Taken by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #8)(37)

“I should have known,” R’gaolar said dryly, no longer looking quite so angry now that his son was recovered. He switched to Tua. “Clean yourself up and stop playing about.”

Broghan chuffed, then flew to the ground. There was a flash of light, and I blinked as he morphed into a young boy, similar in coloring to his father, though he only stood about eight feet tall. “I am not ready to return home yet,” he said, a bit petulantly. “You never let me have fun.”

“You are far too young for this particular kind of fun,” R’gaolar said firmly. “What were you thinking, coming to this realm without so much as leaving a note? Everyone is out searching for you.”

“I wanted an adventure,” Broghan said defiantly, “and I got one. Besides, I was worried that Sunaya might not make it back in one piece, so I came along to make sure she arrived safely in her world. It’s a good thing too, because she nearly died, and neither of you would have wanted that on your conscience, would you?” He met Ta’sradala’s gaze, and she scowled and averted her eyes. Of course that was just what she had hoped for, but she knew better than to say it out loud, especially right now.

“While I’m sure the mortal appreciates your heroics, it was not your place to play knight in shining armor,” R’gaolar growled. “You should not have run away. You know the punishment for disobedience.” Huh. I wondered what kind of punishments Tua meted out to rebellious kids.

“I am still glad I came here,” Broghan countered easily, not at all intimidated by his stern parent, “and I shall come back whenever I please, no matter how much of a fuss you all make. This realm is far too fascinating to leave unexplored!”

R’gaolar made an exasperated sound in the back of his throat, then grabbed Broghan by the arm. The two of them disappeared in another flash of light, leaving the rest of us staring at the spot where they’d vanished. The silence stretched on for several seconds as we tried to collect ourselves from the shock. Even Ta’sradala seemed shaken, with good reason—she’d just dodged a major bullet, thanks to me.

“Now that you’ve seen what comes of engaging in such reckless acts,” Iannis said, finally breaking the silence, “it is really time that you let us go home, Grandmother. The wedding is mere days away, and we have much to prepare for.”

“That is not my problem,” Ta’sradala said stiffly. “You have offended this family by not consulting us before tying yourself to this mortal, and there must be consequences.”

“If there are to be consequences,” Iannis said heatedly, “then you should punish me, not Sunaya. She is entirely blameless in this situation.”

“Iannis!” I protested, but he didn’t look at me.

“You’ve already put me through hell and back,” I snapped at Ta’sradala. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough?”

“Please,” Deryna said. “Let this go, Ta’sradala.”

“Sunaya has proved her loyalty and devotion to Iannis,” Ennartha said. “I give my blessing to her, and you should too, Mother.”

Ta’sradala stared at us for a long moment, her face a stony mask. I could scent the strength of her hostility and convulsively gripped Iannis’s hand under the table. Should I ask him to use the gulaya now, before she could open her mouth? But I didn’t know if he would be fast enough—I certainly hadn’t been, and now mine was sitting in my magical sleeve, dead and useless.

“I cannot deny that you have somehow made it through my challenges,” Ta’sradala finally said, a crafty gleam in her eyes that made my stomach clench with apprehension. “But the true test of a marriage comes when a couple is forced to face adversity as one. I shall set you one more challenge that you two must complete together. If you survive that, you shall have my blessing.”

“Why you—” I snarled, but the old Tua waved her hand before I could finish my sentence. The world began to spin again, and I grabbed Iannis tightly, terrified that we would be separated. Where was that old bitch sending us now? And would we be able to survive this final test?





17





“Great,” I muttered when the world had finally stopped spinning. “This is just fucking great.”

“I see my grandmother was particularly inspired with this locale,” Iannis said dryly as we looked around. We stood in the middle of a vast desert, with absolutely nothing but red sand dunes and valleys as far as the eye could see. The sun blazed overhead in a yellowish sky, and the clouds were some kind of noxious green color. There were no signs of life, not so much as a single cactus jutting up from the sea of red death.

“Yeah, well I guess she thought I had it too easy with the underground caverns,” I said. “At least that place had water, even if it was cold.”

“Underground caverns?” Iannis raised an eyebrow. “That almost sounds exciting.”

“It was for the first half hour or so. But after falling into a fissure and almost dying, the novelty wore off pretty quick.”

Iannis smiled. “I missed you,” he said, burying his face in my hair. My heart warmed as he held me tight against him, and I took a moment to enjoy his embrace as the hot winds gusted around us. We would have plenty of time to grumble and tear our hair out as we tried to escape this hellhole—I could take a few minutes to enjoy being reunited with Iannis again.