Knight's End: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (Tangled Crowns Book 3), page 8
My stomach dropped even though what I watched was a memory. I knew what came next.
The djinn women linked hands and closed their eyes as Sultan Raj wove his hands through the air.
The captain hadn’t been able to hear the sultan’s words, but the intent was clear. They were going to attack. A golden haze formed in the women’s hands, as if the wish was so strong, it had to manifest in physical form. Raj reared back his muscular arm and pointed. The women launched a gold jet of magic—
Shouts and screams sounded off in the memory, and I cringed because they were so loud inside my head as Blue sent us the captain’s thoughts.
The ball of magic spread out as it flew through the air, flattening like dough, spreading out until the sunlight filtered through the dark gold fog and turned all the faces around the captain a sickly orange color.
But then a single phrase had blasted through the streets, as if spoken through a bullhorn. “Wishes were made to grant happy ever afters, not cause sad disasters.” Donaloo had tsked. “A djinni who makes others wish mean things, loses his rings.”
Sultan Raj had roared when one of the women in his harem had gasped, reaching for her hand.
But the ring fell, glinting in the afternoon sunlight.
Raj opened his hands and pushed out his wish, diving at the same time to try to recover his ring.
But Donaloo’s voice spoke again. “Mirror mirror oh, so fair, reflect only what the sultan wants to see—everywhere.” A giant bubble, shimmering with rainbow color, appeared to encase Marscha. The golden wish magic hit the bubble and was absorbed by it; the bubble wobbled as it ate the magical attack.
An evil smile spread over Raj’s face when he saw what he wanted—when he saw what we’d seen—a flattened capital. Then his hand reached the bubble and closed around something.
A little ping and a wobble of the bubble were the only things I could tell happened. Did the ring hit the bubble? Did it get out? Or bounce back?
Another ping confirmed the ring had fallen back down and rolled on some cobblestones somewhere.
But Sultan Raj glanced at his own hand, satisfied. A tiny bubble shimmered on his hand. So … the enchantment was making him see his ring, making him see what he wanted, even though it wasn’t there—
My thoughts were interrupted as Donaloo’s words blared through the captain’s memory once more. “If any citizen finds the sultan’s ring and brings it to the palace so I can destroy that sarding djinni, I’d be much obliged. Oh, and I’ll grant you a spell.”
I put a hand to my forehead and laughed as I rubbed away the tension. Sarding Donaloo. Thank the gods he was helping Evaness.
The captain looked at all of us, not realizing we’d just watched his memories. “Sorry about that, just—been a bit of a day, you know?”
“Oh, yes, I do.” I nodded, forgetting I was still a rabbit-faced man. “Thank you, Commander. We’ll make sure your service is noted.”
He gave me a bit of an odd look but nodded before marching briskly out of the room.
Blue sat down and put his head on the table, worn out after projecting all those thoughts. I poured him a glass of water and knelt beside him.
“How could Donaloo wish for a ring? I thought you said they no one could wish for a ring—”
“Loopholes,” he grumbled. “Donaloo … I’m guessing he just wished that the ring was lost or something.”
“What about us? Could we wish that the ring was found?”
Blue bit his lip. “Not by us. And we ultimately want the ring to wish him ill. Rings are … not alive, but magical enough to sense intent. We want the ring to destroy Raj, thereby destroying the ring.”
“Can we wish Raj was just suddenly an idiot? Or didn’t have any more magic? Or couldn’t make more wishes?” I brainstormed.
Blue shook his head. “He made wishes years ago to protect himself from all those sorts of attacks. Don’t you think they’ve been tried over the centuries?”
“Can you help me find a loophole?”
He sighed. “I’ve been trying to figure out a way to destroy him since I was eight. Haven’t yet. But I’ll try.”
I kissed his forehead and rumpled his hair before going to check on Declan.
Connor and Quinn had set Declan up between them on the bench. I squatted down so I could get a good look at him. There were shadows under his eyes. “How do you feel?”
