Briahnna scoffed. “His life for mine.”
“Exactly,” Desmond said. “That is the exact oath he took. He saved you and gave his life for yours. I’m not throwing his sacrifice away, Ahnna. You are the Queen, and he was chosen to protect you for a reason.”
“You are Queen, Bumble bee.” Briahnna looked behind her to see her father standing there. “These things happen. Sacrifices are made. More will be made. You need to realize that this is your life now, and if you blame yourself over and over, you will not be able to live it well.”
“I don’t like to think that my life is more important than others’,” Briahnna croaked.
“I never said that it was, Bri,” said Rinald. “But as queen you have to make the most out of the sacrifices made for you.” He bent down, kissed her head, and went to his tent.
“I’m sorry, Ahnna,” Desmond said. “I wish I had had more time to figure out a way to save him.”
“I’m sorry too,” Briahnna responded. “I know you were doing what you thought best. Decisions like that, where things have to be decided within an instant, don’t come easy to me. I’m sure you made the right one, and I’m glad he’s not suffering.”
“I think you’re just trying to make me feel better,” Desmond said quietly.
Briahnna smiled slightly, though it did not reach her eyes. “Did it work?”
Desmond took a deep breath. “Not really. I will live with that choice for the rest of my life.”
Briahnna looked down at her hands.
“You’re sharing a tent with me,” Desmond said, changing the subject.
“Oh?” Briahnna asked.
“We have to find you a new guard, and until then I would feel more comfortable if you were with me or Liam at all times.” Desmond said.
Briahnna turned back to camp and nodded. “I understand.”
Desmond arose, hesitating slightly as he did as if he wanted to say something. Briahnna waited, but he just gave her a slight nod and left.
…
Briahnna sat in the tent with her head on her knees, exhausted but afraid to actually lie down and go to sleep. Her head snapped up when she heard Desmond come in and clear his throat.
“I thought you’d be asleep already,” he said, turning to grab a pitcher of water on a nearby stand.
“It would probably be a wise thing to do, I guess,” Briahnna said. “I’m not really looking forward to what I might see in my sleep.”
Desmond sipped his water and nodded clearly distracted. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”
“Okay…” Briahnna said, not really believing he actually meant it. He looked so nervous. He started to say something then stopped and took another drink setting his water rather roughly back onto the stand. He exhaled through his teeth.
Briahnna cocked her head to the side, slightly amused, slightly hesitant. “Is there something wrong, Desmond? If there’s something you’d like to say, just say it.”
“Is it true?” he asked. Briahnna looked at him, not knowing what he was talking about.
“Is what true?” she asked.
“What Zacrion said,” Desmond said. “That you only feel whole when Jerrick is around.”
Briahnna inhaled sharply not expecting him to bring that up. She looked down at her hands and shook her head. “No,” she said, looking at him again. “It’s not true. He and I…feel a connection, but he doesn’t make me feel whole. His magic is drawn to my magic.” She shrugged her shoulders. “And vice versa. When we touch our magic gets stronger. That doesn’t mean he made me feel whole. Sometimes I felt suffocated from it.”
Desmond slid down into a seated position and watched her intently. “Do you still love him?”
Briahnna looked away trying to figure out a good way to answer this question without him misconstruing it. “Yes,” she finally said. “But not in the way that you’re asking.” She looked at him; his eyes told her to explain. “We grew up together. We’ve spent our lives protecting each other. I want him to be good. I want what’s best for him. I love him as the best friend that I’ve had and lost,” she said insistently. “I don’t love him the way that I love…” she stopped suddenly, realizing that she was about to say, you.
He was in front of her in an instant. “Say it,” he said.
She reeled. “Say what?”
The side of his mouth quirked up in a smile. “What you were going to say.”
Briahnna looked away, and he grabbed her face. “I’ve loved you since I saw you climb that wall to get to my sister. I haven’t been able to keep you out of my mind since the first day I saw you running in those fields. I don’t regret marrying you.” He laughed a little. “I regret how it happened. But I’m glad we belong to each other, Ahnna. I love you,” he said. And he kissed her.
Chapter 43
They said goodbye to her father and the other majiks the next day. It was time to get back to Thornhold and try to heal a damaged kingdom. Desmond had given Rinald most of their provisions, insisting that the shortcut through the forest had saved them weeks of travel time. Briahnna had such a hard time picturing it. How could they be so close? It took so long to get her to Thornhold when she had been kidnapped. She was certain that she had been taken through the forest then, too. But Desmond thought that she had probably been taken through the forest, then around and through the desert, just to confuse and disorient her.
After the magiks had left, Briahnna looked into the distance. She willed the kingdom of Thornhold to come into view as Desmond and his horse, Othur, came up beside her. He reached his hand down to help her up next to him. She quirked her eyebrow at him.
“It would make me feel better if you rode with me,” he said.
She snorted. “Of course it would.”
He jumped down, grabbed her waist, and hoisted her onto the horse.
“Well that was subtle,” she laughed.
He shrugged, smiled, and jumped up behind her, which she ended up being very grateful for as the day wore on. For the life of her, she couldn’t keep her eyes open, and his chest made a nice resting place to sleep.
