Twin Passions: 3 (16 page)

Epilogue

The magick room made by the “shield” they had created enclosed the most precious of treasures that had been gifted to Sentmar.

It contained not just a princess but a Sorceress Sentinel of Power, a being unheard of for over two millennia. A Sorceress with the ability to command, control and oversee the magick of all the lands, not just those of one, but of all Sentmar.

Fair of face, delicate of body.

Lips that held the sweetest pout, and eyes the color of the deepest of green seas.

Slender legs and rounded thighs, hips a man could grip as he pressed into her, possessed her.

A lithe and desirous body that he and Ruine knew they would be able to hold back from not much longer.

She was beauty in its ultimate form.

She was magick in its deepest purity.

She was the salvation of a land slowly being overrun by dark magick and had no idea the abilities she held within her small body.

“What do we do from here?” Raize asked, his tone a dark, fearsome growl.

Ruine sighed at the question and shook his head. “At this moment, brother, I am not certain. Like the Pixie the Claemai bound to them, we cannot force either her heart nor her touch. Though I feel it would not matter. Her hatred already runs deep for us.”

“Aye, this is true,” he agreed. “It is but a hatred she will soon forget, brother. Once she touches the magick within herself and opens those doors, then her time here within this shield will be forgotten.”

“Should she do so.” Raize highly doubted she would. “Our time is nearly at an end. Still, I do not feel her in the Shadow Planes, nor do I sense her magick outside the room we created for her.”

And they could push her no further.

They could not touch her.

They could not claim her.

She was created for them alone, their natural Consortress, her power stronger, more deeply in touch with the center of magick that flowed through the land, yet she refused to access it.

It presented more of a problem then they wished to contemplate.

“To release her would be the same as placing a babe before a Harpie,” Raize growled with an edge of impatience. “The darkness moving into Covenan would devour her.”

“We may have to alter our plans then,” Ruine suggested. “Does she not step into the Shadow Planes, then she will be doomed.”

They stared back at her as she slept, innocence, dreamless sleep, and despaired of ever finding a way to force her into her own escape.

* * * * *

“She will be doomed—” Serena caught the last of the conversation as she slipped past the shield that held her physical body bound and sent her magick reaching out through the caverns where she was being held.

The castle was huge. She had used her time in the prison she was locked within to scout it as thoroughly as possible, but had only recently found her mother.

As she had been each time Serena materialized in her magick form into her room, Queen Amoria was pacing the floors.

She jumped at the sight of the wavering magick that revealed her daughter’s presence, but it was love and thanksgiving that filled her expression and her eyes.

“Have you contacted Garron yet?” Amoria questioned her, the anger still yet throbbing in her tone. “He could get us from this place, Serena.”

She could get them from there. She was no fledgling, she clearly remembered the Shadow Planes and how to use them, just as she remembered the dangers that lived within them. Dangers she feared she and her mother might not survive because the protectors who once lingered there had not been present for many cycles.

“I cannot find a way to send the form of my magick from the castle, Mother,” Serena revealed. “I have tried, but this place where we are being held is too well protected.”

“And who holds us? The Sentinels have mercy on them once Garron learns of this. He will not stand for such betrayal.” Hands clenched to fists at her side, her mother swung away from her, anger throbbing in her voice with each word.

And how Garron must worry for the queen he had given his heart to, Serena thought silently, refusing to voice the thought to her mother.

She had known for ages exactly who Garron was, and the deceit he had practiced upon the house of Sellane as well. Unfortunately, that deceit had been no treason nor criminal act. Though she feared her mother would not see it quite that way.

“I hope to perhaps connect with another being this night,” Serena revealed. “There is a Pixie within distance of my magick, I believe. I can sense her clearly, but I have not yet identified her. She would send word to Garron.”

“Yes.” Amoria shook her head as she raked her fingers through her still-vibrant, red-gold hair. “The Pixies have always given us their loyalty.”

She turned back to her daughter, staring at the wavering form of magic as Serena stood calm and composed before her.

There were no emotions seeping out to color the vibrant green hues of magick that made up her form. As though emotion had been vanquished long ago, she had often thought.

Sweet mercy, what had happened to her child that she no longer felt those great surges of laughter and joy?

What a failure she had been as a mother, Amoria castigated herself. Brianna had feared Wizard magick to the point that she was convinced it would be rape. Sweet Marina had been all but raped, and had feared telling her mother. And Serena, her heir, the child she had groomed to sit upon the throne of Covenan, had apparently found a way to tame all the emotion that had once existed around her.

“Are you well, Mother?” Serena asked in concern as Amoria continued to stare back at her in confusion.

Her mother nodded, but it was a halfhearted gesture at best. “Aye, child, I’m fine. Fine,” she was assured before Amoria asked, “Serena, why did you never tell me you could travel with your magick in such a way?”

Serena clasped her hands before her. “Perhaps I wasn’t aware I could, Mother.”

Amoria said nothing more. Her daughter would not reveal the truth to her when she stated a denial in such a way. Nay, not a denial, a deception. It was a lie veiled within a half truth. She knew well, she had used such things herself.

She battled the tears and the fear she felt for the gentle young woman she had always felt had been most like her. “I love you, Serena.”

Confusion flickered through her daughter’s gaze then. “As I love you, Mother. I should know about the Pixie soon.”

Just as quickly, her daughter was gone.

Amoria lifted her fingers to her lips, fighting to hold back her tears when another form materialized.

This one was of flesh and blood, leathery scales and a gaze filled with somber sympathy.

“What happened to her, Garron?” She didn’t turn to the dragon.

She felt him, knew he was there. This was no imposter. She had known this dragon her entire life, and knew the feel of him as she knew nothing else.

“She has many fears,” he said softly. “And she’s had many adventures within the Planes, my Queen. She knows the dangers there now, and she greatly fears them.”

“Does she sense my knowledge of all this?” She waved her hand at her prison before turning to the dragon.

His large head shook slowly. “But I cannot stay long, for she will sense me.”

“Have the Veressi move me.” Her head lifted, determination filling her. “Have them take me to the Shadow Planes. She will come for me there.”

His brow lifted. “You who abhor the Planes?” he questioned her. “Are you certain, my Queen, this is what you wish?”

She nodded slowly. “She is my daughter, Garron. She and her sisters are all I have left of their father, of the heart I lost so very long ago. I will do what I must.”

“Even face your own fears?”

She nodded slowly. “That is a very small price to pay for my daughters’ safety. A very small price indeed.”

About Lora Leigh

Lora Leigh lives in the rolling hills of Kentucky, and is often found absorbing the ambience of this peaceful setting. She dreams in bright, vivid images of the characters intent on taking over her writing life, and fights a constant battle to put them on the hard drive of her computer before they can disappear as fast as they appeared. Lora’s family and her writing life co-exist, if not in harmony, in relative peace with each other. Surrounded by a menagerie of pets, friend and a teenage son who keeps her quick wit engaged, Lora’s life is filled with joys, aided by her fans whose hearts remind her daily why she writes.

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