Chapter Eleven
–Katana–
ALTHOUGH I HID it well, I still trembled deep down inside because of my latest nightmare. Or should I say, when I remembered my encounter with the darkness before it attacked Torsten and me, not only because it was provoked but, without a doubt, because it had seen the crown in my hand.
More pointedly, it had seen what the Viking sword would become.
“I would say that moment was what connected the three of you,” Marjorie had said after we finished eating. “It makes the most sense, even if it happened before Blaze and I faced off with Skarde’s brother. Dreams don’t follow the rules when it comes to the linear way of looking at time.”
“I agree,” Blaze had said, contemplating that.
“Yet it opens our eyes to just how much access this darkness has within the Realm, despite never getting past the dome. I would say it used the connection between Marjorie and Katana to access her dreams and, within those dreams, accessed Torsten as well.”
Though hard to come to grips with at first, it ended up making perfect sense to Torsten and me. Not just that, but it aligned with all the strange oddities of this place thus far.
“Yet oddities isn't quite the word you would use at the moment, is it?” Torsten said as we finally stood at the top of the stairs, hand in hand, in a place I had only ever seen in dreams and, more recently, in a nightmarish vision before traveling back in time.
“The furthest thing from it,” I whispered in awe, taking in the splendor of the entrance to the spacious great hall below, with massive fireplaces and intricately designed hearths covered with carved dragons.
The sun was higher in the sky now, its rays igniting the great golden ash so magnificently it seemed to wash the hall in golden light through the towering glass pillar overhead.
Dragons mingled about, some in dragon form, some human, but all eyed me curiously, especially the male dragons.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful outside of the tree itself. ”
“Nor I,” he murmured, reeling me into his arms and cupping my cheek, his tender gaze taking me in. “More beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen.”
While I knew he meant every word, I also knew he was marking his territory for all to see as he brushed his lips across mine before kissing me more deeply, only to end the kiss sooner than either of us would have liked, before it led to things we couldn’t control.
“You cannot know how much I want to lose control,” he murmured against my lips. “To take you here and now, bedamned who’s watching.”
Yet those watching were important not only for marking his territory, but because I was in heat, and the male dragons here needed to know I belonged to him, given they were a variety of beasts, some more ruthless than others.
“Come, mate,” he rumbled, stepping away when he realized how close I was to seducing him if it meant feeling him inside me again.
If it meant assuaging the growing ache blossoming between my thighs that would soon turn into a rabid desperation, fueled by my primal need to procreate.
“Let me show you around whilst we have time.”
Before I could counter, as I would much rather seduce him, despite wanting to see more of the Keep, he led me down the stairs, and I soon became immersed in the true wonder of this place, inside and out.
“Look at this,” I marveled, taking in the actual War Chamber. My gaze went to the wicked-looking throne before I offered him a small, knowing smile, remembering our first kiss there. “It’s all so very memorable.”
“’Tis that to say the least.” He returned my smile and shook his head no when I tried to get him to sit on it with me, hoping I might be able to reenact that moment and sway him to take me back to bed despite knowing better. It could harm so many if I gave in and risked being with him again.
Something Marjorie and Blaze definitely agreed with, especially since they realized I was in heat.
“You need to proceed with great caution now,” Blaze had said, unsettled and with good reason when he’d looked at us.
“Though ‘tis the last thing I wish to say, given I understand well what it feels like to come together with your fated mate and the overwhelming need you have for one another, you must try to refrain until we know the darkness cannot affect your offspring. If that happens, it would not only put your unborn child at great risk but the Realm itself.”
It was a lot to ask, and while Blaze could say he understood, he couldn’t possibly until Marjorie went into heat for the first time. Then he would truly realize the monumental task he asked of us. One, I tried to keep at the forefront of my mind, because he was right.
We could endanger so many by giving in to temptation.
After that, Torsten led me from room to room on the bottom floor, all nearly as spacious as the War Chamber, and the great hall with its monstrous tapestries depicting warring dragons over dark, stormy seas, and dragons perched amid the sky-high spires of this very castle.
