Indar and I looked for the witches, but found no trace of them. Either they went off into the surrounding forest looking for Duff, or they went to get more help. If they made a portal to the castle—or found one of the existing ones that allowed traveling in the Otherworld—they could be back with reinforcements within minutes.
“Athena still battles the Troll,” Indar said to me.
“Go watch, then meet me inside when she’s done. I’m going inside to search for Prince Liam.”
Indar nodded and headed toward the front of the building while I headed for the nearest entrance.
An electrical feel reached out to me from the entire doorway which meant someone had put a strong ward on it. I pulled Marcus Aurelius from my back and shoved the spearhead into the ward. Sparks flew around the tip as it tore through Otherworld magic.
My grandfather, the great Titan Cronus, created the enchanted spear for me specifically. My Uncle Hades made sure that I received it. Both had wanted me to use the spear to kill my father, but I knew now that would never work. Last time I confronted Zeus, he somehow convinced my spear that he loved me and would never do me harm.
Using it to pry my way into Liam’s prison might be its only usefulness to me.
Being made of Earth materials that only the Titans could gather, the spear was unbreakable. However, it also could be rendered useless simply by asking too much of it. I hoped that wasn’t the case for breaking through the ward.
When a slight break formed, I leaned into the spear and pushed harder. The magic broke and splintered into sharp glass shards that hit me as they flew past. I inspected Marcus Aurelius, relieved to see it survived breaking the ward.
Unfortunately, my arms hadn’t done as well. Cuts from the exploding glass covered all of me except for the part where Athena’s shield covered my wrist.
In hindsight, I should have tried using Athena’s shield because I might have hidden behind it. The stinging on my face and the wetness running down my cheeks made me further regret my choice of ward-breaking tools.
I pulled a long cloth I carried to tie-off bleeding wounds from my vest and used it to dab at the area around my eyes. If glass shards had embedded, I probably wouldn’t be bleeding so much. Or at least thinking that made me feel better. While no glass in my wounds was good news, bleeding from a hundred minor cuts still hurt.
Cautiously moving through the broken ward, I soon saw that the stone building inside was empty. A dirt floor covered the one large room. The place looked unused for many years. It had a high ceiling with no holes in the roof. That was about all there was to commend it as a hiding place.
Was there another a magical door, but one I couldn’t see?
I scooted my feet across the dirt, trying to find anything that lay under it. All I got for my trouble was a coughing fit from the dust I kicked up.
Shield up for protection from potential wards, my feet continued kicking at the dirt floor while at the same time I also inspected the stone walls for signs of a trap trigger.
After ten minutes of searching, I still found nothing. That result didn’t surprise me since I felt no more wards. If anything or anyone was ever in here, I couldn’t tell it. This could be powerful Earth magic working in a way I’d never seen.
When a horse neighed outside, I jogged to the door for a look. A ragged-looking Duff slid out of Wizard’s saddle. She petted his neck and hugged his flank.
I looked around to see who else was coming—or not coming. “Where’s Cale?”
“Collecting the Dark Elves who chased me. I stopped three of the buggers and one got away. He could only figure out how to carry two in his front claws. I preserved the buggers in Leprechaun jelly. They’ll be fine until we’re done.”
“Are you two okay?”
Duff nodded. “Better than ya seem to be. Yer face is bleeding bad, Atlanta. Your champion is going to freak when he sees how ya look.”
I pulled out the bloody cloth I’d used and handed it to Duff. “Wipe as much off as you can. A ward I broke splintered into glass. I didn’t see any glass in my skin. It just shredded me.”
“Never heard of any kind of Elf ward doing that,” Duff said with a frown. She patted my face gently, then worked on my arms. “The Light Elves can heal ya. Liam can do it when we find him.”
“Yes, well, we have a slight problem with that goal,” I said. I slipped the now even bloodier cloth from her hand and shoved it back into my leather armor. “Come with me.”
We walked deep into the building. Duff’s confused gaze glanced around. “There’s nothing here.”
“If that’s true, why would they put that powerful ward on the door?” I asked.
Duff shook her head at my question. “Dark Elves did not do this—not alone. I would instantly recognize their power.”
“Indar said the two guards we chased were Druidic Witches.”
Duff closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “I know of them, but I don’t know their magic. They don’t venture from the Mortal Realm into Otherworld often. This building could be a decoy for Liam’s real prison. Or there could be a secondary ward we’re missing. Even though I can’t feel the magic of it, I don’t trust those witches.”
