“Lilit, I have heard you organized the get together in my private room while I was gone?”
“I did no such thing. You are being lied to. We all met and I don’t remember who suggested the visit. It just sort of happened. There was some wine and I don’t really remember everything. You’re a warrior so you know how that can happen.”
“So a bunch of drunk females wandered to my room while I was away on a hunt? That’s the best story you could come up with?”
“It’s too strange to be a lie. I’ve never been good at making things up anyway. What do you care if we visited your room? Adame ran us off before we were there long.”
“Maybe you were there long enough.”
Her face scrunched up. “Was something missing?”
“No, nothing like that. Someone spoke out of turn to my witch.”
“Did they hurt her feelings? Ask her who spoke to her.”
Jorge wished it was that easy but he knew Roxen would never tell him. She was hurt and angry, never a good combination. There was also the issue of her mother’s necklace which she refused to discuss and he was sure she wasn’t even thinking about it. His witch was stubborn and while he loved that about her, sometimes it was overwhelming and impeded progress. Progress he needed because he had big plans and he knew he could make her happy if she just let him.
“I just wanted to make sure you females knew not to go barging in where you aren’t invited again.”
“Understood.”
“That’s all I wanted to say.”
Lilit turned and left. The feeling he had was that she wasn’t the one who had organized any of it. Whoever had done this included the others to mask their own activities. Not a surprise that none of them liked him much, but how could any of them justify the resentment they all seemed to have in spades? It would behoove him to listen to Adame more in personal matters. Adame seemed to have had things figured out and his failure to listen had cost him dearly.
“How did it go?” Adame asked as he walked into the room. He dropped into the chair and slouched carelessly.
“I’ve learned that you have more insight into the female animal than I do. Bowing to your greater wisdom, I will listen more closely to your advice in the future.”
“It’s about time you’ve come to appreciate my great abilities.” Adame chuckled.
“You laugh, but you pegged those bitter creatures with ease. I never saw them coming.”
“That’s what happens when you try to apply logic to emotions.”
“Now you are sounding like a wise man or something. Tell me how to handle these women.”
“You’ve handled most of them just fine, but one carries more bitterness than all the others combined. Lilit is not the one, she wasn’t here when you were poisoned. Dorene, I don’t think she has the patience or the intellect to plan and execute such a complex activity. That leaves four suspects for you to sort out.”
“That’s a help, but I’ve no idea how to narrow down the suspects. I implied I would soon know who did it, so maybe they’ll just leave. Could I be that lucky?”
“Probably not, Jorge. Hate festers in the heart of one of them and it will spill into your life. I hope we catch it before it causes damage.”
“More damage, you mean?”
“Yes, more damage.”
Jorge finished the paperwork and he and Adame shared a meal. It was his intention to give Roxen time to miss him. That would either help him make peace with her or build her anger higher. The love he felt for that woman warmed him inside but it also made him hurt because she didn’t want to be with him. Loving her was all encompassing and he couldn’t turn it on and off. The fact that her feelings seemed to ebb and flow made him worry that she held any love for him at all. What would he do if she didn’t care? How could he go on without her at his side?
Once he and Adame finished eating, he called a boy to fill the tub. Breathing in deeply, he had to admit he didn’t smell pretty and he didn’t want to go near his witch until he smelled better. Prepare and conquer, that was his plan. Roxen wouldn’t stand a chance, he hoped. Walking to the bathing room, he entered feeling the warmth as the water was placed in the tub. Stripping, he sat on the bench naked, he wasn’t easily embarrassed by his nudity. His physique was a good one and military men often swam and bathed nude in groups. He’d never been shy around females either, a fact he was learning hadn’t been so good after all.
As the last bucket was dumped, he sprinkled some herbs in the water. The perfumed scent tickled his nose but he slid into the water and relaxed. Once he had centered himself, he got some soap and started to lather up. He cleaned himself efficiently while he thought about how to get back in Roxen’s good graces. Once she was angered, he knew it wouldn’t be easy to calm her. That didn’t matter now, he was clean and done with his bath. Putting off facing his witch was no longer possible. Drying and throwing on pants, he headed to their room.
Even though it was his room, he tapped lightly on the door before he entered. She sat on the edge of the bed as she usually did when he came into the room. “Are you ready to speak of our future?” he asked.
She looked up at him her eyes pooled with tears. It was clear she had been doing little else but thinking on what he had said, his heart ached, and a knot of worry worked itself around in his belly. The fear and dread had been there all along but now it had worked its way loose of his rigid control and it was free to run amok inside him. He couldn’t bear the thought that he might lose her nor could he deal with the thought that she would stay with him and be miserable. There were few choices for him so he waited for her answer. Once he knew where her head was, he would deal with the results. It was what a soldier did.
“I can’t live with the thought of never seeing you again. It’s beyond what I can even imagine,” she said and her voice shook with feeling. “You have come to mean too much to me and I’m not sure how that happened.”
