Hazel
“Do it again.” Linton hops from foot to foot with glee as Warden scrubs his hand down his face.
“I am not exploding another Thegn. I don’t want there to be another Thegn, Linton,” he rasps.
Warden is covered from head to hoof in black soot. I’m still not entirely sure what I witnessed, but certainly the Thegn is no more, the sky has cleared, and I feel like a weight has been lifted. My body feels lighter than light, as if I could float away.
“You should not conjure one again either, Brag.” Long Meg growls at him.
“I did not conjure anything. It came to me, like the parasite it was, looking for something to take.”
“In that case, now you have your mate, she can keep you out of trouble.” Long Meg gives me a rather dirty wink. “Especially with your young on the way.”
“Does literally everyone in the Yeavering know?” I grumble.
“That’s how it works here.” Long Meg grins.
“Warden is having young?” Linton asks, peering at me.
Warden’s growls rend the air.
“My mate’s status as being with foal is nobody’s business save for hers,” he says, wrapping a sooty arm around me.
“You are very dirty,” I say, looking up at my smut-covered, handsome Brag.
“I am. I exploded a Thegn,” Warden says with not a little pride.
“It might be the case I exploded a Thegn by giving it back its sword.”
“About that…” Warden cocks his head on one side. “Why did you do it?”
“I might have been carrying that thing around for a long time, but until we got here, I never heard it.” I lean my head against his chest, not caring I’m going to be covered in soot.
Warden wraps his hand around my forehead, and I feel him press a kiss to my hair.
“Here, it told me, it no longer wanted to belong to the Thegn, and it had its fill of violence and death.”
“A weapon with a conscience?”
“A weapon with soul.” I sigh. Despite the dirt on him, Warden still smells like leather and spice.
“It was forged…well it wasn’t sure how long ago, and imbued with a soul by a Faerie who thought it would be a good idea.
It wasn’t. It was made to do terrible, awful things, and then the Thegn had it. ”
“And we were able to trick it from the Thegn,” Long Meg says, sitting down heavily on a stone seat which has appeared out of nowhere. “But none of us could wield it. None of us had the distinct magic it would accept, until you, my dear.”
“Lord Soulis,” I breathe, as yet more of a memory slips back. “You offered him the sword in the hope it might destroy him, but instead it wanted me.”
“And the moment we saw the truth, we had to take you and the sword away to hide you both from the Faerie and the Thegn.” She leans towards me, digging in her pocket and pulling out a long stemmed clay pipe which she shoves in her mouth.
“Taking your memories was unavoidable if we didn’t want Lord Soulis to find you.
He’s a Faerie Lord who had an element of tenacity missing from most Faerie. ”
“Not anymore,” Warden growls, and Linton joins in with him.
“Yes, Lord Soulis did somewhat overreach himself.” Long Meg chuckles. “Not in the least by attempting to summon me.”
“So, you stuck me in a tavern in the Night Lands.”
“The one place a self-respecting Faerie wouldn’t want to go,” Long Meg says. “The safest place for both you and the sword.”
“At what point were you going to come and get me?” I glare at Long Meg.
She shrugs and looks pointedly at Warden. “I didn’t have to. Fate found you instead.”
“I’m pleased it did,” Warden murmurs in my ear. “Because I know I wouldn’t be here now, without you.”
“Or rather, you’d be here to the end of time.” I wrap my arms around him. “But now you are mortal once more.”
“I am,” Warden says. “And it is quite painful.” He winces.
“I thought you were a warrior, Brag.” Long Meg snorts, and she shouts over her shoulder. “Elsie!”
A woman with hair the colour of flame steps out of the gaggle of daughters.
“Yes, ma’am?” She cooly appraises me, Warden, Linton, and Meg.
“Get this pathetic male some healing leaves and ask the others to prepare the best rooms within the citadel for our guests.”
“Not for me,” Linton says, his red eyes glowing. “I need to get back to my mate.”
“Will you tell my sister I’ll come to visit soon?” I say to him, putting my hand on his arm, which elicits a growl from Warden and a shiver from Linton.
“I will. She will be glad to see you,” he says. “I’ll tell her about the explosion too,” he adds enthusiastically. “She’ll be sad to have missed it.”
He unfurls his wings, and in a blink, he has gone.
“Where’s Peggy?” I look around for the Laidly Wyrm.
“The Wyrm could not stay. It is her curse to roam, and until it is lifted, she must continue her quest,” Long Meg says. “But she was pleased to be of your assistance, as you were of hers.”
“Beal believes the Thegn could have lifted her curse,” Warden says.
“Even if that were true, the Thegn has gone. The Laidly Wyrm must deal with her curse alone. Her brother can do nothing to assist.” Long Meg sucks on her pipe. “But don’t hold his love for his sister against him.”
Something rumbles in Warden’s chest. “One day the Shellycoat will reap what he has sown,” he says. “But that day is not today. Today I have my mate in my arms and mostly we are intact.”
“And today, I have you.” I press a kiss to his cheek. “Ew, you’re covered in Thegn.” I wipe the back of my mouth with my hand.
“Not all of me, my love,” Warden rasps. “And there is plenty for you to discover.” He plants his lips firmly on mine, taking me away in the most passionate of kisses.
Because Warden will always watch over me. He will always be here for me. And he will always be mine.