“Right,” said Hal.
“Be careful with your wound,” said Laurel.
“I will.”
He made the walk in short time, stripping off his clothes and entering the river’s cold water. He was dirtier than he’d realized, the grime and sweat of days upon days of travel caked onto him. He used a rock to scrub and took his time, letting his thoughts wander as he did.
He was unsure of what would come next for him, but not as unsure as he’d once been. Half of Fool’s Valley and the homestead belonged to him, by right. It made sense for him to head back and rebuild.
If Laurel hadn’t discovered her important heritage, it would have made sense for her, too. Hal didn’t dwell on the possibility for too long. He wasn’t spiteful, and he didn’t have any regrets. They both had to make sacrifices, and it almost seemed fitting that his was to let her go. He’d spent so long trying to use her company, the tenderness she’d showed him, as a replacement for his lost loved ones.
Maybe this is what it really means to move on…
He carefully dressed after scrubbing his clothes as clean as they could get and then made his way back to the camp, collecting branches and bits of dry wood as he went. Laurel was busying herself sorting through the food in their supplies. Hal arranged the wood into place and used his ruby magic to get the fire going.
“We forgot to grab the pot from Cadrian’s pack,” said Laurel. “For Mystra’s sake, how could I forget the cooking pot, of all things?”
“We’ll manage,” said Hal. “You can warm bread on a hot rock. The dried meat will be fine even if you don’t do anything special with it.”
“A good stew would have drawn the limited food we have out for longer,” said Laurel. “Maybe for another day. And then we could gather more, and…”
“And what?” Hal walked up behind where she stood by the packs. “Live out here in the woods? Pretend like there isn’t anything waiting for us once we get back?”
He couldn’t resist any longer. He pulled Laurel into a hug from behind, feeling her warm body press into his still damp clothing. She turned around in his arms, looking up at him with her emerald green eyes. Hal let his thumb run across her cheek, over the scar Aangavar had given her months earlier. It had healed, but the skin underneath was still dark and shiny.
“Can’t we just play pretend?” asked Laurel. “For a little while?
Hal answered her question with a kiss. Laurel’s lips were eager, as though even in intimacy, she couldn’t stop herself from viewing the situation like the sand in an hourglass, slipping away from them.
He kissed her again, pulling her tighter against him, feeling the embrace heat up. The campfire crackled as the flames spread deeper into the wood, and the sound almost felt like a warning to them. They could still turn back. They didn’t have to take the most painful route through the next few days, teasing themselves with how things could be if not for Laurel’s status and responsibilities.
Laurel let out a soft moan, reaching one of her hands up to run through Hal’s hair. The sensual gesture resonated with him, spurring him on to be passionate and aggressive. To take her, as he had with so many women before. His hand cupped one of her buttocks, and he lifted her off her feet, carrying her into the tent.
He half expected her to come to her senses and protest, but she didn’t, not even as Hal began pulling her tunic up and over her shoulders. Her breasts, small as they were, bounced free as the bottom hem of the fabric caught on them.
Laurel eagerly did the same for him, pulling his shirt off and tossing it aside. She wiggled out of her tight leggings, and then stopped Hal from taking off his own pants.
“Let me do it for you,” she said, her voice shaky with emotion and arousal.
Hal smiled at her and leaned back on her elbows. There was a cuteness to her that was disarming. He’d been affected by it during their first encounter, and it was even more apparent this time around.
She had such a pretty face, even despite her scar. Her breasts were perky, just a handful each. Her butt and thighs were slim, lacking the eye-catching curves other women were occasionally blessed with. But as she pulled Hal’s pants down and took his cock in his hand, he saw the edge to her cuteness, how it became a form of seduction as soon as the clothes came off.
Laurel made eye contact with Hal as she planted a tentative kiss on the head of his erection. Hal let out a low moan, watching as she blinked several times in quick succession. She hesitated, probing with her hot, wet tongue, giving his cock a slow, sensual suck.
