A bottle of water stood on the desk. Audrey swiped it, wet a handkerchief, and wiped her breasts, her waist, and then her thighs. She smelled like Kaldar. She wished she could curl up just like that, with his scent on her, and fall asleep while he held her.
She tossed the handkerchief to Kaldar.
"I told you you would like it."
"You are so humble." She brushed a quick kiss on his lips and pulled on her gown.
"Wedding at the end of the month, then?"
She pulled the clasp out of her hair and shifted it back into a decent hairstyle. She wanted the wedding. She wanted him whichever way she could get him. "Maybe."
"Is that a yes?"
"I'll think about it." She was in love with Kaldar. She knew it. Their sex wasn't just sex - it was making love. The way he looked at her made her shiver. But something inside her kept her from saying yes. It wasn't pride. Fear, she realized. She was afraid that if she told him yes, he would lose interest.
He wanted to marry her. "For men like you, 'marriage' sounds a lot like 'sentenced to forced labor in the mines.'"
"I never wanted to marry anyone before," he said. "When two people marry, they surrender a small part of themselves. They become more like each other. I never met a woman who was better than me at things I take pride in, and I never wanted to be like them. I always knew that whoever I was with was temporary. There was always a new woman around the corner. I've seen marriages shatter. Twice. My mother left, then Richard's wife. It almost broke my brother."
"So how do I know that you won't move on and leave me broken?"
"Because you are the one. You are better than me in some things, and I am better than you in others." He drew her into his arms. "I don't mind being a bit like you. I hope you don't mind being a bit like me."
He said exactly what she would have said if he had asked her why she wanted him.
Another set of footsteps echoed through the hallway. Kaldar glanced at the door.
If someone burst through that door and killed him, her life would be over. The realization rocked her, and she looked away.
"Audrey." He turned her to him.
She couldn't keep stringing him along. It wasn't fair.
He was dead serious. His eyes searched her face. He was terrified that she would shoot him down. He hid it, but she knew his face so well by now. It was the face of a man she loved, and his eyes could no longer keep a secret from her.
"Different entrances," he said. "We can't go back into the ballroom together."
"Of course I will marry you, you fool," Audrey told him.
KALDAR slipped through the arched entrance into the ballroom. Morell seemed preoccupied with some older man. A few moments later, Audrey arrived. She didn't look ruffled or disheveled. She certainly didn't seem like she had just had scorching sex. As far as he could tell, their disappearance and return had gone unnoticed by anyone except for Cerise, who was observing him with a very concerned look.
Audrey had said yes. The elation filled him, and he had to maintain an iron grip on his face to keep from grinning.
The butler strode through the double doors and cleared his throat. "The Marquise of Amry and Tuanin, Peer of the Realm, Veteran of the Ten-Month War, Recipient of the Gaulish Shield, Bearer of the Triple Seal of the Golden Throne, Defender of the Gaulish Empire of Third Rank, Captain Helena d'Amry. And associates."
Shit.
A servant deposited the invitation into Morell's hand. The baron glanced at it. "I see Kaleb Green will not be joining our auction this time around."
The butler stepped aside, and Helena strode into the ballroom. She wore the midnight blue uniform of the Gaulish Empire. Her green eyes searched the crowd unerringly and found Kaldar.
Helena d'Amry smiled.
GEORGE closed his eyes. Kaldar paced back and forth. He'd been trying to raise Audrey via the transmitter, but she didn't respond. George and his birds were his only hope. He stopped and peered out of the open window. Their quarters were luxurious and tightly guarded. Their windows presented a beautiful panorama of the mountains, and below them was a thousand-foot drop straight to the distant woods below.
"I'm there." George opened his eyes.
"Is Audrey there?"
"Yes."
"Tell her to activate the barrette."
"She says she doesn't have it. It must've fallen out. During the dancing."
No, she'd had it during the dancing. It must've been during their other dancing. He recalled her raising her hair. He couldn't remember the barrette being there. Kaldar almost slapped himself. Such a simple thing, and they had both missed it.
"Tell her we have to take the diffusers tonight."
George whispered and turned to him. "She says you are crazy."
"Tell her the auction is tomorrow. If we bid, Helena will outbid us, and we never intended to bid in the first place anyway. We have to retrieve them tonight."
George whispered and paused.
"She says what do you think will happen when Morell discovers that they are gone? All the wyverns are grounded, and the giant men with very sharp swords will mince us into tiny pieces."
"Tell her I had a replacement made. We substitute the replacement for the real thing." He'd had the Mirror make the replicas before he had ever set out for California. They were real gold, just like the bracelets themselves.
"She says we did that once, and let her think, oh, it didn't go very well, did it?"
"Tell her we have no choice. Tomorrow it will be all over."
"You suck. Do you even know where the vault is?"
"Yes, I do. It's in the northern turret on top of the keep. I looked at it from the balcony. It's full of guards, it's warded, and if the castle were to fall, its contents could be quickly moved by landing a wyvern on the roof next to it."
George looked at him. "She is walking around the room mumbling to herself."
"Tell her to mumble faster; we're short on time."
"Ummm, I'm not going to do that," George said.
George frowned. "She says when?"
"Half an hour. And tell Cerise to give Audrey her claws. I know she packed some."
KALDAR stood by the window. The Mirror's night suit clung to his frame, turning him all but invisible in the darkness. He checked the pack on his back. Secure. The claws came next: thick solid bands of steel and leather, laced with veins of wires, they clasped his palms, extending up his arms to wrap around his shoulders. His shins sported the second pair. A small coin powered each claw. He pressed the coins one by one. They flashed silver, sending thin currents of magic through the wires.