by Rinelle Grey
She folded her arms and stared at him. “Then you might as well get comfortable. Do you want me to make up some beds on the floor for your men?” Her voice was sugary sweet, but he wasn’t fooled.
“Just what do you think you’re going to do if those trolls pour over the ridge with that other gem?” he demanded.
Brianna’s chin jutted out. “As Mianna said, we’ve fought them before, and we’ll fight them again. It’s nothing new.”
“This time they will have magic. You know nothing about using magic, you’ll all be slaughtered within a few minutes. You saw those panels, Brianna. Do you really want that to happen here in your village again?”
A shadow passed across her eyes and she wavered. He pushed home his advantage. “Give me the gem, I can protect you from them.”
“I think it’s you we need protecting from,” Mianna stepped into the room and stood next to her twin, glaring at him. She was equally beautiful, but somehow, it failed to stir Lyall to anything but anger. And her words didn’t help. “You seem to think that these gems are far more powerful than they are. So the trolls will be able to see the pictures on the crypt? So what? Maybe it will distract them while we stick a sword in them.”
“Do you really think they would have stolen them if that was all they could do?” Lyall demanded. “Stop being naive.”
“Then how about you tell us what they really do?” Mianna countered. “Obviously you know, or you wouldn’t be so desperate to get your hands on them.”
Brianna grinned at him, and Lyall bit his tongue to stop from screaming at her. She knew, and she knew he couldn’t tell. If he told the villagers that the gem stopped any of his mages using their magic within the walls, then the villagers would attempt to throw them out of the village.
The only way to stay inside would be bloodshed. He didn’t want that.
But Brianna didn’t want her twin knowing the truth any more than he did. Not the whole truth anyway. He could use that.
“They will make me more powerful, yes,” he agreed, watching Brianna’s face as he outright lied. “But given that I’m already far more powerful than you, I don’t think that’s any real threat. Not compared to those trolls out there raiding your village, using magic this time.”
Brianna scowled at him. Then her face brightened. “But if the trolls could use magic, then they would have used it previously. And they haven’t. Maybe the curse the others put on them means they can’t use magic?”
Damn the woman. She was trying to get him to admit it. Had she forgotten she had as much reason to keep this quiet as he did? Maybe she needed reminding?
Lyall shrugged casually. “Never mind. The magic can’t possibly make me as powerful as marrying twins can.”
“What are you talking about?” Mianna’s voice shook.
“You wouldn’t dare!” Brianna said through gritted teeth.
He ignored Brianna and turned to her twin. “Your village may be unaware of the truth, but there is a reason that twins marry together. The powerful magical bond between them is magnified when they sleep with their husband or wife for the first time. And since your village was founded by mages, both of you have the same power.”
He ignored the stab of guilt the very real fear in her eyes caused. He didn’t mean it, he placated himself. He was just trying to get Brianna to back down. It was for the good of her village, not for his personal gain. She knew the stakes. She should be working with him, not against him.
“But we’re already married,” Mianna said, but her bravado was weaker.
“I can fix that,” he said flatly.
“Don’t even think about it.” Brianna’s voice was cold. “I may not know how to use my magic, but I’m willing to give it a try if I have to.”
Her threat was obvious. And it gave him a clear clue where the gem was. He eyed her, trying to judge if she really would attempt to use her magic against him if he tried to wrestle the gem off her. An untrained mage could, in theory, be more dangerous than a fully trained one, simply by virtue of their unpredictability.
Brianna’s eyes were cold and angry. No sign of softness, or her feelings for him. He couldn’t risk it. But backing down would be equally dangerous. This village was the only access to the pass and the mage trolls on the other side.
He couldn’t leave them unprotected. Even ignoring his feelings for Brianna, if she died, he did. So he had to protect her whether she liked it or not.
“Are you willing to risk your entire village?” he said calmly. “Yes, you may be able to use magic, but its effects are rarely predictable without years of training. A simple mistake could destroy the village as easily as it could me. Even assuming you can make it do anything.”
“Then if you don’t want to find out, I suggest you get out of my house. Now!” Brianna glared at him. “And next time you visit, remember to knock.” There was a minute softening in her eyes, enough to let him know that she wasn’t going to push it.
He took her offered exit. He bowed low. “As you wish, Queen Brianna.” The name tickled him. He intended to see her be his queen. Just as soon as this mess was sorted out.
Not waiting to see her reaction, he withdrew from the room and went to explain to the men outside why he didn’t need them.
19
Turning Around
“That was much better,” Mianna said approvingly as the door closed behind Lyall. “Much more like the Brianna I know.”
Brianna gave a small smile. If only she could agree with her twin. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d made a mistake. Probably a big one. Lyall was right, she couldn’t hope to defend the village against the trolls if they had magic. But explaining it to Mianna was just impossible. She was too far into the lie to back out now.
“Mama, we go walk. You promised!” Lylis’s small voice was somewhat of a relief.
It gave her the chance to turn away from Mianna and hide her face in her daughter’s hair as she scooped her up. “That’s right, I did promise. How about we go now?”
The chubby face lit up. “Now?”
