Chapter 23

23

Reliable allies fortify better than stone walls.

~ Ranger Sergeant Myorkdar the Grim

"You don't have to escort me all the way back." Kaylina rode side-by-side with Vlerion, following the river trail toward Stillguard Castle. She didn't mind the company, but she always worried when he came anywhere near the plant. He also hadn't yet seen Doc Penderbrock about his injuries.

"I'll see you to the door to make sure kidnappers don't spring out." Grim-faced after their interactions with Spymaster Sabor, Vlerion looked toward the north. In the direction of Havartaft Estate and his mother?

"I do hate springing kidnappers, especially ones who pretend they're interested in our food and our mead, only to use that against me."

"Feigned mead interest is the primary reason they irked you?" His gaze shifted to her, and he managed a smile.

"The mead and the food. My brother was put out that they inquired about his mint-cherry glaze to bait me into a trap."

"I might have thought their intent to grab and gag you would have been more egregious. With cloth stuffed in your mouth, you wouldn't have been able to call them pirates."

"That would have been horrible. I would have had to find other ways to demonstrate my irreverence."

"Perhaps by pelting them in the skulls with lead rounds."

"Perhaps."

Kaylina beamed a smile at him, in a better mood than she should have been, given the day she'd had. But now that they knew the source of the kidnappers, Vlerion ought to be able to talk to his mother and put an end to them, and she was on her way back to Stillguard Castle in time to help with the grand opening. Further, the plant had implied it would allow people to sit and enjoy the mead and food without attacking them, as long as they didn't represent a threat to her.

Her smile faltered when she remembered Sabor's note and parting words about the plant. The sentinel. She glanced at her brand. Was her life now tied to its?

Given how many people had tried to maim and remove the plant from the castle over the years, that might not matter. The thing could take care of itself. It had not only shocked her but used its vines to kill people with ill intent. And it had lived for centuries, maintaining its curse on the castle. And keeping an eye on the city and humanity in general? Probably.

"I should take these taybarri back to ranger headquarters after dropping you off." Vlerion waved to the herd following them. Kaylina's self-appointed bodyguards. "They are bonded to rangers who are doubtless wondering where their mounts have gone. I don't know if I would succeed, however, in convincing them to leave."

"They're also determined to help with springing kidnappers."

"I think that's Sergeant Zhani's Blu," Vlerion mused. "And is that Jankarr's Zavron?"

Kaylina spread her arms, feeling guilty about collecting taybarri who had other duties.

"Why don't you guys go home with Vlerion and get some rest?" she suggested to them. As much as she appreciated the bodyguards, they might intimidate diners coming for the grand opening. Besides, the castle—the sentinel —ought to keep an eye out for her. "I'll bring you some leftovers tomorrow—and honey drops too."

At the mention of treats, the taybarri whuffed with interest.

"Will you also bring me leftovers?" Vlerion asked.

"Yes. Do you want honey drops too?"

"The strawberry ones."

"I can arrange that."

He smiled wistfully. "I wish I could come tonight to enjoy the event."

"I wish that too."

Stillguard Castle came into view, the glow of the tower not visible by day or from the back approach, but Kaylina trusted it remained. Even so, she would go up and feed the plant later. She had more reason than ever to ensure it stayed healthy and happy.

"Do you think Sabor will be able to figure out who hired the assassins?" Kaylina asked. "Do you think he cares enough to do so?"

"I believe he cares little about me, but having sage assassins traipsing through the capital is a matter of kingdom security. They might pick up other contracts while they're here. He's aware that the Virts still want the king gone. Sabor should be looking into the assassins and who brought them into Zaldorian territory."

"Hm." Kaylina had little faith that Sabor would do anything helpful and wondered if she could somehow ferret out the information. Of course, she hadn't yet figured out how to lift Vlerion's curse, so she couldn't proclaim herself an expert researcher. As soon as the grand opening passed, she vowed to drag Frayvar to a library to delve into books on druid magic. Specifically, druid curses .

"I'll look into it myself after I visit my mother and tell her to call off her hounds," Vlerion said.

"Good." Kaylina touched Levitke's shoulder to guide her toward the front entrance. She wanted to see if Frayvar had set out the mead list she'd made as well as his dinner menu.

A sandy-haired boy stood out front, peering through the open gate. That was closer than most people got to the cursed castle. Maybe he could smell the scents of Frayvar's cooking wafting out and hoped for a taste.

When the boy noticed the herd of taybarri approaching, he spun toward them.

