Duels

By Kallysten

~ Who would have thought finding out she’s royalty and has magical powers would make Vivien’s life so complicated? ~

When Vivien challenged the tyrannical king Rhuinn for the throne, she wanted to reclaim her birthright and avenge her lover, Brad, whose human life ended on Rhuinn’s orders. But now that she has lost the first of three magical duels and Brad has left her to learn to control his vampire instincts, everything seems to be falling apart.

For Aedan, her bodyguard, watching Vivien stop believing in herself is just as difficult as watching her pine for his twin brother. He lifts her spirits by showing her all that she fights for, but mending her heart isn’t so easy, especially since he loves her but wouldn’t dream of acting on his feelings.

Everything accelerates with a fit of temper from Rhuinn that brings chaos to Vivien’s life, and death to her people. She battles Rhuinn for the second time... but the aftermath of the duel, as she confronts her feelings for both brothers, might prove even more deadly...

(70.000 words)
Part 4 of the QuickSilver Codex

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kallysten
• Release date: Aug 30, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370913480

Kallysten

Kallysten’s most exciting accomplishment to date was to cross a few thousand miles and an ocean to pursue the love of her life. She strives to give her characters the same ‘happy ever after’ she found... although their lives are significantly stranger than hers! But whether they have fangs or an inner beast, whether they play with magic or with whips, whether they’re looking for ‘the one’ or a single night of fun, in the end it’s all about love... To see her other stories, visit http://original.kallysten.net. Subscribe to her readers group for free stories and exclusive content, and to get notices about new releases, discounts and giveaways.

Book preview

DUELS

QuickSilver Codex – Part 4

Kallysten

Who would have thought finding out she’s royalty and has magical powers would make Vivien’s life so complicated?

When Vivien challenged the tyrannical king Rhuinn for the throne, she wanted to reclaim her birthright and avenge her lover, Brad, whose human life ended on Rhuinn’s orders. But now that she has lost the first of three magical duels and Brad has left her to learn to control his vampire instincts, everything seems to be falling apart.

For Aedan, her bodyguard, watching Vivien stop believing in herself is just as difficult as watching her pine for his twin brother. He lifts her spirits by showing her all that she fights for, but mending her heart isn’t so easy, especially since he loves her but wouldn’t dream of acting on his feelings.

Everything accelerates with a fit of temper from Rhuinn that brings chaos to Vivien’s life, and death to her people. She battles Rhuinn for the second time… but the aftermath of the duel, as she confronts her feelings for both brothers, might prove even more deadly…

Thank you!

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Kallysten

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Glossary

Chapter 1 – Doubts

Chapter 2 – Shadows of the Past

Chapter 3 – Guarded

Chapter 4 – Letsen

Chapter 5 – Market Day

Chapter 6 – Shedding Blood

Chapter 7 – Exiled

Chapter 8 – Early Morning Confessions

Chapter 9 – Hunger and Anger

Chapter 10 – One Lie

Chapter 11 – Priorities

Chapter 12 – Breaking Point

Chapter 13 – Back to the Lake

Chapter 14 – Orders

Chapter 15 – A Choice

Chapter 16 – The Message

Chapter 17 – Whirlwind

Chapter 18 – White Shrouds

Chapter 19 – Blood

Chapter 20 – Confusion

Chapter 21 – A Matter of Love

Chapter 22 – A Locked Door

Chapter 23 – The Second Time

Chapter 24 - Tomorrow

Offer

A closer look at the Demons Age series

Other stories available

About the author

Copyright © 2017 Kallysten

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written consent of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

The right of Kallysten to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First Published 2017

All characters in this publication are purely fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Edited by Kristin W.

GLOSSARY

Aedan – A vampire, he is Bradan’s twin brother and Vivien’s bodyguard. He remained on Foh’Ran while his brother accompanied Vivien on Earth, and therefore ended up being much older than his twin.

Anabel (Ana) – A confidant of Queen Eleoren, she raised Vivien on Earth. She died shortly after returning to Foh’Ran after refusing to betray Vivien to Rhuinn.

Bradan (Brad) – Recently turned into a vampire, he grew up on Earth close to Vivien whom he swore to protect as a child. In love with Vivien, he tried to feed from her blood the last time they were intimate and had to remove himself from her castle.

Ciara – Aedan’s vampire Maker is the second in command for King Rhuinn’s guard.

Doril – An elderly cook, she was the first to offer her services when Vivien returned to Foh’Ran.

