by Donna Grant
“Aye,” he said finally. “I do.” He sat back and sighed. “I should have told you sooner.”
“At least you told me.”
One corner of his mouth lifted. “True.”
It was then she noticed how nervous he seemed, as if he were waiting for something. When she realized what it was, she nearly laughed out loud. “Do you mean you don’t realize that I love you, too?”
“You do?” he asked, his lips pulled back in a huge smile.
“Of course, you silly man.”
“Thank the gods,” Roderick said and pulled her into his arms.
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Elle sighed and nestled her head in the crook of his neck. She felt more than heard him wince and pulled away. “You’re still hurt?”
He nodded sheepishly. “I may be immortal and heal quickly, but the laser does something to my body that slows things down and can kill me if hit in the right place.”
“I know,” she said and lowered her eyes.
“You were willing to die for me.”
She nodded, still looking at the covers. “The thought of you dying left me with too much pain.” She raised her head and asked, “How did you know that was what I planned?”
He shrugged. “I just did.”
Silence grew between them. Elle had used all her courage to ask him if he loved her and none remained to ask him what their future would be.
“You need to rest,” Roderick suddenly said and rose to his feet. “Val, Hugh, and Mina returned to Stone Crest to retrieve some clothes and food. They thought it best if we stayed here for a bit.”
Elle never got to reply. Roderick left the cottage so quickly she was left staring at the door.
* * * *
Roderick paced in front of the small cottage. He had wanted to speak to Elle of their future, but he didn’t know what kind of future they could have. The Shields needed him too desperately for him to leave, and in truth, he couldn’t leave. He had yet to learn the answers to help defend Thales.
He had to stay with the Shields.
And yet, he couldn’t leave Elle.
“I suppose you would like to talk now,” Aimery said as he walked toward him.
Roderick stopped asking a long time ago how Aimery always knew when something bothered them. Instead, he nodded. “I love her.”
“I know,” the Fae said. “And we are glad for you, Roderick. Each one of you deserves it.”
“Then why do I feel so awful?” he asked and raked a hand through his hair, then grimaced at the pull in his side. “The Shields need me.”
“As does Elle.”
Roderick grunted. “Not nearly as much as I need her. Was the decision so painful for Hugh?”
“Nay. The situation was so that it worked easily for both Hugh and us.”
“And
my
situation?”
Aimery sighed. “Not nearly as easily.”
“Let me go with him,” Elle said from the doorway of the cottage.
“Nay,” Roderick and Aimery said in unison.
Roderick walked to her and wrapped the blanket more securely around her. “I cannot allow you to take the chance of death.”
“You mean like you do? It’s all right for you but not me?” she argued.
“For me, it is different. I am immortal.”
“I don’t forget that,” she said testily. “It still bothers me to see you wounded.”
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“But I heal. You won’t.”
Aimery stepped toward them. “Not to mention, that you are needed, Elle. Once the other three women are found, we can finish off this great evil.”
“Do neither of you care what I want?” she asked.
“I do care,” Roderick said. “It’s the reason I want to keep you safe.”
She jerked out of his arms, her face twisted in anguish. “I’m tired of being safe. I want to live again.”
“I cannot lose another person I love,” Roderick roared and walked away.
Elle blinked, stunned at his angry tone. She looked at Aimery. “What was that about?”
“I shouldn’t tell you,” the Fae said. “However, I know Roderick isn’t intentionally keeping it from you. ‘Tis that reason alone that I am sharing the story with you.”
She shifted in the cold, anxious to hear the tale.
“Come inside,” Aimery said and opened the door for her.
Elle quickly stepped inside and sat by the fire. She knew better than to refuse the Fae, but her nerves were wearing thin.
“Roderick is a prince on Thales. His family is very powerful, and yet his father is a fair ruler. The people of Thales love him.”
That glimpse alone told her so much about Roderick and why he had such knowledge of what was right and wrong.
“He was the middle child.”
“Was?”
Aimery nodded. “A second son. He and his older brother were very close, and like most brothers, they competed at everything. Roderick knew he wasn’t meant to be king and never resented his brother for that.”
“And the younger child?”
“A
sister.”
