Page 111 of Reign of Stars and Fire

“The raven.” Kase pointed at me. “They say she’s Ari’s raven, I want to see it before I believe it.”

Ari frowned. “Our word is not enough, my surly friend? Good to see you, by the way. Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

Kase smirked. “I see that. The reason I had no need to press you on it. Your word is fine, but we’re thieves. We’re naturally prone to mistrust and like to see things before believing them.”

“Saga has nothing to prove to anyone here,” Ari insisted. “She doesn’t—”

“It’s all right, Ari.” I touched his arm. “With what we’ll be facing, we need to trust each other.”

I lifted my eyes to the Nightrender. He hardly seemed threatened and only blackened his eyes with his eerie shadows.

Ari let out a sigh of frustration. “Gorm, may we use your cloak?” He leaned close to me. “The privilege of seeing this exquisite body naked is mine alone.”

“Steady yourself, Ambassador,” I told him. “I’m trying to leave a good impression.”

“You left a beautiful impression last night.”

I turned from him to hide the flush in my cheeks as thoughts of Ari’s taste, his smooth skin, rolling over my tongue, drew a heat between my thighs.

Gorm ordered the watchers and Cuyler to form a circle around me while Ari held up a cloak. Glamour heated my blood. I took in the curious watch of foreign royals. They knew nothing about me. Maybe a bit from whatever Halvar or Niklas might’ve reported, but if they needed to find a thread of confidence in me, this was the moment to prove it.

“No need.” I held up a hand to the guards. Ari frowned until I took his hand. “This place needs more trees anyway.”

A flash of understanding filled his eyes. “This is new to me, sweet menace. You’ll need to lead here. Show me how it is done.”

“You feel it like any magic, but you must also speak to it. Explain what it is you desire, prove there is no harm meant to the land, and it begins to bond with you. The connection becomes almost instant, as though the isles know what you will ask before you do. It merely takes time and practice to get acquainted.”

Ari tightened his hold on my hand. A slow, steady hum rumbled in my chest. I wanted him to grow accustomed to the voice of the isles. All I asked was for the glamour in the soil to heed him. To trust him.

“Look,” Elise whispered.

Cracks split like lightning streaks in the soil. From the narrow fissures sprouted tangles of vines with thick, black leaves the sheen of boiled leather. Ari’s eyes closed. He stepped closer. More foliage reached from the rocky isle, stretching and bending, until a bower shaped like a dome and hanging vines with white blossoms draped in front of a small opening.

I pinched Ari’s side.

He opened his eyes and grinned. “I did that?”

“You did.” I grinned. “It’s rather pretty for such a desolate little isle.”

“Is this an illusion?” Elise asked. “What do you mean, you did this?”

“I speak to these isles,” I explained. “Now, so does Ari. The raven mark you see is what this entire fight is about; it is the power our enemy wants. With it he will take the isles, trap you here, absorb your gifts, and command your realms much the same.”

I dipped into the shelter, stripped from my tunic and pants while murmured questions went on outside.

“She snaps her clothes clean off. That’s why she’s got to cover,” Calista explained to the others, almost bored. “Landed in my hovel naked as a skinned rat.”

“Thank you for giving everyone a visual, Calista,” I muttered.

With a long draw of air through my nose, I embraced the shudder of heat through my veins, like silk brushing over my skin, my body folded into the second form in less than three breaths.

I spread the slight wingspan and flew out of the makeshift barrow.

“Three hells.” Kase leaned forward, taking in the emerging raven.

I took a bit of pride finding a way to stun the Nightrender. I landed on Ari’s shoulder when he faced his king and queen.

“I told you a raven was following me,” he said a little smugly. “It was Saga all along.”