Two weeks passed with nothing happening out of the ordinary, and Starlight began to feel very, very fidgety. She had been confined in the palace for so long that she was starting to go crazy. She paced from window to window in her room and looked restlessly at the city in the distance as she wished like hell she was free to go exploring.
Her bedroom door opened, and she turned to see Ryan standing there and patting away a yawn. It was only slightly after the seventh hour in the morning, and he had only just woken. He was dressed, but the sleep wasn't out of his almond-shaped blue eyes yet, and his black hair looked tousled from sleep. "Okay," the Cultivator said, muffling another yawn, "explain to me why I was dragged out of a sound sleep by very loud distress."
Starlight looked at him guiltily. She had forgotten the younger man was an empath. "Sorry. I'm just going a little crazy. Cabin fever, you know? I need to get out and see something other than this palace, beautiful though it is."
"Oh." Ryan rubbed his eyes lightly. "I'll go wake Emily up and we'll take you into the city." He began to smile at Starlight's incredulous look. "Well, they can't argue if you have bodyguards, can they? Only the High Rulers aren't allowed to go out alone without a Defender or Caretaker with them, and you're sort of that for Aluria, so Em and I can be your guards. Duals can absolutely travel alone if they want. Also, you've pretty much recovered all your magic, so that helps. Hang tight. I'll get Emily. Wear something pretty casual. I know Aunt Ashe and Beth stuffed your closet with lots of options."
Starlight looked at the door in bemusement as he disappeared down the hall and wondered how it was he reminded her so strongly of Yuiki, one of her missing friends. Yuiki liked getting her way, too. They would probably get along beautifully.
Within half an hour, Starlight wore a pair of denims and a t-shirt, and followed Ryan and a sleepy-eyed Emily as they headed out of the palace. The Hyacinth Cultivator was barely awake, but the brisk walk seemed to perk her up. Her alertness improved even more when they reached the market and she made a beeline toward a coffee vender.
The marketplace was a favored spot in Protea City because it was a huge, sprawling center for shopping for farm fresh groceries, handmade goods, artisan items, and anything else that was not mass-produced. It sat only a mile beyond the wall surrounding the entire palace grounds which served as the center of the city as a whole, so residents of the palace frequently hit the market for things. Citizens of all worlds were quite used to randomly running into queens and kings and princesses and princes, especially in recent years. A beautiful mutual respect existed between subjects and Rulers that allowed for a nearly casual relationship. Yes, High Rulers had to have extra guards, but that was for everyone's safety equally.
A coffee vendor who specialized in blended varieties you could not obtain elsewhere had her cart right near the entrance of the market for obvious reasons. She had even made a special combination she jokingly called the 'Ruler Wake-Up' because it contained the highest level of stimulants, and when a Ruler of any world showed up at her cart bleary-eyed, she knew they had woken too early. She had one waiting for Emily before they got there, having spotted them approaching.
"I love you," Emily told her.
She giggled. "You're welcome, princess." She gave a little bow. "I intend to move to Hyacinth when the worlds are finished and ready for populating next year. I would be honored to be one of your subjects."
Emily had still not quite gotten used to being so respected or liked by people. She hadn't changed, so why did they appreciate her so much? Best she could find in response was, "Just make sure you're near the castle, because I'm gonna need you!"
Ryan leaned over to whisper in Starlight's ear, "She has no idea how likable she is because she's honest and abrupt and without pretense. You always know where you stand with her, and she's never mean or rude. She also can be pretty gentle, especially if she senses someone needs it."
Starlight smiled. "I had noticed." Emily had been remarkably gentle with Starlight at first, but as Starlight had become more secure and recovered, Emily had started sassing her like any other friend. She found that adorable, and it reminded her of her friend and Defender Vincent.
With coffee in hand, they indulged themselves with a shopping spree. Soon, all three had been loaded down with bags. They sat for a brief break on the fountain in the center of the market, and Emily looked around the crowd on a frown. She kept sensing a familiar power, and she could not place it or where she had felt it. She knew she ought to know it, but it just did not come to her. It was puzzling, to say the least.
"What next?" Ryan asked Starlight. "What do you want to see?"
"How about that booth that was selling those cute little charms? It looked interesting." Starlight finished the pretzel she was eating and wadded up the napkin she held. She shot it at a nearby garbage can and then laughed as both Cultivators applauded her perfect aim. "I only made it because I wasn't aiming for it. If I'd been aiming, I would have found a way to hit myself with it."
They all laughed as they got to their feet to head over to the charm booth. It took only a minute or two of perusing the wares before Ryan's Empathy began to tell him that the man behind the cart was angry. In fact, he was angry and he disliked them. He had no idea why, and he tried to ignore it. The man's hand suddenly lashed out to grab his wrist painfully, and Ryan couldn't stop a yelp. "Hey! Let go of me!"
"Let go of my brother!" Emily snapped. She darted around the cart and would have snapped off a punch if the man hadn't grabbed her with his other hand. Before she could get free, he had slapped odd looking—but familiar—cuffs on both her and Ryan that kept them bound to a post of the cart. "What are you doing?" she demanded furiously. "Those are only to be used on thieves!"
