Chapter Eleven

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Salem was clip clopping under us at a sedate canter as the magnificent countryside passed us by.

The clouds had shifted so now the sun shone and the view as far as the eye could see (and the stretch of what we’d already passed) was extraordinary.

Every inch of it.

I had, that day, learned two things.

One, a horse could look contrite. I discovered this when I walked outside and glared my displeasure at Salem. He gave me a look and if he could bite his lip, I knew he would. Instead, he ducked his head.

I let him suffer for about two seconds then I gave in, stroked his long, glossy nose and muttered, “I forgive you and anyway, you did the right thing, taking care of me and obeying your master at the same time. You’re a good horse.”

He blew in my neck.

Two, my husband could cook – on an old, iron wood-burning stove, no less. He made me eggs, bacon and thick slices of toast slathered in creamy, melty fresh butter. The food was awesome and not just because I hadn’t had anything to eat since the stew at Liza and Rory’s pub but because Tor could seriously cook. It was just eggs, bacon and toast but somehow he made it delicious.

After breakfast, we both mounted Salem even though there was another horse there (the one Tor used to track us). He left it saying he’d have his “people” deal with it just as they would deal with the dirty dishes we left.

It, obviously, was good being the future king.

I didn’t understand why we wouldn’t take the horse. I figured we could go much further much faster if we both had our own mounts but he disagreed. He told me if we were attacked, he could guard me much easier if I was close. Considering my inexperience as a horsewoman and warrior princess, I agreed.

As much as I hated it, I had to admit that I liked sitting in the sunshine atop Salem, feeling Tor’s big, strong body surrounding me, making me feel safe. Yesterday had been overcast and chilly, I felt the need to be constantly vigilant and I wasn’t a brilliant rider, only having been on a horse a handful of times in my life. Salem luckily knew what he was doing but riding was difficult, jarring, exhausting and it was nice to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Which, watching the splendiferous countryside pass us by as the sun warmed our bodies and Tor held me close, I was doing.

I relaxed further into him and asked, “How long before we get to your castle?”

“If we were able to take the main road, which we cannot for Minerva’s beings will be watching it, a day. The route we have to take, likely three,” Tor answered and I straightened, twisted and looked up at him.

“Three?”

“Yes, love, three.”

Holy crap. That was a serious detour.

I turned back and fell silent. In the distance I saw a bunch of deer lift their heads in our direction, sensing us. Then as a group they took off, gracefully running up a hill into a forest.

I’d never seen that many deer in my life. A few here and there, but there had to be thirty, maybe even forty of them.

Outstanding.

My eyes slid across the landscape, experiencing greens greener than I’d ever seen before, wildflowers running riot in the fields around Salem’s legs and beyond, a faraway body of water that was the blue of Tor’s eyes. In fact, it seemed strangely the very air sparkled like it had tiny pieces of near invisible glitter floating in it.

It was magical.

I sighed.

Then I decided to take a chance and rested my hand on Tor’s arm at my belly.

“Can I tell you something?” I asked.

“Anything, sweets,” he mumbled and I felt his chin come to rest where my neck met my shoulder.

Oh boy. That felt nice.

“Can you promise me something before I tell you?” I went on.

“Ask me and we’ll see,” he replied gently.

Well, that wasn’t a yes but it wasn’t a no and it was a maybe said in a tone I liked so I sallied forth.

“Okay, I want to talk about something you don’t believe and won’t like. But can you just pretend you believe or, I don’t know, just keep silent?”

I received no response for some time then his arm around me gave me a squeeze and he answered, “I can do that, Cora.”

“Really?” I whispered to the landscape.

“Really, love, what do you want to talk about?”

I pulled in a deep breath and then shared what had been niggling me deep in the back of my head for awhile.

“I’m not going home,” I said softly, his arm squeezed me again and I went on quickly. “No, don’t say anything. I know you think I am home but I’m not. And every time I go to sleep, I expect to wake up back in my apartment, in my life. But I’m not doing that. And as the days pass by, I’m wondering if I ever will. And there are a couple things about this that are nagging me.”

He didn’t lift his chin from my shoulder when he prompted, “And those are?”

“Well,” I started, “if I’m here, that means the other Cora is there. And if she’s like you say she is… um, I don’t think that’s good. See, my job is in danger. I’ve been there years and I make okay money but they’re looking for reasons to get rid of people. If she doesn’t figure out she has to work for a living, or decides not to, or figures it out, goes in and doesn’t know what she’s doing, which, by the way, in my world she can’t possibly know, or by some miracle, pulls that off but pisses someone –”

“I get it, love,” he cut me off quietly.

