Endi fell to the hard-packed dirt with a shriek, clutching at the side of her face. Blood trickled in a steady stream from beneath her hands, smearing over the warm brown of her skin. Breathing deep, Er’it reached inside himself. Shunning the pure blue glory where Aida’s presence shimmered inside his mind, he wrung the vicious red strands of the power Endi’s pain fueled. Pointing splayed hands at the sputtering Beta, he let it loose, watching on as the sizzling bolts wrapped themselves around Endi’s limbs and filled her mouth. Er’it dragged in every wail and cry Endi fought to voice, sucking in her pain and letting it add more kindling to the fire of his rage until the inferno threatened to swallow him whole.
The heat of Tor’en’s magic attempted to touch him. Buffeting his shields with the stolid pressure unique to the earth, he tried to guide Er’it’s power away from where Endi writhed upon the ground and choked upon Er’it’s energy. Tor’en would not breach his shields anytime soon, not while Aida’s power lingered in crystalline perfection within him, and not after she had sapped the rest of them with her outburst.
“You’re hurting her,” Aida cried out, grabbing fistfuls of his clothing to climb up from her defensive huddle. Not rushing away but wrapping her arms tight around him from behind, she clung to Er’it’s back to let her hot tears soak into his shirt. “Please, this is madness. Stop!”
“She defies me and harms what is mine,” Er’it bit out, a savage growl resonating through his chest for good measure as he flung whatever power was his to call at Endi. “Do not question me, Aida!”
“I have done what she says. She is not wrong. Please do not hurt your people because of me.”
The completeness of her guilt searing through his chest forced Er’it to turn. Catching hold of her trembling shoulders, he gave her a hard shake that sent Aida’s head whipping back and forth. Muttering curses in his mother’s tongue, he cupped her jaw to wipe away the bitter tears.
“Please, release her,” Aida said, her lower lip quivering with the force of emotion she fought to contain.
“Why?”
“Because when you are finished with me, you will need these people. They care for you.”
“What did she say to you?” Er’it sidled closer, bringing Aida into his side and tipping her head back to keep the inky blackness of her gaze trained on his. Not allowing her to see the scene behind them, he kept her focus on him and him alone. For some reason, he did what Aida asked, though, only using the rush of blood-stained power gleaned from Endi to keep her silent.
“What does it matter? She—”
“Tell me.”
Aida sniffled, smearing tears over the softness of her cheek with the back of a hand before she set her lips in a taut line. She refused to answer him even as his gaze hardened and became as unforgiving as the amber they resembled. He still stroked her cheeks, leaning down until their foreheads touched. His breathy sigh was a quiet rumble, a sound of agitation that held a note of protection. Er’it despised the way leaden guilt piled in the pit of his stomach, no small measure of it his own.
“What was said?” Er’it demanded, raising his voice loud enough for Endi to hear him, though he didn’t turn to face the others. Keeping Aida locked in his embrace, he refused to let her see the gory bands of red convulsing over Endi’s flesh.
“You were our vengeance,” Endi choked out. Gagging on the flood of power filling her mouth and forcing truth into her words, she spat out, “Myretribution. For me. You swore it!”
“That has not changed.” Er’it craned his head back, pushing his fingers deep into Aida’s hair to hold her face against his chest.
“Pah! You care only for her now and have forgotten all of your promises to us. Your people, the ones who followed you into the depths of the sands and beyond, who remained by your side no matter what horrors you committed. Now you haveherand so easily cast the rest of us aside.”
“It is you who has forgotten, Endi,” Er’it said through a thundering growl, pushing Aida behind his back as he turned to the woman sprawled in the dirt. “I am king, and you are nothing more than a mage in my army.”
“I have forgotten nothing! I remember well the fires they set, the blood staining the sand, and the screams of my people as they were slaughtered.” Endi’s rich brown eyes glittered, no less hardened for the tears welling over her thick lashes. “You swore you would give me vengeance, and I have stood by your side since. Now you play games and deny her purpose to you, and we all suffer for it.”
“Enough,” Er’it shouted while stretching out his hand toward Endi. Ready to end all of this nonsense and stop the icy tide of fear flowing into him through his bond with Aida, he strained to call forth the sputtering remains of the energy snapping around Endi.
“Please, don’t hurt her,” Aida whispered against his spine, her small hands fisting his tunic to cling to him.
Aghast at the way the power seemed to diminish to nothing with just that diminutive plea, Er’it’s first reaction was to throttle them both, punishing Endi for her transgression and Aida for her ability to sap his power when he needed it most. Yet his hand dropped to his side, empty palm slapping hard against his thigh as the other reached back to keep Aida close. Her racing heart was strong and loud against his back, rushing him toward a decision he was sure to regret.
“I-I told her it was not vengeance but revenge.” Aida took a shuddery breath, forcing her voice to reach beyond Er’it. “That revenge leads nowhere, except to more hurt and pain.”
“How would you know, you sniveling bitch?” Endi hissed, surging to her feet in a cloud of dust. No magic encased her shaking fists as they hung by her side, but the promise of it gleamed in her eyes.
“I said enough!” Er’it’s spine stretched, pulling him to his full height so he towered over them all. Amber gaze sweeping over the tight knot of people gathered around them, he found Tor’en’s dark gaze. The bright spark of hope and the darkness of pain twisted through the old mage’s eyes as he gave Er’it a small nod.
Er’it knew what Tor’en wanted, and for once, Er’it agreed with him. Using Endi’s blood and pain had felt foreign, foul, as the taste of his power lingered on the back of his tongue. A flavor he’d long since grown used to now seemed distant and abhorrent. The icy touch of spring and snow haunting his senses alongside his own musk and cedar scent sought to bury the taste of ash and death.
“Ath’asho,” Er’it barked, bringing his general ahead of the crush of people. “You will have three men escort Endi back to Denath. There, she will await my ruling on her insolent acts and whether I deem them to be treason against my crown.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” With a nod to the other soldiers, Ath’asho closed in on Endi to grip her upper arm. Hauling her behind him while the declared three followed close on his heels, Ath’asho’s purposeful strides carried him beyond their sight amid shocked silence from the rest of the camp.
Amber gaze sweeping over the remaining company, Er’it collected Aida to him and stalked toward their tent. Shouldering his way through the torn canvas door, he carried her to the scattered cushions of their bed to arrange her among their softness. Stroking her hair and face, wiping away the tracks of her tears though she continued to cry, Er’it found a purr rumbling through his chest. Calming his little Omega, he settled alongside her to cradle Aida against him.
“You are a foolish, naïve girl,kou’va,” he whispered against her hair before feathering light kisses over her forehead.
