Page 65 of Scorched Earth (Dark Shores #4)

KILLIAN

The rest of what Ceenah had to teach Lydia came to her easily. While Killian sparred with Xadrian, they sat on the sand to rest, one growing older only to grow young again. It never seemed less miraculous than the first time Killian had witnessed it.

Except each time Lydia walked away from the lesson with a smile on her face, Killian saw something that she did not. An uneasiness in Ceenah’s eyes that made him nervous despite it seeming as though he’d been given that which his heart most desired.

Every night since Lydia had won her inner battle and healed him, she’d slept in his arms. Her hands were free of the gloves she’d worn for so long, the feel of her fingers on his skin driving him to a different form of madness, for there was no gods-damned privacy to be found on the endless dunes.

So it was no small amount of relief when he finally scented the sea on the air, his eyes searching the horizon until he finally caught sight of the small port town that sat on the coastline of a white-capped ocean.

Killian had heard that the desert ran straight down to the sea along the western edge of Anukastre, yet the lack of plant life still felt strange to him, having grown up on the verdant southern tip of Mudamora.

Baird muttered various explanations that attributed this to the weather, but Killian couldn’t help but wonder if there was some truth to what Ceenah claimed: that the blight had wreaked such havoc on these lands that life had never been able to carve its way back.

A thought that vanished from his head the moment Killian saw the blue sails on the ship docked at the town. “The Maarin are here.”

“We trade with them a great deal,” Ceenah replied. “They respect our laws and keep our secrets, especially given that it gives them a near monopoly on our business.”

“I recognize that ship,” Lydia said, shading her eyes. “It’s the Kairense . They rescued Dareena and me from Mudaire and took us south.”

“A good omen given this is where we part.” Ceenah lowered her hand, which she’d been using to shade her eyes. “May the Six be with you in your travels and in the war to come.”

They all said their good-byes, Agrippa, Malahi, and Baird moving ahead toward the port town. “Go with them,” Killian said to Lydia. “I’ll be right behind you.”

She hesitated, then followed their friends.

Killian waited until she was out of earshot, then rounded on Ceenah.

“She did something when she healed me. Something unexpected, and you’re withholding that information.

She’s overcome enough obstacles, and if there is another forthcoming, I’d prefer to be prepared for it. ”

The Queen of Anukastre eyed him for a long moment, then lowered her scarf so her face was revealed.

“You know how a lodestone can draw nearby pieces of iron to it?” When he nodded, she said, “Hegeria’s marked are like lodestones for the essence of life, drawing that which is nearby into them whenever they have a need for it.

When Lydia healed you, she didn’t just draw the essence that you’d lost, she drew it from leagues around.

I could see it racing toward her like clouds on a storm wind, and in all my life, I’ve never seen such a thing done.

Never heard of it. It was as though her need was so great that she called for all life on Reath to aid her. ”

Killian’s skin prickled. “What does that mean?”

Ceenah lifted one shoulder. “Only the Six can say for sure, but…”

“But…?”

“She told me of what occurred when you escaped Rufina. How the Six stepped onto the mortal plain to stymie their brother’s meddling. Hegeria herself laid hands on Lydia, yes?”

Killian nodded, his pulse roaring.

“That makes her twice touched by a god,” Ceenah said. “Who can say what power that would bring, but I think what I saw when she healed you was just a taste.”

“Given what we face, that seems a good thing,” he said. “But that is not the sense you’re giving me, Your Majesty.”

“Because I feel it makes the Corrupter covet her all the more,” Ceenah replied.

“He cannot force her to misuse her mark, but he will sense any moment of weakness and dangle temptation before her. I think it not your blade that you’ll use most to protect her, Lord Calorian. I think it will be your heart.”

Without another word, she wrapped her scarf around her face and retreated back into the desert.

