Chapter Five
Warmund
The device weighed against the small of his back, hidden with a loose plaid shirt. If it was discovered, this was all over. Luckily for him, Thonis wasn’t as diligent as he had been trained to be, (If I was still at the palace, he wouldn’t be so sloppy with the enemy.), and didn’t even pat him down. The guard seemed quite pleased that he was coming in willingly. Warmund had to wonder what rewards Indulf had promised for the return of his wayward son.
Does he plan to send me back into the Exiled Lands, for another of his estranged kin to come after me?
Warmund shook his head as Thonis loosely bound his hands before him. That hardly mattered. After all, he wasn’t going back to his father. The device would work, and he’d end up in a time when nobody was looking for him.
“It’s just a precaution,” Thonis rumbled.
“Hmm?”
Thonis narrowed his eyes, and then gestured at the rope on his wrists. “Restraining you. I know that you’ve been here long enough that your dragon is repressed, but I can’t just let you walk into the palace without any restraints at all.”
Not much of a precaution. The ropes were so loosely bound that Warmund would easily be able to get out of them if he so chose. He didn’t mention that, though. Once he was where he wanted to go, the last thing he’d need would be a struggle to free himself. Thonis stared at him with hard eyes, and he stared right back, not bothering to hide the scorn in his own gaze.
“I know the king will be pleased to see you,” Thonis said in a low voice. “He’s missed you.”
Warmund turned his face away. Hope, that traitorous emotion, started to rise up in him. He gritted his teeth and forced it down. He wasn’t going to see his father, so there was no point in hoping that perhaps Indulf could forgive him. Besides that, Indulf wouldn’t. Maybe there was a time when he could have, but with everything that had happened…
A prince rebelling against the king had to be dealt with. This wasn’t just a matter between father and son. This had to do with the entire kingdom. Indulf had to act as his king, not his father.
And he had betrayed his king, something that Warmund would never have forgiven had it been anybody else.
There was still hope, though. Once his mission was complete, then he would have no reason to rebel, which meant his father would have no reason to banish him. Everything would work out the way it should have been.
He peeked over his shoulder to where Penny sat on the sofa. She held a three-month-old infant in her arms while the twins snuggled to either side of her. He would have liked to have shared her warm bed before leaving, but it hadn’t happened and that was all there was to it. With three small children, though, she might not have the energy for lovemaking. He remembered how tired his stepmother had been after giving birth to Wildref…
Katrina was in the kitchen, visible near the microwave. She kept shooting him curious glances; what did she know about him? He wanted to tell her that he’d held her in his arms as a baby and that everything he did, he did to fulfill the oath he had made to her then.
She wouldn’t understand, though. She wouldn’t understand any of it, and it would only cause her emotional distress. If his mission failed, then he would find a way to come back and tell her everything.
If he failed. Which he wasn’t going to.
The sound of rushing water brought his attention back to the space before him. A small rent in the air appeared, the start of a portal. Thonis turned to the two women and stepped away. Warmund almost laughed. Did he think that just because Warmund no longer had his dragon that he was completely helpless?
No matter. It was better for him this way.
With a few quick yanks, Warmund got his hands free. Penny let out a strangled sound, but Warmund blocked it out. He withdrew the device from where it was hidden. Thonis shouted and leapt forward. His hand caught around Warmund’s wrist just as he flung the device into the opening portal. It ripped open, a rush of sound and light pouring from the other side. Thonis’ grip tightened on Warmund’s wrist, but with a sharp yank, Warmund came free.
“No,” Thonis grunted, fury building in his eyes.
He slammed his fist into Warmund’s face. Warmund stumbled, then dropped and caught him around the waist. With a roar, he lifted Thonis from the floor and hurled him across the room. Wildref let out a shout, and Warmund leapt forward as Thonis collided with her. They crashed into the wall and rolled several times before they came to a stop.
Warmund was frozen for a moment, heart hammering as he stared at his sister as she lay there groaning. Then he spun on his heel and charged into the portal. It seemed to flow outward to grab him. A confusing myriad of sight and sound crowded over him, stealing his breath away. A feeling like he was being torn inside out made him cry out.
Suddenly, it was over. He lay face down in the dirt, breathing in its mineral scent. He shook, then lifted his head. The sky was a deep shade of blue, unseen on Earth, trees taller and thicker than anything seen there surrounding him. A startled and pleased laugh burst from him as a spark of warmth lit in his chest.
And then he became aware of the sounds of babies crying.
