Rion (34 page)

But he didn’t stop pumping and thrusting. And she just kept right on coming. She might have screamed, but Rion kissed her
again. Her hands clawed his shoulders, and, frantic, she rode him fast and hard, her body almost mindless. Hot fluid spilled.
Hers. His. She was out of control, blazing hot, consumed.

The message spread across the world.

When she glanced at him again, his eyes had lost the golden hue. The scales were gone. Rion was back to human.

And just when she thought she couldn’t possibly take more, she exploded one last time.

Marisa must have blacked out for a few seconds, because when she came to, she was fully dressed and in Rion’s arms. He was
leaning over her, his eyes dark with concern. “Welcome back. Are you okay?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“It worked, right?”

He grinned. “Yes. Once you dulled the pain, dragonshapers from every corner of the land responded. The revolution has begun
all over the world.”

“Then I’m okay.” She closed her eyes.

Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

—S
AMUEL
J
OHNSON

A
t a knock on the door, Rion turned to face the entrance and stepped in front of Marisa. Although the Unari wouldn’t knock,
he couldn’t afford any surprises. “Enter.”

Lex strode inside, a blaster tucked into his belt. “You wanted a progress report?”

“Yes.” Rion gestured for Lex to shut the door behind him.

“The dragonshapers in the octagon killed the Unari. Our men have cut the last chains from the dragons’ necks. Our physicians
are tending the dragons.”

“My father?” Rion asked.

“We found him.” Lex hesitated, then raised his eyes to Rion’s and warned, “He’s very weak.”

Had he been too late? Rion clenched his fists, wished he could kill those torturers all over again. “Where is he? I must go
to him.”

Marisa placed a hand on his shoulder, slid it down his arm. Just her presence gave him a measure of comfort.

“Doctors have the king in surgery,” Lex said.

“What’s his exact prognosis?” Rion demanded.

“Not good. I’m sorry. I’ll let you know the moment I have any news.”

“Thank you.” Rion recalled better days. During a visit, his father throwing him into the air and catching him. His father
laughing as he’d taught him how to fly a skimmer. His father twirling his mother around the room in an impromptu dance and
drawing Rion into their arms.

Rion clasped Marisa against his side. She was always there for him, supporting him, helping him. He wished he had time to
sort out their relationship properly, but he had to push aside his personal concerns. His people needed him to stay on top
of the rebellion in this critical time. They needed to make certain they took back all of Honor from the Unari—totally obliterated
the Tribes, so they wouldn’t have even one tiny foothold to use to regroup.

“The rebellion?” Rion asked. “What’s going on?”

Lex spoke quietly. “Our people are in full revolt. The Unari are dead or retreating.”

Erik knocked on the door and entered. “Rion, we tried to destroy the Tyrannizer, but your owl started attacking us.”

“You didn’t hurt Merlin, did you?” Marisa charged past Erik and into the octagon chamber.

“We backed off,” Erik told Rion.

Lex, Rion, and Erik followed Marisa. Rion caught up to her just as she skidded to a stop.

The Tyrannizer dominated the octagonal space with its rippling golden glow.

“Sir,” one of the rebels said, “that bird is defending the machine as if it’s his mate. We can’t pick up a tool without the
owl pecking at our hands.”

Marisa stepped close to the bird. “Merlin, what’s wrong?”

The owl hooted. She looked at Rion for help. “I don’t understand him.”

Rion dismissed his men. “Please, leave us.”

Everyone filed out until only Marisa, Rion, and Merlin remained. Rion turned around and spoke slowly. “If you can understand
me, fly over there.” He pointed to the window.

Merlin flew to the window.

“Blink once for yes.”

Merlin blinked once.

“Blink twice for no.”

Merlin blinked twice.

Rion walked around the Tyrannizer. “Is this machine important?”

Merlin blinked once.

Marisa sighed. “I wish he could tell us why.”

“Is the Tyrannizer important to you?” Rion guessed.