Liam and Abby walked far behind, since she was also tired and needed to move to stay awake.
“You are the king’s personal guard?” Abigail asked.
“I know what you are thinking,” Liam said, leaning toward her. “That he couldn’t have asked for a better personal guard. That he is well cared for. That he’s lucky to have me around every waking hour of every day.” He winked, grinning at her.
Abigail snorted. “Not hardly,” she said. “More like, ‘how could this large child beside me even come close to protecting the King?’”
He grabbed at his chest. “You wound me, My Lady.”
“I’m being serious, Liam,” Abigail continued. “You’re all the way back here walking with me. He’s quite a distance ahead of us, and you think you’re an ideal personal guard?”
“Have you seen how fast I am?” Liam smirked.
Abigail smirked back, stretched her hand forth, and suddenly Desmond and Briahnna were submerged in a large bubble of water. Liam shot forward but then realized what had happened and lunged for Abigail. She looked at the ground, and it fell out from underneath him. She had already released Desmond and Briahnna from the water, and they both fell from Othur trying to catch their breaths, but he couldn’t see. He was trying to leap from wall to wall in his hole as he shouted orders at the rest of the guards and soldiers around them to attack her. She fell to her knees panting but held the guards at bay with the wind. “Not so fast anymore, are we?” she panted as he finally pulled himself out and held his sword to her throat. She fell back and closed her eyes, having expended the very last of her energy.
“Liam!” Briahnna shouted. “Stop!”
“She was trying to kill you!” he yelled. Briahnna ran, completely soaked through, and knelt beside Abigail.
Abigail opened her eyes a crack and said, “I was just proving a point.” Then she passed out.
. . .
Abigail woke up to the moonlight and ropes. She was tied to a guard. She laid her head down and groaned.
“And you call me and idiot,” Forster said from behind her.
“I still hold to that statement,” she ground out.
“Well, I think your point was well made,” he said. “Liam hasn’t left the king’s side since you fainted.”
“I didn’t faint. I closed my eyes to rest,” she said, irritated.
“Yep. That’s exactly what it looked like,” he said sarcastically.
“Why don’t you find someone else to annoy?” Liam said as he walked up to the guard and took the ropes. Forster saluted him and took off. “Was that demonstration really necessary?” he asked, sitting next to her.
She sat up and rubbed her temples, ignoring his question and watched the bustle of camp. “Shouldn’t you be doing what you do best?” she asked, gesturing to Desmond and Briahnna.
“He told me to back off,” Liam said. “So here I am again. Just itching for you to make another demonstration.”
She scratched her neck and rolled her eyes clearly not rising to the bait.
“What happened to you?” Liam asked. “What happened to make you decide to prove idiotic points? What happened to make you decide to find something wrong with the world and everything in it?
Abigail scoffed. “Are you kidding?”
“No,” Liam said softly. “I know you’ve lost your brother. But there’s more to it than that.” Abigail ground her teeth together. “I see the way you watch Desmond and Briahnna. I see the longing. That’s not longing for your brother. Although that’s there, too.”
“You know nothing!” Abigail snarled. “Find someone else to guard me and leave!”
“Maybe if you talked about it…” Liam started.
“Really?” she snapped. “You think that if I talk to you, I’ll feel better? I don’t know you! I don’t want to know you! And I definitely don’t want you to know me! So leave!”
Liam took a long look at her and called another guard to take over.
Abigail regretted her outburst instantly but couldn’t bring herself to call him back. She didn’t want to get close to him. She didn’t want to be attached to anybody else.
. . .
It took two days to travel to Thornhold from the forest, and once again Briahnna was feeling a strong pull toward the southern mountains. “Have you ever been to the southern mountains, Des?” she asked.
Desmond still insisted that she ride with him, about which she did not complain. He smiled into her hair liking the nickname she had adopted from his sister. “Only to the base. We have forbidden the exploration of the southern mountains.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because those who have chosen to climb and explore those mountains have never returned,” he said. “We’re just trying to protect our people. Of course that doesn’t stop idiots from deciding to ignore what we have forbidden. It’s not like there’s a punishment because they obviously never return to be punished.”
“I was taught that they were forbidden,” Briahnna said. “I just wasn’t sure if that was majik lore or truth. What about the large creatures that are supposedly seen flying in the skies above them?” she asked.
“Lore,” Desmond answered simply. “If there really are large birds preying those mountains, neither I nor anyone I know has ever witnessed them.”
Briahnna nodded. “Why have you been to the base?” she asked.
“I don’t know what those mountains are made of,” he began, “but they have been impervious to your magic.”
“You made the walls from the rock of those mountains!” she exclaimed.
“Yes. And only Jerrick has been able to penetrate that rock,” he said quietly. He shook his head. “When we are home I will train you to fight and use your magic at the same time. There will be lots of experimentation, due to the fact that I know close nothing about your magic.”
“I’m not even very knowledgeable about my own magic,” Briahnna said. “I learned at a very young age how dangerous it was and have been hesitant to learn about it ever since.”
