Adrienne (39 page)

Adrienne had insisted he bring enough to accommodate those who accompanied them, which consisted of everyone who knew her true origins. The proof of her true intentions for the orbs was evident now.

Malik came fully into the room. He watched as Adrienne’s outfit shimmered and changed into a dress he found all too familiar. A ghostly apparition had worn it while she saved his wife.

He asked, “Adrienne, what—”

She smiled at him and held a finger to her lips. The room around them changed. Suddenly, Malik watched the scene from Nadid’s palace again, just from a different angle.

Adrienne spoke to past-Malik then went to her other self. She held out her arms and gathered to herself the power her other threw off. Once complete, she went to her past self and held her.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she witnessed the true horror of the pain she had gone through from the outside looking in. Adrienne gave a shaky smile and whispered, “Remember me?” When her past self would have spoken, she rushed out, “Don’t speak. After all that screaming, you won’t be able to speak until Malik heals you.”

She was satisfied when her other just nodded and gave a small smile. Adrienne smoothed the hair from her face. “I’m going to tell you something. You have to remember this, okay?” She leaned over and whispered, “You read the runes when you entered the room. Never forget them. Don’t forget any of this. Leave the forgetting to me. I need you to remember so I can stop this and keep you alive. Do that, and all will be well.”

She kissed her past self’s cheek. Gently, she released her hold on her and stood. She glanced over at past-Malik. The events seemed to be confusing him. She couldn’t help smiling at him. She gave him a wink and then she let the image fade away.

The orbs that floated around Adrienne dropped to the ground. They were no longer needed since she had all of her powers back. She hadn’t completely depleted the orbs, but she would exchange them for new ones later. Her work wasn’t done yet.

With a deep breath and an exhaling sigh, Adrienne squared her shoulders. As she did, her flowing, ethereal robes shimmered again. This time she wore the linen gown from the beginning of her wedding ceremony in Ulan.

Behind her, Malik started to ask why she didn’t change back to the dress Mushira and the ladies of the palace worked so diligently on, when he felt her power spread around them again.

Unlike before, the room didn’t change. Instead, what looked like a portal opened before Adrienne in the mirror. Malik watched as another past-Malik ran forward to protect his soon-to-be wife. He watched Adrienne throw off his seeking magicks as though they were nothing, then signal her past self to step forward.

Malik remembered the frustration he felt at not being able to counter the magicks used against him. It all made sense now. Everything. He could not trace the magicks used because they had come from the future.

He didn’t know time magicks. Malik knew if he had tried to master them he would have gone back in time and saved his parents. Knowing this of himself, he left time alone. It would seem his wife had no such fear.

Adrienne placed her hand on the glass of the mirror and smiled at her past self in encouragement. When her other’s hand touched hers, she said, “Don’t worry, he can’t hear us.”

“You’re me, aren’t you? And why can’t he hear us?” asked her past self.

“Yes, I’m you. I’m you in the future.” She glanced at past-Malik and stuck her tongue out at him. “And, because I don’t want him to hear us. He’ll hear us later. Right now, this is girl talk,” she explained. She leaned into the mirror and her other leaned into the window. It was interesting to see this from the other side. She remembered how scared and lost she’d felt. And then her future self made it all better.

Like she planned to do now.

“I want you to stop whining and go get married,” she commanded.

“I don’t know him,” her past self complained.

“You will in time.”

“I don’t want to die.”

“He won’t let you.”

“He scares me,” her past self whispered.

She whispered in return, “He loves you. You may not believe that now because you just met, but he does.” She smirked and gave a little wink before adding, “Besides, when it comes to being pissed off enough to kick ass and take names, you two are evenly matched. Or, you will be.” She let her magicks flow around her past self. With an ease that surprised her, she cast a barrier spell. Her powers would be stunted and she would never notice.

When her past self still hesitated, Adrienne added, “You’ll be happy. In the end, that’s all that matters. Now get going.” She let the image drop with a sigh. She was done. She had saved herself and her marriage all in the half hour before the start of her second wedding.