"And what do you think you are?" the man snapped back. "You ran with those rabble rousers some years ago! You tore up my cart and stole my stock! I'd know your slate hair anywhere!"
"That was ten years ago!" Emily shot at him. "I haven't been with that crew in a decade! I've been working hard, and legally, since then! And even if I wasn't, you're not supposed to cuff people who haven't done anything wrong now! We hadn't touched a single thing, and unless you're completely deaf, we were discussing buying things, not stealing!"
"Past crimes also can't be held against rabble rousers who were kids and have turned their lives around!" Ryan tried not to wince at how tight the cuff held him. He would bruise, and he knew it. Not only had the shopkeep wrongly used the cuffs, he had used them with an entirely unnecessary amount of force. How had that unlocking spell gone that Beth had taught him? The pain made it hard to concentrate, but he tried to bring the words to mind.
"I'm calling the Royal Knights on you, you little—" The shopkeep broke off as a hard female hand slapped a cuff of her own around his wrist and closed it with such force that he winced. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded. He turned his head and found himself looking into a pair of dangerously calm black eyes set in a beautiful face. "Who are you?"
Another cuff snapped onto his other wrist, effectively lashing him entirely to the post himself, and he turned his head quickly to find an identical pair of black eyes that were livid with fury as they set into a similar, though male, face. "What on Protea?" He looked between the two and realized in surprise that they had to be fraternal twins as they had the same lavender hair, fair skin, silvery-black eyes, and taller than average height. The male looked physically stronger, while the female looked plump at the edges in the way magical sorts were, but she was no slouch in the strength department herself; it was the strength of the user that determined the strength of the cuffs. "Who are you?" he demanded again.
"Ryan," Gail Kalri said softly, "the word you're missing is 'breaken', which is a blend of 'break' and 'weaken', and unique to that spell."
"Ah!" Ryan immediately remembered the entire spell and hastily cast it on himself and his sister alike. Their cuffs snapped open to release them both, and he took a hasty step back. It was a distance widened when Gail caught his shoulder and tugged him even closer protectively. Unconsciously, his shoulders relaxed at the utter sense of safety he felt.
Gail's eyes narrowed on the now astonished shopkeep. "You're lucky I don't call the Royal Knights on you. I don't think you've realized what you just did."
Silas Kalri pushed Emily behind himself firmly and felt grateful that she was too surprised to fight him this time. "Old man," he said angrily, "you just manhandled the younger Dual Cultivators of Hyacinth and Orchid. Crown Prince Ryan Orchid and Crown Princess Emily Hyacinth, both who are also Defenders of their worlds."
The shopkeeper stared in utter disbelief at Emily and Ryan and then belatedly noticed the colored locks of hair coming down over their eyes. Gail caught the edge of Ryan's sleeve and tugged it up just enough to show the Flower Mark on his upper left arm. There could be no mistaking it. "But they're just petty thieves and rabble rousers!" the shopkeeper snapped. "They don't deserve to be Cultivators!"
"You are an asshole of the highest caliber, sir." Silas' eyes narrowed. "Rabble rousers of any age have a right to turn their lives around, let alone those not yet adults! And it is not your place to decide worthiness! Orchid and Hyacinth themselves bestowed Seeds on these two at their birth, and how they chose to survive until they found their parents and place is not your place to judge! In fact, considering these two are some of the Defender Cultivators that protect your precious hide, you had better consider being a little nicer to them!"
Gail smiled but it couldn't quite reach her cold eyes. "Would you like to explain to the High Queen why two Crown Rulers are bruised without cause, or are you going to shut up and apologize?"
"I . . . I'm sorry!" the shopkeeper managed to say. "Now let me free! I can't reach the keys!" A flicker of magic from Ryan released his cuffs, and he staggered back a few steps. "My apologies, Your Highnesses," he said stiffly.
"You might also apologize to Queen Starlight," Gail told him, "since she has been witness to your less than stellar manners. I can only imagine what her world might think while discussing alliance."
Shameful red flooded his face as he looked at Starlight, who gave him a narrow-eyed look of disdain. "I—I am sorry to you as well, Your Majesty. I didn't realize."
"You are lucky I judge Blossom Field on its people as a whole, and not the random few who remind us there will always be terrible sorts in existence." Starlight turned up her nose and turned away, and she smiled once she had. "Now, excuse us. We will take our money elsewhere."
"Asshole," Emily muttered. She was too annoyed to argue when Silas grabbed her good wrist and pulled her along behind him as he left the scene of the incident. Starlight followed with their bags, and Gail pulled Ryan along with her as well; they wanted to get as far from the cart as possible. Emily belatedly realized she was being towed and scowled as she began to struggle. "Let go of me, Silas! Damn it all to hell, let go!"