He needed to take her, right then and right there. It wasn’t just that he was aroused, but something more. He needed to hold her as close as he could, if only for the short time they had left.
Hal guided her up to him, kissing her on the lips as she came even with him. He rolled her underneath him on the bedroll, and then caressed her cheek with one hand as he eased himself in. Laurel let out a small breath, her eyes never leaving his.
It was warm, sensual, and intimate. They looked at each other, and Hal took his time with each motion, savoring the sensation of being inside her. Laurel made soft noises of pleasure, some of them verging on sounding guilty.
Would this be the last time? Hal desperately hoped it wasn’t so, but suspected that it probably was the case. He kissed Laurel’s neck and ran his hands over her breasts. He tried to take in every little detail and commit it all to memory.
She was holding him tight, her arms around his shoulders, her legs wrapped around his waist. It reminded Hal a little of their intimate encounter in the sleeping bag, where each little motion had been made intense by the limit. This time, the limit was as much in their minds as it was in reality, with both of them desperate to be as close as they could to each other, if only for a few more minutes.
“Halrin,” whispered Laurel. “Oh, Halrin.”
She sighed, and he started thrusting faster, kissing her in time with his movements. There was something very sad in the way she looked at him, and it pushed him to do everything with more passionate intensity. Her expression shifted as the lust of the moment began to build, and she made soft noises in his ear.
“Laurel,” said Hal. “I’m not letting you go.”
“Oh, Hal!”
“I’m not going to let you go,” he repeated. “I’m keeping you.”
“Oh!” Laurel gasped, and her entire body shook. It was as though her orgasm had been set off by his words, by the fierce emotion in them. Hal hugged her tight against him, pushing himself as deep as he could go, and finally found his release. It was pleasurable and peaceful, and laced with the pain of knowing that the two of them would have to say goodbye.
CHAPTER 54
The spent the rest of the day naked in each other’s company. They’d eat, spend some time around the fire, and then fall back into the tent like horny teenagers, new to the pleasures of carnal sin. Hal took Laurel in every way he could think of, roughly and gently, as though he could cram years of sexual partnership into a single day.
They slept in the same bedroll, holding each other tight. The morning was rainy and depressing, and neither of them said much as they waited for Karnas to return to their campsite.
“We’ll still see each other,” said Hal. “Even if I’m back at the homestead, and you’re in the capital, I’m sure Karnas would be willing to fly us back and forth.”
Laurel nodded, but Hal could see the doubt in her expression.
“I was hoping that maybe… you could stay,” she said. “You could be my bodyguard. I’ll probably need more than just Busher, assuming he survived the last attack on Meldence.”
“Your bodyguard…” Hal frowned. “If you inherit Maxim Cedric’s holdings, you’ll probably have a dozen men sending you marriage proposals by the end of the week.”
“I might,” said Laurel.
“And I’ll have to watch,” said Hal. “And know that the only way for you to serve in your role is to marry one of them.”
“Not for love.” Sh
e looked at him, letting her eyes meet his and make her point without the words.
“Even still,” said Hal. “I don’t think I could.”
Neither of them said anything. The only sound was of the pattering of falling rain. Hal wondered if they’d have to stay in their camp for another night if it started thundering.
“Mauve invited me back to the Collected Provinces,” said Hal, having a sudden thought. “You could stay on as ambassador. Travel with me back to my homeland and see the differences for yourself. I think you’d like it.”
“I would,” said Laurel. “So much I would. But it would mean leaving Krestia’s Cradle at a time when it probably needs me the most. I… I’m not sure I could do that. Not while I know what my true responsibilities are.”
Hal nodded. He’d already known what her answer would be, but still felt like he needed to speak the words, and at least put it out there. A dark shadow covered them for a moment as Karnas descended to the campsite, landing next to them.
“Rain…” said Karnas. “Too… wet…”
“Me and you both,” said Hal. He forced a smile onto his face and helped Laurel onto the dragon’s back.
