met. I have my Company, my royal guard, the Ivory Shadows, warriors who have been with me since the war ended. I have a Consort I love more than anything in this world, and he accepts me for who I am. For all of me, not just the convenient, easy parts.” Alchan straightened up.
“So, no, I won’t give you anything you want—not your title, your rank, or a place in my family. You threw it all away, and from the broken pieces, I built something better, without a mother willing to toss me aside and a father who hated me. Seanev, stay with them for a moment. I’m leaving and don’t want them following me. When you release them, tell Luykas, Rainev, or Mave I’ve gone to my favorite place.”
“Yes, sire,” Seanev said.
Alchan turned his back on them and went out a door closer to him. He launched into the air, going straight up, as high as he could go. The air grew cold and thin, his breathing growing harder. He went up in the bright sunlight, trying to outrun the possessive monster.
She’s mine!
No, I don’t want her!
He rushed to his cave, knowing it was the only place he would find any amount of privacy and peace. He needed time to crush these feelings.
12
Mave
“How are you feeling?” Mave asked her nemari as they sat together in the field.
“Is every afternoon going to be like this?” he asked, laying back, his eyes on the sky.
“I don’t know.” So far, they spent the afternoon just talking about the morning training. Mave knew lessons were an important factor of what the nemari needed from the position, and she was expected to give to him. She was just a warrior and held no command rank. As Champion, people respected and deferred to her, but they weren’t looking to her for orders. She wasn’t going to be good at teaching Emerian anything like that. She could only make sure he was a good warrior, and he understood how her training was going to make him into one.
“Well, it’s still early, right?” He smiled. “Day one of…hundreds.”
“That’s right.” She didn’t have a chance to finish her thought, wanting to ask him about his ideas of the future. She was hoping to help guide him into what he wanted after the rebellion.
A sharp tug on the blood bond felt urgent. Luykas needed her.
“We’re done for the day,” she said suddenly, standing. “Feel free to go where you please.”
“Wait, what’s wrong?” he asked as he stood as well.
“I don’t know, but it’s not something you can help with. Luykas needs me.” She jumped into the air when he nodded, leaving him in the clearing.
Luykas was heading to her and nearly collided with her as he tried to stop.
“Seanev just told me something happened, and Alchan went to his ‘favorite place.’ I want you as back up. I can’t find Rain, or I would grab him, too.”
“The waterfall,” Mave said, not waiting to hear what Luykas said next. She turned in the air and headed north, flying over Alchan’s cliffside toward the place where she knew he spent his time with Rain when he wanted to get away. Luykas followed her closely, and they landed together at the base of the waterfall. “There’s a cavern behind the waterfall,” she explained over the sound of the crashing water. “Did Seanev tell you what happened?”
“A little. We’ll talk about it when I make sure Alchan is okay,” he said loudly, beginning his climb up the cliff. Mave followed him, ignoring how it soaked her to the bone as they made their way to Alchan’s refuge.
Luykas got inside first, Mave moving slower. Last time she came into this cavern, she had found herself learning a secret and putting herself between a male she loved and a king she respected.
“Alchan?” Luykas called.
“Back here,” the king said softly. Mave blinked, her eyes adjusting to the strange cavern light. The evening sun went through the water, making light bounce off the walls of the cavern, beautiful in its own way. She understood why Alchan and Rain found refuge here.
“I heard. Seanev told me,” Luykas said gently as they found Alchan sitting in a dark corner. “Oh, Alchan. It’s going to be okay.”
“I know. I just wanted to get out of the village for the night.” Alchan looked hollow, his amber eyes catching the light.
“What happened?” Mave asked, looking between the brothers. “I’m out of the loop here.”
“Alchan’s mother is in the village,” Luykas whispered, kneeling