Malcolm and Icelyn's Story (Uoria Mates V Book 4) Read online

  She shunned the question, instead picking up his plate and carrying it with hers back to the kitchen. She settled them into the sink, telling herself that she would wash them the next day. She didn’t want to spend any more time in the living room with Malcolm. It was all moving too fast. She was feeling too close, too willing to trust. That wasn’t something that she could allow herself to do. She needed to protect herself and her legacy above anything. As she made her way toward the hallway to her bedroom, she looked back over to where he was sitting on the couch watching her.

  “You should try to get some more sleep,” she told him. “It’s still early and you have a few more hours before you need to be up. Training starts in the morning and you are going to need all of the energy that you can possibly get.”

  Malcolm nodded.

  “Alright,” he said. “Thank you.”

  Without waiting for him to say anything else or responding, Icelyn turned and headed down the hall to her bedroom. She closed the door behind her and felt as though her lungs waited until they saw the light from the front of house go out before they released the breath that they held. Rather than taking her own guidance and going back to sleep, she stared up at the ceiling. She wished that she knew why Athan had chosen her to help Malcolm. There were so many other people he could have asked that could have been just as effective at protecting him. Possibly even more so. She was just one woman, alone in her house, no family. Nothing to give her the strength and perseverance to defend him if the members of the Order were to find out that he was with her and come for him.

  Though her mind was repeating the question over and over, Icelyn felt like it was trying to convince her that she didn’t know what was happening. She wasn’t entirely sure of everything that was happening around her, but deep in her heart she knew that she knew more than she wanted to admit to herself. This was her legacy, the path that was left to her. There was something inside of her that had been given to her at birth and had only grown more important. Even if she didn’t completely know all that it entailed or what she was going to be called to do with it, she knew that she had been readying for this for her entire life.

  Chapter Three

  Malcolm worried that turning off the glow of the lights would send him back into the nightmare, but when he touched the place in the wall the way that Icelyn had when they first arrived at her home, the darkness closed around him comfortingly. The faintest light from the stars came through the gap in the curtains on the window, allowing him to see enough of the shapes of the furniture that he was able to navigate his way back through to the couch. When he sat down, it felt as though his muscles relaxed more than they had when he first laid down to sleep that night. He wasn’t fully at ease yet, but the conversation that he had had with Icelyn had helped to release some of the tension that had been within him. He turned and laid down, stretching himself across the cushions so that his head rested on the pillow that Icelyn had brought for him and his feet just barely touched the other arm. It was smaller than the bed where he slept in his home, but that was soothing and reassuring in a way.

  The thought stuck in his mind and he found himself rolling the words over and over in his mind. His home. It was a stark realization that he didn’t actually have a home any longer. He was never going to be able to return to the house that he had shared with the other men. It was far too dangerous even to step foot in there again knowing that the two Order members still lived there. He would have to simply forget about his life there and accept that he was now adrift, the anchors that once held him were gone and an uncertain future laid ahead of him, still seemingly just out of his reach.

  He turned so that he lay on his back and looked up at the ceiling. The encounter with Icelyn had stayed with him, but he didn’t know fully how to interpret it. She was so beautiful, and it was such a gift that she was there to help him when his need was so extreme. At the same time, however, she, and the entire situation, was so strange. Malcolm didn’t know why he should be willing to entrust his safety to her, or why he should be willing to put hers at such risk. He knew very well that if the Order should find out that she was harboring him and they decided to come after him, that it wouldn’t be just him that would be in danger. She would be at direct risk, her life at the mercy of those who would want him dead. It wasn’t just the worry that made him think about this, however. Malcolm knew that there had to be something very significant about her and who she was to justify Athan choosing her to be the person who would be most responsible for helping him through this frightening and dangerous time. There were other people he could have chosen to help Malcolm. The kingdom was filled with Denynso warriors, members of the Mikana army, and even humans from the settlement, all of whom had already committed themselves to being a part of the fight ahead. Athan could have asked any of them to let Malcolm stay with them for the time that they remained on Uoria, and yet he didn’t. Instead, he had chosen this small, lovely woman, and that had to mean that there was something special about her. Athan wouldn’t readily choose someone for Malcolm to live with that he didn’t feel was the absolute right choice in the situation. He was aware of the danger and wouldn’t take it lightly.

  Malcolm couldn’t stop the questions that were coursing through his mind. Who was Icelyn? How did she know who he was and so much about the Order? Why didn’t Athan think that she would be in any danger by choosing her to be the one who would harbor Malcolm, and if he did recognize the danger, why did he think that it was worth the risk to still ask her? The thoughts continued to run through his mind, the questions unanswered, until sleep gradually overtook him again and he was swept away into unbroken darkness. When he awoke, he would be thankful for the dreamless sleep that ensured his body and mind could rest, and for a time he wouldn’t be tormented with the decision that he made and the potential consequences that it could carry.