Malik embraced her from behind and kissed her hair. He said, “That was why your powers changed after we married. You placed a barrier spell on yourself.”

“In the end, it saved my life.” She rested her hands on top of his and leaned back into him with a sigh.

“You are far too clever for me, my wife.”

“This is true,” Adrienne agreed. She rested her hand on his cheek. “On the day of our wedding, my future self came back in time to stunt my powers so when the time came, they would overwhelm and kill Nadid. And, once again, my future self traveled back through time to correct the siphon spell and take the power into herself…myself.” She turned and looked at Malik. “I had to play the role of my future self to get my powers back.” She caressed his cheek. “I know you were worried but I’ve retrieved my powers and no one need ever know they were gone.”

Malik pulled her back into his arms. “I would have saved you, my Adrienne, if you had but trusted me.”

“I do trust you, Malik,” Adrienne soothed. “But this damsel had to save herself from distress. I can’t call myself your equal if I have to keep waiting around for you to save me.”

Malik released her. He studied her before he said, “You travel through time as easily as I travel through portals. Though my portals are unruly, time travel is dangerous.”

“I’m only following your reckless example, my love.”

“Love?”

“Yes. Why do you look so surprised?”

He took her hands in his. He pulled her close to say, “I thought you would become even more afraid of living on Bron after—”

She placed her fingers over his lips. “That is the past and that’s where it will stay. I don’t ever want to think of that again, ever. It may have taken me a while to realize what I felt, but I do love you, Malik.”

“I love you, my Adrienne,” he whispered. He pressed his lips to hers.

The door to the room swung open and Rena rushed in. She said in an excited tone, “Grandmother Hannah told Father to tell Mother and Mother told me to tell you to hurry up before the preacher gets angry.” She sucked in a deep breath after such a long sentence.

Malik ended his kiss with Adrienne and regarded Rena. He said, “We are coming. Go back and tell them that, Rena.”

“Okay,” the little girl yelled before she ran off.

“Is it my imagination or are Hani and Indivar taking advantage of their time away from Bron to forget I am their king?” Malik asked.

“Don’t be grumpy on our anniversary, Malik.”

He chuckled. “I merely jest, my Adrienne. I am glad Rena has found a true mother in Hani, and Indivar a wife worthy of him.”

“I’m glad Bayard found a wife Khursid liked. Good lord, that man is picky,” Adrienne said. She went to the mirror to straighten her veil. She wore the wedding dress she had always wanted.

It was an off-the-shoulder number that hugged her body all the way to her knees then flared out. While the front of the dress stopped at the floor, the back trailed behind her to form the train. The entire ensemble was completely handmade, from the lace to the silk itself. Mushira and the seamstresses had worked hard.

Adrienne gave her veil one final tug to get it situated the way she wanted. She stood back and looked at herself. Her eyes went wide when her reflection winked at her. It took her a moment to realize why, and then she smiled. She nodded and her reflection did the same, just delayed.

Malik noticed all of this. He asked, “Was that—”

“Me from the future.”

“You take too many chances, my lady.”

“I’ll be careful,” she promised. “Besides, you’ve only yourself to blame. You taught me to have little to no regard for the rules. And, as I said already, I am following your reckless example. Just as our son will.” She walked past Malik to leave the room.

Malik caught up with her and pulled her to a stop. “You have seen this? You have seen our son?”

“No, I haven’t seen him. Every version of myself in every time agrees that the past should never know about the future.” She moved his hand to her stomach. “But I do know that I’m carrying your son, and I have no doubt he’ll be like you.”

“The contraception spell,” Malik argued.

“I didn’t do it. I mean,
I
did do it, but not
this
me. One of my future versions voided our contract a while ago and nullified the contraception spell,” she said with a shrug.

“What else have you seen and done on your travels through time, my Adrienne?”

She started away from him. Over her shoulder, she said, “You’ll have to wait and see.”

About the Author

D. Renee Bagby is the type of woman who lives in her imagination. She visits the real world only long enough to spend time with her husband and two cats and go to her day job. If it weren’t for bills, hunger and fatigue, Renee would more than likely spend all her time trying to get the stories that are in her head onto her computer.

