What
if God(s) Was One of Us? • Lost in the Sands of Time • Goodness
Gracious, Great Walls of Fire!
M.T. FONTAINE
A BRANDS
OF
TAELGIR
NOVEL
Marked for the Pyre
A Brands
of Taelgir
Novel By M.T. Fontaine
©Copyright 2023
M.T. Fontaine
978-84-125546-6-3
All rights
reserved. No
part of
this book
may be
reproduced, scanned,
or distributed in any printed or electronic form without
permission.
This is
a work
of fiction.
All of
the characters,
names, organizations,
and events portrayed in this novel are the products of the
author’s imagination and are
used fictitiously.
Any resemblance
to actual
persons, living
or dead,
events or establishments is solely coincidental.
Cover Design: Seventhstar Art
Map designed
by Tiffany
Munro at
www.feedthemultiverse.com
Griffin and eye chapter header by @luks.gh
Chapter
1
238th
Stretch of
Fervor Day
21 of
the Semest
(6th)
Cycle of
Stretch 954
Two days ride from Castle Ravensten - Isyldill
Patience was
not a
virtue. It
was a
hindrance to
getting things
done. It
was
the
anthem of
the indecisive
to justify
their constant
need for
more time.
Most
of all,
it was
an added
annoyance to
Kaianne’s building
irritation.
She
gripped her reins tight and urged her horse faster. Her leathers and
tunic were tacked to her skin under the violence of the sun’s heat
with the Stretch of Fervor reaching its peak. Warm wind beat through
her hair as her horse vaulted over a fallen tree and stomped through
a patch of wildflowers whose perfume permeated the entire meadow.
“Kay,” Andreiyes
yelled, his
horse matching
the gait
of her
own.
His
hair was tousled from the wind which only added to his debonair
manner. Perfect
posture, calm
demeanor, and
charismatic smile
– he
was the ideal
emissary. Her, on the other hand, politeness and any semblance of
elegance had been thrown completely out the window less than a
sandturn ago when she had almost gutted Jintana, one of the female
Carved crew leaders that had met with her and Andreiyes.
“Slow down,” he called. When Kaianne only threw him a glare, he
rode closer, grabbed her reins, and forced the command on her horse.
“That was unnecessarily dangerous,” she grumbled after nearly
lurching from her horse. The meadow was thankfully empty of all other
life, no one to keep quiet for, for decorum’s sake, but it was far
too out in the open and bright considering her current disposition.
She would have much preferred to
slink back
into the
shadows of
the woods
they had
just raced
out of.
“You shouldn’t risk your neck like that. Let it throw me.
My own people might thank you for it with a toast.” She raised an
invisible glass. “To Nogo. May you forever sit and shit on her
bones.”
His responding sigh was a harsh, drawn-out thing. “Get it out,”
he said with such exasperation that she found herself even more
annoyed. “Before you poison my good mood too.”
“Well, aren’t
you sweet.”
“You
do not
need me
to be
gentle right
now.”
Kaianne
gritted her teeth. “How are you so unaffected? They just stood
there, carping, providing no productive ideas of their own.”
Jintana’s condescending
attitude was
still troubling
Kaianne. Hogan’s
had not been
much better.
Neither had
ever appreciated
how young
she had
been when she joined a Credence crew at thirteen stretches nor
how quickly she had soared in Ghedi’s ranks and esteem. The sneer
on the older woman’s face whenever she contradicted Kaianne or
Andreiyes or even Ghedi had been infuriating, but when Jintana had
declared their plan to be the ridiculous musings of a child,
Kaianne’s nails had almost drawn blood at how tightly she had
clenched her fists. And all that in front of the council
representatives that had journeyed from each of the other three
Carved cities in Taelgir:
Manumit in Nimedor, Endurance along the Nimedorian and Telfinorian
borders, and Paradise in Gyldrise. It was unproductive, demeaning,
and thoroughly enraging.
“They
did provide intel.”
“What’s
the point
if no
one agrees
on how
to use
it?”
“I
feel like you and I are inversing roles here. Should I not be the one
complaining? They are your fellow Carved.”
