Betrayal's Price (In Deception's Shadow Book 1) (19 page)

“I…I’m not sure
I can get them right.”

“Start with my
forehead. That symbol is just a crescent moon. I’ll guide your hand for the
more difficult ones.”

“All right.”
She didn’t sound at all certain, but she scooped a bit of paste and applied it
to his forehead. The dampness felt cold against his hot skin.

She managed the
double diamond shape over his hearts, but her hands started to shake when she
tried to paint the complex knot symbol on his abdomen. He captured her hand and
turned it over, stroking one thumb along her wrist.

“You’re doing
fine.” He kissed the silky skin on the inside of her wrist and then guided her
hand back down to his belly. With his help, she completed the symbol.

They continued
in silence. When she finished the last symbol, he sighed in relief.

Looking down,
he beheld a number of symbols marking his dark skin, painted in shades of smoky
blues, somber greens, and stormy greys. The first to be painted—those over his
hearts and on his abdomen—were already glowing with pale light.

The Larnkin
stretched as it reached to those conduits. The strange motion caused Sorntar
some discomfort. He looked up at Ashayna; from her expression, she wanted to be
elsewhere. His Larnkin shifted again, and Sorntar wondered if he might want to
be elsewhere as well. For once Ashayna had no biting remarks for him.

He retrieved a
goblet from the table before walking to the pool’s edge. It felt heavy in his
hand, a reminder of the importance of what they were about to undertake. He
dipped the goblet below the surface and filled it to brimming. Turning back to
Ashayna, he held it out as he began the ceremonial words of bonding.

“Drink of the
water blessed by the Great Mother and the All Father and be judged by Them. Let
any unworthy of Their gift be exiled from the world of the living.”

Ashayna didn’t
take the goblet, only staring at it with distrust. With a shrug, he drank it
down by half, and then held it out to her in challenge. She snatched it out of
his hand and downed the liquid in three gulps.

A warm
sensation, not altogether unpleasant, radiated outwards from his center. In its
wake all his defenses lay shattered, much faster this time than it had for his
testing. While he was still able to command his legs, he walked out into the
pool. He looked over his shoulder at Ashayna, motioning her forward. She didn’t
look pleased, but followed him out a ways before diving under its surface.

The water
pressed against him. Its embrace warm, yet no longer comforting. He dove under
the surface, kicking and beating his wings. He surfaced on the other side,
breathing heavily.

He waded back
to shore, where Ashayna was just exiting. The liquid fell from him as he
climbed the shore, leaving his skin and feathers dry. The sensation of his Larnkin
pressing against the inside of his skin nearly drove him into the bonding
chamber.

“Sorntar.”
Ashayna called his name, and then breathed out a surprised hiss. “Quit
stalling, I think our Larnkins are getting angry at the delay.”

The Wardstone
chamber awaited them. There were no more preparations to make. Taking three
deep breaths, he cleared his mind and fell into a light trance to regain the
peace he would need for what was to come.

Calm again, he
walked into the chamber, the clicking of his talons a strange contrast to the
soft padding footsteps of human feet.

* * * *

As Ashayna
followed Sorntar, a mix of dread and desire tightened her stomach with each
step. The massive Wardstones reminded her of the Oracle, though these were
mostly dark, with only a random flickering of light in their crystalline
hearts. It gave them the illusion of life, as if they lay dormant, awaiting the
raw power cast off by their bonding to come alive once more. A chill raised the
hairs on her arms and neck.

Sorntar lifted
his arms, his palms facing the rough-hewn ceiling. His wings imitating the
motion, their tips pointed to the shadows above. Power ignited his feathers and
coiled around his body, circling up towards his raised arms. Racing up their
lengths, magic pooled above his open palms, hovering there in an ever-enlarging
sphere.

Without a
doubt, he was the most beautiful creature she’d ever laid eyes on. A small part
of her was awed such a being could be willing to risk death to save her. Her
eyes welled with tears. When had he managed to get past the fortress she’d
built around her emotions?

He tilted back
his head and chanted to the shadows and light above. “We accept the gift the
Great Mother and the All Father have given us. And by Their grace, let no harm
come to us while we serve the Light. Welcome is Their gift.” The muscles of his
arms knotted, and with a violent heave, he sent his magic flying up and out. It
collided with the Wardstones at circle’s edge, setting them aglow with runes. A
deep humming filled the room, increasing in volume as the power intensified.
The sound escalated another octave, making Ashayna cringe with each ear
piercing jab. Instinctively, she wanted to put space between herself and the
bruising noise, but it came from all around. She covered her ears in a vain
attempt to block it.

