Stubborn Girl

by Mary E. Twomey

  “Kerdik, stop! The province will be safe!” When he didn’t stop, I wedged myself between him and the window, pressing my hands to his cheeks so he could see only my face. “I’ll be safe,” I promised, knowing in the depths of my heart that would be the only thing he needed to hear.

  Kerdik collapsed in my arms, his eyelids closing as the sun went out behind me in a blink. I let out a noise of fear, but Bastien helped me lower Kerdik to the ground in the dark without letting him fall. The cries of the people below us outside reached my ears, but I had bigger problems. I sat next to Kerdik’s head, holding his hand as angst dominated my features.

  “I’ll get some water,” Bastien offered, putting aside his feud with Kerdik to be helpful. I loved him so much in that moment, adoring the wonderful man who could see the bigger picture through his personal opinions.

  Bastien flicked water on Kerdik’s face and slapped his cheeks a few times before Kerdik roused, bringing the sunshine with him. Light filtered in through the window, shining on the men I loved without hesitation.

  “Rosie?” Kerdik’s voice sounded sleepy, like he was speaking through a fog.

  “I told you to stop!” I yelled, upset and scared. “You did too much and you fainted! Actual fainting, Kerdik. I’m so mad at you right now, I can barely feel relieved you’re alright.”

  The corner of Kerdik’s mouth lifted in tired amusement. “You love me.”

  Bastien went from elated to pissed. “Listen, guy on the floor, I’ll knock you right out if you keep up that kinda talk.”

  “Help me up?” Kerdik asked, sounding pitiful and weak.

  I only helped him to sit, knowing it would be foolish if he tried his hand at standing. My arms wrapped around his torso, hugging him to me and letting his chin loop over my shoulder. “Never again, do you hear me? You need me alive? I need you in one piece!”

  His lips moved against my ear with a gentle, “I love you, too.” Then he cleared his throat and stretched out his back. “I’m alright. It’s just cramming all that magic in one shot that gets a little taxing.”

  “Why didn’t you do that months ago when we first moved here?” Bastien accused. “Rosie’s been working on that wall with the men forever.”

  “Yes, and it brought the people together. Gave them a common goal. Plus, Rosie said it was good for her to be doing manual labor. Therapeutic or something, if I recall correctly.”

  I gaped at him, standing to help Bastien pull him up. “You do care about Avalon.”

  “Never doubt that I do. If I’d come along and done this the first day, there wouldn’t have been the camaraderie your people needed to be able to stick together when things grew difficult. Now they’ll fight alongside each other, putting aside the grudges of their previous provincial allegiances so they can be one.” Kerdik leaned heavily on us both, so we led him slowly toward the chair in the corner of the room, one stumbling foot after the other.

  I frowned at him, taking in his head that had a hard time staying level. “You overdid it, old man. Now you’re benched, do you hear me? Lane and them can ride on horses to get to Morgan. You’re sitting this one out.”

  Kerdik looked over at me as if I’d said something funny. “Aw, that’s sweet. Are you trying to take care of me?”

  “Shut up!” I screeched, my nerves utterly fried when his foot tripped again, and we had to steady him from falling. “This isn’t sweet. This is me yelling at you for jeopardizing your health. This is me tearing you a new one because you shouldn’t push yourself to the limit like that!”

  I was about to protest the whole plan in general with plenty of outraged hand gestures, but Kerdik suddenly dropped his arm from around Bastien’s shoulder and jerked me to him right before we could lower him to his chair. He planted a firm kiss to my lips, unapologetic to Bastien or me, unashamed of the connection we’d tried to sever too many times to count. Before Bastien could punch him, Kerdik waved his hand, and vines sprang up from the floor once again to keep Bastien from intruding on his moment. I was embarrassed and nervous, so I pressed my hands to his chest and tried to push Kerdik away. “Stop it!”

  “Just another second, darling,” he promised, sucking on my lower lip while Bastien howled at us. Something prickly touched my tongue, and then leapt into me. I stumbled back when Kerdik released me, choking on something I couldn’t cough out.

