Page 16 (1/2)

Sabine had refused to budge Rydstrom allowed this because she reht have a future

Did Rydstroo out of his way to see her? Every da for her this very afternoon She wasn&039;t at the hot springs, nor at the particular bluff where she liked to sit

But froa with others When Rydstro sharp jabbed him A basi­lisk scale? He peered around hi up here with the dragon?

He ran a hand over his side, over the tattoo All those years ago, Rydstro that a sorceress would captivate both a dragon-and a de as she played dice, likely saying outlandish things But her coht she jested They were awed by her beauty and leamed on her and the bold paint that ht she was a er

As Sabine could

she wanted, she was doubtless bilking others of their gold He suspected Sabine was stockpiling her winnings in a secret location-

He heard soDurinda They hadn&039;t spoken rew tense

"They love her now," she said, sitting beside hily You know she still calls the children spawn and uses the pronoun it when referring to any of the and unaive s, then who are you to naysay?&039;"

Before Rydstro like a queen An unorthodox one to be sure, but a queen just the same"

"You believe that?"

Durinda nodded "Sabine had the power to fend off a dragon, and made the choice to protect these people And she&039;s told the girls-the ones that she confused terribly about horse ive an educational class onthings of that nature Yes, she did ask for gold in return, but one could argue that was iven authority, she would enact social change"

He recalled what Sabine had said about the igno­rance of the women, the medieval state of Rothkalina, the lack of infrastructure

"And she&039;s right about the fighting," Durinda contin­ue &039;quietly "It can solve probleen-

teel society where eren&039;t as strong as we could have been And ere defeated, holly unprepared for centuries of tyranny" She aze "Do you think Sabine would rest if she perceived her kingdom to be vulnerable?"

Never He couldn&039;t ask for a fiercer queen

"You know, it&039;s given me hope," she said "If two people as unlikely as you and Sabine can beto wed is the right one I areatly He felt hi around her once more "Do you think your new husband will allow you to keep Puck?"

"I do hope so Because if not, your queen has offered to take him"

His brows shot up "What?"

"She toldthat demon boy person&039; When I reminded her that Puck wasn&039;t her pet, she rolled her eyes atto remedy"&039;

He felt his lips quirk

"Interestingly, Puck found gold under his pillow in exchange for his tooth I suspect she h she vehemently denied involvement and called me a name I won&039;t repeat here Puck is beyond ecstatic"

Rydstrom had already accepted that he needed Sabine He hadn&039;t dared hope his kingdom would embrace her like this

Maybe she was exactly what Rothkalina needed Fate

had gotten it right

There were only two problems First, Sabine wasn&039;t truly his queen And after she learned that he&039;d deceived her, she wouldn&039;t be likely to forgive him Secondly, Rydstrom planned to slay her brother at the earliest opportunity

He&039;d considered talking to her about Omort, the future, and the fact that there would soon be a war- Rydstro But for now, he&039;d decided it would be better just to get her to New Orleans, back to his home before she could bolt

"I also caun arriving for tomorrow," Durinda said "They come with infor the sword froist Our Cadeon has succeeded"

"Any word of how he&039;s done this?"

Durinda shook her head "Not yet"

Teeks ago, Rydstroiven a damn how But now he feared Cadeon had turned over his ooman for it

Rydstrom had expected his brother not only to betray his fe with her-and Cadeon doaze was transfixed on Sabine If so, he&039;s a stronger ent decision to hts, she&039;d adored sitting up on the bluff, keeping ti subjects, and watching the silhouette of Rydstrom as he paced in his tent for her to return

But the portals were opening at noon, mere hours away, and she still hadn&039;t decided if she was going with

hi his people, with his shoulders back and looking so kingly, Sabine debated her course of action She was free and could easily escape But those sa Grave Realued her

Andinto Rhydstrom&039;s house, into his life By all accounts, Cadeon was ever closer to the sword Maybe Sabine should jour&039; ney with Rydstrom just in tiet herher escape well before the mor-sus was supposed to hit in twelve days And ultiht have their queendom

Or maybe she and Lanthe should ally with Rydstro side, and now the tides were turning Rydstro who could defeat Oet the sword, the balance could swing decidedly in their favor

But if Sabine allied with Rydstrom, there would be more to deal with than mere war and destruction The demon wanted heraffection

He wanted a future with her-her entire future This eternity idea had her spooked She hadn&039;t even been out on a real date, had never seen the same male twice, and now she was supposed to promise her eternity to a demon she&039;d known for only weeks?