He shrugged. “Nothing a little whipping wouldn’t cure.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You look awful to me. Worse than that.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Connor,” I barked.
Connor glanced up from his seat next to Declan. He also looked a bit worse for the wear. Given the fact that we hadn’t slept, it wasn’t surprising. “Yes?”
“See if Dec has any injuries from taking in all that emotion.”
Declan rolled his eyes, “I don’t have any physical injuries—”
Connor’s pink healing magic cut him off. It sunk into his skin and his eyes closed. His expression relaxed.
Hmmm…. My mind whirled. It seemed like it might be working. Could healing work for more than just injuries?
“Connor, see if you can heal his mind, his emotions…” I ordered.
Declan’s eyes flew open. “That’s not possible!”
I shrugged. “You were able to suck all the emotions out of Isla. Nearly killed her. We didn’t know Connor’s former power could do that. So, who’s to say Ryan’s old power can’t heal emotional wounds as well as physical ones?”
Connor moved his hands to turn Declan’s face toward him. He placed a palm on each of Declan’s cheeks and the pale skin of my scholar lit with a rosy, pink glow. After only a few seconds, Connor removed his hands.
“Is it not working?” I worried.
But Declan turned back to me, a gentle smile on his face.
“No, it worked, Peace,” he said softly. “Thank you.”
And then, Connor yanked him up off the bench and punched him in the gut.
Blue ran to pull my best friend off Declan, but I waved him back. “It’s a side effect of healing,” I said. “I’d thought he had a handle on it, since he hasn’t had an issue before now.” I lifted my hands and shot a jet of peace power at Connor, not stopping until he went limp. Quinn caught Connor before his face smashed into the table and laid him out on the floor.
Blue shook his head dolefully. At least with wish magic, I had a limited number of wishes. This magic seems to be an endless seesaw of up and down. Good and awful.
I shrugged. You get used to it.
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He exhaled hard in frustration. No. I don’t know if I will. I’m gonna go stand by the other mute and write in the dirt or something.
He walked over to Quinn and pointed at his throat, rolling his eyes. Quinn gave him a half grin.
Then Blue pulled Quinn over to a dirty corner of the room—the soldiers had tracked plenty of mud in here—and started writing in the dirt. Quinn’s head bent to read what the other had written. Watching them bond, knowing Quinn finally had someone who knew what he went through, tugged at my heart strings. It made me want to walk over and kiss them both.
But I didn’t want to interrupt them. And I was still a man. So, I just poured myself a glass of water and took a drink.
I spilt water on myself when Ryan and Donaloo walked in. Because the first thing out of Donaloo’s mouth was, “Do you prefer being a man, Bloss?”
Chapter Eight
I ignored the rude shite of a wizard and ran to Ryan. I embraced him, throwing my arms about his waist and burying my face in his well-defined abs. The hug came with a myriad of emotions that I hadn’t been expecting. Anxiety, fear, and relief all made me clutch him closer. I’d been repressing how terrified for him I’d been.
Ryan patted me gently on the back but didn’t really hug me in return. I leaned back and stared up at him. His eyes weren’t on me. He was studying Donaloo’s face. “Is this really Bloss? You're not just trying to embarrass me again?”
I pulled away from Ryan. I took a step back and looked up at him. "What are you talking about?"
"You're the third man today that Donaloo has tried to convince me is my wife.”
“WHAT?” I roared in outrage. My manly bellow filled the room.
Ryan crossed his arms as he glared at the wizard. “I nearly kissed the first."
Snickers erupted around the room. My other knights found it hilarious.
I didn’t. I turned to Donaloo and the urge to smack him across the face was tempting. But I resisted. Instead, I told him what I thought of him. "You bespawler."
Donaloo shook his head, his purple eye patch flapping. "And here I was going to do a kindness and turn you back. But you had to make a comment so foul and black."
Dini popped out of my sleeve at that moment, her red flower back in full force. “You nearly crushed me, you dunderhead!” she squealed.
At the same moment Donaloo yelled, “Dini!”
The flower swiveled to look at my wizard. “YOU!”
