Chapter Thirty-Five

Det and Gren were a short distance behind Leasharra and Loralie. Gren was in contact with the red dragon but told Det that Loralie was unaware of their presence. Leasharra asked them to stay back until she signaled for them. Apparently, she had something planned, and though Det wanted to get to Loralie before she did something irrevocable, Gren was in charge of the flying, so it was really up to him.

"I hope you two know what you're doing," Det groused at Gren as they flew in a circular pattern around the Citadel's structure.

He'd never seen it before and was fascinated by the aerial view. He would have enjoyed it even more if he wasn't worried that Loralie was about to encase herself in ice for all eternity.

"No human has seen this from above in eons," Gren said, trying to placate him. "You should study up if you intend to extend your relationship with the Guardian. This is her domain, and you will need to support her in her work if you remain together."

"There is no if about it," Det declared. "As long as we can prevent her from freezing herself, I will wear her down until she agrees to be my wife."

"Wear her down?" Gren was chuckling, as the cinnamon-scented smoke streaming from his nostrils attested. "You're so romantic."

"Well, what else would you suggest with a woman like Loralie? She's the Guardian. She has her duty. I just need to convince her that there's room in her life for that and me too."

"And the children. They'll go a long way toward ‘wearing her down', as you put it." Gren was still chuckling at him.

Det wasn't going to encourage the beast. Sometimes, his heartmate liked to poke fun at him, which was always more amusing for the dragon than it was for Det. But he loved the big lug like a very large, very scaley, slightly younger brother, so he put up with it.

But Det had to admit the dragon was right. The layout of the Citadel complex wasn't what he'd expected. It wasn't built like a castle, but more like a series of them in a vaguely circular formation. There was a house at the center of a large clearing where the red dragon had landed, and structures radiating out from that central space in all directions.

"Each of the ice chambers holds a defeated wizard," Gren told him as they circled above. "The Guardians live at the center, keeping watch, though I believe there are a series of passages all around the ice chambers and beyond that they also look after. It's really quite the labyrinth."

Det enjoyed his tour of the Citadel area by air. The Citadel was so much more than he'd ever imagined. It seemed impossible that a single mage could take care of it all. Surely, the wizards of old had put too much responsibility on one person.

Or, perhaps, things had been fine for eons, but as the magic broke down over time, it all became just too much to handle. The near-failure of the ice in Loralie's mother's time was telling. In all likelihood, the Citadel had been crumbling for years, and Loralie was just the latest Guardian who had to deal with the problems arising from the place's age.

"I don't really understand how anybody lives way up here at the top of the world. Where do you think they got food from?" Det wondered, asking Gren as they made another loop around the place.

"I believe I saw a stable in the inner courtyard," Gren replied. "It could have housed livestock, though I don't suppose the Guardian would have a lot of time to take care of anything more than just a token animal or two. And there was a small kitchen garden, but I expect the Guardians were able to leave the Citadel from time to time to get supplies elsewhere. I asked your snow dragons what they knew of the Gate in the enclave, and they said there were stories of the Guardians coming through sometimes to buy supplies and spend time among your folk."

"My grandmother did say something about having been friends with Loralie's grandmother, now that you mention it," Det confirmed.

"That makes sense. It would have to be kind of lonely to be all the way up here all by yourself all the time," Gren said a tone of wistfulness in his voice.

"But the Guardians had to have married, or at least had male companions at times, so they could have daughters to carry on the family duty," Det theorized. "The Guardians of old probably had a man around at least sometimes, and their children. So, they weren't always completely alone."

"I suppose you're right," Gren admitted, then veered toward the center of the complex again. "Leasharra says it's all right to land now."

Det felt relief course through him as Gren landed in the open space at the center of the Citadel complex. He looked immediately for Loralie but didn't see her right away. Then, he caught a flash of red and realized she was wearing that same dress she'd worn during the fight with Gebel. He wondered briefly why she had reverted to that old thing when he'd procured lovely new dresses for her, but that didn't matter at the moment.

No, what really concerned him right at that instant was the way she was weaving her hands through the air as she faced an open doorway filled with blue ice. He'd seen her make those motions before. Just yesterday, in fact, when she'd been dealing with Gebel. Loralie was about to let loose with some kind of magic.

Det held his breath and moved toward her as quickly as he could. He didn't dare distract her lest he cause her to make some sort of mistake in her spell casting, but he had to be near her. He had to do whatever he could to protect her in case something went wrong.

*

Loralie held her breath as she cast the spell that was becoming more familiar to her every time she cast it. She felt wind at her back but assumed it was probably just Leasharra furling her wings or something. She couldn't let anything distract her in the middle of casting this spell. She was just trying to unfreeze a little bit of the library, to see if it could be done.