"Oh, a ranger!" he blurted, looking at Vlerion. "Will you help, my lord? Some thugs attacked my family's cart at the market." He glanced at Kaylina and pointed down the street behind them. "They're shaking down my dad for money. It would be moon blessed if a ranger and all his taybarri showed up."

"These are not all my taybarri," Vlerion said mildly. He glanced at Kaylina, but maybe he didn't want to explain what an anrokk was to a boy with troubles on his mind.

"I'll be fine." Kaylina dismounted and waved for Vlerion to deal with the problem.

The boy nodded eagerly, glancing at her again and also into the courtyard for some reason.

She thought of the kidnappers who'd feigned interest in the menu to catch her off guard and looked at Vlerion, almost saying something, but the boy ran around the herd and headed down the street, waving urgently for Vlerion to follow.

Vlerion noticed Kaylina's gaze and lifted a single finger. Promising he would return soon?

"Don't worry about me. Protect those without fangs and claws to call upon." Kaylina pointed to indicate the taybarri, though the description also applied to the beast.

"Hurry, my lord," the boy urged. "They'll get away with all our coin!"

Vlerion's eyelids drooped slightly. Because the boy presumed to order an aristocrat? Or because he thought the kid was up to something? Either way, he did follow.

"You'd better wait out here," Kaylina told the taybarri—only Crenoch went off with Vlerion.

She looked toward the tower. From the front of the castle, the purple glow was visible. Every time she returned and saw it hadn't turned back to red, she was relieved, but the plant could be in a good mood and still attack rangers—and their mounts.

Levitke followed her gaze and whuffed, though her nostrils also twitched in the direction of the kitchen.

"I'll bring some honey out in a bit," Kaylina said. "And you all can have whatever leftovers there are tonight after the diners leave."

That prompted several agreeable whuffs.

Kaylina gripped the hilt of her sword and walked warily through the gate. She peered left and right into the courtyard, half-expecting a trap.

A man with a pad of paper and a pencil stood between the gate and the front door. He was alternately looking toward the tables and chairs set up in the courtyard and a menu posted on a stand. He hmmed to himself and scribbled on his paper, like an auditor coming to check the numbers. Or maybe some building-code enforcer, determining if the castle was structurally stable enough for guests to visit.

"May I help you?" Kaylina didn't see Frayvar or Silana and assumed they were prepping in the kitchen.

"Ah, yes." The man turned, holding up the pad of paper and pointing the pencil to the front page. Was that actual writing? It looked like nonsensical scribbles. "Ms. Korbian?"

"Yes?" she asked warily, looking around the courtyard again as he approached.

"You're wanted back in your home of the Vamorka Islands." He put away the pencil and withdrew a piece of cloth. Was that another gag ? "If you can see here?—"

Movement from the walls by the gate drew Kaylina's eye, and she jumped, not hearing the rest. Damn it, four men with truncheons had been pressed into the shadows, two on either side of the gatehouse. If not for the pencil-wielder, she would have noticed them right away.

One man leaped to close the gate before the taybarri could surge through.

Drawing her sword, Kaylina scurried away from the intruders. The pencil man tossed the pad to the ground and pushed aside his jacket to withdraw a truncheon of his own.

"Put down the sword, girl," he said as Kaylina backed until a table blocked her way. "We can make this rough if you want, but it doesn't have to be that way."

"I'm not going anywhere." She raised the blade and crouched to defend herself. "It's my grand opening."

She thought about calling for her siblings, but they weren't warriors. They would only be hurt if they rushed out.

A clang from the gate made two of the men jump. Levitke and two other taybarri had bashed their shoulders against it. Rusty and bent after centuries of neglect, it rattled alarmingly. They might break it. Kaylina knew from experience that it didn't lock. If she could manage to get past the two men blocking it, she could open it for her allies.

"Even if you catch me," she said, "the taybarri won't let you out of here. They're my friends."

The pencil man scoffed. "They serve the rangers."

Levitke snarled, and he flinched, doubt creeping into his eyes.

"You sure we're getting paid enough for this?" one of the thugs muttered, glancing from the taybarri ramming against the gate and up to the tower.

Was that a vine slithering through the window and down the outer wall?

"Tadzt said we were," another replied.

"He's full of?—"

Levitke snarled again.

"Tadzt?" one asked the pencil man uncertainly.

"Get her, you idiots." Tadzt pointed his truncheon at Kaylina, though he didn't advance on her himself. "We'll go out the back to the boat. Those animals won't catch us."

The vine reached the ground and slithered toward him. He didn't see it approaching.

