Page 85 of Knight's End
I could feel. But I couldn’t get swept away. We still had a castle and the aftermath of a battle to deal with. I swiped at my face once more and took a deep breath.
This was the new reality. Whether I liked it or not, we had to live with it until the wish magic was satisfied.
Sarding wish magic.
Ryan came over and kissed my cheek, “Little Dearling, why don’t you take a minute? I need to go check on my men. And gather up those that have been transformed.” He limped over to the doorway and told the little frog, “Follow me.” And then he tromped out the door, a croaking frog hopping along behind him.
Connor stroked my hair. "I need to go back and heal whomever I can."
I nodded and pressed on my temples, fighting a headache that came on in the aftermath of my tears. "I need to get dressed. Then I’ll be down to do whatever I can. Is Quinn still near me?"
Blue’s thoughts were a little smug as he answered,Yes. And he’s pissed he has a nightmare and that I was right.
Don’t be an ass,I told Blue.
Aloud I said, “Can he hear me?”
Declan nodded. "He says he can see and hear you. It's his nightmare that you can't do the same."
Let me try to send you his thoughts,Blue said.
But as Blue scrunched his face, nothing came through to my mind.
Sorry,my newest knight apologized.
I tried to hide my disappointment. It wasn’t his fault that magic had such a high price.
Declan said, “If Donaloo’s beads couldn’t counter his magical nightmare earlier, I suppose it makes sense you can’t do so now.”
I chewed my lip and then asked, "If he can see me and hear me, can he feel me, too?"
My knights looked at some point in midair and I struggled to see something, some wavering cloud, some bit of movement, anything. But I saw nothing. I didn't know if Quinn tried to touch me. I couldn't tell. I couldn't feel a thing. It was awful and frustrating. I felt like my hands were tied and my body was bound. It was just as bad as any torture chamber.
"Yes," Declan finally answered. "He kissed you. You didn't feel anything?"
My hand flew to my lips. But they didn't feel any different. I hadn’t felt warmth or cold or tingles or pressure. I pressed my lips together in a thin line and shook my head.
Declan said, "I guess we'll have to hope this wish was small enough that the nightmare doesn't last very long."
My eyes closed and my stomach sank. I’d made a wish and asked for it to last every day of an immortal’s life. That was no small wish. We all knew it.
I had no idea when I would get to see my Quinn again. My sweet half-elf.
I doubted it would be soon.
My eyes closed and I stared down at the ground. "I'm sorry." I apologized to my spy master.
Everyone grew somber. Reality sank in like the bottle-ache that made men ill after a night in their cups. An hour ago, I’d been drunk on wish magic—thinking myself so clever. Now …
I walked back to the window and stared down at the courtyard. My eyes traveled around the devastation; the space was littered with bodies. I was surrounded by all the reasons I had never wanted to be a queen. War. Death. Watching those that I loved suffer injury, suffer nightmare situations like this … and gods only knew what came next.
It was my own personal hell.
As that thought popped into my head, the doors to the ballrooms down the hall burst open. Noise spilled out.
Declan, Blue and I hurried to the door. Courtiers streamed down the hall, negligée dangling from their faces and their arms. They plucked it off as they stared around them in shock.
“What the sard is going on?” one asked.
