Daughter of the Red Dawn (The Lost Kingdom of Fallada) (31 page)

Titus shrugged.
“For you.
Seriously, get up there, I won’t let you fall.”

Selena decided to trust Titus and stepped slowly up onto the railing. Titus came up onto the thick ledge behind her, his body glued to hers, his legs spread wide and his feet positioned on the outside of hers. His arms were strong, tight around her waist.

“Keep your eyes open,” he said, his lips close to her ear. “You have to look at the horizon, at the desert beyond. I am sure your father and brother are good teachers and I am obviously not able to fly, but I do know one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You are afraid.”

“Well, duh.”

Titus laughed, his chest vibrating against her back. “You are afraid and relying on the fact that someone will catch you to keep you from taking flight. You have to embrace flight, lean into the wind and let it take you. You control the wind
, so stop fighting it. Wrap it around yourself and go.”

Selena focused on the horizon, that tiny strip where earth met sky, and spread her arms. The wind was gentle, pulling at her billowy pants and cape, beckoning to her. Selena slid her eyes closed and inhaled, blocking out everything except for Titus and the atmosphere. Warmth infused her and ‘the tingle’ worked its way through her body. Selena felt herself leaning forward and, surprisingly, her muscles did not clench in fear as they had every other time she
had leaped from that ledge.

When she opened her eyes, the ground was speeding by beneath her, the sand dunes feet below and the open sky at her fingertips. Selena gasped and looked behind her, realizing that the palace was growing smaller and
smaller in the distance
. Titus’ form on the balcony ledge was tiny, but his cheers and whoops were loud, carrying out over the desert and trailing behind her in echoes. Selena laughed and spread her arms out, swooping down toward the Centaurs she spotted running across the sand. Their hindquarters gleamed in the moonlight, their tails swishing and their powerful hooves moving swiftly, carrying them over the sand i
n a spectacular cloud of kicked-
up dust. They lifted their swords and spears and cheered as she swooped low, landing in their midst as they came to a stop.

In the distance, she could see Titus’ white fur streaking across the desert toward her. The Centaurs surrounded her and she recognized Tinutai and Dargha at the forefront. The female centaur smiled, extending her hand to Selena’s for a handshake.

“Congratulations, Princess. It is an honor to witness your very first flight,” Dargha said.

“How did you know it was my first flight?”

Tinutai smiled. “The laughing and cheering coming from the castle clued us in.”

“It was pretty epic.”

“You’ve made quite a transformation,” Dar
g
ha said as Titus
approached,
quickly donning the pants he’d been carrying
in
his teeth. He came up beside Selena just as Dargha said, “There’s just one thing missing, though.”

“What?” Selena asked.

“In Damu,” Tinutai said, “it is customary that every accomplishment be commemorated with
a tattoo.”

Selena’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she
saw
the m
any markings lining the Centaur
s
’
bodies.
She gulped noisily
and
Titus grabbed her arm tightly.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he said. “It’s going to hurt.”

Dargha lifted one eyebrow in silent challenge and Tinutai waited silently Selena eyed the other Centaurs and thought of her father and brother. They were lined with the tattoos, their arms, their
chests,
their stomachs
…
each one told a story of a coming of age, an accomplishment. By Selena’s count, she needed at
least
three in order to catch up. She’d learned to harness wind, gotten engaged, and now she had flown for the first time. She squared her shoulders and met Dargha’s arched eyebrow h
ead on. She had always planned
o
n
getting a tat when she left home. Now
w
as the perfect opportunity.

“Let’s do
this
.”

~*~

The next morning, her family sat around the long dining table, their faces grim as they ate silently. The Grimm Brothers were there, along with Titus and Rothatin. The other soldiers were dining in the barracks within the palace’s compound and would all gather later that day in the massive war room. Selena had been told that she would be
required to say something and the prospect left her feeling wrung dry. If anything, she was more nervous about this than she was fighting. Added to that was the tension of everyone’s silence.

Selena traced her fingertip over the reddish brown tattoo on the back of her hand. Dargha had done three in a row, starting from the back of her hand and going up over her wrist. The tiny red dots began at her middle finger and went over her knuckle before the first
symbol,
the Damunian sign that meant ‘keeper of the wind’ was scrawled onto the back of her hand. With a beautiful scrolling pattern in between, the next two symbols read ‘flight’ and ‘love’. She traced the ‘love’ symbol right on the back of her wrist and smiled. It had hurt at the time
,
but not anymore and Selena was pleased with the result.

After a
while, though, she grew bored at looking at the back of her hand.
No one had talked in over twenty minutes and it was driving Selena batty. She wanted Thaddeus’ jokes back, Eldalwen’s war stories
,
and Axonia’s scolding when he took the bloody stories too far. Selena set her fork back onto her plate and fingered the wolf’s tooth. It dangled against her chest right next to the Damu ruby, its weight like a heavy stone. Selena had had enough
of secrets and silence
.

“Titus and I are getting married,” she announced, loud enough for everyone to hear.

If anything the silence became more pronounced. The scrape of utensil against plate stopped, as did the sounds of chewing and slurping. Every eye turned toward hers, every expression a mixture of shock, happiness and, in Rothatin’s case, annoyance. Selena could tell the
Fae
still didn’t trust Titus, but ignored him. Titus didn’t have to prove
anything to anybody, and Rothatin was of no relation to her so it didn’t matter. She knew that Queen Adrah would be thrilled.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly to Titus. “I know you wanted to wait until after tomorrow to talk about it, but it was just too damn quiet in here and I don’t like keeping secrets. I wanted my parents to know, my brother. I hope you’re not mad at me.”

