Smolder (Crown of Fae #3) - Sharon Ashwood Page 0,82
search for Leena and Anna. The sun was past its peak, but the heat was still stifling. He filled his waterskin, then drank it dry before reaching the edge of the camp. From there, he could see the Great Temple with ease. It occupied the courtyard that had once stretched between the smaller pyramids. If Leena and Anna were to be found, they would be in the desert beyond.
Something bumped Morran’s shin. Too tired to startle, he reached down out of instinct. There, he found warm, soft fur. “What the—”
He looked down to see Kifi draped over his ankles, golden eyes gazing up in an expression of dwindling patience. The cat’s fur was crisped. Had she been near a fire? Since she was already sooty black, it was hard to tell.
“I could ask what you’re doing here,” he said, “but something tells me that I don’t have time for the complete answer.”
Kifi sat up. By the shakiness of her movements, he guessed the cat was exhausted. Around her neck was a drawstring bag made of gold silk.
“What’s this?” When he reached out to touch the bag, she stretched up, making her neck long.
“The gift is for you,” the cat said in her high, childlike voice.
He slid the string free of her ears, then cupped the silk in his palm. The oval sphere inside was surprisingly heavy. Morran straightened, instantly aware of what it was. It was the egg of a phoenix. His egg.
His head felt suddenly, dangerously light. “How did you get this?”
“I fulfilled my mission,” Kifi said. “I met the Queen of Cats, you know.” Her voice throbbed with excitement. Obviously, the experience had been everything she’d hoped for.
“And?” Morran prompted after a silent pause.
“She’d been keeping the egg in the heart of the Flame. She told me it was for you.”
The egg meant Arlanoth hadn’t survived their separation. Fury twisted in Morran’s chest, hot as the phoenix’s wing. He stared down at the little cat, imagining her trotting through roaring flames. “You went to the Sanctum?”
Her ears twitched in what might have been amusement. “I had to. I was the only one who could.”
“How did you survive?” Morran noticed the cat’s whiskers seemed oddly shriveled.
“I had the key.” A crumb of whisker fell off.
Morran cradled the bag with reverence. The egg was no bigger than that of a small chicken, but he knew without looking that the shell would be pure gold. The phoenix curled inside was fragile yet powerful. It was part of Morran, yet not. It was Arlanoth, ready to be reborn.
Emotion surged inside him, closing his throat with the impulse to weep at the sheer improbability of this moment. The fae were on the cusp of oblivion, and he held the potential of everything new.
Careful of the egg, he bent and picked up the cat, cradling her in his free arm. “Brave, noble Kifi.”
She licked her paw, shedding a tiny sprinkle of charred fur. “I thought going on an adventure was my dream, but I am wiser now. I gave what I could because Leena needed my help. So did you. That was adventure enough.”
Morran was struck speechless. Kifi yawned, showing a lot of pink tongue. “I wouldn’t mind a bit of fish, though. Heroics takes energy.”
Despite himself, Morran chuckled. “You deserve the finest treats Faery can provide.”
“Of course I do.”
“If I settle you in with food and drink, do you think you could guard the egg a moment longer?”
“Why?”
“I have something to do that cannot wait. Not even for this.”
Kifi’s tail twitched in disapproval. “The Queen of Cats has one more message. The Flame will survive the Shades only if the phoenix is reborn. Don’t miss your chance, Prince Morran. The queen doesn’t hand out magical eggs willy-nilly.”
“No, I suppose she doesn’t.”
“And yet, you hesitate.”
“Leena is missing. I have to find her before I do anything else.”
Morran’s own words surprised him. Half his being was gone, but Leena’s loss was more grievous. She had restored him in ways he could not name. Now that she needed him, he wouldn’t walk away.
Kifi’s ears flattened. “Are you certain Leena is gone? She was with the wolf woman.”
“Where?”
“Inside the temple. She was there when I jumped into the Flame.”
Appalled, Morran spun to glare at the pyramid. “The temple now swarmed by the Shades?”
Kifi snuggled deeper into the crook of his arm. “Details.”
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Morran carried the cat back to the tent, pausing only to demand an astonished sub-lieutenant fetch fish and milk.