Realms of Valen - Blasphemous Crusade (War of the Gods Book 2) Read online

  “You can. I was rather surprised the first time I used it in battle. Until these are widely available, this sword is going to make me look obscenely strong, what with splitting people in twain,” Rykar said with a chuckle as he took his sword back, sheathing it.

  “It has been awhile since I've seen a fight, though I keep in practice,” Sage admitted.

  “I would offer to spar with you, but I have this damn feast to go to,” Rykar jerked a thumb toward the center of the city where Zathias' palace stood.

  “Zathias throws one hell of a celebration. You won't be bored,” Sage assured the man.

  “I don't doubt that. But, as hard as it may be to believe, spending the evening talking shop with a beautiful woman is my preference,” Rykar said with a chuckle, simply being blunt.

  “You silver-tongued devil,” Sage laughed softly. “Let me get your armor so you can be presentable.”

  “Devil?” Rykar asked with an arched brow and an amused smile. Sage simply winked, turned and headed into the back of the shop. She returned a few moments later with Rykar's cuirass. It looked brand new and Rykar gaped at it as he took it in hand, looking at it in the bright, magical light of the lanterns.

  “Pleased?” Sage asked.

  “Of course! How could I not be?” Rykar answered with his own question, albeit, a rhetorical one. His fingers stroked over the armor where the break had been.

  “Good,” Sage chuckled, obviously pleased at the admiration of her work.

  “I can't even tell where it was broken. Stunning work, Sage,” Rykar complimented.

  “Thank you.”

  “What do I owe you?”

  “Oh, eight gold should cover it.”

  “That's all? I'd charge twenty,” Rykar smirked.

  “You're certainly welcome to pay that,” Sage said with a soft laugh.

  “How about I pay the eight and take you to the feast tonight?” Rykar asked with a charming smile curving his lips.

  “Oh, sly. Fine, I accept your offer,” Sage said with a smirk.

  “Malcade!” Rykar shouted toward the front of the shop.

  “Aye?” Malcade responded.

  “Throw me my pack.” Rykar requested.

  Malcade, who had been holding both his pack and Rykar's, turned from the armor he was looking over and threw the pack toward its owner. Rykar caught it in one hand and set it on a nearby table. He set his cuirass to the side before opening the pack and rummaging around inside. He pulled out a coin pouch and dug out nine gold coins, then dropped them onto the table.

  “I count one too many,” Sage said with an arched brow.

  “Call it a bonus for speedy work,” Rykar replied before closing his coin pouch and tossing it back into his pack, which he also closed.

  “That works for me,” Sage responded, picking up the coins.

  “Good. So... want to continue our conversation at the big feast at the palace?” Rykar asked, giving an inviting smile.

  “Well, I suppose I don't have anything better to do this evening,” Sage answered teasingly.

  “I don't know if I should be insulted or elated,” Rykar retorted with a smirk.

  “A little of both seems appropriate. Just let me lock this away,” Sage said, gesturing to the gold coins in her hand. Rykar nodded before the woman turned and walked into the back.

  “You slick bastard,” Malcade chuckled.

  “Silver-tongued, I believe,” Rykar replied, feeling rather good about himself and his evening.

  * * *

  “And that's how the elves and the dwarves managed to work together to create a printing press to mass produce books,” Rykar finished, his face faintly flushed from a little too much wine and more than enough ale. The eating part of the feast was over, the tables had been cleared of everything but drinks and the festivities had moved on to conversation, contests, and general entertainment.

  “Right. How did we get to book production from kyrian boar hunting tactics?” Zathias asked, clearly curious and absolutely drunk. Rykar gave the large man a blank stare that lasted for several long moments.

  “...I don't know,” he answered. Both men burst into uproarious laughter. Malcade chuckled at the pair, himself somewhat inebriated. Sage shook her head with a smile; having only had two mugs of ale, she still had her wits about her. So far, she'd had a wonderful evening with Rykar. She found the man to be charming, humorous, and intelligent. The former two qualities were especially surprising to her given the fact that the young man had just had the title of King, and all the responsibilities that entailed, thrust upon him in the midst of a war.

