Page 47 of Lacey's Warriors

A fine tremor ran through the High Priestess as she lifted her hands toward the sky and began to chant in an odd tone and language that Lacey’s crystal could not translate.

Gwarnon and Chel looked up as well, and Lacey followed their gaze, gasping when the stars began to fall to the Earth. At least that’s what it looked like at first, but then she realized these sparkles were materializing out of thin air, then drifting down like what she imagined the snow in heaven looked like. She would have reached out and touched one, but her hands were held tight by her bondmates.

The High Priestess lowered her hands, then spoke in a heavily accented voice that Lacey was able to understand. “The Lord of Life has heard your plea to bind your souls, and he has found you worthy. Do you, Lacey Taylor, daughter of Lady Tara Taylor, pledge yourself to these men? To be bound to them until the end of time?”

“Yes,” she smiled, the combined joy of her husband’s rejoicing filling their bond. “Absolutely I do.”

The question was repeated to Gwarnon and Chel, and they both responded with an enthusiastic yes that had the watching crowd laughing.

The High Priestess smiled, or at least Lacey thought it was a smile and said, “Then may the Lord of Life bless this bonding. May neither man nor time tear it apart.”

Gwarnon grabbed her first, kissing her hard as Chel wrapped his arms around them both. A moment later Chel’s lips replaced Gwarnon’s, then all three of them shared a kiss as best they could. Unable to contain her joy, Lacey let it out, everyone around them gasping as her overwhelming romantic love for her husbands hit them like a powerful wave. An odd, tingling icy sensation on her chest had her looking down in awe as her bondmark formed, right in the center of the slight valley between her breasts. It was somehow both strong and feminine, thick lines and primitive swirls that came together to form an eternal pattern. The black mark shone like liquid ink or the shiniest of latex, and she ran a wondering finger over the surface of her skin.

Lifting her gaze to Gwarnon, she found him staring off over her head, his lips set in a dark frown.

Abruptly, he shouted, “Sniper! Everyone down!”

Gwarnon managed to tackle all three of them and threw his body over Lacey’s. Her ears rang as a high-pitched squeal cut through the air like scream mixed with the air being let out of a balloon. Above her, Gwarnon let out a harsh grunt while Chel yelled something. The shrieking stopped, and she stared up into Gwarnon’s face, watching the life fade from both his eyes and their bond.

Then he was being lifted off her, and she was screaming, screaming so loud she thought her throat might shred. Dimly, she was aware of Jillian, physically all right but screaming as well, being hustled inside by Wythe and a contingent of guards. She reached out for Gwarnon, now surrounded by Kadothian Warriors in green armor—Healers, her dazed mind reminded her, they were healers like Chel. But as she reached out, she noticed her arms were covered in blood, as was the front of her dress. So much blood that the hem was growing sodden with it, but she wasn’t hurt.

Gwarnon’s blood.She was covered in her husband’s blood.So much…

Black spots danced around the edges of her vision as their newly formed bond strained and groaned beneath the trauma Gwarnon was enduring. She could feel him slipping away, could feel Chel’s panic as he frantically worked on her husband. While she couldn’t do anything for Gwarnon physically, mentally she threw out her energy into the bond between them, straining with all her might to somehow draw him back, to bring him home again.

Phin stepped up behind her, catching her has she swayed. Holding her against him, turning her away from Gwarnon, Lacey was confronted by the sight of the High Priestess, dead on the alter dedicated to the Lord of Life. Her awareness dimly registered that this was like a huge sacrilege, and she wondered if the Lord of Life would smite the bad guys who’d tried to kill her and her husbands on her wedding day.

There was only one woman capable of such treachery.

“Lady Melissi,” Lacey pushed away from Phin, baring her teeth as her heart swelled with hatred. “It was Lady Melissi, I’m sure of it. That fucking bitch just couldn’t stand her son being happy. I’ll fucking kill her.”

Orushel seemed to appear out of nowhere as he stepped from behind a plant and activated a privacy shield. “Actually, my Lady, you are incorrect. I have interrogated one of the assassins. They belong to a growing anti-Earther movement on Kadothia that views human women as a plague that must be exterminated. They believe it is their sacred duty to kill you, that your kind are like the Hive but more clever because you can hide your evil.”

She threw back her head and screamed as pain and betrayal tore her apart. “Why! Why does everyone hate us? We’ve done nothing wrong! You were the ones that came to our planet and took us. You are the ones who forbid us from ever returning home. You are the ones that have done everything in your power to get the Matriarchs from Earth to Kadothia so we can help save your planet. And, this?” She threw her arms out at the carnage. “This is what we are sacrificing everything we know and love for? These are the people that we gave up everything to help?” She collapsed as she yelled so hard her head hurt. “They killed myhusband! He isn’t human, he is Kadothian, and he has spent his entire life trying to do the best for his people, despite being raised by a vile bitch. You want to talk about evil hiding behind a pretty face? Take a hard look at yourselves, people of Kadothia. You’re worried about the snake in the grass when you’ve already got a scorpion in your boot.”

Chel came up behind her and wrapped her in his arms despite her struggles, his cool herbal scent reaching her when nothing else could. “Shhh, myalyah. He is all right. Gwarnon will live.”

She stared up at Chel. “What? But I saw him die.”

“No, my love, you saw his body go into hibernation. It is something Warriors are programed to do if we are gravely injured. He has survived much worse. In a few days, he will be as good as new.”

Breaking down completely, Lacey stumbled over to Gwarnon’s still form and placed a wet kiss on his lips. “I love you. I love you so much. Come back to us.”

Gwarnon’s lids flickered as he mumbled, “Not going anywhere. Chel told me about the Earth honeymoon tradition. Want that.”

Her laughter turned to sobs as he was once again put onto a medical bed and taken to the medical ward to heal.

Scooping her into his arms, Chel carried her inside and into her bed. He curled around her as she fell into an exhausted sleep.

Chapter 13

Gwarnon

Lord Rell sat down next to Gwarnon, his face grim as he studied the bandaged wound on Gwarnon’s torso. Half of his ribs had been ripped away, along with one lung. The weapon the assassin had used was a powerful one, but the wound had been compounded by Lacey’s belt. During the ceremony, moving entirely on instinct, Gwarnon had activated the security feature on the belt and shielded his bride. That shield had saved her from taking any damage from the energy bolt, but it had reflected it back, and Gwarnon had ended up getting shot twice. Once from the would-be assassin, and once from the shot ricocheting off Lacey’s shield.

The damage was extensive, and it would take a while for Gwarnon to get back to full strength. Even with Kadothia’s advanced medicines, it took time for the body to properly regrow a lung. Shifting in the medical chair that was still working on his injured back, Gwarnon turned his head so he could give his old friend a wry smile.

“Sorry you missed the bonding ceremony. It was quite thrilling.”

---