Page 33 of Hexes & Heartstrings (Shifters of Bastion Keep #2)

Bruin didn't even have the full words out of his mouth before the dog shifter Bonnie leapt upon him.

Neatly, Lady Yi gripped the shifter by the arm, her claws drawing blood as she growled in her face. Surprised, her lackey slunk back.

"It is well that you stopped her yourself," Lady Galina said, striding down the last few stairs.

"It would be dishonorable to assault a… comparatively fragile man, no matter his misguided words." Lady Yi bowed her head to their hostess, then lifted it to glare at Bruin. "Dishonorable when the right should be mine. "

"You think his words are misguided?" Galina asked. With a few gestures, she had the wary guardians retaking their seats. At her appearance, hackles settled, as well as other animal posturing. "Green witch Bruin speaks for his mate. He says you are unfit. I accept it as so."

Lady Galina's offhand delivery left Lady Yi snarling.

"Then I shall challenge him, and he can put his strength where his words are!

Lord Consort Bruin, you and I shall duel.

I'll even allow you your magics. I wonder if you can get a single word of an incantation out before I close the distance and disembowel you? "

"House Rhindon!"

Lady Yi gestured vaguely in the air, disgusted. "Yes, yes, after proper rituals, of course. High Priest Roland can cast his war games magic so that he won't die when I gut him."

"That would not be a bad ruling, but no.

" Lady Galina looked pointedly at Yi's lashing tail, and the visiting noble shifted back into her human form.

"Bruin has stated that you are not fit to lead .

To prove him wrong, you will have to best him in a group challenge.

We will discuss the finer details shortly, but it shall be you and your pack versus Bruin and an equivalent force of guardians…

assuming that he can find enough that are willing to fight for him. What say you, Bastion Keep?"

There was a resounding cry of howls and shouts; it seemed that Lady Yi's actions had upset more than just a few.

"In the meantime, why don't we all sit down and eat?" Lady Galina suggested, her tone making it an order. "For the tranquility of the room, I strongly advise you take one of the empty tables at the other end of the room. As for you, Lord Consort Bruin, attend me."

Galina strode over to the High Table, Bruin following meekly behind. A few curt gestures from her Ladyship prevented the rest of his coven from following. As she took a seat next to her husband Gregory, she said a few words to an attentive staff who went to the kitchens with her meal order.

"My lady," he said, feeling light in the head. He spared a glance behind him, saw Russell being led by the arm by Rosemary back to his seat. "I think I might have messed up and overstepped myself. If you want me to do or say anything , I will."

"Bruin, I want you to know that I love my son, my daring Ser-bear," she said, banging a fist on the table to summon another attendant, who soon returned with a large mug of ale, which she downed most of.

"I love my son," she said again. "But he is not infallible.

The last few months, his full concentration has been on confronting Lord Wintersbane.

He was used to working with Lady Yi, knew how she fought, respected her ability to lead her one pack.

But it has been several years, and Ser has not observed Lady Yi as closely as he should.

Or perhaps he has forgotten some of her bull-headedness, and that she very much embodies the idea that if you give someone a hand, they'll take the whole arm.

"So listen to me, Bruin. As hostess and the only person in the keep with a higher standing than Lady Yi, I will make sure your battle is fair.

I warn you, if you lose, there will be consequences and fallout.

If you win, there will be fallout. There will already be certain ramifications between House Usenko and House Rhindon, but that much I can smooth over with a letter and a visit to her husband, and maybe some backstage passes to a dwarven grunge band that I know he likes. "

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"Don't be." Galina drained the rest of her flagon, banging it on the table and calling for another round, but Gregory was already pushing a second flagon to her, having anticipated her need, and she gnashed her teeth at him affectionately.

"I must remain fair, but I do not need to be impartial.

It's high time someone kicked her fucking ass, and it's something that only someone at her level can really do.

For now, finish your dinner. Within the hour you both shall have your rules, and you'll have until the morning to prepare.

Eat your fill, Bruin, promised of my son. You'll need the energy."

◆◆◆

Bruin crossed out several possible charms he'd been considering, then put his head in his hand.

"You should sleep," Lux told him, standing behind his shoulder.

"I need to keep planning," he insisted. "This is important."

Lux patiently put his pen out of his reach, then closed the notebook he'd been writing in. "So is getting a good night's rest, especially for the general."

"Trust your coven head," Markos said from his other side. "You've got plenty of plans and contingencies. Any more at this point, and you won't be able to set up everything you're wanting to during your hour of prep time."

