Sapphire Falls (The Lost Realm #2)

26. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Savine

T he streets of Orofine were adorned with the harvest. Piles of winter squash, dried beans and grains in barrels, and apples spilled into the streets. It was tradition to display and share the rewards of a long, hard growing season with the whole community, and Savine made sure the tradition was being returned when Latiah needed it most.

The overstocked food that Jasper had been keeping for himself was being redistributed to the folk who were left with nothing after this war, and Bayberry had generously provided the rebel army’s winter supply to them before Jay brought the warriors home.

Avery leaned back on Savine’s chest as Jari navigated the busy streets. Savine could feel the softness of the fur coat she wore rubbed against his chest. Her bold, red gown was draped over Jari’s sides.

The day was unusually cold for autumn, with an icy rain slashing down on them as they made their way through the crowd, and Savine savored the heat of Avery’s body against his, his essence keeping them dry together. She pointed to a crowd of children playing a common game with a stick and a hoop, laughing as the children took turns pushing the hoop along Jari’s side.

Despite his doubts, Avery had accepted him as her soulmate. They were forever connected at a soul level and that bond between them had been as soul-shattering as their shared orgasm. Abyss damn him, he’d felt the tattered and torn pieces of his soul mend as the bond filled him, stitching him back together.

Savine knew the crown atop Avery’s head was a heavy burden that she didn’t want. He’d tried to teach her how to pull the dainty band back into her skull, saying she didn’t need to reveal it if she wasn’t comfortable, but it wouldn’t work. He didn’t know if it was because she didn’t have any essence running through her, or if they hadn’t found the solution yet, but her crown was stuck on display for all to see. Even with the crown on her head, Avery looked happy, and that made Savine incandescent with joy. He didn’t know how he could live with such lightness in his heart after so many years of pain.

Jay and Raikin rode side by side in front of Savine and Avery. Kyla and Garnel were behind them as other courtiers and warriors followed behind them, parading through the city, a tradition that led them to the temple to receive a blessing from Orofine’s city goddess. It was a blessing to have the Goddess of the Harvest in his city, especially on the most important holiday of the year.

Jay turned back to them, smiling with a wide grin. “What do you think, My Queen?”

“That sounds good coming from you! Maybe I’ll get used to being called queen!” Avery shouted above the crowds, making Savine’s ears ring. He supposed his human soulmate would never learn volume control.

“Being queen is very becoming on you. Be proud of your title,” Jay replied.

Savine could barely overhear Raikin’s chastising tone, “Please save this conversation for a more appropriate time.”

Jay turned and winked at Avery. Savine’s heart tightened as Avery laughed in reply. She turned to him, a mischievous smile on her face. “I don’t know anything about queenly behavior. You know that, right?”

“You can be as queenly as you please, my flower. Create the role you want, but wear the crown proudly. It brings you the security I’ve so desperately wanted for you.”

She waved to the crowd as they bowed before her. Savine eyed the crowd for any threat against Avery, but the faces he met were not angry or frightened. The mood was celebratory, and Avery was close enough to be safe in his arms. There was a distinct reason he’d turned down Jay’s suggestion to let her ride Dandelion beside Jari. Savine had no intention of letting Avery out of his arms, especially after the attack on her during her arrival in Orofine.

He had no doubt in his mind that there were still folk who wished to do her harm. Yet, with the crown on her head, she had the same protection he bore as the True King of Latiah. She was the True Queen, and he couldn’t help but praise Althea that Avery carried this added protection. Only a desperate Latian would consider forfeiting their soul to the Abyss to kill Avery now.

Avery leaned her head back against Savine’s shoulder, wrapping her arm up and around the back of his head as she pressed delicate kisses to his neck. The crowd let out another cheer. Jari snorted in disapproval, but Savine allowed all of it to soak in. He closed his eyes, sinking deeper into her touch as his cock twitched.

