Mage Magic (4 page)

“Of course not, miss,” the man said quickly.

“So he extends this offer to all travellers, then?” she asked, already knowing he didn’t.

“Of course,” he answered.

“Still, I’ll have to pass.” She’d had enough of this game.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to insist,” he said.

Five men took station behind him.

“So it isn’t an offer, then?” she asked softly.

“We seek only to protect you,” he volunteered but there was a hard glint in his eyes now.

“From what?” she asked, waving her free hand in front of her and to the side where nothing else seemed to be. “I see no danger here.”

“None the less,” he said and bowed his head.

“And if I still refuse?”

“You’ll leave me no choice but to let the men behind me take charge of you.” He shrugged and there was no missing the men behind him as they grinned at her.

She let her hood fall back, hoping that they would be distracted by her appearance. She heard their indrawn breaths and knew they saw only what she wanted. A young woman with a comely face, a young woman who travelled alone. “I’m afraid that I must insist that you let me pass.” She moved her other arm out from under her robe and let the Staff she carried in her left hand be seen.

They would only see a white Staff with some gold on it. They would not feel the power it held. Even if they did, they would not understand that it was hers and only hers to wield.

“And how does she think to stop us?” one of the men asked with a snicker.

“If she can’t, then perhaps we can,” another voice called out, so much closer than theirs.

She was startled to see two men step out of the darkness, materialising right beside her, one on either side. How had they got through her spell? Her mother’s words echoed in her head.

When you are in need they will just appear as if from the air around you. They will be your
guides, your guards, your heart and your soul.

“I am Serenity,” she spoke clearly to the men beside her. “I welcome your aid and thank you for granting it to me.”

The one to her right caught her attention and she almost felt mesmerised by the inky black in his eyes.

“I doubt this is anything you can’t handle on your own,” he said. “But perhaps it would be best not to reveal the hand you hold so early.”

He must know something of her power. He was right anyway. Wilhelm would be watching his men, and if she displayed the power she held now it would take her advantage away.

“Your logic makes sense,” she answered. “I will stay within my protective space.”

“We shan’t be long,” the one on her other side said, and there was laughter in his brown eyes just before both men disappeared again.

“Where’d they go?” one of the men asked, and she could see that they were all nervous now.

“I fear they don’t believe your assurance that you’ll see me safely to the castle,” Serenity said. “It seems that the goddess has sent them to ensure my safety.”

The men had spread out around the one holding the torch. There was a yell, quickly silenced, and one of them lay unconscious on the ground. Weapons cleared sheaths as the remaining four attempted to prepare for an attack that they could not see.

“Stop hiding, you dirty murdering natives,” one of them sneered.

“Yeah, come out and fight like real men,” another taunted.

The one with the laughing eyes reappeared but she could see no laughter on his face now.

He made a motion with his fingers, inviting the men towards him. “Come and get me then.”

Two of them charged towards him and he was magnificent to watch. He moved out of the way of one and grabbed the man by the shoulder, turning with him and using the man’s own momentum to send him crashing into the other one. The two went down in a tangle of arms and legs and clanging weapons. She couldn’t hold her giggle in. He turned to her, tilted his head and his eyes twinkled.

Another man rushed at him, his sword waving wildly in the air before him while the first two struggled to untangle. With a flick of his right wrist, a short sword appeared in his palm. There was the clang of steel against steel as the weapons met and clashed together. The man with the laughing eyes seemed to be toying with the man matching every swing, but never doing more than just simple defence. The other two joined in and soon he was keeping the three of them at bay. Where was the black-eyed man?

As soon as she had the thought he appeared in front of the one who held the torch. It was laughable the way his girlish scream pierced the air when the native appeared in front of him. Serenity had to giggle. He wasn’t so confident now.

“Tell Wilhelm that the lady is protected,” the native said. “She has no need of Wilhelm’s protection. We come from the castle to see her safely there. Go now, before I change my mind and make you pay for what you sought to do,” the dark-eyed protector said, his tone deadly.

She shifted her gaze back to the other native who was now fighting all four of the remaining men as the first was still unmoving on the ground. He held another short sword in his left hand and easily kept the men at bay.

“Now,” the other one spoke again, bringing her gaze back to him.

“Wilhelm will not be happy with your interference,” the man said, but she noticed he said it as he moved away. “Let’s go,” he hollered to the men still fighting. “Quickly!”

The four men backed away and Laughing Eyes let them. She wasn’t surprised when none of them stopped to check the one lying on the ground. They just left him as they hurried to leave. When the men had disappeared into the perpetual darkness, the black-eyed man picked the torch up and together her protectors headed back towards her. Once more they passed quickly through her protective spell. She took the time to look at them, now that the immediate threat had been so easily resolved.

They were both about the same height, not quite six feet as far as she could tell, but fairly close. Still, they were taller than her five foot four inch frame. They both had the dark, earthy brown skin tone of a native. The one with the laughing brown eyes had shoulder-length black hair that appeared thick and glossy, and she felt a pull to wrap her fingers in it.

The other, the one with the mesmerising, inky-black eyes, kept his hair close to his scalp. It appeared to be the same deep black as his eyes.

They stopped on either side of her again.

“I was foretold of your coming,” the dark-eyed one said.

“I was told of yours as well,” she whispered. “What are your names?”

“I am Theron,” Dark Eyes said.

“Thedan,” the other said, bringing her gaze to him.

“I…” Her nerves made her tongue uncooperative. She’d never been this nervous in her life. But then it wasn’t every day that one met the men she was to mate and spend the rest of her life with.

“There is no need for fear with us,” Thedan said and reached a hand out to touch her hair. He seemed fascinated by her golden curls. “We would give our lives for you.”

