Fantasyland 03 Fantastical (46 page)

Then Tor took me straight to our rooms and
neither of us left them for twenty-four hours.

So, in the end, it wasn’t a wedding
extravaganza but it was still sweet and it meant I was Tor’s
real
wife and a
true
princess so I certainly wasn’t
complaining.

I watched Cora lift her head and she
started, “Your grace –”

King Ludlum cut her off. “You sought the
company of witches for reprehensible purposes, to find the means to
keep your sister, who you should cherish and do all in your power
to keep from harm, and her intended, who, incidentally, is my son
and a prince of this realm, from being wed. You discovered the
existence of another world and conspired with The Shrew to
transport yourself from this world to that. You schemed to place
your sister in harm’s way. And all of your plots succeeded, causing
your sister to be held by the she-god putting her, your prince,
your other self and your world at great risk.”

This was all true. She’d copped to it. Tor
told me. It was all about Dash. Stupid cow.

Cora came back to this world, Tor guessed,
because Minerva had double-crossed her, not meaning to send her to
my world for all her natural born days as Cora said Minerva had
promised she would. When we went back, Tor had come along for the
ride, again a guess, because he held me in his arms – a mistake
Minerva rectified with all due haste, taking Tor away from me but
separating us before she did.

Since no one had (or wanted) a direct line
to the evil Minerva, we would never know, except, of course, Cora
and since Minerva couldn’t get to her on sacred land, she couldn’t
ask either.

What was certain was that Tor and I shared a
soul. That we knew (
boy
did we know). And from the battle on
the coast, Minerva was willing to throw everything at keeping us
apart which one could assume meant that was her plan all along, to
bring us together then tear us apart… forever.

And the Cora of this world had fed into her
scheme beautifully.

Luckily, however, her plot didn’t
succeed.

“But, your grace, in doing this, Prince
Noctorno found the true half to his soul –” Cora started.

“A lucky coincidence,” King Ludlum cut her
off tersely and Dara Goode started visibly trembling.

Her daughter’s lip curled. Tor shifted at my
side and I looked up at him to see his jaw was hard. He’d seen the
lip curl and it pissed him off.

I looked back at Cora when she kept talking
and saw she’d managed to control her expression. “They are happy,
your son
is happy, does this count for nothing?”

“You did not hatch your schemes with the
intent to make my son happy, Cora,” King Ludlum said quietly and
she lost control of her expression and her face twisted.

Then she cried out, “This is not fair! This
is not just!
He
was not destined for
me!
” She tipped
her head to Tor. “
He
was
never
destined for me! Don’t
you see? This was why I had feelings for Prince Dashiell. This was
why I found my mate in that other world! Doesn’t anyone care about
me?”

“Oh boy,” I muttered and Tor’s hand moved,
his fingers curling around my own.

“You found your mate in the other world?”
King Ludlum asked, his brows rising.

“Yes!
She
,” she pointed at me, “is
the destiny of Prince Noctorno but
I
am destined for the
Noctorno of the other world!” she announced.

“Oh boy,” I repeated and Tor squeezed my
fingers.

“
My
Noctorno is perfect!” She kept
going. “
My
Noctorno is beautiful. He suits me!”

My body locked and I whispered, “Um…
hell
no.
”

“Still, love,” Tor ordered and I did as he
asked. It was hard but I did it.

“Send me back to the other world so I can be
with my mate!” she demanded. “
That
is fair!
That
is
just! And in the end, all will be well for
everybody!
”

This was a mistake. I knew it when I felt
the air in the room get heavy; I felt Tor’s body tense and peered
around Tor to see King Ludlum’s face was hard as granite.

“I believe, my dear, that
I
am your
king and
I
decide what is fair and just,” he said quietly
and I looked back to Cora to see her grinding her teeth to keep her
mouth shut but her eyes were flashing.

“It pains me,” King Ludlum went on, “to see
you do not struggle with the consequences of your actions, that you
do not wish to atone for the decisions you made which caused harm
to others, that you do not understand that conspiring with
Minerva…” he shook his head, “Cora, that
alone
is an act of
high treason.”