Merlin blinked once and hooted once. He flew down, picked up a screwdriver, and dropped it at Rion’s feet.

Rion stooped and picked it up. “You want part of the machine? Fine. Tell me which part you want.” Rion began tapping the pieces.
Every time he did so, Merlin answered no. After several minutes of tapping parts, Rion wiped the sweat off his brow. He still
hadn’t found the piece Merlin wanted. “Don’t worry, little guy, I’m not giving up.”

Merlin kept hopping back to the machine. He pecked at a part.

“You want that one?” Rion asked.

Merlin didn’t blink.

Marisa frowned. “Maybe he wants you to remove that piece to get the one he wants.”

Merlin hooted.

Rion smiled. “Okay, okay.” He removed three pieces of the machine, and Merlin kept flapping and hooting, directing him. When
Rion touched a long rod engraved with runes, Merlin hooted approval.

Marisa’s eyebrows went up. “It looks like… but it can’t be.”

“Can’t be what?”

“On Earth, according to Arthurian legend, Merlin had an ancient rune staff that he used to protect King Arthur. I’ve seen
pictures of it.”

Rion ran his hand down the staff still embedded in the Tyrannizer. “I’ve seen this staff in one of my flashes. The Tribes
conspired to steal it.”

When Rion disengaged the staff from the machine, the machine stopped glowing, the air stopped rippling.

“That staff was the power source,” Marisa said.

Rion placed the staff on the floor and stepped back. Merlin carried a bit of crystal, the key he’d found on Tor, in his mouth
and swooped with it toward the staff. The moment the owl touched the staff, the bird morphed into a man.

Marisa gasped.

“Merlin?” Rion asked.

“I have gone by that name. I prefer Jordan.” The man spoke in a deep voice, full of gravel. Tall, thin, with fierce blue eyes,
he stood tall, ignoring his nudity. He picked up the key and pressed it into an indentation in the staff.

“Jordan, I owe you a debt of gratitude. Without you, without the key you found, we wouldn’t have even made it back here. My
world would not be free.” Rion stepped forward. “I’ve lost count of the times you’ve saved my life. Is there anything we can
do for you?”

Jordan slid his hand down the staff to three additional empty indentations. “I need to find the other keys. Have you heard
anything about them?”

“I’m afraid not,” Rion answered.

“They were stolen from me.” Jordan’s eyes burned. He gripped the rune staff so tightly his fingertips turned white. “But you
owe me nothing. I’ve saved your lives. You’ve saved mine.”

Rion nodded.

“You have things under control here,” Jordan said. “Don’t let the Unari ever come back.”

“We won’t.”

Before Rion could say another word, Jordan tapped the staff on the floor. And vanished.

Eyes wide, Marisa circled the room. “Where’d he go?”

“I have no idea, but somehow I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him.”

Erik strode through the door again, his face grim. He swallowed hard. “Your father is out of surgery. King Shepherd’s asking
for you.”

“Thank you.” Certain that conveying the message had been difficult for Erik, Rion placed his hand on his cousin’s shoulder.
After all, Shepherd had raised Erik as his own child. But though uncle and nephew were close, his father had asked for his
biological son.

Rion cleared his throat. “How’s he doing?”

Erik refused to meet Rion’s eyes. “He’s not in good shape. We should prepare ourselves. He may not survive.”

Lex stepped into the room. “Sir, all Honorians have followed your plan. En masse they’ve risen up to kill the Unari in a worldwide
revolt. Our losses are minimal, but we have many weak refugees to feed. Everyone’s hungry.”

Rion straightened. “See what food stores the Unari have left us. Make sure the food is equally shared. Move as many people
into the palace as it can shelter. Start with the old, the children, and the sick.” Rion held out his hand to Marisa but spoke
to Erik. “And search for the Grail. If I read my dates wrong and the Unari have left it behind, we need to secure it.”

“A few Unari fled through the portal,” Erik reported.

“What?” Marisa gasped. “I thought the portal was broken.”

“The Unari closed it down so Honorians wouldn’t escape. But they opened it again to flee.”

