Return to Shanhasson (47 page)

The High Throne was secure at last. Her
Council was bound to her tighter than ever. With the dragon hovering over
Shanhasson and devouring any creature of Shadow which even thought to
assassinate her bloodline, she could at last bring her children home.

Her heart was full. Gregar and Rhaekhar
might be dead, but they were far from gone. Her heart ached, swelled with bonds
belonging to warriors she loved as much as she'd ever loved her first two
mates. She couldn't even think of loneliness or grief.

Nine bonds glowed like the heartfires of
the earth, and Dharman spoke for each of her Blood:
You shall never be
alone, na'lanna. Our hearts are yours.:

One bond curled tight and small in the
deepest corner of her mind. The hissing, poisonous dragon had been dragged out
of Mykal to protect her city, but the desert savage remained, as Shadowed as
he'd ever been.

No, that thought was his, not hers.

Sitting up, she sought him. Despite the
nearness of his bond, she couldn't see him in the darkened room. One of the
Blood had thrown open the shutters to the balcony, and the silvered moon rose
to shine with love over Shanhasson. Mykal stood out there alone in the night,
and through his bond, she knew he contemplated throwing himself off the soaring
towers to dash against the cobblestones far below.

“Mykal,” she called softly, tugging on
his bond. “Come hold me.”

He hesitated in the doorway, a shadow
against the brightness of the moonlit night. “I have no right.”

“You have every right. Come to bed.”

He stepped into the room a few paces,
but still made no move to join her. “Your Reds will surely object.”

“Not if you don't mind the middle this
time,” Sal said with a wicked, husky laugh that quickened her heartbeat and
sent molten heat curling through her. “I want to see if you can drink from her
long enough to make her claw me to ribbons.”

Deliberately, she laid her hand on his
stomach and sank her fingernails into his skin hard enough he gave an eager
whimper. “Mykal, what's wrong? We won. You're alive.”

“Exactly,” he whispered in a voice harsh
with broken glass and jagged rock. “One of us always dies. This time, I was
determined it would be me, not you.”

“I've lost enough loves, wouldn't you
agree?” Gently, she stretched out her hand, but he flinched. “Do you doubt that
I love you?”

“I'm supposed to die,” he repeated,
refusing her invitation. “I need you to be safe.”
From me
.

Tears burned her eyes, and her chest
tightened, making it difficult to breathe. “Would Stephan have sacrificed his
life to save me?”

He spat out a word violently that was no
doubt a Keldari curse. “You know he—
I
—wouldn't have lifted a finger to
save you.”

“And that is why I love
you
, Mykal
tal
'Mamba. Now come to
bed and make love to me so hard and long that my Blood will begin to worry
anew.”

Dharman snorted. “He is welcome to try,
na'lanna
.”

Cloth whispered to the floor and then
Mykal knelt at the foot of her bed, his head bowed so his hair covered his
face. “I have nothing left, brightheart. The dragon that tempted you to blood
and shadows is gone. I'm just a man, a man you rightfully despised for years.”

She reached up and buried her hands in
his hair. Holding him tightly, she lay back on the bed and forcibly dragged him
with her so he sprawled across her lower body. “Just a man who loves me, and I
promise you, my Keldari savage, I still hunger for your blood.”

“Then take every drop in my body.”

Arching her back, she shifted beneath
him and wrapped her legs around him. She left a hand in his heavy oiled hair,
but reached out to Sal. Her red-haired Blood moved higher in the big bed,
deliberately letting her hand slip down to his buttocks. She gripped him
tighter until he groaned low and deep in his throat.

She turned her head to the warrior at
her back. “I want your blood first.”

The words were barely out of her mouth,
and Dharman wrapped his arm around her, offering his muscled biceps. “You know
what your teeth do to me,” he warned, his eyes gleaming.

“I'm counting on it.”