  “What was that? What did you do to me?” I yelled, angry that he’d kissed me in front of Bastien, and that he’d done something magical in the process without discussing it with me first.

  “It’s just a little locating charm that will help me find my way back to you.”

  I glared at him. “Did you have to kiss me to do the charm?”

  “Of course not.” Kerdik merely smirked at us both, ignoring my gasp of outrage. “I’ll come back for you, darling,” he vowed, and then he sealed in the window with a thick layer of stone, encasing us in the darkness. Without another word, Kerdik vanished from my bedroom.

  5

  The Tease and the Terror

  It took us a solid five minutes of stumbling around in the dark basically reenacting the Three Stooges before Bastien and I were able to locate the lantern on the wall. When dim light fell on our faces, we didn’t speak for a solid twenty seconds. Two entire television commercials could’ve come and gone in the span of our weighted silence. Bastien’s expression was firm, and when he finally spoke, his voice carried a deep strength to it that communicated he would be the one with the upper hand. “Are you in love with him?” He winced, and then covered my mouth. “Don’t answer that. Anything you say will just make me angry at you, because I know the truth. I know you’re in love with him. For as long as he’s been pursuing you, I can’t say I’m surprised.” He stared hard into my eyes, his caramel boring into my respective blue and peach irises.

  I moved Bastien’s hand away with a slight shake of my head. “I don’t want to fight with you about this. I have two lifespans to think about. I made it clear to Kerdik that I’d be spending this one with you. I’ll catch up with him in my second life.”

  “Make it clearer,” Bastien countered. “Make it so clear that he doesn’t try to kiss you anymore.”

  “I can do that.” I sank into the embrace I worried might feel different with Kerdik’s locator charm in me, but there we were… still us.

  He frowned, picking up my hand to examine my finger. “Well played on his part. He put a ring on your finger the day he met you. It’s what I should’ve done.”

  “I think kidnapping me and drugging my best friend is a sweet way to get to the altar. Think of the stories we’ll tell our kids someday of how mommy and daddy first met.”

  The corner of Bastien’s mouth lifted. “Kids, eh? I wouldn’t mind a couple of those. When we’re in Common, that is. I practically have a heart attack every time anyone comes near you in Avalon. I can’t imagine adding worrying about my kids on top of that.” His eyes widened. “Whoa. I just said the phrase ‘my kids’. Spooky.”

  “I think I might like spooky. When I’m a little older. I don’t think I can handle that kind of responsibility at the moment.”

  “Right. It’s nothing like ruling a kingdom. That’s cake compared to children.”

  “Thanks for being you. You’re the best you I know.” I yawned, but tried to keep my indiscretion to myself.

  Bastien pointed to my bed with a strict expression. “Finally. I’m exhausted. I didn’t want to be the first one to cave.”

  “How can you sleep with an impending war just outside our city?”

  “Easy. They’re not here yet, and there’s nothing I can do to fend them off. You’re my number one job, and I can do that here, in the comfort of this stone prison.”

  “Nicest jail cell I’ve ever been in, that’s for sure.”

  Bastien kicked his boots off and glanced over his shoulder to make sure the stone wall was still in place. He unbuttoned his flannel and yanked his undershirt over his head, peering over his shoulder again, as if a
fraid someone might see all his scars and think less of his gorgeous body.

  I closed the gap between us and stroked his chest with my flat palms, easing his insecurity and letting him know I very much wanted the body he’d ended up with. I leaned up on my toes and kissed his lips, relishing the feel of the powerful man melting beneath my touch. I loved the way Bastien melted for me.

  When he pulled back, he met my eyes with purpose as he unbuckled his belt and let his jeans drop to the floor. “Get in bed.”

  I thrilled at his request that came out like a command. I grabbed a lavender tank top and moved behind the partition. My dress pooled at my ankles, my skin practically glowing as I slid the tank top over my head and rolled it down my torso. I looked down at my matching underwear and tank top, knowing that very soon, I would be far more naked with the man I loved, and who dared love me back.

