Heart of the Guardians: Adoring Destiny by Adrianna Adore (best big ereader .TXT) 📗

Frank and James?” Tolley asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion when he saw the presumptive kings’ clothes and heard the gentle clink of his advisor’s chain mail.

“Off with the ladies.” Dimitri said. “Which is where I am going. I’ll be at the first bar I can find drinking whatever you have that passes for vodka. Can I entrust you with these?”

He presented the bundle of clothes.

“Yes, fine.” Scrimson said, waving to a place in a corner. “Leave them there, I’ll see they get them back.”

Dimitri ignored where he pointed and held them out for the interim king to take.

“From my hands to yours,” he said with solemnity. “You bear the burden.”

He held them until Scrimson grudgingly stood and said “From your hands to mine, I bear the burden.”

He released them then, the ancient words relieving one man of responsibility and another taking it. Dimitri knew Scrimson would ensure the mail was returned to its rightful owner. He wasn’t sure if any of them knew what it was or how valuable it was. All of their writings had been destroyed eons ago and he didn’t know how many of the stories and legends had survived being handed down orally for generations.

“Was there enough left of Stigmund to have a funeral?” Pallerson asked.

Dimitri paused at the door.

“Did none of you go inside the cave?” he asked, and looked at the bloody guardians.

“Of course we did!” Tolley spat back, indignant. “Who do you think killed everything in there except that last one?”

He realized they didn’t know Stig had gone through the portal with some of the wolves. They thought he’d been in the cave with the rest of the injured wolf men, tracked down and eaten by the demons. In the chaos of battle, no one had time to look around. They’d fled out the opening when they couldn’t bring down the largest of the monsters. The entrance was small, they could keep it inside but none of them had the strength to go in after it.

“He went to the other side, I’m pretty sure he’s helping my countrymen find the breached portal. All of this could have been avoided if you would have helped us, not let my people continue to get slaughtered.”

“How dare you talk to us like that?” Tolley blustered, but he was talking to the door. Dimitri was already headed down the path in search of his countrymen and a bar to celebrate their victory. Stig and the wolves would seal the opening and the bloodshed in Ukraine would be stopped or it wouldn’t. He’d deal with it later. It was obvious he couldn’t reason with the old guardians. They were too set in their ways. Maybe he could work with James once he was crowned. The man was childish in many ways, he’d never known hardship, but he was brave and brutally strong. Dimitri doubted he could have taken the she demon on his own, she was too fast and powerful, one of the biggest and meanest he’d ever seen. She must have been holding back from the fight, protecting her unborn many fanged baby when the guardians had rushed into the cave. She would have killed them all if she hadn’t been.

9

Knowledge

James walked her to the edge of the clearing near the lodge then kissed her passionately before he turned onto a trail that led up the mountain, telling her he had to finish the old traditional run and swim.

“From the smile on your face, I think it’s safe to assume you two have worked things out.” Dana said as Claire hummed her way up the steps of the porch. “I told you everything would be fine once you two saw each other.”

“Yeah,” Claire answered slowly with a dreamy look in her eyes as she sat in the chair Frank had vacated. “It just feels so right.”

“Where is he, still doing the rite of passage thing or whatever it was they were up to running around naked? Weird country but I kind of like it.”

“Yes. He said it was a tradition. We, um, we didn’t have a whole lot of time to talk.”

“Why Claire Bear, I do believe you are blushing.” Dana teased “Did he ask you to stay?”

“Yes, but I don’t know,” she said, eager to change the subject. “It’s all too much, he’s not who I thought he was. He’s going to be a king, Dana. A king. I don’t know where I fit in to all that.”

“You’ll fit in where you are meant to fit in,” the gypsy woman said kindly as she sat a bowl of boar stew down in front of her. “You can’t fight fate, it brought you two together for a reason.”

They smiled at her but when she left, they both exchanged a look and shook their heads. What did the old woman know about anything?

“So how was your walk with Frank?” Claire asked as she dug into the stew. She was famished.

“Oh, he’s sweet.” Dana beamed. “I think I could like him. We have a date.”

“Nice. Where are you going?”

“I don’t know.” Dana admitted.

“When?”

“We really didn’t nail it down.” Dana said. “But he said he’d call.”

“Think he will?” Claire asked.

“I hope so,” she said. “We only have a few days before our flight back. But if he doesn’t, I’d understand. He does something in the government, he’s probably busy with the funeral and the coronation and all that.”

“He’ll call.” Mrs. Stalimanzer said as she joined them, taking a chair and puffing on her pipe. “I’ve known Frank for a long time and you’re the first lady I’ve seen him laugh with or speak more than a few words.”

“I hope so,” Dana said again, but she wasn’t so sure.

“Let me see your hand, dear,” the old woman said, and took it in both of hers. “I have a reputation in these mountains. Sometimes I have the second sight and tell fortunes pretty accurately but even when I can’t get a sense from someone, I can still read their