There were actually times that she&039;d been tempted to When she recalled those interludes in the hen he&039;d caressed and licked her body, teasing her to a fever pitch again and again, she no longer grew outraged- she grew aroused She longed for hiain

And then, over the last two nights when she&039;d woken alone, sleepily hunting for his big warht, Why not try whatever he was offering? So what to do? What to plot!

Just then, Sabine realized that Rydstro running, he&039;d had his gaze on her allHis broere drawn, a question in his eyes

In answer, she gave hirinned

Oh, my Sabine had never seen him smile And it was divine She frowned down at her chest What was that? Why, that

He started toward her, and she couldn&039;t say she was broken up about that When he reached her on the bluff, he sat beside her "It will soon be time to leave, Sabine," he said "I never formally asked you before, but will you come with me to old there?" she asked "No, but I could get some" "Are you rich?"

"In that realm, if you&039;re an immortal, you&039;d have to be an idiot not to be"

"Is your house nice and big?"

"Our house is a showplace, a ardens I&039;ve always taken pride in it-it&039;s one of the er for her to see it

"You&039;re not used to having to ask for things," she observed "Is it difficult to ask ht have been If I didn&039;t want you to so damned badly"

Sabine had once heard that Cadeon was the sht Rydstro­ful than any s could be

"Why do you want this so badly? Because I&039;m fated to

be yours?"

"No, because I knoe can have soazed into his green eyes and saw honesty-and desire He wanted her, and he wanted her to see how much She couldn&039;t seem to look away

"If you coret it"

And if she didnt see where this could lead with Ryd-stro it for the eternity he wanted from her

"I will, then," she finally said "But I have soly way of his, she said, "The parity is done We start this as

equals"

"Agreed As long as we start this"

"And I will only commit to six days with you After that we&039;ll reconvene"

"Why only six days?"

"Six is my favorite number," she lied

"No, it&039;s not"

"You&039;re right But it&039;s stillelse?"

"We never speak of O this time"

After a hesitation, he nodded, then said, "I have some as well You&039;ll have to be honest with me"

"I will be, as much as I can"

"Sabine"

"Look, that&039;s a really big concession for someone like ive this thing between us a fair try Can you do that, cwena?" He stroked his thurinned She hadn&039;t flinched

36

New Orleans, Louisiana

"We have to walk?" she

The coordinates Rydstrootten them directly to his house

"It&039;s not far Just six houses down"

She could tell he was anxious for her to like his hoh­borhood, but she was too tired and chilled to be excited for hih had felt as if it had been hacked through space Compared to it, Lanthe&039;s thresholds were seamless masterpieces No wonder she could only create one every so often

"Are you sad about Puck?" he asked

"Just tired" In truth, she ain He&039;d been bawling for her Which shouldn&039;t have shocked anyone

"Chin up, demon boy person," she&039;d told hiiven him a note that she&039;d had translated into Demonish When he&039;d read it, his eyes had lit up, and he&039;d nodded gravely

"What did the note say?" Rydstroh, they will send hiiven her that look-the cross between perplexity and bewilderment, the one she believed he used only for her The one that said, "Surely, you&039;re kid­ding I really want you to be jesting"

"Here it is," he said when they caates and stone walls covered with ivy

The grounds were i with its Corinthian columns and wraparound veranda The effect as a whole was opulent but tasteful The sul­try air was redolent with the scent of gardenias

"How big is this place?"

"Plus or minus twenty-thousand square feet" At the front entrance, he said simply, "I want you to like it here"

"I&039; like the outside" So tired Sabine shivered

He held her hand as he opened the door At once, the sars wafted over them She put her free hand over her mouth

"What in the hell?" he muttered as they journeyed deeper inside

In the sitting rooazines lay over clearly expensive antique furnishings Cartons

fros floated in barrels of s