Page 54 of The Malice of Moons and Mages (The Broken Bonds of Magic #1)

Fifty- Four

Audra

A udra’s fingers wrinkled in the lavender scented bath. Lua had left to meet Fallue an hour earlier, he hadn’t slept for more than a few hours since Stonetown and had been pulling on their connection to sustain him. Transitioning leadership took more planning than Audra had ever considered, selecting new ministers to head the different economical and agricultural branches made for long nights and late days.

There’d been no formal announcement of the Rajav’s passing yet. She couldn’t imagine how they’d spin that. The traditional mourning period would normally prohibit the coronation of a new Rajav, but the tension between the tribes was too tumultuous to be left without clear leadership. As Lua explained it, he’d disassembled all his father’s committees to build his own. She’d hoped that by “disassembled” he hadn’t meant murdered, but she hadn’t trusted his answer enough to ask.

He’d selected new advisors from both Moon tribes after scrutinizing each candidate’s history and alliances. But there was still Selene and her loyalists to contend with .

Audra was grateful she wasn’t allowed at these meetings. That they’d tolerate her as Raani was enough for Lua, but her feelings were unclear. She’d never had many choices in life, especially since Ferin’s injury, as if their fates were controlled by forces unknown. She reached out, felt the comforting reply, and sighed. Their path should have gotten clearer after she found the jade, but everything was increasingly complicated.

The luxurious apartment reminded her of Callaway, though with more resentful guards and better plumbing. Occasionally she’d halfheartedly study the scrolls before rolling them up again. Then she’d be insulted by Fallue during basic practice sessions. He muttered that even a one star shouldn’t struggle with the minor tasks set before her. But her magic remained unpredictable until she grew angry. Then it did whatever he’d asked with such force it destroyed several workstations.

Her longing for Lua was like a youth in lust’s first entangling. And they were entangled, their threads knotted and coiled even more than their limbs were these days. She couldn’t die like his last anchors. And between the wearing the jade for a time and Lua’s bond, she was stronger, healthier, than she’d ever been. As if she could handle anything. Perhaps his confidence was rubbing off on her. Or his magic.

Audra had finished dressing when the usual servant set her meal on the table nearest the fireplace. The woman gave a small bow though Audra had repeatedly asked her not to. Normally she left straightaway, but she hesitated.

“Mirza,” she began.

Audra winced. There wasn’t an official title for her until Lua was made Rajav, so this was what they called her. That most of the servants delegated to her care were twice her age made the formal address worse.

“One of our cooks tried to make a traditional Western meal for you. She hopes it pleases you.” She bowed again before backing toward the door and leaving.

That someone had attempted anything on her behalf made her curious. Maybe they’d eventually accept her.

Beneath the tray’s cover was a cup of salty milk tea, yogurt, biscuits with clotted cream, the small cookies twisted into elaborate shapes, and winterberry jam. Arn had made a version of this in Stonetown on their second morning, but this smelled different, familiar. It brought back memories of her father’s cooking, and later of Traq standing over Zin’s stove trying to recreate his grandmother’s recipes and meticulously shaping the cookies into Western script. But that was a long time ago.

She hoped the Starlings were treating Traq well. The pretty white-haired mage in Oxton looked like she wanted to, but Traq had always been slow in that department.

Audra was nibbling on a biscuit when she noticed a corner of parchment folded beneath the pastries. One word hastily scribbled in Western script: Remember .

A suspicion—unrealistic and wholly unreasonable—came to her. She spread the cookies on the table in a row and released a long breath.

T he snow hit her face like shards of broken glass, sharper than it had ever been back home. Though the traditional winter furs trapped in heat and the shearling lined gloves insulated her hands, her cheeks chafed in the frigid wind.

Audra darted around a corner and waited. No boots crunched on the frozen ground in search of her. The guards grumbled when she’d insisted on going outside and losing them was too easy. They knew she couldn’t go far.

If she’d interpreted the message correctly, Traq would be in the fourth cold storage area past the next building. If not, then he’d be on the opposite side in a barn somewhere. The storage room seemed less likely to be disturbed than a barn would be. The doors were flat on the ground, stairs disappeared into the underground rooms used for salted meats and root vegetables. As she reached the bottom, an all’ight flickered on.

Traq’s face was chapped, but his relieved smile spread warmth between them. He rushed toward her and wrapped her in a hug, lifting her feet from the ground. She pushed him away and gaped at his appearance.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Wearing Moon robes now? ”

“I-we came to find you.”

A tingle rippled down Audra’s spine as another presence tugged at a recent memory. With Fallue’s coaching, her ability to discern between lesser and greater stars had improved. Traq was nearing four stars, but what she detected was something much less than that. “Who’s here?”

“We met at the ruins,” a woman said, stepping into the light. Tall and pale, her black hair pulled back in elaborate braids that sat on top of each other and trailed to her lower back. “We didn’t get a chance to talk then.”

Audra glared at Traq. “You brought her here? Did she tell you they tried to kill me?”

The woman held up her hands apologetically. “That was Nori, who the Oji killed by the way. Admittedly, Nori was an ass, but I’m Jayna, I only want to talk.”

“You’re working together?”

“It’s not like that, Audra,” Traq said. “Please, I meant it. I came to find you.”

