Rise of the Seven (15 page)

Ruby had been reading through one of the
books from Asher’s private study and I noticed her go still as she
flipped a page. I absently glanced up at her.

“
Frey,” she started, but
then didn’t continue when she saw my face. She wordlessly slid the
open book to me.

On the yellowed pages lay a tiny scrap of
paper with three words. A ribbon of blue silk was attached to the
corner. I stared silently at it for a long moment before sliding
the silk between my fingers. Nothing on the pages of the book was
relevant to the message. Someone must have intercepted the note and
simply tucked it away as if it hadn’t mattered.

“
What does it mean?” Ruby
whispered.

I glanced at the table, covered in documents
and ancient tomes. “Nothing...” I shook my head, coming out of the
stupor. “Nothing, Ruby, let’s take a break.” The light through the
windows said it was late afternoon. “We’ve missed lunch, I’m sure
we could all do with something to eat.”

I spared one last look at the note before
sliding it into my pocket. Fellon Strago Dreg. It was like the
words were following me. Warning me.

By evening, I’d done all I could to prepare
for our departure. Anvil had returned, but wasn’t able to find
anything useful in regard to either the fey plans or the attacks.
When I’d told him about Veil’s visit, he’d been so angry the hair
on my head tingled with electricity before he left me to “go over
some final details with the patrols.” The sky had lit two shades
lighter not long after that.

Steed and Grey had also returned, convinced
that no one from here to Camber had seen anything out of the
ordinary. We went over the final details for the morning and when
Steed and Ruby got into a heated argument about some traps she’d
left set in her Camber house, Grey took the opportunity to discuss
our purpose.

“
They are all still
mourning,” he said. “The shock of your return, the stir over your
recent actions, those have only been a distraction.” He absently
ran a hand over his jaw. “They need this as desperately as you. We
have all lost so much.”

I glanced at Steed, whose own mother had been
killed in the massacre. It had driven his father so mad, he’d
fallen under the thrall of a fire fairy.

Grey sighed. “You are doing right, Frey. And
when it’s done, they will follow you.”

I bit my cheek to stop myself from pointing
out it would do no good if one of Asher’s progeny found me.

“
Thank you, Grey.” I
squeezed his arm, grateful for his words, and knew Chevelle had not
chosen him merely for his connection with Ruby.

“
Have it your way, then,”
Steed seethed as he strode from the room with less than his usual
cool.

“
I will,” Ruby yelled at his
back.

When she realized Grey and I were staring at
her, she threw her hands up in disgust. “I don’t know what’s with
him lately.” She shook her head as she glanced back at the empty
doorway. “He’s so jumpy, always looking over his shoulder, you’d
swear someone was stalking him or something.”

A choked cough escaped me, but neither seemed
to know why. I simply kept watching Ruby.

Grey tilted his head. “You did leave traps
for him, Ruby.”

She let out a disgusted
sound. “Not for
him
.” Her hands came up to her hips. “Besides, he should have
known I would have set them.”

Grey shrugged. “Well, he found them
regardless.”

The corner of her mouth raised in a snarl and
I was suddenly laughing. Grey turned to stare at me and I shook my
head. “I think I need some sleep.”

I excused myself and walked the corridor at
an easy pace while I considered the coming event. We had given
council time to regroup, it would be a fair fight. I had confidence
in my guard, but I couldn’t bear the idea of losing any of them. I
could leave, spend my years running with the wolves... but no, I
couldn’t even finish that thought. I wouldn’t leave. Not my guard,
and not the north. Grey was right, they needed this as much as I. I
would never really rest until I’d quenched the flames of my
nightmares.

I hadn’t been back to my perch since the fey
had nearly knocked me from the roof, so I found myself standing in
the throne room, staring across the empty space. It had been an
ugly childhood, Chevelle the only bright spot. Asher had done all
that he could to take that from me, to force me into something I’d
never wanted, to secure my place as his second. And here I stood,
alone on the throne and separated from Chevelle. Even in death,
he’d succeeded.

