Adamant Spirits, page 63
“I have no intention of walking away.”
“Of course you don’t. You can’t. You’re bound to her now. Bound to her unless she sets you free. Your choice is over. I need to find her, talk to her. Perhaps she has more sense about her than you do.”
My eyes went wide. Maeve finding me sounded terrible. Lazlo had just outright lied to his mother, or at least wasn’t honest by implying he took my virginity. It was a lie I didn't know if I could manage to hold together. What she was saying about the women in my bloodline sounded bizarre. It was nothing I’d ever been told. Was that why Lazlo stopped last night? I slipped quietly down the hallway. I headed down to the potions room. Perhaps she’d look elsewhere for me first, and I’d have time to figure out how to avoid her.
What if I couldn’t convince her and Lazlo had to be with Penelope?
As I hurried through the manor toward the potions room, I realized that wasn’t going to buy me any time. It would be the first place Maeve would look for me. Then I remembered the little shed where Laz and I always went to hide when he was avoiding a chore or getting in trouble. No one would know to look for me there but Laz. I slipped out a side door and into the cold morning air. I wasn’t dressed for the outdoors, but I hardly cared. The shed was a short run around the back of the property.
I found the door unlocked as usual, and I made my way inside. I was shielded from the wind, but it was still cold. I looked around and found an old blanket. Laz and I had left it out here years ago. I wrapped myself in the blanket and began to cry. I couldn’t stop the tears. Lazlo was the best friend I’d ever had. Slightly pathetic since I usually only saw him once or twice a year. Still, despite that, he was the closest I had outside of Gran.
I wrapped the blanket tighter around my shoulder and closed my eyes. I couldn’t stay out here forever. I’d have to go back and face them eventually. When Maeve saw me would she know right away that Lazlo had lied to her? Did he mean what he said about wanting to be with me?
The door to the shed cracked open. “Marjorie?” I heard Lazlo whisper, “are you in here?”
I stood up and walked toward the light coming through the door.
“Yea, I’m here.”
Lazlo came inside and closed the door. The two of us sat down together in the dark of the shed. Bits of light from the sun outside shone through some cracks in the wall. We huddled together on the blanket. Lazlo wrapped his arm around me.
“I wondered where you’d gone off to. When Mother didn’t find you in the potions room, I was concerned that you overheard us. I thought if you wanted to avoid her, this might be where you’d come.”
“I did. Did she mean it? Marrying you off to someone?”
“Yes, she’s threatened before. She has the power to make me.”
“And you lied to her, you told her that we, I mean, what we did wasn’t what you were talking about.”
“No, but since Mother has a superstition about you, I knew it could change her mind.”
“But you told her you wanted to be with me. She thought you were under some spell. Did you mean that? Do you really want to be with me, Lazlo?”
“I meant everything I said to you, and everything I said to her.”
“Won’t she know as soon as she sees me? She said that she would.”
“Not if we change that,” he said, looking into my eyes.
“You mean, here? Now?” I couldn’t decide whether this spot where we’d shared so many intimate thoughts was the perfect place, or whether the fact that it was a dirty shed outside in the cold made it a terrible choice.
Lazlo pulled me into him and kissed me. Suddenly feeling his lips on mine and the way my body responded, I decided this was the perfect place.
He wasted no time unbuttoning my blouse. His hands were cold, and I gasped slightly at the sensation against my bare skin as he caressed my breasts. He lay me down on the blanket I’d been wrapped in, continuing to kiss me as his hands reached underneath my skirt. There was still a slight chill as his hand slid up my thigh and underneath my underwear. I squirmed at the sensation.
“Are you okay?” he asked between breaths.
“Your hands are a bit cold,” I confessed.
“I’m sorry,” he said, pulling away slightly. “You deserve better than this.”
“No,” I pulled him back to me. “Don’t stop. I’m with you. That makes it perfect. I want this, Laz, I want you.”
