by AJ Nuest
Belial’s stride slowed as they reached the tree line. Fandorn reined in his horse and pointed left. “There. Make toward the Black Forest.”
A few feet in, and Reddeck and a number of his cohorts stepped from behind the camouflage of several thick trunks.
Slipping from the saddle, she tied Belial’s reins on a low-hanging branch. “You ready?”A peek at Fandorn, and she rolled her lips to hide a smile.
The poor guy had gone as white as a ghost, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to get the folds of his robes adjusted just right.
She had to give him credit, though. For never having been this close to a Dregg, the gangly wizard was holding his own.
He finally jerked on the tie at his waist and nodded. “That will have to do.” His knuckles whitened around his staff as a large Dregg stepped behind him, gripped his waist and the down stroke of its wings stirred the air.
Fandorn’s brows shot up as his feet left the ground. “Are you quite sure about this, my la-a-d-y-y!”
Rowena chuckled as his yelp trailed him into the sky. She nodded at Reddeck, held tight to his wrists and jumped as the Dregg leader lunged off the ground.
Ice cold rain spattered her face. Blinking the stinging droplets from her lashes, she placed a flat hand to her brow.
The aerial scene of the battle made her stomach plummet. A wide arc of red soldiers nearly surrounded an internal sea of blue. Seviere’s army almost had their forces surrounded. And riding up from the south, Caedmon and a small garrison of fifty guards raced straight for those insurmountable odds.
Dammit. Turning her head away from the whipping rain, she beat her palms against the firm band of Reddeck’s fingers. “Give the signal. Give the signal.”
An undulating wail careened through the sky and Rowena slapped her hands over her ears. The Dregg legions swarmed up from the Black Forest, some carrying thick twisted branches and others large boulders coated with moss.
They dove for the open field and released their bombs, scattering Seviere’s forces and wreaking havoc as they landed. Rowena grinned, but the harsh growl gathering force in Reddeck’s chest told her to reel in the celebration.
She lifted her chin just as he swooped to the side. Her belly pitched as he pin-wheeled and the horizon rotated a full circle. The sharp tip of a winged talon scored her chest plate. Her legs swung left then right.
Folding his wings, Reddeck plunged, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with another Dregg’s outstretched claws. An open stretch of Seviere’s kingdom zoomed past on her left, and she cursed.
Braedric’s Dreggs infested the air like some biblical plague. Hairy bodies collided in front of her. Slashed wings flapped useless in the air as Dreggs careened to the ground.
Shielding her face with both arms, she tucked her knees to her chest, condensing her body into the smallest target possible. A furtive peek over her wrist and she pointed toward the shattered glass ceiling of Seviere’s domed chamber. “There. Enter there and drop us inside that room.”
The castle trembled on its foundation as Reddeck landed. Candlesticks aligned along the altar wobbled and toppled over with a metallic clang. Fandorn’s Dregg pounded down beside her and the vibrations traveled up Rowena’s legs into her jaw.
Before she’d had the chance to catch her breath, both Dreggs lurched and arrowed through the jagged opening into the sky.
Exchanging a glance with Fandorn, she returned his nod and followed his lead as he stepped from beneath the circle of rain that streamed through the hole in the ceiling.
The armoire hung open, the mirror intact inside its gilded frame…exactly as she and Caedmon had left it. And while it no longer stood in front of the door, she’d already guessed Gaelleod would’ve ordered his rogue Dreggs to fly inside and move it out of the way.
As if on cue, a dark shadow formed in her peripheral vision and she spun as the chamber door creaked open. Speak of the devil. She clenched her teeth against a soul-wracking shudder. Revulsion doused her in frigid swells and lifted the hair on her arms.
Gaelleod’s lifeless black eyes sparkled above his cracked lips. The black residue crusting the corners of his mouth looked as if he’d recently been gnawing on something well past its expiration date, accompanied by a sickly sweet stench that reeked of maggot-filled flesh and decay.