I took a deep breath as I sat, fingers
curling into the ornate carvings on the arms of the chair. My eyes
fell closed and I found my hawk to take flight, gliding over the
mountain one last time before morning. Darkness had begun to fall
and torches lit the grounds like fireflies in a southern meadow.
Nightfall brought the revelers out in the towns and rogue camps,
but here the sentries were still on duty.

The circles became smaller as I scanned the
castle then finally dropped through a window and down the east
wing. I opened my eyes as we came to the corridor outside the
throne room and watched the hawk fly in under its own authority to
land on the stand beside me.

I smiled at the sizeable bird and it cocked
its head with a quick twist.

“
Someday, I will name you,”
I said, gently stroking the feathers along the back of its neck. It
shuffled closer, talons claiming the soft wood of the perch. We sat
so for a long while, time uncounted as we relaxed together, I as
unthinking as the bird.

Finally, it stretched its wings and then
brought them back together, shaking a bit as it settled into a
solid form, neck disappearing into the mass of feathers, eyes
winking shut. “I agree,” I murmured, knowing I needed sleep even
though the time here had been more restful than any night of the
past weeks. I stepped down from the chair, aware once again that it
was a throne, and headed to my room.

I walked in the door, tossed my scabbard and
sword on a side table, and kicked off my boots. When I rose back to
standing, I found Chevelle across from me against the far wall. For
a fraction of a second, my heart quit. When it started back up
again, I knew I was flushed.

Embarrassment at being caught off guard and
frightened made me irritated. “What are you doing?”

His face didn’t change, though I knew what he
was thinking. Not a day ago, I’d been confronted with a fey idol
here. “I will be placing protections on the room.”

The anger was genuine now. “What?”

Chevelle remained as he was, but I could see
now his posture was set for a fight, he’d known what my reaction
would be. “It is the only way–”

My glare cut him off. He waited.

“
You will not cast on or
near me.”

“
I will protect your room,”
he answered levelly.

“
Then put a guard
outside.”

He watched me work that one out.

“
I won’t risk it,” I
said.

He stepped forward. “Neither will I.”

My mouth went dry.

Chevelle moved again. “A guard outside does
no good. He’s proven that.”

“
No spells,” I
repeated.

“
You’ll not sleep
unprotected,” he answered, no intention of giving up the
idea.

“
Then I’ll not sleep alone,”
I shot back.

I had answered without thinking, but once the
words were out, they hung between us, taking on a new meaning. And
the longer it hovered there, the stronger it became. He stared at
me, gaze unflinching, as I stood motionless, afraid to even
breathe.

I knew we shouldn’t. There was good reason
not to. I was sure of it, even if I’d forgotten exactly what that
reason was. A flash of memory, the taste of him, his bare skin
beneath my hands, the unbearable feeling of being so near him and
still wanting him closer. I forced myself to stop but the hunger in
his eyes intensified, as if he knew what I was thinking. He was
beginning to look as if he might lose control. I swallowed hard,
trying to find a way out, certain I needed to.

It wasn’t clear to me, what caused him to
break, but he was suddenly moving, and the room seemed to shudder
with magic. Power slammed into me the instant before he reached me
and I almost managed a word. But when he finally touched me, when
his hands came around me, his lips crushed mine, even the notion of
speaking was gone.

Chapter Eighteen

First Light

Hours later, I couldn’t say I regretted it.
My head lay on his chest as his hand slid slowly up the skin of my
arm and across my shoulder. He gently drew my hair away to bare my
neck, and then his fingers retraced the line.

“
Do you feel any different?”
I asked.

His chest rumbled beneath my cheek with a
sort of chuckle and I turned to examine his face. He stared at me
for a long moment, finally understanding. “You don’t know, do
you?”

“
What?”

Eyes never leaving mine, he let out a slow
breath. “We have always been bound, Freya.”

