Burning Vengeance
10.

Fay cocks a brow in confusion. "As in your royal sex slave?"

"No." He frowns. "As my courtesan, you will be like an equal to my queen. Mine to treasure as I please. My paramour."

"Your, what?"

"You all heard me."

Celeste fumes as Alarik lifts her from the fighting pit and drags her away from the crowd. His grip is hot and hard over her arm, pulling her back to the feast with little effort.

"Alarik, this is far too reckless."

"It had to be done. I had no-" he halts in his tracks when someone appears in their path.

"Ah, my king. So, Fay will be your royal courtesan?"

"High Priest, I didn't realize you'd heard that."

The priest cocks his head, an unreadable, unsettling expression on his face. "Tell me, what brought about this decision, Your Grace?"

Alarik's grip on Fay tightens. "Even with my upcoming wedding, I cannot deny the fact I crave this woman." He threads his arms around her waist and her mark hums with his unease. "My queen will not satiate my appetites, but my courtesan is more than willing." Celeste and the other dragons catch up to the pair. Surrounded, Alarik bends Fay back and leans in, his mouth so close to hers. "Aren't you willing, my pet?" She feels the priest's eyes on them as well as Celeste's and the royal court's. But most of all, she feels Alarik; his intensity, his desire. He whispers into her mouth. "Show them how much you crave me too."

"No!" She shoves Alarik away from her in front of everyone. He staggers back.

"It seems your courtesan is less than willing."

Alarik looks around at the gathered crowd, which murmurs while Celeste laughs and the high priest studies him with confusion. "She may not be willing, but that doesn't mean I don't have the right to take her." Alarik grabs her wrist and pulls her back to his tent at a furious pace.

When they're safely hidden behind the canvas of the tent, he puts her down. She backs away from him. "Alarik, this is crazy."

"It was the only way to keep you from being destroyed. Why did you jump into that pit?" His wrathful eyes pierce her in the darkness.

She feels a pang of guilt. "I had to. I couldn't let Leah of all people die like that."

"If you'd given me a second to think, I could've saved her without risking-"

"You can't save everyone all by yourself, Alarik!"

"Neither can you!"

Before she's able to respond, the entrance to the tent blows open with black fury. Celeste storms inside. "You made that pathetic fuck-toy your royal courtesan in front of everyone?"

"Don't talk about her that way." Alarik snarls.

"You forget that I have far more power than you, Alarik. I know what you did to Xander." He pales at her words. She strides up to him and to Fay's shock, Alarik backs up. "You killed your friend, murdered him."

"That's not true. It was all me." Fay takes the blame.

"I don't believe that for a second. Xander couldn't have been taken down without Alarik's strength." She rounds on Alarik again, backing him into the darkest corner of the tent. "You enjoyed it, didn't you? Watching him die."

"N-no, I-"

"You bathed in his blood, laughed as he died. He was your friend, Alarik! He was like your brother! You disloyal, traitorous murderer!" Celeste raises her hand to strike Alarik. And to her shock, he doesn't move. Her hand flies through the air, nails like knives.

Fay turns away right when the dragon's hand makes contact with Alarik's face and hears his skin rip. "Agh!" When she looks back, she sees blood trickle down his jaw, but the hurt in his eyes is worse.

"Now for your little whore."

"You won't touch her."

"What are you going to do, stop me? Don't forget, I have you blackmailed. I'll torture Fay however I see fit. In here, in front of the others-"

"You're forgetting I just named her my paramour." Alarik looks up, still shaking but beginning to heal. "In her new position, Fay is no longer my slave. She has a much higher status. And I am still your king."

"But I can expose you. You killed Xander!"

"No one will believe you right now. They'll assume you're making the accusation to get revenge on Fay."

Celeste's jaw drops, completely lost for words.

"Celeste, I'll take an apology now. On your knees."

"What did you just say?" Celeste lunges for her, but Alarik blocks the dragon's path with a dangerous glare.

"I can see we won't be letting bygones be bygones tonight. At least do us a favor and get the hell out."

Celeste grits her teeth, looking from Alarik to Fay. But after a long, tense moment, she sweeps out of the tent. Finally alone, Fay exhales. Alarik's shoulder ease.

"Did you really mean what you said? As courtesan I'll be.... of a might higher status?"

