Earth & Sky (15 page)

I stared back.  Something’s not right.  That was the
understatement of the year.  She turned and scooped up the flowers we had
removed, and I saw a small softening at the corners of her mouth.  At first,
she had seemed so cold- almost like Winona.  However, no two people could be so
different.  I kept my gaze on the flowers, but I watched her out of the corner
of my eye.  “Are you…trying to be friends with me?”

She squared her shoulders and turned away.  “Of course
not,” she said immediately.  “Ville asked me to be nice, so I’m being nice. 
That’s all.”  She strode down the path to the magnolia tree and started putting
the uprooted flowers back in the ground.  I turned my back on her to hide my
smile. 

We worked in companionable silence for most of the
morning, tidying up the garden.  I could understand why Ville’s mother had
spent so much time here.  The longer I spent kneeling in the dirt, the more
relaxed I felt.  I’d never had much leisure time before.  There had always been
lessons to attend, chores to do, and meetings to prepare for.  If I had free
time, I’d always spend it studying or exercising, focused only on keeping up
with my duties to Winona.

Now that I was away from all that, I could just be.  It
was a strange sensation, wonderful and unsettling at the same time.  With my
duty stripped away, I had no idea who I was anymore.  I tilted my head back and
closed my eyes, letting the sun warm my face.  I felt like I was in a
fairytale.  If I could just stay here in this little garden forever, I would be
happy.

I opened my eyes to find Ibbe looking down at me.  “I’m
going inside,” she said tiredly.  “You can stay out here and get sunburn if you
want.”

I closed my eyes again and gave her a half smile. 
“Shifters don’t sunburn.”  Or, we did- but it only lasted until our next
shift.  Turning to animal and back kind of re-set things.  That’s why I’d never
dyed my hair.  It would be the perfect solution to my curse- but it would only
last a day or so until I turned wolf and ruined it.

Ville sank down on the sofa next to me, lifting my legs,
and placing them on his lap.  He closed his eyes and dropped his head back
against the back of the couch with a sigh.  I watched him for a moment, my eyes
flitting over his high cheekbones and full mouth, drinking him in.  “How was
the meeting?” I said, more to distract myself from other thoughts than because
I actually wanted to hear about it.

“Terrible.”  He turned his head to regard me from narrowed
blue eyes.  “Next time I’ll let you go in my place.”

I snorted.  “I’m sure that would go over well.”

He sat up a bit taller and took my foot in his hand,
massaging.  His big fingers sunk into the arch and I groaned.  “I’m trying to
keep things neutral,” he said softly.  “But it’s hard.”

I pulled my foot away and sat up.  “Because of me?”

He straightened and visibly shook off his wariness. 
“After that meeting, the last thing I want to talk about is politics and war.” 
He gave me a soft smile.  “Did you and Ibbe finish the garden?”

I narrowed my eyes at him.  I didn’t like that he was
dismissing my question.  But I also knew he was serious when he said he was
sick of talking about the war.  I was sick of it too.  Sick of the constant
reminder that I didn’t belong here, that even just sitting here, chatting with
him was wrong.  His beautiful eyes stared at me as if he knew what I was
thinking.  His expression begged me to let it go.

I sighed.  “We got it cleaned up pretty nice.  You should
go out and take a look when you get a chance.”  A wry grin lifted the corner of
my mouth.  “And you missed a once in a lifetime occurrence.  Ibbe was actually
nice to me.”

He grinned back.  “You’re right…I don’t think that’s ever
happened before, her being nice.”

I shook my head.  “And it probably won’t ever happen
again.  You don’t get it, because they adore you, but your cousins are
terrifying.”

He nodded.  “Oh believe me, I get it.  Individually they
aren’t bad- but wait ‘til they both get set on the same goal.  There’s no
stopping them.”

My laughter was interrupted by a knock on the study door. 
“Sir?”

Ville closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath
before answering.  “Come in.”

I recognized the short, stocky man as one of Ville’s
generals.  “We need you in the meeting room.  One of the scouts I sent out is
back with news.”

His small brown eyes flitted to me and he looked
disgusted.  I immediately gifted him with a face-splitting grin.  Kill them
with kindness, and all that.

