Daughter of the Red Dawn (The Lost Kingdom of Fallada) (20 page)

This is unreal.
I don’t know how I feel about all of this.

I know. It’s hard for you right now with so much going on. Soon you’ll be meeting your parents and that is what’s important right now.

This feeling that I have when I’m with you
…
that seems pretty important
,
too.

Titus smiled as he drew in closer, resting his forehead against hers.
It is.

Selena closed her eyes, inhaling Titus’ masculine, woodsy scent. It filled her with security, reminded her that someone was with her on this wild adventure, someone who truly cared about her.

Titus?

Yes.

I’m afraid.

Don’t be. I’m here.

Titus shifted against her and Selena braced herself for another one of his mind-bending kisses. Her lips were parted, her breath caught between them and her lungs bursting to contract as she waited. The second his lips brushed hers, Rothatin’s booming voice intruded their haze of telepathic conversation and touching lips.

“We have a long day’s travel ahead of us,” he said with a dark glare in Titus’ direction. It was obvious that the
Fae
male still did not trust him. “We should get a move on.”

Titus returned Rothatin’s glare. “By all means, let us go.”

With another dangerous glance at Titus, Rothatin moved to the front of their procession, a doubled-edged, curved spear clutched in his
slender
fingers. The others followed without question as Rothatin crossed over into Damu. Selena and Titus fell in behind them, their hands still clasped tightly between them. Disappointment stabbed Selena in the gut and she grimaced at the back of Rothatin’s blond head.
Titus’s laughter rang out inside of her head.

There will be time for that later, my princess, I promise.

Selena blushed and stared down at her feet as they trekked over the sand.
I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Another laugh from Titus.

Sure you don’t.

~*~

The news couldn’t be good. Eranna could tell, just by the slump of Ushma’s shoulder
s
and the dragging of
the horribly ugly witch’s feet
. She supposed an hour
in the bathing pool
was long enough.
Eranna
waded through the
pool
and accepted the towel that Ushma clutched between her gnarled fingers. After drying off, Eranna draped a sheer, white silk gown over her shoulders and belted it at the waist. She stabbed her most loyal witch with a narrowed glare and frowned.

“You’ve brought news.”

“Yes,
m
y Queen.”

“The expression on your loathsome face says it all. I am not going to like this, am I?”

Ushma shook her head, keeping her gaze averted from Eranna’s. She knew that her eyes were beginning to glow red, a side-effect of anger that had started happening only recently. Eranna reveled in the feeling of rage as it raced through her veins with cold fury. Her hand curled into a fist at her side.

“Let’s have it.”

“Ruen has returned with only a handful of Minotaurs. They have failed you, my
Q
ueen.”

Eranna’s fingernails bit into her palms, drawing blood, but she
was heedless to the crimson stain running down her bathrobe.

“I will deal with him later,” she said, her voice laced with deadly promise before stalking over to her cherished mirror. She
paused and took a deep breath
, unclenching her fists and allowing her body to rapidly heal the tiny half-moon gashes she’d created with her fingernails. She
took
inhaled
deep
ly
and focused on her breathtaking reflection in the gilded mirror.

“Mirror, mirror, s
how me Princess Eladria of Damu,” she commanded.

Eranna’s reflection faded in a swirl and flash of light, and in the center of a swirling haze appeared the image she’d been waiting for. She was escorted by the warrior
Fae
and accompanied by that traitor
Werewolf
. Eranna shook with barely controlled rage.

They had already set foot on the sands of Damu, which meant King
Eldalwen was more than likely aware of her presence. His Centaurs would protect her with their lives and add strength to her escort of warrior
Fae
. Eranna could not risk losing valuable soldiers when she had been gathering them for her army. The Battle of the Red Dawn was coming; now that Eladria had crossed over into her home realm, Eranna could no longer prevent this part of the prophecy. Ushma shuffled up beside her, giving voice to what Eranna already understood.

“It is useless trying to stop the battle, my
Q
ueen,” Ushma said.

“Then we will focus all of our energies on winning, my faithful witch. You will begin work on your protection spells and talismans. Adrah’s warrior
Fae
will be the greatest asset to our enemy’s forces. Instruct Ruen to see to the construction of iron weapons and gather the wolves. It is time to prepare for battle.”

Eranna turned away from the image of Eladria and Titus trekking across Damu’s sand dunes. Her hands gripped the hunched shoulders of the witch.

“Never fear
,
Ushma, we will not fail.”

~*~

The journey was exhausting, so Selena was grateful when they finally made camp for the night. She was also grateful for the tents provided by Queen Adrah, which did a more than adequate job of protecting them from
the
swirling sand whipped about by the wind.

“The winds blow strongest at night,” Rothatin had told her when she commented on the increase in the air’s current. “You will learn more of this once we bring you to King Eldalwen, but the people of Damu draw their power from the wind.”

She thought over this now as she sat, alone in her tent.
If what Rothatin said was true, then maybe her power was not that of speed, but control of the wind. That was hard enough to wrap her brain around without the added
pressure of knowing she was about to meet her parents for the first time. Even though she missed Rose with a deep and resounding ache, she couldn’t help excitement and a sense of rightness about going to Damu to meet her parents. Wh
ile she still hadn’t quite come
to terms with a lot of things—Titus claiming that they were true mates, the fact that everyone wanted her to be the catalyst for an impending war—she knew that meeting her parents was th
e right thing to do. She only h
oped that she wouldn’t be a disappointment to them.

