Enchanted No More

by Robin D. Owens

  A knock came at the door and Rothly entered, sneering. “How cozy.”

  CHAPTER 16

  ARIC STOOD WITH JENNI. HE SET HER ON HER feet on the far side of the chair, so it was between her and Rothly, near his sword, as if he were protecting her. “I don’t like how you are speaking to your sister.”

  “She’s no sister of mine. Nor are you my friend.”

  Jenni cinched her belt, circled to stand at Aric’s left. She saw Aric’s brows rise. “Not your sister? You have both been adopted into King and Queen Emberdrake’s family. More of her doing than yours.”

  “And here you are, ready for sex with her, as always. I heard you were engaged to Synicess. But she’s a difficult djinnfem, isn’t she? Jenni is much easier to be with and, now, almost as high in rank.”

  “Nothing is higher than a born royal with no human blood,” Jenni said.

  “Still believing his lies?” Rothly said.

  Aric literally crackled beside her, as if his skin were going to bark…in anger or protection.

  “Aric’s never lied to me,” Jenni said. Her voice was quiet, her emotions were quiet. For a fleeting second she wondered if the healing liquid had helped her guilt. She tipped her head, staring at her brother, too thin, but dressed elegantly and well. His arm was straight.

  “I never lied to any Mistweaver,” Aric gritted out. His fingers touched her back, lingered, and Jenni thought that he might want to put his arm around her waist, but instead he put his hand on her shoulder. “What are you doing here if Jindesfarne Mistweaver Emberdrake is not your sister and I am not your friend?”

  Rothly took a step back, bumped into the doorjamb. “I wanted to see— Rumor has it that you came to the Earth Palace via Northumberland. What did you do to my home?”

  “Well, now, I cleaned it,” Jenni said, hurt seeping into her at Rothly’s manner. “And I balanced it.”

  He shook his head and his light brown hair flipped out of his eyes. “What did you take? I’m sure you took something.”

  Jenni lifted her chin. “I took portions of my heritage. Copies of the journals—copies—”

  “You stole my work!”

  “I copied your work, and I haven’t had a minute to look at it. I also took some tea.” She hoped the coldness of her lips translated to a chilly smile. She stared at his mended arm. “I suggest you send the rest of it to me at my home in Denver. You’ll be having no more use for it. You can’t go into the mist again.”

  Pain twisted his features and a raw sound escaped him. Jenni caught her breath. She hadn’t meant to hurt him. He’d miss the interdimension? She hadn’t…not so much that she couldn’t go years without visiting it. Maybe it was the fact that he was shut out of it forever, no longer a Mistweaver in the truest sense of the name. “I’m sorry.” She heaved a sigh, rubbed her hands over her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that would hurt you.”

  “You bitch,” Rothly said.

  “Don’t apologize to him,” Aric said at the same time. He stared at Rothly until her brother shifted feet. “You haven’t been half as mean to him as he has been to you. Haven’t been half as bitter or hysterical, either.”

  “Hyst–hysterical!” Rothly sputtered.

  “Go back to your home and your hermit ways, Rothly Mistweaver Emberdrake. I don’t care to call you my friend, haven’t for years. The lady standing beside me will finish the mission that you were foolish enough to agree to.”

  Rothly whitened. Pallid didn’t look good on him.

  “I’m sorry you’re so unhappy,” Jenni said.

  Her brother stared at her with wide and painful eyes and she realized she’d phrased the statement like her mother or father would have. She drew in a breath, decided to go on in the same manner. “What can you do to make your life better?” She opened her hands. “You have power again, find your new talent.”

  He hissed at her and she managed a lopsided smile. “Your fire nature is more prominent than your air now.” She swallowed. “Please get well, Rothly.” One more deep breath. “What can I do to help you?”

  “You’ve taken on his task, you’ve given him kind words, you’ve tried to send brownies to him,” Aric said. She ignored him.

  Rothly stepped back into the hallway. “Nothing. Nothing!” He slammed the door.

