I didn’t wait for anyone to react, I allowed Rukiya to come close to the surface. As she did, I watched as time slowly shifted backwards, stopping just as I pulled Cadalan’s face down to look at me, “Do you have a metal wielder here?” I asked so quietly, I wasn’t sure he heard me. Pain was spreading through my arm, causing my breathing to come out harsher and more ragged.
“What happened to you?” He asked, his voice full of concern.
“Maelour attacked. We need to restrain him or he’s going to lose control,” I answered quietly.
Maelour was on me in an instant, grabbing my face and shoving Cadalan aside in the process. “Bloody time wielder,” he spat. His fingers dug into my cheeks, “What did you do to deserve that?”
I sent a jolt of lightning through my body into his, with just enough force to push him off of me but not enough force to kill him. “Have you got a fucking metal wielder or not?” I shouted at Cadalan.
Maelour sent an ice spear flying towards me. I had just enough time to shift so it struck me in the shoulder rather than the heart. I screamed as he used his magic to pull it from my shoulder. Falling to the floor on my hands and knees, I turned time back once more.
“Cadalan can wield metal,” Umasa’s voice sounded in my head. “Should I shift into him since he seems unwilling to help?”
“No. We keep that secret to ourselves.” I linked back.
“Maelour is going to kill you even with your time wielding abilities. You can’t heal from this amount of damage by simply turning back time.”
“I know Masa,” I let out another ragged breath. “I think he’s testing me. Trying to see how long I can go.”
“I’m going to kill him,” they said bitterly.
Rukiya rushed to the surface and suddenly I could feel everything in the room. I felt Ninou and Tinis’s pleading as they mind linked Cadalan for permission to help. I felt the metal begin to lift from its place around the room and just as my spirits lifted, they were quickly let down as Cadalan won control over his dragon. The temperature in the room dropped suddenly as Maelour launched another attack. Eyes closed, still on my hands and knees, I waited, pushing Rukiya even closer to the surface. I felt his magic push and form the water in the air to ice. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know he was sending twenty or so spears of ice straight at me. I laughed as my magic raced out of me, fighting for control of the ice.
“There’s no way,” Maelour grunted as he fought for control of his ice. “Time wielders are not gifted more than two abilities by the goddess.”
“Clearly they are,” I said quietly. Rukiya growled in my head as the force of his magic was pushing hard against mine. She managed to overpower his grip on the spears, dissolving them into powdered snow.
I heard Maelour stumble slightly as we both tried to regain our breath. I felt his magic rise again, “That’s enough!” I shouted, Rukiya so close to the surface, I felt scales form on my face and chest, as we used our combined power to put an end to this fight. “Cadalan, stop fucking testing me and get him under control!” Again I felt Rukiya’s scales pop out as we issued the order together.
With nothing more than a bow forced under the weight of my dominance, I felt the metal around the room fly through the air and latch onto Maelour. “No! What did you cover up?” Maelour shouted from where Cadalan pinned him with the metal.
“Ninou,” I breathed out, “Show him.”
Ninou and another warrior threw Rogeg’s mutilated body on the floor at Maelour’s feet.With Rukiya still close to the surface, I felt Maelour’s dragon and magic push as hard as he could against Cadalan’s magic. I let out a sigh of relief when Cadalan’s magic held. I rolled to my back and felt my body relax, allowing me to feel all of the pain wracking my body.
“What happened,” Cadalan cleared his throat, “Down there?”
“He would go into the tents where they kept us and rape the younger women at night. Masa took exception to that and made sure no matter what Tinis and the others chose, he could never do that again.”
“I’m warming to the Treskim,” I didn’t have to see his face to know he was smirking. I felt Tinis kneel next to me before they took me into their arms. “Tinis,” Cadalan said in a warning tone.
“Fuck you, Cad,” they responded. “She saved me. I’m going to mend her.”
“Don’t heal her completely,” they started to argue. “You’ve only been in training for two years. The level of healing needed for her injuries could kill you if you’re not careful. Just stop her bleeding, she can handle the rest.”
