Spire of Shadows Read online

  Delaryn groaned. “Please, don’t call me that.”

  Sehris arched a black eyebrow as she placed a hand on either side of her friend’s bare midriff and pulled her in close. “But it’s what you are, whether the tharns like it or not.”

  “That’s not how it works. Not in reality, anyway. The White Throne is empty, and I have a feeling it will stay that way for a long time.”

  “The people are going to need a leader, and soon,” Sehris said. “One day they’ll look to you for guidance, I just know it.”

  “You can’t possibly believe that.”

  “Sure I can. Like you said, I’ve read a lot of books. The beautiful queen always wins in the end.”

  Delaryn snorted softly and shook her head. “You don’t have to flatter me to earn a kiss, you know.”

  “Maybe not,” Sehris said, reaching up with her right hand to brush the other woman’s platinum hair. “But I can’t hurt.”

  She pulled Delaryn in for a kiss. For several long, wonderful moments, the only sound in the cabin was the crackle of the hearth and the rustle of their hands exploring one another’s bodies. Somehow, this was even more peaceful than the bathing room in Tor’s Crossing. It was as if they had found the one place in all of Darenthi where they could actually be alone.

  It may be peaceful right here, but Rohen is out there all alone. Soon he’ll be at the Galespire, and Watcher knows if we’ll ever see him again…

  Delaryn abruptly pulled away.

  “What’s the matter?” Sehris asked.

  “Nothing, it’s just…” Delaryn nibbled at her moist lips. “I’m worried about Rohen. I still don’t like the idea of him going to the Galespire alone.”

  The dark elf nodded somberly. “I know, but it’s not like we could go with him.”

  “Then he shouldn’t have gone, either,” Delaryn said. “We should have stuck together.”

  Sehris smiled tightly. “He couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t at least try to set things right. We may be the only people in the whole kingdom who know what really happened up north.”

  “I know, but that doesn’t make it any easier.” Delaryn turned back to the window by the door. The setting sun cast an eerie crimson glow over the already ominous trees of the Deadwood. Rohen wouldn’t reach the Spire until well after dark, and if he got into trouble, there was literally nothing she or Sehris could do to help him.

  “You didn’t tell him about the voice last night, did you?” Sehris asked quietly.

  Delaryn sighed. “No. We didn’t really talk very much…”

  The dark elf chuckled as she tickled the other woman’s belly. Delaryn squeaked and spun back around.

  “You haven’t told me what it was like,” Sehris said as she pulled her friend close and began untying the laces of her bodice. “I want to hear every little detail…”

  Delaryn huffed, and she felt the faint rush of embarrassed heat in her cheeks. “There’s nothing to tell. It was…wonderful.”

  “That’s a start, but I want specifics,” Sehris said. “Was he on top?”

  “Sehris…”

  “Come on, tell me!”

  Delaryn sighed. “Yes.”

  “Okay. Did he plunge right in or did you make him work for it a bit first?”

  “Oh, Maiden’s mercy…”

  “It’s important!” the dark elf protested, an impish smirk on her lips. When her fingers finished with the last lace, she slowly removed the blue bodice and tossed it to the floor. “If he didn’t take a moment to appreciate you first, I’ll have to scold him when he gets back.”

  Delaryn was just about to protest when Sehris began massaging her bare breasts. A delighted tingle rippled through Delaryn’s body, weakening her knees and nearly causing her to topple over.

  “I could always show him what you like,” Sehris said as she slowly brought her lips down to breast level. “He’s a smart boy—I bet he’ll learn fast.”

  Delaryn gasped when the dark elf’s tongue touched her nipple. Without Sehris’s strong hand on her back, she would have instantly melted into a puddle on the floor—especially when Sehris began to suckle.

  “He knew what he was doing,” Delaryn breathed as she closed her eyes and tipped back her head. “He was very gentle.”

  “Gentle is nice…for a while,” Sehris said, her violet eyes twinkling. “But sooner or later, he’ll need to learn how to take control.”

  Delaryn grinned. “He knows how to—oh!”