“Me neither,” I said, glancing around again. “Maybe Indar can check for us. His magic differs from mine and yours.”
Duff and I walked back outside as Cale was rolling the last Dark Elf jelly logs across the dirt. He rolled the third until it lay side-by-side with the other two. Each held a wide-eyed Elf staring out of it who did not look happy.
Neither did Cale despite all he’d accomplished.
“Hi, honey. Having a bad day?” I asked.
His golden Dragon eyes turned my way, and he snorted smoke—actual smoke. I fanned it away from my face as I laughed. “Well, that’s new,” I said to him as I chuckled.
Wizard turned and whinnied at us. Was that the equivalent of a Pegasus laugh?
“Shut up. You didn’t even offer to help me,” I heard a human Cale say to the Pegasus.
My mouth twitched. Now I really couldn’t wait to hear about Cale’s adventures.
Cale in human form joined me before I’d taken a dozen steps more. “You’re bleeding all over like someone used you for a pincushion, Atlanta. You need to be looked at. Where are we going now?”
I turned and smiled at him. “Glass shards from a ward cut me when I broke it. I completely forgot I was wearing Athena’s shield on my wrist. It shrinks to the size of a small frisbee until it senses a fight.”
Cale sighed and shook his head. “Let me rephrase my question. How are we doing overall?”
“Indar and I failed to stop our targets. Two Druidic Witches—both males, I think—got away from us. We don’t know where they went or even how they left. They could have gone for help or just have been escaping us. We don’t know.”
“So where are we walking to in such a hurry?”
I picked up my pace. “I’m heading to Athena, who is taking forever to beat up a single Troll. Since you and Duff are still alive, I think you’re the clear winners so far. Congratulations.”
Cale grunted but didn’t grin at my joke. I smiled, though, because I could feel him still vibrating with Dragon energy. Neither he nor Duff talked about the two Trolls went after her. My guess is Dragon Cale had squished them. Whatever the case, he’d not had an easy time helping Duff. All I cared about was that both had survived and neither appeared wounded.
I’d learned the hard way to count the small wins in every battle. It kept you in positive spirits for the big fight.
When we got to Athena, Indar was holding the wrist that held her golden sword over her head. I could tell just by looking at the scene that he was trying to talk her out of killing the unconscious Troll at her feet. I also could tell by her hissing her answers back at him that Athena had lost control of herself.
“Do we have problem?” I asked calmly.
“Yes. Someone needs to die,” Athena growled.
Up close, I could see my sister was covered in some kind of green slime.
Indar turned to me. “Athena hit the Troll in the gut and he puked on her. Now she wants to kill him for it. She’s already knocked him unconscious.”
I pulled my bloody cloth from my vest and reached out to wipe the Troll puke off Athena’s face. Three swipes and she was stumbling away from both Indar and me.
“Stop wiping. Your cloth’s wet and bloody. Whose blood is that?” she demanded.
“Mine,” I said with a chuckle.
I watched in satisfaction as Athena pulled a clean cloth out of her clothing and began wiping herself off.
Then I turned to Indar, who was smiling at me in gratitude. “This building is either empty or cloaked. I broke a ward to get inside, but I feel nothing in there. Neither does Duff. The ward held a lot of power and I can’t see anyone wasting it on a building full of nothing. Want to take a look?”
Indar didn’t answer me with words. Instead, he walked in the direction I’d come from, so I turned too and led him to the door. We stopped there.
He held out a hand and his eyes suddenly glowed a bright blue. “How did you break the ward?”
“With a spear my Titan Grandfather, Cronus, made for me from the molten metal at Earth’s center. ”
Indar nodded. “I know your history. The Titans run Gaia’s forges. It certainly would have taken a powerful weapon to break this ward. There were two kinds of magic built into it.”
I rolled my eyes at the news. Duff had been right. “Dark Elves and Druidic Witches.”
Indar nodded at me and looked a bit surprised that I knew that much already. “Did you recognize the magic signatures of each?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, I used the process of elimination. Troll magic is not strong enough to create a ward, so it couldn’t have been theirs. It was Dark Elves who chased after Duff because they want the bounty Hamlin put on her head. The Druidic Witches we let get away have the strongest magic I’ve seen or felt in Otherworld outside of the magic of the Dragon chains. It wasn’t hard to conclude.”
“Thousands of years have passed and Greeks are still some of the smartest people the Great Mother ever made. Bravo, Goddess Atlanta.”
