Flame of Cytherea: Cytherean Chronicles book 1 (9 page)

Katrina watched with amused twinkling eyes as Justin dragged
off Sally by her hand.
 
She had been
shocked at the woman’s oath and glad to see Justin didn’t even consider
it.
 
She had in essence given herself to
him with those words, he could have had her do anything at all.

She saw the wistful look on Nora’s face as she watched
Justin walk away, and had the feeling she would be sharing him soon.
 
She didn’t mind that idea at all, she liked
Nora as well and knew they would get along.
 
She smiled as she could still feel his touch, and the touch of the
goddess.
 
She felt wonderful and was a
little bit in awe of him, but was hiding it well enough she thought.

She knew he would absolutely hate that.

She saw a young man in an elaborate uniform approaching and
they all turned to face him, she wished Justin were here for this but hoped he
was setting that girl straight.
 

He said, “Hi Nora, I’m surprised to see you here after what
you said to my father.
 
Who are your two
frien
…”

She held back a snicker as his eyes widened on his sister.

Nicci said with innocence ringing in her voice, “Hello
Anton, how are you?”

She half snorted, half coughed.
 
She was almost positive she was turning red.

Not missing a beat Nora said in a sweet voice, “My other
companion is Katrina, she is from
Nerin
.
 
We have one other companion, possibly two,”
she added thoughtfully before continuing, “He is a Flame of Cytherea.”

She nodded her head and said, “Nice to meet you highness.”

He waved a hand, “Out here in the field just call me Anton
please.”
 
Then he said, “A Flame?
 
Sister, what are you doing here, you should
be back at the castle.” he sounded confused, unable to pick a topic.

Nicci said, “I swore a protection oath to the Flame of
Cytherea until this war is over.”

She almost laughed at the range of emotions that crossed his
face, but was surprised when he spoke and she found herself reassessing him.

“If you swore a protection oath, why are you not with him
then?”

Nicci’s face went white and she muttered, “I wasn’t
thinking, we are right next to the army and I thought us safe, you are right
though, excuse me.”

She watched as the princess turned and walked off in the direction
Justin and Sally went off a little while ago.

Anton watched his sister walk off, a thoughtful and
conflicting look on his face and said, “When they get back, feel free to join
me for lunch in the center tent.
 
It was
nice to meet you Katrina.”

He turned and walked off before she could reply…

----------

Sally was confused.
 
She was shamed, dishonored, for putting her family in danger, for
breaking her promise.
 
She had been
flying for more hours than she could remember and searching, looking for a way
to make up for her failures.
 
For a way
to make a difference.
 
She had been
watching not only with normal eyes, but with her mage power when she came
across a magic so strong it nearly blinded her.

Surely it had been a sign from the goddess; surely what she
had seen must be a Flame of Cytherea.
 
She had never seen anything so powerful before.
 
She had landed before him, and offered
herself to him.
 
She just wanted to serve
and protect him, to earn forgiveness.
 
But to her shock he had told her no, and was now dragging her off
somewhere.

She was trembling slightly when they reached a fairly
private spot, away from the others, and he turned and looked into her
eyes.
 
She saw that his forehead crinkled
and his eyes questioned her.
 
Was she so
lacking that he would not even allow her to serve?
 
Then he spoke.

“Don’t be afraid, I just want to understand, why would you
give me such an oath?”

She spoke haltingly, explaining her family’s secret,
explaining her shame and that she had found in him a chance to make up for
things.
 
It took her quite a while to get
through it all, and to her consternation his frown grew the whole time…

He said softly, “Stop trembling please.
 
When did you make this promise, and how often
did your mother make you repeat it?”

“The first time was when I was still a child, so long ago I
don’t remember.
 
My mother spoke of the
evil men of
Uleni
constantly and made me repeat my
promise.”

She didn’t understand what he said, but he looked
angry.
 
She caught a few muttered
words…
 
Brain washing, emotional duress
and blackmail, and other words she didn’t understand.
 
She wasn’t even sure what language he was
speaking.

She watched as he took a deep breath and his face cleared
before he said patiently, “I know oaths are taken seriously on this world, but
I do not believe you to be an oath breaker.
 
Not that I speak for the goddess, it is just my belief.
 
A promise made from a young child that was
extracted by the parent through emotional pressure…”

She bit her lip as he trailed off, looking as if he was
searching for the right words, but then suddenly she was filled with his
power.
 
The trembling of her body
stopped, and her tired and overwrought mind cleared.
 
To her absolute horror she felt a foreign
magic in her mind break, and the magic felt like her mother’s.
 
She felt the connection to the goddess
through his magic, and she felt her love.

She collapsed into his arms and broke out in sobs, he just
held her and caressed her hair, whispering, telling her it would be
alright.
 
She was in shock.
 
She knew now, that yes,
Uleni
would come after them, but they weren’t exactly helpless.
 
She also knew beyond a doubt that a five year
old forced into an oath would not be held accountable.
 
It was laughable.
 
She held back the gasp of horror at the oath
she had tried to give.
 
She had almost
given away her free will, the most precious gift of the goddess outside of her
love.

What was killing her, what was making her sob.
 
Was it had all been her mother’s spell, magic
twisting her mind so she would never want to reveal her ability, no matter the
circumstance.
 
It had been the spell
making her believe she was unworthy and had filled her with shame.
 
