Adrienne (27 page)

Malik suggested, “You should hang it in our room, my Adrienne. Even if what you learned has no usefulness on Bron, you cannot deny all your hard work.”

“What if someone sees it? Someone other than the people who already know I’m not from Bron.”

Malik tapped the glass of the frame. The degree inside shifted and changed into a picture of the royal crest. He said, “Only those who know of your secret will be able to see the truth. Others will see the crest.” He smiled when Adrienne placed a small kiss on his cheek.

Hannah nodded. She looked at the middle of the living room. Feyr occupied a huge part of the floor with Mischief trapped in front of him. It was the only way to keep the cub from running all over the house exploring.

She asked, “What is that?”

Malik answered, “He is Feyr and the cub is his son Mischief.”

“Fear?”

Adrienne corrected, “It's pronounced ‘
feh-er
’, Mom. Think ‘fair’ instead of ‘fear’. I made the same mistake, too. The magicks in Ulan combined some animals, and mulits are the results of one of those combinations.”

Pollux turned to Malik and asked, “Any chance I can get one? You know, a gift to the brother of the bride and all that. Hook a brother up.”

“No,” Hannah and Adrienne said in unison. Hannah went over and looked down at Feyr. He stared back up at her. “I don’t have enough food to feed this thing
and
your brothers, Adrienne.”

“Stop feeding Castor and Pollux, then,” Adrienne quipped. She grinned at her brothers and they glared back. “Got it covered, Mom. We brought food for Feyr and Mischief.”

“I’m going to assume you named him Mischief for a good reason. I’m also going to assume he won’t be living up to his name while you’re home,” Hannah said with a warning look in Adrienne’s direction.

“He’ll behave. That’s partially why Feyr came along.”

Hannah said sarcastically, “Just what your father always wanted, another cat in the house. Speaking of which, where are the cats?”

“Hightailed it when Sir Sheds-a-Lot sounded the alarm on Feyr over there. Little punk,” Castor said.

“
Sir Sheds-a-Lot?
” Feyr asked with a disgusted look. “
It would seem you have a tendency of naming your pets for their traits, Adrienne.
”

“Don’t pin that on me,” Adrienne shot back. “Castor named him. Sphinx is my cat…sort of…was my cat. But, I named Sphinx.”

Pollux asked, “Are you talking to Feyr?”

“Yes.”

“Kick ass,” Castor said. He dodged Hannah’s hand a second later. She pointed at him instead with a warning look.

“What else can you do?” Pollux asked.

Malik answered, “Whatever she likes. Though it would not be wise to expend magicks frivolously.”

Hannah walked over and held out her hand to Adrienne. She pulled Adrienne to her feet and said to Malik, “Does that mean you’ll be cutting up the vegetables in the kitchen the old-fashioned way? With a knife, I mean. Or do you only know how to chop up people?”

“Mom,” Adrienne yelled.

“Oh no, Adrienne. He may be royalty where he’s from, but here he’s a person just like everyone else. And people in this house help out if they want to eat.”

Mushira stood.

“Except you, Mushira. You’re on vacation. Sit down and rest.” Hannah looked back to Malik. She dropped Adrienne’s hand and crooked a finger at him. “Let’s go, Malik.”

Malik stood and followed Hannah without argument. Adrienne stared after them with a small smile on her face. Her eyes traveled over to Mushira, who looked very worried. Adrienne soothed, “Relax, Mushira. I warned you my mother wouldn’t let you do anything while you were here.”

“I should be the one helping, Ma—” She stopped when Adrienne frowned at her, and corrected, “Adrienne.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll do Malik good to see how the other half lives for a little while,” Adrienne said with amusement. She looked around. “I guess I better go find the cats.”

Castor asked, “Can I pet Feyr? Does he mind? He ain’t gonna tear a chunk out of me or something?”

“Go for it.” At Castor’s wary look, she said, “Feyr won’t hurt you unless you try to hurt him or Mischief. Keep that in mind and it’s all good.” She didn’t wait to see if Castor would pet Feyr, before she jogged up the stairs in search of her cats. She knew where they would be hiding. She may have changed over the last few months, but home hadn’t.

Hannah handed Malik a knife, the cutting board and a bowl full of rinsed cabbages. “I want them thinly sliced, and don’t be all day about it.”

Malik was tempted to use magicks, but then thought better of it. He had stopped Adrienne from using her magicks because he knew they wouldn’t come to her call as readily as before the wedding. She hadn’t noticed this fact and Malik wanted to keep it from her as long as possible.

