AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Larch looked grim. “We’ve stored them. Best that you keep them. Just in case.”
Boy howdy.
We rode out and I craned back for a last look, feeling oddly nostalgic to leave my brief home. If I’d known, I would have walked out to visit the dryad at the oak tree last night. Not that she would care. Still, I’d kept the leaf Rogue had handed me. Pressed it between the pages of the grimoire.
Silly, I know.
I maintained my cool shell, but under it, all these conflicting emotions roiled.
Titania’s words haunted me. What had Rogue risked with me? And why the hell would I spend a moment feeling, what? Was this guilt? It certainly wasn’t love, no matter what the Starlings of the world thought. He’d tried to make me a pawn in his games. It would be a terrible thing, if his own bargains were with Titania. But if he failed, that was on him.
What really ate at me was, would trying to get home be breaking my oath to Rogue? Probably. But Titania’s power would be limited to this world. So if I wanted to get home, I’d have to make sure I transitioned really damn quick, so I wouldn’t be an oathbreaker in this world long enough for her to get me.
And do her version of plucking my wings out.
Logically, I owed Rogue less than nothing. It seemed more and more clear he’d dragged me into Faerie to suit his own purposes. Or the Black Dog had, clearly at his direction.
This game will be over too easily, if you lose so soon.
She expected me to break my bargain with Rogue. Eventually. No wonder he’d been so eager to get going on delivering that impregnation.Guess what, boys and girls? I’m not playing your games.
When we converged with the human soldiers, I looked for Liam as a distraction from my dark thoughts. I’d thought I could pick out his bronze curls in the rising light, but so many of them were wearing their helms. The air around the men buzzed with excitement for the coming battle. Cheers rose up when the men spotted me. It felt wrong to be kind of thrilled by it, especially given everything that had happened. They saw me as some kind of romantic heroine, which was a lot better than my recent roles. Hell, I should play that up. Enjoy the sorceress gig for the moment.
“Lady Sorceress!”
“Officer Liam!” I trotted Felicity over to where Liam led his unit. He was some sort of sergeant or lieutenant, then, because he marched just outside the ranks of men. I didn’t really understand the military hierarchy—here or back home.
“You have your dagger and your stick then, lady?” Liam eyed the weapons tied to my saddle with approval. “Though you’d be smarter to have the dagger in your hand as you ride. It would take you far too long to get at it there.”
“Yes, sir.” I grinned.
“Be careful today, Lady Gwynn.” Liam eyed the men, verifying their disciplined march. “I’m told we’re to have an easy victory, but don’t get lulled into a false sense of security. Always be on the lookout.”
“I will.”
“If you get tired of fae wine, send your man to us. We’ll set you up with a real drink.”
“Now there’s an offer to warm a girl’s heart,” I told him. “Are we talking whiskey, here?”
“You mean there’s another real drink besides that?”
I laughed. “No, surely there’s not. You be careful today, too.”
“I don’t have to be careful—why’s that?”
I opened my mouth, my confusion cut off by the roar of the men.
“We’re strong! We’re vigilant! All fall before us!”
Liam winked at me. “Now be off with you, Most Valiant and Powerful Lady Sorceress, lest you insult my men again.”
“We’re strong! We’re vigilant! All fall before us!” They boomed again. A kind of good luck charm against the coming conflict.
I kind of wanted to salute the men, then realized it probably made no sense here. Oh, well. So I waved and trotted off as if I knew where I was going. Behind me, the bastardized “Proud to Be an American” chant welled up. Whee—my theme song. That was where I belonged—with humans.
We rode for a couple of hours this time, so the sun was well into mid-sky before Puck fetched me to ride up with the pack of nobles, all in their circus armor. No Promontory of Magic for me this time.
“Lady Gwynn.” Falcon greeted me with a somber nod. He appeared no different for having turned into a bird lately. I wanted to ask how long he’d stayed that way, and if he’d meant to shape-shift or if it was an involuntary response to the injury I’d caused. From the hints he’d dropped about Rogue, my current hypothesis was that the change to this magical animal form was subconsciously triggered.
