Crystal Moon (35 page)

at the reins. We will make a good team.”

“Yes.” The word slipped out before Kyne could think of a

reason to refuse the king’s offer.

“Excellent.” The king rose. “I suggest we both retire.

Tomorrow begins a new chapter of Dramon history.” He struck

his right fist to his chest. “Live hard. Die well, First Minister

Cathor.”

Kyne surged to his feet and struck his fist to his chest.

“Live well. Die hard, Sire.”

Behind him, the chamber door crashed open. They whirled

around.

Blood streaming from his throat, a guard stumbled over the

threshold and collapsed.

Kyne pulled his sword and placed himself in front of the

young king.

A figure stood silhouetted in the doorway, another guard

dead at his feet.

“Guards,” Timon shouted.

“They cannot hear you.”

DiSanti’s evil laugh sent a chill through Kyne.

***

Kyne’s sudden rage caught Sianna unaware, then there

was nothing. She bolted upright in bed.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Again he had shut himself away from her.

DiSanti! The name echoed through her. Her father was

here! In the palace. With Kyne.

She scrambled off the bed toward the door. She had to go

to him. Warda growled and followed.

They flew through the corridors of the unknown palace,

guided by the faint thread that still connected Kyne and her, as

well as Warda’s unerring knack for finding his master. The

lack of guards to stop them fed Sianna’s panic. Gasping for

breath, she stumbled over the dead guard outside the door to

the king’s chamber.

Not willing to distract Kyne, she crouched alongside Warda

in the doorway and watched the battle unfold.

DiSanti met Kyne’s thrust. Their blades clashed. Sparks

flew. Unarmed, the king wisely stayed out of reach of the

flashing blades.

Warda growled and went to jump into the fray.

She held him back. “This fight is between Kyne and my

father. They must finish it alone. We cannot interfere.” She

could only pray Kyne’s lust for vengeance did not destroy him

along with her father.

As he fought, Kyne blocked her from his heart and mind,

but on a deeper level they remained connected. His unfamiliar

and uncomfortable desire to fight and kill choked her. Though

she had no control, no say in his actions, in this they became as

one. His body, her body, his ka, her ka were bound together.

What he experienced, she experienced. His victory would

become hers, as would his death.

With a whimper of distress, Warda pressed against her

side. His whole body trembled with suppressed need to go to

his master’s aid. Only Sianna’s command held him back.

The light from joined moons poured into the room and bathed

the macabre ballet between the combatants in a reddish glow.

Advance. Retreat. Parry. Thrust. They moved in time to a

soundless music, a death song only they could hear. The

discordant melody rang in Sianna’s ka.

The clash of their blades meeting echoed the recent battle.

Kyne’s red crystal sword shone with purity, while DiSanti’s

white crystal seemed to reject the light the moons cast. Their

labored breathing was a harsh refrain to the ring of their

weapons. Blood dripped from shallow cuts to mingle with sweat,

staining the air with a sour, metallic scent.

His strength and spirit fading with each blow given and

received, her father slipped on the blood-covered floor. Kyne

pressed forward. Sianna closed her eyes against the taste of

his blood lust on her tongue, but she couldn’t close her heart.

His pursuit of vengeance left her powerless.

DiSanti tripped over the dead guard and fell. His head hit

the edge of the room’s stone hearth, and he lay still.

Kyne’s savage exultation struck her like a death knell. Inside

him, vengeance tore a path of devastating destruction as her

father’s unredeemed ka reached out to ensnare him. Her

father’s evil doomed him to death, but she couldn’t let him drag

Kyne into the pit of damnation.

Though physically helpless, her father’s emotions drenched

her in a black, oily poison of hatred and twisted satisfaction.

Like acid, it ate at Kyne’s ka and fed his desire for revenge. If

he struck down DiSanti now, her father would achieve in death

what he could not in life—Kyne’s downfall. She moaned in

pain and tried to break free, but their intense emotions held her

captive.

