Page 18 of Winds of Destiny

Cam

There’s nothing like some excellent sex to set the world to rights again.

Of course there’s more to life than sex—far more to the life of a prince than sex, for certain—but as far as physical outlets go, it’s climbed past research at home and riding Lulu to sit close to the top of things I enjoy, just below using my power. Three nights in a row of passion followed by falling asleep against the broadest chest imaginable have left me feeling energized.

I wonder what it would feel like to use my power right now. I wonder how big of a wind I could create from the sheer sense of pleasure I feel. Strong emotions tend to fuel bigger breezes—my fear of Embros was enough to literally send me flying. If I were to let my powers out while Kai and I had sex, would I blow the tent clear off us?

It’s a fun thought, but my ability to use our city’s fabled power isn’t something I can reveal to the Dellians yet. My father insisted on this point—he called it a security measure, which I found ridiculous, since this escort exists to keep me safe. But when Turo agreed, saying it was better kept in reserve just in case something unexpected happened, I let myself be persuaded. It’s not like any of the Dellians are showing off their powers, either. The only thing I’ve seen them do so far is use the heat they can generate to inflate their special tents, which…

I had expected to sleep rough, under canvas, exposed to the chill of the night and the crawl of insects across my face. To my surprise and delight, my escort has packed special, two-layered tents that allow them to fill the space between layers with air heated by their powers. It takes time, but by the end of it, you have a tent so tall you can stand in it, a layer of hot air between you and the ground, and a very comfortable, bouncy surface for fucking.

If that’s the most their powers can do, it’s still pretty good.

I end up eating my words the very next day.

The first person to notice the sound is Turo, naturally. It’s the middle of the day, and I’m hot and sweaty and really looking forward to reaching an actual settlement tomorrow where I’ll be able to bathe, because all this travel has left me wanting to dunk my whole body underwater and scrub until I’m raw from soap instead of sun. It’s safe to say I’m not paying attention to much of anything at the moment, but the second Turo begins to move away I know it, even though he’s behind me. It’s like I have a sense that tells me where he is.

I brush my fingers over the pearl hanging from my neck as I turn and watch his long stride turn into a smooth, easy run to the top of the nearest berm. The land waves this close to the ocean are very tall, beyond what I can see over, even on Lu’s back.

“What’s he up to?” Kai asks, his brow furrowed. He’d never admit it, but he’s even more of a protector than Turo is, equally concerned for everyone in the group—well, possibly a bit more for me, but that’s because he’s got to keep me in form for his prince.

“Running off to piss, no doubt,” Rusen says, then lifts a hand to cup his mouth. He shouts something, but I don’t know what it is, because all of a sudden it’s all I can do to keep my seat as Lulu darts sideways and jumps, flapping her wings in a frenzy.

“Whoa!” I stroke her neck to try and settle her, but she’d not having it. She’s aquiver with tension, scratching up dirt with her claws like she wants to run. “What’s wrong with you?” I wonder.

“I think he’s about to tell us.” Kai points at Turo, who’s running back toward us much faster than he left. I can hear something now, a rumble that’s growing louder and louder.

“Aurochs!” he shouts. “A herd of them are running the trench! Get the wagons to higher ground, now!”

“Aurochs?” Bristleback aurochs are the largest animals that live on the plains, but despite their fearsome size, they rarely bother caravans. “Why are they running?”

“Something must have spooked them. Doesn’t matter.” He points toward the berm to the left. “Get up there and be ready to run if they turn toward you.”

Absolutely not. “I’m not leaving you here.” Wait, that sounds bad. “ Any of you,” I amend.

“Cam…”

“Close ranks,” Kai says, as if it’s just another day. “Wagons out, rams in. We don’t want anyone to get any ideas about charging.” His men get to work immediately, pulling the rams into place and putting chocks behind the wagon wheels so they won’t go anywhere.

Turo looks like he wants to pull his hair out. “Why are none of you climbing already?” he asks, taking hold of Lu’s halter and guiding her behind the wagons without bothering to ask me.

Well, fine. Then I won’t say “thank you,” either.

“The wagons won’t make it up this grade in time,” Kai says, and I can feel that he’s right. The ground is trembling—no wonder Lulu is distressed. “It’s fine. We’ll make them go around us.”

“A circle?” Rusen asks eagerly.

“A spear, I think,” Kai says, grinning. “And quickly. Weapons, set!”

The Dellians move to form a triangular shape in front of the wagons—and Turo and me. Kai is at the front, and as I watch, he puts his sword and shield out in front of him, their metal edges just touching. His men form up behind and beside him, two on one side and three on the other, and extend their own weapons until a mishmash of blades, staves, and shields are arrayed like the world’s most haphazard defense in front of us.

“Let it build,” says Kai commandingly. “Channel it, but give me control.”

“Control of what?” I glance at Turo, who’s still holding onto Lulu but looking out at the Dellians. He isn’t telling me to run anymore, which means he must have faith in what Kai is doing, I suppose. But what is he doing?

