Chapter 32
Of course, it wasn’t quite that simple. Before he and Lorelei could go anywhere, the other Queens of Villainy had to be returned to their own homes—but with Lorelei in his arms and his would-be assassins left behind, Gerard found himself more than happy, for once in his life, to linger and take time along the way.
They landed first in a long, narrow hall with stained-glass windows shaped like snowflakes and cool blue draperies hanging from the walls. It took no great leaps of intuition to guess which queen claimed this as her home, even before Ailana slipped gracefully off her gryphon.
“At least that’s finished,” she said, “but we’d better meet again once we’ve all had some rest. We’ll need to set our new plans in motion as swiftly as possible.”
One arm still curved around Lorelei’s soft waist, Gerard bent forward in a respectful bow. “I hope you’ll allow me to assist in any plans devised by your alliance, Your Majesty. I won’t forget the aid you all gave me tonight.”
“I appreciate that, General. In that case…” Her brown eyes narrowed in speculation. “How would you feel about beginning your repayment tomorrow morning, as early as possible?”
“Tomorrow?” Gerard blinked. “If you hope for me to lead any armies, I’ll need—”
“I was thinking of a more tangential approach.” The Queen of Nornne tapped one finger against her side. “Why don’t we start by following through on your earlier threat to Otto?”
“Speaking to journalists, you mean?” Relief cascaded through him at the idea of any strategy that might delay the inevitable moment when he would have to lead troops against his own former men in battle.
Still, he couldn’t bring himself to be dishonest with any of the women who had saved him.
“Depending on Otto’s reaction tonight, the newspapers may not be willing—or able—to print the truths I share with them.
They may not even believe me if Otto tells the world I’m a traitor …
especially once they learn that I am now partnered with Lorelei. ”
There were more than a few journalists, he knew, who would leap on that particular development with malicious glee—bad blood showing itself at last, as always; a traitor after all, just like his parents!
Even now, that prospect sent a trickle of acid into his gut—but with Lorelei at his side and his own principles untainted, he was finally ready to stand tall against oncoming scandal.
“They may not take your word on the matter,” Queen Ailana agreed, “but if nothing else, it will plant the seeds of contrary ideas into their heads … and I know others who will be far more inclined to listen and believe you immediately.”
“Of course!” Letting out a gurgle of delighted laughter, Lorelei nestled even closer against him with an open possessiveness that soothed his tension.
“Every soldier in the Empire respects the Golden Beacon far more than they do poor Otto. Unlike him, you actually earned every medal you’ve been given, and they know it!
All you have to do now is find a way to address your old troops directly …
and luckily for you, my darling, your fabulous new consort is more than willing to help you travel anywhere you want to go from now on.
We can portal directly to your last encampment tomorrow morning, if you’d like, and explain exactly what’s happened before Otto has the chance to spread any of his libels beyond the capital. ”
“Even in Fiora, not everyone can be fool enough to believe him,” put in the Queen of Kitvaria with her customary brusqueness.
“They may be keeping quiet about it for now, but Otto only just got rid of the old high priest by telling all sorts of awful stories about him. When he starts spreading claims about his high general, too, there’s bound to be more suspicion. ”
“A good deal of suspicion,” Queen Ailana agreed, “and as the newspapers have spent the last decade and a half working tirelessly to make General de Moireul a shining hero in the eyes of the public, it will be even harder for Otto to quell the rumors this time round.”
“Ahem.” As Lorelei glowered at the ice queen, her grip tightened protectively around Gerard’s waist. “My consort worked to make himself a hero. The newspapers only reported on that fact.”
Queen Saskia raised one hand to cover her mouth but didn’t manage to disguise her snort-laugh as a cough. When Lorelei turned her warning gaze to the witch queen, Saskia only shrugged, smirking. “It’s just … fascinating to see how quickly things can change.”
“Hmm.” Lorelei’s ominous scowl deepened.
“Weren’t you the one who said, only last week—?”
Lorelei’s glower shifted into a far more dangerous smile, and Gerard braced himself for trouble.
“Oh, but darling Saskia, we’ve kept you for far too long tonight already,” she purred.
“I know how much you must be missing your own lovely consort by now. He does still consider himself to be your librarian, does he not?”