He could not be getting an erection in the middle of a fucking parade. “Avery,” he hissed.

Jari tripped, jolting them to the side and a scream of agony cut through the crowd.

Savine looked down to see a young boy, no older than eight, between Jari’s front and back legs.

Instinctively, Jari stopped as the child’s toy rolled to the other side of the street.

“We hit him!” Avery whispered. “We just hit a kid.” Her voice shook with emotion, but Savine didn’t let it get to him.

He dismounted Jari and helped Avery down. Immediately, she knelt at the boy’s side as Jay hopped down to move Jari away from the injured child. Savine crouched beside Avery. The boy’s arm appeared to be broken, crushed under Jari’s weight.

“We need a healer!” someone yelled from the crowd. Hyacinth had to be somewhere nearby, but Savine felt helpless as he scanned the folk pushing in close.

“Kyla! We need you!” She was at Avery’s side immediately, assessing the child’s injuries.

The guards pushed the growing throng back, with Garnel barking orders to the citizens to give them space.

“I can do this,” Avery said in a small voice. “I can heal him here.” Kyla nodded and Savine stood, giving Avery room to work.

She sat beside the boy and pressed her hands to the young child’s arm just as a woman ran frantically from the crowd. “That’s my boy!” she shouted. Savine let the woman pass as she looked at Savine with a shocked expression. “What does your witch do to him?”

“Do not fear,” Savine replied as he held the woman back from her child. “She’s a powerful healer.”

As he spoke, green light poured from Avery’s hands, encircling the crying boy’s arm. She continued to pour her light into the child. He could hear her singing softly, whether to call her magic forth or to comfort the child, he wasn’t sure. The language was in her native tongue and had a soft, soothing melody. Slowly, the boy’s cries became a quiet sniffle.

Avery slumped back, rocking with effort, and Savine let go of the mother, grabbing Avery’s arm to steady her as he helped her sit down. “I guess I’m still a little weak,” Avery said.

The boy jumped into his mother’s arms. Savine heard the two crying and laughing together. The woman turned, still holding her son tight in her arms. “Thank you, My Queen.” She bowed low, stooping so low she was below Avery seated on the ground, low enough that her dress became wet from the ground.

All around them, the citizens of Orofine followed the mother’s lead, bowing low enough to bring themselves below Avery’s tiny frame. Kyla and Garnel, Jay and Raikin, and all the procession with them prostrated themselves with the city before their human queen.

Savine joined his people as they bowed before his queen, the only person he’d ever bow for. Avery’s eyes brimmed with tears as she stood up, taking in the crowd around her.

The small boy rushed from his mother’s side and tugged on Avery’s dress. Avery stooped down, getting face to face with the little one. Savine couldn’t hear what the boy whispered in Avery’s ear, but he saw the kiss the boy planted on her cheek and the big grin on Avery’s face.

Avery turned to Savine, pulling him up beside her. “How do I get them to stand up?” she whispered.

Savine motioned with his hand, releasing the people from their low kneel. He helped Avery up on Jari before he mounted behind her. The delicious warmth of her body sunk between his legs as she moved back to avoid Jari’s impressive antlers.

An adolescent shifter shouted, “A kiss! Kiss your queen!”

Who was Savine to deny his folk and his queen? Savine pulled Avery close as she turned her face to meet his. For the briefest moment, Avery looked at Savine. Her deep brown eyes danced with playfulness and there was a rosy glow to her cheeks. She looked at him with such undeserved adoration it burned his chest. Then her lips met his in a tender kiss that left the crowd around them cheering.

This jubilant procession was so familiar to his homecoming. The overwhelming pride from the folk around him, the acceptance of not only Savine as king, but Avery as his queen. It felt too good to be true. He knew the next street over there would be an angry mob, seeking revenge on Jasper’s death.

And yet it never came. Street after street, revelers cheered and bowed as Savine and Avery made their way through the streets with the other people who mattered most in his life.

