Crystal Moon (32 page)

stopped here and now. No matter the cost.”

***

Arms and legs aching, Sianna squeezed her eyes shut and

clung to Laila’s waist as she pressed the tired quinar beneath

them for more speed. To help him maintain the killing pace

Laila set, for the last three days Sianna had bonded with the

beast. Now both were exhausted. She had no more strength to

give.

“Stop, or the quinar will collapse, “ she whispered. Unable

to keep pace with the fleet quinar, Warda had fallen behind two

days earlier, but she knew the hound would continue to follow.

Laila slowed the quinar to a walk, but did not stop. “There

is no time. Tomorrow is the tenth day. We must reach the palace

this night if we are to prevent DiSanti from murdering the queen

and princess.”

From deep inside, Sianna summoned the last of her reserve

and gave it to the quinar. He responded with a surge of speed.

Darkness descended long before they stopped at the bottom

of a cliff just out of sight of DiSanti’s troops. From their hiding

place they could hear the murmur of men as they prepared for

battle, as well as smell the odor of their cook fires.

Sianna slid from the quinar’s back. Her legs wobbled as

she leaned against the beast. Their labored breaths misted the

crisp night air. Languor stole over her as she watched Laila

strip the saddle from the tired animal with quick, efficient motions.

Mercifully, the babe inside Sianna slept, comforted by the

continuous motion. But what of Laila’s unborn babe? Her injury?

From what hidden store did she draw her energy?

“Vengeance gives me strength.”

Unaware that she’d spoken her question out loud, Sianna

started at Laila’s answer.

“I’ll not rest until DiSanti lies dead at my feet,” Laila’s

damaged voice rasped. “Then you may bury me.”

“And Aubin’s babe? Shall I bury him as well?” Though

Sianna’s connection with Laila was tentative, she sensed Laila’s

child was male, as she knew her own was female.

“Do not fear. I shall live long enough to give birth to Aubin’s

child, but I will not be his mother. If I could strip his body of my

tainted blood, I would not hesitate. Instead, I will give him into

the care of his father’s family. I can only pray their honor will

dilute the DiSanti poison flowing through his veins.”

“Do you refer to the poison of an ungrateful child’s

betrayal?” DiSanti’s black cloak swirled around him like a dark

cloud as he stepped out of the forest. The red glow of the

joined moons above cast crimson shadows over his smiling face.

He looked at Sianna. “But I do thank you, Laila, for

delivering your sister to me. As much as it pains me to admit it,

she’s a necessary element for my plan to succeed. Seize them!”

Weapons drawn, soldiers surrounded them.

Sianna gasped as Laila pulled her sword. She grabbed

Sianna’s arm and held the blade to her neck. “I’ll kill her myself

before I’ll give her into your hands. Stand back.”

The soldiers started forward. Again Sianna felt the prick of

crystal and the warmth of blood trickling down her throat. As

before she made no move, no protest. She didn’t doubt her

sister capable of carrying out her threat. By his tense stance,

apparently, neither did their father.

He held up his hand, and the soldiers halted.

Death hovered a hairsbreadth away. And she did not want

to die. She soothed the panicky flutter in her belly with a gentle

touch of mind and hand. With all her being she called out for

Kyne. Deep within, she felt his wordless answer, his awareness

of her flaring to life. He would come.

A sense of peace settled over Sianna.

“Send them away, Father, and I’ll release her. This fight is

between you and me.”

“After our last encounter I’m surprised you’re still eager

to cross swords with me. You’re such a disappointment to me,

child. I reared you to rule at my side, but you threw it all away

on the second son of an exiled traitor.” With one hand DiSanti

stroked his chin. The other played lightly over the hilt of the

sword at his waist.

“Perhaps it is time I finished this. Very well, Daughter.

Return to camp,” he told the soldiers.

Without question the men melted back into the darkness.

“Your hounds are well trained.”

“My daughters should be so obedient. Now release Sianna.”

