“No, he was misinformed. He thought Gwyneth had entered the Land of Reflection, so he followed her.”
“He did something unselfish?” Gwyneth mutters, folding her arms and glowering at my capons.
Why is no one trying to kiss me?
“He seems reluctantly smitten with you, which is why you should take him to his chambers so he can be reunited with his body and waste his time trying to woo you.”
Also, I want some alone time with my knights and to curse them all for not covering me with their maleness and muscles the tempo I got back. What does a maiden need to do to get some attention?
Get trapped in another world? Check.
Go to prison for something she was not guilty of? Check.
Rescue the sword from an Idol? Check.
There’s a tension in the room tethering the five of us together. I just need some alone time.
“We could leave him like that,” Gwyneth muses. I knew it. She harbors a little darkness in that beautiful soul of hers.
Charmish makes an unhappy, weird croaky clucking noise before darting under the table, making Eugene follow insolidarity. Sir Sweeps-A-Lot decides this must be where the magical sidekicks go and shoves himself under the low table.
“I don’t think he wants to go back,” Malachi says with a chuckle.
I drop to my knees and crawl across the floor to look at Charmish. “Hey, dude, no need to panic. We can have you back in your body in five tempos, but you need to come out from under there.”
Charmish’s beady eyes track my hand as I move toward him. He pecks it in warning, and I snatch it back with a huff.
“I don’t know what you are fussing about,” I snap. “You can hardly woo my sister’s floof from under the table. Also, I’m pretty sure your mini Charming will be even smaller and not compatible with a maiden. I have the same issue with dragons, except I’m the smaller one.”
Charmish huffs at me and settles down onto the floor. Eugene pecks his neck. Is that affection? Oh my Idols, has Charming finally found his match with a capon?
He grumbles, ruffles his feathers, and his eyes go wide. What in the Blazes? He lifts his butt and spins to stare at the egg he’s just laid. He pecks it like the egg personally offended him, and Sir Sweeps-A-Lot decides this is the best time to clean the floor, dusting the egg gently like it’s an actual child.
“Did Charming just lay an egg?” Nash asks.
Eugene bursts into a flurry of movement, which looks suspiciously like she’s roasting Charmish. Poor choice of words. Sir Sweeps-A-Lot zooms out from under the table and hides behind the sofa. Poor broom is being blasted for doing his job.
“Hey, Charming,” Nash says, bending to glare at my possessed capon. “If you don’t get your feathery butt out here, we are going to leave you inside that capon for the rest of your very short life.”
My gaze snaps to him. “Why are you threatening my capon?”
“I am not, but relatively speaking, capons live a considerably shorter length of time than the Hallowed.”
“That makes sense.”
Charmish nudges Eugene away from his egg and plonks himself down over it. Umm, I guess the egg is coming with us?
“For Hallowed sake,” Theo grumbles before bending and scooping up Charmish along with his egg and depositing both in Gwyneth’s arms. “Go deal with that.”
She huffs as I stand. “Fine, but don’t let Daphne leave, follow any rabbits, or step through any mirrors.”
“What about breathing?” I question. “Is that allowed?”
She gifts me with hersister, don’t mess with memurderous-eyes look. “At this stage, it’s optional.”
I roll my eyes as she sweeps out of the room, leaving me with the four knights who stare at me like I’m a fragile flower. I drag my teeth over my bottom lip as the Stirling brothers circle around me like sharks. My gaze tracks them like a clock, and I straighten my spine.
“You made careless decisions, again,” Nash says with a shake of his head.
