Chapter 43

The king’s voice was deep and booming, much like Liam’s, but unlike Liam’s, his voice lacked the warmth and empathy that his son typically spoke with.

While not the threat of death that loomed over me, the statement was frightening in its significance. Liam had been a prince of Zanska all of his life and to be banished to some remote place and stripped of his title would be a devastating blow to him. And more importantly, while I knew he would survive, I also knew that it would be heartbreaking for him to leave the citadel and everything he’d ever known behind. I knew this from firsthand experience.

Liam lifted his head and looked directly at the man high up on the dais, his father, the king of all Zanskan Kin. I followed his example and lifted my head, but kept my eyes down, not yet willing to meet the eyes of the man who might have me executed.

Liam spoke with calm confidence, none of his fears or worries coming through in his voice. “On what charge, Tae Beun?”

The king made a scoffing noise. “You know very well what the charges are, my son. You have violated Zanskan law by consorting with a slave, as well as murdered Warden Venkeren for no cause.”

Anger threaded through Liam’s voice as he objected. “No cause? He was torturing my wife, Tae Beun.”

The king slammed a hand down on the armrest of his throne. “Wife! She is a slave and nothing more. Bedding her doesn’t change the fact that she is a slave and as a slave, whatever Warden Venkeren did was lawful and just.”

I risked a quick glance at Liam from the corner of my eye and could see a vein pulsing in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. “It may have been lawful, but it was in no way ‘just’, Tae Beun. She is Kin, she is part of our Pack and no one in our Pack deserves to be beaten to within an inch of their lives. Warden Venkeren broke her legs in six places, fractured her jaw in two places, broke her nose and nearly tore her arms from the sockets. How is that just?”

I froze in shock. I knew that I’d been seriously injured, but I hadn’t known it had been that severe and with all that had been going on, I’d never thought to ask for specifics.

The king’s eyes were cold and uncaring and his voice was heavy with contempt. “A slave has no rights, as you well know, Tae Han. She is chattel, property, nothing more. The warden could have cut her into a thousand pieces and he would have been within his rights to do so. You, on the other hand,” disgust warmed the King’s voice into near ire, “you know the law and that no noble may consort with a slave and yet you chose to do so anyway. Did you think that as the crown prince you would be immune from the repercussions?”

“Of course not, Tae Beun, but there are mitigating circumstances.”

The king arched one eyebrow. “Oh? What mitigating circumstances would supersede our laws?”

Liam hesitated for the briefest of moments and then yanked his collar down to bare the scar I’d given him. “We have been blessed by Selene and have Marked each other.”

Murmurs and whispers rippled throughout the courtyard as people reacted in shock and surprise. The king’s only reaction was a narrowing of his eyes but the queen, who had been silent and still throughout, suddenly lurched to her feet and hissed, “Lies! The goddess would never do such a thing!”

Liam gazed coolly back at the rattled queen. “Where in the scriptures does it say that slave and noble cannot be bonded, Tae Ma?”

The queen was visibly shaking. “It… It is forbidden.”

Liam nodded as if in agreement. “Yes, our union is forbidden by Zanskan law; laws made by Kin, by mortals.” In an echo of the words he’d spoken to me the night we Marked each other, he added, “What mortal laws does the goddess care for?”

The queen’s expression turned from stunned outrage to one of horror as comprehension came to her and then a look of disgust crossed her face. Contemptuously, she said, “You would choose this slave over your betrothed?”

Betrothed? Did I hear the queen right? Liam was betrothed?

Liam gave my hand a squeeze before answering the queen. “You know as well as I that that is just a political arrangement. Tae Beun made that agreement years ago. It’s just a moldering piece of paper locked away in the royal vault. I’m sure that I can make reparations to her clan. They will understand that the goddess chose my bride for me.”

I breathed out a quiet sigh of relief to know that his betrothed was a political alliance, but we would be having a chat about telling me important information. Assuming that we made it out of this situation, that is.

Tae Ma pointed an angry finger in my direction. “What is this nonsense? A slave dares to wear our clan’s sigil? And see how indecently she is dressed!” She turned her angry eyes back to Liam before adding in an ugly tone, “You would taint our clan with this foreign whore?”

Liam’s lips peeled back in a snarl of anger, his wolf very near the surface. “The next time you call my wife a whore, I will tear out your intestines and scatter your limbs to the four winds and leave just your head for the vultures to feast upon.”

