***
“Did she tell you where she has been?” Sithias asked, floating a few feet above Alric.
“She said Daemionis took her to his home, and then she just wandered.”
“It is time you know.”
“Know what, my Lord?”
“This world… my world, is known as Paragoy. There are many such worlds, each with their own gods and their own people and histories. A select few can travel between these worlds, and Kyrin is one of those.”
“Why didn’t she tell me this?” He actually wondered why Sithias hadn’t told him any of this before.
“There’s an unspoken rule among the dimension shifters that they aren’t to interfere when a dimension knows no other and believes theirs is all there is to the universe.”
“So when she’s gone, she’s where I cannot find her?”
“Correct”
“My Lord, when I spent two years trying to find her, why didn’t you tell me?”
Sithias smiled softly. “Would you have stopped? Or would you have continued, this time trying to find someone to show you how to leave this world?”
Alric sighed. He knew his god was right.
“I’m just surprised that she returned. She must feel some loyalty to you.”
“How do you know?”
“She’s an evil. Evils do only what is good for them, unless they feel loyalty to another.”
“She seems less nervous than the last time.”
“She may have grown up a lot in the last two years. Watch her and learn.”
“And the magic?”
“Encourage it.”
“Really?” Alric was shocked.
Sithias nodded. “It’s a rare and splendorous ability. From what I saw, she’s a powerful magic user, and that power should be used and encouraged to flourish.”
“But magic is born of evil.”
“A common misconception, but one bathed in the truth. Watch her closely and see what she does with it.”
“If she starts to use it for evil, I don’t know what I would do.”
“We will deal with it at that time. It’s not a matter of if but when. Evils are drawn to rage, and it’s hard to control that.”
He nodded. “I’ll watch her. What of her god?”
“I’m sure he knows she’s here. I’m sure he also knows you love her and will watch you closely too.”
Alric smiled slightly. “That obvious, is it?”
“It is hard to hide your heart from me.”
“What’s in her heart?”
“I’m not sure she can love yet,” Sithias said. “Only Daemionis can see into her heart and know how she feels. Any attraction is dangerous though, so I bid you to keep your eyes out and never take her for granted. At no time treat her as anything other than an evil.”
“How do I do that?”
“By limiting your trust in her goodness. She may not possess any.”
“I will, my Lord.”
“You see the good in all, but that may make you blind to her true nature.”
Alric looked up and saw that Sithias was gone. He said a quiet prayer of thanks and then walked out into the temple.
“Is it true?” Dewell asked, walking up to the king.
“That Kyrin is back? Yes.”
“Is she well?”
“She had injuries, but they were small, and I took care of them.”
“May we see her?”
He smiled. “I’ll think about it. She’s an evil. We know that now, a magic using evil… and Dewell?”
“Yes, my Lord?”
“I apologize for doubting what you saw. You tried to tell me that she knew magic, and I didn’t believe you.”
The priest nodded. “It’s okay, my Lord. I realize how crazy it sounded at the time.”
“Until I find out what her intentions are and what her true nature is, I want the priests to stay away from her.”
“Understood, sire.” Dewell smiled broadly.
“What?”
“It’s good to have you back, sir.”
“What do you mean?”
Dewell simply bowed and returned inside to the temple. Alric mounted his stallion and rode quickly to the castle. He was anxious to learn if Kyrin had stayed, and he wanted to talk to her again.
He met her on the road between the castle and Valhara. He stopped the horse and smiled down at her. “Going somewhere?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure really.”
“Were you coming back?”
“I haven’t decided.”
He sighed. “Where would you go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would you leave this world?”
She looked up at him, squinting at the glare from the sun. “You know?”
“Yes”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Start off by coming up here,” he said, and put his hand down for her.
She thought about it and then took his hand and swung onto the horse in front of him. He kicked the horse, heading away from the city and into the trees.
“Where are we going?” she asked after a few minutes of silence.
“I don’t know either. You seem to like to take off randomly, so that’s what we’re doing.”