“Ah…” Queen Saskia’s brows lowered in suspicion. “Why would you—?”
Before she could even finish the question, Lorelei drew a swift circle in the air.
The new portal opened to reveal a cozy, circular library, lit by a crackling log fire as well as the warm glow of a gas lamp.
The room was filled with towering piles of books and papers, high wooden bookshelves that stretched up for multiple stories …
and the Archduke of Estarion himself, studying an ancient-looking manuscript at the closest table while a crow napped by his elbow.
“Yoo-hoo!” Lorelei caroled through the portal, waking the crow up with a jerk.
“Felix, darling, we’ve brought your lovely consort back to you perfectly safe and sound.
Don’t worry—she wasn’t injured in the slightest when she marched into the Emperor’s own winter palace in Fiora tonight and took on a whole squadron of his guards! ”
“Why, you—!” Queen Saskia’s mouth dropped open in outrage.
Giggling, Lorelei leapt forward to push her taller friend through the portal. She snapped it shut while Saskia was still sputtering in the library beyond.
Queen Ailana sighed and shook her head as she turned to Gerard. “You’ve always seemed such a reasonable man, General. Are you aware of what a menace your new consort truly is?”
Gerard smiled as he tucked Lorelei once more against his side, where his mischievous partner belonged. “Your Majesty,” he said gravely, “I will look forward to working with all of you, beginning tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” she agreed with a regal nod.
Lorelei was already drawing a new portal in the air with dancing, multicolored sparkles that were nearly as eye-catching and irrepressible as she was herself. Gerard stepped through them without a second thought and felt the closest sparkles cling to his hair and coat like a welcome brand.
The room they landed in was familiar—Lorelei’s bedroom in the private lodge where she had first brought him—but Lorelei’s sudden gasp startled him into full attention. He followed her shocked gaze to the bed, where a single golden arrow had been laid across one pink silk pillowcase.
Gerard’s eyebrows rose as he turned back to her. “Was there some clause I missed in the rules for the Tournament of Leaves?”
“Oh, no. We certainly didn’t win. We couldn’t have. But…” Lorelei’s smile wobbled as tears glistened in her eyes. “I believe that must be a message from my mother.”
“Ah.” There was a good deal to unpack in that statement—something important had clearly passed between the two of them while he was gone—but even as Lorelei dashed the tears from her eyes, relief was paramount in every weary line of her body.
So Gerard set aside that conversation for later and made his chest a wall that she could lean against tonight.
Tomorrow, they would talk over everything that lay ahead, both for them and for the continent as a whole.
Hard consequences would inevitably follow tonight’s victory, along with challenging new battles to fight.
War was coming, and for the first time in years, Gerard couldn’t be certain that he would stand on the winning side of that battlefield, with all of the Empire’s forces mounted against him rather than under his command.
Tonight, though, after so many years, he and Lorelei were finally together—not only as partners for a single tournament, but for the rest of their lives. Whatever came next, they would face it all together …
And that night, when he dreamed, she was at his side again.
Lorelei recognized that vast stone hall immediately. She grabbed Gerard’s hand in hers before he could take a single step forward to be claimed by Jovar.
“You can’t have him for your hall of heroes yet!” she announced into that endless, echoing hush. “He’s mine for the rest of our lives. You’ll have to wait!”
Standing beside her, Gerard cleared his throat. “Lorelei … who are you talking to?”
“Can’t you tell?” She snorted, waving her free hand at the stone statues in frozen procession around them. “We’ve been summoned here because I dared to flout a direction from your god.”
“Summoned into a summer garden?” He frowned down at her.
She blinked up at him. “I beg your pardon?”
As they stared at each other in mutual incomprehension, the scene shifted around her … and, from Gerard’s start of surprise, around him as well.
Suddenly, the stone hall didn’t look nearly so austere.
Green vines climbed lovingly around the statues.
Scented flowers bloomed and hung from the high ceiling.
And, spotlighted at the far end of the hall, an immense, stern, and bearded divine presence cracked a miraculous smile, while the shining goddess who rested in His arms laughed out loud, the sound of Her open delight filling the hall with joy.
Lorelei’s mouth dropped open. “You two have been planning this together all along?”
Gerard, always more sensible, was already on his knees and tugging her hand to join him.