He didn't bother to argue; he just changed his grip and threw her over his shoulder. It accomplished two things. One, it stopped him needing to drag her along. And two, it shut her up. Utterly speechless, she could only gape at the ground from her position. Admittedly, she had a fantastic view of one fine piece of male butt, but she shook it off fiercely. She was not impressed with his strength. She absolutely wasn't. Mutinous, she crossed her arms.
Starlight bit her lip to hide a smile but Ryan and Gail both saw it and they grinned at her. As they reached the large overpass that crossed the river running through the city before circling behind the palace, Gail released Ryan's wrist, and Silas put Emily down on her feet. She was amazingly subdued, and he kept an eye on her while he waited for her to take a swing.
"So . . ." Starlight set the bags down, "exactly who are you two anyway? Not that I don't have a fairly decent guess, all things considered."
"I'm Gail Kalri, and this is my younger twin, Silas." Gail smiled as she leaned against the rail on one side of the bridge.
Even Starlight had to admit that the twins were outrageously beautiful in a way not unlike Rodi—that sort of rare, perfect, beauty that came from exact symmetry of facial features. She could not peg their ages, though they looked at least forty. She could feel the Thunder Flower Element and magic inside them, as well as some other sort of power, and they did not seem fully human. "Nice to meet you both. I'm Starlight, which you knew. How do you know Ryan and Emily?"
"We're old friends," Silas offered.
Starlight smiled. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I doubt that's all."
Ryan coughed, and Emily made a derisive sound as she looked away. Gail looked at Ryan to say something else but realized he was hiding his wrist. She immediately caught his arms and pulled him closer so that he stood in between her knees; she was roughly half a foot taller than her Cultivator. She pulled his hands up and glared until he stopped hiding his wrist. There were dark purple bruises forming on his olive skin already, and she shot a glare toward the marketplace. "Damn him."
"It's okay. Raine or Aunt Kacey or Aunt Sayena can fix it later." He abruptly stopped speaking as she lifted his wrist to her lips, and he felt the familiar cool sensation of a healing power. The cool of the healing was a total contrast to the heat her touch provoked and his heart raced wildly. "Uhm." Breathless, he lowered his gaze.
"If I tried that, you'd try to hit me," Silas told Emily.
"Try nothing," was the retort. "I would hit you." She hesitated and then cursed softly and held out her wrist toward him. Even against her coal skin, the darker bruises could be seen clearly. "Kiss me and I'll cut out your tongue. Just heal it, okay?"
He hid a grin. "Yes ma'am." But he couldn't resist rubbing his thumb over where her pulse was beating, and he watched under his lashes as color climbed her cheeks that had nothing to do with embarrassment. No matter how hard she fought, the simple fact was that she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. Loved him as badly as he loved her. Their souls had been made to be one. She was just too stubborn and afraid to admit it. Still holding her wrist, he glanced at Starlight. "Sorry about that scene, or tossing you on the spot."
She shook her head on a smile. "I did not mind at all! My presence here hasn't been a secret, but, I feel as if you know far more than the average person."
"Yeah, you could say that," Emily muttered. "Though I'm still sketchy on how much they know myself. They knew even in the past Era more than they always let on."
Starlight decided to not ask about the 'past Era' thing. If the Resurrection Cultivators had been time traveling, it was no doubt too complicated for a short overview. And she had thought her team had had some interesting adventures.
Gail shook her head. "We will tell you everything now that we have reunited, Emily, I promise. It is more complicated than you may expect." She smiled. "It is enough to be with you two again after waiting five thousand years." She suddenly felt danger approaching her Cultivator, and she saw Silas' eyes sharpen as he felt it too. "Get down!" she snapped, and she dropped flat taking Ryan with her.
Silas and Emily grabbed Starlight and took her down with them, and several blasts of energy went over their heads a second later, aimed right for where they had been standing. As they all scrambled back up to their feet, they felt the communication blocking spell go into place. It was followed a second later by what felt like a technology muffling one. Emily pulled out her PCA to be sure, but it was clear that this time Glacia wouldn't let them call back up. "Well shit."
Glacia walked forward slowly, and his stomach churned as he saw the two Rulers standing with Starlight. Try as he might to tell himself that the Crown Rulers would of course spend time with the visiting queen, he knew very well that no one would have let Starlight out of the palace without a Defender or Caretaker escort—and the twins had not arrived until after they had left the palace. It began to tell him things he had not wanted to know, and it began to make sense of the things no one would tell him. Even then, faced with evidence, he refused to accept it or even consider it. He had to be wrong! "Queen Starlight, it's been a while."
Starlight shifted her body into a defensive stance. "Not long enough. Go away, Glacia. Tell Cashlin I'm not going to just roll over and die, and even if he manages to take me out, my sisters are not to be underestimated! I will return, and I will reclaim my kingdom!"
"You heard her, Glacia." Ryan flicked a glance at Emily and got a tiny nod. In this instance, they had no choice but to put on their Masks and be revealed as Defenders. They could not leave the fight to Silas and Gail; despite the twins' gifts and strength, neither had armor, and armor nearly always made the turning point in any battle. Ryan grabbed his Mask from the necklace he wore it on even as Emily grabbed her own Mask. "Are you all alone this time, Glacia?" he asked.
