The Darkest Sword by Samantha Kroese (ebook voice reader txt) 📕

lifted his blade again. But then he slid it back onto his back and bowed to Rhadamanthus, even though it killed him on the inside to do so.

Rhadamanthus eyed him with a look of smug satisfaction. “Good. Perhaps you are finally learning. Go clean yourself up. We have a city to conquer tonight.”

Ashiyn obediently turned and stalked out of the room. The wakened blade whispered promises of vengeance as soon as they were stronger.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Ashiyn spent the next several days throwing himself into whatever the army was after. Blood. Death. Letting the blade drink deeply of the blood of his enemies. Nothing calmed the fire burning in his chest, the ache that made him breathless. Annalysa was gone. His child murdered before it even had a chance to live. His chambers were lonely and quiet. Sark had been replaced, and the fact that he still existed in the Nthir comforted Ashiyn a little, but nothing eased the pain of Annalysa’s absence. He avoided sexual contact even though Rhadamanthus continued to throw women his way. He was lost.

Eventually no rest caught up to him. Rhadamanthus sent him home under orders to sleep and recover and stop making a fool of himself being clumsy on the battlefield. Reluctantly, Ashiyn obeyed and retreated to his chambers. He could not stand the silence. He focused his magic to find Soryn. When he sensed his friend was alone, he opened the shadows and yanked Soryn through.

Soryn yelped and he stood there, dripping water onto Ashiyn’s floor, completely nude and soaked. When he saw Ashiyn lounging in the chair before him he blushed and wrung out his dark hair. “New trick? You could have waited until I was finished with my bath.”

Ashiyn let his gaze travel over Soryn’s body slowly. He had not minded their little tryst so much and now he did not want to be alone. Soryn was his only friend.

“What happened?” Soryn asked, suddenly still.

“Many things,” Ashiyn said listlessly as he sipped a cup of wine.

“You are stronger,” Soryn muttered and shuddered when he saw the massive blade lying in the glass case nearby. He unconsciously stepped away from it, eyes wide. “You got the blade?”

“I did, yes. It is quite wonderful,” Ashiyn agreed, looking at the sword. A pleased lick of black lightning traveled over it before it grew quiet again.

“Rhadamanthus is not dead,” Soryn observed quietly. “Why?”

Ashiyn closed his eyes. “I am not strong enough. The blade is not strong enough. I tried. It was still not enough.”

Soryn shook his head then took the initiative to go into Ashiyn’s washroom and grab a towel, then returned, drying himself then wiping up the puddle on the floor. Then he wrapped the towel around his waist, suddenly self-conscious. “What else happened, Ashiyn? Something broke you. You’re not yourself.” Soryn walked over to sit on the floor in front of Ashiyn, resting on Ashiyn’s knees. “Tell me.”

“I got Annalysa pregnant,” Ashiyn stumbled over the words. He swallowed the lump in his throat and narrowed his eyes against the sting. No, he was stronger than this.

Soryn tilted his head. “Not that surprising, Ashiyn. She’s in your bed every night.”

“Was,” Ashiyn corrected and his voice broke so he covered it with a growl and pushed Soryn away so he could get up. He started to pace the room. “Rhadamanthus killed her. Sark tried to protect her, so Rhadamanthus killed him as well.”

Soryn sucked in a breath and held it for a moment. Then he got up to come up behind Ashiyn, rubbing his back and stopping his pacing. “You fell for her,” Soryn whispered. It was an observation, not an accusation.

“I let her fill my head with stupid things. Impossible things,” Ashiyn muttered.

“No, Ashiyn. Don’t bury what she woke. It’s not wrong to love,” Soryn said quickly, taking Ashiyn’s face in his hands. Soryn’s dark eyes filled with unspent tears as he spoke, “Don’t you dare let him take this from you.”

“It is pain, Soryn. Nothing but pain, suffering. I can’t breathe. I can’t sleep. I can’t stand the silence. I can’t stand being alone! This has broken me! What good is it?” Ashiyn hissed as he pulled back. Then, noticing the pain reflected in Soryn’s dark eyes he stilled. “That is what you feel for me?”

Soryn looked away, staring at the floor as though the intricate patterns in the carpeting were serpents ready to eat him. “I have loved you since the first time I met you, Ashiyn.”

Ashiyn turned away and stalked across the room, leaning hard on the case with the sword, watching the black lightning lick over the dark bejeweled metal of the scabbard. “I will be the death of you, Soryn. He will take everything.”

“He wouldn’t dare take me,” Soryn crossed his arms. “I am his brother’s high priest and favorite. If he took me, he knows Rurik would take you.”

Ashiyn cringed at the idea and glared at Soryn. “You’re not helping.”

“Sorry, but it’s true enough,” Soryn mumbled then he sighed. “How can I help you, Ashiyn? I would do anything for you. Ask me and I will follow you anywhere. Tell you that you need me, and I will defy my master to be at your side until I take my last breath. I die a little every moment we’re apart. Now you understand.”

Ashiyn looked up at Soryn, faltering at his friend’s words. “What if I can never love you that way, Soryn?”

“It doesn’t matter. My love is unconditional. I will follow you, serve you, in any way you desire. Even if you never love me. Even if you never touch me again. Just promise me you will not let him kill this part of you that you have just discovered,” Soryn whispered as he walked closer.

Ashiyn closed his eyes when Soryn’s soft touch caressed his cheek. “I don’t want to be