Shattered Souls (Guardians of the Maiden Book 3)

To Dyna’s surprise, the mages were truly pardoned. Sorren’s kitchen was set up in the new tent and no other word of escape or betrayal was mentioned. Raiders were chatting again at campfires as they ate a fresh meal, and the tension in the camp seemed to ease. Still, Dyna didn’t trust this new passivity yet.

She lingered outside, waiting for Tarn’s next move. He did say he would punish her. Regardless, she had to celebrate the small victory of staying his hand. Now Dalton wouldn’t have a reason to reveal Yavi’s secret, and they could form another plan.

Her knife bounced off the frozen earth, skittering away. With a sigh, Dyna picked it up and tried again. It flew past, missing her target by several inches. She glowered at the charred stump of wood. How did he manage to make it look so effortless?

“The hilt is too weighty for throwing,” Von said, appearing at her side. “Try this one instead.”

He pulled out a slender knife from his bandolier and handed it to her. It was flat, but a solid piece of dark steel. Rough, black cloth wrapped around the thin handle and the pommel was replaced with a simple ring to stick her finger through.

“Release with a smooth motion when you throw. Don’t flick your wrist or it will spin too much.” Von drew out three more, whirling them by the rings in his fingers. She studied his perfect stance and how he grabbed the blade side instead of the hilt. He tossed them one after the other in rapid succession. Each flawlessly hit the target with low thunks. “With time, you will come to calculate the rotation and distance of the target.”

Dyna nodded and copied as he had done. The knife missed, but this time it pierced the dirt. Von handed her two more. She managed to hit the stump on the second try.

“Not bad. But not good enough to subdue a mage.” Von tucked her opal knife back on his belt. Only now, she realized he had swiped it back from her. Well, it seemed they drew the line at leaving her with a weapon.

“For whatever reason, Tarn accepted your story.”

That didn’t mean he had believed it.

“Thank you for helping to spare their lives,” Von said.

“That’s important to you, isn’t it? To save the lives of your men after all the ones that were lost in Azurite.” She searched his startled expression as his body tensed. “I saw what happened in your past through Tarn. Magic, if you will. That wasn’t your fault, Von. I know you felt that it was, but it had nothing to do with duty.”

“It had everything to do with it,” he said sharply. “I was never supposed to leave the gates unguarded. It was my fault the trolls came.”

He truly believed it. Had Tarn even told him about the viceroy? But after so many years of holding on to the blame, Dyna didn’t know if he could forgive himself.

Von rubbed his face. “Every time I consider I can be free, more people die.”

Like during the skirmish. He must have almost decided to escape with Yavi at that moment, until he saw the knights cutting down his men. No wonder he chose to stay.

“You think if you turn your back on your vow of a life-servant that history will repeat itself?”

“I know it will.” Von then told her the Seer’s divination about Yavi. Chills cascaded down Dyna’s back at the eerie words. “Fire nearly took her from me the other night. It was my last warning.”

Now she finally understood. Von was staying because he believed breaking his holy vow again would result in taking Yavi’s life. But there was more than one way to die, and lying to each other did them no favors.

“You need to tell her about this,” Dyna said. “About everything. There is much you both need to discuss, but hiding it is only causing you both pain. You’re losing her, Von.”

His expression flooded with misery. “I know.”

It seemed he wanted to say more, but they were interrupted by a group of rowdy Raiders passing by. They quieted at the sight of her. At the sudden tension, magic crackled on the surface of her skin. Whatever the men saw on her face convinced them to move on.

Von stared at her. “Your eyes are glowing, lass.”

She blinked repeatedly and took a breath to calm her Essence. Was that new? “Sorry.”

He glanced down at her feet and she knew what he was thinking.

“I won’t wear the bangles.”

“Aye, well, the keys conveniently went missing the day you attempted an escape.” He crossed his arms. “Might you have something to do with that?”

“They might be somewhere out in the woods.” Better to let him think she’d lost all the keys.

