by Jasmine Walt
Bruno saw the prince and broke the circle. Taron yelled at him, but the knights acted on training and closed the circle.
“Your Majesty,” the guard said. “It’s time.” Three dark bay horses, fully saddled and ready to leave, were brought before her.
Lorelai ignored them. “Bruno? What are you doing?” she whispered as she watched.
But Bruno was flying at the prince, pushing him away from the knights and beating him back with a ferocity of power she had never seen before. He clutched his great sword, Brother’s Blood, in both hands, and whirled around, the massive steel twisting through the air as he matched the prince blow for blow. But even from this distance, Lorelai knew he was weakening. The prince raised his sword and repeatedly brought it crashing down against Bruno’s. Bruno was not himself, and he was buckling beneath the unmitigated onslaught of strikes from the prince.
Meanwhile, the knights of the Order were already separated by a sea of writhing, fighting warriors. They were getting too far away. Bruno was overwhelmed, and nobody would reach him in time. Lorelai gasped, her heart banging, as Bruno fell to his knees.
“Nooooo!” she shrieked.
The guard reached out to stop her, but Lorelai pushed him off. She bolted from the safety of the tent and the guards who stood by to protect her. She raced outside, intent to get to Bruno’s side. There was no way she could stand by and watch her soulmate die at the hands of the desert dwellers. Even if it meant her life, she would rather be with him and dead than on the sidelines while he was killed.
Lorelai screamed at the desert dwellers to get their attention and draw them off Bruno. “I am here!” she cried. “I am the queen!”
The desert warriors turned towards her, shrieking as they saw the greatest prize, the queen, enter the field. They broke their assault on Bruno and turned to attack Lorelai.
“The queen! The queen!” A cry went up from the Western Region troops as they broke their line in confusion.
But they wouldn’t reach her before the desert dwellers, who raced towards the queen. Lorelai felt a grim light rise inside her. She lifted her arms as a surge of energy pulsed out of her and emanated as a shield all around her. It threw off her attackers, one after another, as she cleared a path through the battle, her only focus to get to Bruno’s side.
Bruno was on his knees, staring through the mayhem of the crowd. A hulking swordsman loomed in the dust behind him, steel blade raised and aimed at Bruno’s throat. All the world tilted in slow motion as Lorelai screamed.
“No!” Lorelai cried. “Bruno, behind you!”
The knights of the Order of the Regent pivoted, shouting through the cacophony of battle as they pushed through the fighting warriors. But they were too far away, with a hundred enemies between them.
None would make it to Bruno in time.
An unintelligible, guttural sound erupted from Bruno’s depths. The gray aura that had coated him blew up, a copper-red explosion high into the air. A massive shock of energy moved through the battlefield, bursting the air and felling desert dwellers who rushed to kill the queen. They dropped to their knees, screaming and writhing in agony. Their hands clutched their hearts, until they stilled, toppling backwards, eyes staring blindly at the bright blue sky and aimless white clouds.
Lorelai stared in shock as the swordsman who had been about to run down Bruno fell backwards and lay dead on the ground behind him.
Silence descended on the battlefield. The Western Region warriors gaped at the carnage around them. Desert dwellers everywhere either turned and ran back to their ships or dropped their swords and kneeled in submission.
Lorelai turned in a circle. Every single assailant whose sword had been raised lay dead around her. Bruno slowly stood, stumbling as he made it to his feet, but then he and Lorelai rushed towards each other in the midst of the fallen soldiers. The Western Region warriors quickly recovered, taking swords from the desert dwellers and making them prisoners. Bruno took Lorelai’s hand and led her back to the tent.
“Nothing can happen to you,” he said. “Nothing.”
The knights of the Order of the Regent pushed forward. Taron clasped Bruno on the back. “The battle is over.”
“It appears we have two mages in our family.” Reyn grinned, throwing his arms around both Bruno and Lorelai.
“Two mages who have saved our lives today.” Marrok held his hands together and bowed his head low to Bruno and Lorelai.
“I did not even know it was possible,” Lorelai said, burying herself in Bruno’s arms.
“Neither did I,” Bruno said, kissing the top of her head. “Neither did I.”
28
Bruno walked into the marquee where the knights were dining. After a few days of recovery, he had decided to join them for lunch today. He was hoping to see Lorelai, who had been cared for elsewhere. Reyn’s sister, Lady des Barres, was deep in conversation with Reyn, but Bruno caught the tail end as they stopped talking upon his arrival.
“We cannot stay,” Reyn said.
Bruno stood quietly for a moment. He knew Lady des Barres would prefer they stay. Her people might mutiny against her support for the queen if they left. It didn’t help that his mother, Lady Montbard, had disappeared back to her castle and would no doubt relinquish her support of the queen once she learned the queen was a mage.
Lady des Barres nodded to Bruno as he approached. While her gaze was respectful, there was a shadow in her eyes, which Bruno was recognizing in everybody’s faces. It wasn’t just his mother. Everyone, except the other knights and Lorelai, had the same confusion when they looked at him. What had happened on the battlefield had not been subtle. It had not been hidden. All the desert dwellers they had taken captive were whispering about it, and no doubt those who fled had seen it.
