That night, Alcina returns to Brendan's (their, her traitorous mind has already begun to call it) bed, the two dragons stubbornly affixed to each of her shoulders.Brendan thinks he ought to voice his doubtfulness when he catches the anxious, yearning light in Alcina's eyes. Then, all Brendan does is hand Alcina her silken sleeping eye mask from the nightstand.The tremulous smile Alcina grants him makes Brendan suppose that if he is burnt into a crisp in the middle of the night, well.There are worse ways to go.Thankfully, he is not burnt to a crisp in his sleep.When he wakes, he finds Alcina curled into his chest as usual. The two mini-hearths are curled against Alcina's back, their ridged spines brushing Brendan's arm and transferring a near-burning heat.When Alcina wakes next, eyes sleepy and still, instinctively seeking out first the dragons and then Brendan, Brendan grants her a soft kiss and a smile.* * * * * * * * * *Of course, as with all things in life: just as Alcina b

In all of the excitement of receiving the envoys from House Arison, the dragons, and the attempt on her life - Alcina hadn't noticed the time passing. It isn't until she notices the household staff bustling with a renewed vigor that she realizes just how much time has passed. Mary laughs as she works on Alcina's hair. Orion and Perseus are safely hidden away in Brendan's room, who is now marginally better at being separated from Alcina for small increments of time. "My lady," she exclaims. "What do you mean, what is going on! Your brother is arriving today." Alcina stills. Her eyes widen almost comically in the mirror's reflection, and Mary laughs harder. "My lady!" she repeats. Alcina spins around, disrupting Mary's work on her hair. "Mary," she says urgently. "Today? Are you certain- has it truly already been-?" Mary beams at her. "Yes, my lady. Everyone is quite excited - we have never entertained envoys from the esteemed House Clair before!" The esteemed House Clair. But

Alcina looks around the room that she calls her own and yet hasn't spent a night in for weeks and bites her lip.She decides not to pack, not yet.Not before she speaks with Brendan.* * * * * * * * * *Alcina freezes when she hears the telltale click of the door.She looks up and finds Brendan entering the room with a blank expression on his face. An odd sensation of relief sweeps through her veins after having gone so long without seeing him.And when had two days become a long time?"Brendan," Alcina breathes, standing up to greet him. "Brendan, did you hear? About the-""Yes," Brendan murmurs. He smiles that wan, empty smile that Alcina is growing to loathe. "You can go home, now."Alcina falters.Something aches with a sharp pang. Alcina swallows down the bile, and that tiny, foolish part of her that surges forth, with something as ridiculous as-- I'd thought this was my home.Definitely, valiantly, ignores that trembling, irrational part of her that flits dangerously close to--

Nordin is a man not unlike the most terrifying force in the world when there is something he has set his sights on.For the past half-year, said sights have been set on the one and only horizon of- free Alcina from the damnation that is her betrothal to the man so vile they call him the Shadowed Beast.As it is, there is nothing short of a tornado that could stop him now, when he is finally, finally able to put the gears into motion. He has already assembled their entire entourage within an hour, saddled and ready to depart.Yes, the plan had initially been to stay for a gracious and cordial three-day stay, during which they would leisurely cement the final details of the alliance before setting back for the Heartlands.But when Nordin had arrived and laid eyes on that figure, they called Alcina’s betrothed apprehension had grown in his chest, unbidden. Nordin saw how Brendan’s dark gaze always fixed on Alcina, as though they could not bear to look away.Nordin needs to get Alcina out

Nordin is still glancing at Alcina with a worrying gaze every few moments when the carriages screech to a halt.There’s a loud clamor outside as men and horses alike shout and whinny with surprise, confusion, and fright, filling the air with a terrifying din.It would appear, from the sounds, that theirs is not the only carriage that has stopped. And, inexplicably, the world seems darker outside the windows, somehow, despite it already being night.Nordin glances sharply out the windows himself, trying to glean what is happening.“Why have we stopped?” he demands loudly to the coachmen. “Uh-” comes the panicked, vaguely confused voice of their driver. “I- I am not certain, my lord- just that- we cannot seem to move-”Alfred sits back in his seat. “It is Lord Warner,” he says with surety. He has just sensed his mind in the proximate area.Brendan, the man who can bring an entire battalion to a screeching halt with his Gift that controls the shadows of every mortal.Alcina freezes. And