Her head was throbbing. A palm rested on her cheek, and her head was laying on something soft.
“Oww.” She opened her eyes to look at Lan’s worried face. Tense lines around his eyes disappeared. “You are awake. I was starting to worry.”
“She knocked me out,” Galena said.
Suppressed fury flashed in Lan’s face. “She will pay.”
“I agree.” Grimacing, she tried to sit up. “Where are we?” She surveyed the room with dismay. A lone lamp on the floor illuminated stone walls. The smell of mold and decay filled the room. Something rustled in the dark, and Galena shuddered. Rats.
“I don’t know,” Lan said. “No one came in here. I think it’s a cave not far from where we were captured.”
“I see. They left us here, then.”
“Morel said they will have to move faster than they anticipated.”
“Against Arin?”
Lan grimly nodded. “Against Arin.”
Damn it. Arin wouldn’t be expecting that and Madagar—for some reason, her involvement made Galena uneasy.
“Arin won’t let them get away with that.”
“No,” Galena agreed. As if on cue, she felt Arin’s touch on their bond.
“Arin!”
He laughed. “It’s me. I was wondering where you were.”
“We ran into some problems,” Galena replied.
“I see.” She sensed he was hiding something from them. She looked at Lan, wondering if he felt it, too.
“What happened?”
She sent him a series of images, filling it in with her comments. He didn’t seem surprised, taking it all in without flinching.
“You knew about them.”
“Not really. Someone blocked Moira.”
Galena gulped. “That’s serious.”
“I know. I called my men.”
“
They are going to attack now,” Lan warned him.
“I gathered that. They have to. They know I would have turned every stone if you two disappeared, and that would leave them exposed. With luck, they won’t be ready.”
An anxious feeling rose inside her. “Are you ready?”
“Don’t worry.”
He started to retreat. “Wait,” she said, but he didn’t listen.
“That was weird,” Galena said. “He didn’t break the bond, but he blocked it.”
Cocking his head, Lan looked at her. “He is maintaining contact to check on us but doesn’t want us to know what he is thinking.”
“Oh.” Galena frowned. “Why do you think that is?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t think I’m going to like it.”
Galena sighed. “Well. Let’s try and get out of here, shall we?”
She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like Arin’s plans either.
* * * *
Atop his horse and in full armor, his men bustling behind him, Arin surveyed the scene in front of him. An army, looking grim and determined, approached with steady rhythm. Fog hovered over them, masking their numbers, making it seem like an unending sea of enemies faced him and his men. Arin snorted. He knew better.
The force in front of him was equal to his in number, but he didn’t doubt he could win. Those were mercenaries and hastily gathered fighters. His army consisted of trained and seasoned fighters, all eager to earn their king’s favor.
He stilled his horse, which was moving eagerly, its nostrils flaring, no doubt feeling the excitement of so many men around it.
“Majesty.”
Arin didn’t turn to acknowledge the knight. “Yes, Garen.”
“We are ready, sire.”
“Good. Stick close to my sister, will you?”
“You don’t have to ask that, sire.”
“I don’t, do I?” Arin asked, eyeing him with interest. “I guess I don’t.”
“There seem to be a lot of them,” Garen volunteered.
Arin shifted his gaze onto the fast-approaching army. “It does seem that way, does it not? Things aren’t always as they seem.” He was filled with anticipation. He could feel Axen practically humming on his hip. Soon, he said to it. Very soon.
“Look, Garen. Someone is coming.”
Two riders, both on big, strong horses and in rich armor, separated themselves from the crowd behind them. They started across the field, obviously headed for Arin.
“Let them pass,” Arin ordered to his guard. He urged his horse forward, indicating he was willing to talk. He stayed absolutely still as they came closer, his body taut as a bow, ready to act at any moment.
The riders stopped not far from him. One of them dipped his head in acknowledgment before taking his helmet off.
Arin refused to move a muscle.
“Morel,” he said in a pleasant voice. Now he knew who the second rider was. “And Madagar.” He omitted the words cousin or any title. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“You should have.”
“I don’t think so,” Arin answered. He gazed at Morel. He didn’t like his cousin, but he didn’t particularly dislike him. He left him in charge of a small county not far from Hearthstone and forgot about him. In hindsight, he should have considered why he was so eager to get Morel out of his court. He shifted his gaze to Madagar. That was Morel’s secret weapon. The magical fog must be her work. She was Morel’s mage, and they thought Arin didn’t have one.
“Madagar. My sister is going to be disappointed.”
“Madagar wasn’t happy with it either,” Morel said. “But your sister is too loyal to you. You understand, we had to get rid of her.”
“And now you are planning to get rid of me.”
“It’s necessary.”
“Why, Morel? What’s it you want? You have wealth and position. What made you betray me?”
Anger flared in Madagar’s eyes. “You dare ask that. Our father was the king’s brother. He should have inherited Hearthstone, and we should have ruled it.”
“Your father was the king’s brother, true, but once the king married and had his heirs, he couldn’t have inherited.”
Madagar snorted. “Right. Married. Your mother may have been his mistress, but I would bet you and Moira are the children of her lover, Maren. It wouldn’t be hard to make you resemble him. Maren was hungry for power, and the king was so madly in love with Duchess Iris that he didn’t care if he wasn’t the only one fucking her. Not even if the other man was his chief adviser.”
Arin blinked at them.
So, they didn’t know. Didn’t Moira tell them? No, she might have assumed they knew. Huh.
It appeared that Madagar and Morel’s father wasn’t aware of the extent of his brother’s relationship with his lovers. They were all bonded with each other. Like he was with Lan and Galena.