Bruin glared at the table. They were probably right. It's just that tomorrow morning—today?—was too important to leave any room for error.

As he dithered at the table in the library, still forcing his sluggish brain to come up with just one more technique or plan, Rosemary walked over and slid him a warm cup of tea.

"Go to bed," she ordered.

Bruin took a sip—a bedtime blend of herbs, of course. He looked up at her, thrusting his tusks out.

"Don't give me that face. It's after one o'clock. You have to meet Lady Yi in front of the castle at eight to kick off the event, which means you should get up at seven so you have time to eat breakfast and wake up properly. Go. To. Bed."

"I've skipped sleep before, I'll be okay. Let me have another hour or two to see if I can't find a way to make any of my charms more efficient."

Rosemary put a finger on his chin, making him face her before he could turn away.

"Russell is a very important member of your team for the challenge. Would you agree?"

Bruin furrowed his brow at the non sequitur. "Yes, of course. He's the King piece. If they slay him, it's over."

"Exactly. So he's going to have to do a lot of running around tomorrow, evading Yi and her assault team. Would you also agree, then, that it's important for him to be well-rested?"

Bruin hesitated, trying to see what kind of dirty trick she might be playing with her words, but couldn't find any pitfalls, so gave her a suspicious nod. "Yes."

"So why aren't you letting him get some sleep?"

"What do you mean? I am! He went to bed hours ago."

"So he's sleeping, then?"

Bruin opened his mouth, about to say that yes, of course he was, but then realized what his best friend was getting at, realizing what Russell, all alone, would not be doing. His groaned, shoulders slumping in defeat, and then felt it as Markos patted him on his head.

"I'll go to bed," he decided, draining the rest of the tea and pushing back from the table. "Any last minute advice from my advisors?"

"Don't waste sleep time agonizing over this," Lux told him, helping him gather everything into his witch's bag. "Accept that you've done all you can do at this point, and trust that it will be enough."

"Russell will know if you don't," Markos added, tapping his nose. "And trust your pack. No one can do everything themselves, so focus on your own actions. It's a good plan overall, I admit. I would have just laid a few traps and met Lady Yi head on, hid Russell away. This way's better."

"You all helped, too."

"Yeah, because you were wise enough to ask.

" Markos snorted, then shut the library door behind everyone after they left.

"Mom declared that you and Lady Yi had to be the ones in charge, but you can damn well bet that she's not going to bother asking any of her pack for help. See you in six hours, general!"

With a laugh, Markos headed up to his quarters on the third floor, while Bruin and the other witches went down the hall to their rooms. Giving a final wave goodnight, Bruin entered Russell's room.

As he set his bag by the door, he could tell that yes, just as Rosemary had said, Russell wasn't sleeping. Maybe it was the lack of snores, or the uneven breathing…

Or maybe it was because Russell was in the middle of giving him a crushing hug, ambushing him before he even had his shirt off.

"Bed?" his boyfriend asked, the slightest quaver in his tone.

"Yes. I'm sorry for keeping you up, you've probably been awake this whole time worrying."

Russell didn't respond, just gently took one of Bruin's hands in his and led him over. After disrobing, they got themselves settled into bed, Bruin on his back and Russell pushed up tightly into his armpit, a heavy arm thrown over his chest. Bruin stroked a hand through his hair soothingly.

"I don't like fighting," Russell said quietly.

"I know. But remember, you shouldn't have to, okay? The whole plan revolves around avoiding just that."

"Mm."

Lady Galina declaring that it would be a war game, with Lady Yi's pack and willworker against Bruin and ten volunteers, hadn't been a surprise.

But among several restrictions to keep things fair—like how Bruin couldn't employ any other witches, and only one pack leader—the Lady of the Castle had declared that it would be the Protect the Throne variant.

And Russell was their King piece.

Bruin thought it had been a cruel addition, especially seeing how the decision had galvanized Lady Yi and her pack, being tasked to "kill" the innocent Russell, and he'd said as much to Markos afterwards, who'd merely shrugged.

'My mom's doubling down on us winning, that's all,' he'd said.

It still felt wrong, but he put his feelings aside, for Russell.

"We'll be fine," Bruin said with as much assurance as he could muster. "Eleven attackers against eleven defenders plus yourself, and Markos will lead the others in keeping you safe. I'm going to keep you safe."

Russell squeezed him tighter, whimpering once, then relaxed.

After several minutes, when Bruin was just about to drop off, he heard Russell speak.

"I trust you."