Chapter Twelve
Indulf
Indulf stood in the door of his tent, absorbing the movement going on around him. It was a tense day, everybody on edge. Times of peace interspersed with battles did that. He knew a few of his people were disgruntled with his offer to Warmund. Volcant was among them, but he didn’t voice his displeasure. Indulf understood, though. What was the point of fighting at all if he was just going to yield?
“I’m not yielding,” he murmured to himself. “This is adjusting my own thoughts… I won’t let a permanent portal be opened. It’s just too dangerous.”
With a sigh, he turned back to his tent. It felt cold and empty without Anna. Even though she had just been there for one night, that one night had filled him with comfort he hadn’t thought he’d ever have again. Why did he have to feel so strongly for a girl who was clearly a bad match for him? She wasn’t aware of the culture she was in. She looked at everything as though there were stars in her eyes.
And, worst of all, she didn’t want to stay. She wanted to return to her own world. Where he would never see her again.
He couldn’t blame her for wanting to go. Couldn’t blame her for not wanting her parents to go through the same misery he himself had been through. That didn’t mean he wanted her to leave. Somehow, without any rhyme or reason to it, Anna had become… important to him. He reacted to her the way he had reacted to his first mate. Only Anna wasn’t...
A hawk circled above him, lazily winding down. Indulf, glad for the distraction, lifted his arm for the bird to land on. It settled there, eyeing him with its keen yellow gaze. He stroked the hawk’s breast and moved to transfer it to the hawk stand before giving it a bit of meat and untying the message on its leg. He unrolled it, unsurprised to see Warmund’s writing.
I will yield one-hundred yards.
Indulf tugged his hand through his thick hair. One-hundred yards. Not much, but still a sign that Warmund was happy with the decisions that had been made thus far. Indulf quickly drafted a message back, stating that his camp would not move—to go back any further would put them at the border of the forest, where they’d be far more vulnerable. Keeping their current location was enough of a gesture of goodwill.
“Volcant,” he called as he tied the new message to the hawk’s leg and sent it off. “Set down roots. We’ll be staying here for a while. Let the men know that Warmund’s camp is moving back a hundred yards. We will not be pursuing.”
Volcant scowled, but nodded. “My lord, we have also received a message from the castle.”
His eyes widened. “And why was I not informed?”
Volcant wordlessly handed him a thick envelope. The seal was still warm; clearly, the messenger had flown with all haste to deliver it. Indulf still scowled, though. The messenger ought to have been delivered to him at once, not just the message.
“Who flew this here?”
“A young woman, by the name of Aud. She nearly collapsed after delivering this message.”
“You still should have brought her to me.”
Volcant nodded once, but still spoke. “I thought it best if she was allowed to recover, my lord. I don’t think she is up to answering any questions.”
“Why, was she wounded?”
“No, but--”
“But you think my judgment isn’t what it used to be?” Indulf glared at Volcant, drawing himself up higher. The other dragon, to his credit, didn’t flinch, though he did look away. “I am your king. But you are my adviser. I did not give you this position so that you could shy away from telling me hard truths.”
Volcant sighed and looked back at him. “I fear you are being blinded by emotion. Even if this… venture works, even if it is possible to open portals to Anna’s world, do you think that will be the end of it? Do you intend to send Warmund through, banishing him on a fruitless mission to find his sister? And if it does work… how will we know the effects? Indulf...” He lowered his voice. “You can’t bring him back as though nothing happened.”
Indulf bit back what he wanted to say to that. He knew. He knew that Warmund couldn’t just be forgiven. If he tried this once, what was to stop him the next time they had a disagreement?
Turning from his adviser, Indulf opened the message from the castle. His eyes scanned the page, and his stomach dropped. His head spun and for a moment he lost his footing, though he stood still. As Volcant moved forward, he waved him off and read the page again.
Swallowing hard, Indulf looked up. “It seems,” he said slowly, “that it is no longer a what if. They have managed to open a portal.”
***
As soon as he got the message, Indulf sent a letter to Warmund’s camp, informing him that they had made progress. He forbade his son from coming anywhere near the castle, though, and instead took to the wing and returned himself. Nerves jangled restlessly through his body. He hadn’t expected this to happen. Hadn’t thought that they’d actually find a way to do it. And yet… here they were.
He scowled, arms folded over his chest as he watched the mages open a portal. They all sweated from the effort after just a few seconds. The portal itself was a gulf of darkness. Strange sounds and flashes of color emitted from it. From the depths, a dove fluttered out. Around its leg was attached a red bead; the same dove they had sent through the previous day.
The portal collapsed in on itself and the mages, though clearly exhausted, cheered among themselves.
“It worked!” one of them cried. “It really worked!”
A stabbing pain entered Indulf’s heart, and he turned away. It worked, alright. And because it worked, everything was going to be that much harder.
