This scene is set at the very beginning of “King of Shadows.”
Aon held her in his arms.
He could have let her slump to the ground. Summoned a gate and drop her through it. Deposit her into one of the chambers beneath his home and teach the girl what it truly meant to be a prisoner.
But instead, as her eyes rolled into her head and she slipped into unconsciousness, he found himself—entirely outside his own conscious choice—cradling her in his arms. Holding her as he might a bride.
Curious.
Whatever had inspired him to do such a thing, he did not know. He wanted the girl, yes. But he could take her at his whim, now. Such a thing did not require kindness. Was it the warmth of her? The smell of her? As her head rolled against his chest, her cheek resting against the dark fabric of his suit coat, he found he did not have the will to change his mind.
He liked her here, like that. Helpless. Although this was not of her own volition, he imagined what it would be like had she chosen to be there. A hopeless fantasy, but one he let play out in his mind. It was harmless to dream, after all. He was quite accustomed to living out such visions in his mind, for they would never enter the waking world.
Savoring the moment as he could, he tilted his head down to hers, and rested the cheek of his metal mask against the top of her head. The instant of reprieve did not last for long, however. The sound of heavy wings beating in the air interrupted his private fantasy, and he lifted his head to watch as a crimson-plated drake landed heavily to the earth. He knew the man who rode the creature, as much as he would prefer to pretend otherwise.
Edu.
Fantastic.
Although, this would be a lovely opportunity to gloat. And gloating was one of his favorite pastimes, after all. The man was just as keen to see him as vice versa, he knew.
“Ah. Hello, Edu. I was wondering when you might arrive,” he said, keeping the ire out of his voice. He knew his dismissiveness would needle the man far more than anger may do. So, he greeted the other man as if this were a casual accord between friends. “Wonderful evening, don’t you think?”
As Edu slung himself down from the back of the great beast, he was already clearly furious. While he was—thankfully, truly, that had been a moment of brilliance for him—forever mute, his body language was about as subtle as the locomotive he resembled. He had not summoned a weapon to his hand yet, but both his massive fists were clenched tight as he stormed towards him.
Edu was, as usual, itching for a brawl. Aon would do no such thing with him. Not now, not ever. In a match of fists, he would lose. Such methods were crass, unrefined, and utterly beneath him. Carrying the championship for a sport of such infantile behavior was not a title he had any interest in earning. “Oh, pull the reins, you great buffoon. You are king no longer. I see you have forgotten!” He snarled in irritation. All he wished was to take his new prize home. Engaging in such childish behavior was wasting his time.
The treaty they signed was irritating on most days, but once and a great while, it served a purpose. Aon would never tell Edu that it was by his own hand that he had risen early from his slumber. Let him believe it was “fate” and the “work of the Ancients.” The idiot would never suspect otherwise.
Edu shook his head. He lifted a heavy hand and pointed at the girl in his arms, and then crooked his finger back into his chest.
Aon bit back a laugh.
Priceless. Just when I believed you could not be more stupid, old friend. “Give her to you? Are you mad?” It was so very rare that he could ever claim the high ground. In this, he had a rare opportunity to swear morality and kindness was his inspiration for his sudden intervention.
That nearly made him laugh a second time.
“You would murder this poor thing to spite me, no less. When have you become so callous? The years have been cold to you. Weren’t you always the sympathetic, forgiving one? To cradle a butterfly in your hands, for fear it might die without your care? She must terrify you greatly to end her life without due cause.”
“Aon!” Edu raged at him. His fist slammed into the wood-carved table of his meeting hall, where they all sat arranged. Qta sighed heavily from where he sat. Rarely the snake-king appeared in his human form, but the simple matter of fact was that he did not fit inside this chamber, and it was pouring rain outside. “You cannot be serious!”
“I abide by the laws, and the laws alone,” he replied, a grin behind his metal mask. He had played the situation perfectly, as he always would. For this was merely a piece of music to him, and he recited it deftly. This was his art. This was his mastery. Pulling the strings of those who gathered around the table. Ini, Vjo, Dtu, Rxa, Qta, and Edu. They were all his toys.