Eleoren – Queen of Foh’Ran, she was killed in battle shortly after sending her daughter Vivien to safety on Earth.

Foh'Ran – A parallel world where magic and vampires are real. Time passes much faster on Foh’Ran than it does on Earth, the ‘Otherworld.’

Elver – Vivien’s groundskeeper and very reluctant majordomo.

Loree – Vivien’s young handmaiden, she turned traitor, tried to steal the proof of Vivien’s birth and mortally wounded Bradan.

Merel – Aedan and Bradan’s mother, she was Vivien’s nanny.

Olric – Vivien’s youngest bodyguard.

Parim – A former advisor to Queen Eleoren.

Quickening – A magical force, the Quickening is wielded by ‘channelers’ who focus their will and their emotions to create anything they can envision.

Rhuinn – Foh’Ran’s current king, ruthless and tyrannical.

Savel – Vivien’s oldest bodyguard

Stephen – Queen Eleoren’s vampire husband and one of her bodyguards. He was not Vivien’s father.

Vivien – Raised on Earth until her twentieth birthday, she only has a handful of memories of Foh’Ran. After having some trouble learning to wield the Quickening, she is now an adept channeler. She was in love with Bradan before learning the truth about who she is, and finding herself with him on this new world deepened her feelings. While initially she was in constant conflict with Aedan, she has learned to trust him. Still uncomfortable at the idea that she may have to rule as queen, but she realizes she’s Foh’Ran’s best hope to get rid of Rhuinn.

CHAPTER ONE

DOUBTS

Aedan was watching her.

That wasn’t anything new. As Vivien’s bodyguard, he’d dedicated his life to keeping her safe, and he’d have kept her under his watch every hour of the day and night if he could. Even in situations where there was no risk whatsoever that anyone would harm her—like right now, when she remained well within the protection of the powerful magic shields encompassing the castle—he always wore a serious, concerned look, as though he could sense enemies preparing to attack her, right in the heart of her own domain.

She couldn’t see him at the moment, not when she sat cross-legged on a stone bench in the sun while he had to remain inside; a vampire, he could get burned by a fleeting ray of sunlight. But even without seeing him, she could imagine that concerned expression quite well as it had become so familiar.

Maybe today it had a different meaning, she mused while watching flower petals swirl a few feet in front of her. They looked like mini tornadoes. She was directing them using the Quickening, the magic force she’d learned to channel since coming to this world. Back on Earth where she’d been raised, she’d had no idea of who she truly was and what she could do, but channeling, at least, was fast becoming second nature to her.

If at first she had struggled to exert her will and use the Quickening, it was now easy to let a flow of air run across the field of wild flowers that surrounded the castle, gently plucking up loose flower petals along the way to add another swirl of color to her tornado, another layer of sweet scents on the wind.

The color didn’t come from the petals; each of them appeared to her as though a different shade of gray, as did everything else around her. Instead, it was the Quickening flowing out of her and giving life to the petals that radiated every color she could have imagined.

Her thoughts drifted along with the petals, circling endlessly over the same subjects—including Aedan. She couldn’t help but wonder what he thought as he watched her sit in the place where funerals were held, a stone-paved patio at the back of the castle. Not very long ago, she’d watched the body of the old woman who had raised her on Earth disintegrate, bit by bit, as it was ‘returned to the Quickening.’ It was here, too, she knew, that her mother, Queen Eleoren, had ended after her death.

Had Vivien wanted to visit their graves, this was the closest she could have come to them. And with no headstone or marker where to lay flowers, the petals she now let fall in a rain all over the patio would have to suffice.

She redirected her channeling, turning a little toward the castle so she could see what she was doing. In her mind, she constructed a series of large umbrellas planted side by side in a long line between the bench where she sat and the open door where Aedan lurked. The umbrellas created a corridor of shade from the castle to the bench—a safe passage for him to join her.

The umbrellas were real; they didn’t merely exist in her mind. Had she reached out to touch one of them, she could have felt the metal of the frame, and the fabric of the cover. At the same time, though, they were made of Quickening, and they would disappear as soon as Vivien willed it so. It meant that Aedan would put his life in her hands if he came out. She never doubted that he would, and indeed, it was only seconds before he joined her.

Tall and broad of shoulders, he moved with a primal grace that reminded Vivien of a predator on the prowl. His eyes, ordinarily gray-blue but turned to silver by her use of the Quickening, remained cool and aware of everything around him. A faint breeze mussed up his dark hair. He wore the all black uniform that was traditional to bodyguards, with the Quicksilver symbol, a three-branch swirl reminiscent of Celtic designs, embroidered over his heart in silver thread. His right hand remained closed on the hilt of the silver knife he carried at his waist, not as a threat to her, she knew, but as a sign of his readiness to defend her. He carried a second knife strapped to his thigh.