I stared at him, unable to process his
words.

The corner of his mouth turned up in a
gentle, sympathetic smile. The kind you give a small child when
they can’t possibly understand something larger than their world.
But it wasn’t offensive. It was beautiful, filled with
affection.

“
The bond,” he explained,
“somehow we created it without intent, very long ago.”

I was pretty sure my expression fell
somewhere between shock and confusion, but I couldn’t bother trying
to appear otherwise.

His fingers continued to trail the line of my
back. “I think it is usually created while coupling,” his face was
taken over by a slow, sexy smile then, remembering, and he tilted
his head up to place a kiss on my forehead before continuing,
“because that is when two are the closest. Their magic, their
bodies, their... love.” Here I was kissed again, more passionately,
and I had to focus hard on what he was saying.

I sat up, which did nothing to discourage
him.

“
But that can’t be right,” I
said numbly, searching for an argument.

His gaze drifted up to meet mine, the hand
that had been tracing lazy circles on my skin stilled.

“
The elders,” I explained,
“they all said it would change us, keep us from being true to
anything but ourselves. Bring our union above all
others.”

He raised my hand for a kiss. “Do you mean
abandoning the throne to run away with me?” he asked calmly, as if
he were inquiring whether I’d like a glass of wine. He leaned
forward and kissed my forearm. “Or waiting for you when you were
trapped... searching for a way to release you... risking all for
your return?” His lips trailed farther up my arm, pausing only as
he glanced at me once more. “Keeping me close to you, all the while
knowing it could cost you your life.”

We were already bound.

For as long as I could remember, I had always
wanted him.

He was tied to me.

We were bound.

The idea was overwhelming, but suddenly I
couldn’t spare it another thought, because his lips had reached my
own and I was, once again, lost to the outside world.

Time was non-existent until the shuffle of
boots in the corridor pulled me from my contented trance. I sat up
suddenly, recalling our plan.

“
What time is it?” I asked
frantically.

Chevelle dragged me back against him, tilting
his head to place slow kisses on my neck.

It almost worked.

A noise farther down the corridor reminded me
that we were late. I pressed back, far enough to kiss him
thoroughly, and then free of the bed. His face fell. I smiled.

I was dressed well before he was, securing my
scabbard as he laced his shirt. He was in no hurry, but I knew he
wouldn’t ask me to postpone again. Not after our argument, and not
after last night. We would see vengeance. This, at least, would be
done.

He sat to fasten his boots
and I watched him as I thought again of his promise.
We have always been bound
.
My mind had been fighting for some way to dispute the idea, but
could only come up with evidence to corroborate it.

Something had always called me to Chevelle. I
knew, but I’d simply never understood. How could I? How could
anyone?

He raised his head and suddenly I was staring
into depthless sapphire. My stomach tightened and I hurriedly
turned to open the door. A hand on my shoulder stopped me, and he
pulled my hair to the side to place a soft kiss on my neck.
Wordlessly, we walked from the room, Chevelle settling his leather
breastplate as we went.

We found the others in the
study, light spilling through the windows making it obvious it
wasn’t exactly dawn.
Close
enough
, I thought, glancing around to be
certain everyone was accounted for.

“
Steed is readying the
horses,” Ruby supplied.

I nodded. How she, or any of the others for
that matter, had managed not to comment or at least betray some
emotion about Chevelle and I, was beyond me.

“
We are set to go,” Anvil
agreed.

I supposed that was how they’d managed,
knowing what we were about to set out to do. “Then let us go,” I
said. “For the North.”

A harmony of agreement met my oath and we
made our way to the yard as one, a small army by all outward
appearances. Ruby’s curls were smoothed back, a braid from each
temple meeting at the base of her neck to form a knot. She had
forgone the silver; she and each of the guard donned black
uniforms, insignias marking the shoulder clasps of their dark
cloaks. Only the shine of Rhys and Rider’s hair stood out among
us.