Fantasyland 03 Fantastical (17 page)

Sometimes when we were in these towns and
villages, Tor would not take us to a pub for lunch or dinner but
would buy cheese, bread and fruit and then we’d stop on the way by
a lake, a stream or in a wildflower-filled field and we’d have a
picnic.

On the third day, it hit me what he was
doing.

He was taking his time. Allowing me to chat
with townsfolk, window shop, smell the flowers, taste the foods and
drink in the landscape.

He was giving me his world.

And in return he didn’t ask for a single
kiss. He didn’t make me pay the debt I owed him for saving Aggie.
Nothing.

We slept in the same bed every night, I woke
in his arms every morning and I spent nearly every waking minute
with him (except when I was bathing or trying on my new outfit).
Even as future king, he was not a man who shied away from public
affection, often brushing his lips against mine (in public and
not), taking my hand, guiding me with his fingers at the small of
my back, standing with his arm about my waist.

But other than that, he was the perfect
gentleman (albeit an often annoying one, he could be a gentleman
but that didn’t mean we didn’t still bicker, we did, though to all
appearances, he seemed to enjoy it).

So that meant he gave his world to me
without me asking for it or him making me earn it.

He just gave it, free and clear.

Yes, Prince Noctorno Hawthorne, I decided,
wasn’t that bad at all.

And I also decided I loved every minute of
being out on the road with him, experiencing this world, yes, even
when we were bickering and yes, believe it or not, because I was
experiencing it with him.

And therefore, as cool as a castle would
likely be, I had to admit I was sad that our adventure was
ending.

I noticed the sun was setting as I twisted
in the saddle holding Aggie carefully. Dusk was settling. Soon it
would be night.

Then I sat forward, lifted my eyes and
stopped breathing.

Oh.

My.

God.

I stared.

It was… it was…
indescribable.

It wasn’t just a castle. It was a castle and
a city. An actual
city.

I hadn’t seen one of those in this world and
let me tell you, it was a-freaking-
mazing.

The city started at the bottom of a steep,
huge hill. Even at our distance (we were still quite far away), I
could see flowers burgeoning everywhere. If my eyes didn’t deceive
me, even some of the
roofs
had flowerpots.

But there were also colorful awnings on the
front of some buildings, some solid, some in stripes, all in
different colors. They decorated in lanterns too, also all
different colors, dripping from the eaves and it looked like on the
sides of buildings and even on the streets. They also fully
utilized black wrought iron, there were iron whimsies shooting in
the air, curlicues decorating the sides of buildings.

Magnificent.

A winding, blond, wide, clean cobblestone
road led up the steep hill that was covered in what looked like
adobe, terracotta tile-roofed buildings with their flowers,
awnings, lanterns and iron whimsies. The road, too, was set with
flowers liberally and lit with tall, curlicued, black iron street
lamps.

And at the top of the hill was the best of
it all.

A huge castle shooting straight in the air
made of a mellow cream stone with an abundance of arched windows
that blinked in the waning sun, high turrets piercing the sky with
colorful pennants flying, balconies here, there and everywhere
dripping with flowers through their contrasting ivory-stoned
balustrades – the entire building made of smooth, rounded edges and
circles.

To the left, there was emerald green sea
(yes,
emerald green
) and I could see islands close and far
and ships (also lit with lanterns) bobbing. To the right, fields of
forests and rolling hills. Beyond, the landscape was a patchwork
quilt of different crops. And to the front, a sea of wildflowers,
ablaze with color even in the diminishing light.

Totally something out of an animated
movie.

We had
nothing
like that at home.

It was unbelievable.

“My God,” I whispered as Salem clattered
over a bowed, wooden bridge that spanned a wide, rushing, crystal
clear river.

“Welcome to Bellebryn,” Tor muttered behind
me.

“What?” I asked distractedly, still dazzled
by the view.

“We just crossed the bridge into Bellebryn,
my land,” he explained.

I blinked and even though I didn’t want to
tear my eyes away from the sights they beheld, I twisted to look up
at him.