It had only been a few weeks since she’d first met him, and the first impression he’d made on her had been carved with those knives: back on Earth, he’d killed a man who had been sent to kidnap her and bring her to Rhuinn, the king of this world, Foh’Ran. With the flash of that knife flying into the air with enough force and momentum to pierce a man’s ribcage and heart, Vivien’s entire world had tilted on its axis.

Dame Vivien, he said, stopping three feet from the bench and giving her a now familiar little bow.

Smiling tiredly, she shook her head.

We’re alone. Could we maybe agree that you’ll call me Vivien when no one is close enough to hear? You’ve done it before.

The shadow of a grimace touched his lips at the reminder of what he probably considered a failing on his part. Still, after a second or two, he inclined his head.

As you wish, Vivien.

She almost wanted to ask him if he’d ever seen The Princess Bride, but she kept her tongue. Of course he hadn’t. He’d lived his whole life on Foh’Ran, waiting for her to return to this world and claim the throne, ready to support and protect her when she did.

Besides, she knew he meant the words in the very same way the hero of that movie had: as a declaration of the love he wouldn’t allow himself to voice more directly.

Clearing her throat, she patted the bench next to her with her hand even as she looked out to the field of wildflowers.

Sit with me, she requested. I’m going to get a crick in my neck if I keep staring up at you.

He didn’t sit next to her. Instead, he put one knee down in front of her. She started protesting, but he spoke quietly.

Calling you by your first name where no one will hear me is one thing, Vivien. But anyone looking out through a window would see us. It is better this way.

She didn’t argue with him, however much she wanted to. There weren’t that many people in the castle, and all of them had sworn allegiance to her—all of them were marked, somewhere on their body, with the QuickSilver symbol, like a metallic tattoo on their skin. It had been traditionally worn by bodyguards only, but even Doril and Elver, the elderly cook and groundskeeper, had asked Vivien to allow them to wear the symbol as proof of their loyalty.

The request, coming after her first defeat at the hands of the king, had probably been meant as a show of confidence, but even as she accepted, Vivien had felt bile burn the back of her throat.

These people—her people—were expecting something from her that she was more and more certain she wouldn’t be able to accomplish.

I can’t do it, she murmured, looking at her hands in her lap, rather than meet Aedan’s eyes. I can’t kill anyone, not even Rhuinn.

Aedan remained silent for a little while. She risked a glance at him, and saw that he was watching her twirl the ring on her thumb round and round, a habit that she knew betrayed her nervousness.

You don’t have to kill him during the second duel, he finally said. All you have to do is draw blood. A simple scratch will do.

She let out a huff of annoyance. She knew that. She knew it perfectly well. She’d known it when she had challenged Rhuinn to a series of duels. The rules stipulated that, during the first one, anyone spilling their opponent’s blood would lose by default. The rule was reversed for the second duel, and whoever drew blood first would win. Should the opponents each win one duel, they would then go on to a third—and it was the thought of that last duel that had been swirling through Vivien’s mind like a tornado for the past hour, not as harmless as the swirls of petals she created but rather ravaging her thoughts.

But if I win this duel, she said pointedly, we’ll have one win each and tie. We’ll have a third duel. And I’m telling you, I can’t take anyone’s life. If it goes that far, I won’t be able to kill him.

She could feel the weight of Aedan’s eyes on her, but kept her gaze down. When he said her name, however, a quiet whisper brimming with strength, she had to look at him.

Vivien. You can’t think that way. If you don’t kill him, he will kill you. And believe me, he will have no second thoughts about it, no regrets. You’ll only be one more name in a long list, and he won’t lose any more sleep over you than he did over anyone else.

She shook her head at that. It wasn’t about what Rhuinn could and would do, it was about what she could live with.

Back on Earth, for years she’d taken fencing lessons and participated in competitions. She’d won a fair number of them, and she had a dexterous hand when wielding a fencing epee—such a good hand, in fact, that when the king had sent his guards to attack the castle after she first arrived on Foh’Ran, she hadn’t hesitated to pick up a sword and join her bodyguards in the fight. She’d managed to hold her own against a trained soldier, and yet…

Remember that time I went past the shields and Rhuinn’s guards attacked us? she asked. You were so mad at me for trying to fight.