"Hardly." Glacia made an elegant gesture with one of his hands and two patchwork, disturbing, monsters appeared next to him. "You'll handle these Reparations while I take care of the queen. Have fun, children!" He lunged toward Starlight who ran partway down the overpass to make him follow her and give time for the two Defenders to put on their Masks.
Once armored, Ryan and Emily called up their weapons; a bow for the former and a harpoon for the latter. Each went after a different Reparation to split them apart and make it a more fair fight. Gail and Silas exchanged a brief look and then nodded and split up to go help their mates.
Ryan was doing significant damage when the monster managed to knock one of his arrows aside and lunged at him with both claws extended. He dodged hastily and rolled back up to a crouched position with another arrow nocked. Lightning suddenly engulfed the arrow and he let it loose without hesitation. The combined blow knocked the monster back several paces, and he looked up as Gail stepped beside him. An amethyst-topped rod designed to enhance magic had appeared in her grip, and brilliant small gold wings had opened on her back. She sensed his gaze and looked down with a lifted brow, and he grinned a little. "I was just thinking how good you'll look in uniform. That's all."
Emily stabbed the Reparation she was fighting and then cursed as it grabbed her harpoon and tried to yank it out of her hands. Seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, she changed her mind about pulling her weapon free and instead shoved it forward more. The Reparation had not expected the change, and the blade bit deep. A thrum of Thunder magic lifted on the air and then shot right at the harpoon. Given the metal portion partially buried in the monster, the magic had a direct route to the most damage. The Reparation screeched in fury and shoved both harpoon and Defender away harshly.
Emily stumbled only a step before she caught herself. She swung her weapon up again just as Silas joined her side. Small gold wings extended from his back, and the sword in his hand crackled with his Flower Element. "I've gotten used to you Thunder Flower Elements using my weapon as a lightning rod," she told him without looking away from the enemy. "Maybe I'm kind of glad you can almost read my mind. And maybe you aren't so bad in the Caretaker roll. But I'm not conceding anything other than I don't mind help killing bad guys."
Silas grinned. "I didn't expect anything else from you." He swung his sword through the air and trailed sparks in its wake. "What do you get when you mix thunder and air?"
A hint of a smirk touched her lips. "A big damn bang."
Starlight ducked as Glacia swung his sword toward her head. She dove and rolled to the side and then came back up to her feet and swung a right punch toward his face. He ducked and stepped back and then swung forward with his sword again. She threw herself into a backflip to neatly avoid the blade, and she landed on the railing of the bridge. She immediately wobbled before she caught her balance. In a mutter, she said, "Damn it, Sunlight. You make it look so easy!"
He laughed at her. "Give it up, Starlight. You're no match for me, and you can't even fight back properly. You've got nothing left. You burned out your magic fighting the king!"
"Don't bet on that, Glacia." She started smiling. "It's amazing what some people can do, you know? You ought to know that. Thanks to the help from the High Priestess of Protea as well as the Apex of Light, it would seem my magic is back to full." She pulled her Mask off its earring and enlarged it to proper size. As he took a hasty step backward, she calmly pulled it on to call her armor.
Ryan gathered up the largest blast of Water magic he could and waited until Gail's own Thunder magic had covered it in lightning. Only then did he chuck it at the Reparation. The unfairly potent double-element attack tore the creature back into its original pieces and then all dissolved. At the same moment, an attack led by Silas' Thunder enhanced by Emily's more defensive Air tore the other monster apart. All four exchanged a look and then ran over the overpass toward the direction Starlight had gone.
Ryan grinned as he saw Starlight in her armor. "Glad to see you're back to normal, Star! And that's really amazing armor. Definitely looks like the edelweiss!"
"I am crazy in love with those boots," Emily added on her own grin. She smirked when Glacia shot a glare at them both for their levity. "Hey, don't mind us. We'll just watch her slaughter you, if it's all the same."
Starlight lifted her hands and a potent ball of Illusion magic began forming. She hurled it with all her strength at Glacia, and the attack came on fast and hard enough he could not block or dodge. It sent him flying over the railing and into the river. He knew he was heavily outnumbered and hastily disappeared.
The spells lifted with his exit, and both Resurrection Cultivators' communications masks lit up the same purple ombre color. Emily grabbed hers first and said quickly, "We're okay! Starlight just put on her Mask and kicked ass, Ryan and I kicked more ass of the monster kind, and we sort of had help from two unexpected allies so everything's finished!" she said all in one breath.
"Wow," Silas murmured. He blinked as he realized Starlight was eyeing him. "What?"
"Children of the Realm?" she asked him and Gail alike.
"Correct."
"Send Starlight back to the palace," Tasia's voice said. "Then you and Ry take care of what needs taking care of. We can all meet up later after you've reconnected with your Caretakers."
Emily stared at the mask in her hand. "I didn't tell you who it was. How the hell do you know those things? No, never mind, I don't want to know!" She closed the line and put away the mask as she looked at Starlight. "Lead's orders. Which you heard. Can you transport to the palace safely? Rather that than you walk."