“And I do not, your grace, because Prince
Noctorno is bound to his true mate and my sister weds hers this
very day. If not for me, the former would never have happened and
everything, in the end, is as it should be,” she retorted.

Tor’s fingers squeezed mine and I drew in
breath. I did this because, it sucked, but this was true

“It also pains me,” King Ludlum stated, “to
agree that this is true.”

My head snapped around to look at the king
again but I didn’t miss Cora’s face brightening with hope.

King Ludlum looked at me. “Cora, the
Gracious,” jeez, I totally loved that, “it is my understanding you
came to know my son of the other world.”

“Yes, your grace,” I replied.

“Is it his wish to be bound to this Cora?”
he asked, tipping his head at Cora.

Oh dear.

“Um…” I avoided looking at the other Cora’s
parents and then said honestly, “No. He’s not that into her.”

I felt Tor move and I looked up to see his
head tilted slightly back but I could also see him fighting a
smile.

“Not that that into her?” King Ludlum asked,
taking my attention back to him.

“He doesn’t like her much,” I explained.

“He loves me!” Cora exclaimed. “He’s devoted
to me!
Totally
devoted to me.”

I looked at her. “Uh… not so much,” I
muttered and I heard Orlando stifle a chuckle.

“She lies!” Cora shrieked, my body got tight
but not as tight as Tor’s.

“Careful, Cora,” he warned low.

She wasn’t careful. “
She
does not
know and
you
do not know what we shared.”

“I’m afraid we do. He was a member of their
city guard. He was investigating illegal gaming and using you to do
it,” Tor told her and she gasped. “When my Cora returned and broke
things off with the other me, he said nary a word and explained
later to my Cora that he was relieved to walk away. He said you
were not very bright, you were lazy and he held disdain for your
incessant gaming…” Tor’s eyes swept her pointedly, “amongst other
things.”

Her face had paled before she whispered,
“That cannot be.”

Oh dear. She
was
into Noc. She
did
try. And she failed.

Poor Cora.

Tor didn’t reply.

“That can’t be,” she repeated softly, her
eyes searching Tor’s face.

Then she saw the truth, dropped her head and
her shoulders slumped as she looked to the floor.

“Cora, your king demands your eyes,” King
Ludlum commanded and, slowly, she looked at him. “You will be
sequestered in solitude, except for your guard, at Merrygate for
the rest of your days.”

The air in the room changed again. Both of
the Goodes, I noted, looked relieved at this announcement. Orlando
sent a dark look to Tor who was also glancing at his brother so I
couldn’t see his reaction. After I caught Orlando’s look, I turned
to Cora to see she was about as happy as Orlando.

“Merrygate?” she whispered.

“It is a lovely property with vast gardens.
You will be happy there.”

“It’s a five day ride from anything!” she
cried.

“Indeed, and also surrounded by sacred land
which means it will be difficult for you to find trouble,” King
Ludlum replied.

“But –”

“I could give you a choice,” King Ludlum
interrupted. “You can live your days in Merrygate or you can live
them in the dungeons of Castle Tristrom. Your choice.”

She snapped her mouth shut.

Well, with that reaction, I guessed Castle
Tristrom wasn’t Club Med.

Then she forced out, “Merrygate, your
grace.”

“Excellent, it is decided,” King Ludlum
started to stand but Cora spoke again.

“Will I be allowed to see my parents and
Rosa?”

King Ludlum settled back in his seat. “They
have a new daughter and sister now.” My body jerked at this
announcement, Cora’s face froze and he went on, “But they care
about their old one, although it still astounds me my future
daughter-in-law holds any regard for you after your heinous deeds.
Nevertheless, she did no wrong, nor did your parents so I do not
see any reason to punish
them
. They will visit you but as
your existence will be held in deepest secret, these visits will be
rare so I will advise you to make the most of them when you have
them.”

Her mouth thinned but she said not a
word.