Warmund scrambled to his feet and whipped around. His jaw dropped when he saw Penny kneeling in the dirt, her arms still clutched around her infant, whose fists flailed and whose face was bright red. On either side of her, the twins clutched to their mother, the boy in a half-crouch and the girl standing on trembling legs. Penny’s face was as white as a sheet as she stared at him.
“What did you do?” she gasped out, the words difficult to make out as she seemed incapable of opening her mouth all the way. “What… what…”
Shit. Warmund stared at her, then looked around as though he could find a signpost showing him to the next portal. If this was one of those Earth cartoons, there would be a record scratch right about here, and he’d turn to the camera and explain how this wasn’t part of his plan. What the hell had happened? She shouldn’t have been brought here. She wasn’t anywhere near the portal!
His heart sank when he remembered how the portal seemed to be reaching out for him. It must have expanded somehow and swallowed Penny and the children. It was only because he’d hurled Thonis into Wildref that neither of them had been taken, too.
“What did you do?” Penny shouted, causing her children to scream even louder. She absently pulled at the twins, crowding her lap but there wasn’t any way that she could comfort all three of them, especially not in her current state.
“Shouting isn’t going to help,” Warmund said, holding out his hands. “Just calm down.”
“Calm down? CALM DOWN?” Penny clutched the twins in one arm, making them fight against her grip while she pressed the baby to her shoulder. “How the hell am I supposed to calm down? I’ve been abducted by some rebel prince and now my children are in a forest, and what did you do?”
Warmund growled between his teeth. “It’s not like I brought you here on purpose, Penny. You’re only going to slow me down and cause trouble for me! So just stop your screaming before you frighten the children any further, and let me explain!”
Penny opened her mouth furiously, but as the girl thunked her head into Penny’s shoulder, she turned her attention back to the three children. Warmund watched for a moment, knowing that his intervention was not going to be wanted, but after a few seconds of seeing her struggle, he couldn’t take it anymore. He approached and, as Penny glared at him but didn’t protest, took the baby from her arms. The twins were older and would be more wanting her specific comfort.
The baby flailed and screamed but slowly quieted as Warmund rocked him, humming softly. The twins both climbed into Penny’s lap and buried their faces in her shoulders. After some time, their sobs turned to sniffles as well, and Warmund crouched beside them. The sun was high in the sky, but he was uncertain where they were.
“For today, we’ll find a source of water, and then build a shelter,” he told her, keeping his gaze on hers. “Tomorrow I’ll figure out where we are and decide where to go from there, okay?”
“No.”
Warmund narrowed his eyes.
Penny glared back. “Okay, fine. Yeah, that sounds like a survival plan. But you need to tell me what you’re up to right now or I’ll…”
She trailed off, probably realizing that she didn’t have a good threat to hit him with. Tears brimmed her eyes as she glanced between her children, probably thinking about their chances of survival here.
“I’ll explain, and then we’ll look for water. But you have to do exactly as I say while we’re here. Got it?”
Her glare intensified.
Warmund resisted the urge to roll his eyes, knowing that wasn’t going to help anything. Besides, she had good reason to be angry with him. “I’ve brought us back in time. Not just in the past that Byrelmore exists in. I mean back to when Wildref was a baby. I’m going to change time. She’s going to grow up a princess, as she should have. I’m going to stop the assassins. Everything is going to change.”
“Everything,” Penny repeated, her voice low. She sounded less angry and more shocked now. “You’re going to take away Katrina’s life. And what else will change? Anna and Indulf might never meet. Erik might never be born. The others… Volcant and Misty and their daughter. Sylvia and Hendric. You’re just going to erase the lives they’ve made for themselves? Their happiness, their children? Katrina is happy in her life—”
“She’s not Katrina. She’s Wildref, and that was stolen from her. I’m going to give it back.”
Penny stared at him for another long moment before she suddenly lunged. She grabbed the baby from his arms and pulled him back to her chest. That set all children off screaming again. Warmund made a protested noise in his throat, but she hissed, cutting him off.
“You don’t get to touch my children,” she seethed. “Not when you want to erase them from ever being born!”
“I don’t—”
“Get away from me!”
It was clear she wasn’t going to listen to him. Warmund threw his hands into the air and stood. “Fine. Sit there and let them cry, then. I’m going to find water.”
He stalked away, growling and hissing under his breath. He wasn’t going to erase her children. Just because dragons might not end up in her life, didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to meet their fathers and get herself knocked up. He wasn’t erasing them. He was saving Wildref; all other sacrifices were necessary for that goal… weren’t they?