“No.” She jutted her finger back in the direction they had come
from. “Those people have forgotten what it’s like to be Carved.
They’ve ordered others about for so long without raising a finger
that they’re no better than pompous nobles. I bet Jintana hasn’t
even used a weapon in stretches.”
“Now you are exaggerating.” She narrowed her eyes at him, but he
simply shook his head. “The woman I married would not blindly
follow the leaders of a cause if her objectives did not meet theirs.”
She groaned. Her horse’s huffs mirrored her own sentiment. “I’m
not going to admit you’re right lest you let it get to your head.
Lords know your ego needs no more feeding. How can you be so calm?”
“’Tis politics,” he said with a playful smile and shrug. “What
counts is that they agreed with our next steps. The letters will be
ready for Ghedi when we meet again in a fortnight. Until then, ignore
their hawkish demeanors. I cannot imagine they find it easy for a
young woman such as yourself to
contribute more
to their
cause than
they have
in their
lifetimes.
Nor must it be easy to deal with a royal whose men hunt them down.
Count the blessings, our standing is better now than a stretch and a
half ago.”
He was right. Ghedi and Yannic might have easily accepted her union
with a royal, but other Carved she had crossed in the last seventeen
Maiesta moon cycles had made it clear that her marrying into royalty
had been seen as a betrayal. Perhaps she had been foolish not to
think on that when he had proposed in order to save her life from
Master Rau. But Gaia forsake her, she was proud of the possibilities
their relationship had created.
For now, it was about establishing a rapport between Andreiyes and
the Carved, and it was working. The exchanges, despite the
frustrations they wrought, were getting better. At the first meeting,
two thirds of the Carved leaders had turned their backs and left when
Andreiyes was introduced. It took convincing and some bribing on
Ghedi’s part for them to return for the next meeting, much to
Oidh’s protests. The man would not shut up after Ghedi bartered his
newly commissioned prosthetic hand with an attached crossbow. Kaianne
ended up throwing a royal treasury gem in Oidh’s face in front of
Ghedi and told him to shove it along with his pessimistic attitude up
his rear.
At least Ghedi believed in what she was aiming to achieve. Slowly,
excruciatingly slowly, the others were beginning to as well. After an
entire stretch and a half it felt like they were moving forward, only
to find more opposition.
“Is it wrong of me to wish this process would hurry along to get to
the actual battle strategy?” The action and wit that involved was
why she had loved being part of a Carved crew and had never wished to
settle permanently in the underground cavern Carved city, Credence.
Andreiyes barked a laugh. “My dear bloodthirsty viper of a wife, I
would not have
you any
other way.”
He squeezed
her thigh,
his sultry
gaze making his
meaning more than clear. She looked up at him, less than impressed at
his attempt to distract her. If his cunning smile was anything to go
by, he wasn’t deterred. “These matters take time, Kay. Hogan was
more civilized this go around, and I swear Miltze is softening toward
me each time we meet. ‘Tis only a matter of time.”
“Time we might not have.” His smile dropped slightly at the
reminder, and Kaianne
felt like
a nitwit.
He didn’t
need her
telling him
that. In
an
effort to change the conversation, she slapped his chest. “And stop
trying to soothe me. I’m a strong, vicious woman. Remember?”
Despite them each being on their own horse, he still managed to wrap
an arm around her waist and lug her closer to him. Her feet never
even left the stirrups.
“How could
I ever
forget?” He
nibbled at
her neck
as she
squirmed out
of reach, giggling. “Do not fret. We shall find you an enemy
worthy of your fangs soon enough. As long as you do not busy yourself
with attacking our allies.”
“What allies? We’re still trying to get all Carved on-board and
speckling tidbits of goodwill with trustworthy kingsmen. And you
haven’t even told Jereown yet.”
“I will. Soon.”
“You
better. We’re
going to
need him.”