Suddenly, the first of the aurochs rounds the corner of our trough a few hundred feet away. It’s a massive beast, with two-pronged horns that spread as much as six feet across and a back covered in bristling hairs so thick and matted they look like spines. It’s followed by a score more just like it, and it’s all I can do not to drag Turo up here next to me and flee. Five more seconds and—

A wave of bright orange fire blasts out from the Dellians’ weapons, scorching the grass first white, then black as it passes through it, straight toward the running herd of aurochs. It’s mostly dissipated by the time it reaches them, but the animals clearly don’t like it. The charge falters, the lead animal snorting and tossing its head as every sense is disrupted.

“One more time,” Kai calls. “Weapons, set!” His men reset their arms, and a moment later, another wave of fire appears. This one is narrower, more targeted, tracking the lead auroch and holding it at bay as it rethinks its instinct to run and, instead, turns and trots up and over the side of the far berm. The other animals follow, some of them clearly flagging. They’ve been running for a while, it seems.

As soon as the wave has gone out, Turo lets go of Lulu and jogs out onto the scorched plain. “Don’t burn yourself!” I shout after him. Stupid, risk-taking—

“These grasses don’t hold heat for long,” Kai says as he heads over to me. “Too damp this close to the water. Watch, the fire is already mostly out.”

He’s right, but that’s not what I want to talk to him about. “You have fire powers?” I exclaim. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Kai seems surprised. “You’ve seen us all heating up our tents for over a week now.”

“Creating enough hot air to inflate a tent is nothing like what you just did! You can project fire !”

“Not all of us,” Kai says. “The firewave is a special ability taught to our warriors, and it only works if you’ve all got weapons with striking steel inlaid in them.” He hefts his shield and points out the thin line of gray in the center of the bronze. “But everyone in Huridell has control of flames to some extent: blacksmiths, bakers, even hunters. They use their sparks to drive animals toward blinds without setting the whole damn forest on fire.”

“Not that Carnuatu lets that happen,” Jeric adds from behind. “Our god is very present in that way. The city might burn because it’s our home to do with as we will, but the wilds belong to him first and foremost. Anything larger than a campfire gets snuffed almost immediately.”

Ah. That makes sense. Still, I’m stunned that this is the first time I’ve even heard of this ability. They must work hard to keep it a secret. No wonder my father wants an alliance with Prince Eleas—a few units of Dellians helping to protect Zephyth would be able to hold off an invading army.

Turo suddenly appears beside the wagon, just to the right of Lulu.

“Can’t you announce yourself when you actually get back to the rest of us instead of popping up out of the grass like a viper?” Rusen demands.

“Vipers don’t pop, they lunge. Some of those animals were bleeding,” Turo says to Kai. “Badly. They’re leaving heavy trails in the grass.”

“A dominance fight, perhaps?”

“A predator is more likely, to make them all run like that.”

“Must be one big predator,” Kai says. “We should—”

“Um.” Ferow holds up a pair of long knives. Their edges appear to have been fused together. “Can I get some help with this?”

“Carnuatu bless you, you idiot,” Morfan tells his lover as he heads over to him, shaking his head. “You let them merge?”

“I didn’t mean to!” Ferow insists. “I haven’t practiced the weave since training, and the heat got away from me a bit.”

“That’s how you burn the fuck out of yourself! Are you hurt? Let me see your hands.”

“What’s Zephyth magic like?” Jeric asks loudly enough to drown out the ensuing argument. “Is it based in water? Could you douse a fire like that?”

“It was wind-based, actually,” Turo says. “A wind controlled well enough could smother a fire, I’m sure.”

“But none of you people have it anymore, do you?” Rusen persists. “I wonder why. Less faith in your god, perhaps?”

“Closer proximity to Inarime, more likely,” Turo replies.

“And watch what you say about my god,” I add. “Ophiucas blesses us daily. We don’t need some flashy power to show how greatly we revere him.”

“Would be nice if you had one, though, wouldn’t it?”

As soon as it’s safe to reveal my power, I’m going to blow Rusen right off his wagon.

“Rusen.” One word from Kai and the other man is rolling his eyes but keeping his big mouth shut—for a while, at least.

“It makes you wonder,” Jeric says in a thoughtful tone of voice as he starts pulling one of the wagons straight. “Why was Zephyth’s power wind-based instead of water? Ophiucas is a sea serpent. You’d think water would be…I don’t know, more his thing.”

“Why isn’t Huridell’s power earth-based?” I ask.

“That might come from the fact that our mountain used to be a volcano,” Kai says unexpectedly.

Now that I haven’t heard before. “Really? How do you know?”

“Mostly from visiting other volcanoes and comparing the rocks and ash that can be found on their slopes.”

“Where are there other volcanoes?” Turo asks. I smile to myself. Of course that’s his question; he needs to know where everything is.

“Islands off the northern end of the continent,” Kai says. “No one has ventured into the seas there for over a hundred years, but those who did confirmed the similarities. We have legends, too, that tell of when our mountain was twice as tall as it is now. Apparently, it was leveled by a tremendous explosion after our people were especially disrespectful to Carnuatu.” He shrugs. “I’m not sure how much of it is real and how much is fantasy, but it might help explain the link between our god and fire.”

