Murmuring, murmuring in Talamhish, he buried his face in her hair.
“And I need to learn the language so I know what you mutter at me, or shout at me.”
“I wish you wouldn’t as yet. If you’d come with me to Phelin’s family, you’d be a comfort to them. And to all who’d see you at the Leaving, you’d be strength and comfort, and hope.”
Nodding, she eased back. “I’m going to need a room.”
He kissed her again, lightly. “Share mine.”
He took her hand, so they walked toward the castle where dragons circled. They walked back to do all the hard and sad things.
And Bollocks trotted beside them.
EPILOGUE
On the other side of the portal, where a storm raged because he willed it, Odran stood over Yseult.
She suffered, lying in the soft bed he’d gifted her. He could end that suffering—kill her or cure her—but he found her misery a small pleasure on a day of disappointments.
“You failed me, yet again.”
Her eyes, glassy with pain, looked up at him. She wouldn’t beg, and he respected her for it. And still, a day of disappointments.
“You bleed, soiling the bed. Why do you not heal yourself?”
“Some of the barbs are too deep. The pain is great, and dulls my powers.”
Lightning struck outside. Something screamed.
“I could end your pain, and use your witch’s blood to enhance my own.”
“If that is your will, my king, my liege, my all.”
“Can I have her jewelry?” Shana held up one of Yseult’s pendants, posed with it in a mirror. “She won’t need it if she’s dead.” Beaming, she swirled around. “I killed a witch today, one who loved me. A powerful alchemist. It’s more than she did.”
Odran barely spared Shana a glance. “She opened the portal, you merely went through. Leave us now.”
“To your chambers or mine?”
“Mine.”
Shana sent Yseult a sparkling look before she glided out.
“I fear, my king, she is more than half mad.”
“And fertile. Already she carries a child for me, so she has her uses. I wonder about yours.” He walked to the window to watch the storm. “All the time, the blood, the work to open the portal, only to fail to bring her through, to have them close it again.”
“There are other ways through.”
“And so the mad elf has her uses.” He turned back. “But do you? Do you, scarred and bloody, weak and writhing? Defeated by one with only months to learn her magicks.”
“She has your blood, Odran, and this is her strength, this is my weakness against her. My life is yours to do with as you wish. If you take it, I pray I may serve you in death. If you spare it, I will use every moment you give me to open the way, to bring her to you.”
“I believe you. I know you speak the truth. Still, I dislike failure.”
He walked back to her bed, laid a finger on one of the wounds in her arm. The white-hot pain had Yseult’s eyes rolling back, her body arching in a rigid bridge of pain.
When he removed it, she fell limply, shuddering.
“You’ll suffer.” He leaned down until his face loomed just above hers. She saw the red rimming his irises, and wished only death came quickly.
But she didn’t beg.
Smiling, he straightened. “But you’ll live. For now. Ply your magicks, witch, and serve me well. Or the pain you feel now will be as nothing.”
When he left her, the storm snapped off. In the sudden silence, Yseult closed her eyes. The cold, as he’d refused her a fire, had her shivering even as the burn from the wounds scorched her blood.
She would suffer, and accepted it. She’d failed him, and failure paid a price.
But she would heal. She would heal, regain her strength, and amass more power.
And with that power, she would open the next door for her king, her liege, her all. She swore it on all that was unholy.
When she had, she’d drag the bitch-goddess back to Odran and toss her screaming at his feet.
And when he’d drained her, when her god Odran took all he needed and left the mongrel child of the Fey little more than a mindless husk, she would pay for every moment of this pain.
She would pay for eternity.
ALSO BY NORA ROBERTS
Hot Ice ? Sacred Sins ? Brazen Virtue ? Sweet Revenge ? Public Secrets ? Genuine Lies ? Carnal Innocence ? Divine Evil ? Honest Illusions ? Private Scandals ? Hidden Riches ? True Betrayals ? Montana Sky ? Sanctuary ? Homeport ? The Reef ? River’s End ? Carolina Moon ? The Villa ? Midnight Bayou ? Three Fates ? Birthright ? Northern Lights ? Blue Smoke ? Angels Fall ? High Noon ? Tribute ? Black Hills ? The Search ? Chasing Fire ? The Witness ? Whiskey Beach ? The Collector ? Tonight and Always ? The Liar ? The Obsession ? Come Sundown ? Shelter in Place ? Under Currents ? Hideaway ? Legacy