Mageborn The Line of Illeniel by Michael Manning (top novels of all time TXT) 📗

then you are no better than the dark gods you speak of!” My shield flared with red light and she drew back. The pressure abruptly lessened.

“You would do well to watch your words mortal. The time is coming when you will need my aid lest you lose that which you hold most dear.” She smiled at me but her grin seemed feral. She turned to address the assembly once more, “I will be watching. This is not the time for discord. The people of Lothion must unite or all will be lost.” In the blink of an eye she was gone, replaced by Marc’s unconscious form. He slumped to the ground before I could catch him.

The room was silent for a long minute after she vanished. The shock of her appearance had robbed everyone of their power of speech, till King Edward spoke, “Lord Justicer, what is your decision?”

“I find for Lancaster. The charges hold no merit,” he answered immediately.

I might have cheered but I no longer had the energy. I would have left but for the matter of my fealty. King Edward was kind enough to take my oath without waiting on pomp and circumstance. The room remained silent throughout the rest of the proceedings and once they were done the room emptied quickly.

James and Genevieve took Marc with them. One of the servants assisted James until they got him to the duke’s carriage outside. Penny and I were soon left alone.

Neither of us knew what to say so I took her hand and we walked quietly back to my rooms.

Chapter 8

The silence between us stretched out after we reached the rooms. We both sat on the couch, staring toward the veranda. “You look very lovely,” I managed at last. I had never seen the dress she was wearing, but it fit her perfectly.

“Thank you.” Penelope glanced at me for a moment, her eyes taking in a hundred details at once, “I heard what the king told you.”

I almost said, ‘about what?’, but my good sense caught me this time. I knew exactly what she meant. It didn’t help that a god had just reinforced the message. “How did you hear about it?”

“Rose. She went to visit the Lancasters last night.” Now I understood… she had gone to stay with Rose Hightower. Where else could she have gone? Rose was a towering intellect framed within a slender woman’s body. Obviously she had gone hunting for information not long after Penny arrived on her doorstep.

“Did you tell her why you were there?” I asked.

“No. I started to, but then I couldn’t. How could I say I had left you because you would die? It sounded selfish.”

“So you changed your mind?” I felt a glimmer of hope combined with fear. If she stayed with me she would only know more pain.

“Sort of… Rose came back with news about the king ordering you to choose someone, to be your Anath’Meridum.”

“I haven’t decided about that yet,” I told her.

“Apparently even the gods are waiting on your choice.”

“I wonder about that, it seems as if everyone is trying to push me into this.”

Penny gave me a serious look, “You don’t have to worry about it anymore. That’s why I’m back. I won’t have anyone else taking the bond with you.”

“What!? Absolutely not! You realize what it means don’t you? When I die? Has your vision changed since yesterday?” Without thinking I had stood up and now I was glaring down at her.

She looked up at me calmly, “Yes, I’ll die with you. It solves all our problems.”

“It solves nothing. I won’t accept such a bond,” I declared.

“Then you’ll be put to death,” she stated calmly, “and I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of other innocent people also died trying to protect you. You have no choice.” Her voice held a note of resolve and her eyes a quiet madness, the madness of one determined to die with her lover.

“I have plenty of choices; at the very least I could choose someone else. I’m sure Dorian would accept the duty.” I didn’t like what I saw in her expression and my words kindled a fire.

“No you won’t, not if you value my life. You have no idea what I am capable of Mordecai Eldridge. You think murdering a priest in cold blood was easy? That is just the tip of the iceberg!” Her voice had taken on a low growl. I took an involuntary step back; the goddess had been easier to face than the angry woman in front of me now. “If you choose someone else I’ll make sure you spend your remaining days wishing you were already dead! And to top it all off, I’ll kill myself as soon as you die anyway. Do you understand?”

“Fine!” I shouted back, “Have it your way!” In truth I had no intention of agreeing. It was easier to lie now and handle things my own way later. Penny was adept at spotting my lies so I figured I should throw her off the scent. “You want to die with me? No problem, but if we’re both going to die in half a year I’ll have my way now, in what time we have left.” I grabbed her by the shoulders and half dragged her to her feet, planting a rough kiss on her astonished face.

My plan worked better than I could have hoped. What started as a forced kiss turned into a fierce embrace as she responded to my passion. A few moments later I began to wonder what sort of tigress I had taken by the tail. She returned what I gave tenfold over, and the ferocity of her love was a thing to make lesser men shake in their boots. Luckily I am not a lesser man. If I had ever been unsure of that before, she made sure I knew it that day.

A few hours later I decided that dying in a few months might not be so bad. If things continued