  The morning came in what felt like a matter of minutes, but Malcolm felt refreshed when he opened his eyes and saw the beginnings of sunlight starting to stream through the window. He could smell the fragrance of coffee drifting through the air, but the house was quiet. He got up and cautiously walked down the hallway toward the bathroom. There had still been no other sound by the time that he got back into the kitchen and Malcolm had a moment of panic worrying that something had already happened to her. He was starting out of the house when the door opened and Icelyn stepped back inside. She looked startled that he was surging toward her so quickly and he forced himself to relax, taking a step back away from her.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry,” Malcolm said. “I didn’t know that you had left. I thought that someone…”

  His words trailed off as thoughts that he didn’t want to give voice to came into his mind. Icelyn gazed at him for a few moments and then shook her head.

  “I just went to get some bread from my neighbor. I didn’t have any time to bake yesterday. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

  “No, it’s alright,” Malcolm said. “You aren’t tied to me. You can’t be expected to totally change your life just because I’m here.”

  “Athan seems to think that I should be.”

  Icelyn looked embarrassed as soon as she said it and Malcolm felt heat come to the back of his neck. He hated to think that he was inconveniencing her so much just by his presence. He felt the urge to defend himself. This wasn’t his choice. He hadn’t known that leaving the Order and coming to ask Athan to be a part of their rebellion would have left him a ward of whoever would be stuck with him. Had he thought that, Malcolm might have thought through the decision more carefully and come up with his own plans for what he was going to do next.

  “I assure you that I will be out of here as soon as I can be,” Malcolm said, any soft feelings that he had begun to experience for her draining away. “The crew should be prepared to leave for Penthos within a few days and I will be gone. If you’ll excuse me, I have to get to training. I don’t want to be late.”

>   He could see her mouth move as if she was going to say something to him, but he didn’t give her the chance. Malcolm stepped around her and headed out of the house. He had only gone a few steps when he saw Athan coming toward him. He didn’t want the other man to know what had just been said, but he couldn’t change the upset expression he knew was on his face. Fortunately, Athan didn’t make any assumptions about his mood and paused to wait until Malcolm got to him.

  “Good morning,” Malcolm said.

  “Did you sleep alright?” Athan asked.

  Thoughts of the nightmares that he had suffered flashed through his mind, but he pushed them away, refusing to allow them to control him.

  “All considering,” Malcolm said. “I’m ready to get started on training.”

  Athan gave a single nod and started walking toward the center of the village with Malcolm falling into step beside him.

  “Good,” Athan said. “It will be hard work.”

  “I’m willing to do it,” Malcolm said.

  They continued on until they reached the headquarters that they had established. They had already planned that they would leave the kingdom itself to perform the training, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to go through the process of training such a large army out in the open when they didn’t have the support of everyone in the kingdom, and when the Order might be watching them. Several of the Mikana who would be training with him were waiting outside of the headquarters, looking around with anticipation as if waiting for something to begin suddenly. Malcolm walked up to them as Athan broke off from him and started inside the building. A few moments later he and the Denynso Queen they called Theia stepped back outside.

  Athan’s face looked drawn and Malcolm felt a flutter of nerves in his belly. Athan held his hands out over the group and called them to attention. Malcolm expected him to say something more, but he only told them to follow him as he stepped down off of the porch and headed back through the village toward one of the gates in the wall. The group walked along in silence, the tension around them almost palpable as they made their way toward the training field. Malcolm wondered what kinds of thoughts the rest of them were having as they walked. He wondered if they were afraid or if they felt the same type of excitement that he had seen in some of the humans that Rain and Athan had brought from the settlement. They continued to walk along for several minutes after leaving the kingdom, soon putting even the stone wall behind them, and moving until they found themselves in a large, empty field. The ground was covered in thick, stiff grass the color of pale sunlight first thing in the morning and the lack of shade made the heat from the sun seem more intense.

  They followed Athan’s lead to stop and everyone turned to face him.

