Claiming the Prince: Book One (21 page)

“No,” Damion said again.

“I cannot vie for Radiant without the Enneahedron,” she said, still slumped on the ground in the shadow of Ouda’s dead tree.

“Of course you can,” he said.

“But then I’ll have no choice but to fight Lavana.”

Damion scowled down at her. “And you don’t think you can win?”

That’s exactly what she thought, but she wasn’t about to admit it.

“And what if I do have to fight her?” she asked. “How will that go without the family’s support?”

“Mine will support you,” he said. “So will your side.”

“Are you sure about that?”

He crossed his arms over his chest.

Honey had scooped up Hero and was cooing at him like he was a baby. Apparently, the part of her that thought rats were disgusting had been taken by Ouda.

Kaelan paced the circumference of the hollow, keeping his distance—thankfully.

“If I have the Enneahedron,” she persisted, “there’s less of a chance I’ll have to fight.”

And die.

“And what if she’s already Radiant?” Damion argued. “What if you were right? If the Crown is ill, if she is dying, then Lavana might be able to convince her to close the challenge window early.”

“Which is exactly why I need it. If Lavana manages to convince the Crown to name her Radiant before the year is up, I can still rightfully challenge her, but I have no chance without the Enneahedron. I lost to Alanna and Lavana defeated her. You know how that will look.”

Damion was shaking his head, but finally he threw up his hands. “And how would we reach the King’s islands? It would take us weeks and we could be killed attempting to cross the gulf. I don’t know why you trusted the Enneahedron to that walking little piece of—”

“I can help you,” Honey said.

“No, thank you, Honey. That’s all right,” Magda said wearily.

“If you need to travel quickly, I know a way,” she said.

“Honey . . .” Kaelan approached her with a hand out, the way he might greet a skittish horse. “Why don’t we go back? Leave these two to make their plans.”

“Hold on,” Damion said. “You are coming with us, yes?

Kaelan’s eyes darkened. “No.”

Magda let her head fall back. She should’ve predicted this.

“I’d like to go,” Honey said. “I’d love an adventure.”

“You’re not invited,” Damion said to her. Then he turned back to Kaelan. “And you have to come.”

Kaelan scowled. “No, I don’t.”

Magda pushed up to her feet. “Well, if he’s not coming, then we definitely need the Enneahedron. Otherwise, I have no leverage against Lavana at all.”

Damion held up his hands between her and Kaelan. “Have we all gone mad?” He faced her fully. “Sailing to the Elf King’s Realms is certain death.” He spun and pointed at Honey. “You are a nymph and no use to anyone.” He moved her aside and seized the front of Kaelan’s tunic. “And you are a fool and a coward.”

Kaelan’s face contorted. His fist slammed against Damion’s jaw. Magda was sure it hurt the Prince more than it did the warrior. Damion plowed into Kaelan, knocking him onto his back.

Honey sidestepped away from them, a serene expression on her face as Damion and Kaelan rolled across the hard-packed earth. Magda sighed, dropped down again, and sprawled out on her back, her eyes begging for sleep.

“I can help, you know,” Honey said. “I am friends with a roc.”

Magda sat up. “Say that again?”

“A roc. It’s a very large bird—”

Magda held up her hand, stopping Honey. “I know what it is. I just . . . you’re friends with a roc? Don’t they eat people?”

“Oh, yes,” Honey said with a bright smile. “But I am sure she won’t eat you if I ask her not to.”

Pushing up to her feet, Magda barked, “Damion, enough!”

Damion shoved away from Kaelan, who had been turning blue under the pressure of Damion’s forearm against his throat. Kaelan glowered after Damion, rubbing his neck.

“Kaelan,” Magda said. “What is this about a roc?”

His gaze flicked up to her and then quickly away. It would be very difficult for them to pretend that nothing had happened in Ouda’s tree if he continued to act as though something had happened. Of course, the situation wasn’t helped by the fact that she was still picking up on stray feelings of lust wafting off of him.