“I’m feeling a bit jealous of that boy who gave you a kiss,” Savine whispered into the curved shell of Avery’s ear. He felt the goosebumps raise on her neck and she leaned her head back on his chest.

“Maybe you should be a bit jealous. He was a little charmer.”

“What did he say to you?”

Avery smiled with such happy contentment. “He said, ‘Thank you for taking away my owie.’ I did that though, I helped him. Savine, I want to do that each day. Is that okay? As a queen?”

“Ave, I told you in Nephel that you choose how you spend your time here. Crown or not, I hold no expectations for you.”

Avery nodded and pressed her lips to the bit of Savine’s exposed neck. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

Kyla

Kyla had felt the confidence in Avery’s emotions when she chose to heal the young boy’s broken arm on her own. Her talents as a witch were slowly building each day, and Kyla beamed with pride at Avery’s skillful techniques used to heal the boy’s arm.

The display of support for Avery as the crowd bowed before their queen was something Kyla never expected to witness. From what she remembered in Orofine, there had always been a distinct separation between the king and his residence, and the citizens of Orofine. However, Savine and Avery were already breaking down that barrier between themselves and the city folk.

It only made sense that her brother wanted to break that tradition. He’d never kept himself from his folk during the war, always being there to hear their needs and find a solution to help them. Yet he’d been so unwilling to let anyone do the same for him. Now that he had Avery, Kyla had no doubt that he’d found that emotional support he’d been denying himself for far too long.

She could even feel it in the connection between them. The emotional part of their bond was strong now that it was sealed, and while she tried not to notice, she sensed the deepening bond between them.

Kyla smiled at her own soulmate as they approached the temple. Garnel looked back at her, light shining in his hazel eyes. “Have I told you how much I like your bangs?” he asked. “Such an interesting human word, too. Bangs. They frame your sweet face in a way that I cannot resist admiring, my perfect woman.”

“I think you have told me at least twenty times since I arrived back to you. But don’t stop. I like you showering me with compliments.”

The temple was in view now, on the far side of the city, nearly outside of the wall of enchanted trees that guarded Orofine from danger. She wasn’t sure if Althea’s daughter would notice the mark on her forehead under the glamour that she’d placed on herself. She prayed that the Goddess of the Harvest would not react as negatively as her sister in Nephel had reacted.

“Kyla, what is worrying your beautiful mind?” Garnel asked, pulling their war elk closer together. She envied Savine and Avery’s closeness as they rode Jari together. But that would be impossible for her and Garnel. He was nearly too large for his mount as it was, and she was far too tall to sit between Garnel and his elk’s antlers.

“You know what I hide. What if I anger the goddess?”

Garnel shook his head at her. “No need to worry. You’re not seeking information. You’re only celebrating the Night of Feasts.”

Kyla nodded, but she couldn’t let go of the nervous energy that twisted through her.

Soon she watched as Jay and Raikin dismounted in front of the temple. Avery and Savine followed, and citizens rushed to provide them with the produce to be offered to the Goddess of the Harvest.

This was always her favorite day as a child. Watching as the goddess accepted their offering, receiving a blessing before she would return home to prepare for the evening festivities. Then she’d sneak down to watch her mother and father entertain diplomats and guests. Savine would always notice her and bring treats to her hiding place behind the large trunk pillars.

But as she grew older, the day had lost its magic. Her father’s wrath had warped their family, and she understood the pain he inflicted on Savine. Her mother did nothing to help, too afraid of the retribution she faced to protect her own children. The celebrations and false smiles felt nothing more than another jagged wound to their family.

As Kyla walked toward the temple, her heart pounded. She could see the Goddess of the Harvest, welcoming Savine and Avery to the temple. Avery bowed and received a blessing, her goddess mark clearly visible below the crown peeking out of her hairline.

Garnel took her hand in his and squeezed it. The look of concern on his face made a lump form in her throat. She shouldn’t be letting her concerns get in the way of this new beginning. What happened in Nephel wouldn’t happen here.

