Soul of Smoke (25 page)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Sparks

Kai woke smashed against the wall. She let out a soft moan and pressed her forehead to the cool stone, listening to Juli snore, trying to ignore the knee digging into the base of her spine. They’d shared twin-sized beds since they were little, and Kai was used to spending the night on two inches of mattress. But after the hours of practicing last night, her arms and back were screaming.

Juli gave a particularly loud snore, and Kai sighed, wondering how late she’d been with Ashem—not as late as Kai had been with Rhys, but late enough. Since yesterday, when Juli had gone to see him, there had been a definite shift in their chemistry. Kai wasn’t sure from one minute to the next if they would shout at each other or rip each other’s clothes off. Not that they’d gotten anywhere near that, as far as she knew.

How to get out of bed without getting smacked in the face?
She flipped off the covers and scooted downward.

Slap!
The sound of a hand against stone where Kai’s head had been only seconds before.

“Ouch!”

Kai sniggered. Juli kicked her. Kai smacked her leg. It devolved into a slap fight, and for the second time in days, Kai ended up on the floor in a swamp of bedding. Except this time Juli’s bony elbow was poking her in the thigh.

“Stoppit!” Juli groaned and face planted into the pile of blankets. “It’s too early.”

Kai looked around, but the sleeping room was empty. From the distant sound of voices, the dragons were having breakfast in the kitchen.

Kai poked Juli in the side. “You’re supposed to be annoyingly chipper in the a.m. How late were you up with Ashem?”

Juli sat up. Her short blonde hair stood out at crazy angles, at odds with the prim eyebrow she arched at Kai. “Not as late as you were with his kingliness.”

“Yeah, but he was telling me about the war. What did you guys talk about? Or...do?” Kai dragged the last word out, shading it with innuendo and wiggling her eyebrows.

Juli made a noise of disgust. “I am not going to dignify that with an answer.” She disentangled herself from the blankets and sat up. A new stack of books sat on her side of the bed. Juli picked up the top one and flipped it open.

Without Juli to distract her, a pit formed in Kai’s stomach. She’d told Rhys she would heartswear to him today. Spending time with him last night might have eased some of her fears about Rhys himself, but it had only made her more afraid of everything that came with him. “What time is it?

“Morning. Ashem has been awake for hours.”

“Oh,
has
he?” Kai said in a syrupy voice, grateful for the distraction. “And what is your Arabian knight up to?”

Juli gave her an appalled look. “The other dragons are supposed to arrive by tonight, so he’s busy. Thank goodness. It’s keeping him out of my head. Also, he’s Persian. It’s not at all the same.”

Kai opened her mouth to say something intentionally annoying, but instead she sighed and stood. If she was going to become heartsworn, she really did want to talk to Ffion first.

“Kai...” Juli rubbed her forehead with one finger. “I want to tell you not to do it. I want to tell you to run. They could be lying about who Rhys is.” She paused. “But Ashem believes it’s true. I’ve seen his memories. Dragons live so long most of them remember a time when they were the dominant species on the planet. They want that back, and with Rhys out of the way, Owain could do it.”

“Yeah.”

Juli cocked her head. “Did they tell you what would happen if you don’t heartswear?”

Kai tried to remember all of Deryn’s shouting from the previous day. “I don’t think so.”

Juli bit her lip, hesitating. “He’ll go insane. Eventually. From the pain. He might be able to last years, but eventually he wouldn’t be able to take it anymore and...well. You get it.”

Kai nodded. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

Juli rose. “I’m coming with you. I wouldn’t mind learning more about this heartswearing nonsense.”

Kai frowned. Had she told her where she was going and why? Shrugging, she pulled a shirt on over the tank top she’d slept in.

To Kai’s relief and disappointment, Rhys was nowhere in sight. Juli said he was in the hoard again, working out. They found Ffion in the kitchen, just finishing up her breakfast. When Kai asked to talk to Ffion, the small woman nodded and led them to the room Rhys had occupied until the previous night.

Kai and Juli settled on large cushions big enough to remind Kai of beanbag chairs. Juli crossed her ankles; Kai drew her feet up beneath her. Ffion reclined across from them on a stone bench, one arm propping her head, a pillow beneath her elbow.

“So...I know we haven’t talked much in the past few days,” Kai began.

Ffion gave an elegant one-shouldered shrug. “It’s understandable.”