"Of course! I'll even take our bags there, too." She cheerfully scooped them up from where they had fallen. "Don't worry about me, alright?" She waved as Emily and Ryan both removed their Masks and then followed Gail and Silas across the bridge into the residential district. Both twins had hidden their wings again, and Starlight decided to herself that she very greatly enjoyed these Resurrection Cultivators. They kept such fascinating company.
They stopped on the other side of the bridge, and Silas tucked his hands in his pockets as he glanced at his sister. "Same or different?" he asked.
"Different," was Gail's response. She had an arm lightly around Ryan's shoulders and didn't lift it as she looked at her brother. She knew what they discussed even though the other siblings were a little puzzled. "We have our own methods, so let's use them. We know our mates best."
"I'm not his mate!" Emily said through her teeth.
"Keep saying it often enough and even you might believe it," was Silas's retort. He didn't look away from his sister as he spoke but he assuredly felt the murderous look Emily leveled at his back. "Alright, works for me," he told Gail.
"Meet up at the castle later?"
"If I'm not dead, sure." He took Emily's arm firmly and guided her one direction while Gail and Ryan headed down the other.
Emily had no idea where they were going, but she could guess it was probably wherever he lived. Much as she wanted to know everything, much as she had missed him, she really did not trust herself to be alone with him, and oh hell no was she going to be forced to marry the guy just because she couldn't keep her hands to herself. If she had to, she would turn into a snake and bite him. Maybe something poisonous and deadly. Or she could become a constrictor and choke him to death. That would be more satisfying. Her thoughts painfully stopped as she smacked into his back when he stopped walking. "Ow." She rubbed her nose.
"Sorry." He unlocked the gate and nudged her through with a hand on her back. They remained in silence as they headed up to the second floor where his apartment was located. Once inside, he removed his jacket and tossed it over the back of a chair. "You can sit or stand if you want. If you're sitting, though, at least I have forewarning before you hit me."
She sniffed disdainfully but nonetheless sat down on the edge of the couch. The apartment was medium-sized and well taken care of, but he may well be the messy one of the twins for the living room looked cheerfully cluttered with things. It wasn't dirty, or disorganized, but there were things everywhere. A glass bowl on the table caught her eye, and she leaned forward to study it. Her heart fluttered oddly as she realized the glass was the same green as her eyes. "So talk," she said as she looked back at him. "Skip the stuff about the wings or whatnot. Ryan explained about children born in the Realm. Well, I guess I'm curious which Ice Flower Element Cultivator birthed you two, but that's negligible overall." She lowered her gaze. "I can't . . . quite believe you're here."
"Let's come back to the last five thousand plus years in a bit. My parentage is actually of relative importance overall in many ways." He raked both hands through his lavender hair and then gave a sigh and took the risk of walking over to sit next to her. He loved her, and therefore knew her well, so he reached out and took both her hands in a grip both caressing and confining. "Let's start it this way. As you know, my name is Silas Kalri. The Cultivator who unexpectedly found herself pregnant was Jessica Kalri, when she met her Caretaker during the Realm War in RBE Year 2."
Emily frowned darkly. "Wait. That name is familiar."
"It should be. Jessica Kalri—Jessie to her friends—was the Defender Cultivator of Iris right before Yvette." He rubbed his thumb over her wrist. She was still calm and he wanted to keep her that way. "That's one of the ways we knew about you two. She's Guardian of the Ice Flower Element, so of course she has interest in Tasia as much as Yvette, so that naturally means she has interest in your entire team, so we inevitably noticed you."
"I guess that makes sense." She lowered her gaze because looking into those black eyes was hard. "Silas . . . I just . . . am sorry. I guess. That you waited so long to see me again." Her shoulders hunched a little. "When the Memory Lag Delay caught up and you remembered the Rebirth Era again, I'm surprised you didn't write me off entirely."
A wry smile touched his lips. "Emily, how could I do that when it just told me I had fallen in love with you twice?"
Her head jerked up again. "What?"
"A funny thing happened to me. We'll call it déjà vu. See, 'round about, hmm, six years ago, Gail and I heard Mom discussing that there were oddities about the new generation. Got us curious, right? So we went looking, just to see. I saw you and you just . . . dazzled me. I just . . . knew. You were so close to adulthood, barely weeks away, that nothing stopped me from recognizing you. I watched you in the marketplace sassing Arista and I fell helplessly in love. And then little over a year ago, all of a sudden I woke up one morning and remembered things I had forgotten from the last Era. Realized that twice I had fallen in love with you. I had waited five thousand years to see you again, Emily. I would wait another five."
She could only stare at him as her heart beat out of rhythm in her chest. She almost could not believe him. "Are you joking?"
