Chapter 18

The bowels of the volcano churned in the massive cavern. Large bubbles heaved up before exploding with a splattering of lava that dripped from the walls. Waves of intense heat danced in the unbreathable air.

A cloaked figure within a shimmering spell stepped into view, standing on a ledge well over the pit of molten death. Its presence was known immediately.

The lava roiled and an army of horns taller than trees broke the surface first. A long neck lifted the thickly scaled head up out of the boiling rock, streams of magma rolling down the sides. The maw alone could swallow a full grown wyvern whole. The eyes with slitted pupils as long as a stone giant was tall glared at the intruder. Each breath of the dark crimson dragon rumbled, making the stones of the mountain vibrate.

Without fear, the figure leaned forward in a stately, sweeping bow before straightening up tall. The voice sounded androgynous and magically distorted. “Your Majesty! I come with news. I’ve found her!”

Thick black lips peeled away from serrated teeth and the mountain rocked with a most hideous sound: Maelicxatrasia laughing.

The sweet chirp of birds sang somewhere off in the distance through an open window. A gentle breeze blew over her skin. So warm and comfortable, not forced from slumber by the cold, hard ground and punishing sun, she lingered on that floating cloud of contentment.

The soft caress of fingertips feathered her brow and continued down her shoulder. She didn’t realize a gentle purr had left her until her chest rattled for a moment.

Sucking in her breath, Cylthan’s eyes popped open, looking up into Roan’s face. She had turned towards him in her sleep, and he was propped on his elbow, watching her with the hint of a smile.

“Good morning,” his voice rumbled quietly. “Did you like your first night in a bed?”

Her brows pinching tight, she really wanted to lie. With a deep breath, she admitted to the truth with a nod.

“Good. It certainly seemed like it.”

She glared at him. “Were you just watching me?”

He nodded. “How can I not? The panthers had good taste.”

Blushing, she stared at his chest, which didn’t help. “So, what now? Are you going to keep me hidden in your room and use me at your whim?”

He exhaled with a laugh. “As much as I would enjoy that, you are not my slave and you are not my secret.” His voice became firmer like his expression. “You are, however, my prisoner, and I am your warden. A condition to have you released to me is that I’m not to let you out of my sight. I thought showing you around might be a good way to spend the day.” He smiled, and she couldn’t find a way to deny that she liked it. “Unless you feel like staying right here.”

Still staring at his chest, she let out a little sigh. “Maybe ... just for a minute.”

Settling back down with her, he continued to caress her shoulder. “I’ll lay here as long as you want.”

After a moment, she finally gave in to the urge. Her fingers felt like butterflies brushing against his chest hairs.

Placing his hand over hers, the gentle pressure pressed her palm to his warm skin where she could feel his steady heartbeat. Her breath shuddered as different emotions warred within her. Her vision became blurry and she hated that she couldn’t hide it.

His brows drew together with concern, and he placed his hand on her cheek. “What’s that face for?” he asked gently.

Feeling his touch, his voice sounding so genuinely interested in the answer, she felt a hot, fat tear roll along the line of her nose before it wet his thumb. Whether she could trust him or not, she had no one else in the world to turn to. “I just ... really miss Draen.”

She heard his sharp, deep inhale; watched his whole body move with it.

“I’m sorry, Cylthan,” he said, barely above a whisper. “I couldn’t get him out. I could only choose one, and I chose you. I had to point out that you never assaulted anyone; that it was Draen who had used his magic on those Seekers.”

She struggled to keep her breathing steady– and failed quite miserably at it. “Are ... are they going to punish him?”

Never taking his eyes off her face, he shook his head and squeezed her hand reassuringly. “No. Zilfiris promised me he would not be harmed. He said he won’t interfere with the Council trying to extract information from him, but he won’t allow anyone to harm him. I’ve never known Zilfiris to lie, unlike Azeruatt. I believe him, and you should, too. He was the first to vote in your favor. He believed you were harmless from the start.”

“I just ... I didn’t even get to talk to him before ... before Ssolaar...” Her voice choked up, struggling to hold in her sobs.

“I didn’t want it to happen that way,” he admitted gently. “I wanted to catch him so I could learn from him. I wanted to help, but I ... didn’t have the chance. When we dropped out of the sky, Silver Eye was terrified. He didn’t want us to go near the wyvern again. He wouldn’t let me take over, so I couldn’t get back in time. Not until he heard you scream.”

“Why wouldn’t they heal him?” she sobbed. “They just watched!”

“Zoliac is a portal wizard,” Roan explained, calm and steady. “He has no healing magic of any kind. Garrel and Bern are both arcane fighters. They can lend their magic to others, but they have few spells of their own. Bern just happens to have a few more because of his race, but his healing is basic at best.”

“Aren’t you a wizard?” she peered at him.

There was a flash of irritation on his face, but it was gone quickly. “No! I’m a battle mage. Wizards specialize into specific branches of magic. Mages are more versatile. I specialize in situational spells, short blades, and crossbows, but I can improvise anything in a pinch. The only wizards who can heal are priests, but a mage can use mid-level healing spells almost on par with a shaman, so I can heal broken bones and internal injuries. If I could’ve gotten back, I would’ve been able to stabilize him until Zoliac transported us, but it wasn’t until he heard you scream that Silver Eye ran back to protect you. I told him that I would protect you from the other Seekers. He ... didn’t agree with my definition of protection.”

Anger flared hot in her chest. “Doesn’t it ever bother you that the most decent thing about you is the rat?”

That anger vanished in the next instant, gasping in pain when his hand tightened around hers with a merciless, crushing force.

