Page 14 of The Obsidian Curse

Niara. Keeran’s voice in my head was insistent.

I have to get you free first. See if you can wiggle through.

You must leave now!he boomed at me, but I held fast. The opening was nearly large enough for his wide shoulders. That was all he needed.

The sound of feet racing across the sand broke my concentration. Rough hands wrenched my right arm, causing me to drop the gem. My left arm was gripped with a gentler touch. I looked over to find Safina, tears welling in her eyes.

Wardens surrounded the cage. The tall man on my right side glared down at me with menace. Amal stepped through the line of guards to face me.

“I’m not entirely sure what you are trying to do here, First Tidemaiden,” he said, his voice sounding honestly confused. “But freeing this creature that tried to kill us all is treason.”

“He’s not a creature! He’s a man!” I yelled. I turned to Safina. “His name is Keeran, he’s a cursed Ember Faep—” But my words were cut off when a water mask was affixed to my face.

“I cannot allow you to infect anyone else with your treasonous speech,” Amal said. “It’s a shame that the rigors and stresses of the Order’s initiation process have brought you to this, Niara. We all held out great hope that you would become an adequate priestess one day. I know Valya certainly did. She will be most disappointed in you.”

He bent to pick up the gem that had fallen when the wardens grabbed me. “We shall have to add theft to the list of your crimes, along, of course, with treason against the Order of Morros.”

Amal turned, his face limned with moonlight that made it glow. Behind him in the cage, Keeran appeared to grow larger and fill the space more completely.

“Due to the Holy Convergence and the need for all the Archons to be in Solmane for the tournament and the royal wedding next week, we will not have time for a traditional tribunal. In cases of unequivocal treason, it is my prerogative as High Warden to sentence you to the Unmooring.”

Beside me, Safina gasped.

“In the morning, you will be bound on an unsteerable craft with one day’s worth of provisions and left to the fate of the sea. May Morros have mercy on you.” He sounded like he truly regretted having to pass this sentence, the fiend. A single tear dripped down Safina’s face.

“Take her away,” Amal ordered, and the male warden on my right jostled me, marching me away from Keeran. Safina had to keep up. My last glimpse of Keeran was of the dark lava of his skin glowing orange all over.

His roar split open the night. Itwas so anguished and furious that it caused my very bones to vibrate. The male guard, who was squeezing my arm too tightly, stumbled on the sand.

I had failed, again, and now it wasn’t just me who would pay the price.

12

keeran

NIARA!

I scream her name in my mind as they drag her away from me. My claws rake uselessly against the water barrier, each desperate swipe sending ripples across its surface but doing nothing to break it. Through our connection, her fear and desperation slice against me like a knife.

I’m so sorry, she repeats over and over again. Then she’s gone from my view, obscured by the large tents of the camp. The High Warden follows, his arrogant stride and self-satisfied smile burning into my memory. I will tear him apart for this. I will reduce him to ash.

But first, I need to get to her.

I batter at the cage for the rest of the night, calling out to Niara mentally, but she doesn’t respond. Her emotions are a whirlwind of fear, shame, and anger. I whisper words ofcomfort to her, hoping they penetrate, but not sure they are. It’s like she has already given up.

As dawn breaks, the camp bustles with activity. The flotilla prepares to depart, and I remain trapped in this watery prison. Wardens cast wary glances my way as they load the final supplies onto the ships. None approach too closely. They fear me—as they should.

Just like every other day since my capture, a group of Order priests and priestesses levitates my cage and places it below the decks of one of their sea crafts. I’m shut in the dark during the day with only the sound of the sea and the presence of small rodents for company.

The ship vibrates as the anchor rises, and then we are moving. Niara’s emotions burst in a new flurry of fear. I probe our connection, feeling it stretched taut like a thread of heated glass. The pressure builds at the back of my skull, a dull throb that promises worse to come.

It is undeniable proof of what I’ve sensed since I was first forced out of the volcano. We are fated mates. It is the rarest of bonds among my people, and somehow, I’ve started the twining with a Water Mage.

As the flotilla continues its journey west, the discomfort I’ve been feeling all morning blooms into pain, sharp and insistent. Each foot of distance between me and my mate is a new torture. We cannot be separated. Especially not now, so soon after the twining bond has begun to form.

My breathing grows ragged. Sweat beads on my skin, evaporating instantly against the heat of my body. I close my eyes and see flashes—imagining what Niara is going through based on her emotions: hersmall body lying on a small raft. The meager single day of food and water essentially a death sentence as she drifts along the Aurelian Sea.

She will not understand the pain wracking her muscles and bones. She won’t know why her body is betraying her this way.

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