“Stone, you were right about something. I am related to the queen.”
“Oh, is that it?” His features relaxed for a moment and he even smiled. “I sort of thought you might be. Are you her daughter? I mean these things happen. I promise you it’s not a big deal.” He took a step toward her and she could see he meant to take her in his arms again, but she couldn’t let him.
Instead, she held her hands up in a blocking motion, until he drew to a stop. His frown returned.
“I’m not Rosamunde’s daughter or niece or grandmother or anything. I’m not related in that way. Stone, I am Rosamunde.”
Stone stared at her and cocked his head. “What?” Then he chuckled. “That’s not even possible. You don’t look like her. Your hair and coloring might be similar, but this,” he waved his hand up and down to encompass her body, “this isn’t Rosamunde.”
“Maybe it’s best if I show you.”
“Well. Okay. But you’re not making any sense.”
For a moment, she couldn’t do it. The tears had started and she couldn’t stop them. “You’ll hate me.”
“I could never … I won’t … I don’t get this.”
She closed her eyes and transformed. The dress sort of fit her though it was much tighter in the bodice. As Rosamunde, she had bigger breasts than Aralynn.
Stone’s mouth fell agape. He looked her up, then down, then back up. He took a step away from her. “What does this mean?”
“I’m Queen Rosamunde and I’m Aralynn, the wolf-shifter. I’m both women. Davido came to me a year ago and showed me that I was capable of being both persons. He then taught me how to use my powers and become Aralynn. He said ‘Aralynn’ would have an important role to play in the war against my aunt. My cousin, Lorelei, has a similar ability.”
“Fuck. Me.” He took another step back, his hand to his gut. “But this isn’t possible. Aralynn is nothing like Rosamunde …” No other words followed.
Rosamunde remained silent and very still, giving Stone time to adjust to this new reality. Her only movements involved swiping at the tears that wouldn’t stop flowing down her cheeks.
Finally, he shifted to sit down on the side of the bed. “You’re Rosamunde? All this time? But what the hell kind of trick was this to play on me? How? Why? What the holy fuck did you think you were doing? Sweet Goddess, all this time.” His gaze fell to the rumpled sheets. “And I made love to you last night.”
“That’s the selfish part because I didn’t want you to know. I knew how you felt about ‘Rosamunde’.” Goddess help her, she did air quotes. “Then once you kissed me in the mine out at Charborne, I was lost. And if you remember, I was trying to tell you even then, but Margetta showed up. Then at Joseph’s, you needed my blood and everything got out of hand so fast and, oh, Stone, I couldn’t help myself. I’ve wanted you so badly, almost from the first time you came to the castle.
“And I’ve loved being Aralynn and battling beside you. For the first time in my life I was doing something, actually doing something real and tangible. I mean besides holding the veil of mist intact. I always knew how important that was, but when Vojalie and Davido came to the castle—”
“Wait. Then they both know who you are and what you’ve done? About this ruse?”
“You can’t blame either of them. Keeping my identity a secret is on me alone. I knew your opinion all too well.”
“Your aunt is Margetta.”
“Yes. Lorelei, Mastyr Seth’s woman, and I are cousins.”
He shaded his face with his hands. “You left Ferrenden Peace to heal Lorelei. I remember.”
“It’s the only time in recent history I’ve left my kingdom. Even then, Davido took my place to support the mist as best he could. But she would have died without my healing efforts.”
“If you healed Lorelei, why didn’t you heal me? Why did Kaden have to do it?”
“Stone, your wound was beyond anything I could have treated. Your liver was destroyed and part of your intestines. I got you back to Ferrenden Peace, but Kaden saved your life, or at least he restored your body and apparently my blood cleansed you of the poison.”
His mossy-green eyes appeared as though she’d crushed him. He’d never looked more hurt. “I just don’t understand how you could have done this.”
“It was utterly and completely selfish. I … I knew once you learned the truth you’d never forgive me for the deception, so I chose to have one night with you. And it was amazing and beautiful and everything I’d always wanted with you.