The rain dissipated as they continued further south, leaving a rainbow in its wake that didn’t match up with Hal’s current mood. It was midafternoon when they set down a mile outside Meldence. They were both dry from the blowing wind of their flight, and at the end of their journey.
Hal let Karnas know where to look for him later in the day, and then began walking Laurel across the grass and into the city. The closer they got, the more apparent it was that Meldence had fared far better in the last battle against the elves than it had seemed at the time.
Plenty of damage had been done to the city in the form of burned buildings, destroyed streets, and of course, Hal’s wall shattering Flame Shot. But people had already started rebuilding. It wasn’t just the soldiers and men, either. Families had returned to Meldence, reclaiming their abandoned homes and making a stand for the way of life they remembered.
Laurel had to stop every few hundred feet as they made their way down the city streets. People recognized her, and many of them had assumed her dead. She took on the stately poise that Hal had seen in her when he’d first come to Meldence after she’d been appointed ambassador. She seemed comfortable in the role.
She is comfortable in it. And it’s a role that doesn’t necessarily have a place for me by her side.
He tried not to let his thinking veer too far into negative territory as they made their way into the castle. One of the guards had already informed them that Maxim Cedric had survived the attacks, and the relief the news had brought Laurel had been something Hal could share in. It meant that she might at least have a little while longer before having the world dropped on her shoulders.
There was only a single guard outside the Maxim’s audience chamber, and he frowned when he saw Hal and Laurel approaching.
“You’re looking for the Maxim?” asked the guard.
“Yes,” said Laurel. “Is he…?”
“He’s in his audience chamber,” said the guard. “Been feeling better, as of late.”
Laurel nodded, and surprise showed in her expression. She almost ran down the stairs, and Hal was in such a hurry to keep up with her that he almost missed a familiar face as they passed by the castle’s feast hall.
Mauve was sitting at one of the tables, surrounded by the other members of his party. Hal grabbed Laurel’s hand and gestured through the doorway.
“I’d thought he’d left already,” said Hal. “I’m going to stop and say hi. I’ll catch up with you after?”
Laurel hesitated. “Okay. You aren’t, uh…”
“I’m not what?”
She bit her bottom lip and squeezed his hand. “Promise me you won’t decide to leave without saying bye to me. Especially not to go back to your homeland.”
“You’re afraid that I’d just disappear?” asked Hal.
“Well, you did kind of just fall out of the sky to begin with,” said Laurel.
He chuckled and brought her hand to his lips, planting a soft kiss on the back of it.
“I promise I’ll say goodbye when I leave,” he said.
Laurel nodded, though his words didn’t seem to bring her much relief. She hurried off down the hall, and Hal headed in Mauve’s direction. Mauve was sitting away from him at the table, and raised an eyebrow when Hal clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“By the world!” said Mauve. “You have no idea how good it is to see your ugly face!”
“Likewise,” said Hal, with a knowing grin. Mauve stood up and punched him in the shoulder, taking the counter jab in stride.
“I tried to look for you when the attack began,” Mauve said. “I figured you’d still be around somewhere in the city. I kept expecting to stumble onto your body, until your Maxim informed me of the errand you’d been sent on.”
“Yeah,” said Hal. “I’m surprised you stuck around.”
“We didn’t have much choice, at least not at first,” said Mauve. “Introduced some of the elves to the marvels of gunpowder and rifles. Helped defend innocents and the castle, that sort of thing.”
“And after?” asked Hal.
Mauve shrugged. “I couldn’t just take off, knowing you were in the middle of some epic quest. Figured I’d wait for you to come back or go looking for you when you didn’t.”
“You old softie,” said Hal. He grinned at his friend and pulled him into a tight hug. “Any chance you’ll stay for one more night? We can hit a tavern, maybe even do some dancing, for old times’ sake.”
“Absolutely,” said Mauve. “But for now, you should probably catch up with your girlfriend.”