"Would I joke about that?" he demanded. "Geez, here I am trying to be romantic and you accuse me of lying. Gods, you are so frustrating sometimes. You have too much trouble believing what's right in front of you, even when you know it's a fact! You had enough trouble on Aria with not believing you were a Cultivator, let alone . . ." He trailed off as he saw fury leap into her eyes. "Ah, hell. I shouldn't have said that." He quickly lifted his hands and blocked as she tried to slug him. She didn't give up, and he was forced to admit reluctant admiration for her teacher; she had been trained to be both sneaky and quick.
They went tumbling off the couch, and his head rapped against the coffee table. Stars danced around his head and he shook them off. "Okay, that's it!" He lithely twisted and tumbled her over onto the carpet. He pinned her against the couch with her hands and legs alike trapped, and he scowled. "That hurt, dammit!"
"You deserved it!" she shouted. "You saw everything that happened on Aria and you didn't do anything to help us! I ought to rip your eyes out, you . . ." Her words stopped on a gasp as he settled his weight more fully on her and completely sent her thoughts scattering. That was not fair! "Let me up!" she hissed.
"You have an amazing flaw for a witch," he retorted. "Why do you only believe what's right in front of your nose, damn it?" He blew his bangs out of his face but they fell right back into his eyes as he stared down at her. Her heart flip-flopped around as she fought the ridiculous urge to get her hands into his hair. "You didn't believe you were a Cultivator, you didn't believe you were a witch, you didn't believe that you weren't at fault for your father, and you don't believe me and that I love you even though I've done everything except take out an article in the local periodical!" He was almost shouting by the time he finished, and he fell silent as he glared down at her.
She took a deep breath and told herself to ignore the feel of his body. It was nearly impossible. He was strong and hot and felt so utterly perfect against her. She had wanted him for so long, loved him for longer. It just wasn't possible that he really loved her. She wasn't lovable at all. Okay, her friends and parents loved her, but they were weird and liked her flaws. So does Silas, a little voice whispered in her mind, and she could not argue its truth. He clearly knew every one of her flaws and loved her in spite of them.
You're too proud.
The different voice not her own whispered across her subconscious. Whether it was merely her soul reminding her of what she had seen happen to her Lead, or it was actually Tasia's voice, she didn't know. She didn't care. It was right. Throwing away a chance at being with her soul's mate was the stupidest thing she could do, and she might doom her world and her own existence if she kept fighting. Why couldn't she just . . . be happy? She deserved to be happy. She wanted to be happy.
She closed her eyes on a sigh. They would fight more than they got along, and she was insane for even considering letting him in her life, but she wanted nothing more than the rollercoaster of wonderful emotions he brought to her. She liked to fight and get angry, and he could oblige. "You've got to be crazy," she finally said.
He smiled as he sensed triumph. "Probably. Anyone who would love a bad-tempered and foul-mouthed person like you is definitely crazy. Come on, Emily." He lowered his head until their lips were a breath apart. "Take a chance on me. I dare you."
One future was without him and looked cold and lonely. The other was with him and it looked warm and wonderful. She gave up fighting and just sighed anew. "What the hell. If you don't take good Care of me though, I'll beat your ass."
He grinned. "I wouldn't expect anything less."
* * * * *
Ryan sat in silence as he digested everything Gail had told him. "So I've had my own personal guardian even before I had a Caretaker?" he finally teased. He turned to face her more fully where she sat beside him on the couch. "I think . . . I'm a little humbled. That you would fall in love with me twice. I thought so much about looking for you recently," he confessed. "I wanted to see you so much."
Gail shook her head on a smile. "I would have hidden from you, for Silas and Emily's sake. But everything is alright now. Aunt Clara said to watch for the light of a star to arrive. The moment we heard about Starlight, we realized that was the sign. I have confidence in Silas. He can break through to Emily. Meanwhile," she skimmed a finger down his nose, "I feel an urge to be a proper Caretaker."
The sultry, teasing, look in her eyes implied she did not wholly reference just protecting him in battle. Caretakers did take the duty of seducing their Cultivator quite seriously. He reached out to cup her beloved face in his hand, and he opened his power to let her actually feel that he was touching her. He had never before attempted such a thing, letting someone touch his emotions as he touched theirs, but he had learned how as part of his training. What stunned him then was the amazing intimacy of the sensation. It felt far more intimate than a kiss. "Uhm."
"I like it," she told him softly. "I didn't realize a spiritual healer that was an empath could do such a thing."
"I've never before tried to do this, but I knew how. I was wondering what it would be like, if I could see how you felt."
"How am I feeling?" She tugged him closer where she could feel his body.
"Dangerous," was the first thing to come out his mouth. A hint of pink climbed his cheeks. "Although, to be fair, maybe that's me. I'm losing the ability to tell our emotions apart, because I think I literally just linked us empathically. I can try to undo it."
"I like it," she said again. She lowered her head to rest against his, and her smile was tender. "Do you love me, Ryan Orchid, as much as I love you?"
"Only if you love me more than the world," he countered softly. He smoothed his hand across her face and brushed at the wisps of her lavender hair falling in her eyes. "I was falling the entire time I met you back then, and I think I fell in love again when you just . . . swooped in to rescue me. It was pretty dashing, and maybe a little thrilling. If I can't save myself, then you can save me. I like that."
