Chosen: Book 1 in the Ancients of Light series (41 page)

The hard meeting of his hand to her butt
hastened her steps. She knew it had been no accident that it had
left a stinging throb in its wake when he replied, “Just as it is
unseemly to disrespect your leader and your mate.” As they
approached, Lorcan waved Broderick away, “You’re done, she
delivered your butt on a platter and you know it.”

Rather than take offense, the five warriors
seemed appreciative of her show tonight and were grinning at her
with brotherly affection. Of course, each could also take some
credit for her performance given their intensive hours spent
training her. That fact also helped soothe any bruised egos.

Lorcan’s face had taken on an eager look of
anticipation when he scooped up the bands and tossed them into the
box. Keeping his eyes trained on her, he spoke to his men, “Only
Broderick and Sayer have seen the power of a Queen. That was barely
a taste of what one can do; Kaitriana did not raise the full power
of her light magic against you. If you ever encounter a Queen, you
will need to be prepared for their strength is unmatched.”

He paused for a second, his gaze sweeping
over his female before returning steady to his group, “As you train
Kat, I am going to allow her to begin training you as well,
allowing her to raise various powers against you. She has powers
from each Caste, some are stronger than others, but her ability
with the Fire and Light is extraordinary. I have not seen the
equivalent since those Queens walked the Realm over a millennium
ago. Her Warrior skill is the same. I will work on focusing her to
draw out the others and you will unfortunately be the ones that
will train with her as I do.”

His eyes touched on each of his Elite, the
seriousness in the exchange underlied his next words, “Although the
Castes have not produced any with the power of a Queen in a very
long time, with the rise of the Chosen it would not surprise me if
the cosmic forces have been awakened in the Witch breed. If true,
we will see more power growing in them and you may encounter a
Queen in league with the Darks. A battle against one will be more
treacherous than any you have faced. You will need be better
prepared because as you are now, I would have to wager on a Queen’s
victory.”

Kaitriana heard Lorcan’s explanation and saw
Broderick nodding in agreement. There was a murmur of conversation
amongst the warriors and the group that had gathered to watch that
night’s activities. The Queens had all been gone long before her
birth; she had no experience with their legendary power either. She
knew that some held the belief that all the Queen power from each
Caste was amassed within her own abilities and that gave
explanation why no new Witch had been born of such supremacy. She
preferred to believe that Queens would rise again, strong in their
magic and leadership, to front their individual Castes and assist
in the renewed campaign against the Dark.

Lorcan’s mother had been Queen of the
Warriors and another had not been born since her slaying. Kaitriana
knew that Brisen’s friend, Alia, had been a Queen but all assumed
her dead as well. Alaric and his men had proclaimed her an
accomplice to Brisen in the treachery against the Vampire and she
had disappeared when Brisen had been killed. The desertion of that
strength of power from her breed caused Kaitriana to worry that the
faction was somehow on the wrong path, their abilities being
diminished as punishment by their Creator.

She was nudged from her reverie, literally,
by Lorcan’s hand pushing to her back. He held out her daggers. When
she accepted them, he cupped her cheek with a tender smile, “Why
the gloomy face, little one? You are supposed to be lauding your
superior prowess over my men.”

Her smile was half-hearted, her concerns
heavy on her now that Lorcan had raised the issue. Her voice was
overflowing with woe when she whispered, “Where are the Queens,
Lorcan?”

He tugged her into the fold of his arms,
tucking her head under his chin, “I do not know lass, but since
your return there has been a palpable shift in the energy within
the Realm. You may not feel it, as you have not been here for so
long, but the Realm is abuzz with it. There is much on the horizon,
Kaitriana. I expect there will be happenings that will continue to
shift the power and reshape the landscape of the Realm. All we can
do now is prepare for anything that may come.”

She pulled back a bit and tilted her head up
to gaze at him, “I am happy that I am here with you…now.”

