03] ES) Firestorm (17 page)

What had Fiametta meant by that? Worming my way into her good graces, how was I supposed to be doing that?

Peta meowed at me and patted my knee with one paw. “Pick me up, Dirt Girl.”

I bent and did as she asked and she curled onto my shoulder with a sigh that was one part relief and two parts pain.

My feet stopped in the threshold of my room, shock rolling through me as I sensed the pain deep in Peta’s ribs. “Peta, did she hurt you?”

“It is her way with familiars, to get them to be honest.” Her breathing was ragged and under my hands, several of her ribs felt lumpy, and out of place. The rage that lit along my nerve endings was sudden and sharp. That was the slice of pain I’d felt when Fiametta had picked up Peta. I strode out the door and through the house, fueled by anger.

Fiametta stood waiting with her arms crossed and I didn’t slow. I all but slammed my face into hers, using my body to push her back. “If you touch my familiar again—ever—I will pull this mountain down on your head. Do you understand?”

Peta let out a whimper and hid her face behind my neck, but I never took my eyes from Fiametta. The two Enders swept in as I spoke, but she lifted a hand, stopping them. Her eyes were carefully neutral.

“She is a creature of the Pit and therefore mine to rule.”

I pushed her back another step with my body, staring down at her. “She is a creation of the mother goddess gifted to me. She is mine, Fiametta. Do not forget that.”

Around us the mountain rumbled and the red lines of power worked up Fiametta’s arms to her shoulders. “You wish to fight me, Terraling? You will lose.”

“Do not be so sure,” I snapped, seeing for the first time the colors racing up my own arms. A deep vibrant green with hints of pink peeking through, boosting the darker color. “You may be queen, but you are blind. You have someone trying to take you down and you are so sure of yourself, you think you can stand against it on your own.”

Her blue eyes widened. “I have killed the traitor.”

I took a step back and shook my head. “You think he worked alone? He said he had a master other than you. And then there are the firewyrms. You would wipe them out as if they were nothing.”

“What do you know of the firewyrms?” She leaned toward me.

“I know they were being manipulated into attacking you. Making you believe they were the true threat.”

Her eyes turned thoughtful. She raised her left hand and beckoned to the Ender on that side. “What say you?”

He bowed his head. “No one here rivals you, my queen. You reign supreme and will for a thousand years.”

A second wave of her hand and both Enders stepped back, far enough that they could no longer overhear us.

The Ender’s words had a feeling of something he’d said before; something he did by rote with no real feeling behind them.

Fiametta snorted. “That,” she pointed at her Ender, “is why I have not killed you, Larkspur. You do not back down from me and while you irritate my skin just looking at you . . .I cannot deny you speak your mind and with it a truth I have not heard in a long time. It is an interesting theory you have regarding the firewyrms. Interesting indeed.”

She lifted a hand toward Peta and I shifted my weight so the shoulder my cat sat on was away from Fiametta. The queen dropped her hand. “Come, see your friend. We will speak after of things that should not be heard by mere Enders.”

Spinning on her booted heel, she walked away. Her long red hair swayed against the black leathers she wore as she walked . . . but the boots caught my attention.

Following slowly, I reached up and ran my hands carefully over Peta’s back. “Why is the queen wearing boots? Why would she be afraid of her feet touching the ground or the heat? Shouldn’t that be part of her connection to her element?”

I could understand why the Enders wore boots, they were useful when kicking the crap out of someone, but not the queen.

Peta gave a low shudder and she struggled to breathe around her words. “That is a good question.”

I stopped and stared at her. “How badly are you hurt?”

“I will heal.” Her eyes were at half-mast and her third eyelid dropped across her green irises. She struggled for breath as her tiny pink tongue hung out, and she wobbled on my shoulder.

“Fiametta, we must stop at the healer’s first.”

The queen never slowed for a beat. “I will not. You have a few moments before everyone in my kingdom will waken. This is your last chance to see your friend.”

Peta panted in my ear. “She will not give you another opportunity.”

Growling to myself, I stalked after Fiametta, wishing I could break a few of her ribs and see how she liked it.

Peta laid her head on my shoulder and a pitiful purr rolled out of her, a raspy wet rumble that did not sound right. Jaw tight, I did my best not to jar or jostle her. Because maybe she wasn’t all that enamored with being my familiar, but she was mine to protect and care for as much as I was hers.

he dungeons were not deep in the mountain as I expected, but to the side of the main throne room on the upper levels. The entrance was directly behind the gold and jewel encrusted throne.

Before I could ask, Fiametta pointed at the plain doors. “It is best to keep your enemies close, Terraling. If you ever find yourself protecting a royal in the Rim, that is advice I suggest you heed.”

“Is that why you slept with the traitor?” The words popped out before I could catch them and I swallowed hard. Peta let out a low groan as the queen slowly turned.

