“I don’t care if you don’t want to hear it, Mina! The facts remain the same whether we say them or not. We’re impoverished noblewomen whose father was marked as a conspirator against the king. It’s not like anyone even cares that we exist. We could die on the morn and not one person would shed a tear, except the poor bastard who had to cart off our stinking, rotting corpses. And that is even if they bother to do that much!” Sophia lifted her chin. “It has been nearly two years since our father’s death. Not one person has come for us. This isn’t even our land anymore. King Henry will most likely award it to a loyal knight. What do you think will happen when that loyal sir gets here and sees us waiting around?”
“I know!” Mina said, hating the words even as she knew they were true. Trying to calm herself, she said in a softer tone, “I know, Sophia. He’ll make us his whores. You’ve said it so many times, how can I not know it? But this is our home. Where else have we to go? You want to leave, but to where? We have no one, nothing! We have not been anywhere else, at least not beyond the traveling market. And the king may have seized it, but this is still our land, our home! This is where we were born.”
“And I do not want this to be where we die.” Sophia gave her sister a mournful look. Her arms lifted at her sides as she gestured around them helplessly. “Mina, look at this place. It’s in ruins. I don’t even recognize it anymore. Please. Please, for me. Let us leave this awful place. We have our title, tarnished as it is. We have our education. We have each other. We’re still ladies.”
Mina knew Sophia meant well, but it didn’t make her words any easier to hear. Looking down, she picked at her chapped hands through the gloves. She was the oldest, which made her responsible for her sister. Quietly, she asked, “Where would you have us go? For once we are on the road we won’t be able to eat our tarnished title of nobility and our education will not save us. It won’t keep us warm and sheltered from the winter snows. Here we have shelter and, though it be scarce, we have food enough to survive.”
“Survive? Mina, who wants to just survive? This is our chance!” Sophia exclaimed. “We have waited for two years. We are forgotten.”
“Our chance for what, sister?”
“Freedom,” Sophia said, desperately. “True freedom. We are under no man’s rule. Can’t you feel it? We can do or say whatever we please, for life can’t get any worse than it already has. Let us take it. Let us take our freedom.”
Mina saw her little sister’s eyes flash with excitement. A wave of grief overcame her. She didn’t want to leave home. She loved it there.
No, Mina thought mournfully, that isn’t necessarily true anymore. I love what it once was. I love what is no longer here. I love the past.
She lifted her eyes to the light blue of the sky, to the white, puffy clouds that mimicked her breath. She shivered, feeling overwhelmed, feeling alone and scared. The tower that once stood so proud against the sky, had fallen--just like everything else in their lives. So many nights she lay awake, wishing she’d taken some offer of marriage--any offer. But no. At the time of the proposal, the offers had been beneath her. How foolish she was. How very vain! Now, she was paying for that vanity.
“Damn politics and damn the men who make them.” Mina swallowed, taking a deep breath. Then, turning to her expectant sister, she said louder, “All right, Sophia, all right. I give up. If you wish to, we’ll go. You’re right. The servants have abandoned us. The knights have all gone to serve the king. Food is scarce. There is nothing left for us here and no one is coming.”
Sophia grinned. She hopped up and down in girlish excitement. Hope shone from her eyes. “Thank you, Mina, thank you. You’ll see. Life will only get better once we are away for it can hardly get worse.”
* * * *
Cupid clapped his hands in glee and snorted in wild excitement. He laughed, happily doing a small jig. This was too perfect. His magic hadn’t failed him, but had given him a great reward. Two for one, and ugly mortal sisters at that!
The council’s order had been clear. He wasn’t to bring over any enchanted humans. Well, he wouldn’t enchant the humans. He would enchant King Larus instead. Cupid chuckled and clapped his hands. He couldn’t wait to see them fighting over the grand lycan king, chasing him about like he was a piece of meat.
Cupid’s squat legs danced along the barren, overgrown bailey yard, kicking excitedly at the snow. His little arms pumped through the air. Two ugly mortals for the lycan king! Two ugly, discarded, unwanted mortals. They wouldn’t be missed by the human world, not missed at all! He risked nothing in bringing them over, for no one would search for them. It was too perfect.