She dropped her hold on my arm and somehow was across the room before I could blink. Donaloo’s hands lifted in a spell but she was on him in less than a second. Her roots dug in near his ankle and she wrapped her vine around his entire body until he tilted where he stood. He would have fallen face first into the floor if Ryan hadn’t reached out a hand to steady him.
“You pompous, prattling pansy! As awful a sight as the taste of tansy!” Donaloo said.
“Take that back!” Dini used one of her leaves to dig into Donaloo’s ear and tickle it.
He shook his head, trying to get away. “Never! No matter how you nettle, you can’t defeat my mettle!”
My knights and I exchanged a look.
“What is going on?” I asked.
Dini answered as she grew thorns. “This saggy sack of skin and I used to court.”
It took me a minute to register that statement. “Court. As in you had a courtship?” A flower? Donaloo had courted a flower?
“That’s not what it was, you crazy bud, I watered you once, but you were a dud!”
“Oooh!” Dini squealed and started stabbing with her thorns.
“Is watered a metaphor?” Ryan leaned over and asked me.
“No. No, it’s completely literal. Because I cannot stand the thought of it being anything else,” I responded.
I watched as Donaloo hopped in place, squealing as Dini poked at his most tender bits. As amusing as it was, she looked intent on actually hurting my wizard. And he, unlike she, had used his magic countless times to help me.
“Dini!” I called out. “You are being disloyal. Donaloo has proven he’s a friend of Evaness. And you promised to be loyal to my country.”
“Is he your heir?” Dini asked. “A citizen?”
“Well, no—”
Dini blew a puff of pollen in Donaloo’s face that made my wizard wheeze. “I promised loyalty to your land, your heirs, and your citizens.”
Connor quickly interjected. “Donaloo, we formally invite you to become a citizen of Evaness.”
“I accept!” Donaloo shouted, his eyes watering.
Dini harumphed. She unwound herself from Donaloo’s body and her flower settled around his ankle. I thought that was the end of it, but then her flower disappeared under his trouser leg. Donaloo kicked and shouted as the flower wriggled her way up his body.
“Rain down, wash away, this blight that—” he yowled and couldn’t finish his spell. I didn’t even want to know what Dini’d done to cause that yell.
The flower wriggled across his belly, his chest. He smacked at himself, trying to crush her. She wriggled up his neck and her roots traveled over his face, jutting underneath his skin like spider veins. She stopped when she reached his forehead. She clung to his face, her flower bouncing up and down on the side of his head like a feather in the cap of some ostentatious courtier.
Donaloo swung at her again, but she merely wiggled away so that he punched himself in the face.
My hand flew to my mouth, and I couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped.
Dini preened, her leaves smoothing her feathers down. “Yes, I think this is an excellent spot.”
“I’ll rip you stem from limb,” Donaloo threatened.
“Try it,” she shot back. “I buried my rootball in your nuts.”
Behind me, Quinn and Blue erupted in laughter. I turned to watch for a moment as my silent knight laughed with sound for the first time since I’d met him. It made a little smile form on my face.
But then I turned back to Donaloo. “Can you please transform me?”
Donaloo muttered one last curse at the pink flower bobbing on his forehead but then he complied. He muttered some words and threw a pinch of something on the ground in front of me. Seconds later, my body changed shape and my boobs returned. I clutched at them.
Thank heavens! I’m myself again, I thought.
I’d spent enough years in disguise spells; I never wanted to do so again.
I turned around in relief, ready to hug Ryan once more and get a proper kiss in return. I turned too soon; however, because my rabbit face hadn't fully restored itself. All of my knights give me an odd look when they saw my massive smile. Only Blue’s thoughts about the disjointed man’s face on my body clued me into what they saw. I nearly shuddered myself as I saw Blue’s view of my face. My skin slid around like bread dough. Watching someone transform after a disguise spell was equivalent to watching a doctor set a broken bone. It made one cringe automatically in sympathy.
Most of my knights looked away. Only Blue maintained eye contact with me the entire time.
I've seen worse, he thought at me.
