Chapter Forty-Five #2
Penn pictured his steel shield in his mind, not only fully repaired, but recently reinforced. Thicker and stronger than ever before, until even the faint touch faded to nothing.
Alistair’s lips twitched in displeasure, but he never looked away from Helena as he regaled her with tales of his clients.
Occasionally, Niall tried to sneak away from the table with excuses such as needing the bathroom, getting another plate, enjoying a walk in the night breeze. Every time, one of the staff offered to escort him, and he muttered excuses before pretending to pay attention to the conversation.
Eventually, the evening wound to an end. “I think it’s time we retire,” Penn said. “We can speak about Archer in the morning.”
“Of course,” Helena agreed, walking with them out of the dining room. “Will you be joining the soldiers for dawn exercise?”
Penn laughed lightly. “Not if I can sleep through the morning bell.”
“Morning bell?” Niall repeated, looking annoyed.
“Rings half an hour before dawn,” Penn replied. “Loud enough to hear it all through the city. Someone generations ago was very serious about dawn trainings and didn’t want any of the soldiers to have an excuse to sleep in.”
“And what about the rest of us?” Niall demanded.
“It’s nice to get an early start on your chores, don’t you think?”
Penn ignored Niall’s irritation and said goodnight to Helena, kissing her on the cheek. She leaned into him, as if waiting for another secret message. Both mages’ eyes were heavy on him, so he said nothing except, “Good night.”
For the first time, Penn wished he lived outside the castle wall.
It would have put an extra barrier between the mages and the dowager queen.
But as the king’s messenger, he needed to be nearby in case Archer or Helena wanted to send emergency missives, so he had a modest cottage on the grounds.
They had to pass Adelaide’s cottage to reach his.
The cottages all looked similar—single-story stone buildings with moss growing up the sides—the only clear difference between hers and the rest of them was the iron fence surrounding it, delineating the edge of her barrier.
Penn didn’t know if the mages could see the barrier, but he carefully avoided looking at the cottage so as not to draw any extra attention to it. Once both Niall and Alistair were asleep, he could sneak into Adelaide’s cottage and find the ingredients she’d described.
“Here we are,” he announced, pushing open his own little wooden gate. “Home sweet home.”
“This is where you live?” Niall demanded, face scrunched in familiar derision. “I expected a close, personal friend of the king to live somewhere grander.”
“If you don’t want to spend the night here, I can get you an inn in town.” As much as Penn preferred to keep an eye on Niall, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to put the castle’s wall between them.
Niall considered for a moment before saying, “It’s late already. We should all get some sleep.”
Penn led the way inside and gestured for both mages to follow him. “Here is the guest bedroom,” he said. “What do you think?”
Niall’s expression was skeptical as he stepped into the room. “This looks like a storage room—”
Penn slammed the door shut on his complaints and twisted the lock closed. “There,” he said, “Now we don’t have to worry about him.”
Alistair arched both golden blond eyebrows. “What were you worried the servant would do?”
“Whatever his master really sent him for,” Penn said with a shrug. The door rattled behind him as Niall shouted for him to unlock it.
Penn picked up a chair from his small kitchen table and carried it to the guest room door, pinning it under the handle.
“Do you really think that’s necessary?” Alistair asked.
Penn glanced at him, trying to read his expression. Did he know that Penn remembered his and Niall’s true identities? Alistair’s expression only contained faint amusement. “I have no idea, but better safe than sorry.”
Alistair eyed the door for a long time before saying, “I suppose it can’t hurt for him to be locked in for one night.” Then his hand snaked around Penn’s waist and tugged him closer, whispering in his ear, “It guarantees us a modicum of privacy.”
Does he know he’s out of character? Penn thought, considering each word choice that didn’t fit Valerian.
He brushed the discomfort aside and grabbed Alistair’s hand, tugging him toward his own bedroom.
“I’ll try to keep it quiet, but I know how much you like making me scream.
” He flashed a sultry grin over his shoulder and watched in satisfaction as the mage’s eyes darkened with desire.
Penn’s bedroom was also small and sparsely furnished—just a bed, a nightstand, and a wardrobe in the corner. It was more than enough for what he needed. Without Niall to disturb them, Penn finally had a chance to try to draw Valerian back to the surface.
Penn kicked the bedroom door shut and wrapped his arms around the mage’s neck. Closing his eyes, he once again thought of Valerian, repeating his name over and over again in his mind, as if he could scream it loud enough for Val to hear inside his cage.
Valerian’s lips pressed hard against Penn’s, tongue seeking entrance, and Penn opened for him.
They crashed back onto the bed together, Penn underneath Val’s solid weight.
Warm hands roamed over Penn’s body, slipping under his shirt but not quite stripping him yet.
The calloused palms caressed him slowly, gently, learning the shape of him.
Penn arched his back, pushing himself more firmly into the touch. While the mage explored with his hands, Penn explored with his tongue, reacquainting himself with Val’s taste.
But it was more metallic than before, sharper. Something hot and wet flooded into Penn’s mouth until he choked and pulled away.
Blood poured from the mage’s open mouth, dripping down his chin and onto Penn’s chest. The glamour had disappeared from his eyes, leaving one hazel and one ice blue.
More concerningly, the pupil in the ice blue eye had shrunk to a tiny pinprick while the other remained huge and black, like he’d taken a blow to the head.
“Val?” Penn’s voice broke on the name.
The mage coughed, spitting blood in Penn’s face. Then his eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed right on top of Penn.