“What about the courtyard?” I wondered as we headed back toward the great hall. “Can I see that?”
“Ja, but no further,” he warned, shaking his head. “Blaze and I don’t want you beyond the Keep’s gates until we better understand what’s happening.”
“I agree,” I assured, recalling when he had brought me out to the courtyard before, though the memory was scattered. “I would just love to see it in the light of day.”
“And so, you shall,” he replied, eyeing his fellow dragons with warning who appreciated me a little too much when we reentered the great hall.
Soon after, we headed through the monstrous wooden front doors, and I finally stepped outside.
The cool air smelled of an incoming storm as we passed huge torches on either side of the doors before heading down the wide front stairs to a sizeable courtyard, yet I barely paid attention to any of it. At least not at first.
How could I, considering what sat high above?
“Oh, wow,” I whispered, taking in the monstrous dome high in the sky, appearing more like a translucent bubble caught in sunlight, before the sun vanished behind a wall of black clouds, and thunder rumbled. “I never saw that in my dreams.”
“’Tis usually less visible, but with the ongoing threat, ‘tis making itself more obvious lately,” he explained.
“Understandable,” I murmured, marveling at it before the combination of the incoming storm and standing here with him reminded me of something else, invoking a sensation much like déjà vu.
Compelled, I looked to my right at a sizeable building behind the stables.
“Can we visit the armory? I’d love to check out the blades.
Maybe have a few forged more suitable for my size. ”
“Ja, if you wish,” he said, leading the way. “’Tis doubtful there’s a smithy available yet, given he tends to wake later than most, but if you find something that suits you, I will see it forged for you later.”
“Thank you,” I replied, feeling like I was in a dream, the closer we got to the building. I was tempted to say as much, too, but I couldn’t quite push it past my lips.
Caught by the fast-moving storm, we only made it about halfway before the sky opened up, rain poured down, and thunder crashed overhead, leaving us no choice but to sprint the rest of the way.
“Is the weather always like this around here?” I said, laughing despite myself, along with him, at how soaked we got by the time we stepped inside the building. From what I could tell, it consisted of several rooms laden with weapon-covered walls.
“Ja, the weather often is,” he replied, turning his smile my way, only for something to shift between us that made my inner beast come to attention. When his laughter turned to a low chuckle, I realized what had happened.
Just like that, Torsten’s darker side had surfaced again.
“This was our dream,” I realized. “Our memory.”
Almost as if the Keep and perhaps even the Realm were behind it, the weather and circumstances had been replicated perfectly, giving us no choice but to run in here.
To replay a moment of happiness so poignant that it allowed his other side to take over, despite how strong his kinder half was becoming.
“’Twas our dream,” he said, his voice deep with arousal just as it had been in the dream, his eyes those of a sensual predator who wanted me and me alone, and it worked for me in ways that made it hard to think straight.
Hard to remember I shouldn’t let him near me that way.
“Our memory and no one else’s,” he went on softly, never taking his eyes off me. I knew what that look meant and shook my head no, even as the ache between my thighs returned with a vengeance.
“Do you remember why I brought you here in that dream?” he wondered, his steady gaze still locked on my face as he stepped closer, stalking me even as I walked backward and kept shaking my head, praying I had the strength to deny him.
His lustful gaze raked over me, and the corner of his mouth curled up slowly. “The real reason anyway.”
“We can’t.” I continued backing up as he followed me, noticing he hadn’t bothered locking the door, so anyone could walk in at any time. “I know you know that. There’s a decent part of you that knows that.”
“A decent part of me?” His eyebrows swept up. “Was I not decent when I wished to bring you in here in a dream? When I wanted you to become familiar with our weapons so when you finally traveled back in time, you would know which ones you preferred?”
It was strange knowing one side of him, despite how much he loved me, wanted me nowhere near this era because of his darker half, where the other side would have me nowhere else but here, seeing me trained and wielding what weapons best suited me.
Two sides of the same man, and both appealed to me in ways I could never fully explain.
And even if I could, they would never truly believe it.