Page 44 of Disillusioned (A Lay of Ruinous Reign #2)

Lilac forced her quick, shallow breathing to deepen as she quietly assessed herself.

She thought of the inhuman strength that had surfaced when Garin had challenged her upstairs.

He’d said it was a result of the volatile combination of his sanguine magic and the arcana still in her body.

Was that truly a product of both? Or either? She wouldn’t dare mention it now.

“He entranced me to go to the castle, consider my options, and marry. I did as he asked— except marry,” she clarified as the witches exchanged glances.

“I had no proposals awaiting me. After learning such this morning, I made the decision to see him. And now, here I am. His entrancement has dissipated.”

“It seems it has.” Lorietta placed her hand to her lips, as if there were more to say. She refrained.

“But she is still in her bridal glamor. All but the gown.” Adelaide shifted her black knitted robe further onto her shoulders. “It even withstood the Guài arrow’s enchantment.”

“I have no explanation for that,” Lorietta admitted. “Arcana, even Sanguine magic, is at times uncertain, skirting the rules society pretends makes it predictable.”

“And he hasn’t been sleeping, or even come out of his room to feed from the blood whores?—”

“Donors,” corrected Lorietta.

“That’s right,” Adelaide said. “ Blood whore is what Lilac is to him.”

Lilac didn’t bother responding, couldn’t even listen to their bickering; they grew quiet once they observed the dark fury that surged across her face, the shame and flash of jealousy again at the thought of his fangs in another’s neck turning into panic once more.

In all this time spent talking, she could’ve found him by now. “I’m leaving.” She started in the direction of the carriage.

“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s plenty of room for you here, and we can revisit this in the morning, Your Majesty. Come now, it is the sensible thing. ”

“I’m not waiting until morning to find him.

” She couldn’t. She had a meeting tomorrow just to tell a man who had traveled across a kingdom and a half no .

Lilac nearly couldn’t see straight, panting into the cooling air, the wind whipping past her face in the dark as she marched toward the stable.

Giles was just now hobbling toward them, cat tucked in his arm, the carriage crookedly parked in front of the stables.

“Why does your priest have a cat in his arms?” Adelaide said, giggling.

“Honestly, I’m not— get back in, Giles ” Lilac commanded furiously as Giles squinted and saw the queen stomping his way, freezing midstep. “We’re leaving.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?—”

“No,” Lorietta snapped, confusing him further. “Stop. No one is going anywhere, certainly not to seek Garin out. Not with that vampire in this state.”

Lilac shot a glare over her shoulder at the following witches. “ What state? Is he angry? Hungry?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it hunger,” Lorietta began to reply.

Lilac turned to confront the tavern owner as a loud pop sounded in front of her, followed by a puff of billowing white smoke. She coughed against the strong aroma of black powder—and screamed.

A man stood between her and the witches.

He flopped his long golden hair out of his face, making a startled noise upon spotting the perplexed witches, and then spinning, doubling back at Lilac as he fixed the royal blue velvet robe that dusted his loafers.

The material shone in the night, a pattern of white stars mirroring those speckling the clear sky above.

“Funny seeing you here , Your Majesty,” the man said. “I was afraid I’d end up in the middle of your dining hall.” Relief flooded his long face. He couldn’t have been more than in his early thirties, with piercing blue eyes and a short, neatly trimmed beard.

He held his hand out.

“Don’t touch him,” Lorietta snarled at Lilac—she wasn’t planning on it, already shrinking away—then turned to the man. “Where are they?” She craned her neck, glancing around as if expecting to see Garin watching from the trees. “You left him?”

He ignored Lorietta’s inquiry, still glancing at Lilac. “Pleasure,” he said, offering his hand again .

She didn’t recognize him, but his voice and accent much were too familiar to ignore. “ Emrys ?”

“Myrddin Ambrosious Wyllt,” said the man, retracting his arm as if the name should have been familiar. “Myrddin the Great?” His impish grin fell further when Lilac gave him an astonished grimace. “Emrys. Ambrosius. I’ve gone by a few names in the last few centuries, but you can call me Myrddin.”

