Page 22 of Luna

Fire bands formed on her forearms as twin flames ignited in her palms. Kole would rescue his mate... and kill Ambassador Clod.

Chapter Eleven

LUNA

Behind her mating veil, Luna cursed the blind puppetry of her kin. Looking at her parents upon the royal dais, the king’s expression remained neutral while her mother’s lips had thinned into a flat line, her knuckles gripping the arm of her throne chair. A chilling energy churned in Luna’s stomach, reminding her that she had a mate to fight for. With her thumb, she rolled the ring on her finger. Kole would come for her. Since her return to the Thornican castle, her sire had been in negotiations with the Elemis Council. A calculated move orchestrated by Clod to be sure. According to the king, her capture and undue familiarity with the fugitive ice warrior had brought great shame upon the family. To avoid any show of deference to a disobedient subject, the king chose to deal with her harshly, forbidding Luna contact with any of her siblings. The decree extended to her mother too. As her future mate and rescuer, Ambassador Clod had graciously volunteered to serve as Luna’s intermediary with her own family. Kole’s words that diplomacy had no place in the concerns of mates, reverberated more clearly now than ever. All that she believed of herself, her duty to her people, had allowed Clod to use her as a bargaining tool to seize power.

Adorned with his official sash across one shoulder, the Thornican crest emblazoned on his tunic, Clod stood at her side. “Smile, pretty Luna. It’s our mating ceremony.”

The ceremony started as the sun hung at its pinnacle. Burning torches blazed at every window, the pyrolysis of charred peat moss lifted to the wafters. Clod had taken care to give himself every advantage over Kole’s water elemental powers.

The harp playing a soft, yet melancholy tune ceased.

“Clod of Thornica, due you pledge your undying loyalty to your role as mate and protector to Luna, princess of the earthen elemental people.”

Instinctively, Luna drew back, but Clod gripped her elbow, his hold punishing. “I do.”

Luna gasped in pain. A blast of cold shot through her. Clod snatched his hand away as if burned. Though he couldn’t see her eyes, she glared at him.

“I will kill you for this betrayal,” Luna threatened, well aware the soldiers positioned at the exits were under this male’s command. While her family had been steeped in tradition, Clod had used his influence in the sector to amass a rogue army.

With his eyes focused on the holy male performing the ceremony, he whispered, “Not if I kill you first.”

There was no mistaking Clod’s intent. Her pulse leaped into overdrive. Cold spread from her very core, gripping her womb, her lungs, and ice filled her heart. Would he try to steal her life this very night? The ring on her finger started to tingle.

Was it getting colder?

Mutters could be heard from the gathered crowd. The torches flickered. Like a mystical fog, frost formed on the windows. The sun invading the chamber faded to dusk.

The sound of shattered glass pierced the hall. Then a rumble came from behind the dais, the noise growing louder. Luna looked on as the wall began to glow red. The supporting rock pillars melting like soft wax. Council members visibly shivered, the temperature dropping lower, yet the glowing fire consumed the wall.

Kole, covered in dark soot, standing erect as an oak, muscles bulging, eyes blazing.

Her father grabbed the queen’s hand. “What is happening?”

“I claim first right to mate Princess Luna.”