by Rinelle Grey
She took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The bell rang as she stepped inside, and a few moments later, Petar appeared in the back doorway. “Yes, can I help you?”
“I’m looking for a book,” Brianna blurted out.
“Well, a few more details would help,” Petar said, coming a little closer. Then he recognised her. “You’re the girl who was here with Lyall, aren’t you?”
She nodded.
He smiled. “Well, what are you looking for then? Romance? Adventure? Or perhaps there is some subject you would like to learn more about?”
Brianna tilted her head to one side, considering. “Romance and adventure? Do you have anything like that?”
He laughed. “Of course I do.”
He brought book after book from the shelves, piling them onto a desk in the middle of the room and leaving Brianna to look through them.
She’d had no idea these sorts of books existed. They made her books at home look like they were written for children.
She left the store with three novels and promised to return when she had finished those to get some more.
Now she had a new way to pass the time. Each lunch break she found a quiet spot to read, and at night, she burnt several candles, unable to put the book down until her heroine found herself safe at last, usually in the strong capable arms of her prince. If she had an afternoon off, her feet, more often than not, took her to the shade of the trees overlooking the harbour, to read and daydream.
It was on one such day, a week after Lyall had left, that she glanced up from her story to see his boat pull into the harbour. For a few moments, she stared at it in disbelief, then she threw her precious book onto the grass, the heroine’s plight forgotten and flew down the hill. She fought her way through the crowd of workers unloading a cargo ship, arriving just as he was tying his boat up at the dock.
Not even stopping to think, she threw herself into his arms as soon as he turned around. “Lyall!” she exclaimed happily.
“Brianna?” he asked in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
It was only then that she realised he might not have missed her as much as she’d missed him. She tried to pull back, but his arms tightened around her waist, holding her close. He bent and kissed her. The noise and the crowd faded into the background, and her doubts were banished. He felt the same way.
She could have gone on kissing him all day.
Except suddenly, she became aware of the whistles and catcalls all around her, and Lyall pulled back to look up. She glanced around sheepishly, but saw nothing but amusement in the faces around her. Lyall kept his arms around her. “Let’s get out of here.”
They walked hand in hand back up the hill where Brianna retrieved her book.
“I thought you said you weren’t coming back?” she asked, not looking at him.
“I couldn’t stay away,” he said softly, coming up behind her and putting his hands on her shoulders.
Her thoughts were jumbled, the guilt for how she was feeling at war with how much she wanted to turn around and resume kissing him. “Perhaps it would have been better if you could have.”
“You don’t mean that, Brianna. Do you?” There was a hint of uncertainty in his last words that tore at her heart.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what I think, anymore.”
“Did you miss me?”
“Of course I did.”
“Then aren’t you glad I’m back?”
She sighed. “Yes. But I don’t know what to do now.”
“Because of this man back in your village?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.”
How could she explain? It wasn’t Terion that stopped her, but Mianna. Somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him about Mia.
She’d seen the reaction from visitors to her village many times. When boys found out she was one of a twin, that was all they could see. The idea of two wives was so exciting that she began to doubt that it was really her they were interested in.
“Brianna?” he said softly and turned her to face him.
She looked up at him uncertainly. His nearness tugged at her, and she could almost feel the current passing between them. It would be so easy to just sink into his arms and forget it all.
“Do you love him, this man back home?”
“No.”
He hesitated, then took a deep breath and asked, “How do you feel about me?”
How could she even begin to describe it? Surely the way she felt about him was crazy, after only knowing each other for a week.
“I barely know you,” she said helplessly.
“And I barely know you. But I do know that when I left here, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. All I wanted to do was come back for you.”
“Really?”
“I’m here aren’t I?”
He had come back for her, not for any other reason. She stared up into his eyes, knowing she should push him away, should not get involved. But her heart insisted that it was too late, she already felt far too much.
Mianna and Terion, that was why she was doing this. She needed to remember that they deserved the chance to be happy.
But that thought just stirred up resentment. Didn’t she deserve to be happy too? She hadn’t come here expecting to find Lyall, but she had. Should she ignore her own chance at happiness? Was it right that she let go of the happiness she felt in his presence just because of a stupid, ancient law? She bit her lip, fighting a war within herself.
Lyall held out his arms, and the war disappeared. Somehow, she melted into them, resting her head against his chest, feeling happier than she had in months. She couldn’t see any way this could work, but she owed it to herself to at least find out if she loved him.
He held her for a moment, gently stroking her hair, his lips kissing the top of her head.
“Come with me, Brianna,” he asked out of the blue.
“Come with you? Where?” She raised her head to look up at him, uncertain. She knew so little about him. He could be from anywhere.
“Does it matter where we go? This city doesn’t have anything to hold you, does it?”
He had a point. Bymere, itself, meant nothing to her. And since she wasn’t planning on going back to her village, it really didn’t matter where she was. But going away with him was a commitment. A commitment she wasn’t free to give.