“But I know what you think of me.” She couldn’t continue.
She moved to sit down on the tall chair opposite the bed. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
~ ~ ~
Having learned of Rosamunde’s existence in recent years, and knowing that she had sufficient power to create a veil of mist around Ferrenden Peace, Stone had believed from the outset she’d used the Nine Realms badly. Any person with that much power, could have fought Margetta with her own two hands. For the Goddess’s sake, she’d put both Mastyr Seth and Mastyr Quinlan in stasis so the men didn’t kill each other.
From the time he’d learned she had stasis ability, which to his knowledge no other realm-person did, he’d become convinced she was the one person who could have made a difference in the war against Margetta. And she could have done it a long, long time ago.
Despite that she sat across from him weeping into her hands, he still believed he was right about her, that she had the innate ability to defeat Margetta if only she’d put her mind to it. That she hadn’t made the effort resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of realm-folk who had died because of her indolence, including his own adopted troll parents.
Even now, with the undeniable proof that she could be both Aralynn and Rosamunde right in front of him, he was convinced more than ever that he was right about her.
“You should have been straight with me, Rosamunde, from the first. Why didn’t you tell me you were Aralynn when you first came to the Com Center? Hell, I probably would have come around right away since you were finally doing something, just as you said. You’d gotten off your ass at long last.”
At that, she rose from the chair and went into the bathroom. He heard her blowing her nose.
When she returned, she moved straight up to him. “You’re wrong. That’s all I can say. You’re fucking wrong, Stone. I’m not indolent or uncaring. Every fae part of me knows that I don’t have enough essential power to battle Margetta, not even when I access the elf-lord power. In fact, all I’ve really accomplished where she’s concerned is that I can outfly her, thank the Goddess.
“I know you don’t believe me, but don’t you think if I’d had that kind of potential that I would have been able to bear the elf-lord power as well? Yet, I can’t. Century after century, when it arrived, it always brought crippling pain.”
Stone gained his feet, not caring that her violet eyes had filled with tears yet again. “Let’s say you’re right, which I’m not conceding, how could you have deceived me like this?”
She shrugged. “I’ve already explained the process. Even early on, I wanted to tell you, but I was too afraid of your opinion of ‘Rosamunde’. I feared not being able to battle beside you as Aralynn. And yes, it was wrong. All of it. And I’m so very sorry, Stone.”
She looked contrite. He’d give her that. She wasn’t enjoying any of this. But she was right about one thing, he’d never forgive her for tricking him.
As she picked up her shoes and her underclothes, she added, “Again, I’m sorry for what I’ve done. I don’t expect your forgiveness, but I hope we can continue working together to bring Margetta down. Beyond that, I have no expectations of you.”
“But what I want to know—”
Just like that, she was gone, teleporting away, another sign of her genetics. Sweet Goddess, he’d made love to Margetta’s fucking niece.
And Aralynn was Rosamunde.
He felt an urge to shower again, to cleanse h
imself from Rosamunde’s deception.
Instead, he sat back down on the bed, picked up his coffee and sipped. It was lukewarm and not exactly appealing, but he didn’t care.
He was pissed as hell. If Rosamunde really was Aralynn then she’d saved his life, more than once. He’d be dead if it weren’t for her.
A disgusted sound came from the back of his throat. He’d despised Rosamunde for so long that he hated the idea of owing her anything.
He opened up his telepathic frequency and tapped on Davido’s path.
I’m at your service, oh, wise Mastyr of Tannisford.
Cut the crap. Why didn’t you tell me Aralynn was Rosamunde?
A stretch of silence followed, after which Davido lowered his telepathic voice, Because you, my friend, are a pigheaded impulsive fool who rarely listens to my counsel.
What? That’s not true.
Yes, it is. And I never objected before, but I must now. You’ve been very wrong about the queen and I’m begging you to make peace with her. She doesn’t possess the power you believe she does.