Still staring, she lowered herself to the ground. Soft green moss covered the hard stone floor, cushioning her knees, and Sylvana’s breath brushed over them both in answer.
“PARTNERS.”
It was the sound of a gentle, cooling breeze after a long, hard day’s work. It carried the scent of roses blooming after a bloody battle …
And it felt like a gift from the goddess who’d claimed Lorelei before her birth … or a reward from the god Gerard had followed with such devotion.
Either. Both?
Oh, yes. Definitely both, working in tandem, unexpected but utterly perfect in combination …
Just like them.
As Lorelei woke in her own bed in Balravia, the first hints of dawn shone through the gaps in her velvet curtains, and she laughed out loud through her lingering tears of wonder.
Lying on his back beside her, Gerard shook his head in awed disbelief. “Were we really … was that actually…?”
“Oh, yes,” Lorelei said with relish. “And do you know what else? They woke us up a full hour before we have to get out of bed and go anywhere!”
His eyes widened. Then they narrowed with a sudden, dangerous glint—and her serious, stoic lover abruptly rolled over to pin her beneath him, trapping her between his braced forearms. “In that case…”
“Why, General.” Lorelei fluttered her eyelashes up at him, scattering sparkles with abandon. “Are you by any chance attempting to take me prisoner?”
“It seems only fair.” His lips twitched, but his amber eyes burned with intensity. “Considering how often you’ve played that game…”
She pouted theatrically, blood thrumming with excitement as his big, nearly naked body hovered tantalizingly close above hers.
The gods knew, this man was a veritable furnace of energy and tightly controlled passion even in ordinary times; now, the heat from his bare skin flared through every inch between them and sent flames licking across her own, making her shift restlessly against the trap of his strong arms. “Unfair, darling! I’ve only kidnapped two men so far. ”
“Two men ever,” Gerard intoned. The muscles in his upper arms flexed deliciously, making her throat go dry, as he lowered himself to breathe his words into her ear. “No more kidnapping other men, Lorelei. Never again!”
“Aww.” She couldn’t reach him with her arms still pinned, but she turned her voice into a teasing caress of its own. “Do you really want to spoil all of my fun?”
“Never.” His low growl sent warm breath ghosting across the sensitive skin of her neck, making her shiver. “I want to share all of your fun from now on. Feel free to kidnap me as many times as you like.”
“Oh, I definitely will.” Tipping her head back on her pillow, Lorelei beamed up at him. “But you’ll have to promise to try to escape every time. That’s part of the game.”
And just to prove it …
Their bed suddenly lurched into the air.
Caught off guard, Gerard fell back for only an instant before he reached for her again—but Lorelei had already seized her chance to slip away.
The vines she had commanded to sneak up from the floor released the bedframe as she leapt off it, and it fell back into place with a juddering thud to slow his chase even more.
Giggling, she sprinted for the door, showering taunting sparkles in her wake.
Strong, bare arms closed around her waist and scooped her up off the ground before her fingers could touch the door handle. “You should have drawn a portal if you wanted to escape,” Gerard whispered into her hair.
She wriggled happily in his unyielding embrace as his warm breath ruffled her skin. “Would you have given up on catching me if I had?”
“Never.” A hot, open-mouthed kiss sucked at her throat, making her whole body shiver with delight. “I will never give up on you, my nemesis. My love.”
“That’s good, because you’re all mine.” Lorelei wrapped her arms around his, binding him in place, as she tipped her head back to give him a stern glare. “And you’d better understand, I will never let you step into danger without me ever again. Last night was unbearable!”
His lips curved in response. “Why would I want to go anywhere without my partner? We fight best together, always. Didn’t the gods themselves just confirm that?”
“They certainly did.” She smiled dazzlingly, content in their mutual victory … but she made her voice prim and proper, because she wasn’t finished with their game. She would never be tired of playing with this man! “Personally, I think we ought to give thanks for that. Don’t you?”
His amber eyes narrowed. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
She stood on tiptoes to whisper the shocking answer in his ear … and he let out a shout of laughter that no one else in the world would have expected from the sober and stoic Golden Beacon.
Then they lunged for the bed together.
Laughing—and then shivering and moaning—with delight, Lorelei spent the rest of that early morning with Gerard fully celebrating the gift their gods had given them.