“I ca…”
He put a finger on her lips. “Don’t answer me now. Think on it. Please?”
“My answer will be the same, Lyall. I’m sorry.” Her voice choked on the words, but she forced them out. She wouldn’t hide the truth from him.
“Why?”
“Because I can’t.”
“Do you plan on going back?”
“I… no. I don’t think so,” Brianna wavered.
“Then come with me. I’m not going to ask for anything you can’t give. I just want a chance to show you my home.”
“I….” Brianna started to speak, but Lyall again put a finger on her lips.
“Think on it. That’s all I’m asking. Please?”
Brianna opened her mouth again, but the protest refused to be voiced. She looked into Lyall’s eyes, so hopeful, and couldn’t disappoint him. Not yet. Give him time to get used to the idea first. “I’ll think on it, but my answer won’t change.”
He smiled anyway. “Good.”
The choice felt right, even though it should have felt wrong. Brianna refused to examine what that meant.
Taking her hand, Lyall began to walk back towards the city. “I suppose I’d better go get a room, I might be here for a while.”
Brianna laughed softly. “What if I just refuse to give you an answer, just to keep you here?”
“Sounds good to me,” Lyall replied promptly. “Because it means you want me to stay.”
Brianna laughed, even though her heart turned over at his words. “You just keep believing that.”
“I intend to,” Lyall responded just as swiftly. “Pleas
e don’t burst my bubble.”
The light teasing eased the ache in her heart a little. Surely there must be a way to make this work?
They made their way back through the streets, their clasped hands swinging between them but as they crossed the square, Brianna’s eyes fell on a cart standing outside a building on the opposite side of the square. She recognised the horses immediately, she’d mucked out their stall often enough at home.
Panic rose in her chest. Was her mother here somewhere? It was almost a relief to see Blanc and Nilar, two of the older warriors in her village, coming out of the store with their arms full of sacks of flour. Until they turned and saw her.
She hadn’t realised that she’d stopped moving until Lyall asked, “What’s wrong?”
There was no time to explain. Nilar shouted to Blanc, and both men quickly threw their sacks into the cart. They would be after her in a minute.
Where could she hide? She pulled Lyall down a nearby alleyway, only to come up against a dead end.
Lyall’s pressure on her hand stopped her fleeing back out of the alleyway again. “Brianna? What’s wrong?”
“Those two men are from my village and they recognised me.” Her voice sounded unnaturally high, even to her own ears. “They’ll take me home again.”
She looked around again, hoping for some miraculous escape to present itself, but none did. It was hopeless. Her deception would be discovered, and she would have no excuse to avoid going back to the village. Back to Mianna and Terion. Tears threatened. “I’m sorry, Lyall.”
He took her face in his hands and stared down at her. “Do you trust me, Brianna?”
She looked up into his eyes, staring earnestly down at her, suddenly breathless. “Yes,” she said simply.
The electricity she’d felt between them crackled in the air around her. The whole world spun for just a moment, and then rainbows flared everywhere.
Then Nilar and Blanc were at the entrance to the alleyway, and Lyall kissed her. As if she wasn’t dizzy enough already. And how was she ever going to explain kissing him to the two warriors, both of whom had trained her since she was a child?
As Lyall lifted his lips from hers, he whispered, “Pretend you don’t know them.”
Bewildered as to how that was going to change anything, Brianna turned to the two men advancing towards her.
They paused in the entrance to the alleyway, hesitating. What was wrong with them?
”Can I help you with something?” Lyall’s voice was haughty.
The men looked from Brianna, to Lyall, then back to Brianna. “I’m sorry,” Nilar mumbled. “I thought you were someone else.”
They retreated back out of the alleyway.
Something was wrong. Very wrong. She looked up at Lyall. “What did you do?”
Lyall stared down at her, his face pale. He opened his mouth to talk, then closed it again and sighed. He turned her around slowly until she faced a window in the store next to them.
Lyall’s reflection looked back at her, standing with his hands on the shoulders of a girl she didn’t recognise. The blonde hair falling around her shoulders was almost unchanged, just ever so slightly shorter and a slightly darker gold, but her features where completely different. Her nose, longer and narrower, her cheekbones lower, and her chin rounded.
She stared at herself for a moment, panic and fear welling up in her. She twisted in his arms, pulling back. “What did you do?” she demanded.
“I changed your face, just enough so that they wouldn’t recognise you.”
His voice was so calm, as though he were talking about changing the sheets on a bed. “Changed… my face? How can you do that? Is it… permanent?” Her voice shook and the world spun. For a moment, she thought she might pass out.
“No, in fact, it will be back to normal as soon as I… let it go.”
“Then do that.” Any relief she might have felt at having avoided the warriors was totally overshadowed by the impossibility of what he’d just done. How had he done that? The answer presented itself in the back of her mind, but she shied away, refusing to believe it. Lyall couldn’t possibly be a mage. He was too nice.