Swallowing a gag, she propped her hand on her hip and squinted. If she’d read him right, she didn’t have a single thing to be afraid of. In fact, of the three lives in this room, hers was the one Gaelleod would protect over everyone else.
She was counting on it.
His stygian gaze darted to Fandorn before he floated like some legless wraith into the room. “I am not usually prone to surprise, Sorceress. I surmised you would attend our reunion alone.”
The dual quality of his voice registered both high and low in her ear, as if more than one soul inhabited the carcass he passed off as his body. Shaking her head, she brushed off that disturbing idea and kept her attention focused on his words.
Good. She’d caught him off guard. And, hopefully, bringing Fandorn wasn’t the last—or largest—bombshell she was about to drop on Gaelleod’s bald head. “I wasn’t sure I could do this on my own. I brought Fandorn along to make sure I didn’t chicken out.”
The antechamber behind him remained empty, no sound or movement floated in from the marble hall. And while it made sense Seviere’s guards were either stuck in the battle or patrolling the castle walls, it seemed a little overconfident Gaelleod had shown up without his priests.
“As you would.” He flicked his hand and Fandorn crumpled to his knees, gasping and clawing at his throat. “Your wizard’s feeble powers are no match for mine.”
Adrenaline jabbed her stomach and she lowered her hand, holding back on the urge to sprint to Fandorn’s side.
Gaelleod had probably ordered his minions to get some weird ceremony ready for the moment he brought her in. But if she lost her temper, that would only throw a monkey wrench into her plan.
“I didn’t come here to fight you.” She needed act fast. Before Gaelleod picked up on what she was doing or Fandorn blacked out. “We both know that’s a lost cause.”
“You came to petition for your friends’ lives.” Gaelleod’s low chuckle made her pulse race. As if it spanned centuries. Rang with certainty that he’d already won. “You shall offer yourself up in sacrifice and, in return, beg me to end this war.”
Fandorn fell onto his hands, dark red cheeks steadily inching toward blue.
“Listen.” Gaelleod slid his palm across the space in front of her and her heart soared for her throat. How…and when had he gotten so close? The cloying pressure of his nearness made her muscles seize. No matter how hard she tried to get them moving, her feet stayed glued to the floor. “Heed the screams of your dying kinsmen.”
Above the shattered roof, the dark forms of the warring Dreggs zipped past. Thuds punctuated the air as they rammed into one another. Chittering shrieks and the whiplash of shredding leather.
“See.” Gaelleod passed his hand before her face a second time and the painful cries morphed, became human. Her eyes widened and terror bled into her veins as the sky filled with images of her brothers, dying on the lances of Seviere’s army.
Rinald with a wooden pike sticking from his chest. Eibel falling under the repeated chop of a bloodied blade.
Caedmon. She teetered on her wooden legs with a moan. A roar surged through his gritted teeth. Mud and sweat covered his face. Blood trickled down his forehead as he spun and jabbed, whirled and slashed.
But they were coming at him too fast. No one could survive that kind of assault for very long.
“You can save him.” The wizard’s rancid breath swept the skin beneath her ear. “Submit to me and your king will live. Be my key and the entirety of the Austiere Kingdom shall endure.”
Her willpower faltered. There were no guarantees her scheme would work. If she agreed, everyone she loved would be protected. The war wou
ld be over and Caedmon would live.
Fisting her hands, she forced her foot to the side and shifted.
But at what price?
With her at his side, who knew how many worlds Gaelleod would infest. How many points throughout history he’d bend and mutilate until he’d gotten his fill.
No matter where she took him, the money, the power, the influence he sought would fall short. He’d use her to tear through the fabric of time only so he could leave nothing but horror and grief in his wake.
“No.” Another step, and her legs gathered momentum. “I will never be anything for you.” She backed away from him. As far as she could toward the armoire. “All your planning…all your scheming and waiting. It did you no good.” A flick of her wrists and her silver blades snicked home to the center of her palms. “I would rather die than help you step one foot inside that mirror.”
His gaze widened. Arms stretching to an unnatural length, he reached for her with both hands. “Wait.”