I raised my hand to their cheek, “Do as he says, Tinis. I’ll be fine.”
Warmth spread through my body once I felt my veins come back together, I pulled away from them. “Just a bit more.”
I shoved them back, “No. That’s enough.” I leaned over and pressed my forehead to theirs, “Thank you.”
Maelour thrashed against the metal holding him in place. “I’ll fucking kill you, you time wielding bitch!”
He let out a roar, shaking the windows, as I stood on wobbly legs. “Have fun with him. I’m going to find a warm bath.”
Cadalan caught my uninjured arm as I walked past him, “My dragon wants to take care of you and your injuries. If you’ll allow it, can I bathe you and treat your wounds?”
“You wouldn’t have to take care of me or my injuries if you had just done as I asked at the start.”
His eyes changed fully to his dragon’s slitted pupils and his voice came out rougher than normal, “I tried, Gildaza. I apologize for my human’s stupidity. He knows a couple healing incantations which will help finish the mending Tinis started.”
“I have a lot of questions for him. Will he answer them, truthfully, if I let him do this?”
He nodded deeply, “I give you my word, he will.”
I lifted one eyebrow, “What about his word?”
Cadalan’s eyes turned back to normal, “You have it. Although you don’t need it. He would just take over again and tell you the truth if I tried anything. He wants you to trust us. We want you to trust us.”
I gave him a slight nod and a small smile before I left the room. “Really?” Umasa linked me, shifting into me as they followed me.
“I have a lot of questions for him. It’ll be easier to get answers if his guard is down and he’s alone,” I linked them back.
“What about the time bending you just did in front of like twenty people?”
I sighed, “I trust them. Cadalan’s people probably would’ve found out regardless. When I fight to get into the kingdom, I will have to use all of my abilities.”
“He’ll make an exception for your time ability. He understands the importance of keeping it secret. Even if he did just force you to use it in front of them to save yourself, repeatedly.”
“And how would you know that?”
“We had a little heart to heart right after you were taken,” they responded with a huff.
I stopped and looked at them with a raised eyebrow. “Oh really?”
“He never should’ve let that happen. He should’ve been with you or should’ve allowed me to come with you.”
“Are you two good now?”
They nodded, “I’ll have a room right next to yours.”
“You didn’t expose yourself right?”
“Oh you mean like you?” I rolled my eyes, “No. That secret is still safe with us.”
“Good. Keep it safe. We might need it.”
“I thought you trusted them.”
“Some secrets are worth keeping between the two of us.”
Their golden eyes went a little hazy as they used my ability of shared sight to see through someone’s eyes. “Hmm.”
“What? Who are you seeing through?”
“Cadalan. He’s asking Maelour questions about Xidor and why they invaded Qaria.” They paused, “Xidor invaded, thinking Qaria had the Crimson Pallandite, but obviously lied to the other kingdoms about who invaded who as we found out from Helora.”
“Crimson Pallandite? Why would they think Qaria has it?”
“He’s asking if they’ve found it. Maelour says they haven’t been successful yet.”
“How does he know Maelour is telling the truth?”
“It seems one of the advisors he had with him in Qealan, the one called Gwilan, is a truth seeker.” I took in a sharp breath. Truth seekers were dangerous to have around even if they were loyal, they always seemed to go insane. “Don’t worry, they seem to only be able to gain truth through touch. Maelour is in a great deal of pain though.”
“He’s fighting them.”
They nodded, “Maelour wants to know what Cadalan is going to do with him and his kingdom. Cadalan said he has to speak to you about that because you have just as much right to Wecica as he does. Maelour will be transported to the Draelean cells.” I hummed, “The truth seeker seemed shocked and angry at the king’s answer.”
“Because Maelour will live or because Cadalan wants to speak to me?”
“Because he wants to speak to you.” Their eyes refocused and became clearer, “Cadalan is coming to find you.”
As Umasa shifted into a small brown tabby cat, I picked them up and put them on my shoulder. I took in a deep breath, searching for the scent of water and oils. “I would’ve thought you would be neck deep in the water by now,” Cadalan’s voice sounded behind me.