But that sort of thing was par for the course between Raes and Princes. Although she had to admit she was receiving his emotions more easily than she had with any other Prince, even Endreas, even Cae, who she’d been close to as a child and had been expected to claim—before his death. But her connection to Kaelan had probably sprung from when he’d healed her and saved her life. That was bound to create a bond between anyone. As for the rest, it had just been an accident. She’d forgotten how hard it was to resist the pull of her instincts, both with Kaelan and Endreas. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

“Honey raised the roc,” Kaelan said, licking a bit of blood off his lip from a small cut there.

“Yes.” Honey clasped her hands at her breasts. “My sweet Anqa. I found her egg about to be eaten by a cockatrice.”

“A cockatrice?” Damion sneered. “You have those bird-beasts in this forest?”

“No longer. The last was slain some years ago by the centaurs,” Kaelan said as he stood. “But you have not heard from her in years,” he said to Honey.

“But she will come if I call,” Honey stated.

Kaelan straightened out his tunic and approached Honey. She gazed at him in the same pleasantly blank way that she looked at Magda and Damion.

“You don’t need to help them,” he said tightly.

Damion crossed his arms over his chest, harrumphing.

“Oh, but I want to,” Honey said. “I want to go with them.”

“Why?” Kaelan asked.

Honey twined her hair around her finger, head cocked, as if listening to a far-off sound.

Magda stepped closer, not failing to notice that Kaelan stepped back.

“Honey,” she said, “where we are going, our journey . . . it’s dangerous. I can’t vouch for your safety.”

“Oh, but you will protect me,” Honey said as if she were an oracle and knew for sure. Except oracles couldn’t see their own futures, and no future was certain anyway. “The trees told me.”

Now it was Magda’s turn to step back. “The trees?”

“Yes. They say you told Ouda you would protect them, all of us. Ouda has chosen you. So I must help you. That is what she would want. If you wish to travel across the gulf, Anqa can fly us. We could reach the northern islands in two days.”

Damion caught Magda’s eye. She could tell just what he was thinking. If she wanted the Enneahedron, then the time they had to retrieve it was short.

“All right,” she said with a heavy sigh. “Call the roc.”

T
HE COCOON BED
had been lowered from the tree so it hung only a few inches above the mossy earth. She lay with the hatch open and one leg draped over the side, sneaker skimming the ground. Soon, thanks to the gentle swaying, she was asleep.

She woke when the rocking stopped. Jolting upright, she groaned when she saw Kaelan frowning down at her.

“What?” she asked, falling back again.

“We have to talk,” he said.

She stared up at the woven branches of the cocoon, sleep still thick on her skin and heavy in her eyes. She’d been dreaming about Endreas again—hearing his voice, trying to find him, failing.

“Or you could just go on pretending that I don’t exist,” she said.

“You can’t allow Honey to go with you,” he said.

She propped up on her elbows. “It’s not my decision. She has free will. She can do as she likes.”

Kaelan ducked into the cocoon with her, pushing her legs aside, as only a Prince could do. And even then she wasn’t sure why she allowed it. She sat up, scooting deep into the cocoon, leaning against the bumpy interior.

“She is not herself. You know that,” he said.

“I know that she has less of her soul than she used to, but what remains is still her.”

“You said it yourself, this journey is dangerous. She’s just a nymph.”

Magda crossed her legs and leaned forward. “This isn’t about her. It’s about you. You’re afraid.”

He opened his mouth as if about to protest, but she cut him off.

“If Honey goes with us, then you’ll feel as though you must join us as well. And you don’t want to do that. And I understand. But I promised I wouldn’t try to claim you, didn’t I? And what happened before . . . It was just an accident. We can control our instincts. We just have to be conscious of them.”

He looked away, his hands knotting together.

“I have every intention of keeping my promise,” she said. “But we are what we are. It’s not just me, Kaelan. Any Rae you meet, you’ll find yourself desiring her. That’s just the way it is.”