A thrust of the sharp tip against her throat and blood gushed through her fingers. She choked and sputtered, holding her neck as she thumped to her knees.
Gaelleod’s head fell back on his shoulders and his eerie shriek tore through the room. Bolts sizzled from his fingertips. Blood trailed down her wrist and soaked her leather sleeve.
Fandorn scrambled to his feet. An orb of wizard’s fire built along the head of his staff.
Yes! She collapsed to her side, gasping for air.
Blue flames streaked across the room. The wizard’s fire hit Gaelleod square in the chest and he screamed.
Grabbing the key from between her breasts, Rowena twined the chain through her fingers and jerked. The hasp snapped. Slithered from around her neck. The mirror shattered and tinkling glass sang its violent tune.
The air spun. A vicious tornado bit at her skin. Curling into the fetal position, she clamped her arms over her head. Her memories splintered and she shut her eyes against the grating assault.
Images of her past caught in a maelstrom of shooting blue light. They swirled amid the jagged glass, merged with the wizard’s fire into a blinding white vortex. The floor rumbled and shook. Pain radiated from the top of her head, but she gritted her teeth and hung on.
The memories of her world faded. Searching her mind, she grabbed onto the ones from this realm. She and Caedmon in the forest. Their blissful lovemaking in the Cave of Tears. Riding at his side in the wagon. Her prince disguised as a drunken gypsy.
Clasping them to her heart, she relived each moment. In this realm, forever in his arms was where she belonged.
“I shall not pass into the ether.” Gaelleod’s cruel promise drilled into her skull. Tears leaked from under her eyelids. “You may have prevailed, but I shall not be overcome.”
The pressure condensed and a huge explosion bounced her ass off the floor. Glass sprinkled down from overhead, stinging her arms and hands through the cold rain. The acrid tang of burning hair wafted through her senses and she shoved to her knees.
Blue embers sparked along her shoulder. She beat at them, but they continued to smolder. Panic-stricken, she shot to her feet and raced toward a stream of water pouring in through the ceiling.
A moment later, Fandorn appeared at her side, muttered a few archaic phrases and the embers fizzled to little black holes dotting her gray leather suit.
Waving away the smoke, Rowena coughed and then blinked, pausing a beat to search her head.
Her idea to fake her death was still there. Using the small pouch of lamb’s blood she’d secured to her wrist. The time she’d spent with Caedmon remained intact but, before that, all she could remember was a whole lot of nothing.
She frowned. Strange how losing out on whatever her life had been before she’d come through the mirror didn’t really bother her anymore. There was no sadness. No regret.
Huh. Maybe making the conscious decision to sacrifice those years in exchange for whatever her future held with Caedmon had finally taken care of the grief.
A glance toward Fandorn and she approached the large black blast mark where Gaelleod once stood. Sputtering blue flames flickered from most of the chests. Others were nothing more than piles of ash. The altar was a mish-mash of bent metal and this bizarre gray line circled the walls.
Fandorn pounded the end of his staff on the floor and the blue flames eating away at the armoire sputtered and died. Though, in her opinion, his efforts came a little too late. The sides were already charred, and the rain was quickly doing its part in damaging the structure’s integrity.
And yet, for some strange reason, that seemed entirely appropriate, even though she couldn’t quite put her finger on why. “So, is that it? Do you think he’s dead?”
Circling the charred ring on the floor, Fandorn held the ends of his robes to keep them from touching the residue. “I know not, my lady. Indeed, the events surrounding Gaelleod’s disappearance were highly peculiar. He became engulfed in wizard’s fire, but then seemed to initiate the addition of his own before the final concussion.” He poked the head of his staff through the charred remains of Gaelleod’s dramatic exodus, and lifted a smoking piece of black cloth into the air. “I fear we have not seen the last of Wizard Gaelleod.”
She sighed and shook her head. “Well, he’s gone for now, and that’s all I care about.”
“And he believes you to be dead, which was our objective.”
“Right.” That should take care of any further attempts Gaelleod might get in his head to use the mirror. Without her, it was a useless piece of glass.