  “Oh,” Jenni whimpered. She turned to Aric and looked up at him. Strong and stable…and hurting at the sight of such a changed Rothly. As she was.

  She went into his arms and they closed around her. She stood with him for a long while, until a brownie came in and told Aric that the Eight wanted to speak with him. He left for another conference. Jenni was led from the water quarter of the Earth Palace to the fire area and a desert sauna room to bake the kinks in her magic…and her tears away.

  Later that afternoon, Jenni planned a dinner for Aric and herself. Even as she selected the menu and smoothed a sky-blue tablecloth shot with silver over the dining room table, she knew that Aric would stay with her and they’d make love in the night. She wasn’t completely sure of her feelings for him, but the feelings of guilt that she’d had, and the blame that she’d assigned to him for the loss of her family, had fallen and been washed and seared away.

  She stared out the huge arched window overlooking jagged, peaked mountain ranges, one rising behind another. All white with snow with blue reflecting the sky and gray with rock. The view wasn’t as clear. If she narrowed her eyes, she could see the slight waves of the thick magical shield that would protect her from any Dark one’s influence.

  But she didn’t think that the nightmares of the past had been totally from Kondrian. She’d had them before, though not so vividly for a long time.

  If she wanted, she could let guilt and bitterness eat into her heart again. But now she knew she’d made a choice before. Yes, she’d been late to join her family an hour ahead of time at the portal. To show the Eight their honor at being chosen to work for the royal Lightfolk.

  What would have happened to her if she’d been on time when the Lightfolk moved the ceremony up and she’d entered the mist at the same time as the others? She’d have been killed and eaten by Kondrian. Hadn’t she run immediately to her mother when inundated by terror? Hadn’t Jenni felt her mother’s wounding and death? Yes.

  As for Aric… If she let it, her fragile new relationship could break against the mountain peaks like an egg. Yes, he’d chosen to pick up a sword and run to Cloudsylph and his warriors and defend the royals. She could continue to hold that against him. But he hadn’t been well-trained in warfare like Jenni’s brother Stewart, who had been the first of her family to fight and die. No doubt being with other warriors in the mass around the portal had saved his life, too.

  She could continue to blame him, or accept that he’d made a quick choice—for his kind instead of his friends. No. That way lay bitterness, and she didn’t want any more anger at the past between them. She chose to nurture her relationship with Aric instead.

  She went into the bedroom and plumped up the pillows. Blue silk bedspread and pillowcases. The entire suite was a luxury she’d never experienced.

  That had come with a cost. She’d almost died!

  Jenni shivered as she felt the cold wind of her fall. She wouldn’t remember the horror of being drained by Kondrian and the shadleeches. That way lay panic and madness.

  He was still out there…somewhere. She’d been told that he’d been wounded, but she wasn’t sanguine enough to believe that the wounds would hamper him. Before he’d fled too far he would find innocents to eat. Hell, he’d probably eat his own shadleeches.

  Her imagination was too vivid. So she lit large pillar candles crafted by fire sprites and djinns and smelled spring. The magic of blooming and becoming. Of trees waking up from the winter’s cold touch. She wasn’t sure what she felt for Aric. Wasn’t sure what she’d ever felt for him—real love or infatuation.

  But the sharing of selves and passion would be exquisite.

  Wandering back to the sitting room, s
he stared out the window wistfully. The sun was beginning to set and she longed to see colored rays against the snow.

  There was a tapping at the door. “Please come in,” Jenni called.

  A smaller-than-usual browniefem entered carrying a huge tray of domed food above her head. Jenni would have offered to help, but knew it would insult the little woman…and the brownie was stronger than she. Though a minor Earthfolk, the brownie was all magical. Jenni gestured to the cherry sideboard and the brownie efficiently set the dishes out on woven hotpads.

  The smell of food filled the air, and Jenni’s mouth watered and her stomach rumbled. The small woman curtsied.

  “Wait!” Jenni asked.