“I didn’t desire Lavana.”

“It’s difficult to desire someone when they’re not with you all of the time.”

He looked up at her. “And that is why I can’t go with you.”

“If that’s your decision, I can’t force you. And I won’t try. But don’t think it’s going to end with me. There are plenty of Raes in this world. Another will find you.”

“This is not the way it is with the small folk,” he grumbled, shoulders slumping. “They are allowed to choose their mates.” The heavy swath of his hair fell over his brow. “I had no idea how difficult it would be to resist.”

She smirked. “Well, if it makes you feel better, it’s hard for me too. But it’s not impossible, Kaelan. And to be honest . . . I need you. If I have any real hope of challenging Lavana, if I have to meet her in battle . . . without a Prince to heal me . . . she will win.”

“What about the Prince she stole from you? Has he no loyalty?”

“No, he doesn’t. We were drawn to each other, because that’s the way of it. But Lavana will claim him as soon as she’s able, and I’m sure he’ll be glad to accept her. Partly because he doesn’t understand what it means. And partly because . . . I think he’ll be happier with her. She’ll give him everything he wants. She has the family behind her, the power, the wealth. She’ll spoil him. He likes to be spoiled. His parents sheltered him too much. He’s like a child. Give him sweets and he’ll follow you.”

“And you’re just going to let him?”

“I’m not sure why you think I have any power to stop him. Or Honey. Or any power at all. Did you get this notion before or after I was tortured and thrown into an iron cell? Or was it when I almost died on a warrior’s blade and you had to save me, again?”

“You survived the torture and escaped that cell, and you are still alive.”

“Thanks to you.”

His gaze fell away from her. “I’m afraid if I go with you . . .”

“I know what you’re afraid of,” she said. “And you’re right to be. But I can’t claim you without your consent, Kaelan. No one can.”

“And what about when you Shine?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I’ll tie you up with gorgon rope and hang you from a tree.”

He smiled, a little. But it vanished quickly. “What will happen?”

“When I Shine?”

He nodded.

She let out a heavy breath. “You’ll forget you want to resist our attraction. You’ll forget you don’t wish to be claimed. But I promise I’ll do whatever I can to avoid that situation with you. You have my word.”

His gaze flicked up to her and then away again, which seemed the only way he was willing to look at her since that charged moment between them at the bottom of Ouda’s tree.

“Honey is determined to help you. To join you.”

“I don’t know when I’ll Shine next,” she said. “It hasn’t happened regularly since I left this world . . .”

“Do you miss it?” he asked.

“The Shine?”

“No. The human world. Sometimes . . . you seem very sad.”

“You mean that you feel my sadness,” she said.

He glanced at her again, quickly.

“It’s all right to admit it, Kaelan. It might actually make this all much easier. Just accept that you can feel what I feel and that you desire me, because you’re a Prince. You don’t have to be angry about it. It’s not the end of your life. We can help each other. You love Honey, I understand that. And I—”

Her words caught in her throat. Had she been about to say that she loved Endreas? No, but maybe she had been about to say that she had Endreas. That some part of her already belonged to him. Either way . . .

“If you help me become Radiant, I’ll be able to claim another Prince. There are always a few . . . protected by their families, hidden, as you were, until their families find the best match. As Radiant, I’ll be the most coveted Rae in the Lands. I’ll help you hide yourself, with Honey, if that’s what you want. But I need you to help me first.”

“You’ve certainly changed your mind. I didn’t think you wanted to be Radiant.”

“I don’t,” she said, “and yet, I do. You were right. I miss the human world, full of poison as it was. I was truly free there. I made my own destiny. I was poor and weak and exiled, but I answered to no one. And no one looked to me for answers. I just ate pizza and sat on the beach. I woke up and did what I wanted. No fighting, no blood, no constant fear that I would . . .”

He looked at her fully, finally. “Die?”

“Fail.”

A distant bird shriek spiraled down from the sky, sharp and piercing.