I sucked in breath. Then I said, “I can’t lose my job, Tor. And Lord only knows what else she might get up to and the longer I’m here, the more time she has to get up to it.”

“This is true, the gods only know what the other Cora would get up to,” he agreed and I didn’t know if it was actual agreement or him humoring me but I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to know if was the latter (though I figured it was).

“This is important,” I told him, “and it’s kind of freaking me out.”

“Freaking you out?”

“Worrying me,” I explained.

He lifted his chin and ordered, “Look at me, Cora.” I did, twisting to look up at him to see his eyes tipped down to me. “You have no control over that. Let it go.”

“But –”

“Let it go.”

“I can’t!” I exclaimed.

“I can understand this but do you know how to get back there?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Do you know how you got here?” he went on.

“No,” I repeated.

“Then you have no control over it. If you go back,” he stated and my heart somersaulted at the same time it clenched, “you’ll be forced to deal with it then. Since you have no way of knowing what you’ll face, you have no way of strategizing your response. So you simply have to wait and deal with it if it occurs.”

He was right. This was logical and wise.

“That’s logical and wise,” I told him.

He grinned at me.

“I’m still going to worry,” I admitted and he chuckled.

I smiled at him because it felt good to unload that, even if I didn’t have any firm answers, and I turned to face forward.

We fell silent for awhile before I broke it.

“There’s something else.”

“Yes?”

I stared at the scenery. Then I swallowed.

Then I shared on a whisper, “I don’t know if I want to go back.”

Tor’s body went completely solid behind me and even Salem missed a step before righting himself.

“Pardon?” Tor asked.

I pulled in my lips and bit them. Then for some wild, crazy, insane reason, I kept right on talking.

“It’s beautiful here. Horses communicate with you. Birds talk to you. It’s unpolluted. Life is simple. I would never, not in my life, have guessed that I wouldn’t miss cars, cell phones, microwaves, martinis and high-heeled shoes. If you told me I would come to a place such as this but if I did I’d have to stay, I’d say no way. But now that I’m here, I want to explore. Every sight I see, I like. Every village. Every flower. Every beast. Every blade of grass. Sure, a curse is pending, but you’ve got that under control, right?”

“Right,” he replied, humor in his tone.

“So,” I whispered, “if I’m stuck here, when your brother saves Rosa, I think I’m going to go. Travel. Experience this world to its fullest, something I never did in my own.”

“Two points to make, Cora,” he said in a voice that now held no humor and I twisted to look up at him again. His eyes dropped down to me. “One, I would ask, is there nothing you would regret leaving behind?”

I bit my lip and turned forward again.

“Yes, my parents and my friends,” I admitted and whispered, “I’ll miss them, a lot. Losing them would suck. Especially since, by all reports, Cora of your world won’t be such a great daughter or BFF and they’d wonder what the hell was going on.”

I pursed my lips on this thought then kept sharing.

“But I don’t like my apartment, my job. My life is colorless. Brian and I broke up and I haven’t been asked out on one, single date. I’m not lonely, I don’t get lonely. I like my own company. But a lot of the time, I’m alone and, well, I’m getting sick of that. And, if I’m honest, I was getting sick of all of it… until this happened. And being here, seeing this… this place,” I threw out a hand in front of me, “it’s made me realize all of that.”

Tor made no response and spoke no further until I prompted, “You said you had two points to make?”

“Yes,” he replied. “The second point would be that when Rosa is saved, I’m afraid, love, you aren’t going to go, travel, experience this world to its fullest.”

This surprised me and I twisted to look at him again. “Why not?”

His eyes captured mine. “Because I’ll not let you.”

My head tilted to the side and I stared at him before repeating, “Why not?”

“Because, Cora, I’m beginning to like having you around. So I’ve decided to keep you.”

What?

“What?” I shrieked and Salem twitched under us.

Tor smiled. “It won’t be that bad, my sweet. When I travel, I’ll take you with me so you will experience this world. But when I’m home, you’ll be with me there too.”

“But we don’t live together,” I reminded him.

“That will change.”

“What?” I snapped. “Why?”

“As I said, I like you around.”

“We fight all the time,” I informed him of something he already knew.

“Indeed, and I like that too.”

I blinked at him. “You do?”

He nodded. “I do.”

“That’s insane.”

“Don’t you?”

“Hell no,” I clipped.

His arm gave me a squeeze, his eyes shifted over my head and he declared, “You will.”

“I won’t.”

“You will.”