Was he praising me or making fun? If that was Indar’s idea of sarcasm, it sure beat mine.
I led the way inside the building. Soon all of us were standing around on the dirt floor, even Athena, whose face was now relatively clean and free of Troll puke.
I lifted a hand and swept it around the space. “Anyone want to take a shot? Duff and I got nothing.”
A silent Duff listened intently. The Druidic Witches could return at any moment with Hamlin’s misguided army. We had to either find Liam or regroup to look elsewhere.
Indar slowly walked around. He didn’t kick the dirt or check the walls like I did. Finally, he removed his hands from his pockets. “Cale, will you check if you can see anything?”
Cale? Why was he asking Cale to check?
I didn’t think reading a single book on Dragons qualified my champion to use Dragon magic. Indar intently watched Cale move through our group as he looked around.
I studied my champion when he finally walked closer to Indar. Cale closed his eyes and drew in a large breath. When he opened them again, they were Dragon gold.
A shiver of excitement climbed my spine. Out of nowhere, I felt a sudden urge to kiss him. If I’d been twenty, the amount of lust I felt would have made me blush. But at forty, the desire I felt had me making concrete plans to share Cale’s bed.
Cale slowly and very calmly turned in a circle. And then he looked up. He pointed to the ceiling. “There’s something magical above my head. It’s not large.”
“Very good,” Indar told him with a smile. “I could tell something was there, but not what it was.”
“It’s not Dark Elf magic—or anything I’ve seen so far,” Cale said as his eyes dimmed and returned to normal.
If it wasn’t Dark Elf magic, then that only left Druidic Witches. Unless it was a magic wielder we hadn’t yet encountered, which was a far more tiring thought. I’d take the evil I knew over facing an unknown threat any day.
The ceiling was partially domed, rafters rising from the walls to form a pyramid shape that met at a point. I walked under it. Still, I felt nothing.
Indar came to my side. “Use your spear, Atlanta. Raise it upward as far up as you can reach, but do it slowly. When you reach the ward, stop so I can target it.”
“Athena, come hold the shield for me… please.” I added the entreaty to make it sound like a suggestion instead of a command. I could tell my sister was still mad—and mostly at me. The Troll had taken the brunt of her anger, but she wouldn’t be happy until I lay at her feet unconscious. She wanted revenge for losing our fight, but I wasn’t offended. It was simple how goddesses were made.
Athena walked to me, took the shield, spoke a word to enlarge it, and then held it over the two of us. Indar backed away until his back touched the stone wall.
I raised Marcus Aurelius and used my long reach to push the sword into the air. It hit resistance about ten feet from the ceiling.
“There’s another ward like the one at door. Everyone back up and cover your eyes.” I glanced around, and when I saw they had obeyed, I pressed upward. A small hole opened in the ward. “It feels the same as last time. Everyone out of here for now. This thing turns to glass when it breaks.”
Indar took off his jacket and walked over to us. He held it out to Athena who shook her head.
I grunted at their struggle. “Take the jacket, Athena. There’s no need for both of us getting sliced up.”
Athena grudgingly relented and let Indar drape it over her shoulders. The Dragon turned away then and guided the others outside.
“Don’t come back in until we tell you it’s safe,” I ordered in a yell.
My fierce sister frowned at me when she saw sweat beading on my forehead. My struggle was not from exertion, but rather from holding back the spear. Marcus Aurelius recognized the ward and the spear was trying to break through without my help.
“Ready for sure? I can’t hold this thing back for much longer,” I warned.
“Break it,” Athena ordered.
She held the shield over us as much as she could with me, spear in hand, standing partially outside of it. With her free hand, she pulled Indar’s jacket out to share with me as well. It wouldn’t protect my exposed shoulder, but I told myself it was the thought that counted.
“Thanks,” I whispered in gratitude, then pushed up to let the spear do its work. My reach forced Athena to her toes to keep our protection over us.
The ward broke in a rush of magic releasing. Thousands of glass splinters rained down in a heavy storm on our heads. Luckily, most of the sharp shards hit the floor instead of us.
From under the shield, I saw the glass shards dissolve in the dirt when the pieces hit. Glass was made of sand so it sort of made sense it would return to some form of its origin.
The Druidic Witches were clever. The ward damaged the person breaking it but then disappeared, leaving no evidence behind.
Eventually, Athena and I cautiously lowered our protection. I ended up dragging Indar’s jacket off her as I straightened, because she was shorter than me. It smelled nice as I swung it off, and I didn’t see a scratch on it.
