InSpire (11 page)

“Will Your Majesty swear to up hold the laws and traditions of our people? Will you swear to protect them and serve them until you no longer draw breath in Spire?”

“I will.”

“Then I hereby crown you Queen Athena of Spire.”

“Now join hands.” A different advisor was addressing Athena and Darian. Darian stepped around the throne and took Athena’s hand. The advisor placed a smaller crown on Darian’s head. “Have you come to join purely to each other for as long as you both draw breath?”

“We have.” It wasn’t the romantic wedding she was expecting, but neither of them felt denied in anyway. She wanted her man by her side. He wanted to protect his Queen for all time.

“Will you both swear to love and honor one another and never forsake each other?” The little guy was trying hard to be steady in his role, but Darian towered over him.

“We do.”

“Then it is settled in the eyes of all who reside in Spire. This man and this woman are husband and wife. If you will it he is your King.”

“I will it.”

“Then you are crowned King and Queen of Spire.” Darian kissed her quickly as they both took their seats. The main throne was Athena’s. Though Darian was her King, he wouldn’t be looked at as her equal. It wasn’t exactly perfect, but it was as close as they would get. Darian smirked at the advisors. The last time he was in this room he was being banished. He was sure these men were not happy to put him on any throne. He wasn’t royal by birth. The child growing in his wife’s belly was. That was good enough for Darian. It would have to be good enough for the advisors, not that he cared. The advisors were not people he would ever be around.

“Have soldiers been dispatched?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

“Then send fifty of your best men toward the cave. They will try to escape with him through there. If father doesn’t give in they will not make it out. I want no life spared.”

Darian smiled at her response. She was forceful. He wasn’t sure her order was the right one, but she didn’t hesitate making it. “Are you sure you don’t want to question at least one.” Darian whispered in her ear as to not undermine her authority.

“The King has a valid point. They may spare one so that she can be questioned by our interrogators.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The war room behind the throne was suddenly busy with generals and others seeking out their orders. Athena was content to sit there and soak in what just happened. It wasn’t but a few days ago that she believed she was a nobody, just an awkward sales clerk and stocker at the local grocery store. Now she sat on a throne in control of all of Spire. The world certainly was full of all kinds of surprises.

CHAPTER EIGHT

All afternoon was spent trying to find a plan of attack. The soldiers had been dispatched, but nothing had come back. It was going to take time for them to make it there and apprehend the witches. They wouldn’t go straight through. Not with the amount of demons that were held in Spire. The unlimited amount of power available to them would be like a drug.

“Your Majesty should retire. We will call if there is any change.” Ubrene was polite enough. He was just looking out for their well-being, but Athena didn’t want to go to bed. She wanted to kill whomever took her father.

“He’s right, my love.” Darian reached out his hand to her. She took it begrudgingly. They stepped up and passed the thrones. The generals and advisors would stay in the war room to keep planning.

They walked hand in hand to the bedroom. Darian opened the door for her. He walked to the closet and grabbed their robes.

“Would you like a bath?” He was handing her the robe as he spoke. She looked forlorn.

“Maybe that would help.” She took the robe and undressed faster than Darian. Her powers were increasing since they were crowned. He knew it was coming. He could feel it coursing through his veins as well.

“I will run the water for you.” He disappeared into the room. Athena stood in front of the bed and stared at it. She was lost. It broke her heart when Johan was taken to his room. He was so exhausted he passed out on the floor. Her heart ached for him. She walked into the bathroom to be overwhelmed by the scent of roses. He had put essential oils in the water for her. It touched her how much he cared.

Darian looked at his wife. He couldn’t have been happier to have her forever. He sat on the edge of the tub. She walked up to him and he wrapped his arms around her waist. He held her tight for a while. Then he pulled the ties on her robe. It fell open just enough for him to see her belly. He put his hands on either side of the little bump. Then he kissed it. She ran her hands through his hair. The love passing between the two of them was tangible.

“Let’s get you in the water.” He slid her robe down the rest of the way and lifted her up. He put her down gently and then slid in behind her. She relaxed back into him. They laid there in the water for twenty minutes just reveling in each other. It was nice for both of them. When their fingers were wrinkled, Darian stood up and then lifted her out of the tub. He carried her to the room and set her down in front of the bed. He moved quickly to the bathroom and grabbed two towels. He dried her body off and then pulled the covers down. She slipped in. Darian climbed in beside her and started kissing her neck. He massaged her breasts with his hands as his mouth traveled south. Athena was trying her best to be involved, but her eye color never shifted. Darian moved south until he came to the apex of her thighs. He suckled and kissed her there for a few minutes. She grabbed his hair and tried to participate. She just wasn’t getting there.

