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Bron was a little startled by the voice, but then noticed what she hadn’t before. The gnome sat a few feet away, his back against a huge tree, his bare feet in the water. Duffy. His name was Duffy and she’d been told that he was Lach and Shim’s brother. Not by blood, but by their mother’s kindness. It had been easy to see that both men cared about the gnome during their long walk. Lach, in particular, had taken care to see that the gnome remained close to him, picking him up when he fell behind.
“He’ll stay there and make sure you don’t run,” the gnome continued. “I heard them talking about it earlier. Their main jobs in life right now is making sure you and Gilly make it back to the Dark Palace. You because you’re the future queen and Gillian because she’s their prize.”
Bron thought about saying good-bye and trying to find some solitude, but with Harry’s eyes on her, she doubted she could be alone. She stepped over to Duffy and sank to the ground beside him. The water gave off a definite chill. “Aren’t you cold?”
“No. Ain’t that funny. All me life I’ve complained about the cold and now I can’t feel it. I know I should be cold, but I just can’t feel it. Must be the spell.” The gnome spoke in a monotone, shaking his head a bit.
“Are you all right?” That spell had been filled with dark magic. She couldn’t imagine what it had felt like. Duffy’s screams were still ringing in her ears.
“I’m not good. I know that. I just gotta find a way to be all right again. I think I have some things to do before I can be right.” He sighed, a long breath that seemed to hold a world of regret.
“It was brave what you did.” That bolt of power had been coming for Lach. It had been meant for him, and the gnome had taken it full blast.
“No, it weren’t. It was me duty. I know Lach’s not me brother. There’s not a drop of blood between us, but it’s me job to protect him. He’s going to be the king and he’ll be a good one if you would just take the time to teach him.”
“I hardly doubt he needs to learn anything from me. He was raised to be king.”
“Yes and no,” Duffy explained. “The king was raising them, teaching them and then one day along about the time they were seventeen, something happened. I wasn’t there, but I know that Shim’s power flared for the first time. Shim was in the stables, getting ready for a riding lesson. I was with Lach. Lach suddenly got pale as a wraith and he fell to his knees, holding his chest. He got up and started running and I ran after him. I could see that the barn was on fire from a long ways away. Flames were shooting out of it like someone was firing a cannon, but it didn’t stop Lach. He ran inside and when he came out, he was on fire, too. It had shot up his face and all around his body. He was engulfed.”
“How did he survive?” The thought made her heart clench, but she understood why Lach had risked everything. It hadn’t simply been his brother he’d saved. It was half of his soul. If Shim had died and Lach managed to survive, he wouldn’t have been able to ever access his intellectual and romantic sides. He would have been the warrior and nothing more. Lach valued what Shim represented.
“No idea, but Shim didn’t have a mark on him. We didn’t know it then, but fire can’t touch him. He can walk through it and it don’t burn him. It sure burned Lach. He was a mess. It took five healers to save him and even then, they weren’t able to fix the scars on his face or hands or chest. Anywhere Shim actually touched him. I remember him saying he’d lost his handsomeness and there was a part of him that was relieved you were gone since you wouldn’t accept him like that.”
“That’s not true.” There was nothing wrong with Lach’s face. Shim’s was more beautiful, but Lach’s had character. He was devastatingly handsome. “But I don’t see what this has to do with making him a king. Did his father value looks so much?”
Duffy laughed. “Nah, in the Dark Palace, those scars were actually a good thing. It made him look tough. Battle is supposed to harden a man. No. The scars didn’t bother his father, but Shim being in a coma did.”
“Goddess, did the healers not do their job?”
“The healers tried everything on both him and Lach. Lach’s body was healed, but he was weak, so weak. He just sat at his brother’s side for almost a year. Finally he regained his strength. The healers kept Shim fed, but finally he awoke. We thought he would regain his strength like Lach had, but he didn’t. Not until today. Not until first blood.”
“I don’t understand the whole blood thing.”
“It’s the vampire piece of their being. Your blood, consort blood, has something inside it that makes a royal stronger and faster and healthier than a normal vampire. They tried to force consort blood on both Lach and Shim but they refused.”
Because they belonged to her. “So their father thought they were weak.”
“Didn’t think. They were weak for a long time. The king wouldn’t let them train or teach them anything. He was simply obsessed with keeping them alive.”
“Rather like Lach and Shim with me.”
“But Lach and Shim didn’t have the power you have.”
“I don’t have any power at all, Duffy.”
“Yes, you do. The bond, the true bond, will show your husbands who you are deep down inside. Lach couldn’t show his father what he wanted, needed. He could only tell him. He couldn’t make him feel it the way you can. I know my brothers. They want to please you. When they realize how important this is, they will back off. They will stay with you on this plane, and they will fight for your people.”
It would be a gamble. She could get caught in that web, too, but she didn’t like her other options. And it was such a temptation. To meld with them, mixing their souls, never to be alone again. It was everything she’d wanted.
Could she be brave? Could she afford not to?
“Do it, Your Highness. Go back to bed and bond with your husbands. The answers you want are right there. And it could answer a few of their questions, too. If it doesn’t work, you’ll know to run.”
She stood and stared back at the campsite. If it didn’t work, she would have to, but she feared they would be able to find her. Always.
It was win or lose, but perhaps it was better to find out one way or the other. She would have to think about it.
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