  Twisting her hands in her apron, the browniefem looked down. “Yes, Princess Jindesfarne?”

  “Just call me Jenni.”

  The woman flinched, and Jenni ignored it. She gestured to the window and the ledge beyond. “Is it safe for me to go out?”

  “Course. Dwarves fixed. Shields strong. You fall, no. You seen, no.”

  Ah, the browniefem didn’t know English well, probably never served a halfling or a human. Jenni held out her hand. “I’m still a little scared, and would like to go out on the balcony. Would you go with me, hold my hand?”

  The brownie’s large triangular ears trembled in surprise, quivered at the tips. With small steps, she joined Jenni, placed her hand in Jenni’s. She sighed—she’d been afraid that the brownie would curl her hand around one or two of Jenni’s fingers, which would be embarrassing for them both.

  They moved with tiny steps to the door. Jenni hesitated before touching the knob. But she liked this suite. Wanted to see the view. Would not let her fear get the better of her. She opened the door and stepped out on the ledge. It seemed exactly as it had been before…not that she’d seen much of it.

  With another sigh, she stepped farther out on the ledge. The brownie flattened herself against the short rock wall between the door and the window.

  “I’m so sorry!” Jenni said. “I didn’t know this would be an ordeal for you, Madam Brownie.” She considered letting loose of the little woman’s hand, decided that would be worse for her. So they scuttled back through the door and Jenni closed it. She released the brownie’s hand.

  The woman’s eyes bugged out more than usual. The tips of her ears rolled down and up repeatedly. Then she vanished.

  “That was really well done, Jenni,” Jenni said aloud. The view still beckoned, and she wished the brownie were here to give her courage to face it again. Sunset colors smeared outside her window, bolder than the night before. Golden, nearly neon pink. With a big breath, her palms dampening, Jenni opened the door again and walked out onto the ledge.

  There was still a waver to the air, but not as much as over the window. After all, her sleeping mind wouldn’t be vulnerable out here.

  She walked to the rim of the ledge, felt the warm press of magic…air elf and some fire djinn. For an instant she considered stepping into the interdimension and bringing elemental energies to balance the shield and make it stronger. She shrugged the thought aside. She’d want to make tea before she went to the interdimension again, and most of the time she’d spent there lately had been under emergency circumstances. Maybe all of the time. She’d been worried about Rothly…last night fearful for herself. But she’d let go of Rothly earlier in the day. Let him chart his own course without her. She couldn’t long for his forgiveness anymore. His grudge wasn’t hers and she wouldn’t let him foist guilt on her anymore. She’d grown.

  She grieved for the brother he’d been, for the bitter man he was, but she couldn’t change his mind. She’d changed her own and that was all that was in her power.

  In any event, she was committed to fulfilling his word and the mission.

  She looked to the sunset painting the mountains gold and pink, casting lavender shadows, and let the colors soothe her mind and spirit. She calmed her mind, sank into a serene meditation, watching the colors shift and shade.

  “Jenni,” Aric said, coming up behind her and setting an arm around her waist, pulling her close to his body and taking a pace back from the edge. She smiled but didn’t turn in his arms, wished to watch the sky darken and stars flare into bright points. With city living, she hadn’t seen the Milky Way for a long time.

  “Jenni.” Aric lowered his head, and his breath on her neck stirred her sensually, caused an anticipatory clench deep inside her.

  So she leaned back against him. “The sunset…”

  “Fabulous,” he whispered, as he stood still beside her.

  The colors softened to pastels, then to gray. Darkness descended to the rugged thrusting peaks.

  Jenni made to step forward to catch the last light of day, but Aric kept her close.

  Aric grimaced as he glanced around. “Above tree line.”

  He was right. No tree could live here. He arched his green brows at her. “You know you can fall and turn into lightning and maybe live. A whole different matter for me. I’d shatter into splinters.” He tilted his head. “Though I might have some cones with a few seeds in me.”

  Frowning, Jenni said, “Your father was air, an elf.”