***
After the successful retrieval of the dove, Indulf spent days in council. His advisers argued, mages explained the magic behind the portals, they argued some more, diplomatic negotiations opened with Warmund, and they argued even more. Warmund was offering himself up to go through the portal to find his sister. The mages said they weren’t certain if they’d be able to bring two people back. Anna begged to know how long it would be before she could go home. Indulf delayed answering as much as possible.
Eventually, the guilt and hope warring in his chest came to a peak, and he sent a message to Warmund flatly stating that he was not going to be allowed through the portals, nor was the magic that his mages used to open the portal going to be shared. To prevent more possible violence, though, Indulf had decided to send his own man through to look for any sign of Wildref.
“You know this might be a one-way trip.” Indulf gripped Thonis’ shoulder, staring intently at him. “We are still uncertain of all the correlations between that world and ours. The journey alone could kill you.”
Thonis looked a little paler than usual, but he nodded, face determined. “I will do all I can to find her.”
Indulf nodded once. “And good journey to you. We will open the portals every two days, for you to send word back to us.”
Thonis inclined his head. The mages opened the portal again, and, taking a deep breath, Thonis stepped through. The light and sound swallowed him. Indulf ran a hand through his hair as the portal closed behind him. Had he just made a terrible mistake? For all his doubts about this endeavor, for all his words, stating he wouldn’t allow this, for all his worries about the effects…
He had done it anyway.
Beside him, Anna bounced up and down. “And next time I go through, right?”
Indulf tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and led her away. “The mages need time to recover enough to send another person through… but yes. When they are ready to open another portal, you can go home.”
Anna hummed, still bouncing. “I wonder how much time has passed. I wonder if my boss thinks I stole the sword and skipped town—you have to give that back to me, remember. I can’t have it just vanish.”
“I remember. As for how much time has passed… the mages were able to find a spark of magical signature in you. From your world, your time… they are reasonably certain that you will be returned to the time and place you vanished.”
“Good. I’d hate to lose my job.”
Indulf gazed at her. Her bright eyes, her plump lips, the soft curves of her cheeks. Everything about her was so soft, so delicate, so… so perfect. A nameless emotion welled up in him and he found himself unable to stop. He wrapped his arms around her waist, spun her, and pressed her into the wall. As she made a surprised noise, whether protest or excitement he didn’t know, he captured her mouth with his.
His fires roared, the taste of her mouth filling him. Anna made another surprised noise, but melted into his grasp. Her fingers dug into his hair as she kissed him back, deeply, without reservation.
It felt like he couldn’t breathe. His lungs were too large for his chest, an ache inside of him too deep and too painful to be merely arousal. He clung to her as though she was his only lifeline on a wind-tossed sea, like he’d drown if it weren’t for her arms around him. He grasped one of her thighs, pulling it up over his hip, and reached under her skirt.
Anna giggled, pressing her hands to his chest. “Not out here! We’re in the hallway, anybody could see.”
Her cheeks were flushed, eyes bright. He saw only excitement and desire in her. None of the pain ripping away at his soul.
“Stay,” he whispered.
Anna’s eyes widened.
“Stay here, with me. Don’t go.”
He couldn't remember the last time he had been so invested in another person, the last time his happiness was so bound to the smile on another person’s face, or the color of their eyes. He had never thought green a happy color until now. And those green eyes stared at him, her pale cheeks turning red and her mouth slightly open.
He leaned forward, wanting to hear her say the word he longed to hear.
“Why?” she asked instead.
His heart crashed down to his toes. For a moment he wasn’t sure he’d be able to respond. Then, looking away, he managed a shrug. “I know you have no reason to stay. No reason why you should stay. I only ask because I want you. I don’t want you to go, I want to keep you forever. Be mine, Anna. Swear your heart, your soul, your body to me. I will give you everything I have, if only you stay.”
She licked her lips, actually looking frightened now. “But you don’t even know me. Not really. And I don’t know you. And my friends, my parents...”
She wasn’t going to stay. And he already knew that she wasn’t. That didn’t stop him from gripping her tighter. He cut off her excuses with another kiss. His touch became more frantic. He wanted her, needed her. Her clothes were only in the way, so he tore her dress open down the front. A growl emerged from his throat as he dropped his head to one of her breasts. Anna made a choking noise, fingers tangling in his hair as he sucked her nipple into his mouth.
“Be mine,” he growled, tearing the dress all the way down. He slid a hand between her thighs while the other rested on her shoulder, pushing her into the wall.
“Indulf...” Anna panted, pulling him closer, then suddenly pushing away. She slapped his hands and tugged the torn edges of her dress. Eyes wide, mouth open in shock. “I can’t believe you just did that! And in the hallway, too! What if someone walks by?”
He dropped to his knees, lifting one of her legs over his shoulder. “They’ll turn and walk the other way.”