Magic.
Mage of the strong heart.
This was not going to go well with his mother. He was sure, even by now, she had heard, but she had not sent word, nor had he sought it. If his knowledge of her was anything to go by, he was pretty sure now he was a mage, he would be dead to her.
In all of Bruno’s life, this had not been anything he had expected. He had never actually expected to fall in love. He had loved his brother deeply, and Stavano’s death had been so cutting he was sure he would never love again. He had closed off that side of him and even thought his love for the queen was safe. He had thought she would never look at him in a romantic way, that she would never want him. She had not been attainable.
Ever.
But all this had changed. Not only had Lorelai’s husband died, but she had also come to him. She had wanted him. And his heart had burst open with the love he had safeguarded for her. He had never realized the love in his heart would be so great it could destroy a battlefield.
He had been weak and wasted at the end of the battle, and it took days of care from the sorciere before he could stand and walk with the Order of the Regent. During this time, the Western Region had coalesced around the Order, and the Order had privately decided that to protect the queen, they would need to take her out of Valliere.
But Bruno knew it was imperative to the uprising against King Guntram that the Order remain in Valliere. With the country in an uproar, it would not be right if the Order of the Regent and the queen all left.
On top of that, they were not mages. The seekers and Ayanne the Young would be coming for Bruno and Lorelai. Not for the other knights. It was not fair to put them in harm’s way. The mages were ruthless in taking what they perceived as theirs. The mages’ struggle was not the Order’s to bear. Bruno could not let them take it on.
The Order must stay in Valliere. Only Bruno and the queen would leave.
“What is the state of the desert dwellers’ army?” Bruno asked Marrok.
“Each either surrendered or retreated,” he said. “Those with griffins flew away the instant you destroyed a hundred men with a single thought.”
“It was not a thought,” Bruno said, still marveling at the effect of his
magic. “It was a feeling. It was the feeling nothing in the entire world should ever harm Lorelai, and she was in the midst of great danger. The knowledge that I would give every single particle in my entire body to stop this from happening.”
“We are grateful to you,” Taron said. “Without your magic, not only would we have lost the battle, but Lorelai would be dead.”
“Speak for yourself, mate.” Reyn grinned. “I had about twenty desert dwellers on the run at that point.” But as he spoke he moved over by Bruno and put his arm around him, pulling him in close. “We’re just glad everybody is well.”
“You will not be for long,” Devereaux said. “What you did was seen by everybody.”
“Bruno always did like attention,” Reyn laughed.
“I have already received word,” Andre said. “My brother knows how the battle went.”
“If your brother has already heard about it—” Taron said.
“Then it’s only a matter of time before the king hears, too,” Marrok finished.
“And this will bring fury down upon you,” Devereaux said. “You had some room to fight against the king because you can battle with warriors against him, but your troops will be no match for Ayanne’s seekers.”
“Seekers?” Andre asked.
“The mages who seek out new mages,” Devereaux explained.
“You said before the battle,” Taron said, “Ayanne only has jurisdiction in Valliere. Maybe there is a place off the coast we can go?”
“It is the only hope you have,” Devereaux said. “The queen and her consort must leave Valliere if you wish to keep them alive and not in the service of Ayanne.”
“What options do we have?” Marrok turned to Devereaux.
“You must take a boat and leave.”
“If we’re taking a ship, it’s not going to be a fucking fishing vessel,” Reyn said. He turned to his sister. “Did you bring a clipper?”
“Even better,” she said with a grin. “I brought your Seahawk.”
“I never said you could sail her.” Reyn sounded petulant, but the grin on his face said he was glad she had brought it.
“It’s all well and good,” Taron said. “But where will we go?”
“I don’t think we will go anywhere,” Bruno said.
All eyes in the room turned to him. “We have to go somewhere,” Taron said. “You heard what the sorciere said. And although you may not remember what happened on the battlefield, it’s obvious all of Valliere will know any day the queen and one of her knights are mages. We must protect you.”
“I am a knight of the Order of the Regent,” Bruno said. “I will protect the queen, but I will not endanger the rest of you. If we all go, there will be nobody here to rally the people. Also, it will bring you into deeper danger than you already are.”
Andre frowned. “Are you saying you intend to go off with Lorelai on your own?”
“This is exactly what I will do.”
“And you’ve run this by the queen?” Marrok asked, folding his arms across his chest.
“No, I have not seen her yet,” Bruno said.
Reyn tapped on the hilt of his sword. “I’ve actually never had a deep romance myself, Bruno,” he said, “but the thing I have discovered in my ventures with you lot is it’s much better to speak to each other before making a sweeping decision about the rest of my life. I’ve got to tell you, if you don’t, it does not end well.”
“Yes,” Taron said. “You must ask her.”
“Ask me what?” Lorelai stepped into the room.
Bruno’s breath caught in his throat. She was a striking vision, more beautiful today than before, and with her laircat at her side. Her long red tresses, clipped back from her ears, curled down her back. A light spring gown of deep purple, her house’s color, slipped off her shoulders and draped long over her wrists. How amazing she would look, he thought, in a dress of the white, red, and gold of his house.
