He smiled indulgently at me.
"b.l.o.o.d.y brilliant," Laures muttered. "Best veal in Benies."
"Forget the veal, best whiskey in Benies," Hans, also muttering, put in.
They were already moving to the elegant, shiny black carriage that brought me here (I rode alone, they rode their horses beside it) as I felt Derrik"s hand on my elbow.
When I looked back to him, it slid down the inside of my forearm and his big hand curled around mine bringing it up and tucking it close to the side of his chest. And hence, tucking me close to his side as he directed us to the carriage.
It felt nice holding hands and being tucked beside a protective hot guy in a beautiful city in a parallel universe, so I went with it.
"Also the best views, madam, of Benies and the Marhac Sea," he said softly, his eyes on me. "It"s right on the water and elevated four stories."
"Yay," I replied softly back and his dancing eyes danced brighter.
I grinned at him then smiled at the carriage where Achilles was standing, holding open the door and also smiling at me.
Yes, this was the best day here by far.
And they kept getting better.
Achilles "Oh my G.o.d, no!"
Achilles heard Ilsa"s voice as he approached the door to the kitchen, seeing Derrik standing in it leaning against the jamb, his back to Achilles.
He stopped behind Derrik but to his side, looking in and seeing Ilsa sitting on a stool and leaning on her forearms on the battered kitchen table, listening, or more to the point, watching with rapt attention as one of the maids acted something out.
There were a few halting words spoken, as Ilsa was picking up Fleuridian by the day, but mostly it was wild gesticulations, a parody of a mime which was already a parody so he could see within seconds it was amusing.
He watched as all the other maids standing around as well as Ilsa burst out laughing, Ilsa doing it banging her fist on the table and dropping her forehead to it.
She threw her head back suddenly and cried out, "That"s too funny!"
All the maids nodded and smiled at her with big smiles even though they probably didn"t know what she was saying. Or maybe they did, picking up the language of the Vale through Ilsa.
Achilles turned his head to look at Derrik who was watching this, or more likely, watching Ilsa with even more rapt attention than Ilsa had been watching the story mimed out.
"Hans says her seat on a horse is secure," Achilles noted in a quiet voice.
Derrik started and turned his head to catch Achilles" eyes.
"He"s reported this to me."
"We were to be away three weeks ago," Achilles reminded him.
"She"s enjoying herself," Derrik replied and Achilles took in a short breath.
Then he got closer and his voice dipped lower. "It"s our charge to get her to safety."
"She has eight guards and Apollo explained he"s relatively certain the witch from the other world watches over her," Derrik returned.
"Relatively certain is not certain and his orders are to get her to Ulfr grounds as soon as possible," Achilles retorted.
Derrik held his eyes.
Then he lifted his chin.
After that, he turned his eyes back to the kitchen and muttered, "We"ll leave the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow we take madam back to Benies one last time. She"s enjoyed her days there."
He was right. She had. All four of them.
Achilles stifled a sigh but not his misgivings.
He would have to keep a sharp eye.
His gaze moved to the kitchen and he saw Ilsa was looking at them.
She lifted her hand and gave them an enthusiastic wave.
And, d.a.m.n it all, along with Derrik, he lifted his hand and waved back.
Laures Laures turned his steed and dug his heels in so the horse was at a gallop.
When he did, he saw Maddie-what they now called Ilsa instead of "madam" so they didn"t have to address her formally nor call her by her twin"s name. Her skirts were lifted in one hand, her parasol in the other bobbing over her head, her feet taking her across the arena toward him, her glorious hair streaming out behind her.
At the sight, he forgot the pain the blows he took from his compet.i.tor"s blunt sword caused and he grinned.
She came to a teetering halt beside him as he pulled up his reins and she lifted her free hand high, palm facing him, while crying, "You won!"
He had.
How he got entered in the games they"d happened on, he didn"t know. Then again, as they rode over Fleuridia, they"d stayed for a fayre in Aisles they were not scheduled to attend. And also, after they crossed into Hawkvale, they"d been roped into attending a sheep shearing festival in Drinton upon which they had no time to waste. But they did.
"Don"t leave me hanging!" she exclaimed.
"Pardon?" he asked.
She shook her hand in the air. "High five!"
He stared down at her having no idea what she was on about.
She dropped her parasol unheeded to the ground, reached out, grabbed his gloved hand from his thigh and moved it to smack it against her hand.
"High five," she declared. She moved her hand low, palm facing up and slapped his hand against it again. "Low five." She turned her hand sideways, slapped his hand against it one more time and stated, "To the side." Lastly, she curled her hand around his, the juncture of her thumb connected to his, her fingers curled around and she pumped their hands back and forth, saying excitedly, "You the man!"