The queen gasped in shock, her expression quickly turning to fury. “How dare you speak to me that way! I am your queen!”

In a voice as cold as an Astmenai blizzard, Liam told her through gritted teeth, “Then behave like a queen instead of like some screeching banshee.”

It was as if Liam had slapped her straight across the face; her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open in shock.

“You forget yourself, Tae Ma. I am the crown prince of this land and one day I will rule the Zanskan Kin, while you are only queen for as long as Tae Beun lives.”

Before she could say aught else, the king’s voice rang out. “Sit, my queen.”

Even standing several hundred feet away from him, I could hear the power in Tae Beun’s voice. The queen sat abruptly, compelled by the king’s Adept power, and I fancied that I saw a flicker of annoyance cross her face before she composed herself, the only remaining sign of her emotional state being a tightening around her eyes as she glared at Liam and me.

In an unconcerned tone, the king continued. “These words matter not. A scar can be faked with just a bit of effort. There is no proof that Selene has bonded the two of you.”

Liam waved a hand at the cortege that stood behind the king and queen. “I see several of your pet mages there, Tae Beun. Or, if you are concerned that I’ve somehow bribed them to support me in my claim, I see also a priestess of the Sisters of the Autumn Moon. It should be a simple matter for her and surely she is above reproach.”

The king’s nostrils flared and I could feel his anger coming off of him in waves. He stared at Liam for a long moment before snapping the fingers of one hand and making a beckoning gesture.

From the rear of the cortege, a woman clad in shimmering white robes stepped forward and bowed to the king, her hands tucked within the voluminous sleeves that trailed nearly to the ground, reminiscent of what Selene had worn in my vision. The priestess wore an oddly boxy headpiece that looked like it may have been carved from bone or stone and strings of snowy white beads dangled from all four sides, framing her face and obscuring her hair and features so that only the very tip of her pale chin was visible.

Her voice was mellifluous and soft and somehow familiar to me, but in the moment, I couldn’t place it.

“What would you have of me, Tae Beun?” Power also radiated from her but it felt different than anything I’d felt from Kin before, Zanskan or Astmenai. I couldn’t quite define it other than that it tasted metaphysically different. Perhaps it had something to do with being a priestess of the Sisters of the Autumn Moon. I had no idea what kind of mystical arts they dabbled in but it was possible that whatever it was had changed the flavor of their power.

Tae Beun gestured at Liam and me. “Test the Mark to see if it is truly the blessing of the goddess.”

The priestess bowed again and began to make her way down the stairs toward us. I was struck again by some vague sense of familiarity, but again couldn’t place it.

As she moved closer to us, I tried to peer between the strands of beads to see if I could work out her features, but the beads swayed with her movement and all I could catch sight of was what might have been her mouth but it was of such a dark hue that I couldn’t even be sure of that. For all I knew, the Sisters wore paint or had tattoos and that’s all I’d glimpsed beneath the gently swaying beads.

She drew up before Liam and gave him a bow of her head, the beaded veil softly clicking from the motion. “The Abbess sends her apologies that she has yet to meet with you again, Tae Han. She has been… preoccupied with spiritual matters.”

Before Liam could respond, she instructed him to reveal his scar once more. He pulled his collar aside and the priestess reached out fingers that were nearly as white as her robes except that they were blackened down to the first knuckle with some kind of paint or ointment. She hovered the tips of her fingers just a hairsbreadth above Liam’s skin and I felt a rippling surge of magic.

Turning back toward the dais, the priestess bowed her head to the king and said, “The Mark is true, Tae Beun.”

The king’s lips thinned in displeasure and a muscle twitched below his eye. “Check the slave. Her Mark might be false even though the prince’s is true. He could be bonded to someone else and she is attempting to con her way into the royal clan.”

She bowed again and turned her attention to me. I pulled my collar aside and she repeated the hovering fingers as she’d done with Liam, her skin so close to mine that I could feel a faint bit of warmth from her skin. The feel of her magic whispering against my skin caused me to shiver and break out in a prickle of chill bumps.

She turned once more to the king and proclaimed my Mark as true.

The king’s brows drew down in a scowl. “How do we know that the Marks belong to them both?”

“If the Marks belonged to other Kin, I would feel the difference, Tae Beun. These Marks are twins to each other, magically speaking. The goddess has placed her blessing upon these two.”