A bone-jarring thump made her flinch, and she turned as Reddeck released one very distraught, deeply scowling king from his hands.
“What have you done?” Caedmon sprinted forward and yanked her tight to his chest. “Are you quite all right?” Leaning away from her, he grabbed her upper arms and gave her a good hard shake before yanking her to his chest a second time. “I feared the worst. When I spied you flying off with that damnable Dregg, I could not think for my worries of what schemes you’d concocted.”
She chuckled against his shoulder. “You’re not mad?”
“Mad?” Framing her cheeks in his palms, he kissed her cheeks, her lips, her forehead and nose. “I’m furious. I’m enraged. Tits of the nine, woman, I swear, I shall bend you over my knee and—”
Fandorn cleared his throat. “She is a formidable sorceress, Sire.” He clasped Caedmon’s shoulder. “As the king’s confidant, I caution you to guard your next words.”
Laughing, she glanced between her dear friend and the man who would always own her heart. “Now see, Fandorn, that’s where you’re wrong.”
She lowered Caedmon’s hand from her face and dropped the key into his palm. She didn’t need its magic anymore. Caedmon would be her memories and, for her, there would be no more schemes or pretending to be something she was not.
She was just a woman, desperately in love with her king, and from now until the end of time, that was exactly who she would to be. “The white sorceress of prophecy no longer exists. My name is Rowena Austiere.”
“I believe our queen is correct.” Caedmon smiled and cinched his arms around her waist. His lips met hers with a soft kiss. “Henceforth, let it be known throughout all the kingdoms. The White Sorceress died this day. She was burned alive by wizard’s fire, deep within the fortress of Castle Seviere.”
Epilogue
One month later…
A soft thud landed on the blankets near her leg. Rolling onto her side, Rowena frowned and tugged the covers higher up her shoulder. Regardless of how all the marriage hoopla had ended three days ago, she just couldn’t seem to get enough sleep.
A smile pressed her cheek into the pillow as she stretched her arms and legs, hands reaching for the headboard and toes wiggling under the sheets. Then again, Caedmon had done a really good job of keeping her awake until all hours of the night. Working her over and coaxing pleasure from her body in ways that still made her hot.
Her smile
grew and she squeezed her lids tight as joy formed in her heart. Or maybe her constant state of exhaustion had more to do with being pregnant.
Another thud hit the blankets and she blinked to bring the room into focus. Good grief, the man was bound and determined to wear her out.
Air rushed her throat as she sprang to sitting. Shimmering white diamonds littered the entire length of the bed. Every shape and size she could imagine, they decorated the pillows and dark-blue comforter, tumbling together with a musical clink as she glanced from side to side.
She slowly lifted her gaze to find him leaning against the far wall, the fading light of early winter streaming through the window near his shoulder. The stained-glass washed his bare chest in myriad colors. The tasseled silk mantle he’d tied at his waist trailed down his legs to the floor.
Smiling, he reached into the pack he’d carried as they left the Cave of Tears and tossed another sparkling gem toward the bed.
Eyes on him, she snagged the missile from the air and propped the glittering jewel on her fingers. “What…are you doing?”
“I am scattering the fiery pieces of my heart at the feet of my white goddess.”
She chuckled and shook her head. While she couldn’t recall every moment they’d shared together, the night he’d told her the story of Helios and Selene remained one of her most favorite memories ever.
A lock of dark hair swept his cheek as he leaned to the side and his hand disappeared inside the pack. His bicep bulged. A tier of honeyed flesh rippled along his torso as he tossed another star to the bed.
Geez, how many did he have in there? A mischievous grin teased his lips and she squinted. He’d planned this ever since their time together in the Cave of Tears.
Scooping up the diamonds, she tugged the comforter off the mattress and stood. The cold slate floor made her shiver as she tiptoed across the room to give him a kiss.
Diamonds fell from her fingers as he cupped her cheeks in his warm hands, brushing the sweet swell of his bottom lip along her mouth before dipping his tongue inside.