It was a simple matter to inspire the young married couple to commit murder to protect their “love” of each other. Aon had masterminded the whole ordeal, to watch their actions tear their supposed affection apart. A shifter of some few hundred years, and a brand-new dreamer, only having recently become immortal some twenty years ago. When he inspired one of Vjo’s scholars to find reason to dote upon the new dreamer, and then to threaten her life if she did not yield to her new suitor, the shifter acted predictably and murdered the other man.
Love was so easy to engineer. So easy to play like an instrument.
For love was a lie, after all. A false emotion. It did not exist. It was merely the combination of lust and stupidity. Mixed together in a vial, it was a biological reaction to keep a mated pair in consort with the other. As they could not breed, it was a pointless endeavor in Under.
So, he amused himself by tearing it to shreds whenever he could.
Now, Edu wished for leniency in sentencing for the shifter. “He loved her. He was protecting her life. Yundi”—was that the name of the scholar who had died? Honestly, Aon hadn’t cared much to learn the names of the pawns he had toyed with—“threatened to kill the girl in front of Udo. What would you have done?”
“Certainly not committed murder,” Aon huffed, pretending indignancy.
“No, you would rather strip his flesh from his bones,” Dtu snarled.
“Well, yes.” Aon smirked behind his mask. “As such things are not a felony, I may remind you.”
Dtu huffed and rolled his shoulders back, cracking them. “Coward.”
“I am not the one on trial here, dog,” Aon replied. “Your underling, however, is. You are merely bitter for you know you will lose your regent.”
Ah, yes. That detail. So delicious in its execution. Udo was the shifter king’s second in command. And now, he would lose his marks, and his life, and be sent back do the pool in exchange for the soul he had taken.
“He did it the heat of the moment. It was not in cold blood. He did it to protect the woman he loved. Aon, you have no stake or claim to any party involved in this debate. Take mercy upon them,” Edu insisted.
“It is for that precise reason that I carry no attachment to any of the parties that I am able to judge with such a level mind.”
“You carry no attachment to anyone or anything save your own ego,” Qta interjected. “Do not pretend you are acting out of nobility for it.”
“As you wish. The case remains. We are split in a vote, my friends. Rxa, Vjo and Ini vote to execute Udo. You, Edu and Dtu, vote to spare him. My vote decides his fate.”
“Aon. Consider your actions,” Edu pleaded, as angrily as a man can beg. “Love in this world is sacrosanct. It is the rarest gift that any of us can be given. It should be protected, not scattered to the winds.”
He bit back a sharp laugh. The words of a naïve, foolish child. Love was no more sacrosanct than the smoke that rose from a candle. It was an illusion. A falsehood. Truthfully, he was doing Udo a favor.
Aon sunk back in his chair and took a moment to enjoy the tense environment of the room. Six kings and queens hung upon his word. It was perfect. Finally, he broke the silence.
“He dies.”
Snapping out of his memory, he knew only a single beat of a heart had passed. He had been rubbing into Edu’s face that he was now the “heartless” one. How perfect. He took the moment to rub it in further. He shook his head and tsked. “For shame.”
Edu growled angrily. Aon ignored the pointless display of aggression. He was a dog barking on the end of his leash, nothing more.
Lydia shifted in his arms. He glanced down at her at the barest movement. It was that of someone uncomfortable, trying to ease some pain. Her brow knitted together, and he felt her muscles twinge.
Ah. Right. Yes, my dear. You are hurt. Forgive me, I forget that you are mortal, so very rare you are. His moment of goading and gloating over Edu was done. Far more rational matters must be dealt with. “I must see to it that Lydia is attended. She is injured, and as she has been cast away from the Ancients,” Aon said, enjoying digging the seriousness of her rejection from the pool into Edu like a knife to the ribs, “she is fragile.”
Without another word, he disappeared. It was not like Edu could retort with anything but a snarl or a clenched fist. Dueling with children was boring; he had a new toy with which to entertain himself.
And what a wonderful plaything she would be.
***
Appearing in his home, he took them both straight to a room in his north wing that would suit the girl perfectly. It was close to his own chambers, but one floor down as to not raise suspicion. He could keep an eye upon her here. It was as lavish as the rest of his home, but not a full suite; merely a bedroom and an attached bathroom.