“Now,” Brianna confirmed. She’d been so busy lately, so caught up on Lyall’s appearance and everything that had been happening that she hadn’t been giving Lylis enough attention. That was something she could fix.
“Don’t forget to be back in time to wash up for dinner,” Mianna said.
“Wash up?” Brianna tickled Lylis under the chin. “Why would we need to wash up after a walk? We wouldn’t get dirty doing that, would we?”
Lylis’s childish giggle warmed her heart. “Course not, Mama. We no get dirty.”
Mianna hid a smile, and turned away, responding to Kylis’s call down the hallway. Brianna helped her daughter put on her boots, picked up a basket for the inevitable treasures they would bring back, and hand in hand they walked out the back door towards the fields.
The warm air and sunshine helped clear her head, even if doubts lingered. Lylis picked bunches of the spring flowers and brought them for her to carry, and she inhaled the fresh, sweet scent. “Mama, stwawbewwies!” Lylis called excitedly. She looked up, her mouth stuffed with the sweet red fruit. “You wan one?”
Brianna came and took the offered strawberry. “Mmmm, yum,” she agreed.
There was movement back towards the village. More of Lyall’s soldiers spread throughout, not doing anything, just taking up positions in various locations, many towards the pass end of the village. What was Lyall doing?
“I bet Mama, Daddy and Kylis would like some strawberries too, why don’t we pick them some?” she encouraged. Might be best if they headed back to the house soon, so she could find out what was going on.
“More stwawbewwies!” Lylis reached for another one and Brianna helped her pick as many as they could find. With their basket full, Brianna turned for home and noticed Lyall in the distance, heading towards them. He was between them and the house, so there was no avoiding him. She bit her lip, half wishing she had taken Mianna’s advice and hidden the gem
somewhere at home, not kept it with her.
She reached for Lylis’s hand and the little girl reached for hers. Lyall had almost reached them, so to move now would seem like she was avoiding him. And she wasn’t. Not completely.
His eyes softened when he looked at their daughter, and for a moment, Brianna had a vision of what could have been. Lyall would make the perfect father, so different to his own, caring and attentive. She could easily imagine him swinging Lylis onto his shoulders as she giggled, and carrying her back to the house, one hand holding hers.
The picture made tears prick the back of her eyelids. She couldn’t think about it. It wasn’t possible, and she needed to accept that. Terion was a kind attentive father too, who never played favourites with the two little girls. Lylis didn’t need anyone else. And neither did she.
“Good afternoon, Brianna.” Lyall said seriously, though his eyes were on the little girl who had gone silent when he approached. She pulled in closer to Brianna’s legs, hanging back, but peering around, not wanting to miss anything.
So they were going to be polite, despite the argument earlier. She could do that. “Good afternoon, Prince Balen.”
He frowned at the formal name, but didn’t object. “You shouldn’t be so far from the village alone. Not near this wall.” He glanced at the archers on the towers near the gate, and Brianna couldn’t help but follow his gaze. They stared towards the pass, ever vigilant, but relaxed enough to tell her there was no sign of trouble.
“I’ve been playing in these fields since I was a child,” she said calmly. “The watchers in the pass will alert us of any trolls in plenty of time to get home.”
Lylis gave a squeal at the mention of the trolls and clutched at Brianna’s leg.
“And if they die silently before they even know anyone is coming?” Lyall demanded.
A chill ran down her spine. She fought the urge to glance around as though they might be lurking in the grass. “Then the sentries on the towers will see them. I won’t live my life in fear,” she said firmly. She detached her daughter from her leg, and swung her up onto her hip. “You’re frightening Lylis, how about we talk about this later?”
His eyes met hers and he bit back his words, instead nodding. “Of course,” he agreed.
Lylis regarded him with big eyes. “Twolls big but dumb, Mama take care of them if they come.”
The corners of his mouth creased as he smiled. “I’m sure your Mama could take care of them. She seems pretty capable,” he agreed.
Lylis nodded. “Do you want a stwawbewwy?” she offered, picking a big juicy one out of the basket and leaning over to offer it to him.
He looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. “I’d love one,” he said solemnly, taking the strawberry from her chubby hand.
“Delicious,” he pronounced.
“They are ‘licious,” Lylis agreed. “The rest for Kylis and Daddy.”
A shadow crossed Lyall’s face at her mention of Terion. “Of course,” he agreed flatly. “Why don’t you take them to them now? I need to talk to your mama for a minute.”
Brianna didn’t want to talk to him. Not now. And not later either. “I’d better see her safely home,” she said hurriedly, even though the house was within sight, and on another day, she would have had no qualms about letting Lylis run back ahead of her by herself.
“I thought you should come and check the pass with me,” Lyall said smoothly. “Just to be sure everything is normal there.”
His earlier words, about something having happened to the villagers there, came back to her. Silly thoughts. Trolls ran through the pass screaming, they didn’t sneak silently. But the thought wouldn’t be banished.
“I go myself!” Lylis proclaimed, wriggling her legs impatiently.
Brianna lowered her to the ground. “Can you manage the basket?” she asked.
Lylis nodded solemnly, so Brianna handed it to her and watched her run towards the house on her chubby legs. She tried not to notice Lyall beside her, but his quiet presence was impossible to ignore.