“And I want you, oh God, do I want you, Marjorie,” he said, delivering kisses to my neck.
His lips moved back to my mouth and he continued to kiss me while he helped me wiggle out of my underwear. Then he continued exploring the expanding wetness between my legs with his fingers. My body knew what it wanted. I was hungry for him inside of me. I reached for the waistband of his pants, unfastening them. It was too cold inside the thin shed for us to completely undress. Slightly awkward, but I knew I didn’t care.
It wasn’t long until he was on top of me and guiding himself into position. I gasped at the slightly painful and unusual sensation as he pressed into me.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly.
I nodded.
“Just try to relax,” he whispered in my ear as he pushed in further.
I responded to his command and as he began moving in and out, the sensations flooding my body were unlike any I had ever dreamed.
From this moment on, we belonged together. They couldn’t tear us apart.
Thirteen
We cuddled on top of the blanket and underneath Lazlo’s coat.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, gently stroking my hair.
“Amazing,” I said, “That was, well, I think we should do that more.”
He smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that,” he said, landing a kiss on my forehead. “I’d never, I mean not with someone that hadn’t ever, so I hope it was alright.”
I looked into his eyes. “It was perfect, Laz,” I said as I ran my hand across his shirt.
“Well, I don’t know about perfect. Here we are in a cold shed, half-dressed. It’s not what I wanted for you.”
“In a way, it’s fitting. You and I have spent quite a bit of time here over the years. It’s been our secret spot. If it’d been warmer, yeah, that would have been nice,” I chuckled.
Suddenly he sat up. “Shit, I can feel Mother’s magic calling me to the manor. I don’t want to leave you, but if she’s looking for me and finds us here, well, that’d be worse. Take my coat and go back inside, then come upstairs after a little bit. Let me calm Mother first.”
Our eyes met. “God, I love you, Marjorie Rene,” he said before kissing me again. “I’m so glad we agreed to this.”
He straightened himself out as I put myself back together. He wrapped his coat around me, and we headed back outside.
“I’ll see you shortly. Mother will be fine, you’ll see.”
With that, he gave me another kiss, and we headed to different entrances into the manor.
I went down into my potions parlor. I looked at myself in the mirror. I needed a brush. I looked like I’d just been rolling around on the floor of a dirty shed. I smiled and giggled at myself in the mirror.
I found a brush and fixed my hair, checking my clothes for evidence of the shed and making sure I looked presentable before I headed upstairs to face Lazlo’s mother.
When I arrived at the main area of the manor, I could hear people talking. I poked my head into the dining room. No one was there. I looked into the study and was surprised to find the entire family there, plus an unexpected guest. I entered, and his head turned toward me, and he rose. Immediately so did the rest of the family.
“Ah, you must be the lovely Marjorie I’m here to see.” It was Cai, or properly King Mordecai. This time there was no golden aura.
“Marjorie, this is King Mordecai,” Maeve piped in. I sensed a tension in the air. His presence made them uneasy, all of them.
I curtsied. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness.”
Cai smiled, a glint in his eyes. “Likewise, my dear. Will you walk with me, Marjorie? I need to discuss some things with you. Privately.”
Lazlo looked uncomfortable at that invitation. He remained silent, however.
“Of course, Your Highness.” I curtsied again.
I took the arm he offered me, and we walked outside. Light snow was falling. With a wave of his hand, I was wearing a warm cape over my dress and could feel no chill from the outside air. He walked me over to a bench in the front garden and motioned for me to sit.
“That should keep you comfortable for this discussion,” he said. “Your grandmother is aiding my brother, and in return, one thing asked of me was to look out for you in her absence. I didn’t anticipate responding personally, but I was nearby when I sensed an episode, a couple of things actually that brought me here. One was of a serious enough nature it requires my attention. Poor Lazlo was a bit terrified when I asked to speak with him. He filled me in on your near kidnapping event from his perspective. I need your perspective to fill in the gaps.”