She didn’t have the ability to fight them both. She needed

Kyne’s strength of heart and mind to combat the lethargy stealing

over her. Without him she would crumble beneath the force of

despair swirling around her. Her body might survive, but her

mind and ka would be lost in limbo. She sank to her knees. In

the dark, Warda pressed against her as if to offer consolation.

She clung to him.

“Kyne, help me.”

His attention focused on DiSanti, Kyne barely heard Sianna’s

voice. But like a warm ray of light in a dark, dank cavern, her

mental plea pierced the ominous shadow that had him in its

grip. Her despair rocked him. He felt her terror, her fading life

force as she teetered on the brink of a bottomless chasm.

He looked into the darkness of the pit and realized the power

to save or destroy her rested in his hands. Linked together, his

actions impacted her. If he slew the defenseless DiSanti, Kyne

would lose not only a part of himself, he would ravage Sianna’s

ka.

The choice was his.

Kyne let his sword arm drop to his side. He no longer needed

to strike the killing blow to find peace. Living and loving life

fully would be his revenge against the devastation DiSanti had

wrought. Let others determine the man’s final fate.

He strode to Sianna’s side. Crouching next to her, he

wrapped his arms around her trembling form, and with his heart,

mind and ka he reached out and pulled her away from the edge

of the abyss.

Their connection was instant and powerful. Energy surged

through them as love overpowered hate.

She curled into his embrace, her gentle hands stroking over

the numerous cuts and bruises DiSanti had inflicted. Warmth

tingled in the wake of her caress. Pain faded away, replaced

by a new vigor.

“Enough, my love.” He captured her slim, cool fingers in

his own to stop her. “Do not spend your strength in healing me.

My wounds are minor.”

“In healing you I heal myself. Your strength is mine as

mine is now yours. In this as in all else we are now one. Together

our power is more than doubled. We are connected. Do you

accept this?” Her gaze rested on his face. Through their strange

joining he felt her fear of his rejection.

He glanced at the unconscious DiSanti. Kyne’s anger

flickered briefly to life. Then she placed his hand over her belly,

and her love vanquished the ghost of revenge.

Like the sun’s rays reflecting off crystal prisms, Sianna’s

smile blinded him inside and out. She stretched up on her toes

and fitted her mouth to his. Hard and fast, desire surged through

him. His sword fell unnoticed as he snatched her up until her

feet dangled above the floor, and he feasted on her soft lips.

Then with a groan he gripped her arms and held her away. “As

much you tempt me, love, this is not the time or place.”

He felt her blush as she turned aside. “Do not be shy.” He

caught her chin in his hand and turned her face to his. The red

glow of the joined moons deepened her blush. “When the time

is right, I’ll welcome your advances.”

“Stand aside, First Minister,” King Timon’s voice quavered

with restrained anger.

Kyne turned to face the king. “Sire?”

There was no disguising the air of power and command

that hovered over the young king.

“Guards,” Timon bellowed. There was no response. He

strode forward and stood before them. His gaze focused on

Sianna. “Which daughter of the devil are you?”

Instinctively, Kyne tried to move Sianna behind him, but

she slipped out of his embrace and silenced his objection. Head

high, she faced the king. “I am Sianna DiSanti.”

“The bridal pawn.” Faced with Sianna’s courage and fragile

beauty, the king’s tone softened.

“A pawn is just how my father saw me. I had no say in his

plans.”

“Where is the other? The devil’s spawn? What of her?”

“Your wit is quick, Sire,” Sianna acknowledged the king’s

flash of humor. “She fought alongside Rul Cathor and was

wounded in battle against our father.”

Doubt flickered in the king’s eyes. “Why should I believe

that DiSanti’s heir, the daughter he reared to stand at his side,

turned against him? Though she did not come to court, news of

her exploits in quelling the people from rebellion against DiSanti’s

rule reached even my ears. She was your father’s strength in

the field. Her ruthlessness nearly matched his. Why would she

relinquish such power?”