  Rykar emptied the remainder of his mug of ale and set it down on the table, then heaved a sigh. A servant was quick to refill the mug and the man nodded his thanks. Sage nudged the man with an elbow, garnering a questioning look from him.

  “Are you alright?” she asked.

  “Yes. Just a lot on my mind,” he answered with a reassuring smile, his eyes locking with Sage's own. That was another thing she liked about him. He didn't flinch at her silver eyes or the unnatural color of her hair. In fact, he seemed to find them rather attractive.

  “I can only imagine. I would think a party like this would take your mind off of things,” Sage said with a gesture toward the room full of people, most of whom were clearly enjoying themselves.

  “Only for moments at a time, unfortunately,” Rykar replied with another sigh. Sage opened her mouth to reply only to be cut off by a raucous cheer from across the large room. She, Zathias, Rykar, and Malcade all looked up at the cheer. So did several others in the room. At the opposite side of the room from the pair of kings, the metalsmith, and the mercenary officer was a group of men and women, likely Anklis soldiers, who were playing a game of darts. That was before one of them whipped out a dagger, flung it, and sank it into the board. That had caused the cheer. As the small group watched, another solider hefted a one-handed axe, pulled back, and threw it at the dartboard. It slammed into the board, stuck, and damn near took the board off the wall. Another cheer rose from those watching. Zathias chuckled and leaned over in his chair toward Rykar.

  “Watch this,” he said with a gruff chuckle. Rykar arched a brow as Zathias raised his massive hand, pointed a finger at the board, and closed one eye, as if aiming. A moment before it happened, Rykar realized just what his royal counterpart was about to do. A lightning bolt shot from the man's finger, arced across the room, and slammed into the board, causing it to explode. The axe and dagger that had been lodged in the board flew across the room. The dagger ended up stuck in one of the many dining tables while the axe had been flung with such force up toward the ceiling that the blade had embedded itself almost entirely in the wood. Everyone was silent for a long moment before a roaring cheer came from the dart players and then a new game started to see who could get the axe out of the ceiling.

  Rykar and Malcade laughed aloud. Sage rolled her eyes, but smiled. Zathias grinned and took a long drink from his tankard. Rykar sat in silence for a few long moments, watching the people in the large room talking, laughing, and enjoying themselves. He gave a soft sigh and took a drink from his mug. Despite the merry environment, his mind kept drifting to the matter of the rogue, rampaging army that had been storming human cities and had forced him into his current situation. His eyes shifted to the ring on his right hand and he frowned slightly. A light tough on his shoulder brought his eyes up to meet Sage's. The woman wore a soft smile.

  “You seem rather far away, Rykar,” she remarked.

  “I am. Apologies,” he responded.

  “How about we take your mind off your worries?” Sage asked. Rykar's brow arched.

  “What do you propose?” he answered with a question of his own.

  “Perhaps that sparring session we spoke of earlier,” Sage answered.

  “Sounds like a good idea to me,” Rykar stated with a nod.

  “Then let's get out of here,” Sage suggested, standing up as she did. Rykar nodded, leaned over to Zathias to sp
eak in his ear, and then shook the bigger man's hand before he stood up and walked over to Malcade. He just thumped his friend on the shoulder and gestured to the door. Malcade nodded, then turned his attention back to the serving girl who was flirting with him while refilling his mug.

  Sage hooked her arm in Rykar's and the two left the celebration together.

  * * *

  Sage and Rykar stepped into Sage's dark shop. With a gesture of Sage's hand, the sorcerous lights of her shop came to life, floating in their lantern prisons, illuminating the whole place. Both she and Rykar blinked in the sudden brightness and let their eyes adjust for a few moments before moving. Sage gestured with a hand.

  “Follow me.”

  Sage led the way into one of the back rooms of the shop, Rykar following, quietly enjoying the view of the beautiful woman from behind. Sage was all too aware and put a little extra sway in her hips. Neither could see the smirk that the other wore. Sage stepped into what appeared to be an old storage room. She picked up a pair of swords and tossed one to Rykar. He caught it by the hilt and looked it over.

  “Wow. It's been awhile since I've seen one of these,” he said, looking the sword over. It was a sparring sword., a purposely dulled sword that was basically a flat, metal club. It could still do some damage, but wouldn't be severing any limbs.

