His Royal Mate

4

The moment she was herself again, Amadeus’ power and will to fight evaporated. It was as if Aria’s wolf had given him the strength he needed, and without it, his power was almost completely depleted.

“I see you’ve unlocked your mage,” Polonius said with excitement. “Come back to Brahman’s Peak, and we’ll continue our work raising Onyx Rah.”

The way Polonius spoke to Aria sent bolts of rage through me. How dare he command her! She wasn’t his, and she had no intention of helping him steal what was rightfully hers.

I almost spoke up to defend her legacy, but Sire Vanoire interrupted me. “She needs endurance training and instruction. Wild, unrefined power will likely destroy all you want to rebuild,” Sire Vanoire warned.

Amadeus also spoke, though he was hardly able to form words. “Whatever mage trains her, they must be as powerful, or her magic will overrule them.” All the while, he coughed and sputtered from the effort to speak.

Watching Amadeus, I saw how much his body and magic had deteriorated under Polonius’ poisoning. I wasn’t sure if mages could even be restored to health from such a state. We had to rescue Amadeus from Polonius.

“Aria doesn’t have to go anywhere with you.” It took incredible strength to hold back my venom as I addressed Polonius. “Her transformation proves that she’s an Onyx Rah royal. Any rights you hold her are null and void. She is free to choose who she wants to marry.

“I can do what I want with her,” Polonius boomed, not listening to reason. “She is my betrothed. Servant or sovereign, nothing changes the fact that she is promised to me in marriage and she’s already agreed to it.”

“I have not,” Aria interrupted. “I was forced to accept your proposal of marriage, but I have never chosen you willingly.” She stood tall and proud before him.

“This is absurd,” Polonius fumed. “I have a contract that says you have. Come, Aria, I’ve had enough.” He outstretched his hand. “I’ll not entertain this nonsense any longer. You’re mine—legally, illegally, I really don’t care. You belong with me. I have ways to force you back I’d rather not use.” He took a step toward Aria, who was a quiet storm. There was no way she’d go without a fight.

“If you want to marry Aria, you will have to court her like everyone else,” I said. “Let her choose you.” I knew the idea would incense Polonius, because Aria would never pick him over me.

“I don’t need to woo what is already mine!” Polonius yelled and continued to stride toward Aria, who centered herself, prepared to fight him.

Sire also poised his arms, readying himself to flail magic to protect her. My wolf and Cheyenne’s were positioned to shift and attack. No one was going to take Aria from us, least of all a brutal tyrant who’d likely find a way to usurp her magic and incarcerate her.

“You told me I was a royal,” Aria said. “You knew it even before I did. Our contract was forfeit the moment my royalty was revealed.” She squared her stance to defend herself.

When Polonius stopped in front of Aria, he reached out to touch her cheek, a disgustingly tender gesture. “You and I both know that’s not true. You’re mine, you’ve been mine since the moment I first saw your wolf.”

His seductive tone was enough to make me sick. I stayed poised, ready to destroy the monster.

“I belong to no one!” she shouted, throwing a ball of fire from her fists that burst onto his chest and singed his cloak as the embers died away.

“Good!” Polonius exclaimed, his eyes glinting with glee. “Very good, my dear. We can work with your magic to make it stronger and more precise.” He shook off the last of the smoldering ashes. “That blast should have penetrated my armor.” He knocked his chest, showing that he wore something stiff underneath his cloak and tunic. “I can make you stronger. Together, we could be the most powerful rulers in all of Voltaire.”

“Never!” Aria gritted her teeth and threw another fireball at him. This one bounced off of his arm and burned a hole in the cloak.

The magic must have touched his skin because he flinched a little before shaking the burning embers off his arm. Polonius looked at Aria with a strange kind of admiration. “You’re a fast learner. Perhaps all you need to do is practice your aim.” A wry smile spread across his face.

She lifted her arms to throw her entire being into another blast, but he caught them in mid-air and held her back.

“You have nothing to teach me!” she screamed as she tried to wrangle her hands out of his.

“Restraint comes to mind,” he laughed as he held her steadfast.

“Aria has the full force of Navarrah’s Armada and armed forces behind her,” I threatened Polonius as I took a step toward him, unsure of what he planned to do with her.

“Surely not behind her this very instant,” Polonius said with a laugh, looking pointedly around us as if the threat of Navarrian armed forces wasn’t a deterrent.

This sent Aria into a rage. Having just obtained her magic, she had little control over its use. With her fury boiling over, she yanked her hands free from Polonius and launched blasts of fire and wind at him, making him jump away from her before being burned alive.

The heat radiating from Aria destroyed dilapidated buildings and overgrown trees, proving the great magnitude of her magic. From the blazing flames, a being started to take shape. Monstrous and dangerous, the fire creature grew to an unfathomable height. Since Aria’s mage didn’t have the means to temper her magic, she quaked in the throes of rage, infernos spurting and popping around her. The monster she created didn’t know who was on the right or wrong side of the argument and likely would have killed everyone had Sire not stepped in.

“Aria!” Sire Vanoire called out. “Rein in your magic1 Hold it tight, or it will spiral away from you and destroy everything!”

With great effort, Aria restrained herself, and the leaping flames cooled to smoking embers while the fire beast that had been forming evaporated into mist. Sweat dripped from her temples while she breathed through the torrent of her rage.

“That’s it,” Sire Vanoire praised, stepping back from her carefully.