“Roan,” she pleaded in a whimper, fresh tears springing to her eyes. “Ohm’raha. Ohm’raha. Please, stop hurting me.”

His eyes narrowed in a cold warning before he released her. Trembling hard, she cradled her aching hand against her chest, not meeting his eyes.

“You don’t know anything about me– or us. Silver Eye just happens to like you. It’s not as common as you might think. If he didn’t, you wouldn’t be saying that. He can be ruthless, too.”

Keeping her eyes down, she nodded without a word. Laying naked in his bed was not the place to start a fight with him. If she made him mad, not only could he hurt her, but he might send her back to that cell. It would be smart of her to keep her biting remarks to herself.

The thought must’ve shown on her face, especially when more tears appeared. She flinched when his hand came near her, but he tucked her hair behind her ear, his face relaxing again.

“I’m not going to send you back to that dungeon, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Moving closer to her, he slipped his arms around her and pulled her against him. “I like having you right here, even when you hiss at me, kitten.”

Held tight to his hard body, enveloped by his familiar scent, reassured against at least one terrible outcome, she almost forgot she had been so scared of him but a second ago. Her logic warred with her instincts–one side told her he was dangerous while the other knew this was exactly where she belonged, naked and entangled with him.

The emotions tumbled out of her in choking sobs, but he didn’t say anything else. He just held her close, even when she’d gone quiet.

She was just on the edge of dozing when she felt something heavy scurry up her legs over the blanket. Gasping, her head popped up to see.

Glittering pale blue eyes peered back at her in wide wonder. The startled rat was snowy white, with a cute brown nose and one brown ear. Nearly as long in body as Cylthan’s arm, with an even longer sand-colored tail straight out in surprise, a pink paw was held in the air as the rat stood motionless but for the twitching of its whiskers.

Cylthan gasped again with more excitement. “What...?”

The rat stiffened and stepped back, but Roan reached down and his finger stroked around the large rat’s ear. “Hello, Zeffel,” he said with the familiar fondness of an old friend. “Silver Eye isn’t coming out this morning, but we’re home safe, and he’s happy to see you.”

The pretty rat leaned into the scritching with a trill. It made Cylthan smile. “He’s your friend?”

Roan shot her a cock-eyed look before smirking deviously with a waggle of his brows. “She’s his girlfriend.”

Cylthan couldn’t hold it in. Her sweet titter made Zeffel chirp, tilt her head and come closer to sniff. “His girlfriend?”

Nodding, Roan had a soft expression that made it really hard for Cylthan to remember she didn’t want to like him. “About eight years ago, I was sent with a group of other Seekers to end a particularly powerful necromancer and close the demon portal he had opened. When the mission was over, the others began gathering all the materials and destroying the most dangerous artifacts, but the lair was also full of hapless experiments. Some were beyond saving, but others, I released despite my orders to cull everything.

“Zeffel was in a small cage beside the necromancer’s desk. She was filthy and barely alive, but she shined to me. In the necromancer’s notes, he’d written that some experiment had gone wrong and she had ... touched the mana source but it hadn’t killed her. It changed her. When I said her name, the one he had written, she looked up at me, and, well, Silver Eye was in love.

“So, naturally, I bundled her up and brought her back with me, and she’s been with me ever since. It took her a few days to understand Silver Eye and I are separate but in one space, but she eventually understood ... and she’s madly in love with him,” he finished with a grin.

Absolutely delighted, Cylthan stuck her finger out so the pretty rat could crawl closer and sniff her. As soon as Zeffel tilted her head, Cylthan scratched under her chin and the rat leaned in for more with a loud, happy bruxing.

“So you’re ... in a love triangle with magical rats?” she teased with a giggle.

His grin got even wider, laughing with her. “I do feel like the third wheel, sometimes.”

Using both hands to rub the rat’s cheeks, she was thrilled when Zeffel lost control of her limbs and utterly melted, sprawling out over top of Cylthan while those gorgeous silver-blue eyes closed halfway in pleasure.

“She’s adorable! I love her!” she giggled.

Roan had a pleased smile watching them. “Good, because she likes you, too. She doesn’t do that for just anyone. She’s never even done that for Shidu.”

Where did that pang of jealousy come from? It didn’t make any sense, but it wiped the smile right off of her face. “Um, wh-who?” she asked in a small, poorly masked voice.

As if realizing he’d made some sort of mistake, Roan’s face became distant and unreadable before he turned and threw the blankets off his body so he could stand.

Perking her head up, Zeffel felt the tension between them immediately.

Opening his ornate, wooden wardrobe, he pulled a shirt off a hanger that he tossed on the bed. “Our first stop will be the tailor.”

Tilting her head with a growl, Zeffel crawled across the bed and nudged the shirt off the edge. When Roan turned to peer at her, holding up his hands like he couldn’t understand her, she sat back on her haunches and waved her paw as though wagging a finger, all while chittering angrily at him.

His brows pinched together in irritation. “I have to take her to the tailor, Zeffel. How do you expect me to get her there? While I don’t mind, I think she might oppose walking there naked.”

Blushing hot at the very thought, Cylthan tried to disappear under the sheets while Zeffel seemed to consider this. With a huff, the rat turned and hurried back to Cylthan. Using her dexterous paws, she held the sheets against Cylthan’s chest when she sat up.

Smiling at her, Cylthan stroked her head in appreciation. “I hate to admit it,” she said just barely above a whisper, “but he does have a point.”

Pulling on his pants, Roan tossed the shirt back on the bed and nodded in the most “I was right” fashion before grabbing another shirt and leaving the room.