I took another sniff and rubbed my thumb over the fabric. Wow. This was some great leather. Was Cale’s leather jacket also like this?
Cale and I were nearly the same size. Borrowing his leather jacket suddenly appealed to me. What did the mortals call that? Girlfriend rights or something? I smiled, thinking about his reaction when I asked him for it.
I held Indar’s jacket out to return it to Athena, but she ignored me. Her wide-eyed gaze remained focused on the ceiling instead. I looked up and saw that a motionless Prince Liam hung there, fastened to the rafters with wrist and ankle manacles attached to chain hooks driven into the wood.
His long white hair hung down covering his face. The Elf showed no signs of life. I told myself Liam had to be alive or they wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble making two of those powerful wards.
“We need to get him down before Duff sees him like this. She’s unstable about this guy. Denial is not her friend. It drives her insane.”
“Boost me up to the chains and I’ll unhook him,” Athena ordered.
If she wanted to do the more challenging part, I certainly didn’t mind. I looped my fingers together and held my hands out to catch one of her feet. Athena flawlessly vaulted from my hands to the dangling chains.
I watched her climb up them until she could reach Liam’s limbs. As she unhooked them one-by-one, his body dangled more awkwardly. He was definitely not conscious.
After she finished three, Athena looked down at me. “His heartbeat is too slow. Get a Dragon in here to help.”
I ran to the door. “Cale, I need you. Just you. It’s still too dangerous for everyone else.”
They could all tell I was lying, but Duff looked too defeated to challenge me. Thank Gaia for her reticence, because I didn’t know what condition Liam was in.
I glanced at Indar, who gave me a tiny nod of understanding. Gaia bless males who paid such close attention. Indar’s understanding saved me from having to explain myself.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear you say you need me?” Cale asked with a grin he walked inside the building. The joke died on his lips when his gaze rose to Athena and Liam hanging at the top of the ceiling.
“Liam’s still alive, but Athena says he’s fading. We need to get him down fast. Can you Dragon me up there and help Athena and I ease him down? I don’t want Duff to see him like this.”
“Move toward the door for a minute.”
I did what he commanded and felt the magic of Cale’s shift. He held out a Dragon claw to me and then spoke in my head. Climb up and help her.
For once, I didn’t argue. I took the boost his claw offered to get to his shoulder and then moved down his back. Cale stood up, and I felt myself rising higher. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized he’d knelt to pick me up.
Looping my arms around Liam’s waist, I held him up in the air while Athena unhooked his wrist from the last of the chains. His entire weight fell on me and I landed on Cale’s back with the unconscious Elf covering me. His unique six-foot-size worked against both of us.
Now I was really glad Duff wasn’t watching. I was also glad Cale couldn’t see what was happening. Liam had all but landed between my thighs.
This was a terrible time for my strength to be giving out, but my body didn’t care. When Athena got her breath back, she helped roll the effing heavy Elf off me without saying a single word about me acting weak.
“He’s a bigger guy than he looks,” I said, panting from the effort.
“He has to be all muscle,” Athena agreed with a nod, panting a bit herself. “I couldn’t have held him and climbed down the chains at the same time.”
“No. This was much better.” I patted Cale’s back. “Down, please.”
Our Dragon lift lowered gently to the floor again. Athena slid off one of Cale’s sides. She motioned for me to lower Liam down to her.
“Cale? You can call Indar and Duff in now,” I said, as I prepared to slide Liam over Cale’s side. Before I’d finished the request, Indar was beside Athena helping catch Liam. Duff knelt to check Liam as Cale changed back to human. I watched while I worried we might not have gotten to him in time.
“How fast can we move him? That ward exploding likely sent a message to its creators. You can bet they know we broke through both wards. Magic news is not as fast as a text message on a smart phone, but it’s really close.”
“His manacles are Dark Elf magic. I need to get them off,” Duff said. “Give me a minute.”
She closed her eyes, and I heard Duff talking in that special magic language of hers. She opened her eyes and wrapped her hands around both of Liam’s wrists. Two of the longest minutes of my life later, all four manacles sprang open and fell into the dirt.
Had Duff used the Light Elf gifts Liam had given her all those years ago? I was going to ask, but Duff wobbled on her knees. Cale barely knelt fast to catch Duff when she fell sideways. Her nose was bleeding and she was barely functional.
“The manacles were draining his life away. It’s a cruelty the Dark Elves perform on those they consider criminals. There was other magic at work there too. It fought me but I won.”