Lorcan could see that she was still plagued
with worry so he dropped a kiss to the crease in her brow and
whispered, “You will not be happy that I am here with you now…in
about five minutes.” At her puzzled look, he tilted his head to
indicate the field, “Take your place, Witch. No bands. Your next
fight is with me.” Despite the threat, he was charmingly handsome
when he winked at her, “I intend to make you yield and declare my
supremacy in
all
things before I let you
drag yourself back inside.”

Her enthusiasm had excited laughter bubbling
up. Stepping back, she smacked the flat of her palm full against
his chest, “And when I take you down and
you
must declare me Supreme Warrior and Most Exalted
Witch, what boon should I demand of you Vampire?”

Amused over her impudence, he smiled
indulgently, “What boon do you want?” He found her adorable as she
nibbled at her lower lip while she contemplated the matter. Finally
she stepped in closer until her form was tight against his and
whispered, “I want tomorrow.” At his obvious confusion, she
explained, “No training, no Coven matters to be dealt with, no
Realm issues to be managed. Tomorrow night, you spend the entirety
of it with me…alone.”

He quickly concurred. Lorcan knew that with
her training and all other matters requiring his attention the past
week he had not been giving her the time that their new
relationship required. He was unsheathing his sword when she
interrupted, “Will you ask no boon of me, on the off chance that
you manage to best me?”

Her proud statement drew a smile. Lorcan
realized that he must request a reward else she would assume he did
not give credence to her abilities. Stepping closer, he caught her
chin with his fingertips while he considered the options, “I could
ask for your complete obedience for a week but we both know you
could not deliver on that. I could ask for you to behave yourself,
but again…not possible. Perhaps I should require that you wear
shoes for the next month?”

At her peevish scowl he relented, “You shall
use your magic to make all necessary improvements to Breslein and
reinforce our defenses.”

Kaitriana immediately countered, “What you
ask for will take any number of days while I ask only for one
night.”

He shrugged, “I suppose you should have been
more thoughtful in determining your prize, Witch. Since you are so
confident in your abilities, why do you bicker with me over my
terms?”

She noted that his Elite had moved away to
mingle with the increasing crowd around the practice area. Waving
him off, her tone was haughty, “I do not dispute your terms,
Lorcan. I merely wanted to point out what a greedy Vampire you are.
That
is most certainly a flaw.”

Lorcan rolled his eyes and pointed her
towards the middle of the field. Kaitriana stuck her tongue out
before she pivoted and headed that direction, pulling her own
weapon on the way. Unfortunately she had not taken the time to
fully consider his abilities and analyze them for weakness as she
had his men’s. Her victory would not come as easily as it had
against the others.

With her back to him still, sudden
inspiration struck and her eyes sparkled with pure mischief when
she unhooked the top two closures of her corset. When Lorcan called
to her to ask if she were ready to begin he was but a few feet
away. Knowing she risked his ire with the stunt, she schooled her
features to hide all emotion and acknowledged his query by turning
face him.

Lorcan’s eyes immediately narrowed on the
display of flesh, the tight leather pushed her curves high against
the area she had laid open. Stalking forward, his face mirrored his
chagrin while he hissed out, “Kaitriana, fix your top!”

She laughed at the same time that she raised
her sword and brought it down in a sweeping arc towards his
shoulder. Lorcan dove to the side, barely avoiding the blade. At
his loud curse, Kaitriana regretted that she had not put the full
force of her strength behind the swing. She doubted he would allow
her to surprise him like that again but in fairness she could not
give him a full attack when he was obviously off kilter due to her
trick. Kaitriana assumed that he had now had plenty of time to
recover and was aware of her game, so she pursued his rolling form
relentlessly. Intending to deliver a decisive blow before he could
gain his feet, her sword was glowing with blue light when she
brought it down.

She had misjudged, not considering he would
shadow in the midst of a roll. Her strike impacted only on hardened
earth and the force with which she had swung caused her to stumble
forward. Kaitriana was aided in her journey to the ground with a
forceful kick to her butt. The impact of that combined with the
hard fall had the air forcefully expelling from her lungs. Rather
than pause to ascertain his whereabouts and intention, she borrowed
a play from her mate and shadowed to the far end of the field.