She could feel him against her back and wasn’t sure what to make of the feelings she had. “Thank you, by the way.”
“For what?”
“For fixing my sunburn and the wound on my arm.”
“That was pretty bad, you know? You could have lost your hand.”
“Why did you look for me?” Kyrin asked him.
“You saved my life and the life of my kingdom.”
“So you wanted to thank me?”
“Mostly”
“What else?”
“I was afraid that Daemionis would hurt you.”
She felt like he was leaving something out but decided not to press the issue. “No more problems with the Minotaurs?”
“Are you kidding? They’re scared to death to come out of the mountains again.”
Kyrin grinned and looked around the strange part of the forest.
“Now, let’s talk about you staying here.”
“I’ve never stayed in one place for long.”
“Well, maybe it’s time to stop running.”
“What makes you think I’m running still?”
Alric laughed. “You are!”
“I’ll never stop running.”
“Are you afraid they will find you here?”
“They will, eventually. When they do, then I’ll take off again.”
“Or you could prepare us and let the knights do away with them.”
“That can’t happen. Running is my only option.”
Kyrin gasped when she felt Alric’s lips run softly up her neck.
“Please, don’t do that,” she whispered.
“Why not?” Alric asked, brushing her hair away from her neck.
“It’s…”
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I’m not afraid you are.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
When Alric lightly flicked her earlobe with his tongue, she shut her eyes and shivered. “Please.”
He sat up. “Fine, if you can tell me why.”
“Because I don’t like it.”
“Yes, you do,” he said, grinning.
Kyrin huffed slightly but didn’t answer.
“You’ve grown up over the last two years, and I suspect you aren’t as naïve about things as you were.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You didn’t try to kill me when I kissed you last night.”
“You had my hands.”
He chuckled and wrapped a hand around her waist.
“What do you want, Alric?” she asked, not looking back at him.
“That’s an oddly non-specific kind of question.”
“I mean what do
you want me to do? Do you want me to stay and marry you? Do you want me to stay and find a home in the city? Do you…”
He cut off her words when he kissed her neck again lightly. “I don’t know what I want yet, but whatever it is, has you in it.”
“How oddly non-specific.”
Alric’s hand tightened around her waist and pulled her closer against him. “I want you to move into the Lady’s chamber in the castle. I want you to be comfortable around me and let me treat you like you should be treated.”
“Such as?”
“Such as… let me pamper you once in a while. Leave the flail behind.” His voice dropped to a whisper, “Let me love you.”
Her stomach tightened. “No.”
“Is love so bad?”
“Yes, it is.”
“I thought we were over the selling you part and the wedding myths.”
“You don’t love me.”
“Yes, I do, and I suspect you love me too.”
“I don’t.”
“Yes, you do,” he whispered into her ear. “You came here to see me because you missed me. You came back afraid I wouldn’t be looking for you because you don’t have faith in me.”
She frowned. “That’s not true.”
“I’m going to prove to you that love isn’t something scary.”
She just shrugged.
“You might like it.”
“Love?”
“Yes”
“What part? The fights? The breaking up part? What about losing a loved one to death? Then with love comes disgusting and vile acts.”
He chuckled. “Do you even know what those acts are?”
“No, I don’t, and I don’t want to know.”
“You might like those, too.”
“I doubt it.”
Alric stopped his horse at the edge of the lake. “Let’s go swimming.”
Kyrin nodded. She thought anything would be better than the direction this discussion was going. Once she dismounted, she walked over to the edge of the lake and looked along the crystal-clear water. She heard movement behind her, and she turned just as Alric undressed and walked over.
“Ready?” he asked as he slowly walked into the water.
She’d only seen one other naked man and was shocked to see another. Kyrin avoided looking at him and focused in on a tree off to the side of the lake.
“Kyrin, come in,” he said, laughing.
“I changed my mind. I’ll wait back at the horse.”
“Are you afraid to come in because I’m naked?”
She turned and her eyes narrowed. “No.”
“Then get in.”
