Page 59 of The King of Koraha
“Rendor, wait.”
“No. We have to be ready to leave.” He folded his extra tunic and pants. “And we can’t miss the show.”
She had promised not to use magic or the power of The Eyes on him unless she had a damn good reason. This qualified.
Stop.
He froze, but he stared at her in surprised anger.
“I’ve an excellent reason. Do you trust me?” she asked.
The anger faded. “Yes.”
She released him. “Please sit down.”
Rendor sat cross-legged on the oversized blue and purple cushion. She knelt in front of him so they were at eye level then accessed his thoughts. They were conflicted. He wished to obey Xerxes and leave Nintri, but he loved Shyla. She was smart, sexy, and all his. But Xerxes was his commander and he needed to please him.
Worry edged toward fear as she chased those magical directives. They slipped from her grasp, melted away, and dodged. Frustrated, she tried erasing his memories of their encounter with Xerxes. They kept reforming. Panic pulsed in her heart when the commands grew stronger.
Rendor wondered why Shyla and his commander were at odds. Xerxes’ intelligence and skills made him the perfect leader. He couldn’t wait to pledge his loyalty to him. The man saved Nintri and was working for the Water Princess. A noble man.
She had to stop the hero worship before she lost Rendor. But everything she tried failed. Why? No idea. Changing tactics, she concentrated on how magical commands worked. Xerxes had used manipulation, one of the three magical techniques. Yet once the instruction was carried out, the wielder stopped pushing the magic and the person went back to normal. But in this case…Xerxes pushed, but didn’t stop.
No. If he was still wielding magic on Rendor and the princess, he’d be exhausted. It was almost as if the magical order remained…magical, working even after the wielder stopped. Wow, that would be an incredibly powerful skill. No wonder all the princess could think about was Xerxes. Was that also Lonato’s skill?
Focusing on Rendor, Shyla considered how to remove the magic. If it was— Scorching hells. Jayden. She had taken his ability to wield magic. But would that work in this case? Rendor wasn’t glowing with magic. No time to worry about it. Shyla pressed her hands to the sides of his head.
“Is this really necessary?” he asked. “We need to follow Xerxes’ commands. Or he might not want us to become part of his unit. And that would be horrible. You alone would be such an asset to his cause.”
“Just give me another angle.” She concentrated, trying to find the magic. But without that…light, she couldn’t. Desperate, she thought of another idea. “Rendor, can you envision Commander Xerxes? Imagine him in your mind. Try to form a picture.”
As soon as his thoughts converged, the magic lit up. It resembled a figure of a man. However she didn’t waste time examining it. Instead, she tugged it, pulling it from his mind.
Rendor grunted in pain. “What—”
“Just another…”
The last of it gushed out and the magic—now invisible—exploded. The force blew her back. Rendor toppled over in the opposite direction. With Jayden, she’d been thrown across the room and knocked unconscious. At least this time she remained upright.
Shyla hurried to check on Rendor. He lay on the floor, appearing dazed and rubbing his temples.
“What happened?” he asked.
“How do you feel?”
“Like I was kicked in the head.” He struggled to sit up.
She sat next to him. “Can I read you?”
He nodded, but his expression was wary. Despite the pain thudding in his skull, worry about what happened dominated his thoughts. Did Xerxes do something to him? Or Shyla? If that bastard so much as laid a hand on her, he’d rip the commander limb from limb.
Shyla suppressed a grin. Her Rendor was back. “You’ll be fine.”
“Are you going to tell me what happened now?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Xerxes ambushed us. He wanted to talk about taking over the investigation.” Rendor pressed a hand to his forehead. “I agreed with him. It lined up with our desires to travel. Yet a part of me knew I shouldn’t be agreeing with him. A part that had no control over what I did and said. It was like I was two different people. Does that makes sense?”
