4

“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.

“Whoa,” Cheyenne said, speaking up for the first time since Aria's return.

Shaken by the enormity of Aria’s power, Polonius backed away from Aria and the group. “I can teach you to hone your skills,” Polonius said, sounding desperate. “You are more like me than you realize.”

Aria’s furious eyes focused on Polonius, and it looked like she might reconsider wielding her wild magic again.

“No, Aria!” Sire Vanoire burst out. “You haven’t the skill. You kill him, and we will all die.”

Aria looked at Sire with a wild and untamed expression.

“She needs to return to the Obsidian Valley and be properly trained,” Sire Vanoire said. “Without the ability to control her magic, Aria will become a liability. Anytime she is enraged, her wolf and mage will protect her with raw and unbridled power. Left untrained, her magic will grow into an unmanageable entity. We cannot have that happen. Even you, Polonius, will not want Aria to be so magically unstable—she could destroy your entire kingdom with just a glance. She must be tamed.”

“Sire is right,” Amadeus agreed in a thin, rasping voice. “She has great power, but to leave it wild would make her a danger to all of us.”

Disturbed by the malevolence in her magic, Aria looked to Sire while her mage calmed down and she came to her senses. “Can you teach me to hone it?”

“I must,” Sire Vanoire said with urgency.

“Maybe the Goldlace family can help,” Aria said, sounding like herself again. “Their father Harlance is a ghost haunting the Tombs; he has given me guidance before. His family can support me.”

“Perhaps,” was all Sire Vanoire said with a frustrated scowl.

It was no secret that Sire had a great hatred for the Goldlace family. I assumed the less he had to do with them, the better, but necessity now demanded that he abandon his prejudice. The Goldlace family made up the two other branches of the royal trinity that could resurrect the Onyx Rah kingdom.

“She can be trained in my castle,” Polonius said, still trying to keep his hold on Aria. “Her own father can do it.”

“You and I both know he’s not strong enough,” Sire said, shooting Amadeus a hateful glance. It was Polonius’ poisoning of Amadeus that had left him so weak. “She must return to the Obsidian Valley where there are mages and materials needed to refine her skills. I’ll bring up the matter of your contract with the Lupine Coalition and see what their thoughts on the matter are. They were the governing body behind your peace negotiations, were they not?”

“They were, but I don’t have to uphold their laws,” Polonius huffed. “Aria is already my possession. You may train my wife, but you will return her to me when you’re done. The Coalition has already mediated the transfer; there is only the matter of a ceremony to perform. The contract states that she is to be my wife. By law, that contract allows me to have Aria.”

“Still, I will discuss it since there is the matter of her royalty to consider,” Sire Vanoire said as he took Aria, still shaking, by the hand and walked her away from Polonius and the mouth of Genesis Pit where we were still gathered.

Cheyenne and I quickly followed them, leaving Polonius and Amadeus behind. I didn’t look back to see their angered faces. I didn’t care. We were getting Aria to safety.

When we reached the vehicles we’d left near the ruins of the Onyx Rah city, we all climbed into one of them for the long, arduous journey back to the Obsidian Valley.

“I promise we will figure this out,” I said as Aria slipped onto the bench seat and laid her head against the glass window.

She didn’t respond, just turned her head to watch the passing scenery.

Cheyenne and I sat with her while Sire Vanoire drove. What had she become? What would our future look like? There were too many questions to make conversation, so we rode in silence until Cheyenne eventually spoke while Aria continued to stare out the window, lost in thought.

“Will you be returning to Navarrah City while Aria trains in the Obsidian Valley, Lex?” he asked. “You’ve been absent from your duties for a long time. Rumors will spread that you’re alive and have survived plunging from the top of the Angeline Falls.” Cheyenne’s tone wasn’t accusatory, just concerned.

How quickly my brother had grown from being a young eager child to the man sitting beside me. He’d shouldered my duties well and was a formidable soldier in battle. Father would learn to rely on him as he had on me.

I needed to spend my time with Aria, especially since it seemed Polonius would stop at nothing to get his hands on her.

“I will accompany Aria to Obsidian Valley and attend her training,” I told Cheyenne. “She still needs my protection. Should the kingdom worry in regard to my whereabouts, you can advise Father to tell the kingdom I’m still recovering. I’ll resume my duties when I’m fully restored to health. Until then, Cheyenne, you have been doing an exceptional job of fulfilling my role,” I complimented. “I ask that you continue to do so on my behalf. Father must enlist more troops for you and Jarvis to train. I fear war is on the horizon. I will be back one day.” I offered him a smile as I took Aria’s hand. “We both will.”