  She squealed when Sehris unexpectedly shoved her onto the divan and pounced on top of her. They kissed again, harder and more desperate than before. Sehris pushed the translucent skirt from Delaryn’s hips with one hand while the other crawled down her flat belly and between her legs. Delaryn’s quim was already aflame, and she cried out when Sehris slipped a gray finger inside her.

  “You still owe me from last night,” the dark elf said, smiling down at Delaryn as her black hair spilled over them both. “And I want another taste.”

  Sehris gave her friend another passionate kiss before she languidly licked and nibbled her way down to Delaryn’s breasts, stomach, and then sex. Both women moaned and gasped in near unison as the dark elf’s tongue plunged in and out of the human’s quim every bit as hungrily as last night.

  This time, however, Delaryn wasn’t going anywhere. Sehris carried her to paradise and beyond, first with her tongue and then with her fingers. When Delaryn came down for the second time, she could have easily pulled Sehris on top of her and fallen asleep right there in her friend’s arms.

  But tonight, she was determined to return the favor.

  “I never knew that royal nectar could be so sweet,” Sehris breathed when she finally came up for another kiss. “This may be the first time I ever wished I were a man.”

  “I don’t,” Delaryn replied, grinning as she tasted her own essence on the other woman’s lips.

  Sehris giggled softly. “I suppose a queen needs all kind of servants to meet her needs.”

  “I told you not to call me that.”

  “My apologies, Your Majesty,” the dark elf cooed. “You may need to punish me for my insolence…”

  Still grinning, Delaryn snatched Sehris’s slender wrists. She shoved the other woman upright, then roughly spun her around and pushed her down face-first on the opposite end of the divan. The dark elf’s surprised squeals quickly turned into soft moans of anticipation.

  “Maybe you’re right,” Delaryn said, keeping hold of Sehris’s wrists and pushing them up her back until they made an upside-down V with her elbows. “Maybe you do need to be taught a lesson.”

  Delaryn reached out to the Aether and allowed its power to course through her. The invisible vapor in the air around Sehris’s wrists swiftly froze into a set of icy manacles, and she actually gasped in shock at the sudden chill before she realized what was happening.

  “Vel’bol zhah!” she stammered. “That’s cold!”

  “And about to get colder,” Delaryn teased as she reared back and slapped the dark elf’s upturned ass. Sehris’s leather top would take a while to remove, but thankfully that wasn’t necessary. Her black leggings stopped a few inches above her knees, leaving her upper thighs completely bare, and Delaryn easily flipped up her friend’s skirt and exposed her panties as well.

  Sehris’s quim was already radiating more heat than a campfire. Delaryn knew her friend was thoroughly sodden even before she slipped a finger beneath the silken fabric of the elf’s panties and gently massaged her slit.

  “Oh!” Sehris cried out, her entire body seizing in ecstasy.

  Snickering in amusement, Delaryn leaned down and kissed the other woman’s sopping folds. The heady taste of her womanhood was every bit as intoxicating as when they had first explored one another’s bodies all those years ago.

  “Ka’lith d’lil wenress!” Sehris cooed. “Gods, I wish you could fuck me…”

  “Who says I can’t?” Delaryn asked coyly. Reaching out to the Aether again, she formed a lo
ng, smooth icicle in her hand. With an impish giggle, she brought the frozen phallus to the elf’s molten quim and nudged the thick tip inside.

  “Shu!” Sehris cried out, though her shocked squeals quickly transformed into delighted whimpers as Delaryn eased the phallus deeper inside. “What is…oh…!”

  Gods, she is so adorable right now. Fucking her really would be amazing…

  On a lark, Delaryn shifted directly behind Sehris as if she were about to mount her. Placing the back end of the icicle against her own quim, Delaryn sculpted it into a second phallic head before easing it inside. The sudden chill sent a ripple of delight cascading through her, and she panted for breath as she began gently thrusting her hips, effectively fucking them both at the same time.

  “Harder!” Sehris pleaded. “Oh…deeper!”

