Sovereign by Simon Brown Page B

ever been before, and she struggled against it vainly until Lynan screamed. Suddenly she was afraid for herself no more, and she rushed to him.
    'Lynan! Wake up!' She took him in her arms. He sat up, struggled against her, tried to push her way. The Red Hands came into the tent, confused and alarmed. They carried torches. 'Go!' she ordered them. 'Leave one of the torches, but go! He'll be alright!' They left without hesitation. They knew about Lynan's nightmares—seen by them as a great sickness that only someone great could suffer—and knew as well that Korigan often helped him.
    She turned back to Lynan, trying to force him down. 'It's alright, I'm here! You're safe!'
    His whole body shuddered. In the flickering light she saw his skin was shiny with sweat. His eyes opened and stared, terrified, at Korigan.
    'It's me,' she said as soothingly as possible, fighting to keep her voice calm.
    'Silona!' he whimpered and scuttled backwards out of her arms.
    'No, it is me, Korigan—'
    'Silona!' he said again, louder, and the fear in his voice tore at Korigan's heart. She grasped his hands and used all her strength to pull him back so she could wrap her arms around him and force his head against her breasts. 'Listen! Do you hear my heart? Silona has no heart. I am no vampire.' Still he struggled against her. 'Lynan, listen to me! I am Korigan! I am your queen!' She said the words so quickly they came out before she could stop them, and in shock almost let go of the prince.
    'It's true,' she said, but to herself more than to Lynan. Determination filled her and she grasped Lynan's head in her hands and kissed him on the mouth. He stopped struggling against her. She opened her eyes and saw the terror in his eyes drain away to be replaced by recognition.
    He pulled away from her, gently. 'Korigan?' He looked around him, dazed. 'It was her—'
    She dropped her hands and did not know what to do with them. 'I know,' she said falteringly. 'I heard her, and I saw you fight her off.'
    'What…?' The question died on his lips, and he would not meet her gaze.
    Korigan did not know what to say either. Since her father's death had left her queen at age thirteen she had had to make choices to secure her throne and advance her people's interests, and every time she had seen clearly the consequences of her action; but this time she was confronted by a choice that might be the most important in her life and yet she could not see which path would best serve either her throne or her people. All she knew, and this with utter certainty, was what she wanted, and realising that she also realised she had left herself no choice.
    'It is too late for regret,' she said quietly, again more to herself than to Lynan.
    'Korigan?'
    She closed her eyes, leaned forward and kissed him a second time, but without holding him to her. Too quick ! she told herself, knowing now he would reject her a second time. But then his lips parted slightly and he kissed her back. His arms moved around her, embracing and capturing her at the same time. For the first time in her life Korigan had no thought for her throne or her people. For the first time in her life she thought about nothing except how she wanted something for herself, and how glorious it felt.
     
    It was not yet dawn when Jenrosa woke. She left her tent and made for the small creek she had seen the day before. It was no more than two paces wide and a hand's-breadth deep, but it would do. She knelt in front of the creek and scooped a hole out of the dirt nearby, then used her cupped hands to fill the hole with water. She waited for dawn and for the water to settle, then gently broke the surface with the tip of one finger and watched as the ripples spread out, each catching the sun's light and turning into golden rings. She sighed deeply and said: 'The past is the same but the present has no boundary.'
    The moment she uttered the last word the rings of gold turned to rings of blood, and then all the water in the hole