It was a different situation, Aedan said with a small frown. If I could fight in your place for these duels, I would. You know I would.

It wasn’t a question, but Vivien nodded anyway.

Of course I know. But the thing is, when I picked up a sword that night, I was sure I could fight. And I did. I’d never held that weapon, never taken part in a true fight, but I held my own, remember? But I couldn’t kill my opponent. He’d hurt Ana, he was a bad person and I knew it, but I couldn’t kill him. If you hadn’t intervened, he’d have killed me not because he was any better than me with a weapon, but because I couldn’t bear to strike a fatal blow. And when I face Rhuinn, I’m afraid it’ll be the same. As much as I hate what he’s done to Ana and to…

She swallowed hard and changed what she’d been about to say.

To my people, I don’t think I could kill him. So if I can’t win the third duel, what’s the point of trying to win the second?

It had always been at the back of her mind, ever since she challenged Rhuinn to that duel, that she would need to win the first two duels to avoid going to the tie breaker. Reality, however, had turned out differently. Two days ago, she had allowed Rhuinn to best her in the first of their duels. That defeat had changed everything. She couldn’t win anymore without killing him.

Aedan startled her by putting a hand on top of hers where it rested on the bench at her side. He was usually very careful to avoid touching her. She could feel the coolness of the metallic tattoo in the center of his palm, the QuickSilver symbol that she had put there herself when he had renewed his vow to protect her.

You’re thinking of letting him win the second duel. Vivien, please don’t. He might not kill you then, but he will hurt you as much as he can get away with, and humiliate you when it’s over. Then you’ll end up in one of his jails, and anything could happen to you there. He paused, his hand squeezing hers gently. And your people, anyone marked with your symbol, would endure the same fate.

Tears rose to Vivien’s eyes, unbidden, and she looked away. It was all she could do to still her mind and hold on to the umbrellas.

You’re not playing fair, she said, her voice wavering.

Another light squeeze, and his hand retreated.

Dame Vivien, this is no child’s game for me to play fair.

Still looking away, she nodded ever so slightly. She knew that, too. But all the knowledge in the world didn’t change one single fact: she was no killer.

Needing to change the subject, she cast her mind around, trying to find something, anything to talk about. The one subject that presented itself was one she felt reluctant to touch, but she couldn’t stop the question from passing her lips anyway.

How is Brad? she murmured.

Seconds passed without an answer, and she looked at Aedan again, finding him with his eyes half-closed and an absent expression on his features.

Hurt, he said, quickly adding when she took in a shaky breath, nothing serious. His arm. A cut, I think. That’s unavoidable when training with a new weapon.

He rubbed his right forearm and she wondered how much of the pain passed through the strange bond that linked him to his twin brother.

What else? she heard herself ask, eager to hear more about Brad.

After another brief pause, Aedan said, very quietly and without meeting her eyes, He misses you.

A pang of longing ran through Vivien and she blinked to stop the tears from returning. She missed Brad too—missed him because he had grown up on Earth like she had, and could understand her better than anyone else. She missed him because he was the one who had taught her to channel the Quickening, and practicing without him didn’t feel the same. She missed him because even back on Earth she’d had a giant crush on him, and it had evolved into something deeper when he brought her here and admitted that he returned her feelings.

And now she had to wonder if she’d ever be with him again. If she lost the second duel, would he be in danger, too? Or would Ciara protect him?

She almost asked Aedan, but changed her mind when she noticed how pained he looked. She wished she could apologize to him for the way his life had turned out because of her, but she wouldn’t even know where to start. Besides, she knew what he would reply: it had been his choice, his and Brad’s, to swear their lives to protect her. Anything that had come after that vow was a direct consequence of it.

But for all that they both claimed it had been their choice, for all that Doril, Elver, and her other two guards, Olric and Savel claimed that they, too, had made the choice to follow her of their own free will and accepted whatever came from that decision, the fact remained that all their futures rested squarely on her shoulders.

And the more she thought about what she had to do, the more she was convinced that she would fail each and every one of them.

CHAPTER TWO

SHADOWS OF THE PAST

As Aedan watched his dame—she didn’t want him to use the title when he addressed her, but in his mind, at least, he could honor her in this small way—all he could do was worry. He could see her distress on her features, and he’d heard it in her voice, too. She truly believed herself incapable of winning the series of duels, truly believed that she was doomed, and her people with her.

He couldn’t help but compare this image of a tired, resigned Vivien to the angry, fiery woman who had challenged Rhuinn in the