“Where did they go?” Rion asked.

Erik scowled and hesitated. Finally he spat out the answer. “Earth. The portal’s last coordinates were set for Earth.”

“No!” Marisa cried, her eyes wide with horror. “I have to leave, too. Warn my people before the Unari have a chance to set
up another Tyrannizer there.”

“After she leaves,” Erik ranted, “I’d like to blow the damn portal up, so offworlders can never return.”

“That portal is necessary to our survival,” Rion countered and squeezed Marisa’s hand. He understood her need to leave, but
he wanted the portal open. Not just so he and Marisa might find a way to be together. Honor needed to rejoin the galactic
community. “We must protect the portal at all costs.”

Erik glared at Marisa, then Rion. “You can’t risk the welfare of everyone on this planet for her. Outsiders have ruined us.
We should be isolating ourselves for our own protection.”

“We need that portal so we can ally ourselves with other worlds. We need it for trade, to receive aid while we rebuild. Please,
just do as I ask,” Rion said, eager to speak with his father. “I must go.”

“Of course,” Erik agreed, but his eyes narrowed. Clearly, he had more to say, but he backed down for the moment. “I will do
as you say.”

“Marisa, come with me.” Rion swept her down the hallway.

Throughout the last exchange she hadn’t said a word, but once they were alone in the hallway, she whispered, “I really can’t
stay here much longer.”

“I know. But you still need proof of the Unari methods of infiltration, and they may have left evidence behind that you can
use to convince Earth of the danger.” He lowered his voice. “And I doubt they will set up another Tyrannizer on Earth, not
without Merlin’s staff to power it.”

She sighed. “I can’t take the chance. They might have other power sources.”

“Agreed.” Cornering off his emotions, Rion spied Mendle and set the man to the task of searching for anything Marisa could
use to prove the Unari were planning to take over Earth. Rion couldn’t think about Marisa leaving—not yet. First, he must
see his father.

They hurried down the hall, past the octagon chamber. Physicians had set up a triage in spare offices and worked on battle-wounded
rebels. In the case of the dragonshapers, the doctors had to clean off filth from years of neglect, before stitching wounds
and setting bones.

Rion hesitated outside the room where his father was resting. Marisa kept her hand in his. “Do you want me to wait out here?”

“I’d like him to meet you.” He drew her into the room with him.

At the sight of his father’s shrunken frame and fierce wounds, Rion had to bite back a gasp. His father had once been as large
as Rion, fit and robust. No more. He didn’t have an ounce of spare flesh, and his skin was dry and mottled. In three years,
he’d aged thirty.

“Father—” Rion’s voice broke with emotion.

The king lifted his hand and gestured Rion to him. “My son, I thought I’d lost you.”

“And I you.” Rion blinked back tears that matched those in his father’s eyes. “Father, this is Marisa Roarke from Earth. Her
abilities—”

“Helped free us all, thank the Goddess.” His father’s strength might be waning, but his sharp gray eyes missed nothing. “I
thank you, my dear.” He coughed and lay back weakly in the bed.

A physician stepped to his side and raised water to his lips. “You must not tax yourself.”

“I’m not a fool. I’m just dying.” His father waved the man away. “I’ll speak one last time with my son. Leave us.”

Rion had never understood how his father never raised his voice yet spoke with such authority. The physician bowed and exited.
Marisa turned to do the same, but Rion didn’t release her hand. “Stay.”

His father smiled. “She’s your woman?”

“I love her.” Rion didn’t mince words.

“Good. Marry her soon.”

Erik stepped into the room. “Sire, Rion must not wed an alien. We just fought a war with outsiders.”

Rion placed his arm around Marisa’s shoulders. “Without Marisa’s help we would have lost that war.”

“Rion himself is only half Honorian,” Erik insisted. “If he marries this woman, their children will only be one quarter Honorian.
It’s unthinkable that such royal blood should be diluted. The people won’t stand for it, sire. And we can’t afford more strife.”