Xadrian swayed on his feet, seeming torn between holding his ground and following his mother, but then he said to his soldiers, “Stay with her. Those in the town may not take favorably to Mudamorian faces, so I will escort them to their ship.” Then he flicked his fingers at Killian. “Come.”

Casting his eyes skyward, Killian fell in next to the boy. “You know, Xadrian,” he said, “we’d get along better if you didn’t insist on treating me like I’m less than you.”

The boy lowered his scarf and frowned. “But you are. I am crown prince of Anukastre, destined to rule as king on the day the Six decide to take my mother’s soul into their embrace.

You are the youngest brother of a High Lord and destined to rule nothing.

I respect you for your martial prowess, like you for your wit, and honor the mark you bear, but that does not make you my equal. ”

Killian sighed. “You’re hopeless. What do you want, Xadrian? Because I don’t for a second believe that you’re worried about me reaching that ship.”

The boy’s jaw worked back and forth. “My mother believes this is not our fight. That the sands and the Six will protect Anukastre, as they always have. But I’ve thought hard on your words, and I think she’s wrong.

The Six do not reward those who stand back in a fight against the Seventh.

I will make her see reason, so that if Mudamora calls for our aid, Anukastre will answer. ”

“Thank you.” Killian rested a hand on the prince’s shoulder. “It would be an honor to fight at your side.”

Xadrian started to smile, caught himself, then shoved Killian’s hand away. “Do not thank me, Calorian. Once the Corrupter is defeated, I fully intend to resume stealing Rowenes gold and I’ll not have you weeping about alliances.”

“I look forward to it.” Killian increased his pace to catch up to his companions. “Take care of yourself, Your Highness. Look for word via the Maarin.”

But Xadrian was already walking away.

Agrippa frowned as Killian reached them. “Everything all right?”

“Anukastre will fight with us in the battle to come.”

“Says who? Xadrian?” Agrippa snorted. “Ceenah seemed set against it, and last I heard, it is she who wears the crown.”

“If Ceenah didn’t want him making promises, she wouldn’t have given him the opportunity to do so,” Killian replied. “Anukastre is with us.”

“What remains to be seen is how many of us are left,” Malahi said, drawing up at the base of the singular dock.

Her unease was shared by all of them, for the Maarin would have the latest word of Mudamora’s fate, and none of them were fool enough to believe what they’d learn was good.

They started up the steps onto the dock, walking down the length to where the ship was moored in the deep water, and Killian cast a sideways glance at Lydia, knowing that she’d be thinking of Teriana. “They might have news of her,” he said, and she gave a tight nod.

“Madoria believed she was where she was supposed to be, and I have to trust in that, if not in those she is with.”

Shouts of recognition echoed off the ship as they were spotted, Lydia’s name, and Killian’s own, repeated, and then a familiar face raced down the gangplank in a limping run.

“Lydia!” Bait exclaimed as he reached them. “Thank the gods, you’re alive!”

Lydia hugged him tightly. “Bait, what are you doing here? How did you know where to find us?”

“We didn’t,” Bait answered. “But Dareena Falorn has asked every Maarin vessel sailing the coast to keep eyes out for you. You too, Killian. And for…” He faltered as his eyes landed on Malahi’s scarred face, though he recovered by bowing low. “For you especially, Your Grace.”

“What news do you have?” Malahi demanded. “Has the blight spread?”

Bait hesitated, eyes skipping between their group. “Nearly half of Mudamora is lost to it, and every day, the blight presses south.”

Killian’s stomach plummeted, everything they feared swiftly becoming reality.

Bait gestured for them to cross the gangplank. “Rufina has traveled back to the eastern side of the Liratoras to take her place at the head of a new army.”

“The Derin blighters?” Agrippa demanded. “She’s moved them across the Liratoras already? That’s not possible.”

Bait’s brow furrowed as he looked the ex-legionnaire over. “No,” he finally answered. “They aren’t from Derin.”

Drawing in a steadying breath, Baird said, “Her army is made up of Mudamorians, all raised from the dead.”