I recounted the events for him, the description of the man, the strange feeling up my arm, and the cloud that had started to form.
“Well, if your boy hadn’t been so quick on his feet, you’d be lost to us by now. After we met, I realized something about you, or something I suspected. I reached out to your grandmother, and my suspicions were confirmed. You and I share blood, distantly but still shared on your mother’s side. That is why you could see through my illusion.”
“So we are related?”
“Distantly, but yes. My sources tell me the man who was after you was also of your mother’s lineage. He was attempting to take you back to be with your mother’s family. His people have a pact with my kingdom, and he violated that trust by this attempt. It is something I need to deal with.”
“Gran never talks about my mother. I knew I must have family from her side, but I never thought about it much.”
“Your mother, as I understand it, held ancient and powerful magic in her blood. There is a cult that hunts blood like hers, like yours. They call themselves The Collectors. Your grandmother is worried about them finding you.”
“But if you are related to me, then why don’t they come after you?”
“My relationship is quite well hidden, so not on the radar of The Collectors. Even if it were, I assure you I’m quite well protected.”
King Mordecai was a powerful mage not to be trifled with. His ease and confidence certainly reflected someone with nothing to fear from others.
He grasped my hand. “You, on the other hand, would be of particular interest to their order. If any of them find out who you are, who your mother was, you will be in grave danger, which brings me to point number two that was brought to my attention. I understand your boy is set on marrying you, or at least securing you as promised to him.”
“Wow, news travels fast.”
“Not really; it was Lazlo who told me just a little while ago. When we began discussing your safety, I questioned him about his relationship with you. He claimed to have compromised your virtue. He stated he wanted to marry you. He was rather quick to spill that information, much to the dismay of his mother. So that brings me to my next question.” He turned to me, looking me square in the eyes. Was I supposed to look a King in the eyes?
“Before you answer, I want you to consider that reply carefully. I’ll abide by whatever you say. If you back his story, I’ll walk in there and insist on the marriage myself. If you say it isn’t true, then Lazlo isn’t in trouble with me, but he won’t be promised to you. So what is your answer, yes or no?”
“Am I in trouble?” Suddenly I was worried. Did I do something wrong by being with Lazlo like that?
“No, my dear, you are not in any trouble. Neither is Lazlo. I merely want you to consider your answer carefully.”
“What about Gran?”
“She’ll agree. If you want young Lazlo, his family cannot deny you if he speaks the truth.”
“I don’t understand. I mean, Lazlo said his mother was superstitious about my family. That he’d be under some spell, was it true?”
“In part, yes. Since your grandmother is past childbearing age now, in the eyes of your family’s spell book, the magic of your family, whoever is your first partner, offers himself to your bloodline, to be the father of your children. He isn’t under a spell, but your decision binds him.”
“But you are telling me I can lie to you, and you’ll accept it. The magic will accept it.”
“Trust me, the truth is all over you, just as it is all over him, but yes, you have an option. You can refuse him regardless of the truth. The magic allows you to choose him, not for him to choose you.”
I paused for a moment. I was sure, wasn’t I? I felt sure when I gave myself to him. I steadied myself. Lazlo was what I wanted. I knew it in my heart.
“I made my choice, Your Highness. The answer is yes, I choose Lazlo.”
He smiled. “Then, as the authority present, I’ll preside over the contract. Shall we go inside?”
Fourteen
Mordecai extended his hand to me and led me back into the study. Everyone stood as we entered. Lazlo looked anxiously at me. The King’s crew stood stoically along the side of the room.
Mordecai crossed to Maeve. “Lady Maeve, it appears we are in need of drawing up a marriage contract between your son and this lovely young lady. I’ve spoken with both of them. According to her familial magic, they are to be married. Her guardian will, of course, need to add her signature upon her return, but we should get things settled immediately.”
