Rolfe pacedoutside the palace gates, watching the setting sun with even more impatience than usual. He had heard the gates make their request and was startled by the reminder of the first djinn’scurse.
Let the one who crosses this thresholdfirst,
Be condemned to wed him despite hiscurse.
How could he have forgotten thatdetail?
A noblewoman was within the walls of the palace that had been granted to his keeping. Even more remarkable, she had agreed to become his wife, without ever laying eyes upon him. Rolfe’s month of solitude had made him grateful for whatever blessings came hisway.
He admired her boldness in defending hersteed.
She was pretty,too.
She would be hiswife.
Who could have imagined that a curse could have brought him such fortune? Rolfe would woo this woman destined to be his bride. He would win her heart. They might have children. He had a palace and they could live well here, making a home as he hadhoped.
It seemed that Marcus’ gift was making Rolfe’s dream cometrue.
His excitement made him pace more quickly. He would build a partnership like that of his parents’ marriage, in which each trusted and relied upon the other. He would pledge himself to this woman’s happiness...then he recalled the rest of the spell andhalted.
And let the one in whom heconfides,
Lead a killer to hisside.
But what would happen when this mysterious noblewoman learned of hissituation?
Rolfehalted.
It could not take her long. At morning’s first light, he would be expelled from the palace and find himself a wolf again. He did not doubt that she would have the wits to notice his absence, even if he managed to hide the transformation fromher.
What would she do when she learned that this palace was nothing but illusion, that it existed on no map and that her husband could never leaveit?
She would laugh, as the fair Rosalinde had once laughed at Rolfe for his expectations. That lady had welcomed his affections until she had learned Rolfe was the younger son, without a holding to his name. Then her charm had fled and he had seen her nature for what itwas.
She might summon a more favored suitor, one who would sacrifice Rolfe for his own ambitions. Any man could desire a palace such as this. What was Rolfe todo?
Finally, by grace of the powersabove,
let this curse be broken by the blessing oflove.
There was the second djinn’s spell, as foolish as Rolfe thought it tobe.
He had never seen the merit of love himself. Rosalinde had pledged her love until she learned he had no wealth. Love was capricious and fleeting, if not a lie. Trust could be shown and deserved. Even honor was proven by deeds, but love was a tool plied by women likeRosalinde.
Rolfe stared at the gates andthought.
Then he had a thought. Love was also a physical act and one natural between husband and wife. That was it! He would wed the lady and he would love her abed. The physical expression of his admiration for her, and the cultivation of her pleasure would satisfy thespell.
He had learned from Rosalinde, that intimacy was negotiated. Some women wanted gifts. Others wanted only pleasure. This one agreed to be his wife, and Rolfe would marry and defend her. They would have an arrangement to their mutualbenefit.
She had sanctuary and would have pleasure. As a result, he would see his cursebroken.
It would be a simpletransaction.
No more and noless.
* * *