“You won’t regret it, Roxen. All I have and all I am will be laid at your feet. We will have a ceremony that will be the talk of the east for all time. Now that our future is settled, I’d like to remove the necklace. I’m sure you know it’s been spelled so I have complete control over it. The little witch said I could remove it and even put it back on you whenever I choose. Once it’s been removed, you can spell it to turn it into a regular bauble you can wear when you want and never fear anyone would use it to control you again. Just tell me that if you change your mind about us, you won’t run away.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “I will give you my word about leaving but the large ceremony, that is not who I am. Jorge, I do not want to be put on display for all the world to see. A commitment, simple and pure, love between us and a good quiet life that is all I want.”
“Then that is exactly what you shall have. A small joining with those family and friends that can make it. No more than twenty people and we’ll have it at your house for privacy. If it’s what you want, that is where we will live.”
A smile, such a small thing but it brightened her face and pleased him beyond words. “I would very much like that. Now, I promise even if we do not join, I will not run away from you. Whatever our future is, it will be decided by the two of us. Does that work?”
“Yes, so now, my sweet witch, we deal with your past. I will not allow it to come between us when we both know you have thought wrongly of your father all these years.” He removed the necklace from around her throat and laid it to the side.
“We suspect, we do not know.”
“Maybe so, but I know without a doubt that you have a way to know for certain.”
“I’ll not deny what you obviously know, but I fear the truth either way. Pain is all I see that knowing will give me.”
“Sometimes pain is required before healing can begin. You know this better than most.”
“That’s true, but it’s the nature of people to run from pain.”
“I won’t allow you to run any longer. Let’s do the spell and free your father’s mem
ories.”
“You know a lot about witches and magic.”
“Yes I do. Keep that in mind.”
“Okay let me fetch the box I have which has everything I need.”
“You already gathered the spell’s ingredients? Why didn’t you cast the spell?”
“Maybe I didn’t want to be alone and it would be hard to do with the necklace on.”
It made Jorge feel good that she would want him to stand with her to give her emotional support when she finally let some of her demons loose. As far as the necklace went, he wasn’t sure what she was able to do with it on. It wasn’t as restrictive as the collar had been and he’d just told the witch to limit her ability to do any spells that would harm him and his people or that would help her escape. Any other spells should be possible, but he wasn’t sure.
“I’m ready when you are,” he said as she returned to his side with the small wooden box. She lifted the lid and he saw the ingredients and the necklace nestled inside. No one had to tell him how important this was to their future happiness. Her father’s leaving had given her serious trust issues that had prevented her committing to any man. Once these issues were put to rest, she would be free to commit to him. “Shouldn’t you leave the necklace off?” he asked as she slipped it over her neck and nestled it between the top her breasts.
“No, it holds the memories I need to access and as long as I touch it, it doesn’t matter how. I’ll just leave it on since that will work too.”
There was a small table for two next to them and she set up a small crucible where she mixed the herbs. They smelled sweet and he hoped as they burned the smell wouldn’t change. Word was this was a strong spell not just any witch could conjure. Roxen was a powerful witch and there were few spells she couldn’t weave. As she lit the mixture, the smell was even sweeter and stronger. A feeling came over him much like a dream and in his mind’s eye he saw Roxen’s father, a big burly male. His hair was long and light blond, his eyes a deep sparkling blue. Happiness radiated from him and a smile was on his face.
This was nothing like he had expected and he thought Roxen looked surprised as well. From descriptions of the man, he had expected a slight weak looking male pale and shivering with fear over any trouble life sent his way. This man looked like a warrior and he wore a sword at his hip. It reminded him of what Roxen said about all witches being trained to defend themselves. Her father looked nothing like Jorge’s notions of a male witch.
Chapter Three
The Long Way Home
Roxen felt shock all the way to her belly. This man was her father and she took after him in coloring and personality. She’d thought him a weak shadow of a man, not this overwhelming hulk of a warrior. How had anyone overcome him with the strength he held that was obvious to anyone? Her instincts told her someone had attacked and killed him. How she knew, she couldn’t say. Right now he was in the desert on his beast returning from a successful job finding mission. He had gotten a job as a guard on a caravan that went back and forth across the desert monthly. The pay was ten times what he’d been making and plenty to pay his share of support for a wife and child.
Happiness and pride ran through him and at this point he had no idea of what was about to befall him. The love he felt for his woman and his child was nearly bursting from him as he made his way home. Tears came to her eyes as everything she thought she knew about her father came undone. There was no doubt he had been highly committed to them both and thrilled about her existence. Being a husband and a father was the most important thing to him in the world. Her mother had urged him to be a househusband but pride had made him search out a better job instead.
In the distance he saw a group riding in his direction but he continued on. There was no reason to imagine they were after him. His pockets were empty and he was alone. Even his beast was an inferior one that he’d borrowed from the witches’ stable. Nothing here to draw in thieves or attract cutthroats or so he thought. As they came nearer it became obvious they were riding straight for him.
It looked like half a dozen riders, rough dirty males with shifty eyes. Attempting to go around them they circled him so he couldn’t move. At this point he still wasn’t alarmed, though Roxen thought he should have been.