“Right. Anyway, yesterday Deryn...um...educated me. I know Rhys is in pain, that he’s...you know, the king or whatever.”

Ffion watched her, still and listening. Kai cleared her throat. Her fingers hooked through her carabiner. “There are things you tried to tell me that night about heartswearing. I’m sorry I didn’t listen. I was hoping you would tell me now.”

Ffion sat up a little. “Of course.” She tapped her lips with her fingers. “Well, first, there’s the magic. Juli, perhaps you’ve noticed?”

Juli kept her mouth shut and her expression neutral.

“What magic?” Kai turned to Juli.

Ffion sat up farther, her voice taking on a lecturing tone. “When a human becomes heartsworn to a dragon, they’re changed. They aren’t truly human anymore, but a dragon without a dragon body. Therefore, Wingless. As Wingless, you have the same magic as your mate. So, Juli, you’re probably able to hear the thoughts of those around you. Kai, when you heartswear to Rhys, you will be able to manipulate heat and fire.”

Kai opened her mouth. Closed it. Turned, blinking, to Juli. “Have you been reading my mind?”

Juli shrugged. “It isn’t very strong. Impressions. A gut feeling about what’s on someone’s mind. Nothing I’d call ‘mind reading.’”

“It will be weak at first, but you have the same raw potential as Ashem, if not his precision. Your magic should develop fully within a few months.” Ffion tilted her head. “Though I’ve read somewhere that Azhdahā female magic worked slightly differently than the males. More subtle when it comes to reading minds. More like wind through the cracks instead of a hammer against a wall.”

Kai regarded Juli with wide eyes. She wasn’t exactly keen on her best friend becoming a mind reader.

“You’ll also get magic unique to the Wingless. They’re able to provide a short power burst to themselves or another magic-user. Though I’ve heard it can be quite draining for the Wingless.”

Kai sat back in her cushion, recalling how Cadoc had woven fire through his fingers. She rubbed her thumb against her fingertips. When she heartswore to Rhys, she would be able to do magic, too. She grinned.

Abruptly, Juli craned her neck, trying to see down the passage. “Idiot man. He’s hovering.”

Kai turned, but she didn’t see anyone.

Ffion gave a quiet laugh, and Juli glared at her. “Don’t worry, the need to be together all the time eases up after a few days. When Griffith and I swore, it was like being followed everywhere by the world’s most colossal puppy.”

Juli sat up straighter. “So this obsessive
wanting
will stop?”

Ffion shook her head. “It’s always there, but it goes down to manageable levels. In any case, magic and...attraction aren’t the only changes. I’m sure you’ve noticed Juli’s indicium.”

Kai and Juli nodded. Juli ran her fingers over her left arm.

“Wingless indicium are, as you can see, mostly colorless, no matter who you’re sworn to. And I suppose you already know that you’ll have the lifespan of a dragon.”

Kai shook her head “no,” though she’d suspected. There wouldn’t be much point in heartswearing—which could only be done once—with someone who would only live for a fraction of the dragon’s life.

Juli went pale. “What do you mean, ‘lifespan of a dragon’?”

Ffion’s smile faded. “Ashem didn’t...” She trailed off as footsteps echoed through the short passage.

Juli looked thunderous. “Go away, Ashem!”

Ashem’s deep voice came through the curtain. “If you want me to leave, petal, you’re going to have to come out here and make me.”

“Petal?” Juli half-shrieked the word.

Kai grinned. “Why, Juliet King, I do believe he’s your soul mate.”

Juli stood. “All right, you gigantic black iguana. You want to talk again? I’ll talk.” She stalked to the curtain, giving Kai a not-so-gentle whack on the back of the head as she passed. “And you watch it, Monahan, or I’ll tell your ginger lover you wet the bed until you were seven.”

“I was five!”

Juli raised an eyebrow, then yanked the curtain aside and marched into the hall. Kai caught the surprising white flash of Ashem’s smile before the heavy fabric fell back into place. Juli started shouting, but the sound faded as they walked out into the sleeping room.

Ffion lay down on her side again, her head resting on her fist. “She’s good for him, too. What other questions do you have?”

Kai reached for her carabiner. “If I have a dragon’s lifespan...I’ll save my family and the people I love, but I’ll lose them anyway, won’t I? Cadoc said he was over two thousand years old.”

Ffion gave Kai a sad smile. “I’m afraid so. Dragons normally live several thousand years.”

