Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

I woke up to frantic knocking on my door and my mother calling, “Frederick? Frederick, are you in there?”

Brendon’s arm tightened around me, and we moved simultaneously. Not to leap out of bed to answer the knock. That would have been the smart choice. Instead each of us gripped one corner of the blanket and hauled it over our heads to create a dark little cocoon.

The knocking stopped and I snuggled closer to Brendon, discovering part of him awake and ready. He made a delicious, rumbly sound in the back of his throat and pressed his erection against me. Since she’d given up, we might have time for a little—

A crash was our only warning as the door burst open and loud voices filled the room.

I sat up, the blanket dropping around me, and gaped at the crowd rushing into my bedroom. Mother had apparently rounded up a few of the guards to break down my door for some insane fucking reason.

They stared at me. I stared at them. We all turned our shocked gazes onto my mother.

“Frederick!” she gasped, bustling into the room. “When you didn’t answer, I worried you were missing too.”

“Too? Who’s missing?”

“Both the Good Wizard and Prince Brendon have disappeared. A mage was spotted in the town a few days ago and I fear the worst.” When she paused to take a breath, her gaze fell to the bed, and she blinked several times, mouth hanging open.

Brendon had sat up to reveal that he was not, in fact, missing. “Good morning, Your Majesty,” he said with surprising solemnity for a man sitting naked in her son’s bed.

Mother’s expression shut down and she coldly ordered, “Guards, please wait outside.”

They didn’t need to be told twice. One awkwardly tried to shut the door to give us some privacy, but it flopped open on its busted hinges, so he kindly held it closed for us.

“Frederick,” Mother continued in that same cold voice, “what have you done?”

“It isn’t—” Brendon began, then snapped his mouth shut when her glacial glare turned to him, silently telling him ‘I will deal with you later, young man.’

When she looked back at me, devastation mixed with her anger and a sheen of tears glimmered in her dark eyes. “How could you be so selfish? Do you care nothing for your kingdom? Perhaps the lives of thousands of strangers are too abstract for you to consider, but what about your sister? How could you betray her like this?”

I didn’t know how to explain, where to start, what to share with her or what to leave out. Though Franny’s flirtations were somewhat of an open secret, our parents had always been too busy and oblivious to her activities. Telling my mother about them without Franny’s consent would be more of a betrayal than sleeping with a man she didn’t want.

I gripped the torn-up sheets but couldn’t stop my hands from shaking.

Another hand closed around one of mine, clutching it tightly. “That’s enough,” Brendon said, his voice strong and steady. “If Francesca and I married, we would only make each other miserable.”

Mother shook her head. “But you were so happy—”

“That wasn’t me,” he interrupted. “The person who made Francesca happy was”—he glanced at me before finishing—“someone else. I wasn’t the person wearing the armor.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Perhaps if you ever actually listened to your son, you would.”

The accusation made her bristle again. “You may be a prince, young man, but you know nothing about my relationship with my son.”

“You don’t even use the name he prefers.”

I flinched and looked up at her through my lashes, afraid to meet her gaze head on. Her expression was hard to read, too many emotions mixing in her teary eyes, clenched jaw, and furrowed brow. After a moment, everything cleared away until her face was almost blank.

“Alright … Rick.” It might have been the first time she’d ever called me that. “Please explain what happened.”

“Do you mind if we get dressed first?” I asked.

She blinked, as if coming out of a daze, and then gasped. “Oh! Yes, I will … wait outside.” She rushed out of the room, closing the door behind her as best she could.

Brendon and I finally got out of bed. Changing into clothes appropriate for a wedding would take too long, so we both put back on what we’d worn yesterday. As Brendon dressed, he asked, “What are you going to tell her?”

I sighed. “I think I have to tell her everything.”

Once we finished dressing, he took my face in his hands and kissed me gently on the lips. “If we’re going to tell her everything, we need a few more people to fill in the story.”

Which was how Brendon, Franny, Kit, Cyril, Lucinda, and I ended up in a sitting room less than two hours before the wedding, staring at both sets of parents, waiting for them to come to terms with everything we’d told them.

We left out some details—they didn’t need to know about the sex or the magic toys, for one—but we told them everything else. Cyril and Lucinda’s honesty surprised me, but they looked like they were having fun, even as everyone eyed them warily for their villainy.

“You don’t seem very surprised,” my father said to Brendon’s.

“We’ve already heard some of it from Kit,” he explained with a cheery smile. “I would have told you, old friend, if I wasn’t worried about getting half the details wrong.”

“Or more,” his wife said, her lips tilted in a playful smile.

I was glad Father accepted the turn of events so easily. Mother was the real concern. I watched for her reaction, my hands clenched tightly in my lap as the seconds dragged on. Brendon covered my hand with his, helping me relax a little.

She followed the whole interaction with a closed off expression. “You and Brendon plan to marry?”

I nodded eagerly and looked to him to make sure he was still on board with the wedding after the crazy morning. He grinned and replied, “Yes, we’re getting married. In just a few hours if everything’s ready for it.”

“And the Good Wizard has approved the change?”

“Yes, he said either Franny or I could fulfill the requirements, so the spell is still safe.”

Mother pursed her lips. “I’d like to hear this from him myself, but no one has been able to locate him yet. Nothing in your story accounts for his disappearance, unless …” She glanced at Cyril and Lucinda.

Finished with their narration, they were busy staring into each other’s eyes and cooing sweet nothings. It took them a moment to notice everyone focused on them. Cyril arched a silver-streaked brow. “Yes?”

“Have you done anything to the Good Wizard?” Mother demanded.

“Not recently.”

“He wouldn’t risk ruining the wedding after everything we’ve done to save it,” Lucinda explained, cupping her hands around his face and making kissy noises at him. “Would you, pookie?”

“Of course not, darling,” he murmured, obviously lovesick.

Kit held up her hand. “I think I know where he is.” Once she had everyone’s attention, she explained, “He told us that he doesn’t experience time linearly. So, the Good Wizard who spent the last few days at the castle, helping with preparations, isn’t going to be the same version of the Good Wizard who officiates the wedding. The first one probably had to leave before the second one arrived, or they might cause a paradox.” She glanced at Franny and asked, “Right?”

Franny shrugged. “Makes as much sense as anything else.”

“Which probably means he’ll show up any minute now, never realizing he worried us,” I added.

We all looked toward the sitting room door, expecting him to enter with the same pomp and circumstance as when he’d first arrived. Nothing happened.

Father slapped his thighs and stood up. “No use waiting around here for him if that’s the case. We should all dress and prepare for the ceremony.”

Brendon’s father stood up and elbowed mine playfully in the ribs. “After all that confusion, we still get to be brothers from now on, eh?” They laughed and chatted on their way out.

Mother remained behind, still looking between all six of us uncertainly. Finally she asked Brendon, “Will you take Rick back to Bane with you?”

“Yes.”

“That’s probably for the best.” She stood and smoothed her skirts, then nodded goodbye to us and left the room. My stomach sank as I realized that might be the last real conversation we ever had.

Brendon interrupted my despair, pulling me up off the couch. He grinned, wrapping his arm around my waist. “Let’s go get married.”