Page 32 of A Dance of Water

Bastian spoke. "I forced her to see the demon, as you requested." Vale cut off Azgorath’s sound of protest with a harsh look. The vampire continued, "She fell asleep in the library. I tried to go into her mind with my magic, but I… I could not see anything."

"What do you mean, you could notseeanything?" Vale inquired.

"It was dark. Utter darkness."

Tharen grew serious. "Utter darkness? Do you think her powers are to blame?"

"I do not know." Bastian’s reddened eyes fell shut for a brief moment. "But I am worried for her."

"I am, as well. The weather, she’s controlling it, and she does not even realize," Vale weighed in. "If this continues for any longer, we will have to worry about flooding."

"And what if she can do the opposite?" Graves interjected. "What if she can cause a drought? Then we will have no food."

The King resisted the urge to let his head fall onto the table. Another problem…

"It is not impossible." Bastian steepled his fingers before him.

Vale waved a hand in the air. "We will address that if the issue arises." He took the time to hold each of their eyes, stressing the importance of their next topic—therealreason they were all here for this meeting. "The Winter Solstice is approaching. We need to talk about what is going to transpire."

Bastian gave a slow, resigned nod. "Vale’s dragon has already shown a possessiveness for her. The Choosing Ceremony will not be a matter ofifhis dragon claims her, buthow. And what can we do to ensure her safety."

Wisps of smoke filled the room as Vale’s dragon rose to the surface, bubbling underneath his skin like hot, thick lava. "We need her." That was not entirely Vale who had spoken. He pinched his eyes shut, trying to regain control. "My dragonneeds her. I cannot guarantee what he will do."

"Do you think he would kill her?" Azgorath’s voice filled the room. He did not pose a rebuttal to the nature of the Solstice; he knew the tradition was as old as the very sky itself. There was no way to work around it and keep her away—not if they wanted to risk questions aboutwhoshe was to them.

Never,his dragon roared.

"No," Vale nearly spat.Take her, keep her.Images of his safe and warm den rose to the surface of his mind. "Definitely not. What he feels for her is strong, but not violent."

Tharen arched a brow, but it was Graves who surprised them all by saying, "Lust, then?"

"Fuck off," Vale responded.

Azgorath’s growls rang throughout the room.

"We will not tell her," Bastian said. "Right? It will only scare her to know what the Solstice entails and to know that she cannot escape it."

The King agreed, "We will not tell her. It will cause her fear, and we cannot risk it because of her current state and what her powers may do."

"What do you mean we will not tell her?" Azgorath strode forward and braced his large hands on the table, placing so much weight on it that the oak groaned under his palms. "So, what? We just won’t tell Lu that she will be paraded about amid a throng of females, claimed by your dragon, and then act as the Chosen for the week of celebrations, being your personal servant, only to end it all by being forced to lie with you?" The demon spat the accusations with a thinly veiled threat laced between his words. And that would not do.

"You will not tell her, demon," the King ordered.

"Or what? Will you kill me?"

"No. Butshemight be killed. If we tell her what is expected of her and she goes into it without fear, it will raise suspicion. Look at me, Azgorath." The demon stared into Vale’s eyes with anger brewing as the King leaned forward and harshly whispered, "If our enemies find out the Princess is important to us, she will be taken, she will be hurt, and she could very well be killed. Just to get to us. You don’t want that, do you?"

The demon shook his head, a brown curl flopping over his temple.

"I thought so." Vale sat back against his chair and looked to the others as he held up a finger. "She will not know because we do not know the full extent of her power yet"—he held up a second finger—"and because it is for her safety to be in the dark on this. We need her scared, and we need her to act as she normally would as a prisoner of war and not one of the females who live for the prospect of being the Chosen. As the stolen Princess of Solis, she will be expected to be scared, and wewantthat."

Azgorath’s amber eyes grew glassy, but the demon did not shed a tear as he relented. "Alright. I agree not to tell her. But I am doing this for Lu. Not for you."

"Very well." Bastian’s fangs flashed as he rolled his bottom lip between his teeth. "The Princess will not be told about the Solstice and all that it entails. Now, for the final order of business. Her power and what we can do to help control it…" He gestured to Tharen, allowing the Prima to take the lead.

"The elemental magics of the fae and mages are similar, of course, with the mage’s ancestors being part fae. But we have one difference: there has never been a mage with the power of Luna or Solis. So, I can’t speak to those two powers, but the elemental powers of Aer, Ignis, Aqua, and Terra—those I can aid with. Mages are taught knowing the best way to settle our powers as we reach maturity and learn to master them is through a fight or a fuck." Tharen grinned wildly.

Bastian tsked. "She could not stand a fight. Not how we do it. She is far too small and weak for violence."

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