“For love.”

“Love?”

“She speaks the truth, Sire.” Kyne wrapped his arm around

Sianna’s waist. Though she appeared calm and fearless, he felt

her tremble as she leaned into his strength. Their fate lay in the

king’s hands. “Laila DiSanti carries proof of her love for my

brother in her womb. When DiSanti had Aubin murdered, she

renounced her father and joined with those who stood against

him.”

Rage faded from the king’s gaze. “You would guarantee

her allegiance to the crown?”

“As my own, Sire.”

“And this woman?” The king’s gaze settled on Sianna. “Do

you chance your life on her loyalty as well?”

Kyne turned and looked into Sianna’s eyes and smiled. “My

love for her is no gamble. She holds my life, my heart, my ka in

her hands. Without her I am hollow. She is my mate and carries

my child.”

Indecision flickered across Timon’s face. “You risk much

for the daughters of our enemy.”

Kyne dropped to his knees at the king’s feet and bowed his

head in supplication. “Sire, you offered me a reward for my

service to you. I beg you, place the lives of Laila and Sianna

DiSanti in my hands. They are not your enemies.”

Time stretched out unbearably as Kyne waited for his king’s

verdict. No matter what the king decided, Kyne knew he would

protect Sianna with his last breath even if he lost all in the

process.

No. Sianna’s denial sounded in his mind. He is a just king.

He’ll not demand my death.

Timon placed his hand on Kyne’s shoulder. “Rise. A First

Minister begs favors from no man—not even his king. I’ll not

force you to choose between two masters. The women’s lives

are yours. See that they cause no further trouble.”

Relief coursed through Kyne as he stood. Though he sensed

Timon’s doubts, in time the young king would learn Laila’s loyalty

and Sianna’s true worth. “You have my humble thanks, Sire.”

“Do not thank me too quickly. There are conditions. The

DiSanti name must cease to exist. By royal decree I declare

that Laila DiSanti was wed to Aubin Cathor. And,” Timon’s

sudden grin revealed the mischievous youngster hidden beneath

the burden of kingship. “You must wed Sianna DiSanti. Is this

acceptable to you?” he asked Sianna.

“Yes, Sire.” Joy sparkled in Sianna’s eyes and voice.

“And you, First Minister?”

Kyne straightened and began to return Timon’s broad smile.

“How tender,” DiSanti rose behind Timon.

Kyne shoved Sianna aside and dove for his sword, but the

point of DiSanti’s blade against the king’s throat stopped him.

Slowly, Kyne eased his hand from his sword and stood up.

Blood trickled down Timon’s neck, but he didn’t flinch.

Warda’s growl warned Kyne the hound prepared to attack.

DiSanti’s blade bit deeper. “Call off your hound, Cathor, or

I’ll slit the boy’s throat now.”

“Warda. Hold.”

The hound whined, his body quivering, but he held.

“Release the king, DiSanti. You can’t hope to harm him

and leave this room alive.”

DiSanti’s laugh held little mirth and no sense of sanity. “Do

you think I care? What is there left for me to live for?” He

turned his glare on Sianna. “I curse the day you were born. You

and your whoring sister. All my plans. Dreams. You’ve destroyed

them all. Well, I’ll not die alone. The king dies first. Without him

to rally the ministers and people together, Dramon will crumble

into anarchy. I will have my revenge.”

“He’s gone mad,” Sianna whispered.

“And now you die, Your Highness!” DiSanti pulled back

his sword and prepared to drive the point into the king.

Before Kyne could react, Sianna sprang forward. She

knocked DiSanti’s sword aside and threw herself between them.

The king fell backwards out of harm’s way.

“No!” DiSanti screamed and plunged his blade into her

back.

Pain staggered Kyne as Sianna collapsed in his arms. He

sank to the ground with her.

Howling, Warda sank his teeth into DiSanti’s sword arm