“Maybe not tonight?”

“I’m trying. I’m just so distracted.”

“I know, love.”

“Maybe we just try to sleep?”

Darian climbed back up her body and wrapped her up with his arms. The heat of his body made her settle down. She closed her eyes and desperately tried to sleep. It was only an hour later that found her pacing the floor. She hadn’t even bothered to put on a robe. She was so preoccupied. By now they should have had some word from the soldiers. Nothing.

“Come to bed, love.”

“I can’t.”

“Then we have to do something. Your pacing is going to be the death of me.” He clamored out of bed. He walked over to her with the reddest eyes. He was full of passion and anger.

“What can we do?”

“We don the royal armor and find him ourselves.”

“Fine.”

They walked to the closet together. They both put on black. She wore skin tight leggings and a shirt to match. He wore black jeans and a black t-shirt. They were ready for their armor. They walked together back to the throne room. They arrived to find only a few of the advisors up for the day. It wasn’t even dawn yet. They didn’t expect to find too many around, but they didn’t them. They were going to suit up and take care of business. Darian trusted Athena explicitly. He wouldn’t go to war with anyone else by his side.

“Good morning, Your Majesties.” Ubrene saw them first.

“Fetch the royal armor.”

He bowed again then sent a servant into the next room. He came back with two others carrying Athena’s and Darian’s armor. Hers was that of royalty and Darian’s was that of the royal guard. Darian was thrilled to see his again. It wasn’t the royal armor Athena was expecting for him, but it was short notice.

It took the servants a full ten minutes to dress them. Athena had forgotten how involved the armor was. Once the breast plate was secure she called for her sword. It had been centuries since she called it to her side. It took a full minute for it to materialize. Athena wasn’t really sure it would come to her when she called it. The last time she used it she was cutting her wings off. Darian called his sword quickly. It wasn’t the first she had seen him do this. It was natural for him. It would be natural for her soon.

“Shall we?” Darian bowed to her and held out his hand. Athena had a hard time not staring at him. She had always loved him in his uniform. It was one of the things she had first been attracted to. He was gorgeous in it and naked. Athena shook her head. She had to get back on task.

Darian smiled at her. His eyes were quickly shifting from red to purple. Seeing her in the armor was a complete turn on, but he wanted to kill those witches. He would take his wife to bed when her father was safe. If it took him a month he would make up for the honeymoon they were missing out on.

“Yes.”

“I must say you look divine in Gold.”

The royal armor Athena wore was gold and magically enchanted. Had her father been wearing his he wouldn’t have been taken. It was the armor that was important in battle. Skill helped, but royal armor made them almost infallible.

“I expect a compliment of fifty to be waiting at the bridge.”

Ubrene nodded his head in agreement. They walked out of the castle and toward the bridge. Darian could see Athena was nervous. Her demeanor was strong, but the little hints of nervous were obvious to him. He was striding confidently. This was what he was meant to do. It was his calling. In all her years Athena’s had never seen a soldier perform his tasks as efficiently as Darian. They walked through the soldiers to cross the bridge. She stood before them and they bowed.

“My fellow Prins. Today we go to battle to protect our right to be. We have been invaded by a hideous foe who seeks to enslave us. I will never let that be. Who will stand with me?”

“Hoorah!” The soldiers universally committed to the cause.

She looked at Darian and smiled. His chest was puffed out in pride. She took his hand and they bolted through the sky. The entire compliment of soldiers followed behind them. She scanned the area looking for the cave. Once she located it she pointed it out to Darian. They flew down about a thousand yards from the entrance. She motioned for the scouts to come to the front. They did and bowed in front of them.

“Go in and use your sense of smell to find them.”

The soldiers bow to Athena and then took off for the cave. She hoped their sense of smell was as acute as she remembered it. If not her father could be dead soon. They stood outside the entrance and waited impatiently. Darian took her hand for as long as she would give it. She would rather pace back and forth. He was afraid her nerves were going to get the better of her. The stealth was quickly replaced by banging. It wasn’t the battle cry they were expecting. Athena’s heart sank as she realized what that meant. He wasn’t still in the cave.

“What happened?”