“What about the other big cities?” Jeric asks. “Kamor and Antasa? What magic could they do?”

“Kamor’s powerful were able to poison their enemies with a single touch,” Turo says. “And in Antasa, the most faithful could partially transform their bodies to look more like their god.”

Jeric looks fascinated. I am, too, honestly. I know this, but it’s been years since I’ve thought of it. “They became lions?”

“Partially.”

“Which parts? The fangs? The claws?”

“The dicks?” Rusen suggests with a leer. “I hear lions have prongs on the end of their dicks. Wouldn’t be a nice surprise for a lady if you’re going at it and all of a sudden—”

“Mm. Nope. Don’t need to hear it.”

“I’m just saying, it’s possible.”

“Let’s move out,” Kai says, putting an end to the uncomfortable conversation. “We can make a few more miles today.” He checks on me one more time, makes sure Ferow and Morfan are through separating his weapons, then gets the rams going along the trough again.

Huridell is getting closer by the day. Even from down here, I can clearly see the mountains in the distance now, including the tallest one in the very center. That’s where the city lies. That’s where my destiny awaits me. That’s where everything changes.

I’m quiet that night, more so than usual. I know it makes Kai and Turo wonder about me, but neither of them call me out on it. At least, not until it’s time to bed down for the night. As people leave their spots by the fire for their bedrolls, I get up to follow Kai but am stopped by a touch on the arm from Turo.

It’s the first time he’s touched me in… I don’t even know. It sears through me, and I sort of hate that just his fingertips pressed to the back of my hand are enough to make me go weak at the knees. Why can’t I be over him? Why won’t my heart do what my mind tells it to?

“What?” I demand, more harshly than I should. He hasn’t even asked me anything yet, and I’m already snapping at him.

“Are you all right?” he asks, soft and intimate. As though he has the right to be intimate with me. He’s made it clear he doesn’t want that, but my blood surges at the very thought of it.

Stupid body!

“That’s none of your business,” I say, cold and to the point. I expect that to be an end to it.

It isn’t. Something changes in Turo’s face, his simple concern shifting into an intensity that makes my heart beat faster. This is more than his serious face—he looks like he’s seconds away from grabbing me and shaking some sense into me—or kissing me senseless, I’m not sure which.

“Wrong,” he growls. “Until you’re through the Gate and over the border, everything about you is my business. Absolutely everything. Your thoughts, your feelings, what you ate for breakfast, the number of times you stopped to piss—everything.”

Oh, really? “Then maybe we can start with me telling you all about how it feels when I’m on my back getting—”

“Camrael.” Kai’s touch on my back calms me down enough to make me realize that I’m not just on the verge of blurting out the details of my sex life, but his as well. He doesn’t deserve that, and I’m about to take the high road and keep my pretty mouth shut when Kai’s hand on my back becomes an arm around my shoulders, pulling me in close. He’s not leaving, though. And he’s not looking at me; he’s looking straight at Turo.

Is he…are we… teasing him? If so, I’m absolutely game. Even if we’re not, I’d never say no to the chance to get my hands all over Kai’s chest. I soften into his hold, drape myself against him, rub my hand from the base of his throat down his broad chest, and slowly, slowly, trail it down his torso until it rests just above the waist of his pants.

“If you really want to know everything he gets up to,” Kai says, somehow managing to keep his voice level despite the attention I’m paying to him, “you should join us tonight and see for yourself.”

Oh, yes! A wave of heat spreads out from my chest, making my fingers tingle and undoubtedly darkening my cheeks. That’s what I want. I didn’t even know how badly I wanted it until Kai mentioned it, and now it’s completely overtaken my mind. Turo watching…Turo directing me, telling me what to do, how to move, when I can come… I have to press my palm hard to my own crotch to keep my dick from getting ahead of itself.

Kai looks at me fondly. “I think it’s clear that Camrael likes the idea,” he says. “What do you say, Lord Turo?”

Turo rolls his eyes, but I can see that it’s costing him to look so unaffected. His entire body has gone taut, and the heat in his eyes smolders as bright as the coals we’re sitting beside. “Get him to bed already,” he says, then turns away to fuss with the fire.

I’m disappointed, but Kai doesn’t seem to be. He does, in fact, take me to bed, and once we’re lying together and he’s stroking my length with his huge, perfect hand, he whispers in my ear, “Look by the entrance.”

I’m barely able to breathe, and he wants me to focus on something other than sex with him? That’s a tall order, but I try, turning my head and gazing at the very bottom of the tent flap, waiting for some sign or signal or—

“Oh, fuck!” I suddenly cry out as Kai suddenly takes my cock into his mouth. His talented tongue is capable of bringing me to the edge far too quickly, as he’s shown me these past nights. But Kai is a master at keeping me right on the edge of oblivion, writhing in pleasure, yet not falling over until he allows it.

And just as I’m about to close my eyes and give myself over to his sweet torture, I see it—the shift in the shadows right outside the tent.

Turo’s right outside, listening in as he always does. As I always want him to.

My body thrums at the thought of him wanting me like this, wanting both of us so much that he can’t bring himself to step away.

If I’m extra loud that night, it’s entirely Turo’s fault.