“Hmm.”

Von made no further comment on it and he escorted her back to Tarn’s empty tent. She sat at the end of the dining table as she stared up at the massive flag with the white phoenix crest. So many secrets must be hidden behind it. She glanced at the history book left for her. It was opened to the portrait of King Lenneus. He had light blue eyes, pale blond hair to his shoulders, and sharp features with a familiar severe beauty. She flipped more pages back to the kings before him. For the past five hundred years they all had the same face, going into seclusion after thirty years of their rein. The queens were documented to have died in odd accidents, all after giving birth to the next heir.

But there had never been an heir.

Until now.

The amethyst crystal spun, and a brief draft brushed against her legs. She didn’t turn around.

“All the kingdoms have their secrets,” Tarn said, his low voice raising the hair on her neck. “This one is Azure’s.”

“Is he immortal?” Dyna whispered.

Tarn took his seat across from her. “His life was endless like the fae, but no, not immortal.”

“Wait, you said was,” Dyna repeated when her mind caught up. “But he could be, right? King Lenneus, or whatever his true name is, must also be searching for the Tree of the Unending. He planned to become immortal and rule forever—but he never planned for you.” She closed the book with the sigil of an interwoven, seven-pointed star.

“They say Sunnëva left the phoenix power for her children to inherit and that it was lost when they passed away, but it never was,” Tarn said. “Jökull’s abilities would only be passed down to those who shared the blood of the Ice Phoenix and the Morkhàn clan.”

He laid his hand flat on the tabletop and frost spread from his palm, coating the surface.

“That man didn’t know who my mother was the night he took her.” His fingers curled, making the ice crack. “He’d been too drunk off his wits at some ball in his castle to recognize the heiress of Old Tanzanite Keep. All he saw was a woman who dared refuse him. So Lord Afton lured her to a dark room, held her down and muffled her cries, while the King had his way with her.”

Dyna looked away from the intensity of his vivid eyes. The temperature in the tent dropped further, making her breath cloud.

“It wasn’t until I was born that he realized the consequences of what he’d done. There can only be one living descendant from both bloodlines to claim the inheritance of the Ice Phoenix.”

She recalled the day in the courtyard when he’d sent ice crawling over the cobblestone.

“You took it from the king,” she realized. “And his long life. That’s why he wants you dead.”

“Well, according to Lord Afton’s testimony. Right before I split his jaw open.”

As much as the image made her stomach churn, she couldn’t blame Tarn for what he had done. Lord Afton and the Azure King were responsible for the outcome of his life. From enduring Lord Morken’s hatred to the loss of his wife.

Dyna sat up straight as she realized something. “Lord Morken … and your mother are from the same House?

“The Morken family has always governed Old Tanzanite Keep and they would never allow another House to lay claim over it. Women have no rights to property in Azure. As her father’s only heir, my mother was forced to marry a distant Morken cousin. Somehow, Thorne was the best choice.”

His expression remained stoic, but Dyna heard the coldness frosting each word. “So if you die, the King will recover the Ice Phoenix’s abilities. That’s why you seek Mount Ida, because he is very determined to kill you.” She shook her head. “Immortality isn’t invincibility.”

He’d dedicated his life to becoming undying because both of his fathers had tried to kill him. He was nearly eaten alive and he saw everyone he knew torn apart. He spent years making everyone tremble at the sound of his name, but truly it was him who was terrified.

Tarn leaned back in his seat and crossed one leg over the other. “I don’t seek it out of fear,” he said, as though he could read her mind. “I descend from a god. My one sole purpose is to inherit what is mine, including the throne of Azure. Once I am immortal, I will become the next Ice Phoenix, and return for Lenneus’s head. He will raise an army against me, of course, but by the end, I will have cleansed this land of his scourge, and bury it in ice and snow until nothing remains. Then rule over his ashes with none to defy me.”

Her eyes widened, a chill sinking through her body.