The elder widow stepped out from behind her beast. Even then she had looked old and wizened. Roxen stared in shock, probably just like her father was doing. “Widow, what are you doing here with these men? Have they captured you?”
The widow cackled gleefully which didn’t fit with her being at the mercy of the rough looking males. “Silly boy. I deserve a place on the council and once your mate quits, I will have it.”
“Why would she quit? If something happens to me, she will cling to her role in the community. You’ve picked a poor way to achieve your ends,” he observed.
“You’ll never know one way or the other,” she said as she cast a spell that prevented him from defending himself.
Roxen watched as he was beaten to death and thrown in a gully for the desert to hide. It had done its job well for many years. “I’ve found my enemy,” Roxen whispered and her whole body shook. Tears pooled in her eyes but she tried to blink them away.
“You never suspected her?”
“Not of his death but of slipping me something? Yeah, she and two others were possibilities. Now I know who my hidden enemy is and how she gave me the drugs.”
“How will you deal with her?”
“I will file a complaint and then she will be brought in to the council. A spell is cast to see if she is guilty and then her punishment is decided. I imagine they will put a collar on her and banish her from civilization. Her life will be lived alone in the swamps and whenever someone comes near the collar will force her to keep her distance. It’s a fitting punishment.”
“There’s nothing better than you finally finding closure over your father and understanding that he loved you, always.”
“It’s so hard to come to terms with what that creature stole from my mom and me. She would have lived a happy life and so would I, but she tried to influence her decisions and in the end, my dad was right. Mom clung to her position because of her overwhelming loss. It helped fill in the giant whole him no longer being there left. What’s amazing is in such a short amount of time, he knew her completely.”
“I wouldn’t say that’s hard to believe. Love opens us up to the people in our lives we care about in ways we can’t even imagine.”
“You’re turning into quite the philosopher.”
“Just saying it happens. Now that we’ve solved that mystery, it will make it easier for us to join. I want to give you everything you ever wanted. We can go to your house if you want and see if everything is still as it should be. If we live there, we will have to house a few guard and maybe a couple officers. Will it be a problem?”
“I have a barn with a loft that can be fixed to lodge several soldiers. My novice lives in the house and she’ll have to stay there. There are a few empty bedrooms, one might make a good office for you.”
“I’m so glad you’ve accepted this. Seeing your house will be great. We’ll take a couple of carpenters to start on part of the loft. I’ll pick four guards, a messenger, a liaison officer, and an administrative assistant.”
“What do you need so many soldiers for?”
“Four guards so we are protected at all times. They will work shifts, the liaison will work between me and Adame so we are always easily in contact, and the assistant does whatever is needed. The messenger will be a young boy who will carry missives. See, they are all necessary!”
“I do see. You are important and I sometimes forget how much.”
“Is this a trick?”
“No, you really are important. You have a high rank and many depend on you to tell them what to do.” She wondered why he couldn’t see that she saw his worth and she treasured him as well.
“Come, let’s lay down and in the morning, we will go to your house and see what is going on.”
/> He lay down on the bed and held out his arms to her. She wanted nothing more than to go to him and let him embrace her especially after doing without him last night. Suspecting he had met the king again, she wondered if his part of the peace talks was finished yet. It was hard to sleep at night without him at least nearby. It was a situation she never would have thought she’d ever find herself in, but here she was.
Wrapping his whole body around her, he pushed his nose into her hair and she could hear him breathe deeply. Peace found her as she lay in his arms and she knew a restful night was ahead for them both. Jorge wouldn’t press her for sex, not with their joining looming on the horizon. Waiting now would make it even more special later. All those things she worked out in her mind before she slipped into sleep.
Waking in the morning, she was alone. Jorge probably had things to do before they could leave and she rose and dressed. A knock at the door indicated breakfast was there and she opened and took her tray. The food was satisfying but not nearly as good as what she cooked at home. Roxen felt sure Jorge would appreciate the improved meals. She had noticed sometimes he forced himself to eat because he was hungry and needed his strength even though the food was not tasty. Once she was through eating, she had time on her hands.
It had always been her nature to keep busy and once they moved to her house it would be again. Her novice was also kept busy and the girl was her cousin so she hoped that she had been missed. Her people’s numbers were dropping too quickly and they might slip into the unknown if something wasn’t done. Dealing with the Elder widow, a female who targeted her own kind, would help. Roxen’s family might not be her only victims. It was unlikely that they were.
There was a sound at the door, a rap, and Jorge stepped inside. “Are you ready, my sweet witch?”
“More than ready,” she replied.
Jorge led the way out to where the beasts and some guards waited. Excitement thrummed through her, she couldn’t wait to be home again. With Jorge at her side, life would be better than ever. He was a fair man and a good leader. She expected him to treat her well and to fit into her life without too much difficulty. They all mounted their beasts and a guard led the way and others followed. Today would be the start of a new chapter in her life.
Beyond The Veil: A Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set Page 243