Somewhere in the monastery, Lua tugged on the thread. Her heart quickened as she sent a small reassurance back to him. She doubted she’d be able to protect Traq if Lua discovered them together. The guards had probably informed him she was alone on the grounds. They had little time.

“Why are you here?” She knew what they were going to say. Only one thing could make the tribes work together: a common enemy. “You’re here for the?—”

“The eclipse is tomorrow.” Jayna cut her off too quickly.

“The coronation is tomorrow.” Audra corrected. Traq’s face changed subtly. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Did she tell you she works for the Oja? That they’ve been trying to capture and kill Lua to prevent his ascension?”

“There’s more to it than that,” Jayna said. “You don’t know the atrocities he’s committed against his own people, let alone yours.”

Audra bristled but attempted to quell her defensiveness. Something in her words wrung true. “What’re you talking about?”

“Has he told you what he did at the behest of the Rajav to the Western mages? ”

Audra huffed. “Selene’s no better. You think I don’t know what she’s done to my family? To my people? Just ask Xiang who he was before he sold himself to her service.”

Jayna pursed her lips. “You don’t know what Xiang has sacrificed.”

“Sure, I do. His country, his people, his morals.” She winced as Lua’s thread pulled taut in her chest. He was searching for her. Again, she let him know that all was well but knew that wouldn’t satisfy him. Her emotions were too raw. She glared at Jayna. “You know nothing about your Ojis.” She turned to Traq. “And you should leave as soon as you can.”

“Please, Audra,” Traq said. “What about the fishing village he killed?”

She stared at him. “He didn’t.”

“Audra—”

“I’ve been with him since the Requin , Traq. He killed three men so we would make it to Oxton, but that was it. We never came close to any villages and no other deaths except when they attacked me in the ruins. They’ve been lying to you.”

Audra turned to leave, but Traq stopped her. “What happens after the coronation?”

She looked back at him, hesitating. Her deepest fears whispered in her brain.

“What about Zin and Ferin?” he asked. “What about all the things we-you’ve been working toward?”

Lua was on the grounds now, moving slowly, giving her time to come to him, like a liger searching for a rebellious cub. But a shiver of worry and insecurity ebbed from him.

“None of that has changed.”

“Do you honestly think he’ll let you restore everything his tribe tore down?” Traq asked.

Audra started up the stairs. “He’ll help me.” She couldn’t hide the uncertainty in her voice.

“Have you asked him?” Traq asked. “I don’t want to see you trapped here.”

She shoved the door open and paused, looking back. “Lua will kill you both if he finds you. May the wings bless you, Traq. ”

“Audra, the bloodstone?—”

The door slipped from her fingers, cutting off Jayna’s voice. She raced across the grounds and met Lua as he rounded the corner. Beneath the shade of his hood, he broke into a relieved smile. His arms engulfed her, wrapping her in comforting scents of home.

“Where’d you go? The guards are in a huff.”

“Just needed some air. I’m not used to being stuck in one place, let alone one room.” She gestured at the frozen landscape. “Besides, where could I go?”

He slipped his hand in hers and they turned back toward the monastery. “Is that what you’re worried about? Being trapped with me?”

“No, not with you.” Traq’s words still echoed in her ears. They were far enough from the cold storage. She pulled him into a corner. “I need to ask you something.”

His gaze skimmed over her face, softening. “Anything.”

“When the coronation is over, will you help me?”

“With what, my little mouse?” He kissed her fingertips.

“Restoring my tribe. Rebuilding our monasteries.”

She felt the chill in him, the pause that took a moment too long. Then he smiled reassuringly and brushed the hair from her eyes. “Of course.”

“What about the dragons?”

The thread coiled tight between them, but he neither released her hand nor pulled away. “No one knows where the dragons went.”

“We can find them together.”

He sighed, letting something heavy waver toward her. “We’ll discuss it once we are settled.”

She returned his small smile, despite a sudden awareness of the constricting tether around her. He couldn’t let her go, and his help would be perfunctory.

When their bedroom door closed behind them, his lips stole her breath. The heat of their entwined bodies consumed her. She hated how much she wanted him. Their passion was demanding, leaving them both wanting for more as their magic engulfed them. A knock at the door drew Lua from the bed and back to his meetings too soon, leaving Audra alone to contemplate her situation.

Lua believed it was love, but she wasn’t sure. It was magic built on desire. And magic, she was learning, was greedy, shortsighted, and terribly addictive. Even now, the ache for him was wholly distracting.

Pulling the bloodstone from the depths of her bag, she ran her fingers around its blunt edges before slipping the cord over her neck with nervous fingers. Though nothing in the room changed, everything seemed marginally duller. For the first time in years, her internal world was quiet. She tugged off the stone and the connections came rushing back. Checking the threads confirmed that all was well.

She’d have to be careful when she wore it, time it so that she could make reasonable excuses but dulling the connection between them, at least temporarily, might let her remember who she was outside of Lua’s dizzying influence. That was her hope, at least.

She wrapped her worn green robe around her and sat cross-legged on the couch. With a resigned breath, she closed her eyes and found the mass of tangled threads, equal parts green and silver. After deciphering a scroll she’d previously overlooked, she could finally make some sense of it. She stared at the connection for a long time, then she reached up and untied the first knot.