  “This is where we have chosen to train,” Athan said, lifting his voice loud enough that they could all hear him clearly. “The conditions are more strenuous here and that is intended to prepare you for what you will face on Penthos. That planet is unlike anything that you will have ever encountered here on Uoria. The circumstances are far more challenging, and you will encounter difficulties unlike anything with which you are familiar. Throughout this training you will need to put all of yourself into everything that is asked of you. Regardless of who you think that you are or the position that you believe that you held before you made the agreement to join us, you need to understand that that no longer applies. Each of you is equal. Each of you will do as you are asked and instructed, no questions asked. Your safety and the protection of all that are involved in this mission depend on it. By making the decision to join us, you have made the decision to offer all that you are to this effort and I can assure you that there will be a lot asked of you. I have seen only a glimpse of what awaits us on Penthos. I can only emphasize to you the importance of devoting yourself fully to your training so that you are as prepared as possible to handle these demands when we arrive there. Please take a moment to look around at everyone who is here. This is your team, your crew. We are the rebellion. I hope that I don’t need to tell you that none of you are to speak to anyone who you do not see here about any of the training that we do, or anything that you may learn about this war until we get to Penthos and you meet those who are waiting there for us. This is not negotiable. A single word to the wrong person could mean loss of the entire crew.” He took a step back and gestured toward Theia, welcoming her to come step up beside him. “There is only one exception to this and before we get started on our first training exercises, please give Theia your complete attention.”

  The Queen looked out over the group, staying quiet for a few moments as if giving them all the opportunity to get accustomed to her being the one who was speaking.

  “I need to share with you that Creia, King of the Denynso, is not here today with us to begin our training. He intended to be a part of this training from the beginning, but has chosen to sacrifice this first day in order to seek out additional assistance for our cause.”

  “From who?” Malcolm asked before he could stop himself.

  Theia turned to him slowly and Malcolm felt the burn of the eyes of everyone around him. He felt exposed, as if he had just revealed that there was something different about him to everyone in the group. Finally, Theia spoke again, breaking the tension.

  “He has crossed Uoria to ask the Eteri for their help. The Denynso once enjoyed a close alliance with them and he feels confident that they will willingly join us in our efforts. Creia believes that we need to increase our numbers as much as possible and be as strong as we can before going to Penthos to confront our enemy there. None of us, not even Athan, knows fully what it is that we will encounter there or the hardships that we might face in battle. The more we have with us and the more skilled our army, the better chances we have for a swift and efficient victory.”

  There was a rustle of voices through the group as they all contemplated the potential arrival of a species that none of them had seen and only few had heard of before. Of course, Malcolm had heard of the Eteri. It was a word that was whispered through the tunnels of the Order lair, murmured in the closest of company. There were legends about these creatures, stories about their power and what they had done in battles generations ago. There had been few interactions with them in the years since the battles raged on Uoria and so many lives, including Aegeus and other members of the Order, were lost. He knew that they weren’t gone, though some of the members of the Order believed that they had sunk away, disappearing into the planet much the way that the Irisa did. They couldn’t have simply gone when he had heard rumors of a select few continuing to prowl the furthest reaches of the planet, seeking out fights with whoever they might encounter, ready to seek vengeance for pain that they had experienced long ago.

  It was strange and somewhat unnerving for him to think of engaging with the Eteri. Now that he knew about the corruption within the Order, even the slight amount that he had already learned, he worried about what they had experienced at the hands of those who had gone rogue. He wondered what the Eteri would think of him and of the Order if they did choose to return with Creia. It was likely that they wouldn’t understand the reach of the corruption and would believe that it was the actions of those people who represented all of those who were members of the hierarchy. If they did, there might be a tremendous struggle between Athan, him, and these winged warriors.

  In the same breath, Malcolm was concerned simply because Creia wasn’t there. He trusted the Denynso King and had expected that he would be at the forefront of the training along with his wife and Athan. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Athan or didn’t believe that he would be very capable of leading the group and all that was to be done before they were able to go to Penthos. Malcolm simply felt more secure thinking that they would be under the leadership of someone who was not in the Order. Though the Denynso King had close links to the Order just as others in the Denynso had throughout history, he was not closely enough linked to be as influenced by the ways of the hierarchy, and the Order itself would not be
as suspicious of his activities. Many years before there had been a break between the Denynso and the Order. They parted ways in an effort to protect the planet and all of existence, giving up the closeness of their alliance in order to preserve the life of one couple and their future child, and in the hopes of ending the rumblings of destruction that had begun even then. It would be many years before they came in contact again, and even then, the connections were tenuous. Now it seemed that things were coming together again. These chosen few were fighting back against the corruption within the Order. Even those who were still not privy to the existence of the Order were going to do their part to resist the reaches of the corruption and those who the rogue members had aided. This was far more than just the darkness that grew within the lair tunnels. He didn’t know everything yet, but he didn’t need to. Malcolm was fully committed to this cause and ready to offer everything, including his life, to the efforts.

  Even as he stepped back into the straight line that was forming across the training field under Theia’s guidance, Malcolm experienced a flicker of sadness. He thought of the stories he had heard of the Denynso that had been lost, the large settlement of them that had gone missing without explanation. There had always been rumors, stories behind the disappearance of the entire group of people. Though Malcolm didn’t know for certain what had happened to them, he felt in his heart that it had something to do with the origins of the Order, the mysterious history that was the most precious and protected of Order secrets.