Sneak Peek Sample: CROWNED
I’m excited to share this sample chapter from CROWNED, the fourth and final installment in my BEHOLDER series (launch date 11-28)! In this chapter, our heroine Elea spends some quality time with her mate Rowan before heading out to a festival with the notorious trickster gods, Mlinzi and Walinzi.
Enjoy!
CB
We transported back to our cabana behind the palace. Of course, we had a formal room in the palace itself, but that was more for show. Rowan and I actually lived in this small round structure made of bamboo. It was simple, cozy, and perfect.
Once the red smoke disappeared, I noticed the thin line of red moonlight peeping through the bamboo walls. After that, I noticed the touch of gentle kisses along my jawline. Rowan.
“I thought we were getting ready for the festival?” I asked.
“I’m not answering that yet.” Rowan kissed a slow path down my throat. “I said I would heal you from your gateway casting.” Rowan nipped at my neck, sending a jolt of desire through me. “And this is a critical part of the healing process.”
I grinned. “How strange. I don’t sense any magick in the air.”
“Only because you’re not focusing enough yet.” He pulled my body flush against his.
I pursed my lips and did some quick calculations. “When does the Monkey Festival begin?”
“It started hours ago.”
“I thought you said it hadn’t yet begun.”
“Oops.” I knew Rowan well enough to realize what that really meant. Rowan wanted some time with me and was willing to be late in order to get it. For the record, I liked this meaning quite a bit.
Still, the celebration took place at Trickster’s Haven, a village that was halfway across the continent. Although Rowan was strong with transport spells, it still might take us some time to get there. “Are you sure we shouldn’t leave now?”
“Not to worry. Casters aren’t like Necromancers. Being hours late is nothing to fret over.” He gently kissed the spot where my collarbone met my neck. A flutter of excitement moved through me.
Being held by Rowan was something to savor. “Perhaps we would wait a few hours more.”
Rowan gave me his lopsided grin. “Now, you’re making sense.”
A series of heavy slamming noises boomed from the door. I’d know that particular “knock” anywhere, because it was no knock at all. In fact, it was more like a battering ram of a fist slamming into the thin wood. And that kind of noise typically came from only one category of Caster—Rowan’s personal guard.
“My king, your presence is requested at the festival.”
Rowan chuckled. “As I was about to say, it’s only a matter of time before one of my guards shows up and drums us out of here.”
The kisses were too delicious to end so quickly, so I mouthed two words to Rowan, One hour?
Surely, the Casters wouldn’t notice sixty little minutes.
Rowan leaned in to nip my ear. “I think the Casters can wait another hour.”
The pounding continued. “I heard that,” bellowed the guard. “No one can wait an hour. The people grow too happy to listen to a speech.”
Oh, no. That was guard-speak for the crowd getting too drunk too quickly. Unless we showed up and started to add some structure to the evening, the Casters could quickly turn from celebrating to trying to pound each other into the ground in a massive fistfight. Those tended to be horrible to clean up.
Rowan rubbed his nose along mine. “They never pay attention to my speeches anyway.”
“Your brother Jicho can’t stay much longer,” added the guard. “He said to tell you that he’s wanted to show you the mechanical boat he’s been building with Amelia.”
I gave Rowan a sad smile. “We can’t miss Jicho showing us his machine ship.”
Rowan slowly brushed his lips across mine. “Agreed. We’ll leave immediately.”
“Thank you, oh, Genesis Rex,” said the guard through the door. “We’ll expect you to transport to the site within five minutes.” Now, I understood that part of the guard’s role was to keep Rowan on time and kingly, but they oftentimes seemed overzealous in my opinion.
Rowan shook his head. “You have my word we’ll be there in two minutes. I have more than enough magick to cast spells for Elea and I to change our appearances and transport.”
As a rule, mages tried not to use magick for daily skills that could be done without it. Overexposure to power warped the mind until all you could focus on was casting meaningless spells.
“That’s all I needed to hear,” said the guard. The pounding stopped. We really needed to give them less power over our schedule. That said, whenever we limited their access, the people ended up almost killing one another in drunken brawls.
Rowan held up his hand. “Shall we?”
I grinned, knowing what he wanted to do: cast a joint spell. I mimicked his movement and set my left palm against his right. After that, I pulled in energy from our environment. Caster power radiated out from living things. Necromancer energy hid in bones and rock. Both filled my soul until I felt as if I’d burst. I focused the magick toward the hand that touched Rowan’s palm. The veins there glowed red with Caster power, while the bones shone with a blue light. Necromancer energy.
Meanwhile, Rowan did the same. I could feel the power he drew into himself. It wicked across my skin like tiny fingers. As Rowan focused the magick onto his palm, I saw the veins and bones light up. After that, I felt the alternating heat and cold of the Caster and Necromancer power. All that was left was for us to share it and cast our spells.
This was my favorite part.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
Rowan’s green eyes turned intense. “For you? Always.”
“You’ll need to do the incantation.” Since I didn’t know where the festival was, I couldn’t safely cast a transport spell.
“With pleasure.” He linked his fingers with mine so both our hands touched. “Let’s journey together.”
And so, we did.
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