I like to think, he said, that when I break you, Ill have broken someone who deserved the worst I can dish out. Seems youre in the mood to make me a happy man.
Happy? I want you dead. A look of horror crossed her face. She inhaled sharply, which lifted the supple curve of breasts draped in silk. She appeared ready to vomit.
Tallis chuckled. You didnt mean to say that, did you?
Exaggerating the ache in his shoulder, crouching before her, he shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet. Rather than leap, he leaned and swept his right leg. The toe of his boot caught behind her upper thigh with a hard kick. He yanked. Between the blow and the pull, she fell hard onto her side.
She coughed, struggling for air. He pushed forward with two crouched strides and snatched the stolen blade from her bound hands.
The Sun has some fight. Gratifying, but it wont change anything. The gathering ferment outside the tent renewed its hold on his attention. Stay. Unless you want to remain unaware of whats happening among your flock.
Her mouth was . . . gorgeous. There was no other word. Bee-stung lips twisted into a sneer. Do it.
Thats the only command of yours Ill obey.
Intending to piss her off, he took one more taste of the lips hed never believed could be real. Seeing her in the flesh, tasting and smelling and touching herthose intimacies made her night visits more ephemeral. They were mere shadows compared to the sweet bitterness of the kiss he took without permission.
She bit him. Tallis reared back. He swiped a hand against his mouth and came away with blood.
That wasnt very nice, goddess.
But he was still grinning.
Both seaxes firmly grasped, Tallis peered outside again. Dusk approached to take the place of full sunlight. Amiable pods of Indranan had been gathered around their fire pits. Now they hurried around wearing frightened expressions.
Strange .
Talliss own clan, the Pendray, suffered from historic self-esteem issues, but at least they displayed what they felt without pretense. They were
boisterous and unapologetic. The Indranan, however, were made of mystery. To see the camp transformed into a frenzied, buzzing collection of scared souls was shockingso many emotions laid surprisingly bare.
Let me go, came the persuasive voice at his back. Whatever grudge you hold against me, you know I can calm them.
No. Their panic will remain unaddressed by their savior. Seeing you discredited and ruined has always been my goal, no matter that I enjoyed kissing you. He couldnt help another mocking smile. But that was absolutely necessary.
Youre crazy and spiteful and, to be honest, a sickening excuse for a Dragon King.
To be honest? An interesting choice of words.
He turned away, chagrined by the power she wielded without thought to the consequences. The fervor had died down, but only because hurrying worshipers had frozen solid, no matter where they stood. Their attention was focused on the altar.
Tallis narrowed his eyes. A man stood where the Sun had delivered her pandering benediction. He was tall, with a commanding presence. His hair was brown, his features sharp, his clothing black on black. Among those gathered in the valley, his layers of leather and protective plates of silver armor stood out like a burn on a childs skin.
The Sun was a warmonger in silks, but this stranger was pure violence. No pretense. Grim lines flanked his mouth. A sharp, narrow nose and brow that was no lighter for its elegance. Those features werent masked. They were solid and brazen and true to Talliss every sense. And what he saw was a remarkable resemblance to the Sun.
You were expecting someone else, the stranger intoned, his words hypnotic. They echoed back across the valley like a one-two punch of spellbinding power. You were expecting a savior. Im here to say there is no such thing. And theres no such thing as reconciliation between the factions of the Indranan. There never will be.
Tallis turned and grabbed the Sun by the scruff and dragged her to the tents opening. Her face had gone chalk white. The color looked sick and unnatural on a Dragon King, but it was especially disturbing when it leeched the soft charisma of her beauty.
Who is that? Tallis was more agitated than he would have liked, but the unexpected was always a threat.
That. She swallowed. That is Pashkah of the Northern Indranan. My brother.
If skin could turn to ice, Kavyas would have had more in common with the glaciers up the Rohtang Pass.
She hadnt seen Pashkah since she was twelve years old. No matter that span of years, she would never mistake his stance, his facethe face he hadnt bothered to disguise. Hed never needed to. Even as a boy, hed been able to hold a freakishly blank expression so well that not even she or Baile, their sister, could gauge his emotions. Demons and monsters and ghouls were nothing compared to his uncanny nothingness. Had she been able to understand him, with telepathy or her senses, she might have been able to save Baile.