This was by design. A scheme clicked into his mind as quickly as he could blink through space. He knew how he wished to play this game with her. The path forward became instantly clear; a series of chess moves were instantly planned, knowing how to pace any decision she might make.
The girl was strong. Headstrong, in fact, but not belligerently stubborn. She knew when she was beaten and had the dignity to stand strong and accept her fate. She fought against Edu and managed to find the means to escape. She would not surrender lightly, and yet she knew that when she stood against him on that dirt path…she could not win.
This beautiful child had stood toe to toe with him in his dreams. Blushed at his attentions—blushed!—and yet at the very same time, quite wisely feared him. It was a delicious and heady combination.
Just now, she had surrendered to him. Accepted her fate at his hands. He would have her surrender more to him before he was done. Much more. He would have her full submission, in every sense of the word.
Yet, he decided right then and there, however delicious it may be to force her into such things, and to take from her what he wanted, he would have her of her own free will. It would be a challenge, coercing this one down that dark path with him, but the act of watching her sink to her knees would be all the sweeter for it.
He walked to the bed and laid her down upon it, and he sat down on the edge of the bed at her side. Her blonde hair was pooled against the black silk sheets in perfect contrast. For the first time, he tried to take stock of her injuries. She was battered and bruised, and her knee was bleeding. If she had hit her head, he did not know. Lydia could not very well submit to him if she were dead.
Like the ring of a bell, he suddenly realized…he had no idea what to do.
Taking off his black leather glove, he let his right hand slowly trace over the skin of her cheek. Warm, smooth, soft…perfect. He wanted to let his hand drift over more of her. She was unconscious; she would not know. But he shoved those puerile thoughts into the back of his mind. He was not a beast.
But those lips—beautiful, rosy, and full. Parted just slightly, her expression one of dismay and pain, even in her unconscious state. It made her all the more stunning.
I want to kiss her.
He flinched at the thought. Drew his hand back away from her and stood up. The thought had been an errant one, and his desire to do such a thing was impossible. He had no such inclinations.
I am weary from rising from my crypt. I have woken too quickly, and I am still not quite right. I need time to sort out my thoughts. This is a product of my madness, nothing more, he assured himself.
A knock came quietly upon the door. “Enter,” he bade whoever it was. He had his suspicion.
Navaa entered and bowed low at the waist. “I am glad to see you, my king.”
“And I, you.” It was true. Navaa was one of the few souls in this world he could consider an ally, if not a friend. They were not in the other’s confidence, he did not share his personal thoughts and concerns with his regent, but their loyalty to each other was never in question.
Aon had only conferred in one other soul such things, and the Priest betrayed his friendship. Never again would he put such trust in another.
“Ms. Lydia is our guest,” Aon instructed the other man. “She is to be kept safe and attended to. She is not a prisoner or prey.” She is mine to hunt. No one else. “Tell the masked that they are not to come near her or speak to her.”
“If I may ask why?” Navaa never hesitated to question him. It was what made him such a valuable regent.
“I wish her to be here of her own accord. She gave Edu no small hell, I suspect. If we are to make her feel at home, I do not wish overzealous curiosity to change this. She is afraid, and this world has not been welcoming. We will limit our undue influence upon her until she is comfortable here.” I will not have any more variables enter my game. I will not have anyone else be a safe harbor to the girl. If she wishes for information or company, she will come to me. I will be her anchor line. “Are we quite clear?”
“Yes, my king.” Navaa glanced to the girl on the bed. “She is hurt.”
“A fall from a horse.”
“Is it serious?”
“I…do not know.” He did not waste time with such things. He had no ability to heal or mend. His was the power to harm, and nothing else. Now, he wished he had spent perhaps a bare week of his lengthy existence learning the art.
But the fact remained; if she were bleeding out from internal injuries, he would not know. He would have no hope of helping her. It meant he had to do the most undesirable act he could think of.
He would have to ask for help.
Unable to keep the loathing out of his voice, he let out a long sigh. “One more thing, Navaa.”
“Yes, my lord?”
“Fetch Maverick.”