Despite now knowing what the Divine Five were, she had no clue where to begin searching for them, and the fear that she’d upset the Premier Goddess in some way weighed heavy on her.

Kyla approached the goddess, head bowed in respect. At some point, someone had handed her a basket of dried huckleberries to present to the goddess.

The goddess’ ethereal light shone in hues of orange and red, her face a mask of indifference as she looked Kyla over from head to toe. “Your gift is accepted,” she remarked in an uninterested tone.

The goddess’ head snapped up and she looked at Kyla with wide eyes. “A blessing for you, my dear.”

The goddess placed her hand on Kyla’s forehead. A scorching burn bit through her head as a voice laced with power and iron filled Kyla’s mind. Do not hide what the Goddess has gifted you. Find what my mother seeks and guide the witches to the Divine Five. Do not delay.

Kyla stumbled and Garnel reached to catch her before she found her footing. A chill had seeped through her flesh, and she shivered in Garnel’s arms.

“What is it, love?” Garnel whispered into her ear.

Kyla looked up to see the goddess had moved on, blessing some citizens. Her face was once again soft and welcoming.

“She threatened me in my mind when she touched me. Let’s go home. Tell Savine I’m feeling unwell.”

Garnel gave a quick nod before he turned to speak to Savine. Kyla didn’t wait before she walked to her elk and climbed on. As she walked, she could feel Garnel’s emotions rising in anger. Their bond felt flooded with his need to defend her from this threat.

When Garnel was beside her, she showed him her forehead.

“I can see it. It’s glowing, as though she branded you with her touch.” He swept his finger over the mark, and Kyla could feel the hot welts on her skin. Anger seared down their bond. Garnel’s voice was sharp and he touched his dagger on his belt. “Stay right here. I’ll be back.”

“Garnel! No!” Kyla hissed, but he was gone. She jumped off her elk, working through the crowd, but as Garnel used his large body to press through the throng, Kyla struggled to squeeze through the gaps.

She touched a woman, sending her urgency and the woman leaped out of her way. The next folk received the same emotion, and she worked her way through the crowd to her soulmate. Even among the Latian folk, Garnel towered above everyone. She tugged on the bond, trying to slow his purposeful gait. Garnel pressed back against the bond, sending his rage to her.

There was no stopping him.

Garnel was towering over the goddess in an instant. Before Kyla could stop him, Garnel plunged the blade into the Goddess of the Harvest’s heart. A piercing scream filled the temple square as light and blood flowed from the wound.

“No one touches my mate!” Garnel shouted. Then he let out an agonizing cry that made Kyla’s essence stand still. His body began shifting involuntarily into his bear form, changing partly then shifting back.

The goddess was in a heap on the ground, light and blood drenching the stones below her. Avery ran to the goddess’ side, pressing her magic into the woman and Kyla watched as the wound began cinching itself together. The woman’s formerly rosy complexion was so ashen, Kyla didn’t know if she was alive or dead, but it didn’t matter to her as Garnel cried out in pain.

Kyla sent comfort into him, yet nothing was working to calm him as his body continued to shift. Savine pressed his essence into Garnel, wrapping him in a tangle of vines. The vines coiled and wound around Garnel’s writhing body, but Kyla didn’t stop her brother. He had to know how to stop this. The pressure of the vines seemed to stop the shifting, and Garnel collapsed on the ground. Kyla pressed herself to Garnel’s side, letting her face fall to his chest.

“It’s gone,” Garnel rasped, his eyes an empty void.

“What’s gone, my love?” Kyla asked, her palms pressed to his cheek.

“My bear form. She took it from me.”

Kyla looked at the goddess being lifted and carried back to the temple. A weakened voice forced its way into her mind, Find the Divine Five or your mate will lose his shifting essence permanently.

Kyla turned to Avery. “We have to find those relics.”