Lilac blinked at him. The voice was his, yet warmer, fuller.

Younger. Much less gruff. Garin had said he was alive and seemed annoyed about it, but hadn’t mentioned this .

“You were the warlock they were after,” she said accusingly, expecting to feel more anger toward him.

But all her fury was focused on finding Garin. “But how? How are you alive?”

“It wasn’t the arrow that killed him, but the impact of the crash.

Myrddin woke and stabbed himself in the arm with the merchant’s arrow stuck in his armor shortly after we got to the inn,” said Adelaide, looking equal parts terrified and impressed as Lilac remained at a loss for words. “He had a chest plate on.”

“I had become stuck in my own glamor after living in it for a few decades, hiding from the Guài and other… prominent figures. Using the Guài arrow I’d so easily acquired seemed the simplest way out.”

Lilac frowned, glancing him up and down. This was the drunk old man with the filthy beard they’d rescued from the Jaunty Hog? “You don’t even look like a warlock anymore.”

Myrddin stepped back, his eyes roving over her tight corset and pink kirtle. “And you certainly don’t look queenly tonight.” When Lilac crossed her arms over her chest, he snorted. “I’m not complaining. You’ve certainly dressed the part for our destination.”

“She’s not going anywhere.” Lorietta marched over.

Adelaide was close behind. “It wouldn’t hurt to hear what Myrddin has to say.”

“ He’s the one who got them into this mess. You’re not bringing her anywhere near him.”

“You know where he is?” Lilac urged.

“That, I do.”

Lilac neared him, eyeing his outstretched hands. “Please, take me to him. ”

“Myrddin,” Lorietta said, her cat eyes flashing bright in the night.

“Is he safe?” Lilac asked, unable to focus on anything but knowing Garin was well and alive. Her heart dropped when the warlock made a face.

“It’s not his safety I’m concerned about,” said Myrddin.

Lorietta leaned past her, into Myrddin, causing him to recoil into his beard as she jabbed a nail toward his chest. “We cannot have the queen enthralled to Garin Trevelyan, of all people. If you want to help, do what you should have this entire time. Convince him to come home and sever any existing connection between them before it is too late. Consider how difficult it was to keep her from him, and to keep him from leaving. She left the castle! We’re just fortunate he didn’t find her first, or that he didn’t end up at the keep gates. There must be a way.”

“There are very few ways to end the beginnings of a possible bond, however it was formed,” Myrddin said, politely shooing the witch’s finger. “One of which you’ve tried. The others, I don’t imagine will interest him in this moment.”

“Thanks to you ,” Lorietta said, shrill.

If the fear of thralling her or the mere possibility of a blood bond was preventing Garin from wanting to see her, be with her, then she would prevent it. Break it. She would do anything.

“How?” Lilac asked. “I’ll do it.”

“These methods involve great sacrifice and must involve both of you, except for the most obvious: death of the regnant.”

“No,” Lorietta and Lilac said in unison.

He squinted, then turned to Lilac. “Have you ever considered the benefits of a regnant-thrall companionship? There can be certain powerful attributes in?—”

“I will banish you from my property forever, make it invisible and inaccessible to you, Myrddin,” Lorietta threatened, shaking a fist at him.

His brows rose, considering. “If I help, do I get free drinks for life?”

“You’re immortal,” Adelaide pointed out.

“Exactly. Either way,” replied the warlock, sidestepping a fuming Lorietta, “the first step is to get Garin back.”

“ You were supposed to bring him back—why couldn’t you have teleported him and Bastion here?”

Myrddin scratched the back of his neck. “Erm. Garin, at the moment, is not accessible. I must take her to him. I will return them both in one piece.” Myrddin held his hands out toward them again, forcing the witches to back away. “One touch and you’re all coming with me.”

Lilac glanced back at Lorietta, who looked like she had half the mind to swing at him. She gave Lilac a warning glare as Adelaide watched, wide-eyed. Adelaide looked at the queen from over Lorietta’s shoulder and gave one minute nod of approval.

Without a second thought, Lilac slammed her palm into Myrddin’s. There was a jerk behind her navel, and the world began to spin.