I turned and smiled, “I’ve been a little distracted.”
He smirked, “I noticed. Why did it feel different this time from the last?”
“We’re closer together. It feels different depending on the distance, or so I’ve been told by La La,” I lied easily.
“Huh,” he said absentmindedly. “I’ve never heard of distance influencing the way a shared sight ability feels for the person being viewed through.”
I shrugged, “Maybe it’s different for each ability?”
“Maybe.”
“What is your plan with me?” I asked after a long moment of silence.
He shook his head, “Not until we’re alone in the bath. I don’t know how many of Maelour’s people are around and I would rather keep this conversation between us, but I promise I’ll answer any questions you have.”
Cadalan pushed through a heavy wooden door, revealing a large bath which was filled with steaming water and rose scented oils. Two lady’s maids waited near the bath, heads bowed. “Your majesties,” they said in unison.
“Thank you for preparing us a bath, you may go,” Cadalan said. They scurried from the room, “Maelour has an absurd love for subjugating the humans of his kingdom.”
“Wecica had the worst uprising of humans all of those centuries ago. Maelour likely didn’t learn the lesson his father should’ve and believes that’s how he keeps them under control.”
“You learned of the uprisings?” He seemed shocked that Elenell would bother to teach me the history.
I nodded, “My Nonna, Elenell’s mother, thought it was important I learn from the mistakes of the people that came before us. She was a young woman when they started, and was captured by a group of humans. She was able to negotiate with them and end the uprising in Qealan.” I took a deep breath in, “Gods it’s been too long since I had a hot bath.”
As I undressed, I heard Cadalan muttering an incantation. “We should have complete privacy now.”
“You learned incantations,” I stated rather than asked, but it was clearly a question nonetheless.
“Of course. You didn’t?”
I shook my head, “Elenell doesn’t see the benefit. Although she didn’t allow me to be trained in much, so it’s not shocking that incantations were off the table too.”
“You learned from someone. A person with no training couldn’t do what you did on the battlefield and against Maelour.” He ran his hand down my injured arm, muttering more incantations. I gasped slightly as I felt the tendons, muscles, and skin begin to stitch back together under his warm hand. “There good as new,” he said quietly, more so to himself than to me.
I sank into the water and sighed, my eyes closing involuntarily. “La La taught me and while on the battlefield, Ninou pointed out things to me and tried to teach me as much as he could.” I looked up at Cadalan, “Don’t be mad at Ninou, for anything that happened. He saved me more times than I can count. He tried to stop me, but I wouldn’t listen.” My eyes narrowed, “what do you plan to do with me?”
He sat down beside the tub and leaned his head on his arm which was resting on the side of the tub. “If you want Wecica, it’s yours. You can break our betrothal and take Wecica as your own. The alliance will stand and we can forge a new one between our kingdoms.”
“What was your original plan with me?”
His left hand traced circles on the top of the water, “I planned to use you.” My heart began racing, causing Cadalan to look at me with a smile, “Not like that. Surely you’ve noticed Elenell has begun turning tyrannical. We have had a huge influx of Qealan refugees coming across our border. The original plan was to assess the kingdom for weaknesses so that we could take it over and liberate the people, but then you were offered and you’re the one of the most powerful dragons many of us have seen in decades and I couldn’t pass that chance up.”
“Before you knew about the time wielding?”
He nodded, “I can’t speak to who because it’s their ability to speak about not mine, but a person that was there can read power and weaknesses. They read you and once it was seen that Elenell is fully in control, I agreed to the alliance and betrothal.”
“And you intend to just absorb Qealan?”
He shook his head, “If you chose not to take Wecica, when we make our move on Qealan, the kingdom is yours.”
“What about our bond? Or do you intend to draw out our betrothal and then break it once Elenell is dethroned?”
He shrugged, “I haven’t thought that far ahead, honestly. I don’t intend to draw out our betrothal. Once you’re ready, I’m happy to go ahead with our bond, and once we take Qealan, we’ll figure it out.”
“The other kingdoms will never allow a bonded couple to rule two separate kingdoms.”