A
flicker of movement among the tree trunks of the woods at her far
left drew her eye. She tore away from Andreiyes and scanned the trees
surrounding the meadow, barely aware of Andreiyes’ new attempts at
tickling her. Perhaps she had been quiet for too long because he
suddenly pulled away from her. She just couldn’t shake the feeling
that that flicker had held the shape of a person. Nothing moved
further. There was an uncomfortable stillness despite the chirps of
birds, the rustle of leaves, and Andreiyes’ attentions. She
squinted. Something had been there. She just knew it.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I
thought I saw…” She was just about to stir her horse forward to
investigate when a heavy, flat howl sounded. The hairs on her nape
stood straight. Shadow wolves, coming from further south. From the
sound, they were still far enough to outrun.
“We should leave.” Andreiyes twisted in his saddle, looking left
and right.
“Aye.”
Barely
had she spoken before Andreiyes raced off. She tugged her reins to
the side, about to signal the horse into a gallop toward their camp.
They would need
speed to
escape shadow
wolves and
luck that
the animals
would not track them back to their camp of fifteen kingsmen.
Before her horse took off
though, there
was movement
in the
same direction
as that
initial
flash of
a shadow.
A shape
broke away
on two
legs from
a large
trunk, arms tucked
tight to its body. It ran further into the cover of the branches and
foliage of the woods surrounding the meadow. Definitely a person.
Still close enough to be a target.
Kaianne pulled out her bow from the quiver clasped to her saddle and
took aim, but she hesitated. What if it was just a curious Carved
crewmember trailing them after the meeting or a kingsman protecting
his charges? Or what if it was someone with nefarious intent?
Decision made, she loosed her arrow, intent on delivering a flesh
wound that would be visible if she crossed this person in the near
future. A cry sounded as the shaft hit its mark. She grinned. Even
after cycles cooped up in Castle Ravensten, she had not lost her
touch.
“Kay,” Andreiyes yelled. His horse’s hooves pounded as he
pulled up beside her. His brow furrowed when he gazed at her
unsheathed bow. “Come on. What are you doing? We cannot linger.
Your arrows will sail right through them.”
The wolves he meant. Those animals were impervious to their weapons
while shielded by the shadows. Arrows sailed right through them
unless their fur was daylight-touched. As if she was an idiot enough
to hunt one of them.
She glared at him with indignation. “Twelfth rule of being a good
husband. Always assume your wife knows more than you do and has a
good reason for everything she does.”
Another protracted howl filled the air, closer, more ominous. “You
can berate me later.” He urged her ahead of him, and she settled
into the rock of her horse’s canter turned lope as it gathered
speed. “But I am still waiting on written proof of those damn
rules,” he yelled over their pounding gait. “If you think I agree
to rule nine, you have lost your mind.”
“You’ve had
no problem
with rule
one,” she
countered as
her horse
broke into a gallop. In fact, as far as their bedroom
adventures went, rule one was extremely well loved and repeated.
Often, to her great satisfaction and his glistening
lips. She
laughed at
the imagery,
the bounce
of their
gait breaking it
into a cackle as she glanced back at him over her shoulder. “Race
you. Winner chooses first position.”
The salacious look he threw her was a promise of a good time and a
challenge. It was almost
enough to make her
forget about whoever
had been
trailing them.
Chapter
2
Kaianne lost, but it was no hardship. Andreiyes made sure of
that the moment their tent flaps slapped shut, and he carried her to
their cushioned pallet. She couldn’t keep quiet under the assault
of his mouth and touch. Carved life had taught her to enjoy the
pleasures of life quietly, but Andreiyes managed to pull her base
instincts out of her and send all her stretches of careful habits to
the pits. He loved it that way, more than intent on scarring her
keens of pleasure into the memories of the kingsmen guarding their
camp. His smirks when she peaked and cried out his name
were
downright sinful with wicked intent. Arrogant man.
A
stretch and a half together and each time was still better than their
last, especially when they fell to the furs in each other’s arms,
sweaty and spent, to share gentle caresses. Those were moments of
tenderness she had never thought herself worthy of experiencing until
him. The soft splay of his fingers along her back made her breath
hitch. Every delicate stroke made her chest swell further. She ached
for more of him, craved him body and soul.