  “Haven't sparred in awhile?” Sage asked.

  “Not with these. I generally just use my sword with a magical barrier on the blade,” Rykar answered, glancing up from the sword in his hand.

  “Ah,” Sage acknowledged.

  “Shall we?” Rykar asked, gesturing to the sword.

  “Of course,” Sage nodded, then crooked a finger as she headed out of the room and led the way out of the back of the shop and into a small, walled in courtyard that only had the one doorway in and out. Orbs of light flared into existence, turning night to day so the pair could see.

  “I really like these lights,” Rykar gestured to the floating orbs.

  “They're useful. A relatively easy spell to learn too,” Sage responded, glancing up to the spheres floating around above them both.

  “I'll look the spell up when this war is over. If I survive, that is,” Rykar said, eyes on the spheres of light.

  “You will survive and if you're lucky, you'll find some pretty woman who already knows the spell to teach you,” Sage said with a wink. Rykar quirked a brow as he looked to the woman, then smirked.

  “Perhaps I will,” he agreed.

  “That's the spirit. Now,” Sage said as she brandished her sparring sword, “we have a bit of a duel to commence.”

  “Duel? I thought we were sparring?” Rykar questioned, grinned, and took a couple of practice swings with his sparring sword. It was heavier than his sinthite sword and the practice swings helped him get used to the extra weight.

  “Sparring, dueling, flirting... it's all the same, yes?” Sage asked with a smirk.

  “Depends on who you ask,” Rykar answered.

  “I'm asking you.”

  “Then yes.”

  Sage laughed softly, then lunged at Rykar attacking with a diagonal strike toward his left shoulder. The man managed to deflect it with his own blade as he side-stepped then spun away. Sage followed him and pressed her attack, slashing and stabbing at Rykar with a grin on her face. Rykar managed to dodge or block every attack, a matching grin on his features. Each of them were having fun and while Sage made sure she often had her fair share, Rykar hadn't enjoyed himself this much since his outing with Kaidia and Nadia a couple of months ago. Life had been boring since then and extremely stressful since he'd been appointed a king.

  Rykar's back slammed into one of the walls of the courtyard and he spun away as Sage's sword swung down toward him. It clanged against the stone of the wall loudly. He twisted and went on the offensive, attacking with great enthusiasm. Both Sage and Rykar still wore their grins as their swords clashed.

  Sage dodged a downward stroke of Rykar's blade and slapped the flat of her own against the shoulder of Rykar's sword arm rather sharply as she danced away from him. The man grunted and gave Sage a playful scowl.

  “Brat.”

  “Aw, is the big, bad king upset that he got tagged?”

  Rykar grinned, shrugged, and then abruptly went on the attack again. His sudden offensive caught Sage off guard and while she managed to deflect the first two strikes of Rykar's sword, the third was too quick and the flat of the king's blade smacked across the side of Sage's thigh, causing the woman to gasp in surprise and jump away, giving her stinging leg a rub.

  Rykar smirked.

  “Payback is a pain, isn't it?” he asked rhetorically. Sage tossed her sword down on the paving stones of the courtyard with a clatter, giving her sparring partner a lighthearted glare through the deep blue bangs that had fallen in her silver eyes. Rykar arched a brow at the display. Sage walked up to the man and gave him a firm shove while wearing an impish grin. Rykar wasn't expecting it and fell over backward, dropping his sword in the process. He also grabbed for Sage and pulled her down with him as he fell. The pair hit the ground with a thud, Sage atop Rykar. They stared at one another for a moment, and then laughed. Rykar laid his head back and sighed.

  “Ah... that was good fun,” he said with a smile.

  “Was? Are we done having fun?” Sage questioned, giving Rykar a mischievous look. Rykar's eyebrows rose and a slow grin curved his lips.

  “Only when you're done,” he answered.

  “Well then, it's a good thing I'm not done yet,” Sage smirked and pressed her lips to Rykar's in a firm kiss, surprising the king in a rather pleasant fashion. As Rykar's arms wrapped around Sage's waist, the floating lights blinked out of existence, save for one that lit the courtyard with a soft, pale light. The sparring swords lay on the paving stones, utterly forgotten.