Then how did she create stasis?
Haven’t you figured that out? The elf-lord power, with Vojalie’s training, of course. But it’s not innate with her, which is why she suffers when the power comes to her. Wake up, Stone. For reasons I don’t understand you’ve had it in for her and that’s something you might want to explore as well. Why have you been so intent on disliking Rosamunde?
Stone couldn’t respond. Not yet. He had to think this through, especially that she’d deceived him for weeks now.
On the other hand, Davido’s loyalty to Rosamunde meant something that Stone couldn’t set aside. But he needed to understand the full picture. Davido, why didn’t you teach her sooner how to transform into her wolf-state and by the way, who in any of the realms can do that?
Only a handful that I’ve known over the centuries. Her cousin, Lorelei can.
So she does have the power to defeat Margetta.
No, Stone, she doesn’t. You’ve made yourself blind with these thoughts. Margetta has more power than you can fathom. And Rosamunde, well, I will tell you something no one else knows.
When the troll didn’t finish his thought, Stone grew impatient. What? Just say it.
She was never meant to be Queen of Ferrenden Peace.
Stone had to laugh. That makes no sense at all.
Rosamunde was very young when she discovered she could manipulate the veil of mist that her mother, Queen Evelyn, had created to protect the kingdom. She was only a child of nine. She learned that she could create pathways through the mist and she would take her miniature goats out into what was then part of Grochaire Realm.
Margetta found her and enthralled her young mind, working to trick her to show her the path into Ferrenden Peace. Fortunately, Evelyn got wind of Margetta’s doings and left the kingdom to battle Margetta and to save her daughter’s life. In the process, Margetta killed a queen who was supposed to reign for a thousand years.
Stone frowned yet again. Not Rosamunde.
That’s right. Ferrenden Peace never had hereditary queens. They were chosen by the Sidhe Council as a result of fae visions. Rosamunde has been a place holder all this time until Quinlan’s daughter, Viola, is old enough to take her place.
Quinlan’s daughter? The one who’s just a few months old?
That’s right.
This was all such new information that Stone didn’t know what to think. He’d never understood Rosamunde, but from the few things she’d revealed and these new insights from Davido, it seemed her life had been one misadventure after another. And this is why the elf-lord power has caused her such disabling pain?
That’s what I believe. She was never the right vessel to serve Ferrenden.
Yet she’s done so for a thousand years.
Davido continued, She laid down her life, Stone, just as you have. She deserves both your respect and your trust.
So, you’re saying I’ve misjudged her.
Badly.
A few expletives rolled through his head, to which Davido cried out. Calm that damn battle energy of yours, Mastyr. You’ve practically destroyed my last working brain cell.
Apologies. But he laughed. Davido, so far as Stone knew, was the most power-laden realm-person in the Nine Realms. If he’d been a vampire or a shifter, he would have been a formidable Guardsman in their world and at the very least a ruling mastyr. Despite Davido’s protests, a little pathed profanity wasn’t going to harm his head.
Still, he didn’t know what the hell to think except that it would be a long time before he could forgive Rosamunde’s deception, even if he had misjudged the woman.
~ ~ ~
Rosamunde sat quietly as her maids bound her hair once more in the intricate arrangement she’d worn since she could remember. Tears kept flowing and she kept wiping them away. Her maids eyed one another in the mirror but said nothing to Rosamunde, for which she was grateful.
She finally offered, “I had an argument with Mastyr Stone. That’s all.”
The maids nodded but otherwise remained quiet.
Her chest felt caved in except for her heart which was swollen with an excess supply of blood. She’d need to donate at some point tonight or she was pretty sure the small organ would simply explode from having to work so hard.
Though thoughts of Stone kept intruding, she chose to focus on her most immediate problem: Finding a vampire to take the surplus. There were several lesser mastyr vampires in Tannisford Realm and one in particular came to mind.