King Ludlum continued and he did it with
quiet warning, “And I will remind you, Cora, that your existence is
to be held in deepest secret. If you connive in any way to reveal
that secret to anyone, it will be considered treason against the
crown, your second such offense, and that one will
not
be
handled with the generosity I am bestowing on you today. Is that
understood?”

She stared at him, fear plain on her
face.

I guess treason didn’t buy her a trip to
Castle Tristrom but something a lot less fun.

Oh dear.

“Cora, is that understood?” the king
prompted.

She stared at him some more. Then she gave
in with a soft, “Yes, your grace.”

He nodded, then, pushing to standing, he
declared, “We’re done here.”

Once he was on his feet, he flicked a wrist
at the four guards standing at the opposite end of the room. They
advanced forward and the king’s eyes went to the Goodes.

“Say your farewells, my good people, then we
will move on from this sad business to the celebration.”

The Goodes nodded, Forrest bowed, Dara
bobbed a quick curtsy then they rushed to their daughter and
crowded her as she was led out of the room.

Cora didn’t look back. Cora had no words for
Tor or for me. Cora had no words for Orlando, who put his neck out
and expended considerable energy saving her sister. Cora was
thinking about Cora.

Stupid cow.

Sliding an arm around my waist, Tor turned
me to face him and I looked up into his eyes.

“It is done, my love,” he murmured. “Go to
your sister, share this news, it will bring her relief so she can
put it aside and focus on her wedding day.”

“Your Dad made a compassionate decision, I
gather,” I murmured back.

“It is his way.”

Yeah, I was noticing that. King Ludlum was a
decent guy.

I nodded. Then remarked, “Orlando didn’t
seem happy about it.”

“Orlando rescued a drawn, terrified Rosa
from Minerva’s clutches. Orlando was also called upon by Algernon
to assume my rule while I was in your world, making it so those who
witnessed our disappearance did not speak of it, taking on all my
responsibilities while I was away at the same time trying to
discover the powers that were at work that took me away. Orlando
cannot call up much compassion for Cora, the Exquisite.”

Hmm. Understandable.

His head dipped down and he brushed his
mouth against mine.

Jeez, I liked it when he did that.

“Go to your sister,” he urged quietly when
he’d pulled away an inch.

“Okay,” I whispered, smiled at him and
realized it was over. Done. The bad shit was behind us and all we
had to look forward to was the good.

That was why my smile got brighter. Tor’s
arms got tighter when he witnessed it, I got up on tiptoe and
touched my mouth to his then moved away.

“See you guys at the wedding,” I called,
starting to descend the steps that led up to the dais we were on
and waving at Orlando and King Ludlum as I went.

“My sweet,” Tor called, I kept walking but
looked at him, raising my brows. He pressed his lips together but
his eyes lit with humor. Then he reminded me, “Cora, my love,
you’re leaving the presence of your king and
two
of your
princes.”

I stopped, whirled to face them and cried,
“Oh shit! Right.” Then I dropped into a low curtsy to my king and
two
of my princes.

“Rise, my dear,” King Ludlum commanded, his
voice shaking with laughter and I rose. “How about we leave such
formalities for formal proceedings,” he suggested then he smiled at
me. “We will just be…
us
when it’s family.”

When it was family. That felt nice.

“That’s cool with me,” I told him on a grin
and heard Orlando stifle another chuckle.

The king and his handsome son didn’t stifle
theirs.

“Later,” I called, turned and hurried
through the throne room.

“Until then, my dear,” I heard the king say
to my back.

“Erm… later, Cora,” I heard Orlando say.

Tor didn’t reply but at the door, I turned
and saw him huddled with his family. He must have felt my gaze for
he looked my way, I caught his eyes and blew him a kiss.

Then I rushed through the door and then
through the castle to go help my sister prepare for her
wedding.

* * * * *

“My prince,” I gasped.

“Eyes,” Tor growled and I tipped my head
down to look at him, our gazes locked then my body fell forward, my
hand landing in the bed by his shoulder as I came.

I was still coming when he flipped me to my
back and continued to drive into me, his lips so close to mine,
their touch was a whisper and I felt his groan against them when he
climaxed.