The blade dropped from Sianna’s throat. “Hide in the woods.

Kyne will find you,” Laila whispered.

“I’ll not leave you.” Sianna whirled in front of Laila and

faced her father. “You can’t do this. We’re your daughters.

Your blood flows in us as it does in you. Kill us, and you kill

your ka and your future. Even now we carry your immortality

in our wombs.”

“You’re breeding! By whom?” DiSanti laughed harshly.

“Why do I ask. Rul Cathor, of course.” He pinned Laila with

his glare. “And you by his brother. I should have killed the lot of

the Cathors. It never pays to leave the sons of your enemy

alive.”

“Give way, Father,” Sianna begged. “Release the queen

and princess. Renounce your desire for power. Without my

marriage to Prince Timon, you cannot hope to control him or

the Council for much longer.”

His stance deceptively easy, DiSanti slid his blade from its

sheath. “True, but there are other ways. By ruling through you,

I only sought to prevent a brutal civil war.” His twisted smile

gave lie to his words.

Sianna cringed as his excitement opened him to her, and

she glimpsed her father’s inner emotions. He relished the thought

of the killing and destruction a civil war would bring. Her heart

ached at the depth of his ugliness. Did the evil go all the way to

his core? Did any of his newborn innocence remain hidden

deep within him? Had he completely destroyed his innate human

potential? Was there a way to reach his center and resurrect

his drowning ka? Did she have the strength to save him from

eternal damnation? The courage to risk her own in the attempt?

“But I’m not adverse to sitting on the throne. In fact, I

rather like the idea. Prince Timon’s forces are not up to the

task of defeating my troops. It is but a matter of time before

the palace falls into my hands. With the royal family dead, it

will take little to convince the ministers to crown me king.”

His gaze raked over Sianna and Laila dismissively. “To a

king, daughters are nothing more than pawns in the marriage

mart. A king needs sons to carry on. As I am still young enough

to father many sons, I find I have little need of two soiled

daughters.”

“He is as I told you, without conscience or ka,” Laila said.

“Your pleas fall on barren ground, Sianna. Go. Now.”

Sianna resisted as Laila pushed her toward the cover of

the forest.

“Yes, run away child.” He shrugged off his cloak. Like a

living thing, the rich, black material floated to the ground at

Sianna’s feet. “Hide if you can while I finish off your deceitful,

ungrateful sibling. Then I will find you and do the same.”

Her father’s callous words shattered the last of Sianna’s

illusions. They would fight, and she could do nothing to prevent

it. Nothing to salvage his ka. Nothing to save Laila. In the face

of their hatred and anger, her love was meaningless. But neither

could she abandon them.

She could sense her father’s soldiers lurking in the shadowy

woods—their twisted loyalty, their growing blood lust. If she

ran, her death at their hands would not be quick or easy.

Sword drawn, Laila pushed her aside. Sianna stumbled to

her hands and knees and clutched the cool, damp silk of her

father’s cloak between her fingers.

Swords clashed. Sparks, turned crimson by the Blood Moon,

danced in the night air. To and fro they moved in a deadly

ballet. Laila’s breath rasped a counterpoint to the ring of crystal.

DiSanti glided around the clearing, toying cruelly with his injured,

pregnant daughter. He laughed and whirled. His blade sliced

across her sword arm.

Blood welled up. Laila faltered. Fingers numb, strength

spent, her sword dipped, exposing her to his final thrust. Head

high, she stood motionless as he lunged.

Laila’s calm acceptance of her own death and that of her

unborn babe’s shattered Sianna’s helpless terror.

“No!” She surged to her feet and threw DiSanti’s cloak. In

a swirl of black, the crystal silk snaked around his blade.

His aim went wide, but the honed edge of the sword made

quick work of the fabric. Shredded silk fluttered free. He stalked

toward Laila.

Sword again raised, she backed away.

His chuckle held no hint of humor, no hesitation. “You can

run, but you cannot escape.”

Beneath Sianna’s feet, the ground vibrated with the thud of

her heart.