She’d been told that her mother was a grea
t beauty. W
ould the queen of Damu be disappo
inted in Selena’s average looks?
Sure, her hair was a unique and vibrant shade of red, and she supposed her eyes were
warm and kind, but there weren’t many girls on the pages of
Elle
or
Vogue
that looked like her.

And what about her father?
Would King Eldalwen feel let
down because she wasn’t tougher?
Surely a great warrior like himself would expect his daughter to be able to kick some ass. The idea that he could expect something from her that she did not possess terrified her.

“You look as if you are a thousand miles away.”

Selena glanced up to find Titus standing in the doorway of her tent. He was smiling
,
but he was also concerned, Selena could see. She tried to return his smile and motioned for him to join her on the thick, cushioned floor of the tent. He let the tent flap fall closed behind him and did as she had silently asked.

“I’m right here,” she answered
as he lowered himself beside her
. She instinctively reached for his hand, trying as hard as she could not to even think about the fact that it came so eas
il
y to her. Almost as if what he said about their mated destiny was true.

“Yes, but I can see that your thoughts have taken you somewhere else.”

His eyes searched her probingly and Selena felt invaded to every corner of her soul. She shivered.

“Stop that,” she said, lowering her eyes. “I feel naked when you do that.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I
can’t help it. It is just that your emotions are so bare to me. The connection is getting stronger, Selena. If you try, you can read my feelings
,
too.”

Her gaze jumped back up to his.
“Really?”

Titus nodded. “Sure. If you want I’ll go first.”

He pierced her with his intense gaze again for several seconds before speaking again.

“You are thinking about your parents,” he said. “You’re worried that you will fall short of
thei
r expectations. You’re wondering if you’ll fit in at the palace and with the people of Damu. You are worried that if you take your place as princess and lead the charge against Eranna that you will fail. You fear failure most of all because you know that you are powerful. You feel your power, even if you do not know the full extent of what it is and you fear falling short when the time comes to use that
power
.”

Selena’s jaw went slack and she was afraid she’d have to pick her chin up off the floor. “Okay, that’s freaky. That’s exactly what I was feeling and thinking!”

Titus smiled. “Of course it is. Now you try.”

“I don’t think I can.”

Titus sighed and shook his head, sending a lock of dark hair falling into his eyes. “You haven’t even tried yet, Selena. One thing you will have to learn is that you can’t give up before you even try. You’re setting yourself up for failure. If you tell yourself you can do it, then you can. The bond is already created between us. You must trust it and yourself. Look at me and tell me what you see. Don’t be afraid to give voice to exactly what you feel coming from me.”

Selena took a deep breath and shifted until she was fully facing him. She folded her legs under her and rested her hands on her knees
. She leaned forward and found Titus’ gaze, locking her eyes with his.
Selena blocked out the sounds of the
Fae
moving around, cooking and making camp outside of her tent, the sounds of wind and swirling sand, and even the sound of her own beating heart. She lost herself in the blue depths of Titus’ eyes, zeroing in on the dark pupils and the rim of lighter blue that edged them. Suddenly, her heart squeezed tightly as everything he felt poured into her. She was seized by it, as if gripped by an unbreakable force, a tight band that squeezed the very air from her lungs. Tears came to her eyes uncontrolled.

“You are afraid that Eranna has learned of your switching sides and that she has killed
y
our family in retaliation. You worry that you will never see them again and that you have failed them. You want me to meet my parents and take my place in Damu, but you do not believe that a war with Eranna’s forces will bring about change. You do not think that I should be the catalyst for this war and you worry that I will be hurt or killed. You do not think that Adrah and the Grimm Brothers will be able to find all seven of the lost girls. You worry that this world will forever be lost to darkness and
evil.”

She paused and took a deep breath as the tight band of emotion squeezing the life from her loosened, but she could not break her gaze from Titus’.

“Do you really think that there is no hope?”

Titus’s jaw tightened and his lips were a disappearing, white line. “It is a small hope, like a single star in a black sky. I am skeptical, Selena, I can’t lie to you about that. I hope you don’t think that it’s any indication of
what I think of you and your abilities. I think that if there is a war,
and if it does begin with the Red Dawn of the prophec
y, that maybe you are
the best chance we have of at least getting my f
amily back and liberating the oth
er wolves in captivity. Beyond that
…
”
Titus trailed off and shook his head. “I just don’t know what will happen and it scares me
, e
specially if you are choosing to stay. The selfish part of me is ecstatic at the thought of having you as my mate for life. Another part of me wonders just how long those lives will be. With Eranna’s reign of terror growing by the day, we would find
ourselves
hunted like animals. I could never ask you to live such a life when I know that you
would be safe in the human world.”

Selena leaned forward and placed her hands on either side of Titus’ face. “I won’t leave you
,
Titus, not like this, not without knowing that you’ve got
ten
your family back.”