Sal ran his mouth down her neck as she
licked and teased Dharman's arm with her teeth, and finally she felt Mykal's
moist, hot breath fluttering across her stomach. Perhaps it was nearly losing
him combined with the long ordeal of fighting dragons and the dread threat of
Shadow, but it only took a few delicate laps of his tongue to drive her teeth
deeply into Dharman's muscle. However, it was Sal's blood that she scented. The
tips of her fingers burned and she feared she'd raked his flank deeply with the
White Dragon's talons, but his pleasure flooded the bond, pushing her closer to
release. The Silver Lake crested within her, and she poured that water into
Mykal, flooding their bond with pure sweet water and the silvered light of
Love.

Panting, she pulled on his hair until he
rose over her and slid home into her welcoming body. Heart to heart, he stared
down into her eyes. Rivulets of tears trickled down his sharp cheekbones. “I
found
Tellan
in your arms, brightheart. I'm still falling, and all I see
is you.”

She leaned up and licked his tears away.
“Then I'll catch you.”

*
* *

SITTING ON THE HIGH THRONE with the
heavy Rose Crown on her head, Shannari gazed out at the newly rebuilt High
Court with wonder. An intricate framework of shining pearl and crystal domed
overhead, letting the sunshine cast rainbows across the white marbled floor.
When the full moon gleamed in the sky, the whole Palace resonated with sweet
music.

The two massive rearing lions on either
side of the High Throne were gone. All around the dais, water flowed, bubbling
up from the bone-white roots of a tree no one had ever seen in the Green Lands.
Gregar had called it the
kae'sangral
, the most holy: white trunk of
Leesha or Somma, black leaves of Lygon or Yama, and the red of Vulkar or Agni.
The Trinity reflected a thousand times over, and now, it stretched its leaves
high over her head.

Her own Black stood on her right,
dressed once more in his enveloping cloak and desert garb. On her left, Dharman
stood in his red
memsha
, his hand on
her shoulder. Sal and Jorah sat on the steps and leaned back against her legs.
The rest of the Blood arced about the dais, waiting for their visitors.

“I should have ridden out to meet them,”
she said for at least the thousandth time.

Dharman met Mykal’s gaze with a look
that spoke volumes. “Patience,
na’lanna
.
Khul will bring his party straight to you, and we all agreed it would be safer
for you here.”

What they didn’t say was her own fragile
stomach had prevented her from riding. Just the thought of climbing onto a
horse, even with Wind’s incredibly smooth gait, made her face feel tight and
clammy. Father Josef had confirmed she was indeed pregnant, with only one baby
this time, but the morning sickness was just as bad as with the twins.
Hopefully the delivery would be easier.

By the queasiness she felt in Dharman’s
bond, he hoped so too.

The heavy gilt door swung open and the
steward made the announcement she’d been agonizing to hear.

“Drendon, Khul of the Nine Camps of the
Sha’Kae al’Dan, and the Royal Highnesses Rhyra and Anya dal’Shannari
dal’Dainari.”

“Mama!”

Already crying, Shannari jumped out of
the throne and rushed down the aisle. Golden and black hair streaming behind
them, her daughters slammed into her, giggling and babbling about all the
things they’d been doing since she’d seen them last. She simply held them and
smiled, nodding and listening to every precious word.

Rhaekhar gazed back at her from Rhyra’s
eyes; Gregar winked and laughed in Anya’s adorably wicked expression.

Rhyra's blue eyes turned solemn. “Are
the bad men gone now, Mama?”

“Absolutely,” Shannari promised, hugging
each girl. “You can stay with me forever.”

Biting her lip, Anya hung her head.

Shannari gently tilted her face up to
hers. “The Plains are as much your home as Shanhasson, though. I want you to
stay with me as long as possible, but I won’t keep you here forever.”

Anya wrapped her arm around her mother’s
neck and pressed her cheek to hers. “I’m sorry, Mama. I want to stay with you a
very long time, but I want to see my Papa too. He was teaching us how to use
our
rahkes
.”

“Papa says Gregar’s the very best,”
Rhyra added. “But he says you’re the best now, Mama. Is that true?”

Shannari laughed and shook her head. “No
one will ever best Gregar.”