Titus’s lips softened into a smile and he grasped her hand where it rested on the table.
“Of course not.”

Eldalwen cleared his throat. “I suppose congratulations are in order.
Although, I would have much preferred it if the young fur ball and I had had an opportunity to speak on the matter man to man.”

Selena rolled her eyes. “Well, I’ve already accepted his proposal. I love him, he loves me,
we’re
getting married. And, we’re talking about it right now.”

Thaddeus rolled his eyes. “Oh, here we go. Quit while you’re ahead
father
,” he mumbled under his breath.

“Yes, my daughter, but this is not how things are usually done here. You are royalty. These sorts of arrangements shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

“No one is taking anything lightly,” Selena said, squaring her shoulders and clinging to Titus’ hand. “The decision has been made, and seeing as how we are both consenting adults—very young adults, but still—I don’t see how we need anyone else’s opinion in the matter.”

“Yes, but—”

“Furthermore,” Selena
said,
her tone sharp, “anyone that has a problem with my fiancé can take it up with me. I would be more than happy to set them straight.”

Thaddeus guffawed, trying to hide it behind a bout of coughing as Eldalwen’s face turned red. Axonia smiled behind her hand and Jake and
Wil
Grimm leaned forward silently,
seemingly enthralled by the little drama unfolding at the table. Rothatin shook his head, probably in disbelief over her stubbornness.

“Spoken like a true princess,” Axonia finally said. She stood and circled the table until she stood directly behind Selena and Titus. She placed a hand on each of their shoulders and squeezed affectionately. “I think this is a splendid match. After all, the young
Werewolf
has played a large part in keeping our daughter safe on her journey. It is obvious that the connection is strong here and, Eldalwen, you and I both know that no
Werewolf
male is going to let go of his mate once he’s found her.”

Axonia turned her megawatt smile onto them both. “Congratulations. I can’t wait until this ugly business of tonight and tomorrow is over so that I can throw you a magnificent wedding.”

Her eyes widened and she clapped her hands together with a gasp. “Oh, there is so much to do! I must begin choosing fabrics for your wedding dress. Oh, and I have to plan a menu
…
”

Eyebrows shot up and chuckles rang out as Axonia turned away from the table, mumbling distractedly as she rang for a servant. Thaddeus nodded at Selena and grinned.

“Well done, sis.
Very good of you, holding your ground like that and all.
Good luck to you both.”

“Yes,” said Wil with another one of his belly-vibrating laughs. “Let us have a toast to the future
Alpha
female of the Awcan wolf pack, and this joyous union.

At Selena’s wide-eyed expression, Titus laughed.

“Don’t worry, you w
on’t start sprouting fur,” he joked. “Marry
ing
me simply means that one day you will rule by my side as the leader of the Awcan pack. As the
Alpha
male’s son, I will be required to take his pla
ce
when he dies.”

Selena’s eyebrows shot up. “Cool. So, I’ll be princess of the Centaurs and the
Werewolves
. I like it.”

“Not exactly.”

“Hey, let me envision this, don’t ruin it for me!”

They shared another laugh as the servants came to take their empty plates away. Once everyone had gone, Eldalwen stood.

“Do not mistake my words earlier by thinking that I am not happy for you both. I am. I will be thrilled to have that talk with you this afternoon, Titus.”

Titus
nodded,
his face suddenly serious.
“Of course.”

“And now, Selena, you must rest. The next two days will be arduous on you and I want you hale and ready.”

“Um, question?”

“Yes, daughter.”

“Why the next
two
days.
I thought the Red Dawn isn’t until tomorrow.”

Jake snorted from his place at the table. “Think, girl. Do you honestly think Eranna will be so foolish as to wait until tomorrow to attack, when your pe
ople will be at their strongest?
”

Selena felt a vice-like grip tightening around her throat. It had been different when she thought danger was only a day away. She’d been happy to think that she could spend this last day with Titus, with her family, without a care in the world.
Things just got serious.

“You mean
…
”
Selena tried to swallow but barely managed it. “
You mean, she could attack today?”

“There is no doubt,” Rothatin said, coming to stand beside her father
,
“
m
y
Q
ueen
h
as already seen it in the Eye of Goldun. Eranna will attack tonight, when the darkness gives her minions their full power.”

“Then what good is this?” Selena asked.
“Why all the training and the preparation if she is going to come slaughter us all before the actual Day of the Red
Dawn?
”

A smile parted her father’s lips, gleaming like the cold steel that blazed in his eyes. He laughed. “My dear, Eranna had just better hope that she makes it to sunrise. That’s when things
will
get really interesting.”

~*~

Across the white sands of the wintery land of Mollac, not a soul stirred. Even the wind was still there, as if joining with the rest of the landscape in holding
its
breath for the coming battle. Within the iron fortress of Queen Eranna, however, the noise was deafening. Eranna’s
minions chanted as they went about their work, gathering the weapons that they would use against their enemies. Iron swords and knives were sharpened and silver melted down into bullets. Eranna’s minions would be more than prepared for the
Fae
and the
Were
shifters
. Her possessed
Were
shifters waited restlessly in the courtya
rd and shifter
s
of other kinds gathered
.
Eranna
especially
loved the beautiful white fox shifters and their snowy owl counterparts. They were the crowned jewel in her army, the most beautiful yet lethal fighters she possessed. The Minotaurs sharpened their horns and the
Witches
and
Warlocks
saddled their polar bears in preparation for the day-long trek across Mollac toward
Damu
,
a
t the place where snow met sand, the battle would commence.