"Go out the back gate by yourselves, and never come back. If you want to live." Maybe Kaylina shouldn't have pointed out the vine, but she did. As much as she appreciated the plant's protection, she didn't want to watch it strangle more people, especially not in the courtyard. This was the heart of her grand opening, damn it.

At first, Tadzt didn't look, probably suspecting her of a trick. But one of his men swore and pointed at the vine creeping toward him.

Tadzt spotted it, eyes bulging, and skittered back. "What the?—"

Someone who must have come in through the back gate ran out from behind the corner of the keep and sprang upon him. Vlerion.

He ripped the truncheon out of Tadzt's grasp as he grabbed him from behind and held a dagger to his throat.

Kaylina lifted a hand, afraid she would spot the glint in his eyes that meant the beast was close to the surface. But Vlerion's blue eyes were cool and calm, and she suspected he'd known all along the boy was part of a ruse.

"Drop your weapons," he told the other kidnappers.

They'd halted their advance, looking in horror from Vlerion to the vine and back. It was still creeping toward Tadzt. At least it seemed to consider him more of a threat than Vlerion.

Kaylina jogged toward the vine and stood to block it. Not that it couldn't easily get around her.

"We've got this handled," she told it and willed the words to travel to the plant in the tower as well.

Only then did she notice more vines had sprouted from the wall near the gate, waving in the air, threatening the other kidnappers.

"Drop your weapons, and leave if you wish to escape with your lives," Vlerion said. "The cursed castle protects Kaylina Korbian, she who is possessed of druid blood."

From the wide-eyed looks the men shared with each other, Kaylina doubted anyone had mentioned that information to them. One spotted the vines stretching from the courtyard wall behind them. He dropped his truncheon and ran toward Vlerion before jerking to a stop, probably as intimidated by his cold eyes as by the magical plant.

"You can tell the person who hired you that Ms. Korbian is not going anywhere," Vlerion said. "She belongs here now." With me , his eyes said, his gaze shifting to her, intense and protective.

One of the vines flicked its tip. Maybe it felt the same way.

Several of the taybarri growled. In agreement?

Maybe Kaylina shouldn't have wanted so many people—and beings—deciding that she should be here when she hadn't yet decided for herself that she wanted to stay in Port Jirador forever. As fraught as her existence in the north had been so far, she'd longed for home and her bed above the Spitting Gull more than once. But, at the same time, she was starting to feel tied to this place, to the strange plant, to the taybarri, and, of course, to Vlerion.

The brand on her hand tingled. Not threateningly or alarmingly but to draw notice.

"I'd feel better about you if I hadn't read Sabor's letter," she muttered to it.

More rattles came from the front gate. A taybarri was nosing the bars—trying to figure out how to open it without ripping it off the hinges? Not long ago, they'd done that to the portcullis at the royal castle. Maybe, because Kaylina was leasing this place, the taybarri were being more polite about forcing their way in. Or because they saw that Vlerion had the situation in hand. Vlerion and the plant.

One of the vines flicked again, this time stretching toward the closest man's neck. He'd already dropped his truncheon, but at this movement, he yelled and ran through the courtyard. He weaved between tables and knocked over a chair in his haste to escape through the back gate, to whatever boat was waiting for them in the river.

Vlerion, his dagger still to Tadzt's throat, gazed coolly at the others. The remaining three also ran toward the back gate.

Levitke whuffed. It sounded like a question.

"Let them go," Vlerion said, though he tightened his grip on Tadzt. "You will return the coin to the person who hired you. He serves Lady Isla, who mistakenly thought that it would be wise to kidnap my…"

Kaylina raised her eyebrows, recalling another time when Vlerion hadn't known what to call her. Unlike the beast, who knew exactly what she was to him, Vlerion hadn't quite figured it out yet.

"My mate ," Vlerion said, his eyes meeting hers, charged with feeling.

At the words, a tingle of warmth flowed through Kaylina, pleasure at the admission that he felt linked with her. Maybe he had figured it out.

Tadzt licked his lips, eyeing the hand holding the blade to his neck. "We did gather forces and make an attempt to fulfill the deal. I can only return ninety percent. My men must be paid."

"Your men lived today when they could have all died." Vlerion removed the dagger, but he didn't release Tadzt as he pointed it at the vines. They'd stopped advancing, but they remained, like guard dogs on the alert, watching to see if they were needed. And watching Vlerion, Kaylina feared.

"Ninety percent." Tadzt licked his lips again, glancing over his shoulder to check Vlerion's response. "I can return ninety percent of the fee."