“You are wrong about that, but it doesn’t matter. What do you want now?”
“Give yourself up. You will spare your men.”
“I don’t think so.” Arin snorted. “How about you give yourself up, and I’ll kill you quickly?”
Morel’s face flushed in anger. “Still full of arrogance, I see. You can’t win.”
“We will see,” Arin answered politely enough.
Madagar wanted to say something rude to him. He could tell. Morel stopped her with a glance. “Tell me, Arin, where is your best knight?” He smiled nastily at Arin. “The White Lion. I would have thought he would be with you. After all, he is one of your best men.”
Arin returned his smile. “Don’t you worry about that, Morel.” His grin grew.
Morel frowned, obviously puzzled by his reaction.
“You don’t know. You are bluffing,” he accused.
“We have him,” Magadar said, watching him intently. “Him and your queen. Would you like to guess what they were doing when we found them?”
They were trying to get a rise out of him, no doubt trying to distract him. “No doubt something fun,” he answered. “Pity I couldn’t have joined them.” He enjoyed the expressions of bafflement on their faces.
Then again, there will be time for that later.
He smiled. “Let the battle begin.”
* * * *
Lan cursed. Breathless, Lan collapsed next to the heavy wooden gate he was trying to break. Galena hurried to him. “Are you all right?”
“That hurt,” Lan muttered, rubbing his shoulder. He sounded defeated. “I can’t break it. I’m sorry.”
“Never mind it,” Galena said. “If anyone comes for us, we will try to escape. For now, it’s better to conserve our strength.” She crouched next to him. “I don’t want you hurt.”
He sighed, his head dropping on her shoulder. “I failed both you and Arin,” he complained, his voice bitter. “I shouldn’t have allowed them to capture you.”
“There was no other way,” Galena said, trying to soothe him. “We are still alive, aren’t we?”
He sighed.
“And we warned Arin, which is more important.”
“I agree,” said Arin’s voice in her head. She scowled. “Warn me when you are doing that.”
“Sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry.
“What’s going on?”
“Morel and Madagar’s army is at the gates of Hearthstone. We are waiting for them.”
Her heart stopped.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He didn’t sound concerned.
“Moira?”
“Still blocked. I will have to pull strength from the two of you.”
“Of course,” Lan said impatiently. “Can you get us out?”
Arin didn’t answer immediately. Galena, who knew him longer, recognized that as a bad sign.
“Arin? What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to make you safe,” he answered. “Galena, can you show me again where you are?”
“Yes.” She let him see through her eyes, standing up to walk around the room. “Lan thinks this is a cave. There is a wooden door barring the entrance, though, and Lan can’t get through it.”
“There is no one with you?”
“No, but they must have left someone inside. We are too valuable to be left unguarded.”
She could feel his satisfaction but not what he had planned, and that filled her with trepidation.
“Arin? What are you going to do?” she repeated. Nervous, she reached for Lan.
“You will be safe.”
A loud rumble came from the direction of the door. Galena yelped. Lan hugged her, steadied her.
“
Don’t worry,
”
Arin said. “I made sure it doesn’t reach you.”
“It’s an avalanche!” Lan exclaimed. “How did you..?”
“Yes,” Arin said, and Galena could feel his magic moving, swirling. It tugged at them, sucked at their energy. She felt dizzy.
The noise subsided.
“I made the ceiling outside of the door collapse,” Arin said. “Now no one can get to you.”
Galena coughed as the swirl of small stones came from the ceiling. “Are you sure it’s stable here?”
“Yes. I left enough cracks for air.”
Galena’s eyes narrowed. “But you haven’t got us out.”
“No. You are staying there.”
“What!”
Arin paused before answering. “I’m sorry. I can’t risk that either of you’ll be hurt. This way, you can’t be harmed.”
“What about you? We can’t help you now.”
“I won’t get hurt.”
Arrogant son of a bitch.
“I am going to hurt you as soon as I got out,” Galena snapped. “How can you just leave us here while you’re going to battle?”
There was regret in Arin’s mental voice, but his decision was made. “It has to be this way.”
“Jerk.”
Galena dropped onto the floor, snuggling close to Lan. Now they had to wait.
* * * *
Arin was listening to the reports his men were giving him as pages and servants came in and out of the room. He kept glancing toward the door. The battle was done, and as a king, he had responsibilities. But right now, he didn’t want them. He wanted to find his lovers and hug them both, never letting go. He was scared. They should be safe, but his enemies had still gotten to them. Morel and Madagar were dead. That was one problem out of the way. But that didn’t mean all the rebels were dead, and some of the bedraggled remnants of the army succeeded in escaping the battlefield. The Axen, still bloodied and warm from the flow of magic, chirped in, prompted by his restlessness.
Moira, her magic restored, had gone to find Lan and Galena. Arin was getting impatient.
“Where the hell is he?” That was Galena’s voice. She sounded annoyed. The noise around him ceased. Breathing a sigh of relief, Arin turned toward the door. Heart in his throat, he swallowed as he saw them enter, both dusty and a little worse for the wear but unharmed.
He breathed out in relief, starting toward them. “I was worried you would—”
Stopping in front of him, Lan swung. His fist connected with Arin’s jaw. Arin saw stars. He stumbled, falling on his ass. He blinked at his lover. “What the hell?” he said in a stunned silence around him.
“Arin!” Galena rushed from behind Lan to kneel beside him. “Are you hurt?”
Her hands flew over him, rousing in him feelings he wasn’t supposed to have, not in front of so many witnesses, and not, he confessed ruefully, with the kind of pain that was radiating from his jaw.