“No, Tor, I won’t.”

He looked back down at me. “You will, Cora, because soon, when we argue, and you take it too far, which you do so you will continue, I’ll be forced to stop you.” He grinned. “And I like the ideas I have on how I’m going to stop you.” His eyes warmed. “All of them.”

“Ugh!” I grunted and faced forward again, noting, “You’re pretty sure of yourself.”

“Sweets, all I had to do was draw your nipple in my mouth and you were begging for it. Of course I’m sure of myself.”

Damn. I hated that that was true.

“Whatever,” I muttered, inching as best I could up the saddle to get away from him, an effort that was for naught when his arm tightened and he pulled me right back. “Release your arm a little,” I demanded. “I want to shift. I’m uncomfortable,” I lied.

His arm slid up so it was under my breasts and I felt his lips at my neck. “No you’re not.”

“I so am.” I kept lying.

His thumb started stroking the underside of my breast at the same time his tongue touched my earlobe and he changed the subject.

“If you want,” he murmured huskily in my ear, “I could pleasure you right here.”

Oh God. That sent a surge of heat between my legs.

“Thanks,” I tried to sound snappish and feared I failed. “I’m good.”

“I’ll give you the ten minutes you begged for in bed,” he coaxed and I steeled myself against his pull.

I was thinking those ten minutes would be the best ten minutes of my whole, entire life.

I beat the urge back and replied, “Thanks again but… no.”

His thumb moved up half an inch so it was stroking my breast right under the nipple.

Oh boy.

I couldn’t stop my lids from slowly lowering over my eyes but I fought back the urge to lift a hand to his and take him to target.

“Turn your head and give me your mouth, sweets,” he commanded softly.

“No.”

“Right, then lift your skirts so I can have the heat of you.”

Oh God.

I swallowed a moan and ordered, “Tor, pay attention to where we’re going.”

His tongue slid along the skin under my ear and then he whispered in it, “Salem knows the way.”

There it was. A decent excuse.

“Salem, right, he’s a good horse. I couldn’t possibly engage in any, um… naughty activities with him around.”

Salem snorted and I had no idea if it was a “go ahead, don’t mind me” snort or a “thanks for thinking of me, Cora,” snort.

“It isn’t his first time,” Tor told me.

Way, way, way wrong thing to say.

Way.

My back shot straight, my eyes shot open and Tor took his mouth from my ear.

“Cora?”

I lifted a hand and curled my fingers around his at my breast, pulling them down.

He sighed. Then he said, “My love, you know you’re not –”

“If I were you, Prince Noctorno Hawthorne, I’d keep my trap shut.”

He, of course, did not.

“I’m a man, Cora, and you’ve been withholding from me.”

“No I have not, considering I lived in an alternate universe until a few days ago,” I reminded him. “The other Cora has. If you were my husband, you’d be getting it regular,” I announced.

Tor’s body went solid behind me again then he asked, “Does that mean what I think it means?”

I twisted and glared at him. “Yes!” I spat. “You’re a prince. You’re hot. You’re a great kisser. You have a cool horse. You’ve got great eyes and an even better chest. You have just enough, not too much chest hair. And when you aren’t being a jerk, you can be sweet. So, obviously, if we were wed in holy matrimony, I’d be giving it up… regular.”

His brows drew together. “You’d be giving what up?”

“Me!” I shouted then twisted forward, muttering, “Yeesh.”

His mouth came back to my ear, not to play, just to speak. “Well, since you are here and you’ve taken the place of the other Cora and you’re apparently stuck here, then I expect to get you,” he paused and finished firmly, “regular. Starting now.”

“No, absolutely not,” I denied.

“Then you lied?” he asked.

“No,” I answered. “But I can’t give it when I’m peeved.” I twisted to look at him again. “And make no mistake, Prince Noctorno, I… am… peeved.”

“You’re peeved a lot,” he observed.

“Learn from that, big guy,” I educated and twisted right back.

He chuckled.

I gritted my teeth.

Then I heard it.

My head snapped to the left and I peered into the trees at the same time Salem took two side steps and blew through his lips.

“Cora?” Tor called and my hand shot up.

“Sh!” I hissed and listened.

There it was again.

“Pull back on the reins,” I ordered.

“Pardon?”

There it was; I heard it again!

“Pull back on the reins!” I shouted then kept shouting, “Salem, stop!”

Noctorno pulled back on the reins and Salem stopped.

“What do you sense? Danger?” Tor whispered in my ear, his arm fiercely tight at my ribs.

“No,” I whispered back. “Aggie.”