Cale rose with Duff in his arms. “Take her to Wizard,” I said before looking at my sister. “Athena, you may have to sit behind Duff and hold her to keep her upright. We’re leaving as soon as we can.”
My warrior sister silently followed Cale out of the door. Indar and I stared down at Liam. I chewed my lip as I tried to decide what to do. “Do you think he’ll wake up now that the manacles are off?”
Indar lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “No idea.”
We were all in danger. I could feel it coming for us. Running was our best option until everyone recovered enough to fight again.
Realizing what I had to do for the good of all of us, I knelt in the dirt beside Liam.
“Move away from us, Indar, and don’t look at me for a few minutes,” I told the Dragon. When Indar stepped away and turned his back, I chanted softly to draw on as much power as I still possessed.
Then I prayed. “Mother Gaia, hear my plea. Heal this warrior, do it through me.”
Light burst inside my body as what goddess power I had left covered my skin and radiated light out into the stone room. A small portion of my energy—though not as small as I’d hoped—gathered into a glowing ball that descended to Liam’s chest. Once there, my power spread out until it covered the Elf like a glowing blanket.
Liam’s body gasped as the light sunk into him. His eyes opened to look up at a goddess.
“Atlanta?”
“That’s Goddess Atlanta to you, Elf boy.”
As my power settled down again and went back into its hiding place inside me, I felt more than saw Indar turn around and stare. “What was the cost to you of what you just did?” he asked.
I shrugged because I didn’t know or care. It had been necessary. “I’ve done it thousands of time to my soldiers without ever knowing the cost. The price of death is much greater.”
“But this time you didn’t save a solider. You saved the future Otherworld king,” Indar said.
I pulled up Liam to a seated position. When he thought he could manage it, I helped the recovering Elf stand. I felt drained after healing him, but I was still functioning enough to go on. The important thing was that we could all leave now and hopefully avoid the fight headed our way.
Indar and I both took an arm and helped Liam take some small steps.
“Stop for a moment and help me turn him,” Indar ordered. I stopped tugging on him and we turned Liam around. “Look up, Elf Prince. This was your fate for trusting the wrong people. We almost didn’t get to you in time.”
Liam lifted his gaze to the ceiling. He blinked and then nodded. “I remember the chains and then I remember nothing. My energy is returning, but I’m still fatigued.”
“You owe your Leprechaun queen your life,” Indar said.
I recognized Indar was using his wise Dragon voice—the one he used on Cale and his half-mortal family. It was a little like my goddess voice, which I rarely used in the Mortal Realm. Also, I wasn’t sure if I even had that much power anymore. The last time I used it was when I broke Indar out of his statue.
Liam nodded and pressed his lips into a tight line. “This is not the first time Duffinnia has saved me.”
“If you start spouting crap about her again, I’m going to regret what I just did,” I warned.
“Never again will I say anything against her,” Liam whispered. “Hamlin likes to brag. I’m sorry I didn’t figure things out sooner. Duffinnia’s right to hate me. I should have trusted her above all others.”
I snorted. “What did I tell you, Elf boy? Duff doesn’t hate you. She’s mad at you and Duff warned me she can stay mad about things for centuries. I don’t know how you’re ever going to make things up with her.”
Liam nodded. “I’m open to any ideas from the goddess who saved my life.”
“Oh, no. Don’t give me any credit. I’m only here to help free her parents. Saving you was a matter of timing and luck.”
“Because of Duffinnia, I have some Leprechaun energy in me. Perhaps her staunch belief in luck paid off for me today.”
I snorted at the cuteness of his speech. “Your future queen has been fighting Trolls, Dark Elves, and Druidic Witches to save the only guy she intends to ever make king. Your Leprechaun needs your help to kick her brother off the throne. Mostly, I saved you so Duff wouldn’t have to do all that crap alone.”
“Who do you think put me here? It was Prince Hamlin, so I’ll gladly help her.”
“Good. It’s going to be your royal duty to help her from now on. I remember you arguing with Duff about doing her duty. That was the day you lied to us about Hamlin. If you’d told us the truth about what her brother was doing, you’d have been fighting at her side today instead of hanging from rafters and nearly dying.”
Indar and I could have carried Liam out, but I was enjoying my little heart-to-heart with him. I caught Indar smirking a little too. The old Dragon was no dummy. My idea was to save Duff the emotional pain of arguing her case again. I wanted Liam to be compliant when they talked.