Ville blinked and I thought he was stifling a laugh. 
“I’ll be right there, General.”

The man nodded and left the room.  Ville turned to me and
shook his head.  “Thanks for not starting anything.”

I gave him the same grin I had just bestowed on the
general, and he snorted with laughter.  I relaxed my face.  “It was either that
or kill him.”  I don’t take well to being regarded as slime.

Ville patted my head and stood.  “I hate to ask this of
you, but will you stay in here until I’ve finished with them?  If all of my
advisors are out there I’d rather you stay put.”

Under other circumstances, I would have been offended. 
But I could see the stain in his eyes.  He really did hate asking me to do
this.  “Okay,” I said meekly.  I pulled a clothing catalogue off the end table
and started leafing through it. 

He laughed at my sudden attitude change.  “Thank you.”  I
stilled as he bent and dropped a kiss on top of my head.  Then he was gone.

V
ille
strode into the room and I jumped to my feet at once, tired of being in seclusion
while the rest of the mansion buzzed around me with the unmistakable
undercurrents of a coming battle.

“You’re going?”  My eyes roved over him as he fastened the
katana across his armor-clad chest, his tall helm tucked awkwardly under a long
arm.  Everything about him seemed to radiate purpose as I watched him turn from
reluctant emperor to glorious warrior right before my eyes.

He straightened and his piercing blue gaze met mine. 
“Yes.”

I worried my bottom lip between my teeth and shifted from foot
to foot, the wolf in me wanting to move.  “I’m going too.”

He shook his dark head, gazing down at me with a sad
expression.  “You can’t come with me, Wren.”  His wide mouth quirked.  “No one
would know if you were friend or foe.”

I crossed my arms and started pacing.  “You’re going out
to fight my people and you think you can keep me here?”

He set his helm aside and closed the distance between us. 
“It’s because I’m going to fight your people that I can’t take you with me.” 
His big hands squeezed my shoulders, willing me to understand. 

“I have to go with my men.  I’ve had news that the king
and his heir will be there.  I can’t send out my generals by themselves.”  He
let out a heavy sigh.  “Besides, the men are losing faith in me because I’m
growing so soft.  I need to show my face.”

I glared up at him.  “If my dad and Win are there, then I
definitely have to go.”  Though I knew as soon as I said it that this was as
much reason to stay as it was to go.  If either of them saw me with the enemy
troop, they would kill me on the spot.

Ville saw the realization in my eyes.  “And if you were
attacked, I would defend you.”  There was no doubt in his voice about his
course of action. I swallowed.  Whose side would I choose in a battle between
my father and Ville?

He gave me a slight shake.  “I want to shield you from
that pain, but I also need to protect myself and my men.  I can’t be
distracted.  If you’re here, I’ll know you’re safe.”

I closed my eyes.  “You can’t go and leave me here
wondering if you’ll come back.”  The words tumbled from my mouth and I clamped
my lips shut, furious at having exposed my fear.

A cool finger lifted my chin and I opened my eyes to meet
his.  They were full of emotion, and his energy rippled over my skin as the
sensation of looking into that intensity stirred my blood.  “I’ll come back.” 
His mouth covered mine and I lost the will to fight.

He dropped his helm and tangled his hands in my hair.  I
pressed myself to him, cursing the cold armor that kept me from him.  I rose up
onto my tiptoes and slipped my arms around his neck.  The blood hammered in my
temples, and I felt whole body flush with warmth as his hands moved lower to
grasp my bottom, fitting me more tightly to him.

The door opened and the rapid clunking of boot heels
faltered, then continued at a slower pace.  “Should I have someone install a
lock on the study?”  Ibbe’s dry voice reached my foggy brain and I pulled away,
fighting a flaming blush.

Ville gave me a hot look before turning to take the gloves
Ibbe held out for him.  “It might not be a bad idea.” 

He winked at me and slipped the helm over his head.  His
eyes glittered at me from the dark depths and his full mouth turned up in a
wistful smile.  The expression was so at odds with his tall, menacing good looks
that I actually laughed aloud.

Ibbe looked back and forth between us, one blond brow
lifted.  “I thought maybe the mood would be a bit more somber.”