“You
own
all of this?”

Tor looked down at me. “No, I own the
castle. But I rule it all.”

I blinked again.

“Rule it?”

“It’s mine, not part of my father’s kingdom.
Everything from the river to the sea to the forest is ruled by
me.”

Holy crap!

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes,” he grinned, “really.”

“So, your Dad gave it to you at birth or
something?”

He shook his head. “No, Cora, I conquered
it.”

I blinked yet again then whispered,
“What?”

“I conquered it.”

“You
conquered
it?” I breathed.

“Yes, love.”

Holy crap!

I turned to face front and I could see why
he would want to. It was amazing. But I didn’t get it. Why would he
do that? Was he the marauding kind of warrior?

I didn’t know if that was good.

“I don’t get it,” I told him.

“Get what?”

“Why, when you stand to inherit a kingdom,
would you conquer this land?”

“This isn’t the only land I conquered and
all of it was
my
land, my birthright, wrested from me, or,
more aptly, my father. I just took it back.”

I twisted again to look at him.

“What?”

His arm about me gave me a squeeze and he
explained, “Remember what I told you about Dash not being a soldier
or warrior?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“My father isn’t a soldier or warrior
either.”

Whoa.

Tor went on, “He’s a good man. A kind man. A
benevolent king, fair and generous. His people love him. But even
though he has great skills in some ways as a leader, in others, he
does not. Furthermore, he had the misfortune of finding, falling in
love with and wedding women who were, by all accounts, lovely but
who had weak constitutions. My mother died while having me.” Oh
dear. “Dash’s mother died from flu six months after he was born.”
Oh shit. “And Orlando’s mother never fully recovered from his birth
and died two years after in her sleep.” God, that sucked. “My
Father loved them all and became more and more heartsick with each
loss. He was raising three sons alone and although he is king, he
fully participated in our upbringing and therefore his mind was on
other things. The ruler of the neighboring kingdom to our north
coveted areas of ours and with my father’s heart not in it, this
king was able to conquer vast tracks of my father’s, and thus my,
realm. My father did what he could in his state to fight but did
not succeed in keeping his kingdom safe.”

All righty then. Maybe
everything
about this world wasn’t hunky dory.

Tor kept talking. “King Baldur of the north
is
not
a benevolent king. He is not fair or generous. He is
greedy and ruthless. His taxes are high. His tactics are cruel.
Therefore, our people, as ruled by him, were suffering. So, when I
came of age and finished my training, I felt that not only was it
my responsibility to re-secure the land that was my birthright, it
was my responsibility to safeguard those living on that land who
were still my people. Therefore, I petitioned my father to allow me
to build a personal army of warriors to do these things. He agreed,
I chose my men, trained them and then we advanced.”

His eyes went over my head as I struggled to
wrap my mind around what he was saying and as he gazed at his
personal princedom, he continued.

“It took five years and too many lives, but
we did it.”

Five years!

Tor looked down at me and continued, “And
now my people are thriving and safe. As this was the most beautiful
of all the territory we secured, I petitioned my father, as a
gesture of gratitude to my men, to confer Bellebryn onto me. All my
men and their families live here. It is not just mine, it is ours,
the sun, the sea, the forest, the town bustling with trade, a kind
of tranquility after years of war, a gift for their sacrifice.”

I stared up into his beautiful, scarred
facing thinking of the other scars on his chest and back, the way
he wielded a sword, how armed his cave was and his recent
words.

Oh Lordy. I was thinking that Prince
Noctorno Hawthorne was not just not so bad but that he might be
pretty freaking amazing.

And I was thinking after all my time with
him, all I knew, all I continued to learn, that I was sinking into
some pretty deep trouble.

I turned to face forward again and even
though my heart was beating hard in my chest and I was finding it
difficult to breathe, I felt something should be said.

So I said something.

“It’s beautiful, Tor. Every inch of it. In
all the beauty I’ve seen since I’ve been here, this is by far the
most beautiful. And I’m glad you have it after what you and your
men endured. I hope it brings you peace, being home.”

