Page 51 of A Kiss of Hammer and Flame (Fated for Hael #1)

Cahra stood in the wake of her decision, bracing for the inevitable backlash.

Sure enough, Thelaema’s composure shattered on impact. ‘That is, with certainty, the most ridiculous sentence that anyone has ever uttered. You cannot be serious!’

‘Can’t I?’ Cahra challenged her, looking around Luminaux’s den of war.

Wyldaern met her with empathy. ‘I grasp your motivations, truly I do.’

The numbness that had been Cahra’s saviour all these years, that had kept her standing at the thought of Thierre being tortured, finally threatened to buckle beneath her emotions. Cahra gritted her teeth at the pain that needled her body.

‘Yet it is precisely as you said,’ Wyldaern went on. ‘An Empress trumps a King and a Prince. Your safety must come before Thierre’s.’ Her friend’s tone was pleading.

‘Why?’ Cahra fired the question at the Seers.

‘Because you say so? Because it’s my “destiny”?

Because I have no choice? Let me tell you about choice,’ Cahra argued fiercely.

‘I have never had a choice in my life. And now you’re telling me I’m finally in a position to make a choice that really counts – except I can’t?

What good is this stupid birthright then?

’ She spun to Sylvie. ‘What would Thierre do if our roles were reversed?’

Luminaux’s General stood, the waves of her black hair stark against her blue finery. Sylvie’s eyes – Thierre’s eyes – cut to her father’s.

‘He would volunteer himself. And if you said no, he’d simply break free of the palace.’

Despite everything, Raiden chuckled sadly.

Cahra faced him, then Sylvie. ‘Exactly.’ She turned to Thelaema, warning her, ‘This is not up for discussion.’

Thelaema’s amethyst eyes hardened into violet chips of ice. ‘ If we were to suffer this idiotic half-notion,’ she snapped, ‘what precisely is your plan? Apart from giving yourself over to the rulers inciting the deaths of your realmsmen at every turn?’

Cahra exhaled. It was a good question.

Commander Tyne spoke. ‘The two rulers have always desired Hael’stromia’s weapon first and foremost,’ he said slowly. ‘It’s the primary reason for the war.’ He looked at Cahra. ‘In the event of an exchange for Thierre, I find it hard to believe they’d kill you.’

Not straight away, she thought. Thelaema didn’t have to say a word into her mind. Cahra could feel the Oracle’s eyes on her, and the ferocious glare said everything.

Tyne continued on. ‘They’ll need you to get inside the capital, to access the weapon.’

‘But if they try that with Thierre, he’ll be discovered as a fraud.’ Cahra steeled herself. ‘Which is why I have to go. Even if he plays along, that act can’t last forever.’

She inhaled deeply, trying to get a sense of Hael’s powers. Would what was left be enough for her next move?

‘And then?’ Thelaema demanded. ‘When the Reliquus is freed?’

You mean, when Atriposte and Decimus have no use for me any more? Cahra smiled. With any luck, Hael will escape from his tomb and rip their heads off.

Thelaema’s irate reply was unintelligible as she threw her hands up and stalked out, shaking her head and cursing as she left.

Wyldaern slid Cahra a glance, before going after her. ‘High Oracle!’

With the Seers, her main dissenters, out of the room, Cahra sunk into a leather chair. The same one she’d perched on her first time in this room, she realised.

‘You would really do this for us? For him?’ Queen Avenais sat, legs drawn to her, the skirts of her brocade gown enveloping the woman like a fine blanket as she hugged her knees. She looked less like a Queen and more like a forlorn little girl. ‘Why?’

Sylvie and Raiden were both watching Cahra.

‘It’s as your General said, Highness. The Prince would do the same.’ She’d been so angry with Thierre, but it was the man he was. Thierre’s talent was people, and bravery. Cahra’s talent had been shirking both.

If it came down to who should survive out of the two of them, Thierre had done far more for the realm than she had. Even if he’d had a lifetime to do so.

A lifetime he’ll continue to have , she swore. King Royce was surveying her, and the determination in her bearing. Finally, he nodded.

Tears filled Queen Avenais’ eyes. ‘Luminaux will be ever in your debt.’

Cahra nodded blankly in return, no words left. Thierre had got her out of Kolyath. Now it was her turn to free him from it. Even if it sent her back into its clutches.

And the Steward’s.

Gemstones. Her fingers tightened on the arms of her chair. Hematite, tourmaline, jet. Hardest, blackest jet… Her breaths quickened, each one feeling harder, faster than the last.

The door to the room creaked open then, as Wyldaern returned, Thelaema in tow. Cahra’s eyes were closed as she thought to the Oracle, I refuse to argue with you any more. I’ve made my decision and I intend to act upon it.

Soon . No matter how much it terrified her.

‘And how will you get word to Kolyath and Ozumbre of your proposal with the haste we need?’ Thelaema asked the question aloud so Luminaux’s royals could hear.

To Cahra’s surprise, Wyldaern was the one who answered. ‘You could, with a vision?’ The Seer turned to face Thelaema. ‘A message to Steward Atriposte and King Decimus.’

King Royce’s haggard face brightened. ‘Is such a thing possible?’ Maybe he’d been doing the same as Cahra and no doubt Raiden, weighing how long Thierre had been gone with how long the Prince might have left.

Whatever the people in this room were going to do, they’d better hurry.

Thelaema looked as if she might renounce her apprentice, her gaze an amethyst abyss. But she grated out, ‘It is. And the terms?’

‘Thierre, for myself and the Key.’ Unhurt, Cahra thought at the Oracle. She prayed it wasn’t too late to demand such a thing.

It is. Thelaema’s words clanged through her, slamming into Cahra with full force. She felt the air go out of her. I shall amend to ‘unmaimed’ .

They’d hurt him. Hael’s powers trembled at Cahra’s fingertips, wrath within her reach.

‘And an armistice for the exchange,’ Sylvie instructed.

‘Perhaps we should take a walk?’ Wyldaern whispered to Cahra.

‘ Please do,’ Thelaema muttered darkly, turning away to face the royals.

Cahra glared at Thelaema, Hael’s fire rising to writhe inside her. They hurt Thierre. She knew it was unfair, but she was angry: at the Oracle and the woman’s fickle visions, the Nether-magicks that powered the Seers.

Yes, Thelaema had been right: Raiden was in the caves and Thierre was kidnapped.

But how did the Oracle know for certain that Cahra going to Hael’stromia was folly, exactly?

The woman said her visions flickered on and off.

What if Cahra’s plan to free Hael could have saved Thierre from getting hurt?

But to Thelaema, the only thing of consequence was Cahra.

The absurd notion of her life outweighing someone else’s made Cahra feel sick, and the way Thelaema charged so blindly in that direction, as if nothing else mattered…

It wasn’t right. None of this was, she thought with an ugly shudder.

‘Commander, General. Assemble the kingdom’s forces, with troops ready to march on my orders. High Oracle, can you help locate our enemies?’ King Royce’s words faded as Cahra fought to control her spiralling emotions.

Wyldaern touched her shoulder and Cahra nodded, the two leaving Thelaema and the Luminaux royals to orchestrate war.

Outside in the hall, Cahra let her Seer friend lead her along, the hand-crafted columns flanking their path adorned with mountains and ivy beneath the vaulted ceiling. But she couldn’t think of whites and greens.

Not when all she could think of was blue goldstone.

Cahra inhaled. When she loosed the breath from her lips, it was steaming.

She looked at Wyldaern. ‘I need to hit something,’ she said.