Page 256 of Disillusioned
They’re not accepted in our world, either,Lilac thought bitterly. Kestrel had once given them a similar warning. She yanked her arms against her constraints, unable to fathom an arcane island—one led by the likes of Morwenn.
“As a human, your pet cannot exist there as your public counterpart—asanything other than your subordinate. She willneverbe seen as an equal. Most definitely not yours.” Morwenn shrugged, turning away.
Garin’s shoulders began to steadily, noticeably rise and fall.
“Granted, I cannot help nor regulate what goes on behind closed doors. In my centuries imprisoned underwater, I, too, have fucked several of my servants out of pure boredom. Or pity.” She eyed Lilac, something like ravenous admiration crossing her serpentine features. “I’d say it surprises me she’s lived to tell the tale, but I’ve seen her strength. And her speed. She must make for an entertaining blood slave.” At Garin’s murderous glare, she stuck her bottom lip out. “Do you have her convinced that what you have is something more?”
Fuming, Lilac descended the steps. Doing so was harder than she’d ever imagined with her hands tied.
I will not go as a servant, she thought at him, boisterously as possible.Not yours.
Would you rather be hers?he growled, claws against her mind. “Eleanor is mine. Whether they choose to acknowledge it or not is irrelevant. She will be my hand at your forge.”
“I’m not seeking apprentices.”
“Funny.Iam.”
The sea witch ignored this and merely turned, producing a glistening conch out of thin air.
As she put it to her mouth, Garin spoke again. “Lilac’s court will accompany us. That is my last and final demand.”
Morwenn followed his gaze to the huddling group. Yanna, Isabel, and Piper froze, an array of emotions crossing the terror on their faces.
Lilac would never intentionally subject them to whatever Garin had just agreed to. But… what was left for them at the castle?
And what of Maximilian? John and Riou would likely aid in the administrative declining of his offer—wherever they were. If they were alive. But what then? After such a public affair, what if her decision angered the emperor to the point of seizing them with the very army he’d promised in exchange for her hand?
The thought of bringing them along for whatever Morwenn had in store was terrifying, but the thought of being torn from them was far, far too much to bear.
Whatwill they do there?Lilac glared at him questioningly. It seemed he hadn’t thought that far.I will not be the cause of their suffering.
You need them just as much as they need you,he snarled.
You were the one who offered your services!
Garin faced her, fuming. He didn’t say a word—but her throat tightened, and her knees nearly buckled with the unnatural wave of terror and want that flooded between her legs.Do you think she was asking?
“No,” Morwenn said after a second’s deliberation.
Garin’s defensive anger hit Lilac like a blast of frigid air. “They’re her courtiers and attendants. She is still royalty here.”
Myrddin stepped forward. “If I may, Lady Morwenn,” he said, voice even with diplomacy. “Their presence may be of some benefit. She is human, after all. Would you truly wish your wretched sea-born things preparing her bath? Dressing her? Touching her? Feeding her?”
Lilac growled in her mind, but Garin quieted her with a brush of his knuckles on hers.
Morwenn regarded the warlock. “And you are?”
If she’d truly been buried beneath the sea for centuries, if time had eroded her name from every living memory until she’d been reduced to a folk tale… it made sense she wouldn’t know his identity.
His eye twitched slightly, but he folded into adeepbow. “Myrddin Ambrosius Wyllt. I am Her Majesty’s advisor in Diplomacy and Magic.”
“I see,” Morwenn murmured. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes as they turned slowly, gleefully, onto Lilac. “You want me to bring her servants and a pet wizard, too.”
“Warlock. Sorcerer,” Myrddin corrected.
A harsh growl erupted from Garin’s throat. “Be quiet.”
“Anda Strigoi, wrapped duly around her finger, rather than her throat.” Morwenn studied Lilac, the room that stood behind her in silent wonder. “How bizarre.”
