Blinding Beauty (47 page)

Ever frowned. “I nearly just lost
you. That is going to be difficult to do.”

But Isa patiently shook her head.
“I know I have much to learn, but if I’m truly meant to wield the
Fortress’s power, you must trust the Fortress to protect me.” She
sat back a little. “You also need to consider me your partner. I
like Queen Kartek. She’s intelligent and kind, but,” Isa leaned
forward with a knowing look, “she is not your queen, and she has
said as much herself. In the future, I need for you to confide in
me.”

Ever drew in a sharp lungful of
frigid air before letting out an annoyed huff. “You don’t know how
much you ask of me.” He leaned forward also. “I can’t lose you
again.”

“
By ignoring my call, you nearly
did lose me already.”

They watched one another for a
long time. She was right, but Ever hated to admit it. Allowing her
to face evil by his side was going to be the most difficult
challenge he had ever undertaken. His concentration was broken,
however, when she slipped him a little mischievous
smirk.

“
If it’s going to be that hard,
I’ll just have to convince you.”

He started to ask her how she was
going to do that, when her arms wrapped themselves around him, and
her lips were suddenly on his. He pulled back enough to
groan.

“
That’s not fair.”

She smiled into his kiss. “It’s
not supposed to be. Now, hush. Your queen commands it.” And before
Ever could protest, she kissed him again.

CHAPTER
FORTY-SEVEN

Impostors

Panic
seized Isa as she stretched her arms out and found nothing. Where
was Ever?

Bolting upright, she looked
around, and relief came over her when she found Ever stoking the
fire.

“
I’m sorry,” he said. “I was
hoping you would sleep a bit longer. I thought I would get the fire
warmed up before I woke you.”

Isa snuggled back under her
blanket as deep as she could go. Morning hadn’t yet broken, but in
the early gray, the gently sloping hills of snow looked much less
threatening than they had the night before. As she looked around,
she realized she was clutching Ever’s black cloak as well as her
blanket.

It was so good to have his
attentions once more.

Ever’s posture was as straight as
always as he knelt to feed the fire. The bags beneath his eyes were
even more pronounced though than they had been the day before. He
must have remained awake all night to keep watch. Isa felt a prick
of guilt.

“
I should have taken a turn on
watch. It wasn’t fair for you to take the entire night.”

Ever smirked at her. “You wouldn’t
have been able to stay awake even if you had wanted to. Besides,”
his tone became more serious, “I may not know how to be attentive,
but I can guard. Let me love you in the way I am able.”

Isa couldn’t help the smile that
spread across her face. Pulling his cloak off the top of her
blanket, she braced herself for the wave of cold air that would hit
her as soon as she left the safety of her covers. As soon as she
stood, the wind was so cold she nearly squeaked. She tiptoed to
Ever as quickly as she could and draped his cloak over his
shoulders before cocooning herself up again in her blanket beside
him. Thankfully, the warmth of the fire soon began to grow, and as
it did, Isa felt a little more awake.

There were so many things she
wanted to say, an unending stream of questions she could ask. But
as much as they’d rediscovered the night before, talking and
laughing again in a way they hadn’t in a long time, there was still
a veil between them. Time would have to heal their marriage in some
ways, she sensed.

“
So what happens now?” She finally
worked up the courage to meet his eyes again.

“
We need to speak with Garin.
Launce was supposed to send him word of what’s been going on in
Cobren.”

If Isa had been sleepy before, she
wasn’t anymore. Shame and frustration slapped her as she remembered
her callous words when Ever had first told her about Launce’s
dangerous intent. And yet, she couldn’t quite scold her husband
greatly, as for several days, he had been more concerned about
Launce’s welfare than she had.

“
I still don’t understand why he
had to go,” she mumbled, not quite able to look Ever in the
eye.

Ever appeared unruffled, however,
as he handed her a warmed biscuit drizzled in honey. “If I hadn’t
sent him to Cobren, he would have insisted on coming along with
me.”