Cold danced along her cheek, stroked
down her neck, and the Shadowed Blood’s wicked voice echoed in her mind.
:I know who killed Varne,
na’lanna
, and he was arguably as skilled as I when I
didn’t use my Shadows. Our daughters will be very lucky to have you as their
teacher.:

Rhyra gasped and pulled out of her arms
to splash in the bubbling fountain beneath the tree. “A
kae’sangral
! It’s so pretty, Mama.”

“Not as pretty as you two.” Her heart
felt swollen and bruised, so full of love that she couldn’t breathe. Gregar’s
cold shadow pressed against her back, and Rhaekhar’s firm grip on her chin
confirmed her two dead warriors were never parted from her.

The sight of her two innocent, beautiful
daughters dancing beneath the
kae’sangral
sent a shard of fear slicing down her spine as sharply as her
rahke
. Which one would become the next
High Queen? How many Shadowed plots were already spinning and corrupting their
way toward these pure hearts?

How many loves would they have…and lose?

Blessed
Lady above, spare them any suffering.

Deep in her heart, though, she knew she
would suffer a thousand deaths all over again if it meant she could love her
warriors and feel their strength wrapped around her.

Rhaekhar released her chin but whispered
in her mind.
:Love, the greatest gift of
all.:

With a final cold stroke of his
invisible ivory
rahke
, Gregar added,
:And the greatest sacrifice. We wait for you
in the Tenth Camp,
na’lanna
.:

She blinked away the tears.
:Until we all ride to Vulkar.:

EPILOGUE

BLESSED LADY ABOVE, THANK
YOU FOR YOUR BOUNTIFUL BLESSINGS OF LOVE.

Shannari dal’Dainari stared out over
Dalden Bay and watched the moon sink into the dark waters. Streamers of
moonlight streaked across the sky, and the Great Seal of the Sentinel hummed
with power beneath her feet. Silver arced in the air, the sweet melody of love
and harmony whispering in the night sky for any who believed in Our Blessed
Lady’s gifts.

How could she not believe when she had
ten warriors who’d lay down their lives for hers without hesitation waiting for
her?

She smiled at her High Priest, Father
Josef, remembering how hopelessly young he’d been when she first met him after
escaping the bowels of Shanhasson’s prison. Oh, but that had been many years
ago. His face definitely bore the brunt of passing years, but the crinkles
about this eyes and mouth told of his endless joy in serving Her and Her
Daughters.

“Our Blessed Lady sings.”

Shannari nodded, tilting her head and
closing her eyes to absorb the otherworldly music. She’d come to this holy
location all her life, but only when she’d learned how to love had she finally
heard Leesha’s song. Her barbarian warlord had given her that gift first, but
Gregar’s wicked sense of humor had continued it.

Even when she’d stopped here on her grim
return to Shanhasson after both warriors’ death, she’d heard the music, then a
mournful, haunting dirge but just as beautiful. Over the many years since, the
music had only become sweeter.

Nearly eighteen years old, her daughters
were on the verge of womanhood. Soon, she’d have to choose one of them to
inherit the Rose Crown. She’d hoped Our Blessed Lady would make Her choice on
this trip, but no vision had come.

Deep down, Shannari feared it was her
own reluctance to burden either of her daughters with such bloody
responsibility.
I’ve spared them the
darkness as much as possible, but soon they’ll be forced to make their own
choices.

“Dawn comes,” she sighed. “I should get
some sleep before we ride back to Shanhasson.”

“There’s no need.”

She opened her eyes and searched the
priest’s gaze. “Have you Seen something?”

“Indeed. I See that.”

Turning, she followed his pointing
finger. Her heart slammed against her ribcage. In a matter of moments, thick
mists had rolled in from the sea to cover the bay. Fog swirled and leaped over
the waves.

Hoofbeats clattered on the marble and
her silvered mare leaped off the Sentinel. The fall to the waters below would
surely kill her. Terrified, Shannari raced to the railing that protected
visitors from the cliffs below. “Wind!”