  When I stepped out from behind the divide, I was nervous, suddenly rethinking how nearly naked I was. My day-to-day work clothing was often dirty from laboring on the wall, or my dresses too princess-y to touch. This was my body, and the shape of me was unconcealed. It was a heady feeling to be so honest with my fiancé – to let him see me as I was.

  Bastien’s intake of breath was all the praise I needed. His wide eyes drank me in, memorizing each detail, every curve and nuance. “You… you can’t wear that. Go put on one of my shirts or something. I can’t… I’ll never be able to sleep if you’re curled up next to me, looking like that.”

  “Who said anything about sleep?” I replied with a hint of a coy tease to my tone.

  Apparently, that was all the green light Bastien needed to hear. He cleared the gap between us in the span of a few long steps, laying a kiss on me so grand, I finally understood the phrase “weak in the knees.” I swooned for him, my lashes fluttering shut as he lifted me up in his arms. My legs wrapped around his waist, pressing us together in ways that left little mystery between our nearly nude bodies. Bastien understood how to make me gasp for him; he knew how to make me come undone. His capable palm slapped my backside three times before he dumped me onto the bed, towering over me like he was a giant, and I was the Christmas feast he would be treating himself to.

  Bastien took a step back to pace himself, gather up his game plan before he pounced and ravished. When he picked up my left foot, I wished for the savage in him to let loose and christen our engagement however he pleased. Instead, he took his time kissing and nibbling on the inside of my ankle. My nerve endings went into hyperdrive, so great was my anticipation of exactly this, and exactly him. My body twitched and writhed as he made his way up to the inside of my knee, not caring or even remembering the planet decorum was kept in. All I wanted was more of this, more of him.

  Bastien didn’t deny me. Finally leaning forward, he braced himself on his elbows to kiss me while he lowered his hips to mine. My knees were shaking as they fell open, inviting him – always inviting. His body was large and firm, and cliché though it might seem, his vicious side made me feel incredibly safe, tucked beneath him as I was. “Marry me,” he breathed between kisses, meeting my eyes with lust and love.

  “Yes.” My reply was easy, and tumbled out of me without hesitation. I knew I was still young, but I’d lived through what felt like several whole lives already. We’d been through two worlds and multiple kingdoms together. After all the dust settled, there he was, coming undone atop me while I cursed the thin barriers between us. We were teenagers finally, making up for lost time, since neither of us had taken full advantage of the freedom and folly of our youth.

  He met my eyes with purpose as he fingered the hem of my tank top, silently asking for permission, which I granted him with a tongue-laced kiss. Bastien took his time teasing the hem, rolling it up my torso with excruciating slowness, just to make us both crazy. Oh, how crazy I was for him. I was willing to put Kerdik aside, to cross Avalon to find Bastien, and pledge the rest of Bastien’s lifespan only to him. Finally, finally I was ready to let my affections fall only to him. After all our back and forth, we were in the same place at the same time, looking into each other’s eyes with something deeper than lust. It was a promise that we wouldn’t lose our grip on the love we’d been lucky enough not to break with all our carelessness and pitfalls that had led us to this moment.

  Bastien kissed the swell of my breasts through the thin material of my tank top right when he’d run out of stomach to expose. The line we were about to cross was significant, and we both felt its weight. He’d seen me naked before, but this was different. This was my choice, and we were wholly alone. I was in my right mind, ready to be driven to insanity by his capable ministrations.

  When the candlelit room began to fade from my vision, I tried my best to hold onto the moment I’d waited so very long for. I wanted Bastien, but in the next breath, all I saw was my mother’s face. Morgan laughed with cruelty as she kicked the body I was seeing through square in the ribs. I cried out in shock, hearing my own protest and Kerdik’s.

  The sexy moment was stolen away, leaving Bastien scrambling in confusion. Terror descended on all three of us, as Kerdik and I began cursing my mother, while we tried desperately to think of an escape.

  6

  Gilliam the Puppet

  Sexy time came to a screeching halt as Bastien sat me up on the bed and resituated my tank top, so we could both think clearly. He listened carefully to the one-sided conversation I was living out through Kerdik. I was just trying to keep up.