His name was Rez and he was a tough, powerful man, which gave her pause. If she fed him, would he expect more? She’d heard that the drive to feed mastyrs was almost overwhelming and in response those she fed would feel a need to bond with her. And do other things.
She remembered all over again what had happened between Mastyr Seth and Mastyr Quinlan. Seth had come across Lorelei in the castle and because Lorelei had been unbonded at the time, Seth went berserk with his sudden need for her. In response, Lorelei had actually engaged with him. Quinlan found them before events got too far along, but the ensuing violent encounter between the men had reverberated through the entire castle.
Using the elf-lord power, she’d intervened, putting both mastyrs in stasis.
So, the question remained, if she sought out Rez in order to get relief from carrying too much blood, what would happen? Would she suddenly desire Rez the way she did Mastyr Stone?
Once her braids were intact, she sent her maids away in order to deal with her problem. She decided that to be on the safe side, she would offer herself first to Stone. She didn’t hesitate to tap on his pathway.
His response was less than hopeful. What do you want? Even telepathically he sounded hostile.
Pacing her private parlor, Rosamunde pressed a hand to her chest. His curt attitude did not help her faltering peace of mind at all. I won’t keep you long. Probably because of the things we did last night, I’ve built a blood supply that needs … sharing. Is there any way you can help me out here?
A long silence returned. I need you to leave me alone for a while until I sort this out. But you should know I doubt I’ll ever be able to trust you again.
I know. But Stone, I don’t want to donate to another mastyr. She let the words hang, hoping he would intuit the larger issue.
Instead, he shot back. Hey, at this point that’s your problem, not mine.
He shut down his pathway and she had to let him go. She called down to the kitchen and ordered a glass of wine.
With the bottle.
Maybe wine would relax her heart and help her get through the night without donating.
But even by the time her butler brought her the tray, she was feeling very strange. She had to release the supply she’d built or she wouldn’t live to see the morning.
As Aralynn, she and Stone had finished up more than one night in a bar, having a final beer before dawn.
She remembered one particular place where Rez
had come up to them. He’d been interested in ‘Aralynn’ and had a real player’s vibe. Now that she knew what she was, she wondered if he’d sensed on some level that she had blood rose potential.
Stone had given him a cold eye until he’d begged pardon and strolled, or maybe swaggered away.
As she recalled, the town was in the eastern part of the realm not far from the Dauphaire Mountains and Dark Gorge. The latter extended all the way into Mastyr Ian’s Realm of Camberlaune. And because she could teleport, the trip would be easy enough to make.
Fine. So Mastyr Rez would be the one she would feed tonight.
Unwanted desire, however, began to curl everywhere as she thought about him. She’d seen him at least three times through the past several weeks and he’d always looked at her as though he liked what he saw. She’d liked looking at him, too. His wavy brown hair, complete with sexy blond highlights, was at shoulder length and he had gorgeous blue eyes, a dimple in his chin. He had a scruff, too, that made him look dangerous and he never lacked for female attention.
She summoned her maids again and had them tear the braids apart. She’d wear Aralynn’s jeans. Maybe she’d go as Aralynn.
But she dismissed that idea right away. She was done hiding behind her wolf-self. She was Rosamunde, she was a blood rose and she could ease Rez’s suffering tonight, as in right now. As a mastyr, Rez suffered from the crippling pain like the rest of his kind.
As soon as her hair was back in its loose, frizzy mass, she told her maids she’d be in seclusion for the night meditating. This had been her cover for weeks so not a single one of them expressed surprise.
As soon as she locked the door from within, she teleported straight to the interior of Aralynn’s cottage. She rooted around in her dresser and found a sparkly, low-cut purple tank top that she knew Rez would like. Sliding it on, she could see that ‘Rosamunde’s’ bigger breasts created an erotic four-inch line of cleavage. Sweet!
Next, she hunted for Aralynn’s tightest jeans. Finding them, she loved the way they showed off her beautiful ass and her oh-so-long legs.