Isa shivered, and not from the
cold. It was bad enough that Launce had gotten so tangled up in
their business in Cobren. She couldn’t imagine him squaring off
against Bronkendol in the Glass Castle. At least there were others
he could turn to in Cobren. She hoped. When she looked back at
Ever, he was still frowning thoughtfully.

“
What is it?” she
asked.

“
It’s nothing.”

Isa gave him a knowing look. “You
promised. No more hiding.”

Ever sighed. “It would be simple
enough to take on an army, even an army of glass men such as those
Bronkendol conjured. But if everyone else falls to his power the
way I did, then he won’t need an army.” Ever picked up a pebble at
his feet and chucked into the white wilderness before them. “We
won’t even have a choice. Once he sees we’re alive, he will set
them upon us. Shedding your enemy’s blood is a grim enough matter,
but fighting our allies, our friends, and our kin?” He pressed his
mouth into a tight line, but didn’t go on.

The thought of fighting against
Launce chilled Isa to the bone. The enchanter hadn’t given him the
glass slivers before, but what was stopping him from doing it now?
No. Isa shook her head to lose the thought. She had raised her
sword to Ever only to survive, because she knew he would kill her,
and ultimately, himself if she didn’t stop him.

But Launce wasn’t the killing
machine her husband was. Against her weak blocks and parries, she
had known Ever would survive. Launce’s self-defense skills,
however, were such that he might injure himself if the enchanter
told him to use a sword. Ever was right. They needed to get to
Garin.

Without saying it aloud, they both
knew it was time to go. As they resumed their journey, the sun
lifted above the horizon completely, just in time for the eternal
hills of snow to melt away, and Isa was grateful to see the signs
of late autumn still upon the ground. Had full winter truly arrived
everywhere, it would make the journey back to the Fortress, and
then Cobren, much harder.

“
How is it that I’ve never seen
those mountains that surrounded the Glass Castle on the maps
before?” Isa asked. “Shouldn’t Lingea be north of us?”

Ever nodded. “I do not think it’s
so much of a place, as a time.” When Isa frowned in confusion, he
continued, “Did you notice that the castle had no dust? Three
thousand years go by, and the wood of the furniture hadn’t
crumbled, the linens were still clean, and the plants in that
greenhouse were still alive. Even the newer houses in Soudain need
their wood reworked on the years where snow and rain are
particularly heavy. Let’s rest the horses here.” He clucked to
Hugon, and Isa followed him off the road and into the brush. A
gurgling stream ran right down at the bank’s edge.

Though the snows had not yet come
to these woods, it ran deep enough for the horses to drink heavily.
Isa could tell they were getting close to Destin’s northern border
again, as the tall, pine trees were looking more familiar. Soon
they would cross the desert gorges that separated Lingea, Destin,
and Tumen’s lands. Not that Isa had any desire to visit Tumen, but
at least the desert would mean they were only a day from
home.

“
I have a question for you this
time.” Ever interrupted Isa’s thoughts. He was leaning back against
a tree, sharpening a dagger as their horses rested. Isa let her
eyes follow the fine lines of his arms and chest. “Isa?”

“
What was that?”

He gave her a cockeyed smile as
though he knew where her thoughts had gone, and she felt herself
blush.

“
I was asking you how you knew the
kiss would break Bronkendol’s hold on me.”

“
I didn’t.”

Ever raised his eyebrows, and Isa
shrugged.

“
It was instinctive. Like the way
I stopped Nevina. I knew what I needed to do, and somehow, it
happened. Why?”

He rubbed his neck thoughtfully.
“The Fortress gave you the power you needed both times, and yet, we
continue to worry about why it isn’t there. I think it’s been there
all along though.”

“
I’ve failed so much!”