As the sisters walked back into the hall, Cupid was glad to be out of their hideous presence. Revenge was hard, repulsive work indeed. But if he repaid the lycan king, it would be well worth the torment.
He snickered in excitement, going to make his plan ready. As he turned to find the opening to his portal, his foot slipped in the snow and he landed hard on his backside. A howl of pain escaped him.
Ach! That was going to leave a mark.
* * * *
“Which direction do you think we should go?” Sophia asked, sipping at her stew. It was bland, made mostly of melted snow, but neither sister complained. They’d eaten much worse in the years since their father’s death.
“You decide,” Mina answered. Ever since she agreed to leave, a sense of melancholy had come over her. She didn’t know if it was the right decision. She didn’t know if she should change her mind.
“Winter will be harsh to the north, so mayhap the south? To France?” Sophia asked.
“To France then.” Mina took a sip and nodded absently. Glancing at her sister, she asked, “Did you do something to the stew?”
Sophia shrugged. “No.”
“It has an odd flavor to it.”
“You made it.” Sophia giggled and playfully wrinkled her nose. “So it’s no wonder.”
“I can cook well enough. It is you who nearly poisons us,” Mina said, trying to draw her cloak around her shoulders. Even inside the castle it was chilly. It felt like ages since she’d been warm. She couldn’t wait for the winter to end. “I’m cold. Would you put another log on the fire?”
“Sure, but we don’t have that much firewood left.” Sophia frowned. “Are you ill? You seem a bit pale.”
“No, I-I am fine.” Mina grabbed her head. She watched as Sophia’s face swam before her eyes. She blinked heavily, feeling dizzy.
“Do you smell that?” Sophia stood to go to the fireplace. “It’s wretched.”
Sophia wobbled lightly on her feet before falling to her knees on the hard castle floor, never making it to the fireplace. A small sound escaped her throat as she swayed back and forth. Moaning, she fell over to the side.
“Sophia?” Mina demanded, struggling to stand. The world was spinning and it was hard to move. The lightheadedness got worse. She fought to stay awake as she tried to go to her sister.
“Sleep, sleep.”
“What?” Mina began, looking around in search of the grating voice. Her vision stretched and bent at awkward angles. A horrible smell assaulted her senses, as she neared Sophia. She felt nauseous. Croaking, she demanded, “Who’s there?”
“Such tired ladies, such ugly, tired ladies. Sleep, mortal, sleep.”
“Show yourself, devil!” Mina fell to her knees, her words lacking strength. Her limbs were numb, weak. Crawling forward, she tried to make it to Sophia. Her fingers shook violently as she reached forward. Then, feeling the silk of blonde hair within her grasp, Mina moaned and collapsed on the stone floor, drifting into the blackness of sleep.
* * * *
Cupid dropped the magical cloak and chuckled. Crossing to the two women on the floor, he grimaced as the soft glow of orange firelight caressed their smooth features. He waddled to the fireplace and dipped his fingers into the ashy soot. Swiping it over their flesh, he tried to hide their repulsiveness from view.
Once that was done he paus
ed and looked about the crumbling hall. What a pity that two creatures such as these would get such a wonderful, beautiful home. He’d give anything to have the cold draft whistling through his cave.
Sighing, Cupid leaned over and grabbed the long length of their hair, not caring that he knocked their heads about as he worked. He quickly braided the horrible dark and light strands together to fashion a thick rope. Slinging the braid over his shoulder, he threw his hand up to open the portal back to his world. Then, bracing his legs, he grunted as he dragged the unconscious women behind him.
Chapter Two
Larus took a deep breath, sighing as he looked up into the red tree limbs of the forest. The wind whistled gently through the large pale leaves, quiet and peaceful. Twigs and forest debris littered the ground, giving his body warmth in the suddenly chilly air.
It felt as if a snow might be coming. He wondered if the wizards were up to something. They rarely made snow since the realms had been separated. He yawned, unconcerned by it. His kind could well withstand the elements. After his long ordeal with the council, Larus needed this break--away from conflict and responsibility. He left Lycaon under Ilar’s capable care, knowing the man would send for him if he were needed.
