CHAPTER 1
Saar curled his fingers around the hilt of his sword and pressed his lips to the cool steel blade. The skin around his mouth puckered, a constant reminder of the age-old, disfiguring scar that tracked from his cheek to his chin. Hot and bitter, bile rose in his throat, and the mixture of sweat and frustration blended into a toxic brew.
Dampness coated his skin. He took a step forward, his boots sliding over the smooth, polished stone floor.
Sunstones lining the underground Keep’s cave walls flared to life. The light reflected in his opponent’s cold stare.
“Come now, I didn’t expect you to beat around the bush. You can do much better.” Saar’s adversary smiled, and his blue eyes swirled with amber flecks. So familiar, so chilling.
The taunt sent a rush of adrenaline through Saar’s veins. He tightened his grip around his favorite weapon and hefted the heavy blade. Focused on his rival, he waited for the slight flinch around the eyes, the tell-tale sign his opponent would attack.
…and there it was, the twitch under Noeh’s left eye. With a quickness bred into his Lemurian blood, Noeh brought his short sword down.
The clash of steel ricocheted against the Keep’s stone walls.
Blade pressed to blade, Saar’s muscles strained under Noeh’s pressure. Although they didn’t usually spar with real swords, both Saar and the king were on edge. Sparring with authentic weapons provided the extra rush they desperately needed.
Noeh’s mouth lifted at the corner. “Concede.”
The demand lit a fire of conviction in Saar’s chest. He shoved his sword harder against Noeh’s, forcing the male to step back. “Never.”
Noeh relaxed his grip and swiped his sword under Saar’s blade.
Saar used the momentum to his advantage. He brought his blade around, and the tip scratched Noeh’s ear. Blood pooled along the cut.
“Craya! That’s twice now you’ve nicked me.” Noeh drew his mouth into a thin line, his gaze focused on Saar’s lips.
Saar lowered his sword in deference to his king. “Actually, that’s three. Set and match.”
Noeh sheathed his weapon and wiped his palm over his face. The red sunstone in his ring, the one that marked him as king, glittered in the light. “Not long ago that wouldn’t have happened, at least not so easily. Damn my deafness!”
If Saar could’ve absorbed Noeh’s weakness, taken away his pain, he would’ve done so without hesitation.
Everyone had a weakness that wouldn’t heal. Noeh’s were his ears. Saar—the scar that marred his face. He cleared his throat to dislodge the ache that had formed there. “Your Majesty. You are our king. I, for one, would follow you to the grave.”
Noeh exhaled, and a sad smile tugged at his lips. “You are my most trusted, my most loyal warrior. You’ve proven that to me, time and again.” His attention focused on Saar’s scar before drawing to his eyes. “I couldn’t have chosen a better Commander of Arms.”
Noeh almost died because of you. Father’s words echoed in Saar’s mind, and the familiar guilt weighed heavily on his shoulders.
He glanced around the room, taking in the empty weights against the far wall and the sparring dummies lined up in a row. Pictures graced the walls, many of warriors in battle, some with swords raised above their heads, others in beast form, long hair coating their tall, muscular bodies, claws elongated, tusks protruding from their jaws.
Saar longed to shift into his beast once again, but he wouldn’t take the chance, not unless he needed to protect someone he loved, like Noeh.
In recent memory, only two Stiyaha had returned to their human state—Tanen, the Keep’s council leader, and Noeh, their king. How had they shifted back? No one knew for sure, but some thought it had something to do with their new mates.
Three dark bands circled Noeh’s neck, the sign of an unusually strong bonding. Most bonded males received two bands and those who received one often wished they’d never mated.
Saar brushed his fingers over his throat. No mark would ever darken his skin. A longing deep inside twisted his gut into a tight ball, and he clenched his teeth.
Although the sac under his tongue had filled with his bonding ink a time or two, he’d never pierced the pouch. The liquid that would bind him to a mate and produce the bands remained intact.
Not that it mattered. There wasn’t a female in the Keep who would have him. Over his five hundred and fifty years on this planet, a few had lain with him for the experience, but all recoiled at his disfigurement. Now, he kept his distance from all females.
He placed his sword in his scabbard and faced his king so that Noeh could read his lips. “I do what I was born to do, fight this war for you and Alora.”
In this elaborate game they played on Earth, Gossum were the enemy, the ones to defeat in this bitter fight for the right to control the planet’s water. The fate of humankind, oblivious and caught in the middle, rested on the war’s outcome.
Unfortunately, the last battle hadn’t ended well. A tic pulsed in Saar’s jaw.
Noeh narrowed his gaze, flecks of amber sparking in his eyes once again. “Speaking of the war, seems Zedron has some new players in the game. A new enemy for us. Perfect, just what we needed.” He pursed his lips, the pink of his skin lightening from the pressure. “Where do you suppose those shape-shifting bears…the Ursus came from and why hasn’t Alora, our illustrious goddess, mentioned anything about them to us?”
An unbidden image flashed across Saar’s mind. During the last battle, a young Ursus female, mace in hand, stood before him ready to attack. She had long hair as dark as night, braided in a tight plait down her back, golden-yellow trim interwoven between the silky strands. Resolve glowed in her eyes, and she’d attacked him with a ferocity he’d never seen in a female before.
Although she was his enemy, he couldn’t bring himself to harm her. A strange desire to touch her skin had flitted through him, and before he could stop himself, he’d trailed a finger down her soft cheek. His fingers tingled at the memory.
“Saar?” Noeh’s voice broke through Saar’s thoughts, pulling him back to the present.
“Your Majesty?”
Noeh paced to a rack of barbells, leaned down, and placed his hands over the heavy weights. The muscles in his arms bunched beneath the similar military-issued black shirt all the warriors wore. He tapped his ring against the metal, once, twice, three times. The ping echoed through the empty room. “You didn’t answer my question. Where did the Ursus come from and why hasn’t Alora said anything?”
Saar pulled a toothpick from a small pocket under his belt and twirled it between his lips. The ragged tip caught on the soft tissue of his inner lip, scouring the flesh. Blood, tangy and bitter, filled his mouth. He waited to reply until Noeh turned around. “I have no answer for you on the bears or Alora. It doesn’t matter. In the end, we will prevail.”
The lines around Noeh’s eyes softened. “Your faith never ceases to amaze me and is only rivaled by your loyalty. Yes, my friend, we will succeed. We have to…” he blinked and peered at his ring. “I don’t know what I would do without Melissa and Anlon. If I ever lost my son…” His jaw tightened.
Saar tugged the dagger from his belt clip, and ran the sharp edge over the jagged toothpick. A few shavings curled into a tight twist and slid to the stone floor. “Melissa would tell you not to invite trouble.”
A short, stifled laugh emerged from Noeh’s lips. “She’d tell me to get on with winning this war.” He smiled and streaks of amber flashed through his eyes. “Put together a scouting party. Locate Mauree’s hideout. With all those troops, she can’t be that hard to find. We need to locate her before she attacks again.”
Saar sheathed his dagger, returned the toothpick to his pocket, and bowed. On his shoulder, his marking for loyalty burned while the ones for courage and honor were eerily silent. A sense of pride lightened Saar’s chest for his three dark, jagged lines. Born with his own unique marks at birth like all Stiyaha males, he’d honored his values well over the years and the markings had never faded. “Yes, Your Majesty. We leave at nightfall.”
Saar’s mind drifted to the beautiful female. Nothing good could come from seeing her again. She was the enemy. By all rights, he should kill her. He ground his teeth.
I pray I don’t find her. Yet, a part of him deep inside wanted nothing more.