Page 44 of Winter Goddess
"Pretend you're kissing me," I mutter under my breath.
"I don't need to pretend," he replies and the intensity of his voice makes my ovaries jump in excitement. Down, girls. Not now. I have work to do.
He leans down until his mouth almost touches mine. His lips are hovering close to my skin and I can feel his hot breath.
"Magnus is talking to a clone Crispin," I say hurriedly before I'm tempted to kiss him and forget all about the potential assassin. "Thor is going to lure Magnus away, and I'll take care of fake Crisp. Can you keep the real Crispin away? I want it to seem like I don't realise he's a clone."
"You shouldn't be doing this alone," Storm protests but I put a finger on his lips to shut him up. He opens his mouth and sucks on it. Well, there goes that idea. Tingling spreads through my hand and I really want to take this further, but I'm the Queen now. I need to look after my subjects.
Look at me, using proper language like subjects. Soon I'll be talking about taxes and other horrifically boring stuff.
"Keep Crispin away," I repeat. "If you must, you can follow me after, but don't worry, I can handle this on my own. I'm stronger now than the last time and I have the aspect of surprise on my side. Let's just try and keep this under wraps, I don't want our allies to think that we're weak by letting assassins enter our Palace."
He nods, but his aura is darkening. He doesn't like me doing this. Well, he'll have to get used to it. I'm the bloody Queen of this bloody Realm and I can make my own decisions. I swallow my anger; it's not him I should be angry at. It's Magnus and the clone. They're ruining my coronation.
I leave Storm to look for the real Crispin and head to the corner where I last saw the two men I'm looking for. Magnus has disappeared, hopefully called away by Thor. The clone is still there, nibbling on some dried fruit. He seems to enjoy himself. That's going to change in a moment.
I smooth my expression and approach him from behind.
"There you are! I've been looking for you!"
I should probably hug him to make it more convincing, but I can't bring myself to do it. This is an impostor, someone the Morrigan created and trained. He might try and kill me any moment, although if he's clever, he's going to wait until we're alone.
"What's up?" he asks, sounding just like Crispin. I extend my magic just to make sure that he's a clone. Yes, there's none of the familiar bond I have with my Guardians.
"Tamara said she has a surprise," I tell him, "a present for just the two of us. Shall we take a look?"
He looks a little confused. Wait, I can see his face. There's no aura. How did I not notice this before? Crispin's beautiful face. His eyes, his smile, his kissable lips. But no, that's not him. And why doesn't he have an aura? Everyone does, even Gods, even dragon shifters. He's the first person in the Realms who I've seen without one. Very strange. Does that mean he doesn't have magic? Or is it because he's a duplicate, a shadow of someone who's already existing?
"Where's the surprise?" he asks, looking around the room as if he's searching for Tamara. Luckily, my magic has already confirmed that she isn't here. "And why only us? Why not the others?"
He's far too suspicious for my taste. I need him to trust me; I don't want him to be on his guard.
"She said in the magic training courtyard where Blaze likes to be. Maybe it's got something to do with Blaze? You know how secretive unicorns like to be."
"Oh yes." He nods, even though I'm not sure if he's ever met a unicorn before. I really hope he hasn't, because that would probably mean that the Morrigan has one captured. I don't even want to think about that.
"Good, then let's go," I say cheerily and take his hand, pulling him with me.
"You're very excited," he remarks, but he follows me without struggle.
"It's my coronation, of course I'm excited!"
I keep him at my side, so I can see what he's doing. I have no intention of getting stabbed in the back.
"I can't wait to see what she got us," I babble, trying to make myself sound careless and overly happy. I want him to be less tense.
"Yes, neither can I." He doesn't sound enthusiastic at all. "It must be something special if it's just for you and me."
"I'm sure she's put a lot of thought into it." By now, I'm almost expecting Tamara to be in the courtyard, but when we enter it, it's abandoned, just like I'd hoped. Everyone is in the Great Hall to celebrate, and the only rooms that are guarded are the Royal Quarters, which is why I couldn't take him there.
I have no idea where Blaze is. I'd expected him to come to the coronation, but he wasn't there, and he's not here either, in his favourite spot. Maybe he's left the Palace? He came without warning, could he be gone without saying a word either? No, he loves attention too much for that, he'd probably want us to hold a big farewell ceremony for him.
"There's nobody here," Crispin remarks, his voice turning cold. I think he knows that he's been discovered.
"Maybe she's running late?" I suggest while gripping my magic and wrapping it tightly around me as a barrier. I make it hard, but invisible, an impenetrable armour that will keep him from injuring me physically. My mental barriers are up and strong. He's got no chance of injuring me unless he uses some very powerful magic.
"Or maybe she was never here." He looks me straight in the eyes, the blackness in them so unlike the beautiful warm eyes of the real Crispin.
