Page 35 of To Catch a Prince

The dragon didn’t want to, Vincent felt that. But he certainly saw that he would be of little help to Talia in his current form, so, reluctantly, he withdrew back into a corner of Vincent’smind.

Silence. Complete, utter silence from his men, then shouts and applause. He had tolaugh.

“Find me some clothes,” said he - someone was already throwing breeches and shirts to him. “Your future mistress is down on the side of the fortress,” he gestured. Someone created a hole in the wall. Ignore it. Stay put and take care of whatever comes out of it once they reach thepalace.”

They weren’t warning their enemies of the fact that they were coming forher.

19

The Meeting

Talia wasn’t startled,or frightened, when a hand closed over her mouth and large, strong arms pulled her against a hard, musculartorso.

She hadn’t felt or heard Vincent approach, but the moment he touched her, she knew, without any doubt, that it was he. She let him pull her away from view and was rewarded by a hard, harsh, unforgiving kiss that left her boneless, brainless, putty in hisarms.

Then came the lecture. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” he whispered, each word full ofanger.

Ah, she should have seen that coming. Pretty Man didn’t think women ought to be close to danger, nodoubt.

“I felt your Enchantress - you know, the one that I alone have any chanceagainst.”

She’d never actually fought anyone in her entire life, but her magics were strong - perhaps strong enough to counter whatever sorcery came from theirenemy.

Vincent looked like he wanted to strangle her, yet he forced himself to speak quietly, calmly. “There areorcs;dozens of orcs, passing through a hole in the wall. How do you propose togetto your Enchantress, when they block your way? Ask them nicely to moveaway?”

She crossed her arms on her chest. “Actually, I’d planned on freezing them, like I froze youall.”

“Sound plan. Except, you could miss one. Or, I don’t know, you could lose focus on your spell while battling your own enemy. Talia, you’re not invincible, and there’re people who care about what happens to that pretty neck.” He tried a smile, and caressed her cheek. “Next time, you call me. I don’t question your skills, but we all need someone to watch our back. You’re the magics, I’m themuscles.”

His gentle tone got through to her. She sighed. “Alright. Good point. Well, muscles, how do you propose we proceed?” It would be silly to let her stubbornness win out when she could use the experience of a man far more versed in the arts of war thanshe.

“You had a sound plan,” he shrugged. “I just want to be there to support you if you needme.”

Alright, she hadn’t expected that at all. The gods had been in averygood mood when they’d created VincentVasili.

“Let’s moveout.”

It wasn’t long before she regretted her decision to let him tagalong.

Talia preparedher spell away from the wall, she and her shadow whispering each word, calling to the earth and water in the ground - then she advanced, and cast it with nothing more than a wave. The orcsstopped.

“You’re quite frightening,witch.”

She was certain that ‘witch’ was supposed to be an insult, yet Vincent made it sound like the sweetest ofendearments.

“What are we to do with them now? Are you going to slay them all?” Talia asked as they passed their immobileenemies.

The orcs’ flesh was foul, stinking of rot - their features had very little humanity to them, no expression. Back in the day, they’d been called the undead. From what Talia knew of them, their race had been affected by some sort of terrible weapon right after the Last War, the one that created the world as they knew it now. It was said the orcs were simply tortured souls, longing for their death. She didn’t believe that; they were soldiers with a purpose. Someone was, no doubt, pulling theirstrings.

Still, the idea of slaughtering them when they were unable to defend themselves at all turned her stomach; never mind the fact that they’d probably done the exact same thing to women, old men, and children in the villages they’d encountered on their way. She really did expect Vincent to have a stronger heart, and do what was best for the greater good, but he seemed downright insulted at the verythought.

“Certainly not. If we were at war, and the decision could save thousands, then, perhaps. But there’s less than a hundred of them. Trust me when I say that the guards of Norda will make short work of them - without having to slaughter them likecowards.”

They were, thankfully, soon far enough away from the horde that she could breathe more easily, although there was a lingering rotten scent in the air still. Soon they reached a wood; an enchanting, and, no doubt, enchanted little forest. They left the foul air as soon as they walked in, as though some sorcery prevented it from polluting a sacredplace.

Talia needn’t use any magics to know they were in the right place, now. These woods should have sheltered all sorts of creatures, yet there was no sound, no bird, no animal - not even any insects livinghere.

“We’re getting close,” shewhispered.

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