Page 28 of Blood Slumberm

They mated in a haze of teeth and heated skin and soft shouts within the shelter of the bed curtains. When he was done with her, she lay spooned with him, a blissful languor in her limbs.

In that moment, she couldn’t bring herself to care about the time racing by or why they had come here. She felt alive with a long-lost, fleeting feeling she couldn’t put a name to, except her own.

nine

WithCelandinebareinhis arms, a vision of the future finally came to Troi.

He could see them together like this in Orthros. The marble halls and eternal snow of the Hesperine homeland looked different to him when he imagined Celandine there.

He trailed his fingers through her long hair where it lay across her hip. “Were you happy when you ruled here?”

She was quiet for a moment. “No. Yes.”

He nuzzled her shoulder. Her body fit as perfectly in the crook of his as he had imagined. “What made you say yes?”

“You will think the worst of me if I answer that question.”

“I am a condemned heretic, my dear. I will not judge you.”

“After my parents were gone…and my husband died…that was the only time I’ve ever been happy.”

Troi’s arm tightened around her instinctively. His words came out as a growl. “What did your husband do to you?”

“Nothing.” Her voice thickened. “We weren’t in love, but I never expected that from a political marriage. We were compatible, and he treated me well.”

“Did he know how lucky he was in you?”

“He was a good man.”

That didn’t answer Troi’s question. He knew the Cordian definition of a good man, and it wasn’t good enough for Celandine. He had been a good Cordian man just like her husband.

“I did mourn him,” Celandine said, so defensive, as if trying to convince herself as well as Troi.

“Of course you did.”

Her tears put a salty tang in the air. “I missed him. My parents too. And yet those five years when I was sovereign of Aligera were the best years of my life.”

“I’m sorry Rixor took that from you.”

She went quiet again. “He didn’t find out about my magic. I showed him.”

Troi’s breath caught. Cunning, worldly Celandine had handed such a secret to Rixor?

“You must think me a fool. And you’re right. I was a foolish young girl who thought my friendship with Rixor more powerful than selfishness and greed. Neither of us had brothers or sisters, so we grew up together, playmates and confidantes. But that sweet boy grew into a vile man.”

My sweet boy, Troi’s mother had called him.

“Rixor kept my secret,” Celandine said, “but not for me. He kept it for himself, until the day he was ready to use it against me.”

“I’m sorry someone you loved hurt you so deeply.”

“I miss the person he used to be. I miss my parents and my husband. But I miss my own happiness more than any of them. How could I have been so happy without them?”

“I suspect only you can find the answer to that question, but I know a place where you can search for it. You can have velvet and jewels. Endless nights full of music and dancing. You can use your magic as you please and remain sovereign of your own house.”

Sudden anger lashed out of her. “I can never get back what I had, Troi.”

“No. You can have something better, where the Orders can never find you. Come back to Orthros with me.”

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