  Morgan raised a hollowed-out horn that I guessed belonged to an animal like Dahu (a unicorn deer) over Kerdik’s head. The worst part was her smile when the golden liquid oozed from the horn. She knew it would bite us with agony that only came from the sensation of skin melting. I screamed through Kerdik’s pain. My hands went to my face to check for scarring, but I was still me. When Kerdik did the same, his fingers came away wrinkled and shiny with the beginnings of an acid burn. Anger roiled up in me when I felt Kerdik’s fear. I wanted to avenge him, to scoop him up and whisk him away from the pain he was writhing through. But he was stuck, and thus, so was I.

  I watched my mother’s eyes shimmer with glee. Though I’d never seen that megalomaniac smile graze my face, I now knew what it would look like if I went full-on evil villain. “How does it feel to be powerless?” she needled him, dumping more acid atop his head. It sizzled as it dripped down his back.

  I howled in time with Kerdik, feeling physical agony he’d not been accustomed to all that often in his elite life. “Enjoy this, Morgan. Enjoy every second of your victory. When I take it all away from you, I’ll relish making you suffer every bit as much.”

  “Is that so? Is that what you intended for my baby sister to do to me? You wanted her to kill me?” She tsked him. “Pity Lane was so easy to spot. I’ve got this castle set with every warding charm you can possibly think of. I know the second an immortal crosses my doorstep, and as you can see, now I know how to defend my territory against your unwelcome advances.”

  Kerdik let out a groan through his torment. “What magic are you using that’s making me so weak?”

  I didn’t actually expect her to answer, and rolled my eyes when Morgan replied with, “A little of this, a little of that. I needed the tears of an immortal, so I sent my dear Rigby to seduce your Brìghde. Rigby is the best. So loyal, so willing to please. Brìghde didn’t take long before she fell for his charms. I can’t blame the girl. He played the part of the weary Gilliam – a man who only needed the love of a strong woman to set him free.” She set down the horn and turned, revealing Brìghde on all fours, chained to the stone dungeon’s floor behind her. Morgan leaned over and cupped Brìghde’s cheeks, as if she was a beloved pet, and cooed in her face. “Rigby’s the best lover a woman can take into her bed. Poor, stupid Brìghde. You confessed so much to him, after blissful nights turned into tear-filled heart-to-hearts. He bottled your tears for me, because no matter how much you thought he loved you, Rigby’s always belonged to me.”

  Morgan opened the cell
door when a knock came, revealing none other than Rigby, unharmed and very much alive. Brìghde cried out her heartbreak at being so very had by this mere mortal. “I thought ye died! I saw your mangled body!”

  “A mere illusion,” Morgan explained, though Rigby was tight-lipped. He wore the same beige fitted pants, white dress shirt, and red jacket with gold threading. I drank in the sight of the friend I’d thought was mine, studying his long nose, the dark and wavy brown hair that curled up at the base of his neck like a forty-year-old Disney prince. His green eyes were closed off and gave nothing away. He could make you feel like he was your very best friend, and then throw you away because that was his job, and you were the trash that needed taking out.

  He was ever the professional I remembered him to be, but it wasn’t lost on me that he winced when he saw the state the bedraggled Brìghde had been reduced to. Just as I knew it broke his heart to obey, I knew he wouldn’t lift a finger to save Brìghde, just as he hadn’t lifted a finger to save me from being thrown down into the well.

  Rigby kept his eyes on Morgan, his expression composed once again as he held the food tray in his hands. “Your dinner, your majesty most high.”

  I blanched at the greeting, wishing I could scrub that title out of my ears for all of eternity.

  “Very good. How’s my dear little sister?”

  “Duchess Elaine of the Shamed Province 10 is secured in the lowest rung of the dungeon, just as you requested. Even if King Urien sends out a battalion to reclaim her, they’ll never find the door to her cell.”

  “And the others? Reyn and Prince Draper?”

  “Secured as well. In total darkness, as you commanded.”

  “Very good. I’ll see to them when I’ve tired of these two.”

  I felt something rally in Kerdik, and heard him shout, “How long were you intending on keeping Urien in his slumber? Which immortal grew you the pure Hemlock that allowed you to control his life like that?”