I closed my mouth and shrugged.  It had been a moment
before- or well, a moment before that.  Marshall strode in, clad in the same
head-to-toe armor as Ville.  “We’re all set,” he said shortly. 

Then his gaze fell on me.  “Feeling okay, Wren?  You look
a bit flushed.”  Ibbe snickered and I glared.  Did the whole damned house know
what we were doing in here?

Marshall turned to Ville and his voice was serious.  “The
scouts flew out some time ago.  We can port to the field from here, it’s an
open clearing.”

They turned and walked away, still discussing their
plans.  Ville glanced at me once over his shoulder.  Then he was gone.

I flopped down on the ottoman to pout.  I was surprised
when Ibbe sank into the armchair across from me.  She had a distracted look on
her face and I wondered if the men had rejected her as well.  I stood, thinking
I would go to the library and try to find some way to distract myself.  It was
pathetic how much the thought of being away from Ville was affecting me.  Ibbe got
up when I did, then stood watching me. 

I narrowed my eyes at her in understanding.  “You’re my
babysitter.”

She lifted a slender shoulder and let it drop. 
“Unfortunately,” she said in a bored tone.

I shook my head in disbelief.  “He doesn’t trust me.  He
thinks I’ll run off after him the first chance I get.”

Ibbe raised her eyebrows and gave me a look.  “And that
wasn’t what you were planning?”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.  “Not immediately,
no.”  But I probably would have gotten around to it eventually.

She grinned at me and I laughed.  “I don’t suppose you’ll
help me?”

“I was only told to watch you.  No one ever specified that
I should do anything else.”

I stared at her in surprise.  “You won’t stop me?”

She yawned.  “I suppose I’ll have to go with you.  Otherwise
how will I watch you?”

She reached behind her and pulled a bundle of something
out of her back pocket.  I caught a whiff of leather before she shook it out. 
“You’ll want this, right?” 

My harness.  I watched dumbfounded as she reached inside
her unusually loose fitting vest and pulled out a long knife.  “And this?”

I repressed the urge to hug the Fallen angel.  I took the
harness from her.  Stripping off my shirt, I cinched the contraption tight
under my waist and slipped the knife into the holster.  I shimmied out of my
pants and folded everything, leaving it in a pile on the ottoman.  Glancing up,
I found Ibbe blinking at me, wide-eyed. 

“Uh, sorry,” I said.  “I forgot you guys get all freaked
out about the whole… nudity thing.”

She shook herself and tried to look like I wasn’t making
her uncomfortable.  “Are you going to shift?”  Her dark eyes held avid
curiosity.

I didn’t answer her.  I simply pulled on my magic and
letting the wolf out.  The transformation was almost instantaneous.  I shook
out my new fur and felt the weight of the harness over my ribs.

“Is it always like that,” she asked, amazed. 

I glanced up at her and tilted my head. 

She looked abashed.  “Oh, right.  You can’t answer.  I
suppose it probably is.  It’s just that I’ve always heard that the
transformation Shifters undergo is painful and hideous- against the laws of
nature.”

I whined.  Idiots.  Nothing could be more natural than
slipping into my second skin.  I trotted by her and she came to open the door
for me, glancing around to make sure the coast was clear.  Most of the guards
had gone out with the emperor and his soldiers.  We ducked around corners, just
in case.  No one spotted us as we made our way out of the mansion.  Ibbe paused
in the great hall to take down a sword that hung over the mantle. 

She grinned down at me.  “I’ve always wanted to try this
one.”  She swung it experimentally, obviously finding it to her liking.

We reached the courtyard and Ibbe spread her glorious
white wings.  She shot me a stern blue look.  “Don’t distract Ville and get him
killed.”

 Then she launched into the air, fanning me with the back
draft of her wings.  She headed east and I followed on foot, speeding through
the dense forest like a bullet launched from a gun. 

I slithered to a halt in the slick dead leaves just
outside the field.  Ibbe dropped back down to earth.  The battle had already
started.  The fighting was fierce, and I could see Ville’s path of destruction
at the center of the field.  But the Fallen were losing. 

I shifted to human form again, crouched low.  “I need to
talk to my father.”

I could feel Ibbe’s eyes on me in the falling darkness. 
“Oh, and is he one of the soldiers down there?”  Her voice was all sarcastic
innocence.