Hal almost corrected Mauve before seeing the mischievous gleam in his eye. There would be no correcting him, especially given that he wasn’t entirely wrong. He laughed and hurried out of the feast hall, traversing the castle’s hallways to the Maxim’s audience chamber.
The door was open, which was convenient, as Hal wasn’t sure if the guards would have otherwise let him in if not for Laurel’s nod of approval. Her expression was bright, and a wide, dimpled smile spread across her face as he approached.
“Ah,” said Maxim Cedric. “Lord Halrin. Timely arrival, as always.”
“Uh, thank you, milord.” Hal gave a formal bow and heard Maxim Cedric chuckle in response. He looked good, healthier than he had been when Hal last saw him. He was standing, and his white hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail.
“You went above and beyond what I ever could have expected in what you did for me and for my realm,” said Maxim Cedric. “Laurel is safe, and she’s told me of what you and your companions managed to achieve.”
There was genuine pride in Maxim Cedric’s face. It reminded Hal of his own father, which stirred conflicting emotions in his chest.
“We’re rebuilding here in Meldence, as you can see,” said Maxim Cedric. “But the situation calls for everyone to do their part in ensuring that Krestia’s Cradle poses a unified front against the continuing threat of the elves, especially now.”
“I understand,” said Hal. He sensed what was coming next and steeled his heart for it.
“Which is why I’ve decided to marry,” said Maxim Cedric. “And produce a new heir. A legitimate heir.”
Hal’s surprise must have shown on his face. He glanced over at Laurel, who gave a small, excited nod, confirming that it meant what he thought it did.
“What… why?” asked Hal.
“My health has improved greatly over the past week, as you can see,” said Maxim Cedric. “That, I owe to the healer in the company of your fellow compatriots from the Collected Provinces. I’ve decided that I must take this as a sign, a chance to do what needs to be done and unite my people. I’ve chosen to marry the younger sister of High Lord Proctor. A bit of an age discrepancy, but it will strengthen the friendship between Meldence and Ostreach and put our realm in a strong position.”
Hal nodded, barely hearing the words. He wanted to pull Laurel into a hug, but wasn’t sure if it would be appropriate, given that he was in front of the Maxim and her father.
“I’ve given Laurel the choice to abdicate her responsibility, if she so wishes,” said Maxim Cedric. “It was unfair of me to foist it onto her to begin with. I did it out of desperation and circumstance, and it’s no longer necessary.”
Hal looked over at Laurel.
“I’ll still serve the Maxim as ambassador,” she said. “But if I have a choice… I’d rather be allowed to live as my own woman, instead of as heir.”
“So be it,” said Maxim Cedric. “Lord Halrin? Is there anything you wish of me? Any favors you’d like granted, in light of your exemplary service?”
“Wood,” said Hal. “Building supplies. Our homestead in Fool’s Valley will need to be reconstructed from the ground up.”
“I’ll give you everything you need to do it,” said Maxim. “Thank you, again. What you did will always be remembered.”
The Maxim nodded in a way that indicated that the conversation was over. Hal walked back outside the audience chamber with Laurel, his heart pounding, his chest light.
“I can’t believe it,” he said.
Laurel grinned at him. “It’s real.”
She reached her hand out and set it inside his. Hal was suddenly unsure of what to say, as though the reality of being able to have a life with her had turned him back into a nervous boy, confessing to a girl for the first time.
“Do you… want to come back to Fool’s Valley with me?” asked Hal. “To build a life there?”
“I do,” said Laurel. “More than words.”
He hugged her fiercely, hard enough that it probably hurt. From down the hallway, Hal heard someone let out an obnoxious, teasing whistle.
“That was Mauve,” said Hal.
Laurel cleared her throat and pulled back, blushing a little through her smile.
“Want to watch me wipe the floor with him with the Kye Lornis tonight?” he asked.
She nodded. Hal extended his arm for her to loop her own through, and the two of them walked on, side by side.
Eternal Palace (Sexcraft Chronicles Book 4) Page 29
