Page 55 of The Malice of Moons and Mages (The Broken Bonds of Magic #1)

Fifty-Five

Xiang

T he venomous tones hurled between Traq and Jayna were dampened by the falling snow. Xiang and Durin sat alongside the fire, warming their hands like old men, surveying the emotional undulations of the young. The Moon soldiers were sequestered in a tent with several Starlings ringed around it, awaiting Wren’s orders.

Traq’s cheeks were flushed. “We should have slit your throats ourselves.”

“There is a celebration,” Jayna said.

“That’s a bit more than a celebration,” Wren snapped. “You were going to escort us in as a special tribute to your new Rajav.”

Jayna glanced at Xiang for support, but he took another sip of water and held his stoic countenance. Though he’d hoped to delay it a bit longer, this scene had been inevitable.

“He’ll never be Rajav,” Jayna said. “That’s why we wanted you with us. We need to stop the coronation before?—”

“What happened to Rajav Li-Hun?” Wren asked.

Jayna licked her lips. “He died six weeks ago. ”

“How?”

It was clear Jayna wasn’t sure what to share or hold back. She paused for too long. Jayna couldn’t see the gold thread uncoiling from Wren’s hands behind her back, nor the all’ights in several of the Starling soldiers’ hands, waiting to engulf the Moon soldiers in the tent.

“They killed his anchor in her rooms on one side of the castle. The Rajav’s remains were found a short time later on the other. It was calculated and concise,” Xiang said finally.

“You want us to believe that the Oji killed him and yet they would ordain him the next Rajav?”

“Believe what you want,” Xiang said. “But only his children would ever have been capable of killing a man that powerful. And the Rajav was universally despised.”

“You said someone killed his anchor first, which would have made him vulnerable. How many stars was he?” Wren asked.

“Fifteen.”

The Starlings gasped.

“Impossible,” Traq said.

Xiang levelled his gaze at him. “Just because other tribes don’t allow it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Blame your limitations on your own leaders.” His eyes slid to Wren and she glanced away.

“What happens to a fifteen star when their anchor dies?” Durin asked, small eyes sparking in the firelight. “If the Oji is thirteen and survived a short time without an anchor, what does that mean for the higher ranking?”

“I’m not sure. All I know is when Raani Amala was killed, he was vulnerable.”

“Raani?” Traq asked.

“The Rajav’s anchor. It’s what Audra will become if the coronation takes place,” Jayna said.

“Who was this Raani?” Durin asked. “It must have been difficult to be trapped with such a man.”

“By all accounts, Raani Amala was calm, kind, and rational. Perhaps that’s why she lasted so long.” He noticed their curious looks. “Being anchored to a powerful mage causes premature aging. The anchor’s life force is used as fuel for the mage’s power. The mage strengthens the anchor but also slowly drains them. Eventually the siphon kills them as the mage remains hardy. Most anchors die within thirty years of their pledge, but Raani Amala was different from the others.” He didn’t want to say more, that the rumors of the woman’s western heritage had been downplayed. The Starlings were known for their own abuses of western power and blood.

“How old was the Raani?” Traq asked.

Jayna’s voice lowered reverently. “Ancient. Her body broke well before I was born. She could only be fed soups or yogurts. Hadn’t left her bed in decades. There were rumors she begged for death, that people heard crying outside her rooms.”

“But the Rajav refused to release her,” Xiang said.

Durin wore a sympathetic look. “Did he love her so much?”

“Not at all. The man had no love for anyone. She was a tool for him to use. Something about their bond enabled his magic to flourish. He feared losing his power, nothing more,” Xiang said.

“So her death was a mercy, and the Rajav’s was an opportunity,” Wren said. “But who killed them?”

“Maybe we should ask who killed the fishers,” Traq said. Durin and Wren looked at him. “Audra insisted the Oji didn’t kill those people.”

“And you believed her?” Xiang asked. “She’s bound to him now. She’s not the person you remember.”

“As if I would believe the words of a traitor.” Traq’s hands glowed, golden threads wove between the fingers of his clenched fists.

“A mage can control their anchor. Make them say things. Do things they wouldn’t normally do. The Oji used to force his prior anchors to kill for him. Who’s to say he didn’t do that this time?”

“Audra’s no fighter, and she’d never murder her own tribespeople. Unlike you.” Traq’s gold thread slashed the flesh above Xiang’s brow.

Jayna started toward him, but Xiang raised a hand to stop her. Blood dripped into his eye, cascading down his cheek to his chin. He licked it from his lips and chuckled. “I wonder what else he makes her do for him. I wonder if she likes it.”

Durin’s shield blocked Traq’s whipping thread from its killing stroke.

“Enough.” Wren stepped before Traq. “Stand down. ”

Xiang wiped his sleeve across his brow and met Wren’s gaze. “We won’t be going in alone. The Oja will be here with Song mages and soldiers.” Xiang’s teeth were pink.

“Then you don’t need our aid after all,” she said. “Just as well, I’m tired of these manipulations. It must be exhausting living with those wasps between your ears.”

He scowled at the insult. “They’re a day away. We’ll need help delaying the coronation until she arrives.”

“What’s in it for us? Betrayal then death? “No, thank you,” Wren said.

“Glory, accolades. The new Rajav indebted to the Starlings for their service. There are many rewards if you stay and only disgrace if you leave empty-handed.”

“What about Audra?” Traq asked.

“Her fate is tied to the Oji’s,” Wren said without malice. She turned to Xiang. “How do you plan to hold off the coronation?”

Xiang licked his bloody lips again. Though he thought of Selene’s promise of Liger’s bane wine to subdue the council’s anchors, he said, “We get hold of Audra.”