Sorntar resumed
his incantation to the gods. “We accept the gift of the God and Goddess. By
Their grace, no evil shall touch us while we serve the Light. Welcome is Their
gift. Guide us in our path to wisdom.” Sorntar’s chanting filled the room,
rising and cresting into true song, in a haunting melody no human voice could
match. The loud droning from the Wardstones softened. They wavered, uncertain,
and then matched their tone to Sorntar’s singing.

The breath
stilled in her lungs as his voice wove an enchantment over the ancient
Wardstones.

“Always we
shall share both defeat and victory. In this life and the next. Let nothing
tear us apart. This we ask.” His voice sailed above the song of the Wardstones.
When the last note echoed to silence, he closed his fists. “Let now two powers
become one.”

A sheet of
magic fire leapt between each of the pillars at circle’s edge, forming a solid
dome of golden light.

Ashayna was
about to ask what was next, when he stiffened. His teeth snapped together with
a click and spasms shook his wings. The symbols painted on his flesh brightened
as magic flooded those gateways. A shimmering pool of magic formed between
them.

Chaotic magic
slowly ordered into something more solid. A shape took form. Its edges misty,
but the transparent suggestion of arched wings, the line of erect crest, and
the broad-shouldered form were the twin to its host.

It looked at
her, a penetrating gaze, like it could see through her skin to something
within, reading what lay at the heart of her soul, her most private thoughts.
She shuddered. It beckoned her nearer with an inviting motion of one graceful
transparent hand. Its expression was blank, unreadable, for which she was
thankful. Seeing either eagerness or impatience on its face would have broken
her nerve.

Ashayna took
halting steps closer. At this distance, the pull of the Larnkin’s power was
almost more than her discipline could handle. Panic caused cold sweat to run
along her back. An arm’s length separated them and still her magic remained
quiet.

“I don’t want
to be locked away, banished to the darkness below this city to serve as a tomb
guard.” She looked past the Larnkin while she spoke. Sorntar sat
half-collapsed, his wings and tail draped the ground around him like a cloak,
but he was alert. His gaze locked on her, Sorntar nodded encouragement.

She dare not
study Sorntar more and returned her attention to the Larnkin. It remained
unchanged. “Please help me,” she begged of the creature standing opposite.

Its posture
still didn’t change, but the magic swirling around it slowed and parted like
mist, and she met its eyes or at least the illusion of eyes. Its cold, foreign soul
looked back. She shivered.

A hint of legs
and a tail became visible before the power shifted and spiraled away like
smoke. Where a moment ago the outline of wings had been sharp, they softened
and blurred, vanishing back into the swirling magic. Ashayna’s hope dwindled.
It seemed Sorntar was wrong, their Larnkins were not yet strong enough to bond.
One minute it was vanishing back into a shapeless blue fog, the next its image
sharpened and it reached to touch the symbol over her heart.

A burning
radiated from where he’d made contact. The unpleasant sensation grew stronger.
She looked down in time to see the Larnkin slide its hand inside her chest.
Something within released, breaking like a dam. Power surged free, pouring out
of the symbols to fill the chamber with radiance. Silver power danced with blue
in bright chaos. Terror held her jaws locked.

She had to look
away or risk being blinded. Time slowed, then stopped or perhaps it sped
forward, she could no longer tell, yet it did not move as it should. The heat
of the bonding raged all around them in a storm of fire and radiance. Magic
continued to hemorrhage from the symbols, until she feared it would strip away
her life, maybe even her soul.

After a length
of time the pressure eased, the wildly swirling magic of both Larnkins no
longer increased unchecked. Ashayna mastered her fear when she realized she
wasn’t dying. Nevertheless, the line of tense muscles running the length of her
shoulders wouldn’t relax.

Ashayna looked
over at Sorntar. He struggled to stand. “It will be over soon,” he said. “The
worst is behind us.” His gentle undertones were a gallant attempt to reassure
her.

Calm returned,
a bit at a time. She managed a glare even with her sweat slicked muscles
shaking with the effort to hold her upright. “I don’t wish to do this again,
ever.”

The Larnkins
separated back into two distinct colors. Her silver one glided back towards her
while Sorntar’s took phoenix shape once again. It looked across the distance at
her and she had the impression it wanted to say something, but exhaustion
overtook it and it returned to a formless mist. After a moment it rushed back
towards its host. Hers did the same. Ashayna braced herself for some new
unpleasantness, but her Larnkin’s return was much easier than its escape. The
magic slid effortlessly back into the symbols, vanishing below her skin.