He intended to return Azure to the Everfrost.

“You would destroy the entire kingdom to kill one man?” She could see from his expression that at this point, Tarn didn’t care who suffered, as long as he got the single thing he cared about most. Revenge. “That would make you a monster.”

“Sometimes to defeat a monster, you must become one.” He stood to grab his goblet from the bedside table. It stunned her when he poured himself water instead of wine. “We all have one in us, clawing to get out.”

“Even me?”

Tarn’s gaze fell on her and the air thinned as those ice-blue eyes seemed to see past everything to the depths of her being. “Especially you…” he said quietly. “I saw her out there when you came at me with the arrow and when you contemplated letting me die. She was there, looking back at me. And you know what I thought? Should you ever let her out, she would be glorious.”

Dyna’s heart sped a little as she pictured it. Herself swathed in a menacing green light, stepping out of the darkness like a wraith. A creature that laid waste to everything in its wake.

She shuddered and looked away. “I suppose you’re right. I could easily become a monster, too. It’s what happens in our lives that can influence which way we fall, but you are choosing to be one. This path you’re walking will only lead to your destruction and everyone who follows you. Half your men are dead. You will only lead the rest to their peril if you don’t stop.”

“I already know what must be done.” He returned to the table. “It begins with Mount Ida. Your Essence is free, and I’m allowing you to keep it, granted you cooperate.”

She glowered at him, knowing exactly what he wanted.

“In regards to that, where are my black clovers?”

Her glower switched to an innocent pout and she shrugged. “Perhaps they’ve been claimed by the forest somewhere.”

Tarn pressed on his forehead. “You have exhausted my patience, Dyna.”

“And mine has reached its limit.” She tried not to react to his use of her name. It was the second time he had called her by it, and that gave her a small hope they could find common ground after all.

“I’m beginning to find you rather tiresome. You of all people know what I’m capable of, yet you’re so determined to incur my wrath.” But the threat didn’t match Tarn’s idle expression.

“I think you would go farther if you requested things differently.” She crossed her arms. “How about you learn to make friends instead of enemies.”

He arched an eyebrow. “You want to be my…friend?”

She flushed at the way he put it. Like she was a silly girl with childish notions.

“Well, come now, friends tell all their secrets.” His mouth curled on one end as he watched her squirm. He was teasing her, which was so bizarre. “Why are you going to Mount Ida?”

Well, she knew enough about him, so she traced the grooves on the tabletop as she told him her story. He listened without interrupting, his gaze never leaving her face as she described the Shadow demon coming to her village on the winter solstice, and how it tore through the villagers like paper. Her throat dried as the back of her eyes stung, but she managed to keep her voice stead when she came to the death of her family. She wiped her a stray tear at the mention of her brother.

“I was left to hide, listening to it prowl in the dark as it hunted me. Whenever night falls…”

“You feel it there.”

She nodded. “The only way to destroy it is with the Sōl Medallion.”

“Destroying a Shadow demon,” Tarn mused. “That’s a lofty goal, if not incredibly stupid.”

Dyna then regretted telling him about her past. “You don’t know how far I will go to protect my family.”

“Those who protect the weak die.”

“You protected me,” she reminded him. He could say it was to retrieve an asset but they both knew he saved her life out there in the woods, as did she. “And I returned the favor. Not many would have done the same, mind you. Whether that was the right choice, I have not yet decided.”

They stared at each other past the flames flickering on the candelabra placed between them. “The way I see it, if you hunt the Shadow, the only place you will go through is Death’s Gate,” Tarn said, completely ignoring her statement. “Unless…”

“Unless?”

He took a drink. “You join me.”

For a moment, she was too stunned to reply. Von entered and set their evening meal on the table without a word. After tasting a serving of the roasted chicken, greens, and rice, he served them and left.