  His face hardened. “So I might not smash and I might be able to pull on both my natures to float a little. The food in your suite smells great. Let’s eat.”

  Jenni watched him as he returned to her rooms inside the mountain. She had enough issues of her own to know that Aric would have to work through his. She smiled slyly. He’d prodded her out of her guilt and bitterness, it was only fair that she meddle, too. Not right now, but soon.

  The sitting room was so bright it dazzled her eyes. Blue and silver-toned, not real silver, though she and Aric would not be bothered by the pure metal. He was right, the smells were wonderful. Freshly steamed vegetables, tender slivers of meat—quail, chicken, fish, beef—in various sauces. Gourmet cooking. The French had nothing on brownies.

  When they sat to ate, Aric had a gleam in his eyes. At his first bite, he closed his eyes, rumbled approval. “Good food.” He scanned the suite. “Luxurious rooms, don’t care for the colors much, though.”

  “You should, you’re half-elf.”

  His jaw clenched.

  “But we won’t talk of that right now. I prefer you in greens and browns, myself.” The baby asparagus was fresh and crunchy and wonderful.

  “How’s the bed?” Aric asked.

  Jenni nearly choked, coughed. She smiled at him. “Really nice.” She leaned back in the cushioned chair that almost seemed to conform to her body. “It’s nice being a Princess of the Lightfolk.” One more glance. “Though I don’t think this will be my home for long.”

  “It could be,” Aric said.

  “No.” She forked up some chicken in a delicate white sauce. “I love Denver, and Mystic Circle.”

  “You’ve done an excellent job there, balancing the elements. One of the reasons the Eight decided to locate their corporation there, I think. The whole city has felt your influence, is more balanced than any other human city.”

  “Thank you.”

  Aric lifted and dropped a shoulder. A corner of his mouth tilted up as he asked, “What do you think of the Meld Project?”

  She raised her brows. “You know I find it very intriguing.”

  “I know.” He opened the dusty bottle of fine wine and poured two glasses. “We would be proud and honored to get you, perhaps even put you in charge of the project…. You’d like to work on it.”

  “Yes.”

  He hesitated, and huffed a breath. “You can talk to me about the mission.”

  She stirred the food around on her plate. “I’ve been unconscious and I’m sure calculations have been revised for the next—last—bubble event.”

  His body relaxed. Must be difficult for him being her liaison, torn between the Eight and her—his soon-to-be lover again. And even if that relationship was what he’d hoped for, even if that was what the Eight had planned, it wasn’t easy on Aric. She could
see that.

  “The experts think that the last event will be within a month.” He gave her a steady look over the wine. “And if you visit the area, balance near where we believe the bubble will be released, the bubble might arrive sooner.” His mouth quirked as his eyes warmed and he lifted his glass to her. “It all depends upon you,” he said softly.

  CHAPTER 17

  HER CHICKEN NEARLY GOT CAUGHT IN HER throat. Her life hadn’t been boring…precisely. But now that she was working on this mission—a real mission as opposed to those she wrote for Fairies and Dragons—it was exciting. Between the terrifying moments.

  She was now a Lightfolk Princess and respected. Who’d have thought it? She took her own wine, let the taste lie on her tongue. The thought of being important in the Lightfolk world was sweet. Something her family had always yearned for…and if things had gone right during that last mission, something her family would have received. Fifteen years overdue.

  But she was only important for the moment, and wondered how often she would have to prove herself. She drank and cleared her throat. “Where will the next bubble appear?” She wasn’t as casual as she sounded and Aric’s eyes sparkled, making him look like the young man she’d known.

  “Northern California.”

  “Earthquakes.”

  “That’s right. We believe…I have been informed…that the event might take place at the Mendocino Junction.”

  “Huh?”

  “It’s where three tectonic plates rub together.”

  “Oh.” She frowned, trying to visualize the Northern California coast. She’d been to Aric’s sequoia home, but the geography was all jumbled together in her head. “Near you?”

  “Close enough,” he replied with the same false note of casualness that she’d used.