Time returned
to its proper course. Her magic was once again an uncomfortable but familiar
sense of power deep within. Unable to fend off the bone deep ache of exhaustion
a moment more, Ashayna collapsed and patted a spot on the floor next to her.
Sorntar took a step towards her, swayed, and then his eyes rolled back in his
head. He dropped to the ground with a thump. She crawled to him and pressed her
fingers into his throat. His pulse beat strong and steady.

With a sigh,
she curled her body against his. Her vision darkened around the edge. She was
about to lose consciousness and a brief moment of fear spiked through her at
the thought of what the tomb guards might do if they found them helpless.

Through her
fading vision, she saw magic rise to the surface of Sorntar’s skin. He rolled
to his side and mantled a wing over her. He looked down at her with Sorntar’s
slanted dark eyes, but the shimmering power within held none of his gentle
spirit.

“Fear not, my
beloved. I shall never let the Dead King take what is mine.”

She wanted to
cry out in fear, but even that was beyond her. He gathered her unresisting body
into his arms, kissed her brow and tucked her head under his chin. “Rest now,”
the Larnkin whispered, ruffling her hair with his breath.

Darkness
claimed her.

Silk-soft
feathers brushed her arms and a comforting spicy aroma surrounded her. As her
fingers stroked through blanketing feathers, Ashayna snuggled closer to the
heat source and distinguished the pattern of two distinct heart beats. The deep
vibration of Sorntar’s cooing told her they were safe. Sliding her hand along
his side, she found his arm and intertwined her fingers with his. She nestled
against his firm, muscular chest and pressed her lips in the hollow of his
throat, smiling at the direction her dreaming mind had taken.

He shifted
against her, nudging his knee between her thighs. His lips sought hers, nipping
gently at her lower lip. She returned his kiss, seeking more, needing to be
impossibly close—a part of him, like his Larnkin. His hands skimmed across her
skin in a light touch that heated her blood. Her bones were going to melt. She
didn’t care. After capturing his hand, she guided it to her breast. It was her
dream, after all.

Sorntar froze,
before he pulled away.

What? He wasn’t
allowed to get all shy in her dream.

“Ash, you do
realize you’re not dreaming, don’t you?” Sorntar’s thoughts invaded her dream.

“Really? Damn…we’re
dead?”

“No. We’re very
much alive. And I had no idea my prickly human could be so sweet.” Sorntar’s
breath ruffled her hair, then his lips brushed against her neck. “Are you
courting me?”

She groaned. “Death
would be so much less humiliating.” When she opened her eyes, she looked
around—anywhere but in Sorntar’s direction where he reclined next to her. He
played with a strand of her hair and looked decidedly smug.

“You need not
worry. This will not happen again.” She rushed on. “You have my word. I have no
intention of…courting you.”

“Yet you wear
my courtship gift—my necklace. You seem reluctant to give it back.” He toyed
with the silver chain, the feather a soft caress along her overheated skin. Her
breath hitched.

Ashayna’s mind
blanked. She didn’t know how to respond. “I…I found it the morning I first met
you. My Larnkin was awakening and only the necklace soothed it. I was going to
return it…eventually. I swear I’m not courting you. I don’t even know how it’s
done with a phoenix.”

“Oh.” Sorntar
hesitated before pulling away. “Since we’re going about this backwards, perhaps
it would be best for you to know a little about phoenix courtship anyway so
there’s no confusion.”

Ashayna
grunted, and felt her cheeks flush three different shades of red. And yet he’d
sounded disappointed, like he wanted her to court him—the realization tightened
her belly.

“With my race,
once we’re mated, it is for life and cannot be undone.”

The meaning of
his words slowly penetrated her lust-fogged mind. “So…you’re not….” She gaped
at him. “You’ve never…not once?”

His brows
scrunched together, perplexed, and then he grinned. “I think the word you’re
having difficulty with is mated. I fail to see why that’s so embarrassing. It’s
not a unique condition. It’s complicated with my race. Our urge to mate can
be…withstood. A long courtship ritual is involved. Then there’s the complications
of family bloodlines, fertility, compatibility of Larnkin, the problem of
having a bondmate, or gaining one later in life as sometimes happens.”