Her reflection in the mirror shimmered, and then was her own again. Brianna heaved a sigh of relief to be herself again. “How… how did you do that?” She was terrified he would confirm her suspicions, but she had to ask anyway—had to hear the words from his own mouth.
“I’m a mage,” he said softly, confirming her worst fears.
She knew it was true. There was no other explanation. But the truth tore at her anyway. She backed away slowly, holding up her hands in protest. “No.” She shook her head. “You can’t be!”
He followed her, reaching out his hands. “Brianna, please. It doesn’t change who I am. I mean no harm to you, and everything I have said to you is the truth.”
“How can I know that? How can I believe any of it after this?” She wasn’t sure which was the hardest to believe, that he was a mage, or that she’d let him fool her. She’d thought he cared about her, but he just…
What? What could he possibly want from her?
“At least give me a chance to explain, please, Brianna.”
“What is there to explain? You’re a mage. What more is there to say?” She didn’t want to hear his explanations. Didn’t want to risk being swayed by his arguments.
“How about if I tell you that you are a mage as well?”
Brianna stared at him and then started to laugh. A high pitched laugh that had far more to do with panic than amusement. “You’re really desperate, aren’t you?”
“It’s the truth, Brianna. I wanted to tell you at the right time, not like this, but I’ve known since the day I first saw you. Remember when I grabbed your wrist that first night? I was so shocked to see the magical power in you that I reacted without thinking.”
Brianna shook her head. “No, that can’t be it. I’m not a mage.”
“And when I came to you in your room, you felt the magic pass between us when I touched you. I saw it.”
She had felt the spark. She’d thought it was chemistry, not magic. But it had been too strong for that.
His words were beginning to have a scary ring of truth to them. Still, she protested, “You mean it was never about me, it was always about… magic?” Even saying the word out loud was scary, as though speaking it was an admission that it might be true.
“No!” Lyall’s denial was adamant. “Hell, Brianna, I could have any mage I wanted, but none of them ever interested me in the slightest until I met you. It is far, far more than that, believe me.”
The intensity of his words scared her. And their arrogance should have angered her. But instead, she felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth. “Any mage you wanted huh? Not arrogant or anything, are you?”
Lyall blushed. Such a normal reaction. Entirely un-mage like. Not that she had any idea what a mage would or did do. “You know what I mean, Brianna.”
He was acting just like the Lyall she’d known for the last week. The familiarity scared her and tugged at her at the same time. She’d wanted to go home with him, despite knowing she shouldn’t. And somehow, she believed all that he’d said.
But he was a mage. That changed everything.
Didn’t it?
She pulled her eyes away from him to glance out of the alleyway. “We should get out of here. Much as your, uh, disguise, seemed to work, I’d rather not run into them again.”
She felt his eyes bore into her and avoided looking at him. She needed time to think, to try to take this all in before she could work out how she felt about it.
Lyall took her hand again, and this time, she clearly felt the… magic… surge through the connection between them, sending a shiver up her spine.
*****
Lyall was glad Brianna let him hold her hand all the way back to the inn. The magic connecting them as surely as their skin did, gave him hope that she would forgive him. Brianna still hadn’t said anything an
d Lyall didn’t push. He was going to have to go slowly. He didn’t want to admit it, but perhaps his father had been right; finding out he was a mage, and that she was, had shocked her more than he had expected.
When Syrid saw them turn up, hand in hand, he chuckled. “Well, I didn’t expect we’d see you back so soon, Lyall. Must be the pleasure of my company, huh?”
“The pleasure of someone’s company anyway,” Lyall replied swiftly, glancing down at Brianna.
She still looked stunned. Luckily, Syrid didn’t seem to notice. “For how long are we to enjoy your presence this time?” he asked.
“I don’t know yet.” Lyall glanced at Brianna again. He wished he could whisk her away immediately, the fear that the men from her village might return and convince her to leave, to marry some other man, clutched at his heart. He shook it off. She needed time to adjust. He wanted to be sure she was coming willingly. No matter what his father said, he would not force her.
“Will you be needing a room?” Syrid asked, glancing from Brianna to Lyall.
“Yes, thank you.” Even if he hadn’t been unsure of his reception from Brianna, he would have requested a separate room. He wanted their first time, if he was so lucky as to have that opportunity, to be perfect. Not like this.
Syrid nodded and checked his list. “Room six is free.”
“That will be fine, thanks.” Room six, the one next to Brianna. Lyall shot Syrid a grateful look and put his hand on Brianna’s shoulder to guide her up the stairs. The innkeeper glanced at the afternoon dinner crowd, just starting to arrive, and opened his mouth to protest. Lyall shook his head minutely and, after a glance at Brianna’s blank face, Syrid said nothing.
Lyall took Brianna into her room and sat next to her on the bed. “So what are you going to do now?” he asked her.
“I don’t know,” she said helplessly. She looked so small and lost, his heart ached for her. He wanted to protect her, to keep her safe. But he somehow didn’t think Brianna would appreciate that.