“I would prefer it if you would let me leave a few of my men at the pass and at the gates as guards,” Lyall said softly, once Lylis was out of earshot. “As well as your men of course. If you won’t give me the gem, then my only hope of helping you keep this village safe is to use sheer numbers.”
“Fine.” She wasn’t in the mood to argue with him.
Lyall waved his hand to two men standing waiting near the last house of the village, and both of them hurried across the field and followed her and Lyall through the gate. Brianna pretended to herself that she didn’t feel the slightest bit safer to be walking towards the pass with two extra mages.
The dark cliffs towered above them, growing narrower as they rose. Little sunlight made it down this far, and each corner could be hiding a troll. They were quickly out of sight of the towers, and Brianna knew from her own stints on guard duty, that they had several more corners to round before they came to the guard post.
She couldn’t hide her relief that the guards at the pass were bantering easily in their usual way when they arrived.
“Prince Balen is concerned about the safety of the pass,” she told them, letting a little sarcasm creep into her voice. “So you’ll have some friends for your watch.”
They eyed the two mages suspiciously for a moment, taking in their swords and stiff stance, then shrugged. “They can stay if they want,” they agreed.
Lyall ignored her conversation, staring at Jack, the young runner, frowning. “What’s he doing here?” he asked. “Surely if it’s so dangerous, he should be home with his parents?
“He’s the runner,” Brianna said flatly, “to warn the rest of the village when the trolls invade. The others will try to hold them off, but they can’t buy more than a few minutes.”
Lyall’s eyes bored into her. She could see his disbelief, his certainty that he could do things better. And maybe he could. But this was the way they’d dealt with the trolls for centuries. And the best they could do.
As she and Lyall walked back through the pass, Brianna’s skin crawled. The urge to turn back around and check on the guards was strong, even though she could still hear their quiet voices as the villagers told the soldiers what to expect if there was a troll attack. They were having a little too much fun describing it in gory detail.
They rounded a corner of the pass, and the voices faded to a quiet murmur. Lyall stopped and put a hand on her arm. “Brianna?”
She turned to look at him. They were half way between the pass entrance and the guard point, not visible from either. Lyall’s expression was gentle but serious. “You know that I’m not going to use that gem to do anything but protect your village. I can’t do anything with it that the villagers don’t already think I can do, so it makes no difference there. But if those trolls come, it could be the only thing that protects you from them.”
She didn’t want to admit that his words made sense. “If I give it to you, everyone will think I’m working with you. Mianna already thinks that I… that I have a crush on you.”
He took a step closer to her, and Brianna stepped back, coming up against the rocky wall of the pass. “So tell her. Let’s go back now and tell her that I’m Lylis’s father, and that we love each other.”
His words took her breath away. As though it was that simple. Perhaps it was for him. But the only thing she could see when she tried to imagine telling her sister about Lyall, was the accusing stare in her eyes. And the picture on the panels. “Twins aren’t supposed to love different people,” she said quietly. “And we’ve seen what happens when they do. I can’t, Lyall.”
He stepped closer and she had no room left to back away. “Then tell her I took it from you.”
His breath fanned her cheeks as he spoke, and Brianna fought to keep her breathing even. His nearness confused her thinking, making it hard to remember why she needed to keep denying this feeling. He put a hand up, resting it on the rocks near her face and leaned in a li
ttle closer. “I can make it the truth if you like.”
It would be easy to add another lie to the ones she was already telling her sister. That the lie would also make Mianna’s view of Lyall even worse, especially given that her sister knew exactly where the gem was hidden, hardly mattered. It wasn’t like she would ever accept Brianna’s feelings for Lyall anyway.
His other hand moved to stroke her waist and his lips edged closer to hers. Longing threaded its way through every vein in her body until it hummed. His dark gaze burned into hers, telling her he wanted her as much as she wanted him. The agony of knowing it could never be only made the feeling stronger.
Her breath hitched, and that was all Lyall needed. She closed her eyes as his lips gently brushed hers, igniting the fire that had simmered beneath the surface for far too long. “Anna,” he breathed softly, pulling back to look into her eyes for just a second.
She looked at him mutely, trying to let the words of need show in her face, even if she couldn’t find voice for them. In response, his body pressed hers against the rock. He kissed her with the same desperation she felt.
His hand ran over her body, covering every inch. A little voice in the back of her head said he was looking for the gem, but the hardness pressing into her belly told her there was more to it than that.
His hand cupped her breast, pressing the gem into the soft flesh, firmly enough that she probably had an imprint of it on her skin. But he didn’t pause, just squeezed it again and let his hand move up to cup her face, kissing her more desperately.
“Trolls!” the scream came from the pass.
Lyall broke off abruptly, his head jerking around in the direction of the sound. He swore. “Give me the gem, Brianna.”
Jack streaked past them, not even noticing their compromising position.
Brianna hesitated, but to keep the gem from him at this point was stupid. Lyall could help them, could perhaps prevent any more from dying. That wasn’t betraying her village, it was helping them.
She reached for the gem.
A shout of triumph echoed through the pass. Then a second one, closer.