He dismissed the priestess with a wave of his hand. She turned back to Liam and me and bowed her head in farewell. As she was straightening up, I quickly undid the tie at my sternum and pulled the robe fall open, exposing my upper chest. Her gaze had followed my hands and now her eyes rested on the sigil tattoo that adorned my skin.

Her eyes widened and her voice lost its musical quality as she traced one shaky, black-tipped finger along my collarbones and gasped out, “What is that?”

Before I could answer, she dropped to her knees with a shrill cry, whether of horror or elation I could not tell, and prostrated herself on the ground, resting her head on the backs of her hands. Her voice shook as she said, “My lady, please forgive me for laying my hands upon you without your permission.”

Bewildered, I looked at Liam, only to see the same look of confusion on his face. In my desperation, I had acted without deliberate thought, simply hoping for some kind of reaction that might help us get out of this situation, but the priestess’ response was beyond my comprehension.

The king’s voice was angry as he demanded, “What is this foolishness, priestess? Answer me!” Tae Beun nearly roared the last words and put so much power into them that the air pulsed with his magic.

Shakily, the priestess rose to her feet and faced the king, her voice quivering from some emotion I couldn’t decipher. “Tae Beun, this woman bears Selene’s sigil. She must be venerated and honored as Selene’s earthly vessel.”

Gasps and murmurs of surprise ran through the courtyard even as questions spun through my mind. Venerated? Vessel? What did the priestess mean? And who was she? Why was there this ephemeral sense of something familiar niggling at the back of my mind?

The king’s lip curled in a snarl. “You dare tell me what I must do with my own chattel?”

The priestess fell to her knees and bowed her head deeply. “Forgive me, Tae Beun, that was not my intent. But this woman has been chosen by the goddess herself and so her very life is sacrosanct. You must not harm her or you risk incurring the wrath of Selene.”

Tae Ma leant forward in her chair and covered her mouth with her hand, appearing to whisper something to her husband. After a moment, the king’s hands tightened on the arms of his chair, a scarlet flush of anger blooming in his cheeks. He growled so deeply that I felt the sound more than heard it. “Go back to your temple, witch, and tell your Abbess that the Sisters are no longer welcome in my court.”

The priestess looked up at the king, her shoulders rigid with shock. “Tae B-”

The king slammed a hand down on the armrest of his throne so hard that the sharp crack of breaking stone resounded throughout the courtyard. “Go! And be glad that I don’t kill you where you stand.”

The priestess stood and bowed once more before turning to leave. As she moved toward the gate, she paused by my side, turning her face slightly toward me. Though I still could not make out her features behind the white beaded veil, it felt like she was staring at me with an unnerving intensity.

Her voice was so low as to be barely audible though she stood only inches from me. “If you survive this, seek me out at the temple.” And before I could utter any of the questions whirling around my mind, she went past me in a rush of alabaster silk and the clicking of beads.

I looked at Liam again and I saw anger and confusion in his eyes. I was angry, too, but my fear eclipsed the anger. Liam and the Major had said the king was overly proud and contemptuous of nearly everyone, but I hadn’t understood that he was dangerously irrational. Tae Beun had just threatened to kill a holy person and had banned the most important religion of Zanska from his court and yet he didn’t seem to be aware of the gravity of what he’d just done.

Liam gave me a small shake of his head, indicating he didn’t know any better than I about what was going on.

The king’s voice boomed out, forcing us both to turn our attention back to the dais. “Guards!” He jabbed a finger in my direction, his face contorted in fury. “Put a collar on this slave.”

“No! Tae Beun, you cannot do this!” Liam’s shout echoed in the courtyard and from the look on his father’s face, I knew my love had chosen precisely the wrong words.

The king leapt to his feet, his entire body shaking with rage as he screamed. “Cannot? You dare to tell me,” he pounded a fist against his chest, “the king, what I cannot do?”

The surge of power coming off Tae Beun as he raged at his son was staggering in its immensity. All around us, dozens upon dozens of people, guards, nobles and slaves alike, fell to their knees or collapsed all the way to the ground, unable to bear the weight of the magic pressing down on them. The clang of moon staffs hitting the black stone as guards fell combined with the shrill screams of fear as people fell, creating a magnificent cacophony of sound.

Looking around, my eyes wide in terror and awe, I could see only a handful of people that remained standing, though they looked as if they were in the midst of a mighty struggle. On the dais, only three of the Argent Eight remained standing and the queen lay prostrate in front of her throne and I thought it possible that she may have even lost consciousness.