"I wanted to save you on Aria," she admitted. The color slowly left his face, and she gathered him closer. "You were incredible, Ry," she said into his hair. "I know none of you like to remember what you felt and suffered, but all of you came out alive. That last battle, I was right there beside you."
"I thought I sensed someone watching me but . . ." He rested his head on her shoulder and let out a soft sigh. It seemed like a perfect miracle to finally be there in her arms and feel that sensation of utter safety. Security. Her arms would hold together his heart and soul when his duties tried to tear him apart. "Will you stay this time?" he asked softly. "I don't think I have the strength to let you go again."
"I would have to be torn away." She tilted his chin up to kiss him, but he ducked back. She lifted a brow with a bit of surprise. "I can feel you want me to kiss you as badly I do. Why are you evading? Is there something we have not discussed?"
He smiled. "I know you Caretakers. You have no intention of stopping with a kiss, and the way we both feel, I'm not complaining! However . . . I am a Cultivator. I believe you know the laws as well as I do. That whole 'if a Cultivator sleeps with someone willingly, said someone has to marry them' thing? It applies to me."
Based mostly in the fact that lovers shared power and that could be dangerous, it also had roots directly in the fact that it acted as a perfect tool to be utilized by Cultivator or Caretaker in landing a stubborn and sometimes scared soul mate. The law ensured that a stubborn soul mate willing to accept a physical relationship but not an emotional one would be forced to take both. Since Cultivators never responded to anyone except a soul mate sexually enough to sleep with them, the law had yet to be wrong. Witches, like humans without power, could absolutely feel any amount of desire for anyone, so Cultivators with majik could go either way, but so far in history, only one ever had.
The Resurrection Cultivators knew it was more than likely that their Seed could override their majik, meaning that the odds of them being sexually attracted to any but their soul mate was slim to none, but all deeply preferred to think of it as Destiny giving them a precious choice few others got—and thus far all had been more than happy with the choice of soul mate offered.
"I'm aware of it," Gail said. She smiled. "I have no objections."
He crossed his arms on a stubborn look, though a hint of humor lurked in his eyes. "Well, I just feel that we might as well be more formal about this than just showing up betrothed. I'm not going to kiss you until you agree to marry me."
Her smile began to turn into a wicked grin. "Did you just ask me to marry you?" she asked solemnly.
"Darn straight. I guess you know my personality as well as I do."
"Like a terrier with a bone," she agreed. "Gentle and sweet, but with a complete lack of regard for the rules you don't like and a willingness to exploit the ones you do. Honestly, you're somehow scarier than Emily."
He grinned. "That's what everyone says." He wound his arms around her neck. "Give me my answer then kiss me."
"Can I kiss you then give you your answer?"
"Nope. You'll forget." He made a show of looking at the clock. "I'm waiting."
"Yes, Your Highness, I will marry you. Now may I kiss you?" she asked politely, but laughter in her voice.
"Yes, you may." He laughed and kissed her instead, and a thrill rippled through his heart and soul. He had finally found and claimed his Caretaker. His gold-winged winged soul mate. There truly was no one better suited for him.
* * * * *
"Where have you two been?" Arista demanded in exasperation as she came down the stairs into the grand entry where Ryan and Emily had just walked in. "It's been hours since Starlight came back and said you'd gone off with some old friends, and neither of you answered your PCA." She broke off as she looked again at the two Cultivators. And then looked a third time. She had been around a long while, so she knew the signs of someone who had spent the afternoon in a lover's arms. She had expected it to happen eventually, so she did not necessarily feel surprised, but there was one puzzling thing that had her asking, "Emily, why are there feathers in your hair?"
Emily blinked, reached up to her hair, and came away with several gold feathers. It sent her and Ryan both into a case of the giggles, and Arista slowly lifted a brow. "Oh this ought to be good," she said dryly. "Diego!" she called. "Delilah! The wayward children are home. And I'm assuming they brought who we assumed would eventually show up soon."
Shanae had heard the giggling, so she got to the entry first. She came down the stairs and studied Emily and Ryan alike along the way. "Oh my." She tried to hide a smile. "Well, that's about spot on for how long I thought it would take. I realized Starlight had to be the 'light of the star', so figured Silas and Gail would appear to you both soon."
Diego and Delilah, and Ulyen, came around the corner and entered the upper hallway that wrapped around the entry. They stopped, blinked in bemusement, and then Diego said, "Damn. Well, someone around here was tumbling on a bed."
"Or a floor," Emily whispered to Ryan, and made him bite back more laughter.
Shanae fought not to laugh as well. "Well, where are the twins? Don't tell me you left them behind! You know better than that." She spotted a butler going past and said, "We'll be having two more mouths to feed on a regular basis." She called after him as he hurried toward the kitchens, "And tell the cooks we want something more celebratory tonight!"
Emily looked out the open castle doors behind her. "Get your butt in here," She snorted out a laugh suddenly and then reached out and grabbed Silas by the seat of his pants to drag him in. "If you're going to wiggle that at me, don't take offense when I grab it."