Then I broke from his arm, slid off the side of Salem, landed on my slippers and immediately darted around the front of the horse and ran toward the trees.

“By the gods, Cora! Stop!”

I didn’t stop. Instead, I shouted, “Aggie! Aggie, is that you?”

I kept running and heard the hooves of a horse and the boots of a man behind me but I no longer heard the chirps.

“Aggie!” I screamed then let out an, “oof,” when my running was halted by an iron arm around my stomach and I was hauled into a hard body. “Let me go!” I yelled, pushing at his arm and pressing forward.

“Cora,” he ground out in my ear, “don’t ever –”

“Chirp, chirp, chirp,” I heard faintly and I knew it meant, “Cora, help me.”

Oh God.

I twisted in Tor’s arm to face him as he dragged me toward Salem who’d run off the road with Tor and I.

“Tor!” I cried desperately, tipping my head back to look at him, struggling against his arm and dragging my feet to stop him from dragging me. “I hear Aggie.”

“Who?”

“Aggie!” I yelled.

Tor stopped and stared down at me. “Who’s Aggie?”

“Aggie, Aggie, Agglethorpe! The bird!”

His brows shot together. “The what?”

“Bird!”

“Chirp,” which meant, “Help.”

“Tor! I think something’s wrong. We have to do something!” I lifted my hands to his jaws, got up on tiptoe, leaned in and begged, “Please!”

He stared into my eyes then he muttered, “Gods,” let me go, grabbed my hand and jogged into the wood, pulling me behind, Salem following on a trot.

“Aggie!” I called. “Chirp for us, sweetie, so we know where you are.”

I listened. Nothing.

I lifted my hand, cupped my mouth at the side and yelled, “Aggie, honey, please. Give us something!”

Then I heard it, a close, weak chirp right above us. I stopped, tugging on Tor’s hand making him stop and Salem stopped with us. I looked up and saw the bright feathers of Aggie about ten feet up in a tree.

“I see you!” I shouted, jumping up and down and shaking Tor’s hand as I did. “I see you! Hang on, Tor’s going to climb up and get you!”

“Chirp, chirp, chirp,” which meant, “Thank the gods.”

“I’m going to what?” Tor asked at my side and I turned my head to look up at him.

“You have to climb up and get him,” I explained.

He looked up at the tree and then down at me. “Who?”

“Aggie! That bird up there!” I cried, pointing up to the tree. “He sounds weak, I think he’s wounded. You have to go get him.”

Tor looked up into the tree again, squinted, I noticed when he saw him because he squinted harder then he looked down at me.

“You jest,” he stated.

“Do I look like a jest?” I shrieked, throwing out an arm. “That’s Aggie! You have to save him!”

“Cora, that bird is half dead,” he informed me evenly.

“Then that means he’s also half alive!” I yelled.

He stared at me for a long moment then he moved into me, pulling me into him with a gentle tug on my hand and he lifted his other hand to curl his fingers around my neck.

“Sweets,” he said softly, “are you attached to this animal?”

“Yes, no, uh… kind of. I’ve only met him once but he was cute. Does it matter? He needs help.”

“You’ve only met him once?” Tor asked.

“Yes, the morning I woke up in this world. He was in my room. He was there when the curse started. I’ve never talked to a bird before, he was my first and, um… only, I guess. But it was cool. You can’t talk to animals at home, I mean, you can but they can’t talk back. He talks back. I mean, he chirps back but in a way where I understand him.”

“Of course,” he replied.

Awesome! He got it!

“So you have to have heard him too! He’s in distress!”

His head tipped to the side. “No, Cora, I can’t hear small birds. Women can hear small birds, rabbits, deer, cats, mice and the like. Men can hear horses, dogs, wolves, birds of prey, snakes and the like. I can’t hear him.”

Whoa. Weird.

I wanted to hear more about that but just not at that particular moment.

“Okay, well, I can and he needs help,” I told him.

“Was this bird your pet?”

“Uh, I don’t think so. He flew in from outside.

He pulled in breath through his nostrils. Then he got closer and his fingers curled deeper into my neck.

Then he said, “Love, you can talk to the wild animals but you can’t form attachments to them.”

“What on earth? Why?” I exclaimed.

His face dipped closer to mine. “Because, my sweet, they’re wild and this,” he jerked his chin up slightly, “happens and you have to let it happen.”

I took a step back and declared, “Oh no I don’t!”

“Cora –”

“Please, Tor, I’m asking you to climb up that tree and save Aggie.”

“Love –”

“Please!” I cried.