These moments after, when he looked at her with awe and wonder like
she was his beginning and end, were her favorite. This was more
intimate than the joining of their bodies. Any man and woman could
fit together in the throes of lust, but it was the aftermath that
made it real, made it far- reaching and soul-binding. It was in the
affection in his touch. It was in the gentle rub of his nose along
her forehead and cheek. Moreso, it was in the way he looked at her,
like this was far more than a spontaneous marriage between two people
that had much to gain from the other. He had saved her life by
marrying her, and she had presented him with an opportunity to
grow his forces to bring the Stewards to heel.
Now though, it was far more than that. She softly brushed aside his
hair from his forehead, wishing to bottle these grainfalls to keep
them from sifting to
the bottom
of a
timekeeper. The
three words
she felt
as strongly
as her heartbeat were right on the edge of her tongue, spurred
forward by a wide smile
that he
rarely ever
displayed, but
she bit
them back.
Even
though they seemed to crest in the pit of her stomach every time his
adoring gaze met hers, she refused to let them spill.
Not until he said them first. Not until he gave into the
vulnerability of their relationship. She needed to know she meant as
much to him as he did to her. If those fateful words came out of her
and it was unrequited after all that time, she could only imagine how
deep it would flay her. Why else had he never uttered them? It made
her mouth dry to think on it and her eyes water like the simpering
woman she was not. Her, a hardened Carved crewmember that had
no problem taking a life if the situation demanded it. She who had
tricked him and slithered unbidden into his life and nest. He truly
was her
wrangler because
never had
someone had
so much
power over her
since her family’s murders. And that, that terrified her.
It was
when she
felt herself
giving in,
her mouth
loosening for
those three words,
that Kaianne pulled away from him. He reached for her, but she dodged
with a forced smile. His toned physique and blatant arousal were on
full display,
nothing left
to the
imagination, but
she averted
her gaze
lest she fall back
into another round with him. Her eyes fixed on the rug at her feet.
“Come back, wife. I have not finished with you yet.”
“Oh
yes, you have. Our tryst has lasted long enough for all your men to
know of your prowess.” She slipped her underdrawers on and went to
wrapping her breasts despite Andreiyes’ furrowed brow.
“If you are leaving our bed so easily, perhaps you do not.” His
arms wrapped around her waist and tugged.
She barked a laugh as she fell against his chest. They plummeted back
to their pallet, and he kissed the back of her neck and shoulders.
She swatted his arm.
“Oh no you don’t. We need to pack camp. I promised Eybah I’d be
there for her trial tournament in three days’ time, and I’ll not
be late. Not to mention that
ridiculous ball
your father
insists on
to celebrate
a stretch
since the King finally accepted our union. I’ll drive the
poor seamstress mad if she has less than four days for fittings and
adjustments after we return.”
“I know of a much better thing to do, or a certain place to be.”
His breath fanned her ear and the thin hairs on her nape. His fingers
slipped down her stomach and into her underdrawers. “If I had the
choice, I would never leave. Right here. Forever.”
The words might have been said to entice, but right then, they made
her still. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear. They were seductive
and tempting, her body still pleasantly sore, yet they dumped a pit
in her throat that she had to gulp down.
“Yer Highness,”
Uslan called
from outside
their tent.
Andreiyes’
personal guard sounded more brusque than usual. Kaianne could almost
visualize the scowl on his scruffy face. More than likely the man had
drawn the short straw deciding who was going to interrupt their roll
in the furs. The break in tension was a relief that Kaianne tempered
with a relieved sigh.
“Come back
later, Uslan.
Could you
not hear
my devotion
to my
wife?”
She
glared at Andreiyes over her shoulder to which the arrogant arse
grinned. “Stay,
Uslan,” she
said, holding
Andreiyes’ amber
gaze. “I’ve
tired of the princeling’s overzealous efforts. Perhaps some
sparring will do his struggles a world of good.”
His arms tightened around her torso as his tongue tickled her earlobe. “You were certainly not complaining earlier, dear viper.”
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