Liam worked hard to speak between his stumbling baby steps toward the door. I gave him an A plus for effort and for not complaining about how hard it was.
“By Otherworld laws—our current laws—I now owe ya a life debt. Tell me anything to do to repay ya and I will do it without question.”
I chuckled. We’d made it about half-way to the door so far. This was going to take forever. “Dude, just marry Duff. She’s got a plan for how to make you king. You need to go along with her.”
“That will be no hardship for me. I have always wanted to marry her.”
“You couldn’t prove that by me… or her. I listened while you two tore each other up the day I met you. Duff hasn’t recovered from that discussion yet.”
“I was trying to save my brother.”
“Would that be the brother who helped Hamlin trap his own parents in amber?”
“At that time, I still believed he was innocent.”
“I doubt Ewan ever strikes anyone as innocent, so I’m not really buying your story. I think you were positioning yourself to lead an Elven takeover once the Light Elves got the word from Gaia to do it.”
Liam made a strangled sound before confessing. “In mere moments, you have found out the biggest secret I have been keeping from everyone.”
“Duff figured out what you were really doing.”
“Doubtful… I have kept many secrets from her over the years.”
“You are not making me feel better,” I told the future Otherworld king.
“Fearing a takeover would be necessary one day, I decided I would never leave the Otherworld castle. Now I see that wasn’t the proper path to the throne. When Duff appeared with ya that day, I should have listened to her warnings… and heard her out about her plans. I feared Hamlin’s people might be listening in on us.”
“They were listening. Duff got attacked outside your home by Dark Elves and was on the run for days. A few hours after I left you, Hamlin lured me into having a drink. He drugged me and put me in Dragon chains that I couldn’t escape. Duff and I both nearly died.”
“I caused both of ya to get hurt because of my hurt over the past. Not very kingly of me to allow that to happen, was it? I wouldn’t blame Duffinnia if she’s changed her mind.”
I grunted against him. “Duff hasn’t changed her mind. So if you’re serious about making up with her, it might be a lot easier to grovel in front of a wife than some unmarried woman who wants nothing to do with you. And I suggest you stall when Duff asks you for a divorce. She still doesn’t want to be queen. You need to become her friend, Elf boy. Duff doesn’t have anyone but me that she trusts.”
“How can a person make so many mistakes and ever recover?”
Indar cleared his throat to keep from laughing. I knew what he was thinking and Prince Liam needed to hear it. I was happy to see hanging from the ceiling had given the Elf a more humble view of events.
I hugged Liam a little to get his full attention. “We all make mistakes, Liam. My entire pantheon of Greek gods and goddesses has made so many mistakes that Gaia is punishing us all by making us all mortal. I’m lucky she helped me use what power I have left to heal you. Sometimes she ignores me.”
I stopped to gather a breath. Holding him up was tiring. Athena was right. Liam was all muscle.
“If I can get over myself and make amends for my wrongdoing, anyone can. You let the past go and do better today and tomorrow. Despite the pain you caused her, Duff has never for one minute doubted you were the right Elf to be king.”
“I love her, ya know,” Liam admitted softly. “I’ve loved Duffinnia since the day I met her. She was this ball of fire and all I could think about fanning her flames.”
My mouth twitched at his poetics. I almost wished Duff were hearing him. I bet she secretly liked all that romantic stuff.
“I think Duff loved you once, but I don’t think she does now. Duff gave up on love altogether because of you. You talk about doing your duty, but Duff’s been doing hers all along. You just never knew it.”
“I listened to too many fabrications—from Hamlin and from her parents. Thank you for telling me these things. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to ya before. Truly. I’m getting very tired of walking around. Can we rest for a moment?”
“Indar, let’s get him out of here.”
We carried Liam out of the building. Cale was setting Duff on Wizard’s back.
“Prince Liam’s going to be fine,” I announced.
The practical thing was to put Liam behind Duff, so that’s what we did. Neither of them could walk unassisted at the moment.
Liam whispered something in Duff’s ear, then put his arm around her. They sat on the Pegasus like two stiff mannequins, but at least they weren’t arguing.
“Any sign of guards returning?” I asked.
“Not yet,” Cale answered.
I lifted my face to the sky. Please, Gaia—help the Sprite hear me. “Princess Lotus? The bride and groom are ready.”
Everyone looked around and listened. But there was no buzzing. I waited a few more moments. Finally, I waved my hand. “Let’s walk back to where we exited the portal. She’ll come when she can.”
At least I hoped Lotus would come. She had used the word might.