  Planting her hands on the elf’s slender hips, Delaryn pumped and pumped until the frozen phallus was sliding in and out of both of their quims. The painful bite of the cold melted into pure, unadulterated bliss, and she couldn’t help but stare down at the breathless dark elf and appreciate just how powerful and dominant this felt…

  “Plynn uns’aa,” Sehris blubbered. “Gods…oh!”

  Her climax shuddered through the phallus and into Delaryn’s quim, setting it aflame. Both women cried out in shared ecstasy, and by the time they came down, their icy toy was little more than a melting stub trickling down both their legs.

  “Maiden’s mercy,” Delaryn gasped, slouching down atop her friend. The icy manacles still binding the dark elf’s wrists tickled and chilled her bare belly.

  “I told you, Your Majesty,” Sehris panted. “Sooner or later, you’ll have to learn how to take control.”

  Delaryn giggled and smacked the dark elf’s ass. “Well, it’s still early,” she said. “Who knows? By morning, maybe you’ll convince me that being queen isn’t so bad after all.”

  ***

  By the time the women finally made their way upstairs to the actual bedroom, they were both so tired they could barely stand. Delaryn almost regretted not cooking a real dinner, though given their limited supplies, it would have likely just been another pot of stew. They shared some bread and a bit of salted meat instead, as well as far too much of a wine bottle they had taken from Sundermount. The drinks led to giggling, the giggling led to more kissing, and the kissing led to yet another round of improvisation with a frozen phallus.

  “If only you had discovered your gift back when I was still at the orphanage,” Sehris breathed after they finally cuddled together beneath the covers. “All these years of missed opportunities…”

  Delaryn snorted softly as she gently brushed her fingers through the other woman’s long, lustrous hair. “Or I just would have been caught and dragged off to the Spire.”

  “With your father still in charge? I doubt that. He put a pretty tight leash on the Tel Bator.”

  “Not as tight as you might think,” Delaryn murmured as the memories washed over her. “I didn’t realize it until I was a bit older, but he was constantly at war with the Sanctori and the Keepers and half the bloody tharns. I honestly have no idea how he held on to power as long as he did.”

  “It is a little surprising, in retrospect,” Sehris said. “I don’t know how he found the gold to pay his soldiers, let along build the orphanages in the capital.”

  Delaryn shimmied up the bed and sank into her pillow. “Thedric believed he was a monster, through and through. He said my father ruled through fear.”

  “Coming from the man who took you as his prisoner-bride, that doesn’t mean much.”

  “I know.”

  Sehris stared at her for a long moment, her violet eyes almost as bright as the lone candle on the nightstand. “How badly did he treat you?”

  “He…he could have been worse,” Delaryn said, swallowing. A thousand memories of the last few years flashed into her mind only to end with the image of Thedric falling to the Chol.

  “I honestly thought you’d be pregnant by the time I saw you again,” Sehris said. “He was the last Ashellion…I assumed he would want as many heirs as quickly as possible.”

  “He did,” Delaryn said. “But I never let him touch me.”

  Sehris arched an eyebrow. “How…?”

  Delaryn closed her eyes. She was tempted to just go to sleep without saying anything, but Sehris deserved more than that.

  “I had help,” Delaryn said. “From my mother.”

  “What?”

  “I told you before that she showed me everything. Anytime I needed her help, she was always there.” Delaryn drew in a long, slow breath and reopened her eyes. “I learned how to manipulate Thedric’s perceptions. By the end, I could reach into his mind and convince him of almost anything.”

  “Ilhari vlos,” Sehris whispered. “Do you have any idea how rare that type of magic is?”

  “I know that violating the mind of another is an instant death sentence for sorcerers at the Galespire,” Delaryn said. “Not that it ever would have mattered in my case. Even if I could cure plagues with a touch, the Tel Bator would still cast me onto the pyre.”

  Sehris reached out and squeezed her arm. “You’re safe now.”

  Delaryn smiled slightly and squeezed back. “I’ve read that the Sanctori consider mind control and illusions the province of demons.”

  “That’s complete nonsense,” Sehris said with a snort. “Just because a sorcerer can weave illusions doesn’t mean he’s possessed.”