Elle licked her lips. “What happened?”
“There was a raid on Thales. Roderick and his brother defied their father’s orders and followed the troops. They joked back and forth that one was better than the other until his brother said he could touch one of the enemy troops and return without a scratch.”
“And because he was immortal, he thought he could,” Elle said.
“Aye. Roderick dared him to do it. His brother raced away, and it was only then that both realized the enemy carried the lasers.”
“Oh, God,” Elle said, feeling sick to her stomach.
“He was hit almost instantly. Roderick picked his way through the troops and carried his brother’s body back to the palace where he took full blame for his brother’s death.”
“Didn’t he tell his family what had happened?”
Aimery shook his head. “That didn’t matter to Roderick. All that mattered was that his brother was dead because of a dare he issued. He took responsibility for it and left Thales that night.”
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Elle could only imagine how his parents felt. “They lost two sons in one day.”
“We found Roderick soon after that, and he became a Shield. Since that day, I have tried to convince him to return to Thales and explain to his parents what happened.”
“Why won’t he?”
“Because I swore to myself that I wouldn’t return until I knew how to eliminate the evil that plagues Thales,” Roderick said from the doorway.
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Chapter Thirty-Five
Elle jerked around to find Roderick behind her. “I understand that, but your parents need to know what happened.”
“I haven’t earned their forgiveness yet,” he argued. “When I save Thales, then maybe I can ask for that forgiveness.”
She knew better than to argue with him when he got something in his mind like this, and, in a way, she understood. He had to redeem himself.
By the look on his face, she knew he had something to tell her, so she waited for him to take the chair opposite her.
“I promised you I would never leave.”
She nodded. “Yet, you did.”
“Only because my father was dying. I thought I had enough time to go to him, explain what had happened between my brother and I, and then return to you before the harpies attacked.”
“I don’t need an explanation,” she said. And she didn’t. He had come back, and that’s all that mattered to her.
“But I need to explain,” he said, and the sadness in his eyes tore at her heart.
“All
right.”
“It was your father. A father you haven’t seen or talked to in years. That’s understandable. I just wish you had told me.”
But something in the way he held his head let her know something was up.
“You didn’t see him, did you?”
Roderick shook his head. “I saw the harpies as Aimery took me to Thales. I demanded that he return me immediately.”
“But you went to your father first. Right?” she asked. When he wouldn’t answer, Elle turned to Aimery. “Right?”
“Nay,” Aimery answered. “I promised him I would tell his father what had occurred so he could return to you and his duty.”
Elle stared open mouthed at Roderick. “You missed talking to your dying father for me?”
His eyes shifted to her. “Aye.”
She swallowed back the tears. “Is he…?”
“Nay,” Aimery said. “He is better now.”
Elle turned back to Roderick with a smile. “So, there is still time for you to go to him.”
Roderick moved off the chair to kneel in front of her. “Please understand that I cannot. Not yet.”
“All right,” she answered, though she wished he would change his mind.
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“About the future,” Aimery said.
Elle rolled her eyes. She wasn’t ready to get back to that since she knew neither man would change their minds. And she wasn’t willing to let Roderick go so easily. It wasn’t every day that a girl found the kind of magic that had made her heart beat again.
“I don’t want to leave you,” Elle said.
Aimery smiled at them. “Maybe you don’t have to, Elle.”
“What?” Roderick asked. “You must be jesting.”
Aimery shook his head. “Indeed, I am not. Elle has shown remarkable fighting skills, and with you and Val with her, she will be well guarded.”
Elle squealed and leaned over to kiss Roderick. For a moment, Roderick just sat there, then he returned her kiss, leaving her breathless and wanting more.
“Only,” he said as he kissed her neck. “If you promise to stay away while we are fighting the creatures.”
She laughed. “I promise.”
Roderick sat back and looked at the woman that had completed his life. “Are you sure?”
She nodded, a giddy smile on her face. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
“Then it’s settled,” Aimery said happily.
* * * *
“How did she do it?” Theron, King of the Fae, asked Aimery.
“She’s a woman, and Roderick loves her. I knew it would only be a matter of time before she convinced him to return to Thales.”