When she reappeared and regained her feet, he
was only a yard to her left. His blade was already coming down fast
and she had barely a second to raise her own in defense. She could
hear the rumbling approval through the crowd at their sparring and
as their weapons locked she raised a hand. Fire engulfed her
fingertips and she wrapped them around his hand on the hilt of his
weapon.

Lorcan merely grunted in response to the
searing pain and used her own hold to yank her towards him.
Kaitriana released too late and the momentum from his pull had her
careening towards his chest. Her focus on regaining her balance,
she did not see the blow from his elbow aimed at her temple until
too late.

She shadowed immediately after impact, the
moan of pain was still on her lips when she reappeared. This time
she had moved only a few feet from her prior location. The move had
not been expected and Lorcan had shadowed to the center of the
ring. His back was to her watching the other side of the area,
anticipating her reappearance.

Kaitriana sent a fiery bolt into his back.
The strength was not enough to burn him seriously but the force of
impact drove him to his knees. Knowing the magical blow would
disorient him briefly, she appeared instantly next to him to
deliver a hard kick to his jaw. She stood gloating over her success
a second longer than she should have and Lorcan’s hand snaked out
to lock around her ankle.

His jaw was throbbing from the force of her
kick and the skin between his shoulder blades felt scorched from
her magical assault but Lorcan was grinning nonetheless. His little
witch was becoming creative in her attacks and he appreciated her
ingenuity. He jerked on her ankle to cause her to lose her footing
and she tumbled down atop him. In the next instant, he flipped and
had her beneath him. His tight grip was now on her upper arms to
keep her from shadowing.

Kaitriana looked at him wide-eyed. His speed
was so amazingly quick; she now realized that any lapse in her
attention would allow him to best her. She was certain that many
enemies had lost their heads due to the same miscalculation.
Offering him a flirtatious smile, she released the hold on her
weapon. Her hands began filling with orbs of blue light, “Want to
show me your sword, Vamp?” She puckered her lips and raised her
brow at him with the suggestion.

Her innuendo was not lost on him and he
allowed her to witness a grin but was unerring in his purpose. As
he used the weight of his body to keep hers from moving, Lorcan
slid his hands down to her wrists. Her eyes narrowed apprehensively
on him when she felt a pull against her magic; the intense blue in
her palms flickered. His easy grin remained as the light faded
entirely. Lorcan whispered, “Do you yield, Witch?”

Kaitriana knew full well that he was using
his own magic to diminish hers. It was no small feat given the
magnitude of her power. The pull felt like a physical sensation,
draining her energy. Given that their audience was Vampire and not
Witch, she doubted any but the two of them were aware of what was
going on. To the observers it would appear that her magic was
faltering under the strain of the combat. She hissed at him, “You
are cheating.”

Lorcan nodded, his grin widening. His voice
dropped to a level only audible to her, “Aye, I am Witch. Do you
yield?”

Her eyes studied his a moment longer before
she gave her answer in an equally quiet tone, “Since you use magic
against me, I should still get my night.” Lorcan agreed with the
slightest inclination of his head. His eyes were dancing with
wicked amusement as raised his voice, more forceful in his demand,
“Do you yield, Witch?”

Kaitriana understood his game and she ceased
fighting his hold on her arms, giving him his due, “Aye, Warrior of
Light, I yield.”

No sooner were the words out than he released
his hold on a wrist to push her head to the side, exposing her
neck. Even as he eased the weight of his body on hers, he took her
throat in a forceful bite. It was an Ancient tradition, his right
as victor in a Vampire conflict. The bite given to the vanquished
after a battle was supposed to inflict punishment, symbolizing
submission and defeat.

Lorcan had not given her that painful tearing
bite at her throat. Rather, he purposefully made it a sensual
assault. Kaitriana had to pull her lower lip in between her teeth
to keep from moaning in pleasure before their audience. Lorcan
appreciated the shiver that ran through her and when he raised his
mouth the eyes that found hers were dark and filled with arrogant
satisfaction.