Renee is also the type of woman who looks forward to getting lost just so she can find a new way home. She approaches her stories in much the same way. If there’s a roundabout way to get from girl-meets-boy to girl-and-boy-live-happily-ever-after, she’s sure to find it and write it.

Check out Renee’s website at:
http://dreneebagby.com
. Email Renee at:
[email protected]

Look for these titles

Coming Soon:

Serenity

She doesn’t know who she is or where she came from.
 But she knows she’s in love with the man who found her.

The Wolverine and the Jewel

© 2007 Rebecca Goings

From the moment the Wolverine knight, Sebastian, finds the unconscious, badly beaten woman he nicknames “Jewel”, all he wants to do is protect her—no matter the cost.

Jewel wakes with no memory of who she is. The only clue to her identity is a lavender-colored jewel around her neck—a jewel which the dragon, Mynos, recognizes as the talisman made by his long-dead mate. Through the jewel’s magic, they discover that the man who attacked Jewel is none other than her fiancé, Lord Merric.

Violent and ambitious, Merric was enraged when Jewel mysteriously vanished on the eve of their arranged marriage. Now, he’ll do anything to force her to return. Even dark magic—or murder.

Book II of the Legends of Mynos series

Enjoy the following excerpt for
The Wolverine and the Jewel:

Sebastian was late. He couldn’t believe how hard it was to get out of the courtyard within an hour. Men seemed to come from everywhere needing his opinion, his instruction, his signature… By the time he was able to break away, he kicked Blaze into a gallop, sure Jewel would no longer be waiting. The powerful stallion galloped through the main gates of the castle as if the devil himself were on his tail.

Still in a state of shock, Sebastian was unable to remember much of the morning after Jewel had come to him. A woman had never talked so brazenly to him. And it wasn’t just any woman—it was Jewel, the woman who plagued his dreams at night. He would move heaven and earth if she only asked.

After riding his horse like a madman, he forced the animal to a slower gait, weaving through the trees on the path to the pond. He wanted to call out Jewel’s name just to make sure she answered him. She might no longer be there.

But as he broke through the trees, he saw her, totally oblivious to him, swimming lazily through the water. His eyes widened at her gown draped across the boulder and once again his mouth hung open. Her bare shoulders peeked out of the water with each stroke she took, and he dared not look away as he quietly dismounted.

She was a nymph, a water sprite, unaware of her unearthly beauty.

For several long moments, Sebastian merely watched her on the shore until his horse snorted, getting her attention. Jewel spotted him and gave a startled cry.

Relief poured through her at that moment. She was beginning to believe he wouldn’t come, that she’d made herself a fool by kissing him in front of the entire Wolverine Order.

The pond wasn’t so deep that she couldn’t stand on the bottom, so she planted her feet and crossed her bare arms in front of her in a pose of mock anger.

“You’re late.”

“I’m sorry,” he answered. “I sometimes wonder how the castle manages to continue standing. I tried like hell to get here as fast as I could.”

After a few silent moments of staring at each other, Jewel said, “Come here, Bastian.”

“In the water?”

She nodded, looking at him through wet eyelashes.

“But I’ve still got my clothes on,” he protested.

She gestured to the boulder. “Put them next to mine.” He was blushing. She smiled.

“Shouldn’t we talk first?” he asked.

“About?”

“About who—or what—may be waiting for you.”

“I’m not married, Bastian, I am sure of that. If I have a suitor, what makes you any different than him?”

Sebastian didn’t answer. She knew it was his fear of the unknown holding him back.

“Come here.” She beckoned again.

“But…”

“Bastian, if you don’t come here right now, I’m going to come get you, and your clothing will be hopelessly soaked.”

He didn’t move at first. Jewel heaved a sigh and began to walk forward.

“Wait!” he snapped. With quick jerky movements, he unstrapped his sword from his waist and laid it against the boulder. He leaned against the rock to remove his boots.