Her blue eyes sparkled, and shocked, I realized she tried not to laugh. Her lips twitched and her shoulders tightened as she fought not to shake. Flicking her fingers at the two Enders, she turned and walked to the flat section of the wall that was the prison entrance. “Larkspur, you are bold like no one I have met in a long time. It is refreshing. I did not know he was a traitor. But if I had, I likely would have still bedded him. He had a very fine body.”

I opened my mouth, but then closed it quickly as I thought better of my words. Fiametta turned and lifted an eyebrow.

“What, now you would censor yourself?” she asked.

“I believe if I cross a line you do not like, and I cannot see, you will use that as a reason to throw me into the dungeon beside Ash.” I folded my arms over my chest while I waited for her to either open the door or step out of my way.

She shrugged. “Possibly, yes.”

“Don’t do it, Dirt Girl,” Peta said at the same time as I spoke.

“And Cassava? Did you know what she was doing or did you realize too late that she was trying to manipulate you?”

Fiametta stared at me, her expression unreadable. “Cassava and I were friends once. Her machinations are what made me break ties with her. Basileus should have banished her when she killed his mistress. That one could have made your family great if she could have ousted Cassava.”

Her words shocked me to the core. Fiametta spoke about my mother, Ulani. But Fiametta didn’t know I was the bastard child of the king and I wanted to keep it that way. Swallowing the words I truly wanted to say, I kept it simple, my tone casual.

“So I hear.” I didn’t move from where I was. Anything I did now could be considered a threat. Fiametta walked toward me, circling me, her boot heels clicking against the smooth floor.

“What else do you hear? Tell me the truth, Larkspur, and perhaps we can discuss your—and your friend’s—usefulness to me.”

She was behind me and I struggled not to turn to her. I did not want the queen at my back and my shoulder blades itched as though she’d pressed a knife there. I chose my words carefully while still speaking the truth.

“Cassava had a way of controlling people—it is why the king banished her.”

Fiametta snorted as she came around my right side. “Your king has been under her spell for years. You think he’s broken free because she is gone?”

Here it was, the stab in the dark. “Her ability to control people is gone.”

Her eyebrows shot up and she stopped in front of me. “Truly?”

I nodded. “At least, her ability outside of her natural charms.”

“Interesting.” She turned and walked toward the dungeon again. “Come, see your friend before I kill him.”

“Wait, you said—”

“You told me nothing I didn’t already know. Cassava came to me first after she was banished. I sent her away with ease which told me she could no longer manipulate me as she once had.”

She flung the doors open and gestured. “You have five minutes. If you are not out in that time frame, I will shut the door and lock you in.”

I strode through, not for a second doubting her words. “Peta, count for me. Give me a ten second warning.”

“Done,” she said softly.

The gloom of the dungeon hung like steam in the air, moist and hot. The poor air quality not only made it hard to breathe, but hard to see.

“Ash?”

“Lark.” His voice came from my left and I followed it unerringly. He was chained to the wall, his hands above his head and his legs spread wide. They’d stripped him down to nothing more than his small clothes. I stopped a couple feet from him.

“Are you hurt?”

“I’ve healed.”

“Who did you fight with?”

He shook his head. “I don’t even know. He was all dressed in black and I couldn’t get a good look at him. I assumed he was another prisoner. He attacked me, and I fought back. I don’t think he was expecting that.”

The cloaked one. “He is no prisoner. He’s fighting everything I’m doing to get you out.”

“You can’t get me out, Lark. They have a steel trap of a case. Brand should have had you out of here by now.”

I leaned in and smacked him in the chest. “I’m not leaving without you. We’re a team, we survived the Deep together, and we will damn well survive this.”

A breath eased out of him. “There is nothing you can do, Lark. They have to blame someone for the deaths.”

“Except that the Enders didn’t die because of the wounds inflicted. They died afterward, something, or someone else killed them, Ash. I had paperwork that proved it—”

“Let me guess, the paperwork is missing?”

My whole body seemed to freeze despite the heat and humidity. “Yes, but how could you know that?”

“That is the way cases like this go. The minute you have hope it is snatched away and dashed. Let it go, Lark. I am here, willingly. The more you try to get me out, the more trouble you will find. We both know that.”

He shook his head and I noticed his hair was dull with grime already, dimming the bright blond strands. He dropped his eyes and I felt his words like grease along my soul.

“No, that isn’t going to fly, Ash. Stop lying to me. You don’t really believe that.”

His head snapped up and his mouth dropped which only confirmed the feeling. “How can you even know that?”

“Because she carries Spirit, you dumb dirt boy,” Peta snapped and she carefully adjusted herself on my shoulders. “She’s as loyal as they come and I would think you should be grateful someone is trying to free you.”

His lips tightened and he shook his head. “Lark, this is goodbye. You can’t save me and I . . . I want you to stop trying. This is my penance for losing your mother and Bram. They died on my watch.”