“They were in there, Your Majesty. But they haven’t been for a while. The scent is at this end of the cave but not the other.” The largest of three scouts seemed almost as disturbed as Athena. His head was hanging toward the ground as he spoke. They had hoped to find the King. At least they knew he was somewhere in Spire still. Darian could only see the good. Athena was starting to fall apart. Then she looked at him. His resolve steadied her nerves.

“What does that mean?”

“They never came back in.”

“So they are somewhere in Spire?” Athena was stating the obvious for her own benefit now. It wasn’t so much a question as it was a revelation.

“Yes ma’am.”

“I think I can guess where they are.” Darian was confident. He knew what drew the witches there in the first place. The mystery was only Athena’s.

“And?”

“Well if you were here and you lived off of the energy from demons where would you go?”

“Do you really think so?” The look of understanding on Athena’s face made Darian chuckle. He knew she was behind the curve ball, but didn’t expect to have to explain everything to her. It was kind of endearing.

“Won’t know until we go.”

The demons were held in a prison camp until they were collected or reassigned. On any given day in Spire there upwards of five hundred demons in there. It was slow to process them so keeping them was the only they had. It would be an enormous source of power for the witches. Darian knew he was right. They would be as close as they could get to it. They could just sit there and suck the power until they would be unstoppable.

“We should go now.”

They took off for the hills on the other side of the castle. The camp was well hidden from prying eyes, but they had her father. He will eventually tell them where it was. They knew he wouldn’t be able to withstand some of the potions they would administer. They flew up over the mountain to get an aerial view. The camp looked ordinary. There were several demons in the outside pen walking around. The guards were at their posts. From the air it didn’t look unusual. Then they got the feeling in the pit of their stomachs.

“Can you feel them?”

“They’re close.”

“Can we sneak up on them?”

“Chances are they have already seen us. We could land now and try to make a stealthy approach.” Darian was looking around for the most strategic location. He was ever the consummate warrior. Athena’s passion for him burned brightly. Then it was replaced quickly by anger. She would murder every single witch on earth to get her father back.

“Let’s do that.” Darian usually loved to see her eye color go purple, but it shifted so quickly to red it scared him. She was really tapping into her power. She would kill thousands to rescue her father. She was a force of nature right now. He would guide her, but not stand in her way.

They landed together as a group. The vibrations were less on the ground then they were in the air. The guards sniffed the air and found it clean. It was perplexing.

“What now?” The red was still in her eyes, but it was tempered now by some green. He wasn’t sure what was causing the shift. He didn’t want to find out either.

“We fan out. They can’t be too far.” Darian had no problem giving orders to these men. Most of them had been under his command centuries ago. In turn they didn’t seem to mind taking them from him. They would jump for her, but they valued his opinion. Athena was a little bothered but they didn’t know her as well. The soldiers break off and fan out as Athena and Darian head straight for the camp. The guards might not recognize her, but they would recognize the armor they both wore.

“Who goes there?”

“Your Queen, Athena.” Darian stood there with his chest puffed out. He was proud to announce her as such.

“Queen?”

“You dare question?”

“NO. Come in.”

The gate squeaked open and they were met at the door by an official looking gentleman. He was tall with white hair and black wings. Athena should have been used to them by now, but these wings were not exactly black. They had hints of brown in them. She found herself looking at him with the curiosity of a child. When he returned her look with one of his own, she stopped looking.

“Your Majesty, I’m Garrin the camp director. How can I be of service?”

“There has been an infiltration of witches in Spire. We have reason to believe they are around the camp sucking energy from the demons housed within.” Athena tried desperately not to stare at his wings as she spoke. She knew this was rude, but her mind couldn’t quite process how it happened. She should know some things defy explanation. Her wings where the only white ones in Spire. To Garrin’s credit he never let on that it bothered him. Darian wanted to step in and stop her, but that would bring embarrassment to both parties. He only prayed she would realize it soon and stop of her own volition.

“Please come into my office.”

Athena looked around as they walked toward the small building that was Garrin’s office. This place did resemble a lot of the prisons she had seen in the human realm. There was a high barbed wire fence, several buildings used for housing, and six towers. It was quite remarkable. There were a few demons milling around in the outside area but they didn’t seem to notice them. It struck Darian as odd. They shouldn’t just be pacing. Usually there were hundreds of them outside. They would lift weights and play games. It wasn’t like them to be so low on the energy scale. He knew they were being drained, but couldn’t see where from.