She was his woman.
The thought startled him, and he stepped forward. His place was to escort her into the room. The other knights stood back out of respect for his position as her soulmate and lover.
But she held up her hand to him with all the regal nature of a queen. “What must you tell me?”
“Maybe we should talk in private,” Bruno said, his face heating up as he knew the other knights watched his fumbling self-consciousness. While he had bedded many women, he had not had a true romance before. Starting one out in full view of the other knights wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time. But there was nothing to be done about it.
“I’m fine speaking here,” Lorelai said with a smile.
If it had been anyone but Lorelai, Bruno might have rolled his eyes. But they were all family, as Lorelai had so beautifully stated before the battle. They were all part of the same body, almost as one. “I think we should leave the rest of the knights and go out on our own,” Bruno said.
A look of concern whipped across her face. Clearly it was the last thing she had expected to hear. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She stroked the golden fur of the laircat. The beast, as if she was an intelligent creature, growled towards Bruno and shook her head.
“It will be safer for everyone,” Bruno said.
“I don’t think it will be safer for us,” Lorelai answered.
He ran his hand through his hair. “Lorelai, the seekers are after us. You and me. We are the mages. The seekers are relentless and will stop at nothing to take you and me to Barre du Corbeau and turn us into followers of Ayanne.”
“Exactly!” Lorelai groaned. “That is exactly the reason we should have the rest of the knights with us.”
“I agree with Lorelai.” Andre nodded. “We are sworn to protect her, and we can’t very well do that when we aren’t there.”
“But what if you can’t protect us?” Bruno insisted.
“That possibility has existed our entire career,” Marrok said.
“It didn’t mean we just bailed when it looked like it might get a little tough,” Taron pointed out.
“What if something happens to you?” Lorelai placed her hand on his chest and leaned into him.
The heat of her hand warmed his chest and her eyes filled with worry. She had a point. What if something happened to him? What if she was out there alone on a ship in the sea or on an island. He sucked in his cheeks. It was a dismal thought of the future.
“I… I…” But no matter how much he wanted to guarantee her safety and tell her nothing would happen to him, that he would always be there to protect her, he knew he couldn’t make that promise. It was the whole reason there was an Order of the Regent, so there would be more than one blade to protect the royal family, or in this case the queen. He gazed upon his brother knights, at a loss for words. But it didn’t matter. They could read him just as easily as he could read each of them.
“Well, that settles it then.” Reyn grinned, clasping his hand on Bruno’s shoulder. “Looks like you’ve got company on the honeymoon.”
Andre smiled at Bruno, shrugging his massive shoulders. “Nice try, though.”
“You’re not going to get rid of us so easily,” Marrok agreed.
Even Taron’s mouth lifted into a slight smile as he folded his arms over his chest. “Now,” he said, turning to Lady des Barres and Devereaux, “where is this island we may find respite?”
29
Lorelai sat on the prow of the ship as it made its way out of the bay. She glanced back at the Castle Scogliere of House Montbard and the coast of Valliere. She had not traveled much with the king, and the thought of leaving Valliere had never occurred to her in the last eight years. As a child, she had often sat in her father’s sailboat and thought how splendid it would be to adventure out across the choppy ocean, discover what lands might be out there. But as she grew older and understood the problems of their neighbors and how they had desert dwellers, island heathens, Visigoths, and the deadly Grosse Obscurite surrounding them, she had come to believe the only sa
fe place in the world was within the kingdom of Valliere.
But this was no longer true.
Not for her, not for her knights, and perhaps not for many of her people.
She hoped they could find some way to solve the problems of being a mage. Some secret strength unheard of in Valliere to protect her from Ayanne. The island they ventured to might just have what they needed, but Lorelai was still unclear what could help them reenter Valliere and protect them from the seekers.
She turned towards footsteps on the wooden deck and leaned back against the prow, her arms resting on the edge of the ship. Her heart swelled at the sight of Bruno, his brown hair lifting slightly in the breeze, his green eyes warm as they lighted on her. It was a hard time to be in love, but it didn’t stop the fact they were. The swelling of her heart at the sight of him was greater than anything she had ever felt. She took his hand as he approached. He lifted hers to his lips, kissing it gently as he moved closer. She couldn’t stop her gaze from gliding over the other knights, who were looking their way and trying to do anything except look.
She smiled.
The knights had chosen to stay together and to stay with her. She thrilled at sensing how deeply they all cared for her.
She tore her eyes from the others as Bruno nuzzled her neck.
Gently, she lifted his head from her and decided to distract him with questions. “What is it? What is your magic? I asked Devereaux, but I was not clear on his answer.”
“He says I am a body mage. My ability is rooted in my heart.” He pointed to the sleeve of his tunic and the flaming heart sigil of his family. “Is it any surprise this is my power?”
“It is fitting. Your house must have known they would have one such as you in their ranks. What did you do?”
“When?” Bruno responded.
“When you stopped the battle. At first you were just kneeling there, and then everyone was dead.”