“And here I
thought you just didn’t like Lylantra’s aggressiveness, but you’re actually a
prude.” She grinned. “So much for sneaking off to the stables for a quick
tumble in the hay.”

Sorntar scowled
at her look. She chuckled—she couldn’t help it. He looked so offended.

“Is that your
idea of an offer? Need I guard my honor?”

“Offer? I don’t
have designs on your honor! Earth above!” Ashayna growled, feeling heat
climbing her face again.

“And I’m not a
prude.” His grumbled denial shook the bed. “Besides, I am coming to think you
don’t exactly have a great wealth of experience either.” But a sly look came
into his eyes saying he had already confirmed that truth by a previous look in
her thoughts.

Oh shit. The
subject needed to change. Now. She scrounged for something, anything else to
discuss.

A throat being
cleared stopped her line of thought. Ashayna looked up with growing dread.

They were in a
vaguely familiar-looking room. She recognized the healer’s quarters once she
got her mind focused on something other than Sorntar. A lupwyn healer stood by
the door, a bundle of supplies tucked under one arm, his ears poised forward.

Ashayna wanted
to melt into the floor, but settled for tossing her blanket over her head.

After a moment,
Sorntar tapped on her blanket. “It’s alright. He’s gone.”

She stuck her
head back out. It was mid-afternoon or a little later by the slant of light
coming in a row of west facing windows. With the healer gone, she and Sorntar
were the only ones present. At least there wasn’t an entire audience to witness
their exchange.

“The healers
are all close-mouthed. Your secret is safe.”

“How’d we get
here?” Another thought popped into her head, and her mind seemed to snap back
into focus because about a hundred questions were lining up behind the first. “Why
are we here? Between the early, unexpected bond and the incident with the
Oracle Stone, I wouldn’t have been surprised to awake in some cramped dark hole
and told to think on our actions for the next turning of the seasons.”

“You may wish
that had been the case.” Sorntar sat up and swung his legs over the bed’s edge
and began to groom feathers she’d mussed with her exploring. “I’ve already
been….asked a number of questions.”

By the way he
stressed ‘asked’, Ashayna bet there hadn’t been much asking, just a lot of
mental probing by a number of councilors. “Are you all right? Really?”

“Yes. We’ll be
fine after we’ve rested a bit more, and the council finishes with their
questions.” He sighed. “Vinarah was in to visit us already, but you were still
asleep. She informed me the tomb guards were the first to arrive and found us unconscious.
Apparently they then wrapped us in the cloaks of their Order and brought us to
the queen. I’m told it was a volatile bonding. We’re very lucky not to have
sustained permanent damage.”

“How long was I
asleep?”

“Three days.”

“You let me
sleep for three days—is that even possible—while you fended off the council?”
Ashayna was appalled Sorntar had been forced to take the brunt of their
punishment. She wasn’t even sure what he’d had to deal with, but she was
grateful all the same. Just the thought of having complete strangers rifling
through her mind while she was unconscious left her stomach in a tight knot. “I
can’t even begin to repay you for all you’ve done.”

“You’re my
bondmate. It’s my duty to look out for your welfare. Besides, I’ve been awake less
than two days, so don’t thank me yet. I’ve no idea what we underwent while
unconscious. I doubt they needed to ask me any questions at all.” He paused, and
then after some internal struggle, he continued, “They already knew everything,
and honestly, if they found anything dark within us we wouldn’t have
awakened…ever.”

“Oh.”

Ashayna didn’t
care for being senseless and helpless in the arms of tomb guards, and later
before the council, but at least she was still alive, so her situation was
improving. For the first time since she’d awakened, she really looked at
Sorntar. His eyes narrowed against the sunlight looked sunken, giving testament
to his exhaustion.

“Sorntar, you’ve
been brave enough. You should rest.” After smoothing her night robe, she stood
up. Stretching muscles stiff from disuse, she came around the end of the bed to
stand in front of him and met his eyes. When he looked like he was going to rebel,
she crossed her arms over her chest and gave him her best glower. “You need
sleep.”

“Perhaps you’re
right,” he sighed. “I can barely think.” He stretched back out and covered his
eyes with one arm. “Since were now bonded, our Larnkins will need us to stay
close. You’ll still be here when I wake?”

“Yes.”

“I never know
when you’ll decide to go looking for more trouble. You do it with alarming
regularity,” he rumbled, his voice already slurring with sleep. “I should
warn…can’t shield my thoughts…asleep.”