She slowly pulled herself together and pulled
back.

“Thank you Flame of Cytherea,” after a moment’s thought she
said, “I would still like to join you, help guard you.
 
It is a worthy cause and I am a mage, you
could do worse than my company.
 
Plus… I
owe you my life, you freed me.”

Her heart lightened more when he smiled down at her and
said, “Please, just call me Justin.
 
The
Flame of
Cytheria
is just too much of a mouthful.”

She laughed and pulled him into a hug, her emotions running
extremely high.
 
She blushed and stepped
back after a long moment, “Sorry, got carried away.
 
I just… feel free for the first time I can
even remember.
 
And your talent feels
amazing… it just all,” she floundered for a minute then waved her arms and said
fervently, “Just… thank you Justin.”

He chuckled and said, “Don’t worry.
 
I would never turn down the hug of a
beautiful woman given honestly.”

She looked at him appraisingly, he thought she was
beautiful?
 
Then slowly, she smiled…

-------------

Nicole watched from a distance, but stopped well out of
earshot when she finally got within sight of them.
 
She wasn’t sure what was going on, but after
a couple of hugs, they broke apart and a few seconds later they were headed her
way.

She looked at Sally in shock.
 
Gone was the woman that looked miserable,
with shoulders hunched, and haunted eyes.
 
Now she had a brilliant smile, and she walked confidently, back
straight.
 
She heard her tinkling
laughter when they were about halfway to her.
 
She was waiting and would join when they passed.

What the hell had Justin done to justify such a
transformation?

But looking at the new Sally, she felt a stab of guilt as
she glanced toward Justin.
 
She really
hadn’t given him much thought at all.
 
She had been focused on proving herself, getting her way and not being
sent home.
 
In her defense, she had
watched her father, who was considered a good man, constantly use people to
forward the kingdom’s progress and agendas.

Still, she had made an oath to protect him the best she
could, the Flame of the goddess, but hadn’t given a single thought to the man
himself.
 
As if it simply didn’t
matter.
 
She didn’t like seeing that
about herself and decided she needed to at least get to know him better.
 
If Sally’s transformation was any indication,
he was surely worthy of at least that much effort.

As they came close she asked, “I take it the smiles mean
everything worked out?”

Justin raised an eyebrow and said in faux sadness, “Mostly,
no oath, but we are still stuck with her anyway.”

She giggled as Sally just snorted and smacked his arm
playfully, “Be nice, or else.”

“Yes ma’am,” he returned.

They continued to tease each other with her joining in, and
she found that she was enjoying herself.
 
She definitely needed to make more of an effort.
 
Perhaps being locked up in the palace had
robbed her of more than the chance to prove herself…

----------

Cytherea strolled around her garden, it was virtually
endless, containing all the flowers in the known multi-verse.
 
It was one of her favorite places.
 
But only part of her mind was here.
 
What she had set in motion seemed to be going
well, but the dark god, and she refused to even think his name, lest his power
grow in her realm from it, had a number of followers too.

Sadly they had no idea they were doomed, their souls slowly
being consumed by the evil set within them along with dark talents.
 
She mourned for them, as they were her
children too, but they must be stopped.

She laughed at herself softly when she considered praying to
the creator.
 
She had set those five a
hard task, but had also gifted them.
 
She
hoped they came through it all intact and would not be sacrificed.
 
They deserved a long life to reap the
benefits of the hard road she had set them on.
 
She was so proud that not one had turned away.

She watched as they gathered in the tent and ate lunch
before making plans.
 
Just four more days
until battle, and unfortunately, she knew it would only be the first.

The goddess hoped…

---------

Nora helped Justin set up the tent, it was a large one.
 
Anton had taken one look at their supplies
this afternoon and snorted in disgust.
 
At first, he had suggested multiple tents but Nora immediately rejected
it.

She had said, “
No, he
is sharing a bed with one of us and the other three are here to support and
guard him, splitting us up is not an option.”

She had been surprised at the forcefulness of her feelings
on the matter and found herself staring at him again while her thoughts
wandered.
 
Focusing back on the job they
got their tent put up and they all put their packs in.
 
When the camp started settling down, Justin
came and just took her hand and dragged her a little ways from the others.

Her stomach tingled the whole way, an unfamiliar feeling for
her at a man’s touch.
 
She knew all men
were not bad, most were not and just wanted to protect, but very few gave equal
weight to the opinion of a woman as Justin did.
 
And he was… hot, she finally admitted to herself.

When they stopped he turned and said, “I am not sure if
there is a specific way to say this, you know I am new here.
 
But I think you’re an amazing woman,
confident with good reason.
 
Your
brashness fascinates me.
 
You are also a
very sexy woman.
 
Will you lie with me
with the intentions to get to know each other better?”

Her mind went in a million different directions, mainly
wondering why he would want her, but without conscious thought she blurted out,
“Fuck yes.”
 
Then she blushed.

He chuckled and said, “Can you take us away from here, far
enough for some privacy.”

She bit her lip and nodded, they jogged for maybe thirty
seconds, ending up over a mile away.
 
She
was not an experienced woman but her worries seemed to dissolve when he put his
arms around her and pulled her into a kiss that spread tingles down to her
toes.

She looked up into his eyes as he backed away a second and
looked down at her, as if trying to decide something.
 
She was starting to get nervous but then his
body language changed and he asked her a question in a very serious voice.