All around him, the forest was dense--too dense to see through. Little spots of light danced along the floor, shining through the high tree limbs. Being lycan, he didn’t need his eyes to sense if anything was around. He could easily smell or hear anything that came too near.
Rolling over on his stomach, he rested his tan, hairy chin on a paw and watched a trail of insects march by. His tail wrapped around his side and his leg twitched in contentment. Now this was the life, nature all around and no obligation in sight. His eyelids drooped lazily over his green wolfen eyes and he considered taking a nap right where he was.
* * * *
Mina groaned, reaching for her head. Her tongue was thick in her mouth and her throat dry. She felt terrible, as if horses had trampled her in her sleep. Her arms were weak and shaky when she lifted them. Without looking, she knew she was bruised and scraped along her back and legs. She opened her eyes, rolling them about in her head. Her vision blurred strangely. Tree limbs flashed before her, streaking like angry claws against the purple sky.
“Purple?” she mumbled. Trying to sit up, her hair pulled and her head spun. She yelped in pain, falling back down to the ground with a heavy thud.
“Ah!” Sophia screamed next to her in irritation.
“Sophia?” Mina asked, reaching to feel the top of her head as she tried to look to her side. Her sister lay next to her, blinking in confusion. Blue eyes stared from a face covered in dark gray soot. Sophia’s body jerked as if to sit up and they both again yelped as their hair was pulled.
“Mina, stop it!” Sophia cried. Then, as she struggled for breath, she gazed around the forest. Her round gaze turned back to stare into her sister’s. “What’s going on? Where are we? Why is the sky purple?”
“You see it too?” Mina asked, growing uneasy.
“Yes, but…” Sophia tried to sit up again and again they both were rewarded with a shock of pain to their tender scalps.
“Ow!” They grunted in unison.
“Quit wiggling about, Sophia,” Mina demanded in annoyance. “I think we’re stuck together.”
* * * *
Cupid paused behind a large tree in his progress across the forest. Poking his wrinkled head around the corner, he waited. King Larus was close. He could feel that the lycan was near. It was an easy enough tracking spell that he’d used to find the wolf king, and he knew he wouldn’t be detected so long as the spell was in place. Otherwise, Larus with his keen lycan senses would have detected him right off.
Bah! Accursed lycan!
Cupid’s beady eyes searched the forest before making a run for another tree. It was slow going on his stubby legs, made more so by the fact that he limped from having fallen in the snow. Grunting, he came to a stop.
Cupid rubbed his back along the thick bark, wincing as it poked along his spine. He hated to let them go, but even he could admit that maybe it was time to put some salve on his back sores. They were almost too painful to tolerate. But, as his mother always said, beauty was pain and there was nary a creature prettier than a troll.
Suddenly, Cupid stopped and sniffed. His overlarge nose pointed up into the air. Ah, yes, King Larus was close indeed. Grinning, he pulled a hollow tube from his pocket and loaded it with a dart. Then, taking aim at the large tan wolf he found in the distance, he forced the giddy pleasure from his limbs so he could hit his target.
“Ah!”
Cupid winced at the sound of the mortal’s cry. Larus’s head shot up from where he slept. It was now or never. Cupid blew, striking the lycan king in the hind leg. Larus growled. His head whipped around. Cupid fumbled for a second dart and made ready to hit the wolf again.
“Ow!” came a second cry.
Bah! Damn mortals! Too much noise! Too much!
The second sound drew Larus’s attention. He lifted his head into the air and sniffed. Cupid panicked, trying to hurry. Larus took off in a sprint.
Cupid lifted his arm to aim and blew, his cheeks puffing wide at the effort. The dart flew long, striking a tree instead. The wolf was gone before he could try a third time.
“Bah!” Cupid screeched in anger. He’d missed! With only one dart, only one mortal would fall in love with Larus--the first to lay eyes on him. The other would remain completely unaffected. This wasn’t good. He saw his plans crumbling around him.