Liam and I remained on our feet and though I could feel the magical pressure, it didn’t seem to be affecting me as deeply as those all around the courtyard. Liam still held my hand and I could feel his muscles trembling and his own power pulsing against my skin with the effort to stay upright as he looked defiantly up at his father.

The king growled and in two powerful leaps, he bounded down the double set of stairs, landing at the foot of the steps so hard that I heard the splintering of the stone when his feet impacted.

Looking at Liam, the king reached out a hand and power shimmered the air around him. In a voice now more animal than human, he growled to Liam, “You will kneel before your king.”

Liam staggered as if taking a physical blow, bracing one foot behind himself as if standing against a gale, but still he didn’t go down. The king clenched his hand into a tight fist and with a roar of rage, pushed another surge of magic at us and one of Liam’s knees buckled and slammed into the stone at his feet.

A quiet calm came over me as I made the decision to save the man I’d taken into my heart. Still holding my love’s hand, I moved my body in front of his, taking the brunt of his father’s magical attack. The force of the wind wrenched locks of my hair loose and they and my robes blew behind me. Distantly, I could hear Liam shouting my name and pulling frantically at my hand.

Suddenly, accompanied by a flash of light, I felt heat blaze through the sigil on my skin and the barrage of magical energy abruptly lessened to such a degree that it became something like the annoying buzzing of a fly. Silence descended as my hair and robes drifted downward.

Lifting my free hand, I thrust my palm at the power the king was directing, pushing against it like pushing against a door. The king staggered back, just one step, but that single motion showed that not only had I resisted his power, but that my own power was just as strong as his. His eyes widened in shock for a second before narrowing to slits of pure rage and he sent another wave of power at me.

Deep in my mind, I could hear I'ikki yelping and whining in concern, but the king’s second attack did absolutely nothing to me. I took a step forward and then another, then stopped when Liam’s hand was unexpectedly wrenched from mine. Tae Beun grinned in triumph and his magic dissipated.

Whirling around to see what had happened, thinking Liam had perhaps succumbed to his father’s power and fallen to the ground, I instead saw three of the Argent Eight standing around him, two with their swords leveled at his neck. The third held onto the back of Liam’s jacket and had the point of a dagger pressed against Liam’s throat. During the few seconds I’d been engrossed in battle, my attention solely on the king, the three elite guards had snuck up on us.

I watched as a small trickle of blood coursed down Liam’s neck from where the dagger’s point dimpled his skin and then I saw the look in his eyes and a fear greater than anything I’d ever felt in my life stabbed through my heart. He had no chance of success with three blades so close; all three elite guards would stab him before he could even shift to wolf.

I shook my head at him. “Please, don’t.” There was desperation in my voice and it seemed to get through to him. He closed his eyes and his shoulders slumped in defeat.

Looking over my shoulder at the king, I saw he now wore a smug smile of satisfaction. Anger ripped through me and I intensely wanted to morph and let I'ikki loose on this twisted wretch who was so consumed with his power that he would threaten the life of his son.

I swallowed back the rage and terror and called out to the king. “You would harm your son?”

His smile grew wider, sending shivers down my spine as I realized I was looking at a man on the precipice of insanity. “I would destroy any that defy me. It matters not that he is of my bloodline if he dares to disobey his king.”

I stared at him in horror as I realized that he meant every word. This whole time I had been in fear for my life, never thinking that Liam’s life was also at risk. Not even Liam or Major Antelz had suspected how far Tae Beun would go to prove himself supreme over all Kin.

I noticed something else now that there weren’t ripples of magic undulating the air between me and Tae Beun; the inner edges of his lips were tinged a faint blue. Scenting the air, I caught a whiff of something pungent and dangerous.

Understanding bloomed in my mind of what may have been driving some of the king’s madness and how his power seemed stronger than Liam’s, despite what the Major had said about Liam being the strongest Kin. A new terror coursed through my veins as I realized we were in even deeper danger than we had ever thought possible.

Immediately, I dropped to my knees, surrendering myself. Liam shouted, “No!” as one of the Argent Eight grabbed me roughly by the hair and slammed a slave collar around my throat. Even as I heard the sizzle of magic meant to lock the collar in place, I felt another surge of heat trickle through the tattoo of Selene’s sigil. The collar fell to the ground with a sharp thunk against the ebony stone, wisps of smoke rising from it as the king roared in anger.