Not to be outdone by a man, Kyrin quickly stripped and then dove into the water, coming up beside him. “There.”
“See, nothing in here will hurt you either.”
She swam out away from him and then sighed when she heard him follow her. “You’re running.”
“No, I’m not. I’m swimming.”
Alric took her hand and pulled her up next to him, again trapping her hands at her sides. He reached out and gently began to kiss her.
The kiss was too intimate in the water, and Kyrin immediately began to panic. She tried to pull away from him, to break the skin-to-skin contact, but he held her close and lightly ran his tongue along her lips.
“Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said softly as he looked into her eyes.
“Let me go, please.”
“No, I don’t want you to attack me.”
“Then stop attacking me,” she said almost breathlessly.
“Fair enough,” he replied, grinning. He let her hands go and swam out toward the middle of the lake.
Kyrin followed him. “Are you going to hold my hands every time you kiss me?”
“For a while, yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t need turned into an ogre.”
She laughed. “I don’t have a spell for that.”
“I’m sure you can think of something.” Alric stopped and began to tread water.
She swam up close to him. “So you’re afraid of me is what you’re saying.”
“No, but you’re afraid of me, and I won’t endanger myself because of it.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“Yes, you are. You’re afraid of men, of intimate contact, and of getting close to anyone. I embody all of those.”
Without another word, she lunged at him and pressed her lips to his. He started to move back, but she wrapped her hand around to the back of his neck and gently reached her tongue out to touch his. She’d seen that a lot lately and had wanted to try it. The result was electric and she instinctively pulled her body closer to his.
He reacted strongly and pressed against her with a hand at her lower back. She finally pulled away and looked him in the eye. “See, I’m not afraid of you.”
“I stand corrected then,” he whispered.
She moved away from him, not sure where to go from there, and then crawled out of the water and slipped on her clothes. Alric chose to watch her before climbing out and getting dressed himself.
He wondered where this was going. He had to pay attention and stop things when they got too far. He wasn’t ready to teach her these things quite yet. Alric also had to be careful and watch his feelings for her. They were growing too strong, and she wasn’t yet able to handle it.
Once on the horse, they started for the castle. “So now that we’ve proven you aren’t afraid of me. I want you to stay in the castle in the Lady’s chamber.”
“Why? I liked my other room.”
“Because then you’re closer to me.”
“Why don’t I just sleep on your floor then?”
“Because I want you to get used to a bed, and I doubt you’re ready to share mine.”
“Then what? I’m not the Lady of the kingdom, nor will I ever be. What do I do all day?”
“We’ll think of something. As long as I know you’re safe and not wandering other worlds, I’ll be happy with that for now.”
“I’m not agreeing to stay for long, but I’ll stay there for a little while.”
“Just please, don’t take off without telling me.”
“So I have to be accountable to you?”
“Not at all. Just as a common courtesy I ask that you not disappear.”
It was quiet for a few minutes before Kyrin spoke again. “I heard that the Qualsax got Finn.”
“Yes, they did. He was on a mission of mercy, bringing aid to a sick village when he was ambushed.”
Her eyes narrowed. “When was that?”
“About a year ago.” Alric wondered at the sudden silence, and then it dawned on him. “It’s not your responsibility to avenge him.”
She shrugged.
“Kyrin, no,” he said sternly. “I realize your upbringing dictates your actions and that your first instinct is to kill those who killed him, but we handled it already.”
“I don’t mind.”
“I know, and that scares me.”
“It does?”
“Yes. How you kill without penitence scares me. I can’t imagine killing even an enemy without feeling some sort of loss or some regret for my actions.”
“If I kill them, then they deserved it. Why feel regret for that?”
“Because of a conscience.”
“Maybe I don’t have one.”
“It’s in there somewhere. I just have to find it.”
“Where are Finn’s wife and kids?”
“Emerisa has family in Tenesia. She’s gone to live there.”
“By choice or did you kick her out when her husband died?”
“Stop trying to make me out to be a tyrant!”