Lazlo’s eyes brightened with the smile that crossed his face. I saw Maeve sigh. She didn’t seem surprised. Gwen’s eyes were wide and darting between Lazlo and myself. Jordan was stoic as ever. Did that man ever show emotion?
Maeve offered a deep curtsy. “Of course, Your Highness.” Her head turned toward Gwen. “Please fetch us the appropriate items. You know where they are and what is needed.”
“Of course, Mother,” Gwen replied before backing out of the room.
Mordecai seated himself on the nearby overstuffed chair with a regal high back. Of all the furniture in the room, he’d picked the one most similar to a throne. He motioned for Lazlo and me to sit nearby on the small loveseat.
“Lady Maeve, Lord Jordan,” he said, again motioning for them to sit nearby. “First, we need to discuss the terms. I understand there are plans for Lazlo to serve in King Ceffert’s army. I see no reason to interfere with those plans. King Ceffert will have him, as promised. The magic will cooperate.”
A look of relief washed over Maeve’s face. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
“The marriage will take place after he completes that three-year term. However, there are a few stipulations. If the birth of a child is expected at any point, the contract will need to be updated, and they will marry immediately. Marjorie will receive whatever assistance is necessary from both families if Lazlo is still engaged in his military contract.”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
Gwen returned with parchment and a few magical herbs and ornaments. She curtsied as she set them on the table in front of the King.
“Thank you, my dear. Please have a seat,” he said as he motioned to another nearby chair. Gwen promptly obeyed.
Mordecai smiled. “I haven’t had the pleasure of doing one of these in quite some time. Alright, let’s begin.”
We all watched him in awe as lights and symbols appeared in the air and were directed into the parchment.
“Lazlo and Marjorie, place your hands on the document.”
We both moved quickly to obey, placing our hands where he directed. A cord of light appeared, wrapping our hands to the parchment and to each other. “The two of you are now bound to these terms.”
“Your Highness, are there any terms of dissolution? I’m sure her grandmother will ask once she returns.”
“Of course, knowing the types of travel her grandmother does, should Marjorie not be here to marry Lazlo at the three-year mark, she does not forfeit her claim unless she returns and tells Lazlo she does not want to marry. Of course, the parchment will disintegrate upon her death or if she should marry another after that time. Only then is Lazlo no longer bound by its terms.”
Maeve looked slightly pale. Lazlo squeezed my hand and smiled.
“So Marjorie does have the power to back out?” Maeve asked timidly.
“Only if she misses that three-year mark due to unforeseen circumstances. Otherwise, she’s as bound as he is. The magic will dictate it.”
He looked over at the two of us. Both of us were smiling at each other. Then he stood, and everyone in the room did the same.
“Well, I thank you all for your kind hospitality, but my business here is concluded to my satisfaction. Since I’m a romantic at heart, I’d like to extend an invitation to visit my court to Lazlo and Marjorie. The rest of the family is also welcome if desired.”
Maeve stepped forward and curtsied. “Thank you, Your Highness, for such a generous offer. As you may be aware, our familial magic does require at least one of us to remain here at all times, but of course, my son and Marjorie will make the journey per your request.”
“Excellent. I’ll make arrangements upon my return and send word for them to come to me. “ He waved a signal in the air, and suddenly several additional soldiers appeared, and the entire crew walked him out.
The silence in the room upon their departure felt heavy. Maeve was staring at Lazlo. Then she turned to me. Her annoyance was apparent by her expression.
“Well, Marjorie, this took an interesting turn. Lazlo, I hope you are happy,” she finally said before walking out of the room. Her husband followed, never saying a word to either of us. Once they were gone, Gwen smiled.
“Congratulations, you two. I mean, I didn’t think you’d manage it, but you did. Just be happy, alright? I’d hang out with you, but Mom has me practicing with her on the schedule, and I know she’s already not happy with these delays, so I’d best not keep her waiting.” She gave us both hugs, then left the room, leaving Lazlo and me by ourselves.