Tae Beun, so quick that his silk robes blew behind him, rushed forward and took me by the throat in one mighty hand and lifted me to the sky. His grip was so tight that I instantly felt my throat crushed. I tore at his hand, desperate to free myself so that I'ikki could heal my injury before I suffocated, but though my nails gouged bloody furrows in his flesh, it was like clawing at steel.

Just as I caught motion at the corner of my eye, the king let go of me and there was a hot spray of liquid against my back as my feet landed on the ground. Like a ball, a head clad in a snarling wolf helmet bounced and rolled by me and came to a stop at Tae Beun’s feet.

Shocked, coughing and drawing in ragged breaths even as I'ikki healed me, I looked to my left and then my eyes traveled up and up and up until I was staring into the bejeweled eyes of the statue of Selene, somehow come to life, her moonstone sword drenched in blood and held away from her body, crimson drops falling to the black stone. My eyes flicked toward the king and there was Leto, towering above Tae Beun with a fierce snarl that pulled her lips back from fangs longer than my forearm, her low, continuous growl rumbling through the air.

The goddess slowly turned her face toward where Tae Beun stood cowering beneath the maw of Leto, his face a rictus of fear. A voice of such magnitude that it caused me to clap my hands over my ears boomed out, seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. And while still made of multitudes melded into a single voice, it contained anger rather than the beauty that had me weeping in my vision of her. “You dare to attack my daughter?”

The king stared up at the goddess, his eyes impossibly wide with terror. In a breathy voice devoid of all the power he’d been flinging about just seconds before, he begged, “Please forgive me, my goddess. I thought it a hoax, a gambit to ensnare my son-”

Tae Beun’s words broke off as the sword whipped around quicker than the eye could follow and came to rest against his cheek, perilously close to his eye, the tip puncturing the flesh just enough so that a drop of blood welled up and then slowly slid down his face like a single crimson tear.

“Now you would try to deceive your goddess.”

Her power lashed out and the jewels of her eyes glowed with magic. The king crumpled underneath the weight of her might and fell to his knees, now gibbering with fear. “Forgive me, my goddess, p-p-please forgive this lowly one.”

She considered him for a moment and then drew the sword into an arc, carving a backward C into his flesh like that of a waxing crescent moon. Blood gushed forth and the king screamed as he clutched at his face and fell onto his back, writhing in pain as blood seeped out from between his fingers.

“See this mark and remember me well, servant. Never touch my vessel again or your life is forfeit. I give you mercy and spare you only so that you may seek my daughter’s forgiveness. Do not disappoint me.”

And with that proclamation, the goddess turned and made her way back up to the pedestal on the dais, Leto following at her heels. I called out to her, my voice hoarse and cracking from the damage still trying to heal, “My goddess, what is it that you want of me?” But she gave me no reply and slowly, Selene and Leto returned to the original position of the statue, the light emanating from the jewels of Selene’s eyes dimming until they winked out and the feel of the goddess’ power left the courtyard.

All was stillness for several seconds and then as if a floodgate opened, people everywhere began to scream and flee, rushing toward the gate at the top of the platform where Liam and I had entered in what felt like a lifetime ago.

Spinning around, I turned to see if Liam was okay. The two Argent Eight guards still stood beside him, but held their swords pointed away and stood as if uncertain of what to do.

My wolf coming through my voice prominently, I snarled at them, “Get away from my husband.” They both took faltering steps backward and then rushed toward the king who was still lying on his back and groaning in pain.

I stumbled to Liam and he leapt to his feet and crushed me to him in a fierce embrace. His voice was thick with emotion as he murmured, “I thought I’d lost you, Xia Wind Song.”

I couldn’t speak or even cry. I was too overwhelmed by what had just occurred. All I could do was wrap my arms tightly around Liam and send a prayer of thanks to Selene.

A scream brought my head around to look up at the dais and there was the queen, on her feet, but supporting herself on the edge of her throne. “Mages! Tend to Tae Beun! Bring a doctor immediately!”

Just before I lost sight of the king as flocks of slaves and mages and court officials surrounded him, my eyes met his and the pure hatred that dwelled there told me that this was far from over and that Tae Beun’s ire would be a hundredfold now and directed at me, the perceived source of his humiliation.

Taking my love’s hand, I turned away from Tae Beun and led Liam away. “Come, my love, let’s go home.”