“Amazing,” Theron said. “Do you think I wouldn’t notice that you interfered with Roderick’s father?”
Aimery grimaced inwardly but kept his face devoid of expression. “Do what you must to punish me, sire. After everything Roderick has given the Shields, I felt it only fair to help his father’s body repel the sickness so that he could live longer.”
“Don’t be so severe,” Theron said with a smile. “If you had not used your healing abilities, I would have.”
“And if he didn’t, I would have.”
The men turned to find Rufina coming towards them. Aimery watched as husband and wife embraced before his gaze shifted to the ornate murals on the walls of the palace. The Realm of the Fae was a most fantastic place, and he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
“I’m rather surprised at you,” Rufina said.
Aimery raised a brow. “Really, my queen? How is that?”
“You allowed a woman to join the Shields.”
“I have never been against a woman joining them. ‘Tis only been men that we have found willing and able to fight for us and Earth.”
“True,” Rufina said with a wink. The smile vanished then. “Three creatures this time. Before it has always been one. Only one.”
“He is either gaining strength or ‘twas a trick,” Theron said.
Aimery shrugged. “Either way, we must be very vigilant. We need more spies.”
“Spies, we can get,” Theron said. “Consider it done. And the matter of them A KIND OF MAGIC
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knowing of Elle?”
“I know not,” Aimery said. “That has bothered me since I learned of it.”
Rufina walked to a table against the wall and filled three glasses from the magnificent blue decanter. “If he knows of the women, then my guess is he will send the creatures to where they are.”
“It will make finding the women easier,” Aimery agreed.
Theron sighed as he sat and accepted the glass from his wife. “Only three left. I pray we reach them before he does.”
Aimery took his glass from Rufina and drained it in one gulp. The fiery liquid scorched his throat as it slid to his stomach.
“Aye. Only three.”
* * * *
Elle wiped away the tears as she hugged Mina again. “I hate to leave so soon.”
Mina hugged her tightly before pulling back. “I am sure that I will see you soon.”
“Aye,” Hugh agreed. “Once the other three are found, I’m sure Aimery will want the women moved to a safer location.”
“True,” Mina said as she moved Elle away from the men. “Thank you.”
“For
what?”
“For convincing Roderick to return to his realm before ‘tis too late. It has made Hugh happy and in turn has made me happy.”
Elle laughed and glanced at her new husband. She still couldn’t believe the ceremony had taken place only that morning. He had surprised her last night when he had asked her to marry him.
“I was astonished that I wore him down so soon. It just tells me that he was as anxious to return as I am for us to go.”
“We’ll have much to talk about when we see each other next,” Mina said as she choked on her tears.
“No more,” Hugh said as he took her in his arms. “Roderick, get your wife gone before mine cries enough to flood the bailey.”
Elle smiled and hugged Hugh before turning to Roderick and Val. Aimery waited for them just inside the trees. At first she hadn’t understood why they couldn’t say their good-byes in the bailey, but once it was explained that they didn’t want the villagers to see them disappear, she understood.
“Good-bye,” she called out to Mina and Hugh as they rode away. She turned to Roderick then.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready,” she said and took his hand as the three of them stepped into the trees.
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Epilogue
Roderick stared at the once magnificent city he had called home. Buildings were burnt, most toppled nearly to the ground. Even the palace hadn’t been spared. The granite stones were crushed as if they were sand pebbles.
He felt Elle’s presence before she touched him.
“Are you all right?”
He shook his head. “This saddens me. This is what would happen to your world if the Shields weren’t there to defend it.”
“Why isn’t anyone here to defend Thales?” she asked.
“Thales is alone. Earth was blessed to have the Fae so involved, but even the Fae have limited resources. They cannot help every planet in the universe. Some are left to defend themselves.”
“That
is
sad.”
He nodded. “The sooner we find the answer on Earth, the sooner I can return and end it here as well. Then, the city can be rebuilt.”
She turned towards him and rose up on her toes to kiss him. “Do you feel better now that you have talked to your family?”
“Nothing will make the pain of being responsible for my brother’s death go away.”
“Time. Only time, my love.”
He
pulled her against him and spotted Val walking by himself among the ruins below.
“Son.”