“Can’t shield
your thoughts? Wonderful, that’ll be a treat,” Ashayna mumbled to herself.
Sorntar’s snore told her he was already fast asleep and didn’t hear her,
something she was sickeningly grateful for.

* * * *

On the fifth
day after bonding, Ashayna stretched out on a grass covered slope and tilted
her face towards the sky. She closed her eyes, smiling as the sun’s warmth
relaxed muscles tired from her earlier climb. Her resting place had shed its
snowy covering a moon before, and already spring flowers were blooming—yet
another bit of information she’d gathered from her bondmate’s mind. Sorntar
seldom shielded his thoughts. Ashayna supposed she should feel some guilt, for
she still shielded against him. It didn’t bother her long this day, for the
breeze was warm, the sun glorious in its gentle spring radiance. She could
forget today’s guilt easily enough. If only her first day awake after bonding
was as easy to forget.

Shortly after
waking the first time, she and Sorntar had been asked every question imaginable,
together and then separately, then probed by an army of healers. She’d told the
elders about her incident with the oracle, only to find out Sorntar had already
related her tale. As it was, she received a speech on why elders were assigned
as mentors to rash younglings. That particular speech still stung.

They’d spent
the following days resting and adjusting to the sudden invasion of each other’s
thoughts. Ashayna had done all in her power to make certain others were always
around. She didn’t want to name it cowardice, but being alone with Sorntar made
her self-conscious. And if she was honest with herself, it wasn’t him she
distrusted. She feared she’d seduce him given half a chance. Presently, he
rested with his face pillowed in his arms, his wings extended out to either
side as he sunned himself.

Forcing her
eyes away from her delectable bondmate, Ashayna looked down the slope to where
Summer Flame and Shadowdancer engaged in a mock battle. Winter’s Frost circled
them, nipping at both opponents. When the mare bored of the game, she galloped
up slope to where Ashayna lazed among the soft new grass.

After walking
for a time to cool down, Winter’s Frost lay down next to Ashayna, leaving an
arm’s distance between them. Ashayna chuckled at the mare’s predictability. “Yes,
I know, rub your back.” Still laughing, she vigorously rubbed the sweaty, foam-dappled
coat.

“So Crown
Prince, when do you plan to show Ashayna your true form?”
The mare’s mind voice had been narrowed down for a private word
with Sorntar. Ashayna was certain she wasn’t meant to hear.

“Yes, about
that...” Ashayna gave the mare a crooked smile and quirked an eyebrow at
Sorntar.

“You’re
good.”
Surprise tinted the mare’s mind voice.
“But
perhaps I shouldn’t be so surprised, you and Sorntar are among the greatest in
raw power.”

Sorntar’s cough
drew her attention. “Since Winter’s Frost has broached the topic, I see no
reason for you not to witness the change.”

“Your bird
form?” Ashayna supposed it was his true form. Though, she found it hard to
imagine him looking any other way. There was another reason she’d not pressed
to see him shape shift. If he took his bird form, he’d expect her to fly with
him when he went hunting. Her stomach tightened.

Sorntar faced
up slope, calling to the three waiting there—their guards, or perhaps jailers
might be a more accurate name. Ashayna couldn’t think of a polite term for the
elders shadowing her every step since she first woke up. Priestess Halnora led
the way down the winding trail, followed closely by Winter’s Frost and
Shadowdancer’s sire and dam.

Halnora stopped
before them, her head tilted in Sorntar’s direction. “If you would call on your
Larnkin to shape shift, have caution, for this is the first time you have
called power since bonding. You will find you’re much stronger now.” Halnora
was only cautioning one who was young and new to a strange power, but to
Ashayna the priestess’s warning seemed darker. If a priestess older than
Ashayna’s family line was leery of Sorntar’s power, she decided it was wise to
move farther back.

Sorntar didn’t
show signs of being insulted at their lack of trust in his abilities. Closing
his eyes, he smiled and called power.

His wings
ignited in a shower of fiery sparks. In a blink they spread outward to cover
every feather. A moment more it blazed before it crawled over his entire body.
His familiar form vanished behind a fountain of flames. Ashayna caught her
breath. Then four heartbeats later the fire died down.

The last of the
fire vanished, and she didn’t understand what she was seeing. A vast shadow
engulfed her. She was eye level with two feather-covered legs—legs which ended
in talons large enough to easily encircle her. She stumbled out from under the
shadow. In Sorntar’s place stood a bird three times the height of a tall man.
In her mind the thoughts of her bondmate still felt the same, yet her eyes
could not accept what her mind told her.