Chapter 40
On the next day, Liam tried to speak with Dax again. I sat by the fire pit and nibbled on wild blueberries as Liam closed his eyes and frowned in concentration.
After several minutes, his eyes flew open and when his face lit up with a huge smile, I knew that it had worked. I jumped up from where I was sitting and returned his grin.
“Dax says that we are indebted to you.”
I waved a hand in dismissal. “Nonsense. We are Pack. Now, let’s go play in the woods and let I'ikki and Dax have some fun.”
Liam’s shift to wolf was significantly faster than before. I'ikki chuffed in approval and we took off at a run, Liam-Dax following with a sharp bark of joy.
It was several hours later when we heard Major Antelz calling out to us. “Tae Han? Xia Wind Song? Are you nearby?”
Liam-Dax yipped and bolted back in the direction of the clearing. We followed, racing through the trees, the sun and wind feeling good on our fur.
We arrived at the clearing on Liam-Dax’s heels and we both shifted back to human form. The Major stood by the fire pit and I could see immediately that she looked agitated and was covered in sweat and breathing hard. At a guess, I had to surmise she’d run all the way here from the citadel.
Before Liam or I could ask her what was wrong, she told us in a clipped, hard voice, “Tae Beun has returned to the citadel and demands your presence immediately.”
Liam and I shared a concerned look before he turned back to the Major. “His jaunts usually last much longer. Why has he returned so soon?”
The Major’s usually stoic expression was gone, her brows drawn down in a fierce frown. “Someone sent him a message that you killed the warden and have been consorting with a slave. I have no proof, but I believe it may have been the seneschal.”
A spike of fear stabbed through me and Liam spat out a slew of curse words that nearly blistered the air around him, several of which were new to me.
With his clenched hands on his hips, he said, “We have no choice. We must hurry.”
In a flurry of movements, I gathered the few belongings we’d brought with us and tossed them into the rucksack as Liam instructed Major Antelz to remain behind long enough to rest.
She protested, but Liam cut her off. “Major, there is nothing you can do once I’m before Tae Beun and I can see you’re exhausted. Stay, rest. When you are able, return to me.”
The Major opened her mouth as if to object, but Liam raised a hand and she closed her mouth with an audible click of her teeth and bowed her head. Through gritted teeth, she said, “It shall be as you say, Tae Han.”
Liam turned to me. “Are you ready, Xia Wind Song?”
I shook my head. “No, not really. But we knew this day would come sooner or later.”
He grinned, but it was a mirthless thing, a tight turning up of his lips. “Yes, it is time to embrace our fate, isn’t it, little one?”
Wordlessly, I shrugged the straps of the rucksack onto my shoulders and then shifted to wolf. Liam changed as well and I was pleased to see that his transformation was even swifter than before, though it had only been a few hours since he’d been able to speak with Dax.
We took off, running toward the citadel and possibly to my death.
Though Liam wished to push on to the citadel without stopping, I forced him to take rest several times on our journey home. He argued with me, citing urgency since Tae Beun was waiting on his arrival. When I pointed out that exhaustion would make him slow both physically and mentally, he grudgingly agreed that I was right.
Even with the short rests, we arrived at the citadel by late afternoon, only relinquishing our wolf forms when we were a hundred feet from the gate. Hurriedly, Liam waved his royal pass at the gate and we passed through the opening as soon as it was large enough to slip through.
We rushed back to our home where Liam sent Zusa and Kaira and the other servants into a flurry of activity to help us prepare for presenting ourselves before Tae Beun. Apparently, it would have been a gross insult to appear before the king dirty and disheveled. Liam had a message dispatched to the palace to announce our arrival and we set about bathing and changing into fresh clothing.
In our absence, Maezi had kept her promise and delivered the items that I’d requested. I dressed quickly, a twinge of longing for old days going through me as I slipped leathers on for the first time in six years.
I took a few seconds to admire the quality of her craftsmanship before putting on the outer robe she had made to go over the pitch black leathers. Rather than closing the robe in the way that she had shown me with the sash about the waist, I fastened it with a tie I’d had her add high up on the sternum so that my sigil tattoo was hidden.
Looking into the mirror, I had to admit that the clothing was of exceptional cut and quality, far more so than anything I’d had in Astmenai. The leathers were so soft and supple, it was nearly like being naked and they hugged my body like a glove and the robe was of such fine material that you could almost see through the black fabric.
Maezi had done a wonderful job of fusing the elements of two different cultures into one outfit.
I traced a finger along the silver at the collar, admiring how finely Maezi had stitched the Crimson Fang sigil. I knew there were some who would view it as presumptuous, but I had wanted to use Liam’s clan sigil to show the world that he and I were joined.
As I was slipping the silver hair sticks into an elaborate bun that Zusa had helped me with, Liam came into the bedroom, fastening his sword belt about his waist. When he saw me, he stopped in his tracks, a slow smile of appreciation spreading across his face.
“If that’s not moxie, I don’t know what is. You look incredible, Xia Wind Song.”
I was pleased with the compliment, but too steeped in fear to give him anything but a weak smile in return.
“As do you, Liam Dal.” And he did. His already muscular form seemed like it had become even larger and more defined during our few days in Twisted Pines. If he bulked up anymore than he already had, we would have to have his clothes altered, for the muscles of his shoulders and thighs strained against the black fabric.
He grabbed his sword from the wall bracket and slid it into his belt and then he reached out a hand to me and brought me into an embrace, looking down at me with eyes full of love and fear.
His voice was very soft as he told me, “No matter what happens next, know that I will love you to my last breath. You are mine and I am yours and no one can take that away from us.”
He leaned down and gave me a kiss so passionate that it nigh took my breath away. It may seem strange to have such a moment seconds before we would depart for a confrontation that may have deadly consequences, but it was possibly the last time we would kiss and I savored it and put all of my heart into that simple act of love.
Taking my hand in his, he led me toward our fate.