Realm of Light - Deborah Chester [25]
“How dare you do that to me!” she said. “I am not to be silenced with your spells and foreign magic. You should be whipped and purified.”
His own temper boiled up to meet hers. “You were putting our lives at risk—”
She swung at him again, but this time he stepped aside and she missed. “Ingrate!” she sputtered. “You dare talk back to me—”
“As long as you are being a fool, yes!” he retorted.
“It is not your place to reprimand me. I am your empress!”
Scorn curled his lips. He wanted to shake her by her beautiful neck. Instead, he cleaned his sword and sheathed it, then buckled on his armor.
“We can argue later,” he said. “Now we had better go.”
Elandra stamped her foot. “No, this will be settled now. You have much to answer for.”
“Not now.”
“When?” she demanded. “Either you recognize my authority, or there is no point in going on.”
Caelan refused to look at her. She was a stubborn fool. She understood nothing. “You put us in danger,” he said tersely, “interrupting like that. They believed me until you—”
“And what was I to do?” she retorted. “Fold my hands while you allied yourself with these—” She broke off, her throat working convulsively, and gestured at the charred remains. “Why?”
He did not intend to explain. Impatience burned hot in his throat. He wanted to get out of here.
“We must go,” he said.
“And I said we will stay until this issue is resolved.”
He sighed, curbing his own irritation with difficulty. “I will explain. Majesty, but let us go. They will come back, and when they do we should not be here.”
A flicker of unease moved beneath the stubbornness in her eyes. “Very well.”
As she spoke, she started ahead of him, but he gripped her arm and pulled her back.
She wrenched free. “How dare you!”
“Your Majesty will recall that they fled into the passageway,” he said coldly. “If they try to hold it against us, do you really want to be in front?”
Visibly fuming, she stepped aside and gestured for him to precede her. “By all means, go first, guardsman. And see that you keep your magic directed against the demons, instead of against me.”
He glared at her, then sighed. “I give you my apology, Majesty, for having severed you without your consent. Although you were not hurt, it can be an alarming experience the first time.”
She did not look appeased. “There will be no second time,” she said icily. “You overstepped your—”
“Don’t put me in my place,” he snapped, losing his temper again. He was damned if he’d bow and scrape and kiss her foot, groveling in atonement for having saved her life. “I am here to keep you alive, and that is what I did. If you cannot recognize that, then you should have chosen a different escort.”
She opened her mouth to retort, then closed it again without saying anything.
He glared at her a moment longer, then turned his back and strode on. “Come.”
Chapter Five
At the dark mouth of the passageway, Caelan paused, holding his drawn sword ready, and peered inside. Ancient, disturbing symbols streaked the walls, and every time he glanced at them, his eyes burned. The pale illumination that filled the small cavern did not reach far into the passageway. Looking at its blackness, Caelan felt a surge of deep uneasiness. He did not think Legion would give up easily.
He glanced back at Elandra. Despite her tangled hair and rumpled, dirty clothing, she still looked regal, elegant, beautiful.
Something shifted in his heart. Frowning, he looked away from her quickly.
His own temper had cooled. He wondered if he had spoken too harshly to her. After all, she was a gentlewoman, noble-born and bred. She had been cosseted and protected all her life. Probably no one had ever spoken a rough word to her before. No doubt she thought him a coarse, loud-mouthed oaf.
He began to wish he had not lost his temper with her, had not been so defiant and scornful. It was not her fault if she did not understand what he