He stilled behind me but after a second, his
arm slid up to my ribs and tightened and I felt his lips touch my
neck in a soft kiss.

Then, in my ear, he murmured, “It does,
indeed, bring me peace to be home.”

I curved my arm around his, laced our
fingers at my side and whispered, “Good.”

We fell silent and I watched the city
getting ever closer as the sun set and more lanterns and
streetlights were lit, illuminating the city and casting a cheerful
glow into the darkening night.

And I watched this miraculous vision
thinking I had an additional worry to occupy my mind.

It wasn’t just what Cora was getting up to
in my world. It wasn’t that with every passing day it seemed less
and less likely I was going home. It wasn’t that with every passing
day I felt less and less like I
wanted
to go home. It wasn’t
that I missed my parents and friends and I wished I had the
opportunity to say good-bye.

It was that I was thinking I was falling for
a black prince who conquered lands, took care of his people, gave
in when I wanted to save a tiny bird and took time to show me his
world.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the
possibility still loomed that I could go to sleep at any time and
wake up back home. Which would mean, if I fell for Tor, I would
leave behind the man I loved in a fairytale world I could never go
to again.

Which would seriously suck.

Therefore I was thinking I had to guard my
heart when another thought shoved into my brain and my body went
solid when it did.

Shit.

Bellebryn was his home, his city, his
princedom.

And I was his princess.

And I, or the other Cora, had been here.

Tor felt me tense.

“Cora?” he called and I twisted to look up
at him.

“Do your people know me?” I asked.

He studied my face and answered slowly,
“Yes.”

“Do they know I’m a bitch?”

He hesitated.

Oh shit! They knew I was a bitch.

I turned quickly forward again, chanting,
“Shit, shit,
shit.
”

“Cora –”

“Stop,” I demanded.

“Pardon?”

“Stop!” I shouted.

Tor pulled back on the reins, Salem stopped
then turned his head to look at us and a groggy Aggie chirped a
“What’s happening?”

I didn’t answer the bird. I was trying to
think.

“Love, it’ll be fine,” Tor assured me.

“I need to, I don’t know, brush my hair and,
um,” I lifted my hand and started pinching my cheeks, “um…” I
repeated.

I didn’t know!

“Cora, look at me,” Tor commanded and I did.
“It will be fine.”

“They think I’m a bitch,” I reminded
him.

“No, they don’t. The people don’t know you.
You’ve been here once. I will admit, you didn’t make a good
impression…” Fabulous. “But you were simply haughty, a bit cold the
short time you were here. They don’t think much of anything except
that you aren’t around.” He paused. “Now my men…” he trailed
off.

Oh boy.

“What have I done to your men?”

He looked in my eyes. “Nothing, except the
fact you refuse to warm my bed. Something they haven’t missed nor
do they like, considering half my soul is yours. They’re loyal to
me and wish me contentment.”

Great. Freaking great. His warriors hated me
because I was a cold bitch who made her man search for it
elsewhere.

Brilliant.

I turned forward again and Tor called my
name again.

“No,” I said, not turning back. “I’m okay.
This’ll be fine. Just fine.”

Total lie.

I was freaking out!

“Love, look at me,” he urged.

“No,” I denied. “Let’s just get this over
with.”

He paused then he sighed then he stated,
“Cora, just be this you and they’ll change their minds. If you’re
this woman, they won’t be able to stop themselves from falling in
love with you.”

I stared straight ahead but I could see
nothing, I could only feel his words wash over me.

Yes,
feel
them.

And oh, but they felt good.

Oh man.

I didn’t respond, couldn’t. I was trying to
control my rapidly beating pulse and prevent a heart attack.

After awhile, Tor asked, “Are you all
right?”

“Yes,” I lied.

“We can proceed?”

“Sure.”

“You aren’t… freaking out?”

His using words from my world made my freak
out fade and my mouth grin and I turned to him.