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Drac was an Archduke? She filed the information away.
The healers were beautiful. Their skins so pale it appeared translucent, their hair dark and straight. They observed at her with bald curiosity. It was hard to reconcile that these women had beasts within and could kill in her seconds.
“I am Lea, Princess El Shyokara, and this is my daughter Tien.” After a slight hesitation Lea continued, “Tien and I returned with more of our herbal water to bathe your wounds, but you appear healed.”
Saieke smiled, hoping to dispel their evident anxiety. What did they have to be anxious about? She was the one alone with two Darkans. “I thank you both for your care. I had my kingdom’s healing water within a vial. With a sip, I was able be restored to my full vitality.”
Saieke brimmed with curiosity to ask about Drac. She shouldn’t be so enthralled with him, but she selfishly admitted he aroused her completely. If she took him as a lover, she would be unchained from marriage to the King Ajali. Fear tightened her throat, and Lea paused, hunger flashing across her face. Saieke grimaced, hating that her unguarded emotions provided food.
“Would you do us the privilege of sharing information of your healing elixir?” Tien asked with a tentative smile.
Saieke nodded. “I would be honored to.”
Their pleased expressions relaxed her. It felt good to see that not all Darkans reeked of brutality. After quickly dressing, she sat in the high winged back chair by the fire, and the healers questioned her extensively of the elixir’s many uses. She answered with patience, enjoying their conversation and the sense of normalcy after her attack.
“Oh my,” Lea said, a sheepish expression settling on her lovely features. “King Gidon had ordered a report on your wellbeing after we tended you. We need to inform him right away that you are healed.” She turned to her daughter. “Tien, please advise the king of what has transpired.”
Dark swirls of chakra formed a path to the door, then out of the room, allowing her to track Tien’s movements. “The way your people move is intriguing,” Saieke ventured. “Earlier the Archduke vanished.”
“The more powerful Darkans leave fewer traces,” the healer offered with a smile.
Saieke frowned. “The Archduke exited the chamber without opening the door.”
There was a slight hesitation before Lea answered, “To shiktred is to control the shadows and darkness, a power that is inherent to all Darkans, but is only mastered by those who train relentlessly. As for doors, the shadows bend around them, so some Darkans do not need to open or close them.”
Saieke understood. Only those who honed their chakra and trained themselves can master the elements of the seven kingdoms. She had been training for years and had only a few months past, wielded water with the grace and strength of how she controlled her wind. “Please tell me more,” Saieke implored.
“We are faster than all Amagarians, except for a Darkan using the powers of his beast. If we are in other kingdoms, we use the shadows cast from the fire-places, the great torches, the moon, and the sun.”
Saieke stiffened. “I thought Darkans only existed in the dark?” The very idea of that rumor being false filled her with terror.
Lea did not reply as the door opened and her daughter came in with the ladies in waiting.
“Princess Saieke, the king has requested your presence in his chambers in the next hour. I have brought your ladies in waiting, and there are several trusted guards waiting outside to escort you,” Tien said.
Lea promptly rose. “We thank you for your patience with our incessant questions, Princess. Please have a relaxing time here at the Darkage until you return to Boreas.”
With graceful curtsies, they shiktred from the chamber, leaving Saieke alone with her very muddled thoughts.
***
“What the fuck happened?” Gidon demanded the second Drac appeared in the council room.
His cadre waited for his answer. He had none to give. Drac stalked to the table that held decanters of their wine, poured a chalice full, and drank deeply.
“Drac, what happened?” Gidon’s tone was dangerously soft.
“Not sure,” Drac rasped.
“You broke the law when you killed the princess’s attacker. You ripped him apart with you bare hands,” Gidon said.
Drac inhaled deeply to subdue the flare of darkness that rose in him. He knew he had broken the law. Disputes were not settled with brutality any more. Laws were implemented with sheriffs and systems had been put in place to ensure they were upheld, to ensure the Darkage was civilized, and he threatened everything they had been working for with his loss of control…and he risked being the ravaging demon his brother had become. He’d always sworn never to claim a woman if she had the ability to inspire him to such madness. It was damn frustrating to know she’d not even tried, and he killed one of his people with little effort. Imagining the thousands he could kill if she was his mate and she was harmed was unbearable.
Maybe he was getting ahead of himself. Maybe…just maybe…what he felt was a simple reaction to one of the most stunning women he’d ever laid eyes on. His beast twisted in his mind, and amused laughter echoed.
Amusement? Fuck…he was losing his mind.
“They attacked a royal in our nation with the intention to cause serious harm. Their action is punishable by death, Gidon,” Talon said into the silence that seethed with danger.