"You'd hit me if I did the same!" Silas retorted. He shot a quick grin at the others. "Hi. Long time no see. Really long, actually."
Gail walked over to stand next to Ryan, and her hand slipped around his waist almost automatically. "Hi," she said solemnly to the room as a whole.
Arista could only shake her head. As Diego came up beside her, she grumbled, "I'm realizing more than I did back then that this shouldn't have been a surprise. Because, hmm, if I recall, Jon sure was a lot like someone around here."
Diego grinned at her. "You Hyacinth Duals need certain qualities in a soul mate. Destiny finds ways to make it happen."
"Welcome home, Silas and Gail," Shanae said warmly as she walked toward the two Cultivators and two Caretakers. "Now nearly all of our beloved Resurrection Cultivators have their Caretaker at their side. Only one left, but that is really just a matter of time. I admit, though, I'm surprised you waited as long as you did. Starlight's been here a few weeks now."
"Well," Silas said, "Emily's a pain in the ass. If it weren't for that, we'd have been here sooner." He absently lifted a hand and covered Emily's mouth before she could voice the scathing retort they all knew she had. "Shut up, Em."
Delilah bit back a laugh. Someone had met her match! She studied Gail intently and then looked up at Ulyen to find him smiling as he saw the same thing. Their son had also met his match. Gail looked the sort who would not let Ryan get away with murder. He got away with more shenanigans than his sister did because he played the innocent card with expertise and few dared ever tell him no. Not that Delilah herself did that either, of course. For their own reasons, Orchid Dual Cultivators needed unique traits in a Caretaker, too. "This works for me," she decided. "Now that I have seen them together. It all makes sense, doesn't it? Welcome to the family, Gail. I'm sure you and Ulyen will have a long discussion about how to handle us Orchidians, but, really, just let us have our own way and things usually turn out fine."
"Usually," Ulyen repeated dryly. "It's that ten percent otherwise to be on the lookout for."
Gail grinned. "I look forward to learning anything you have to teach. I'm sure I'll need it!"
An explosion outside shook the entire castle with extreme violence, and pieces of the ceiling came crashing down. Ulyen yanked Delilah back to safety under the upstairs walkway, Gail and Silas hit the ground with their lovers protectively covered, and Arista and Diego alike tackled Shanae out of the way of another chunk of ceiling. "That was a hell of a bang!" Arista muttered. "What the hell?"
"Resonate frequency." Shanae shoved them both aside and sat up. "The shields Tasia put up work on a sound frequency because she's a Mystic. That means that something punching inside might make a bigger bang if it hits the right note."
The explosion had brought people running from all directions, and the servants began to prepare to clean and fix the ceiling. The Cultivators and Commanders currently present all gathered to decide who went to investigate, but Shanae spotted Starlight staring out the door with a familiar look on her face. "Gail, Silas," Shanae said softly as she got to her feet. "Time for your first duties as Caretakers. You and Talon take Starlight to see what the explosion was. It will not need Defenders." She looked at Talon and found him grimacing. "Or do you need to be subbed for someone else, Talon?"
He shook his head a bit. "It's not as bad as when Starlight arrived. I'm fine. Let's go, you three."
"Yes sir." Gail got to her feet and pulled Ryan up as well. She grinned as he leaned up to kiss her in front of everyone. "You've already staked your claim, my prince. They get the point." She ran her hand down his hair and went over to join the cornflower-haired man waiting with Starlight by the door.
Silas didn't bother with words; he knew Emily was angry he had protected her without consideration to his own health, despite it literally being in his job description. He just dragged her to her toes, kissed her hard, and then let her go and went to join the others. Ryan and Emily immediately found themselves the recipient of fascinated expressions from everyone. "Uhm, want to plan more weddings?" Ryan offered.
The explosion turned out to actually be the crashing of something into the palace wall, the party all noticed as they drew closer. Talon and Silas were armed with scimitars and sword, and Gail with her rod, as they cautiously approached where the wreckage had heaped. There was someone lying partway through the wall, but the silver and green glow around them made it hard to determine their identity. It was something deeper that made Starlight give a glad cry and go rushing forward. "Phoenix!!"
"Phoenix?" the three Caretakers echoed.
The figure sat up on a groan and revealed himself to be a petite man with eyes and short hair every shade of red and orange. He rubbed the back of his head, and his arms showed the muscles earned from a life as a Defender Cultivator—and surely he had to be one for the presence of a Seed inside him could be sensed by even Talon. He wore some sort of uniform that the Caretakers guessed had to be from Aluria since it looked unfamiliar.
Starlight sprang into his arms and sent them tumbling backward, and he sighed as he rolled his eyes skyward. "Concussion, check." He unexpectedly spoke Blossom, but with the same accent as Starlight. Holding tight to his queen, he looked at the other three and said dryly, "By the way, watch that first step. It's a doozy."
©Stacy J. Garrett. Do not reprint or redistribute without permission.
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