“No more hesitating,” Desmond said. “We’ll take whatever precautions we need in order for you to learn whatever you need to know.”
. . .
Another five days of travel and they were in the capital of Thornhold. Desmond yelled at Liam the entire way as Briahnna insisted that Abigail be guarded near her. Liam was practically attached to Desmond’s hip because of it.
“I think that Abigail should be released,” Briahnna said as they made their way into the capital.
“No,” Liam growled.
“She wasn’t trying to kill us,” Briahnna insisted. “She was being foolish.”
“And foolish is what could get you killed,” Liam said.
Abigail stared straight ahead as she listened to the conversation.
“I’m tempted to keep her under arrest just because she made you into an overprotective mess,” Desmond said, walking as he led Othur with Briahnna astride.
Abigail smiled slightly and Liam looked as if he wanted to throttle her.
“Release her,” Desmond told the guard that held Abigail’s constraints.
“Are you crazy?” Liam asked.
“I’m fairly certain she could have found a way to escape with her magic, but she has not,” Desmond answered. “I believe she really was trying to bait you with a very poorly made demonstration,” Desmond said, giving Abigail a long look. She held his gaze with a very cold one of her own. “She is going to be Atira’s new lady’s maid.”
“You trust her with your sister?” Liam exclaimed.
“My sister can take care of herself,” Desmond said. “And once again I feel the need to put a woman in my charge in a difficult situation,” Desmond smiled at Abigail. “My sister is a very difficult situation.”
Suddenly a figure was running toward them at top speed. She completely ignored Briahnna and ran straight into Desmond’s arms. “Speak of the devil,” Desmond laughed hugging Atira.
“She didn’t kill you!” Atira exclaimed, pulling away.
Briahnna rolled her eyes, and Desmond gave Atira a look. “Really? Could you be a little less dramatic?” Atira ignored the comment and ran at Liam who picked her up and twirled her.
“How’s my little accomplice?” Liam asked, setting her down.
Atira turned and looked at everyone stopping on Briahnna who had dismounted and was now holding Desmond’s hand. She growled, turned, and walked away.
“Atira stop!” Desmond yelled after her, but she ignored him and walked away. Desmond was about to go after her when her hair blew back and she halted in her spot.
She turned in a flash and glared at them all. “Who’s doing that?” she yelled. Her eyes darted between them all then landed on Forster, who had his arms outstretched toward her. He was obviously stopping her from walking any farther away from them with a wind shield. And in an instant she was on top of him. She tackled him to the ground turned him on his belly with his arm pinned behind his back and his head shoved into the ground.
“Get off me!” he screamed.
Atira looked back at Desmond. “You brought more?” she screamed.
“Get off of him, Atira,” Desmond commanded.
“Why would you bring more?” she demanded.
“They are not our enemies,” Desmond said calmly.
Atira snorted. “How do you figure that?”
“Jerrick started the war, Atira,” Desmond said. “He kidnapped the magiks. He killed father. And he is now being hunted down by both Thornhold and Mageia.”
“Um…” Forster started. “She’s still on top of me.”
“I’d like to see you try to get free,” Atira growled menacingly in his ear.
Forster closed his eyes, and Atira flew backwards. She flipped in the air, landed on her feet, and Forster braced himself for a fight as he glared at her.
Liam grabbed Atira before she ran to
pummel him again, and Desmond yelled, “Enough!”
Atira looked at him then back at Forster. “I’ll stop when he stops,” she said between her teeth.
Forster stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I’ve already stopped.”
Desmond took a deep breath. “You are not helping, Forster.”
“What?” Forster asked innocently. “I stopped!”
“Atira, you are going to have to deal with them,” Desmond said. Then he gestured to Abigail. “This is Abigail. She grew up with Briahnna and is going to be your new lady’s maid.”
“No!” Atira yelled.
Abigail stepped close to Atira and leaned down so only Atira could hear her. “Are you afraid you won’t be able to handle me?”
Atira tried to stare Abigail down and looked at Desmond. “Fine,” she acquiesced and leaned in close to Abigail. “I can definitely handle you, but I know you can’t handle me,” she said, smirking.
Chapter 44
Desmond had sent a runner the day before to let Marta know that Briahnna’s things needed to be moved to his quarters and the rest of the rooms needed to be readied for the others.
He and Briahnna dropped Gabriela off at the infirmary where she found Thomas, and Liam took Forster to find Marta, who would show him to his own room. They walked to their room and found Atira’s things everywhere.
“Oh Your Majesties,” Marta panted. “I’m so sorry!” she said holding her hand over her chest as she had obviously rushed to greet them. “Your sister locked herself in your quarters yesterday after your messenger arrived. I couldn’t get her to leave. She’s been slowly moving her property into it while you were gone. She must have been doing it in the dead of night, because nobody even noticed until yesterday when she insisted that if you were now going to room with your queen, she was going to take over your quarters. So she moved all of your things out and set it in the hallway.” She shook her head. “I know that I’m not supposed to give in to the child. But I did have other rooms to ready for the rest of the guard arriving.”
Spirit (Legend of the Dragons Book 1) Page 30
