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“Can you blame me?”
“No.” He chuckled. He kissed the top of her head. “In your position, I would trust no one. And that is the advice I give you now. To some, you will merely be expendable. To others, an amusing novelty. And to a dangerous few, a means to an end.”
No kidding.“Yeah. I get that sense.”
“Come back to me. Return to the keep. Forgive me for my anger.” He tilted her head up to him. “Please, firefly. Let us find a new way forward together.”
“A way forward as your prisoner?”
“Yes. But the chains that will bind you are nothing compared to those that bind me to you.” His voice was soft.
That was the most tragically romantic thing anyone had ever said to her. It made her want to cry and beg him to take her back. Was that really what she wanted? To be with him? If this was really her subconscious playing Mordred for her, then…yeah. Apparently, thatwaswhat she wanted. “You promise you aren’t going to rip my head off?”
He smiled. “I promise. Though I expect I will wish to lecture you at length for your foolish decision to poison and betray me.” His smile became just a little wicked, a playful devilishness pulling at the edges. “Perhaps I will even find a creative way to punish you.”
Her face bloomed in warmth. “Damn it, Mordred.” She laughed and ducked her head.
Catching her chin in his gauntlet, he turned her face back up to him and kissed her before she could say another word. It was a gesture so full of emotion that it took her breath away. She almost began to cry again.
It was a gesture full oflove.
With all her heart, with everything in her, she realized she wished it was real. She wished Mordred loved her. And she wished she could make it up to him for what she had done. He broke away from the kiss and simply held her to him, letting her rest her cheek against his chest and feel his strength and his warmth.
“I have decided to allow the elementals to be free, for now,” he explained, his voice a rumble. “I only hunt one—the demon Grinn—to keep him from his inevitable warpath. The rest will be able to choose to repeat their former mistakes or to seek a new path forward. I will not rebuild the Iron Crystal if they do. But should they resort to their squabbles and warmongering, I will have no choice.”
Gwen was glad he didn’t see her wince at Grinn’s name. Shit, shit, shit. Just…shit.
This isn’t real. This is just your stupid brain telling you stories to help you parse through your stupid situation.She shut her eyes. “I understand.”
“Come back to me, Gwendolyn Wright.”
“I don’t know if I can. But…” She paused and made up her mind. “But I’ll try.”
“That is all I could ask for. Now, rest, my firefly.” He kissed the top of her head. “And tell the Gossamer Lady that she is welcome in my home. Her husband misses her terribly.”
Wouldn’t that be lovely.
Too bad it was just a dream.
“I will,” she promised him anyway, knowing she wouldn’t.
The dream faded away a few moments later, and she slept without any other disturbances. That was until she was woken up by Eod kicking her in the face. “Ow!”
The dog barked. The way a dog barks when it really, really has to go out. With a sigh, she climbed out of bed. It was barely past dawn. “You suck, dog.” She felt like she hadn’t slept at all. Pulling on her chainmail clothes, she headed outside and watched as the dog ran off to go do his business somewhere in the woods. Or to chase squirrels. Or both.
Sitting down on the front steps to Doc’s home, she folded her arms across her knees and rested her chin on them.
She was a little surprised when the sorcerer himself came out and sat down beside her. “Morning.”
“I hate mornings,” he grumbled in reply. He looked like he had slept worse than she did, and that was saying something. “Rough night?”
“Yeah. I guess you could say that.” She shut her eyes. “Weird dreams.”
“Hm.” It didn’t seem like he believed her, though she wasn’t sure why. “Have you made up your mind on what you want yet?”
“I think…I think I need to go back to the keep and talk to Mordred. One way or the other, he’s the way out of this mess. And I…” She trailed off. She didn’t know how to put her feelings into words just yet.
“I know. I understand.” Doc patted her on the back. “Relationships are fucked up, am I right?”