“I will die for you,” Theron said softly, and her eyes met his.

“I hope it never comes to that,” she said.

He moved his fingers to caress her cheek, and a bolt of what felt like fire seared through her. From the way their eyes flared she would guess it had gone through them as well.

“You are my mates,” she said.

The fire had been brought on by the mutual touch of both men. It left no doubt in her mind that these were the ones her mother had told her to watch for.

“We are,” Theron confirmed.

They moved closer.

“We would know you,” Theron said.

“Woo you,” Thedan tacked on.

“But circumstance doesn’t allow for it,” Theron added.

“I know,” she whispered. Her mother’s words filled her head once more, a reminder of what had to happen.

You must consummate the triad as soon as possible to complete the bond. You must do it before
you face Wilhelm.

“You are the one with visions?” she asked Theron.

“A gift from the goddess,” he said with a nod.

“We are sitting ducks here in the torchlight,” Thedan said. “Perhaps we should put it out and move on.”

“Yes,” Theron agreed. He bent to a place where the dirt was more plentiful and used it to extinguish the torch.

“We,” she started and had to take a breath before continuing, “it is important that we consummate the triad as soon as we can.” She could feel the flush on her cheeks.

“And we will,” Thedan said before letting his hand slip from her hair and pulling her hood back over her curls, being sure that none of them showed. “But first we must distance ourselves from this area.”

“I’m sure Wilhelm’s men have fled but it is never wise to take anything for granted,”

Theron added, nodding towards the man on the ground.

“Agreed,” she said, smiling. “Did you kill him?” she asked Thedan.

“No.” His eyes shone with what appeared to be disgust as he looked back at the man.

“But he will be out for a while yet. Wilhelm chooses weak-willed men. Men easy to control.

The further away from him they are, the weaker they are.”

“His magic cannot stretch so far then?” Serenity questioned, hope in her voice.

“I would think more that it is stretched too thin at the moment,” Theron said. “What with keeping the world smothered in darkness.”

“It’s past time we left here,” Thedan reminded them. “We can talk on the way.”

“Give us a chance to learn more about each other,” Theron said taking her hand in his.

“Thank you,” she whispered, understanding that even though they must know the urgency needed, they were willing to give her a little time to really adjust to what had to happen. It was one thing to be told that you would meet your mates and must consummate a powerful triad immediately, another thing altogether to jump right in and do it.

Theron tugged her off the road and into the trees. “We’ll make better time if we cut across through here.”

“There’s a spot where it will be more secure for us to stop and rest for a while before we head on to the castle,” Thedan said.

“How long will it take us?” she asked.

Theron looked at her. “You know that things will change for all of us once the triad is formed. So, after, we will move much quicker.”

They are strong, but when the triad is completed, when you are all together as one, some of your
magic will enhance theirs.

Her mother’s words again. Yes, things were about to change for everyone. The three of them were only the beginning. She had to remember that. It wasn’t just about her. The fate of their entire land rested within her hands now and would until she reached the castle.

“I’m ready,” she said.

She didn’t have the choice not to be.

Chapter Four

“It is a shame that your first foray out of the temple is cloaked in darkness,” Thedan said. “There is much beauty to see.”

She inhaled deeply, taking in the myriad scents, from flowers, trees, plants, animals and everything the earth around them could hold and nurture. “I will see it soon and it will be all the better for having you beside me when I do.”

Theron stopped and turned to face her. He cupped her face and lowered his until their lips brushed softly together. “You humble us,” he whispered.

She turned to Thedan to see if he would kiss her as well but he just grinned and grabbed her hand, tugging her back to walking.

“When I first kiss you it will be no soft peck but a deep exploration that leaves us both fighting for air,” he promised.

His words brought a tingle to her blood, a flutter in her womb.

“So tell me about yourselves,” she said, seeking to break the sexual spell that threatened to consume her. If his words had such an effect then how would she not burn alive when at last he touched her?

“We are natives,” Thedan said.

She interrupted with a giggle. “That I know. I knew the moment I saw you. I was taught the story of the native as a child. Cursed to walk in shadow, never calling one place home because of love.”

“I would say more out of vengeance than love,” Thedan murmured.

“Ahhh, but you see from within, while I have the advantage of looking from without,”

she said. “Your princess defied tradition in deference to true love and she was cast out because of it. Then when she sought to mend fences with forgiveness her mate was killed instead of welcomed. Killed when he was the one who brought his dying wife home to make peace. So with her last breath she weaved the spell. When she died her sword would leave her flesh and go to her daughter. This would be the sword that ruled the land and all would bow before it. It would pass through her bloodline, from daughter to daughter, for all time.

But she tempered the curse by allowing for a way to break it. A daughter will be born from the bloodline of the younger sister. She will meet and fall in love with a warrior, royal in his own right. Only if her people can accept their love and rejoice in it will the curse be broken.”

“Ahhh, but then she didn’t have the whole story when she cast her curse,” Theron said.

“She did not yet know that t’was not her family but that of the native she had been betrothed to that killed her mate. By the time she knew it was too late to change it. Her dying words to her sister were that blood would find a way, and the magic within would be strong. She touched her sister’s cloak and whispered a spell. Told her sister to remember the words.”

“Blood magic, the strongest of all forms of magic,” Serenity replied.

“Yes,” Theron and Thedan agreed in unison.

“So you walk in shadow,” she said. “I saw that for myself when you seemed to appear and disappear at will.”

“Watch,” Thedan said, dropping her hand.

He reached back and grabbed the hood of his cloak. When he pulled it up over his head he disappeared from her sight. When he appeared again the hood was off.

“Your cloak?” she asked, reaching out to finger the material. It looked like any other cloak, not so dissimilar from the one she wore.