Binding Spell (Tales of the Latter Kingdoms) (27 page)
Read Binding Spell (Tales of the Latter Kingdoms) Online
Authors: Christine Pope
There was nothing but those streams of magic, not his hands on my body, not his mouth on mine — nothing but the strength of my will, ripping outward like a blazing sword of light, cutting through them, severing the strands in one mighty rush.
A keening cry, ripping at my ears, and a rush of cold air around me — and then the hands on me loosened, and the man who had held me just a few heartbeats earlier slumped to the ground. I gathered myself, questing outward for any remnants of that magic, but it was gone, scattered like a morning fog in the race of the rising sun.
I knelt beside him, reached out, turned him over gently. His blank eyes stared up at the stone ceiling, and then he slowly blinked, thought and reason returning to his features. When he spoke, his voice was barely more than a whisper. “Lark?”
It was him. I knew it then, knew it in that one simple syllable, in the open way his gaze met mine. “Oh, yes, beloved, I’m here.” And I reached out and pulled him to me, weeping.
His arms tightened around me, but he asked, in firmer tones, “Maldis?”
“Dead.” Then I shook my head, and pulled away just a little. “That is, he should be dead. The shock of the spell being broken must have killed him.”
“‘Should’? ‘Must have’?” With a moan, he rolled away from me and staggered to his feet. “Do you know where he is?”
I didn’t bother protesting that he had had a shock as well, and that he should not be exerting himself. Instead, I rose and said, “The cellar. Where you kept Ulias.”
Only a nod, and then he was moving away from me, his steps stumbling and ragged, but determined. Too determined.
“Kadar — ”
“Do not try to stop me, Lark. I will have my vengeance.”
There being nothing I could say to that, I merely followed him as he made his way through the hallways, more than once bumping into people, all of whom looked after him with startled expressions but did not protest. Maldis might have thought Kadar a very casual ruler, but he was their ruler nonetheless. After that it was down the stairs, into the cold and the scent of dank, damp cold.
I was not sure what we would find there. Maldis’ body, still and unmoving, only this time in death and not the mere semblance of it. Or perhaps the fur-covered cot empty, with him tricking us again at the last.
But I saw neither of these things — the dark mage stood there, the slight form of a woman cradled in his arms, some kind of thin reed, stained with blood around the edges, projecting from her throat. Blood dripped from his mouth, showing the vile purpose of that reed.
Ulias had never told me exactly how Maldis stole his victims’ power. Now I knew he had taken it by drinking their very blood.
My stomach coiled in revulsion, even as Maldis sneered, “You are too late! I have taken her power, and then I will take yours, lying bitch!”
Kadar’s arm was a blur. At first I could not even tell what had happened, exactly, only that Maldis collapsed, the unknown woman’s limp body sliding from his arms. As the dark mage’s head rocked backward, the torch light caught a gleam of steel buried in the pale flesh of his throat. And then I looked from the wound in his neck, which had just begun to bleed, to the empty scabbard at my husband’s hip.
Our eyes met, and, incongruously, he smiled. “Magic is all very well in its place, my love, but never underestimate the power of a good blade.”
I gave a hiccuping little laugh and ran at him, throwing my arms around him, pressing my face to his chest. He held me, his heart beating strong and sure against my cheek. And then I lifted my face to his, and he kissed me, strong and sure and sweet, my love, my husband. I did not want to stop, or let go, because his mouth on mine reassured me that he was himself again, only my Kadar, the one man in the world who knew who and what I was, and loved me for it despite everything.
At length he said, “Not that I don’t appreciate you breaking that spell. Magic does have some uses.”
I gave him a mock glare, playing along. “Oh, it does, does it?”
“Yes, it does. And do you know what else?”
I shook my head. “No.”
The golden eyes gleamed. “I think you will make North Eredor a very fine queen.”
“North Eredor doesn’t have queens,” I pointed out.
He grinned, seeming to light up the dingy room with the force of his smile. “It does now.”
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T
ALES
OF THE LATTER KINGDOMS
T
HE WITCHES
OF CLEOPATRA HILL
Darkmoon (Coming August 2014)
T
HE GAIAN CONSORTIUM
SERIES
T
HE SEDONA TRILOGY
Also available in an
omnibus edition
at a special low price!
C
hristine Pope has been writing
stories ever since she commandeered her family’s Smith-Corona typewriter back in the sixth grade. Her work includes paranormal romance, and fantasy and science fiction/space opera romance. She now works as a freelance editor and graphic designer in addition to writing fiction. She fell in love with Sedona, Arizona, while researching the Sedona Trilogy and now makes her home there, surrounded by the red rocks. No alien sightings, though...not yet, anyway!
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