Well, don't think about it right now, I told him quickly in my mind. I’m trying not to puke over how my face looks as it bubbles and reforms. In fact, maybe you should stop looking at me.
Fair enough, he thought. But then Quinn tugged on his sleeve and wrote something in the dirt. Blue leaned over to read it. He laughed. Then he immediately put my transformation on replay, sending it to me. Only, he modified it, so that my head changed to a lion’s, then a crow’s, then a squirrel’s. I walked over and smacked Quinn across the back of the head. "That's not nice."
Quinn grinned up at me, his devilish smirk erasing my irritation. I rolled my eyes. “You’re lucky you’re adorable.”
Ryan came up behind me and lifted me up in the air. He gave me a giant bear hug from behind. Then he twisted me around in his arms and wrapped his hands under my thighs. He kissed my nose. "I’m so glad it’s finally you.”
I traced his giant biceps and the veins that popped along his arms.
Ryan grinned when I squeezed his arm, but my hand didn’t even fit a quarter of the way around his massive muscles. I smiled back at him and resisted pressing closer. If I pressed against Ryan, I’d want to do naughty things. And we didn’t have time for that now. Plus, we had an audience.
Ryan’s eyes grew hooded, as if he could read my thoughts via my expression. He gently set me down and said, “The wizard did think to bring you a dress, so that you wouldn’t have to walk up to the castle like this."
"That was thoughtful of him," I turned surprised eyes over to Donaloo. The wizard seemed to enjoy torturing me, so this bit of thoughtfulness seemed a bit off for his odd personality.
"The people of Evaness need to see their queen is alive and well. They need their spirits strengthened before we rebel." Donaloo’s wise words were undermined by the fact that Dini had decided to form a flower crown on his forehead.
I walked over to the wizard and took his hand, ignoring the fact that his shirt was untucked, and his green vest was misbuttoned. I definitively ignored Dini, who fluttered her petals at me. She needed to see what Donaloo meant to Evaness. "Thank you, Donaloo. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you for helping my people." We exchanged a long look.
And I wondered if employing him might further strengthen Dini’s inability to pester him.
"Don't even think of asking that. I’d rather transform into a rat," Donaloo said, yanking his hand away and turning sharply. He strode toward the door.
"Asking what?" Ryan asked. "You didn't say anything."
"I was thinking about asking him to be our new castle mage."
"Your castle mages have a tendency to get themselves blown up," Donaloo gave me a flat look, not bothering to rhyme.
“Yes, I saw the last one,” Dini squeaked. “Might be just the right job for you!”
I ignored the sniping flower and looked at Donaloo. “How—”
“I had him scry you,” Ryan admitted. “You all spoke about it as you flew here.”
I turned to Donaloo. "One of those was not under my reign, so that one’s technically not my fault."
"Cerena also touched a death amulet when we specifically told her not to," Connor joined in.
"Death amulet?" Donaloo turned around, his one eye wide, the other brow arched high above his eye patch in a questioning manner. He bit his lip in a tiny tell of desire, or so I thought.
Dini’s lip curled in disgust. “See what I said about magic makers? Can’t resist power.”
Donaloo reached up and flicked one of her petals.
“Ouch!”
“I don’t want power, I want peace. Happy endings—a war to cease.”
“Lies!” Dini grumbled. “You magic makers are all obsessed with proving yourself the cleverest.”
Donaloo shook his head fiercely, causing Dini to squeal and flail her leaves. “A buzzing brain is but dung and flies. The heart is where humanity lies.”
Between the two of them, the wizard had proven himself to me. And despite the concerns Dini’s words created, I trusted my instincts, the way my father had taught me to do as a girl, when we’d run through the forest to hide from dragons. He’d tried to take me up a hill, but I’d insisted we go down. We’d found a small stone overhang at the base of the craggy hill and taken shelter. We’d shivered together and he’d pulled me close. The dragons had rained down flames around us, but we had survived that day. My instincts told me I could trust Donaloo, but that it might be better not to reveal the location of the amulets.