“Bah! Bah! Bah!” Cupid jumped up and down in a great show of fury, waving his arms around his head like a madman. Then, still frustrated, he kicked the base of a tree. Stubbing his toe, he yelped in pain and fell over on the ground, cradling the injured limb in his arms.
* * * *
“Stop moving! It’s our hair,” Mina said, finding the end of their waist-length locks tied together. It was awkward in their position to work the braids free, but she tried anyway. Whoever did it had done a horrible job of weaving them together.
All of a sudden, a snarl sounded. Mina froze. The locks fell from her trembling fingers.
“Sophia?” she asked. “Can you see? What is that?”
“Huh?” Sophia’s voice was weak.
“Sophia, what growled?” Mina insisted, her heart hammering in her chest. A strange sensation worked over her limbs, and she felt as if they were being watched. She grabbed their hair and worked at a frantic pace, finally freeing the ends so she could begin to unwrap the knotted braid. “Can you find a weapon? Feel around.”
“Huh?” Sophia repeated.
The growl sounded again and Mina stiffened in fear. A shadow fell across her face. She turned up to where a large tan wolf stood above her. By the breadth of his shoulders, she guessed him to be at least three times the size of any wolf she’d ever heard of. His large paw lifted, reaching for her face. Mina whimpered. It was a weak sound in the back of her throat. Her breath came in strange pants.
She stayed focused on the paw. The wolf shook ever so slightly, his tan fur rippling all along his dangerous body. The paw near her face transformed into a human hand, strong, callused, very masculine. Soon the hairy arm was to follow, disappearing into dark muscular flesh. Her gaze followed the rippling effect of the transformation, as it moved to the creature’s face. Only the eyes stayed the same startling dark green shade as human features filled in where the wolf’s had been.
Mina still couldn’t move. It was the most amazing thing she’d ever seen in her life. Surely, he must be a demon to perform such tricks or a sorcerer who made a pact with the devil. Her breath hitched in her throat. But, could the devil have such beautiful, honest eyes? She realized her limbs were not stiff out of fear, but because this man was the most handsome she’d ever seen. His face was hard, perfect, chiseled. A sweep of long, dark blond hair reached to her, tickling her neck. His mouth curled slightly in confusion, as he looked at her, so close to smiling, yet not quite.
That’s when she noticed his shoulders were bare, as was his chest. Her heart fluttered in her chest, making a wave of pleasure course through her body, working over her from where his hair brushed the pulse at her neck. It warmed her blood and caused a tingling in her stomach. Her eyelids felt heavy and she let them drop. Unbidden, Mina dropped her tangled hair and reached for him. She stared at his mouth, desperately wanting him to kiss her. Every nerve in her body begged him to touch her.
“I love you.”
Mina frowned, turning to the side to glance at Sophia. Her sister’s wide eyes were filled with the same haze Mina felt and she too reached for the man. Sophia had a daft, smitten smile on her dirty face as she moved boldly to touch him.
“I love you,” Sophia said again, sighing dreamily. “I give all that I am to you, my lord. Let me love you.”
Without an apparent thought in her head, Sophia sat up, moving as if she were under a spell. Mina flinched as their hair was yanked apart. Sophia didn’t seem to notice.
The man frowned and backed away from Sophia’s reach, crouching like an animal as he moved. Mina reached to stop her sister from mindlessly following him. Keeping a firm grip on Sophia’s lax arm, she turned to glare at the strange creature.
He squatted before them, completely nude. Mina gasped, her words of irritation dying on her lips as she saw the full glory of his muscled body. His flesh was tanned, giving him a warm glow. Not an ounce of fat marred his frame from his broad shoulders to his narrowed waist. His head tilted to the side to study them.
Mina’s mouth went completely dry. She had seen men before without clothes, but none such as him. His member lay limp next to his thigh, nestled in a bed of dark blond hair. As she stared, it twitched. She felt the blood rush from her head. She was no naive fool, though she’d never been with a man. As noblewomen, their purity was the one commodity they had, especially now that their father was dead and they had no money and land to offer a husband as enticement.
Naughty Cupid Trilogy Page 17