"Yes. Celeste is still a dragon and will be queen, but you'll have far more power and status than you did. It also means you'll have to play your part as my paramour. Sit on my lap, eat from my plate, allow me to touch you in public..."

Her heart skips a beat. "That sounds convenient for you."

"I didn't do it for me. I did it to save you from dying in a duel with a dragon."

"Right...." she remembers what Alarik said about their bond, about the tether causing each other pain. "I'm sorry. If I'd died in that fighting pit, you could've also died."

"Do you really believe that's why I'm upset?"

"What?" She looks up at him. He stares at her, his sharp features glinting in the candlelight.

"Do you really think I was afraid for my own life?"

"No. I shouldn't have said that."

"No. You shouldn't have." With inhuman speed and strength, Alarik takes her face in his hands. "You should know by now that you are my only concern." His eyes as deep and churning as the depths of the sea, bore into hers.

"Alarik-"

He drags his thumb over her bottom lip, parting it for him. "I can't lose you, Fay." He pulls her in, pressing his scorching mouth to hers. "I've lost too much in this wretched life of mine, far too much."

Her tongue tangles with his in a breathless kiss. She melts back onto the mattress and Alarik climbs on top of her. "I can't lose you too. I can't." His kiss drifts down to her neck and his hands glide over the curves of her body, so close to the swell of her breasts. She feels where his hands long to go. Where he longs to tear away the fabric and feel her.

"I-I don't know if I can do this." She backs away.

"I can't blame you for feeling that way."

"I only mean that I've brought you so much trouble. You'll be better off without me."

"I see." Then he turns away, facing the far wall of the tent and bowing his head.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine." A fatigued laugh escapes him and she thinks she hears something in it.

"Alarik, when you said you'd already lost too much in your life... were you talking about your supposed friend? Because of Xander's death?"

"No. It's not that." He rubs his forehead.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but-"

"It won't do any good."

"I don't believe that."

Alarik sighs, gripping the sheets beneath him. "I was talking about my brother. My twin. I was.... responsible for his death." Her heart sinks as she senses the full weight of his pain. His shoulders shake. "I was forced to kill my twin brother in a battle I didn't want to fight."

"You couldn't walk away?"

"I don't know. Maybe I could have done things differently, maybe I could've saved him." Alarik grits his teeth and buries his hands in her hair. "But I didn't. He died and it was the last lost my mother could handle. She already lost my father because of the curse. When she lost my brother, she killed herself. In a very short time, I lost everyone I ever loved." A tear splashes down onto his lap. "I killed my family. My own death won't compare to that pain."

She sighs, needing to change the subject away from the sorrow. "We should get some sleep. Can you take that chair over there?"

Alarik blinks at her words, but rises off the bed. "Of course."

"Sorry. I just need some space to wrap my mind around this whole courtesan thing."

"You don't have to explain, I understand." He keeps his head low as he settles in a chair on the opposite side of the tent. She sinks down into the bed.

As the fog of sleep overtakes her, a strange dream surfaces.

Her bare feet slide on the damp rock floor of an underground tunnel. She takes in the thick air, the cool breeze.

"Fay." She freezes as a commanding, deep voice echoes her name down the black tunnel. "Fay, Fay, Fay...." the echoing voice says her name again, louder this time.

"Wh-who are you? What are you?" Rather than answer, the voice calls her name again, closer.

She takes a few careful steps forward, then increases her speed, running down the never-ending corridor. After what feels like forever, she sees a figure in the darkness. A young man, staring right at her. "So you've come." He walks up to her with a patient smile. "Hello, Fay. I'm Mikhail."

"What is this? Are you a demon?"

"No. I'm real and I'm human, the same as you."

"How is that possible? This is a dream, but it feels-" she starts to back away, her heart pounding.

"Please, don't run."

"Why should I listen to anything you have to say?"

"Because I summoned you here. I am in control of this world." She freezes in her tracks. The young man walks toward her, his face calm and stoic. "Listen. I am the leader of a small group of humans who can harness magic."

"That's possible?"

"Yes. And our goal is to restore freedom to the human race." She can barely believe what she's hearing. The young man steps closer. "Until now, we didn't have enough power to execute our plans. Not until you landed in the Old Place."

"Me?"

"Yes, Fay. You are the key. The key to our freedom."