The idea of freeing her mother was too big for her to comprehend at the moment, though a little ember of hope sparked to life inside her. She would go slow and see if her spell work caused any damage before proceeding, but if it could be done at all, she would try to free her mother. And pray to the Mother of All that she was doing the right thing.

With a little thought sent heavenward, Loralie loosed the spell and held her breath. Unlike when she'd cast the reversal spell on Gebel, nothing happened for a heartbeat… Two… Three… And then…

A blinding flash of light made Loralie look away. Her pulse raced. What had she done wrong? Had she caused a catastrophic failure somehow? Had she set off a failsafe unknowingly? But as she continued to breathe and nothing more happened, she thought that couldn't be right. Then, as the light dissipated, she opened her eyes and saw the ice receding from the entire library.

Including around her mother. She'd been standing when she was frozen, and as the ice disappeared from around her, she started to crumple to the floor. Loralie was unable to move, the shock so great. She hadn't intended to do this much in one go. What happened to being cautious?

And her mother was falling! Was she dead? Loralie's mind raced as a big shape moved past her and into the library. Det. It was Det, she realized sluggishly. Det was there, and he was racing to catch Loralie's mother.

Loralie watched, dumbfounded for a minute, as Det caught her mother before she could hit the floor, lifting her in his arms and placing her on the window seat that had been Loralie's favorite place to read when she was little.

Loralie walked into the library that she hadn't been able to set foot in since she'd been a teenager. Det was chafing her mother's hands, trying to cajole her into wakefulness. That had to mean she was alive. Right? He wouldn't waste his time if she was already dead.

Loralie ran over to kneel in front of the window seat, touching her mother's shoulder then cupping her cheek. Tears streamed down Loralie's face, unheeded.

"Mama?" Loralie whispered. "Mama, can you hear me?" Loralie turned to Det. "She's so cold."

"She's been frozen in ice for decades," Det said, stating the obvious. "Is there anything we can put over her?" His gaze swept the room as he spoke but Loralie was already in motion.

There was a fur-lined throw hanging over one of the chairs that faced the fireplace. It was a little cool to the touch, but dry. The magical ice may have been wet on the outside, but when it disappeared, it left everything dry. Loralie remembered the blanket. She had often thrown it over her legs to ward off the chill when she would read late into the night. She remembered her mother doing the same.

Loralie used a little tingle of her magic to warm the blanket before she placed it over her mother. She had used that spell over and over again while she was living rough, to keep herself warm in the night.

Sinking to her knees once again at her mother's side, Loralie took one of her cool hands. Was it her imagination, or was her hand just a little bit warmer than it had been before?

"Gren says this is the only room that thawed," Det said quietly as they waited for her mother to revive.

"To be honest, I forgot just about everything when I saw my mother free of the ice," Loralie admitted, shaking her head. "Thank you. And thank Gren for me. How did you two find me? The Citadel is protected from above."

"We followed you." Det didn't look the least bit contrite. "I wasn't about to let you go off and leave me again. Whatever we do from this day forward, Loralie, we do it together."

The look in his eye as his gaze met hers made her suck in a breath in surprise. He wasn't kidding. The warrior in him was ready to do battle if she denied him this time.

Truth be told, she didn't want to fight him. Not on this. Not on anything. She was through with all that. Without him, her life had been hell. Maybe with him, things would be better. She was through making decisions without his input.

"Lora?" A weak voice broke the spell between them as Loralie's mother woke, looking bleary-eyed at her daughter and then at Det.

"Yes, Mama. I'm here," she said. "Though I guess I look a bit different from the last time you saw me." Loralie couldn't stop the smile on her face, nor did she want to. Neither that, nor the tears that streamed happily down her cheeks.

"You've grown up," her mother said in wonder. "And is this man your husband?" Her mother's eyes went from Loralie to Det and back again, clearly curious.

"I'm working on that, ma'am. My name is Detlif Adain, and I am the Guard Captain of the enclave to your Southwest. I believe your mother was friends with my grandmother."

Oh, he was all charm when he wanted to be, Loralie thought. Just one of the many things she loved about him.

"Adain," Loralie's mother repeated his family name. "Yes, my mother often spoke of her friend, Fiora Adain, before she…" Here, the older woman looked back at Loralie with an expression close to chagrin. "Before she did what I did and set off a failsafe to keep the Citadel from falling. Your grandmother is encased in ice here as well, Lora."

"What?" Loralie was shocked. Why had her mother never told her this before?

"I never told you because I didn't know how to get her out of it. But now that you know the way of it, maybe we can rescue her too."

Loralie's mind was on overload. What other surprises would be sprung on her today?