Head cocked, DiSanti paused as the rumble grew louder.

Quinar burst into the clearing. Sianna and Laila staggered

back as the animals thundered between them and DiSanti. Clods

of dirt spewed upward from their churning hooves. She

recognized the moonlit faces of the riders: Graham, Katya and

Kyne.

DiSanti swung around to face this new threat. His face

reflected sudden fear. Then the clearing erupted in shouts as

his troops swarmed forward from their concealment in the

shadows. “Seize them!”

Outnumbered twenty to three, Kyne, Graham and Katya

fought while DiSanti melted into the woods.

Swords swung and flashed. Blood spurted. Men screamed

and cried out in agony. Confusion blanketed the clearing as

clouds covered the glowing Blood Moon. Darkness hid friend

from foe.

Where was Laila? Kyne? Sianna reached out for them.

Pain. Terror. Anger. Emotions battered her from all sides,

drowning out any single person. Unable to see, afraid to move,

she stood rigid amidst the chaos.

Kyne’s first instinct was to run down the fleeing DiSanti.

Then he saw a soldier lift his sword to strike Sianna. Kyne

swerved, and Hakan’s bulk knocked the soldier aside. Kyne

swept Sianna into his arms as DiSanti disappeared into the

forest, but Kyne couldn’t regret his decision. Sianna’s safety

mattered more than vengeance. His chance at DiSanti would

come again.

Dangling at his side, Sianna screamed and thrashed against

his hold.

“Be still. It’s me.” Kyne hauled the squirming mass of

feminine outrage up onto his lap with one arm, all the while he

fended off DiSanti’s foot soldiers with the other.

“Kyne,” she whispered and sagged against him.

A man grabbed her skirt. She started to slide out of Kyne’s

grip.

“Kyne!” Her fingers clutched at his arms.

He reached across her with his sword and sliced through

the man’s arm at his wrist. The man shrieked and fell back. For

a moment, his fingers remained attached to her skirt, then she

kicked, and the severed hand dropped away. With a shudder

she buried her face in his chest.

“I’ve got her,” Kyne shouted and whirled Hakan toward

the woods. DiSanti was nowhere to be seen.

The sounds of fighting faded as Hakan carried them away

from the clearing, deeper into the surrounding forest. No foot

soldier could hope to keep pace with a quinar. Once assured

that none followed, Kyne slowed Hakan to a walk. The animal’s

heavy breathing, the snap of branches and thud of his hooves

against the ground broke the night’s quiet.

Sianna peered up at Kyne. In the clouded moonlight, her

expression of love soothed the terror he’d felt when he’d first

sensed her presence.

“You came,” she breathed. “I called to you, and you came.”

Kyne couldn’t explain the sudden urge that had come over

him. He only knew that Sianna needed him. Her cry for help

echoed in his heart and mind, demanding a response. Even

now he could sense her inside himself. They were linked, joined.

He felt her pain and fear, her love and sorrow. Her spirit curled

inside him like a contented kitten.

Who her father was no longer mattered. She had had no

part in his crimes. Her hands were clean, her ka pure. Her love

washed the hate from Kyne’s heart and mind. DiSanti still

needed to be stopped, but her sweet, fresh love quenched

Kyne’s thirst for vengeance.

He cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her face. “You’ve

crawled deep within me. Where you are, I am. Where you go,

I go. Run from me, and I will follow. Call me, and I will come.”

Like liquid crystal the poetic words flowed from his lips and

hardened in the air around them, ready to shatter if she denied

their bond.

“You’re within me as well. Without you I become an empty

shell. I....”

The rest of her words were lost beneath the clatter of hooves

as Katya and Graham approached.

Kyne felt Sianna’s quick stab of anxiety along with his own.

“Where is Laila?” she asked.

Katya and Graham exchanged a puzzled look, then

comprehension dawned on their faces.

“Lisha is Laila DiSanti!” Katya’s eyes blazed with angry