“You forged an alliance with Qaria?”
I shrugged, “Nothing official, but the heir helped and I told them I would ensure Wecica’s involvement ended.”
“If you can officially align with Qaria, they can defeat Xidor. I have alliances with Nesea and Tezia who have alliances with Leotruga and Yira respectively. We have the votes to keep Draeles and Qealan separate while being bonded, if that’s what you want.”
“Are you in search of the Crimson Pallandite too?”
“Some of my advisors believe we should be, but I’m not seeking it out.”
“Is Gwilan one of the advisors that wants you to search for it?”
He nodded, “They think it would be better if we had control of it. Safer for us and the rest of the continent, but clearly it’s fine where it is because no one can find it and whoever has it isn’t using it for evil.”
“Did you ever intend to bond?”
He shook his head, “I don’t necessarily care about having an heir, and I wasn’t interested in bonding for an alliance.”
“Until you decided to use me for my power, like anyone else would’ve had they known about the time bending,” I said with a slight sigh.
“Or free you from Elenell and her abuse, or are you going to tell me she didn’t break your bond with your kingdom painfully as retribution for nothing more than snarling at her?”
“Yet you seem to be surrounded by powerful abilities.”
“I’m surrounded by powerful abilities held by people of high moral standard, who believe in Draeles and our mission.”
“Which is?”
“To end tyranny on the continent.”
“By creating a super kingdom where Draeles is all that’s left?”
He shook his head, “Tezia is a good example of what we intend to do when we take over a country from a tyrant. Once the tyrant is gone, there is usually a revolution leader that can be installed and that is happy to be installed. Like there’s a revolutionary leader in Qealan. No one knows what they look like outside of the Qealan refugees, and they have protected the identity of the leader from even us.”
“Are you going to tell him?” Umasa linked from the cushion they were curled up on across the room.
“That’s another secret that would be better kept than told,” I linked them back.
“Why didn’t you shift?”
“Back in Qealan?” He nodded, causing me to sigh. “I can’t shift and stay conscious. It’s easier when I shift to my dragon because she can take over, but even a couple of hours into my shift, she has to sleep.”
He looked at me confused, “Wait what happens when you shift back? How long are you unconscious?”
I looked down at the water, fiddling with the flower petals in the water. “It depends. The longest I’ve stayed shifted was a month and I slept for a week once I shifted back. Umasa told me I was asleep for four days after I was forced to shift back because of the net. It’s also incredibly painful when I shift, that’s why I end up unconscious.”
“You aren’t blind.” He commented as a way of asking about my eyes.
I shook my head, “When I was a kid, I became ill with Deathbell.” I didn’t have to look up to know he was shocked, “I was basically dead when a healer from somewhere in the mountains came into the castle claiming to have the ability to cure me. She healed me, but I have lasting effects, like the white hair and milky eyes but also increased pain receptors and the inability to shift properly.”
His hand traced my jawline, coming to rest on my chin which he tilted up so I was looking him in the eyes. “Elenell thinks you’re weak because you survived the unsurvivable. Fucking moron. We’ll work on your shifting. I mean we have to if you’re going to survive against Seg to get into the kingdom.”
“Please don’t tell anyone I can’t shift properly,” I said, hating how desperate I sounded.
He shook his head. “Everything we’ve discussed here is between you, me, and the bloody Treskim that refuses to leave your side.” I laughed, quickly wiping away the tears that spilled onto my cheeks.
I startled, “When we take over Qealan, you’re not going to insist on killing Elenell are you? If she dies, my dad, who is a great man, will die. They’ve been bonded too long.”
“I have yet to kill a monarch I haven’t had to. Even Maelour will stay alive for as long as he wishes.” I relaxed back into the water, “Brevala won’t give us any problems?”
I shook my head, “He’s never wanted to lead our kingdom. I swear I heard him sigh when they told Elenell she gave birth to a boy.” He chuckled. “What’s your family like? Any brothers or sisters?”
“My parents only had me because they weren’t sure what kind of life we would have.
Author: Kailan Counahan 