“You shouldn’t –”

“I’ll kiss you,” I bartered.

“It’s not about a kiss, it’s about nature. This is nature happening and you cannot intervene.”

I glared up at him. Then I pulled free and stomped to the tree, stating, “Fine! I’ll climb up and get him.”

I didn’t get within three feet of the tree trunk before my hips were captured in big hands and I was pulled back.

I struggled forward. “Don’t try to stop me.”

“Woman, you are not climbing up a gods damned tree!”

I looked over my shoulder at him. “You wanna bet?”

He yanked me back and I collided with his hard body. “Yes, I’ll bet.”

Oh dear. I wasn’t going to win this fight.

So I tried a different tactic and cried pleadingly, “Tor!”

He stared down at me. I tried to stare up at him beseechingly.

Surprisingly, I won.

He let me go and strode to the tree, grumbling, “When we get home, remind me to speak to my physician about the state of my sanity.”

“Thank you, honey,” I called quietly.

He stopped at the trunk and cut his eyes to me. “You owe me.”

Oh shit.

“I’ll pay,” I promised.

“You bet your beautiful arse you will,” he muttered then he climbed the tree like he was a ten year old boy yesterday and did it five times daily. Then he climbed down just as agilely all the while cradling the tiny Aggie in one hand.

I rushed to him and bent my head to an Aggie who didn’t look too good.

“Oh Aggie,” I whispered.

“Chirp,” meaning, “Cora.”

“Baby, we got you,” I told the bird.

“Cora,” Tor called and I tilted my head to look up at him not noticing I had the fingers of one hand wrapped around the wrist of his hand holding Aggie and the other hand resting on the wall of his chest. “His wing is mangled. Beyond repair.”

“Oh God,” I breathed.

“You and Salem need to go to the road, I’ll take care of Aggie,” he continued and I blinked.

“Take care of him?”

“He’s in pain. He’s been up in that tree for awhile, no water, no food. He’s not half dead, he’s mostly dead. I need to take care of him.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Take care of him how?

“Take away his pain.”

Oh no. I was pretty sure I knew what he was saying.

“Are you saying –?”

He must have read the horror on my face for he answered swiftly and gently, “Yes.”

“Tor, no.”

“It’s the right thing to do.”

“We’ll find a vet.”

“Pardon?”

“A vet, a veterinarian. A doctor for animals.”

“I know what a vet is, love, what I was trying to ask without saying it is, are you mad?”

I stepped back. “I’m not mad! Maybe something can be done.”

“Something can be done and if you would go with Salem to the road, I could do it and put this creature out of its misery.”

“Chirp” came from Aggie which unfortunately meant “chirp”. Therefore, no clue what Aggie thought of this conversation and his impending euthanasia at the hands of a hot prince warrior.

“Tor –” I whispered.

“Sweets, go.”

I shook my head. “We can get him water. Food. Maybe he’ll perk up.”

“Sweets… go.”

I stepped into him and put my hand back on his chest. Leaning in and up, I begged again, “Please.”

His eyes moved over my face before he said quietly, “I give in, we do this bird no favors.”

Oh my God. Was he going to relent?

“We can nurse him back to health. Get him some seed, water, then to a vet the first chance we get,” I suggested.

His jaw clenched.

My hand slid up his chest to curl my fingers around his neck. “Tor, please, he’s Aggie. The first being I saw in this world was Rosa, the second, Aggie. I don’t have a sister at home and I had Rosa for about ten minutes before she was gone. Aggie was swept away in the wind when the vickrants came. They both can’t be gone. I couldn’t bear it. It may sound crazy but he’s important to me. I can’t do anything to help Rosa but maybe I can do something to help Aggie. Help me help him. Please.”

Okay, truth be told, I was laying it on a bit thick but the reason this bird had been stuck up in a tree for days was because I had inadvertently started a curse that struck up a wind that caught this little creature in it so it was all my fault his wing was mangled (kind of).

Tor held my eyes then he lifted his hand and cupped my jaw.

Then he murmured, “Go get the waterskin. Let’s get this bird hydrated.”

He relented!

Goodie!

I smiled brightly at him, lifted up on my toes, pushed in (careful not to further crush Aggie) at the same time my hand slid to the back of his neck and pulled down. He bent and I touched my mouth to his.

I pulled back an inch and looked in his beautiful eyes.

“Thank you, honey,” I whispered, watched his eyes light but I had things to do so I didn’t dawdle.

I let him go and raced to Salem to get the waterskin thinking as I did it that maybe Prince Noctorno Hawthorne wasn’t all that bad.