Ever held up a hand. “Your power
of the heart is different than any the Fortress has on record. Even
Garin hasn’t seen anything like it before.” He gave her a
thoughtful look. “I think it’s time we stop trying to judge your
strength by the strength of others. The Fortress has given you the
strength to defeat Nevina and Bronkendol at the exact moments you
needed it. No more and no less.” A small smile began to grow on
Ever’s face. “I think that when we are all through with this mess,
you’re going to be just fine.”

“
But you’re strong all the
time.”

“
And see how far I’ve fallen.” He
gave her a sad smile. That wasn’t exactly what Isa had wanted to
hear. And yet, they had more important problems to solve than her
erratic fire.

They led their horses back to the
road before she dared ask the question she feared had no
answer.

“
So how do we stop
him?”

“
Simple,” Ever said. “We break the
mirror.”

He bent to help Isa mount her
horse, but she placed her hand on his face first. Her heart
fluttered as he paused, their faces nearly touching. “Together?”
she asked breathlessly.

Ever began to answer, but a bush
rustled to their left. Before she could move, Ever had drawn his
sword, and was crouched in a ready stance in front of her. Isa felt
clumsy as she unsheathed her own sword and tried to hold it out
just as he had taught her. As they waited, listening, Isa prayed it
was only an animal. It would be absurd for them to die now at the
hand of bandits.

The men who stepped out of the
trees were no bandits though. Isa heard Ever let out a sigh of
relief when ten foot soldiers walked into the little clearing, all
wearing blue and green. She even recognized a few of
them.

“
Percy!” Everard reached out to
clap the shoulder of the soldier closest to them.

Isa watched in surprise as the man
did not bow or salute his king, as the soldiers always did at home.
Instead, he only looked at his companions, confusion on his
face.

“
They cannot be—”

“
Don’t let your eyes deceive you,
Percy. He said there would be no noticeable difference.”

Ever watched them in disbelief as
the soldiers conversed among themselves. “Could someone please
enlighten me?” he shouted.

The second soldier cleared his
throat. “You are hereby ordered to appear before the His Majesty in
court. He and His Holiness will know what to do with such
impostors.”

“
Impostors?” Isa repeated. “Do you
not recognize your king?”

“
And if I’m here, who in the
blazes is ‘His Majesty?’“ Ever roared.

“
His Holiness, Bronkendol of the
North, will deal with you. Now, if you will cooperate, we can keep
this from being unpleasant.” The soldier looked at them
expectantly, as if he actually believed they would obey
him.

Isa could feel Ever tensing beside
her. Heat radiated from his body as he began to lift his sword, but
she grabbed his arm and whispered, “Look at their eyes!” Indeed,
the smallest fractals of blue-violet light pulsed from the edges of
the soldiers’ eyes, just as they had done in Ever’s. “They’re just
as much prisoners as we are,” she urged him. “Let’s just go with
them, and no one will be hurt.” Ever glared at her, so she added,
“Just as you said, we cannot fight our own.”

“
I will take those.” The guard
held his hand out and nodded at their swords.

“
Over my dead body,” Ever
growled.

“
No.” An arm wrapped itself around
Isa’s neck and dragged her backwards. Isa felt herself choking as
her captor continued to tighten his grip. “Over her dead
body.”

The fire which had burned strong
in Ever’s eyes now threatened to kill each and every soldier
present. Desperately, Isa shook her head as well as she could from
beneath the man’s tight hold. She wasn’t ready to bear their blood
on her hands just yet. For a moment, she wasn’t sure he would
listen. It felt like an eternity as he held her gaze. As he did,
she pleaded him with her eyes. Not yet.

Finally, he lowered it nearly to
the ground. “You swear we shall remain safe?”

“
We are under direct orders to
bring you to the Fortress,” the soldier said. “The Holy Adviser
wants to meet with you himself.” The young man’s eyes flicked down
to the slight blue floating over Ever’s hands. “He said there would
most likely be sorcery involved,” the soldier muttered. Then he
nodded at another man behind him. “Pull out the
talisman.”