Kai felt the blood drain from her face. That kind of time was unimaginable.

Kai opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again. Thousands of years. She’d had her problems with her family, but... They’d all die, and she’d barely age a year. Their children would die, and she’d still be the same. By the time her body was thirty, she’d have lost track of her brothers’ descendants altogether. Their blood would be so diluted those people wouldn’t count as relatives at all. “How do you do it? How do you live so long without going insane?”

Ffion tilted her head, her eyes focused somewhere in the distance. “Time is relative. When things are good, it flows like a fast river. At times like this, when we’re at war, it seems to stretch and warp. Every day feels like a year might have felt before. I imagine it’s how you experience time on a regular basis.”

“That’s...interesting.”

“Family and friends help. Someday you’ll have children, too. I’ve been told time with young children both flies and drags. I wonder how that will feel.” Ffion’s eyes went distant.

Kai refused to think about children. She had enough on her plate just dealing with Rhys. “Ffion...do dragons have affairs and things? Relationships outside of heartswearing?”

Ffion’s face became guarded. “It happens.”

Kai clicked a carabiner. “Is Rhys...does he have someone waiting for him? I mean, is he already in love?” Her stomach knotted.

“No. Not that I know of.”

Ffion’s answer was a little too quick. Kai watched her, but the dragon woman’s face remained serene.

“Okay...well, I wanted to talk to you about what it’s like to have someone in your head all the time.” She wasn’t sure why, but it felt like she was asking Ffion something supremely intimate. “I mean, obviously Ashem is in Juli’s head. She doesn’t like it, but she’s not reacting the way I did when Kavar...”

Ffion’s eyes lit like a light bulb had gone on in her brain. “Oh, Kai, is that what you’ve been thinking? Heartswearing is nothing like what Kavar did to you. First of all, Rhys is not Kavar. Second, it wouldn’t be an invasion. You’ll be bonded. As much a part of him as he is of you.”

Kai frowned. “Do I want to be in someone else’s head?”

“You don’t have to be all the time.”

“Do you keep Griffith out?”

Ffion smiled. “Not usually.”

“Oh.” Kai laughed a little. “You know, I just realized Juli is basically married.”

Ffion blinked at her, the air of concern deepening slightly. “If you’re just now realizing that, perhaps I should point something out.”

“What?”

Ffion cleared her throat. “If you heartswear to Rhys, you’ll be queen. After what happened with Mair and Ayen, the fact that you’re human is going to cause problems.”

Kai had stopped listening. She tried to speak, but nothing came out.
Queen?
The room spun. Dizzy, she thrust herself to her feet. “Holy... I need to take a walk. Think about this.”

Ffion stood, too, regarding Kai uncertainly. “All right. I’ll walk out with you. Apparently, Rhys cleared a space in the hoard. I’m going to go work out with Griffith.”

Kai nodded numbly, following Ffion out into the main cavern. Kai, needing air, trudged up the small rise to the ledge.

There wasn’t a point in delaying any longer. Terrified or not, she should find Rhys. She didn’t want to wait for Ashem to lock them in a room together or—

Kai froze. Not ten feet in front of her, Rhys stood on the edge of the ledge, his toes hanging over space, staring out at the distant horizon. He wore no shirt, his hair dark with sweat, as if he’d been working out. The white bandages, his constant accessory since they’d arrived, were gone.

He finally looked as strong as his power made it seem he should.

He lifted his head, as if he’d sensed her, and turned. His mouth curved into that heart-stopping half-smile.

Kai swallowed and reached for a carabiner.
Click
,
click
,
click.
The thunderstorm feeling rolled over her as she stepped out of the cave. “How’s it going?”

The smile grew a little. “All right.”

Kai’s throat went suddenly dry. How should she do it? It seemed sort of abrupt to just walk up to him and kiss him.

“So...I talked to Ffion.”

He watched her.

“She said that Wingless have magic.”

Rhys nodded.

Kai found herself mesmerized by the curve of his lips. “Fire magic will be pretty awesome.” She heard herself babbling, but there didn’t seem to be a way to stop. “I mean, mind reading magic is slightly
more
awesome, but—”

Rhys folded his arms across his chest. “You think Ashem’s magic is better than mine?”

Kai grinned. He looked genuinely affronted. She shrugged, just to goad him. “Well, I mean,
reading minds
...”