Black Crown (Darkest Drae, #3)(41)

I’m going to be working on my veil until we stop, I informed Tyrrik.

Ignoring the smiles of the others, he bent down to plant a kiss on my lips. And I will keep to the skies to scout ahead. I’ll alert you to anything significant.

Let me know how far my Phaetyn veil reaches too? He’d be able to see where the army blurred and didn’t. As my mate, Tyrrik could see through my Phaetyn veil. Although I was unsure if last night had obliterated the effectiveness of any barrier against him.

“I guess we’ll find out,” he replied aloud, drawing the confused gazes of those around us.

With an amused look on his weathered face, King Zakai asked Dyter. “Do they do that a lot?”

Dyter released a pent up breath and rolled his eyes. “You have no idea, Your Majesty. And I suspect it’ll only get worse.”





16





Be on your guard, Tyrrik spoke to me from high in the darkening sky. The last streaks of sunlight melting into the rich twilight. There’s a squirrel to the east with an evil look in its eye.

I snorted, waving a hand at Zarad when he looked at me strangely. The squirrel only has one eye?

Before, Tyrrik wasn’t able to talk to me through the veil, but now he could. I’d been right, completing our mating bond changed the effectiveness of the wall against my Drae. Not that I minded.

“It’s like I’m listening to one-twentieth of a conversation,” King Zakai muttered. “How incredibly frustrating.”

I believe he lost it while killing a Drae.

I whistled low and grinned at the Gemondian king. That’s one fearsome squirrel.

Do not fear, mate. I will keep you safe.

Chuckling, I said to the king, “We’re in the clear.”

Then I tuned them out and focused on stretching the moss-green power farther behind us. I could see the edge of my Phaetyn wall ahead; the power tucked around the ten rows of Gemondians in front of the army. I’d spent the last five hours extending the veil to the men behind me.

A trickle of sweat rolled down my neck, despite the evening air, and I knew when I dropped the veil I’d need some serious nectar. On the positive side, holding the power steady was much easier in my Phaetyn form. I supposed my Phaetyn side still preferred light and my Drae side still preferred darkness. Unfortunately, that meant to prevent unnecessary fatigue, I was on the ground while Tyrrik was in the air, scouting. How much am I covering now?

I got an image from his mind’s eye and smiled at the aerial view of my work. Oh yeah, I was getting better. I whooped aloud and said, “One third.”

“One third?” the Gemondian king asked, his brows knitting together. His tone was sharper than I’d ever heard. “One third of what?”

Yikes. I guess the partial conversations were really getting to him. I met his weary gaze and explained, “I’m covering one third of your army with my Phaetyn powers. With it up, Draedyn won’t be able to see your men.”

I had no idea how effective the Phaetyn mojo was against the alpha’s fire. I couldn’t only go on what happened at Kanahele o keola and the journey there. Draedyn couldn’t enter the Phaetyn veil when it was up, and Draedyn’s first attempt to take over my mind had cut off when Lani’s veil went up, so I assumed Draedyn’s physical powers couldn’t penetrate a Phaetyn veil either. But even with ancestral powers, I didn’t have a magic crown. I shouldn’t rely on the veil being impenetrable, especially because I shared a bond with the psycho-ruler I was attempting to hide us from.

I’d had so little time to explore my powers, yet everything seemed to hinge on me figuring them out.

Now that my father had broken in and controlled me once, would he be able to do it again with ease? What about when I was in my Phaetyn form, could he do it then? Or even when I had my veil up because he was related to me? I swallowed back the churning insecurity and doubt.

“Once you’re able to cover the whole army,” mused Dyter, walking beside me, “we should practice keeping the veil up in battle. Draedyn isn’t going to just sit quietly while you assemble your defenses. You need to be able to fight and keep the veil in place.”

He’d spent most of the afternoon pulling me back into line. When I concentrated on my Phaetyn powers, I occasionally forgot to pay attention to where I was walking.

“Yeah, about that. I think I should try to juggle, too, all at the same time. Maybe even while riding a horse.”

Dyter grimaced. “Perhaps something more like avoiding punches and swinging a sword?”

He was so easy to bait these days. I hummed. “We should do all of the above.” I nodded. “Excellent. Thanks for the advice, Dyter.”

Zakai cleared his throat. “Gairome, this seems a good area to stop our march for the day. Night is falling fast, and I’m certain the men need what’s left of the light to set up camp.”

I can’t wait to drop this thing, I admitted to Tyrrik as the call went out for the army to halt.

He hurtled toward the ground, and I could feel my eagerness echoed in his impatience.

The last time I’d released the veil, I practically collapsed, so I waited until he’d shifted and was approaching before slowly letting go.

I groaned under my breath with the release. Seriously, if someone was rubbing warm stones up my back, the relief would only be half as good.