It was one of her world things, of which they"d been learning many, some of them amusing, all of them fantastical.
He grinned at her again.
"You won!" Alek yelled, and Laures looked up, still holding Maddie"s hand, to see all the men had gathered around. "That means you"ll have to enter the arena tomorrow for the championship!"
He would indeed.
"I"ll send Apollo a missive and tell him we"ll be at least another week," Hans muttered, breaking off from the huddle and striding away.
Laures looked from Hans to Maddie and bent deep. He let go of her hand but wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her on his horse before him.
"Fancy a victory lap, sweets?" he asked.
She"d turned her head and he watched her eyes light as she nodded happily.
He bent deep into her, dug his heels in his horse"s flanks and took off.
When he did, the peel of Maddie"s laughter rang through the arena, and as it did, it warmed Laures" heart.
Then again, anytime Maddie laughed, it warmed his heart.
Achilles "So, as you can guess from the end of the story, it wasn"t all that great, living in my world," Maddie murmured her understatement, her eyes on the ground, her fingers tugging at blades of gra.s.s and distractedly tossing them away.
She was lying on the soft turf on her side but up on an elbow, head in her hand, legs curled around, the toes of blue satin slippers peeking out from beneath her lavender skirts. The detritus of their luncheon was spread across the blanket some feet away from their trio.
Derrik sat on his a.r.s.e across from her, legs bent at the knees, weight back on his hands behind him.
Achilles sat with his back against a tree trunk, one knee up. He"d laid his wrist on his knee, hand dangling. His other leg was stretched out.
Both men"s eyes were on Maddie.
The sun was shining and they had stopped riding to take lunch. They were two days" journey from the port city in Hawkvale where they"d board the ship to Lunwyn. The other men were inspecting the steeds in preparation to ride on. The men"s belongings being few (save weapons, which they carried on their persons), Maddie"s much more abundant belongings were separated amongst the saddlebags of their nine horses.
They should have taken a carriage but Apollo instructed they not. A carriage was much slower going. It would delay their return by some time.
In the end, however, their return had been delayed by a lot longer than a carriage would have done it. And Achilles had no doubt that Apollo"s wish for them to arrive at Karsvall without delay going unheeded would not make his cousin happy.
Achilles wasn"t thinking about this.
He was thinking about what Maddie had just told them, the sun and wine at lunch perhaps loosening her tongue.
However, it was more likely that she had just become comfortable enough with them to share. It was impossible on a long ride such as theirs not to bond with those around you, spending day in and day out with them. And they"d had quite a number of days together, and adventures.
But with Maddie, the way she was, the sadness constantly lurking in her eyes, the joy she allowed to show openly coating it, it was impossible not to bond.
There was something about her which made a man wish to watch over her. There was something else about her that made a man wish to get to know her, prod under a veneer Achilles was certain she thought was a shield, but didn"t understand it was flimsy. It made a man wish to dig dipper and discover what lay beneath.
And she"d just gifted them with some of what lay beneath. Her story of how she got there, running from her husband and why, being found, beaten and Apollo and the witch with the green magic from the other world saving her.
That was the end of her story.
But what she"d shared was enough.
Achilles tore his gaze away from Maddie, feeling his mouth tight, and looked at Derrik. With one glance, he knew Derrik was feeling what he was feeling.
Maybe more.
He turned back to Maddie. "You"re here now, little bug, safe from that."
She lifted her lovely brown eyes to him, eyes he"d looked in a million times before he"d even met her. Yet not.
And looking in them now, he knew definitely not.
It had been jarring at first, Maddie looking like Ilsa, but they got used to it. And then the Ilsa they saw in Maddie had faded away and it was just her.
Now, after that story, it was only her.
"I know," she whispered.
She said I know.
She meant, Thank you.
He grinned at her, pushed away from the tree and bent close to kiss the side of her head.
When he pulled away, she tipped her head and grinned back.
"Thank you for trusting that to us," he said gently.
"Thank you for being trustworthy enough to get it," she replied.
He winked.
Her eyes twinkled.
"If you lazy cusses are done being lazy, we need to be away," Remi called from his horse thirty feet away.
Achilles pushed up to gain his feet and when he did, Derrik was there, offering Maddie his hand.
"Let"s get you up," Derrik muttered, his tone tender.
She took Derrik"s hand and he pulled her up, unnecessarily sliding his other hand partly around her waist to steady her when she gained her feet.
Achilles looked over Maddie"s head and saw Laures. His cousin"s gaze was on Maddie and Derrik. He felt Achilles looking at him, caught Achilles" eyes and shook his head.
Achilles shook his back and moved behind Derrik and Maddie as Derrik led her to her mount.