Vlerion snorted and released him. "Fine. My mother deserves to lose something for this scheme."

"Thank you, my lord." Tadzt bobbed his head toward Vlerion and sprinted off in the direction the others had gone.

The taybarri who'd been fiddling with the latch succeeded in releasing it, and the gate creaked open. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Levitke, the others crowded behind, and gazed in, but they looked toward the vines and didn't enter the courtyard.

Vlerion shouldn't have been in there either, but as soon as the last of the kidnappers disappeared, he strode forward, dagger now sheathed, and engulfed Kaylina in a hug.

Though she worried the plant wouldn't like that and, with the other threat gone, would send its vines after him, she returned the embrace. She might have survived the encounter without his help, but he'd known what to say to the man to make a deal. And it had been worth enduring the situation to hear him call her his mate.

Kaylina smiled against his shoulder, feeling more drawn to him than ever. Feeling more that she belonged with him.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"As I said, I will ride out to the estate and speak with my mother. She will not hire anyone else to kidnap you." His tone was harsh, almost savage, and she knew he was tired of people going after her—and relieved nothing had happened this time. As if to verify that, he kissed her neck and slid his hand down her back to cup her butt, drawing her into him. "You will stay in Port Jirador with me."

It was an order rather than a request, so maybe she should have bristled, but her body molded to his, eager to obey the command. She wanted to stay here with him.

He kissed her, not on the neck but on the mouth, claiming her, ordering her to stay with his body as well as with words.

His touch roused desire within her, making her forget the danger as she instinctively tightened her grip on his shoulders and arched into him, pressing her mouth to his. Passion infused the kiss. Passion and feeling . Maybe Vlerion had been more worried than he'd let on. Maybe he'd envisioned her being taken from him, parted from him forever.

His passion fueled hers as his hungry touches built urgency within her. She couldn't keep from writhing against him, her grip shifting so her fingers could explore, so she could feel his hard body through his clothes, clothes she longed to push aside. Oh, how she wanted to reward him for helping her time and again, for supporting her even when he disagreed with her goals. And she wanted to reward herself, damn it, to sate her need, to experience the exquisite pleasure that only he could give her.

A faint rustling announced one of the vines snaking closer. Vlerion broke their kiss and gripped his dagger as he turned toward it. Panting, Kaylina struggled to focus, to remember the threat.

The tip raised up like a cobra's head, pointing at Vlerion. Kaylina swore she heard the vine hiss.

" No, " she commanded firmly, as if it were a dog trained to obey.

It paused, considering. The vines that had sprouted from the wall had lengthened, stretching toward Vlerion. They wavered in the air, contemplating the situation.

As much as Kaylina wanted to return to kissing Vlerion, wanted him to be welcome in her new home—and in her bed—she made herself release him and step back.

Perhaps it was for the best. His deep breaths and the fire in his eyes promised he hadn't been far from losing himself to his emotions—to the beast.

"You'd better go," Kaylina whispered, not delusional enough to believe she could command the plant. If anything, it had the power to command her .

As if to remind her of that, the skin of her hand warmed, the brand tingling again.

"I will go talk to my mother," Vlerion said, though his gaze raked her up and down, making it clear he would rather stay with her. Perhaps upstairs in her room…

His interest never failed to arouse her, even when he touched her only with his eyes, not his hands, not his hungry lips.

She made herself look away and say, "Good. Thank you. If I get a chance, I'll find out who hired the sage assassins."

Vlerion's eyes narrowed. "You will stay within these walls where you are safe, and you will not seek out the sage assassins or those who hired them."

It wasn't bad advice, but… "You know how much I like it when you give me orders."

"You may not like it," he said softly, glancing at the vines but also stepping close to her again, leaning in to whisper in the ear that hadn't been injured, "but it makes you hot."

" You make me hot."

"Good," he breathed, then nibbled softly on her lobe as he stroked her waist through her shirt. His touch teased her deliciously and seemed to promise they would be together later, when the plant wasn't watching.

Kaylina knew that couldn't be but couldn't help moaning and shifting toward him, her body loving his attention, craving more.

"Good," he repeated, and kissed her on the neck again before walking toward the gate.

The tips of the vines remained elevated, flicking as he strode past them, but he didn't hurry his pace. Unlike the kidnappers, he wouldn't be scared away by them. Maybe it would have been better if he had been, but he was a predator, not prey, and he wouldn't run.

Kaylina watched him depart, disappointment replacing the heat in her body, and she lamented that she couldn't run after him.

She looked up at the tower window. "We need to have a chat."