  “Maybe not, but it makes me think about all those lessons my mother taught me,” Delaryn murmured. “And then I remembered what you said at Sundermount.”

  Sehris sighed softly. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just thought—”

  “I know. But what if you’re right? What if this voice in my head really is some kind of demon? How would I even know?”

  “Well…” The dark elf shifted her head back onto her pillow and brushed her hair from her eyes. “I don’t think there’s an easy answer, and I’d rather not upset you.”

  “I can handle it…I think.” Delaryn took a deep breath and straightened her own hair. “I need to confront the truth eventually, whatever it is. And you’re the smartest person I know.”

  “That’s true,” Sehris replied with a snicker. “Unfortunately, the Tel Bator priests and sages believe they know a lot more about demons than they actually do. They insist that the Pale was once a paradise for the loyal souls of the faithful to rest for all eternity. When the Avetharri corrupted it, they transformed it into a prison for the souls of the defeated gods—and the souls of wicked mortals. That is where demons come from: they are the wayward spirits of the damned who want nothing more than to return to the physical world and torment the living.”

  “I’ve heard those sermons my whole life,” Delaryn said. “Are they actually true?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure anyone does.”

  Delaryn shook her head. “If this is supposed to make me feel better, it isn’t working.”

  Sehris grinned wryly. “All I’m saying is that it’s important to recognize how ignorant we really are. I don’t know how or why you can channel the power of the Pale, but it’s not necessarily ‘dark magic.’ It’s just magic we don’t understand at the moment. The Aether is supposed to be the only real source of power.”

  “They feel similar but also different,” Delaryn whispered as she closed her eyes. “The Aether is sweet but turns bitter when the Flensing takes hold. The Pale…it’s like channeling the same power, but without limitations. The cool stream in your veins never turns to poison.”

  “Every culture I’ve ever read about tells more or less the same story,” Sehris said. “Mortals betrayed the gods, the gods ‘bled’ their divinity into the world, and we call that power the Aether. The Ilwetharri of Nelu’Thalas believe it’s sacred; they see the Aether—the Valayar—as the last true remnant of the gods. The Tel Bator agree about the origin but disagree with the purpose. They think that mortals trying to channel the po
wer of the gods is heresy, almost like defiling the bodies of the honored dead.”

  Sehris sighed. “Their opinions on the Pale are different, too. The highborn believe the gods only exist in the Aether, which is why the worship it. The Tel Bator still believe the Triumvirate can be freed from the Pale once mortals have proven themselves worthy.”

  “What do you believe?” Delaryn asked.

  “I’m sure the truth is in there somewhere, twisted and malformed through history in some way,” Sehris said. “All I know for certain is that demons are real, and they want to escape at any cost.”

  “And they believe I can help them do it,” Delaryn said. She opened her eyes and turned her head to stare up the ceiling. “I can’t tell Rohen about this, can I? How would I even begin?”

  “What do you think he’s going to do?”

  “I don’t know—that’s the problem.”

  “This is Rohen we’re talking about,” Sehris said, sliding her hand over Delaryn’s cheek. “He’s not some random Sanctori Inquisitor out to smite heretics. He loves you—he always has.”

  “I know, but…” Delaryn swallowed and took a deep breath. “What if I have been communing with a demon all these years? What does it mean?”

  “I wish I knew,” Sehris admitted. “But to be perfectly honest, it could be a good thing.”

  Delaryn blinked. “What?”

  “Whoever is leading the Chol seems to have the same powers you do, or close. For all we know, you could be the only one capable of stopping him.”

  “Gods help us if that’s true.”

  Sehris wrapped her arm around Delaryn to pull her close, their breasts and hips meeting beneath the sheets. “I told you, the beautiful queen always wins the end. I have faith.”

  Delaryn smiled and closed her eyes again. The warmth of their bodies pressed together was even more soothing than a bath, and all the doubts and fears racing through her mind slowly began to settle.

  She had no idea how much time passed before she fell asleep, nor did she know how long she was unconscious before the familiar voice in her head shouted into her fitful dreams.

  Wake up! Wake up, Delaryn!