After deliberating for a moment, Dyna picked up her plate and came to sit next to him. “Are you asking me or telling me? Because I won’t be your slave or your spy. And I won’t be part of any destruction. If you want my help, then give up your vendetta against the Azure King. You can have a life of wonder instead of death.” She hesitated before hovering her hand over his bandaged arm. He watched in silence as the green light of her Essence drifted down and healed him, hardly leaving behind a scar. “If you give it a chance, I can show you.”

He gave a contemplative hum. “Are you trying to charm me?”

“Is it working?” She ate some rice.

“Hardly.” Tarn picked up his fork and dinner knife, cutting into his chicken. “You reproach my ways, yet I think you understand them very clearly. I find it amusing that here we are, discussing it like civilized people, when several days ago you were ready to skewer me outside the grove.”

Dyna frowned at him dully. “To defend my mate, yes, I would have killed you.”

He paused. “Mate?”

“I’m bonded to Cassiel.” The sound of his name sent a throb through her heart, and the rune for truth glowed blue.

Tarn rested his chin on a fist. “Interesting. The divination named you the Maiden.”

“Yes, and?”

“Has your marriage been consummated?”

Dyna’s face flamed at the personal question.

“Ah, fair virgin you still are. What husband doesn’t bed his wife? Does he not know where to put it?”

Her face grows hot as she stared at him, speechless.

Tarn saw her expression and cleared his throat. “I’ve angered you. Pardon. That was unbecoming of me to say.”

Taken aback by the apology, Dyna’s ager deflated. “Careful, Tarn. You nearly sound like a decent person.”

“Hmm. We can’t have that.” He took a bite of food. It may have been the first time she had seen him eat, too. His appetite was returning now that he was off the potion. “I do wonder, if you should lose your maidenhead, will the divination no longer come to pass?”

“I hardly think the fates care about my virginity,” Dyna huffed.

“Should we put it to the test?”

Her eyes bulged at the suggestive joke that she would have never expected from him. “Tarn, simply because I won’t kill you, it doesn’t mean I won’t stab you.”

His mouth twitched in a slight smirk. “Well, now I understand your reaction when Benton first placed the veil on you. It separated you from each other and it hurt.”

She pressed on her chest. It still did.

“Tell me, how is it you became blood bonded?”

Dyna didn’t want to answer, but his intent gaze didn’t leave room to deny him. She shifted in her chair. “It simply came to be.”

“It was a marriage of convenience, then.”

“In what manner?”

“Well, you’re no ordinary woman, Dynalya Astron. You carry the blood of a mage. The only map in existence to Mount Ida is bound to your very Essence. You are a mighty convenience.”

“Cassiel doesn’t care for magic and riches.”

Tarn leaned forward. “Then what does he care about?”

Dyna didn’t know the answer. What did Cassiel care about? He was searching for his mother. That was his purpose on this quest, but what would happen at the end of it? What would the Realms say about their marriage? From what she knew of Celestial history and humans, their reaction wouldn’t be a good one. Even if not, she was no one of note to marry a prince. It was a worry in the back of Dyna’s mind. A fear that it would end up tearing them apart.

“What is the meaning of your expression?” Tarn asked, amused. “You seem distressed. Did you not hear his passionate proclamation to never cease searching for you? Might that not be your answer?”

Dyna looked away to the hot coals glowing in the brazier.

“Love is such a sordid feeling and a waste of time. It’s not worth the tears.” Tarn poured himself more water, then poured a cup for her. “Take my advice. Don’t allow yourself to be encumbered by something so mawkish as romantic attachments.”

She waited until her misted sight cleared to look at Tarn again. “Is that what you tell yourself when you think of Aisling?”

His amusement faded, and the change in mood marked the end of their conversation. They said no more, and after their meal, Dyna eventually drifted off to sleep where she was. At some point, she heard his quiet voice speaking to Von.

“She no longer cowers in fear of me.” She felt Tarn’s stare linger on her sleeping form curled in the chair, before his presence stirred the cool air with his passing. “Not that it would matter in the end.”

When she sleepily peeked through her lashes, he was gone.