dragon warmth. Theon was at her other side, while the rest of their company trailed behind Axel and Kat.
They were escorted from the portal station and down several blocks into the heart of Idalia until they came to a three story brick building. Topped with a gold dome, the sun reflected off it. Climbing the front steps, they entered an elegant lobby, mosaics of the sun and fire on the floors. A moment later, the sound of heels echoed before Lady Kyra appeared before them, along with her daughter and their Sources.
Kat shuffled nervously next to him, fighting all her instincts to drop to a knee. Tessa had made it clearnoneof the Fae with them were to do so. She’d said if they were pushing for this change and wanted the Fae to be seen as the equals they were, no one should be bowing to anyone. The Fae had been nervous, but none of them defied their own Lady.
Lady Kyra’s bright amber eyes skimmed over them, a small smile playing on her lips as she bowed her head slightly. “Lady Tessa,” she greeted, lifting her head to meet her gaze. “Welcome to Idalia.”
“Thank you,” Tessa said tightly, everything about her tense. She was still conditioned to think everything was a trap, and Axel couldn’t blame her.
Lady Kyra either didn’t notice or didn’t care to draw attention to the possible slight as she shifted her focus to his brother. “Theon,” she greeted, stepping forward. “You bring quite the company with you.”
“Thank you for the invitation, Kyra,” he said. “It is such a rarity.”
“Out of necessity, I assure you,” she replied, features hardening the smallest amount. “We have a light lunch prepared. Come and eat. We can discuss matters, and then you can be shown to your quarters before we meet again.”
They all followed her to a large space with a long table in the center. Rather than being served, one wall was set up with various dishes in a buffet style. After everyone had filled their plates, Axel held Maddox while Kat settled in to eat.
Lady Kyra sat at the head of the table, observing everyone as she said, “Now that we all have food, perhaps some introductions?”
“Of course,” Theon said, glancing at Tessa, who nodded. She may be the Arius Lady, but she was letting Theon be the public face of the kingdom. Not that she didn’t step in when she needed to, but she was smart enough to know that Theon had been playing the game of politics far longer than she had.