  Chapter VII: Negotiations with Kyrians, The Tiger of Malkasha

  Kaidia awoke to a persistent knocking. She forced herself to sit up and look around. The sleep she had been dragged from had been deep and restful, a rarity for her. The woman glanced around and then smirked to herself as her eyes took in the three naked kyrians in bed with her, all sprawled out, blissfully asleep. Memories of intertwined limbs and heated pleasure from the night before flooded Kai's mind, only to be interrupted by another set of knocks on her door. She frowned a little, stood up, rather naked herself, and headed toward the door after taking a moment to stretch. She opened it up and arched a brow at the knocker, who turned out to be Tian-Vere. Tian's eyes went wide and he averted his gaze immediately.

  “M.. Miss Kaidia, I'm here to inform you that breakfast will be brought to you shortly and then the meeting with elders and tribal leaders will be held mid-morning. I will come find you and act as your guard for the meeting. Purely ceremonial, but insisted upon none the less,” Tian said, his eyes finding the floor to be amazingly interesting at the moment.

  “Thank you, Tian,” Kaidia responded, an amused look playing across her features. Unlike most human women, she wasn't shy about her body. One would be hard pressed to find a reason why she should be. Her body was toned and strong, the tattoo on her arm and scars on the rest of her seemed only to enhance her beauty. Tian was understandably embarrassed, however. While kyrians were often regarded as wild creatures, they weren't ones to run about in the nude, and actually had rather strict social conventions regarding nudity. Outside of their mates, or apparently visiting deities, it was rare for a kyrian to be seen without clothing.

  “I uh... I'll see you in a little while, Miss Kaidia,” Tian stated before promptly walking off, his cheeks infused with a bright pink. Kaidia chuckled to herself, then closed the door, turned, and headed back to the bed. She gently roused each of the kyrian women in turn with scratches behind their ears.

  “Up you get, pretty kittens,” she cooed as the three stretched and yawned, blinking in the morning light streaming in the windows.

  “Morning already? What is it you need, Mistress Kaidia?” one of the kyrian wom
en, a lovely blonde girl, asked.

  “Nothing much. We just need to be presentable when breakfast arrives. So... underwear, at least,” Kai answered with a wink. She got a chorus of soft giggles in return before the three advanced on her with articles of her clothing. She couldn't help but think of what a wonderful place to stay this happened to be.

  * * *

  Kaidia found herself sitting in a comfortable chair, seated at a large, square table, in a fairly large room that was nestled in the back of the town meeting hall. The room was meant for private gatherings such as this one. The table sat three people to a side and every chair was taken. Kai found herself seated between a young woman with dark hair and dark-furred ears to match on her left and an elderly male kyrian with dull-red hair and ears that were black furred on her right. The god found herself surprised when it was noted that the man was over a century old. He didn't look a day past thirty. She had known that kyrians didn't age the same as humans despite looking much like them. Much like house cats, kyrians aged subtly and even near the end of their lives, appeared young.

  Kaidia felt a little odd being the only human in the room, but that quickly went away as her mind focused on the matter at hand. She gave a quick glance over her shoulder. Tian-Vere stood behind her and to her right. He gave Kai a nod and a slight smile, which she returned before turning her attention back to the table and those gathered around it. The table was littered with maps and various documents, some laid out flat; others still rolled up tightly. A clearing throat brought silence to the room and turned all eyes to the tribal leader of the particular city they were in, of which Kaidia had never caught a name. Larger things were weighing on her mind, after all, especially after that little visit to the clairvoyant. She had been able to forget it all for a little while last night and again this morning with the company of the three kyrian women in her bed, but now it all returned, seemingly heavier than before.

  “Let me save us all a lot of time and breath by stating to you, Kaidia Valengaard, that you can count on kyrian forces supporting you in the fight against this rogue army,” the leader said. He was an older kyrian, dark haired, dark furred, and serious of expression. Tian had informed Kaidia before the meeting that his name was Kelen-Cess. Kai found herself mildly confused for a moment since she had thought the purpose of this meeting was convincing the kyrians to join in the fight, but she quickly regained herself.