He started to cut the cabbages, then asked, “Why are you hiding your anger?” He couldn’t feel Hannah’s anger as he could Adrienne’s, but he recognized the signs of someone hiding their true emotions.

Hannah gaped at him. She crossed her arms before she answered, “I don’t want to upset my baby. Adrienne said you all are here for three days and I’m going to enjoy them. If that means not giving you a piece of my mind over your high-handed, insensitive and overly spoiled actions where my daughter is concerned, I’ll hold my peace.” Grudgingly, she added, “Besides, Adrienne looks happy with you. That’s enough for me.”

“I will not apologize for taking what is rightfully mine.”

“Then you can’t get mad when someone calls you on it.”

“Adrienne warned me of that very fact before we arrived.”

Without warning, Hannah reached up and pulled Malik down to her level. She kissed his cheek and gave him a quick hug. She released him and said, “You saved my baby. You brought her home—even if it took you a while. Thank you.”

“You understand, we are not staying.”

Hannah nodded, stepped away, and started chopping carrots. “I know. I also know you’ll be coming back for visits. I may not have magic or magicks or whatever, but I’ll find a way to get to Bron if you don’t bring my grandbabies here to see me.”

“I believe that of you, Mother,” Malik said with a smile.

A thought made him open another portal and retrieve an orb, which he held out to Hannah. She took it with a confused look on her face.

“Is this that orb you were talking about earlier? You sell these to people?”

“Yes,” Malik answered. “This will be your way of contacting Adrienne after we have gone. Simply sit the orb by any mirror and speak Adrienne’s name. It will open up a communication portal.”

“Like talking on the phone.”

“Like talking on a video phone.”

“Even better.” Hannah turned the orb this way and that. She smiled at it, then turned her smile on Malik. “You’re a good son. I know your parents would be proud of you. Even if you are spoiled, you still know how to place someone else’s happiness before your own.”

“Only Adrienne’s. It makes her happy to see you happy. Therefore, it makes me happy.”

Hannah placed the orb in the middle of the fake flower center piece on the dining room table. She asked, “Will this thing break if it gets dropped?”

“No. It may look fragile, but the orbs do not break. They fade after the power inside them is used up, but I shall make sure to replace yours before that happens.”

“Thank you.”

Malik nodded. He went back to chopping the cabbage.

* * *

A car pulled into the driveway an hour later and caught Hannah’s attention. She gave the stew one last stir. “I’m going to head him off. You finish those apples,” she said on her way out the door.

Malik stopped peeling the apple in his hands and watched Hannah through the kitchen window. Listening to what Hannah told Benjamin would be easy, but he knew the story already.

Hannah spoke to Benjamin as he got of the car. He looked elated at what she said. When he would have run into the house, Hannah grabbed his arm, stopping him. She continued relaying the news of Adrienne’s return. Benjamin’s attitude steadily darkened the longer Hannah spoke. When he started to argue with her, Hannah tried to get Benjamin to keep his voice down, as some of their neighbors watched them.

Malik lost sight of them when Hannah pulled Benjamin in closer to the house. He turned his attention back to the apples. It would seem his new father-in-law wasn’t as forgiving of Malik’s actions as Hannah.

Benjamin slammed into the house. He stalked into the living room and took in the scene there. Castor half-petted, half-wrestled Feyr. It looked like Castor had tried to give Feyr a noogie and Feyr decided to return the favor. Pollux ran Mischief around in circles with a kitty toy he found under the couch. Adrienne, who had Sphinx asleep on her lap, and Mushira were engrossed in a lesson on television and remote usage.

Adrienne smiled at her father. “Dad!”

Benjamin growled out, “Upstairs. Now.”

“Dad?”

“Move!”

Malik came out of the kitchen but said nothing. Benjamin didn’t even look at him. Adrienne saw this and knew her father hadn’t taken the news of her whereabouts well. She pasted a smile on her face to lighten the mood. “Dad, this is—”

“Don’t care,” he snapped. He pointed up the stairs. “Don’t make me come get you.”

Adrienne gathered Sphinx close and started up the stairs. Benjamin followed behind her.

Hannah shook her head and said, “I don’t understand why he can’t be happy Adrienne is home, and leave it at that.”

“What angered him?” Malik asked.

“Adrienne got married without his permission,” Castor said from beneath Feyr. He pushed at the cat, but Feyr wouldn’t let him up.

“He’ll get over it,” Hannah predicted. She turned to Malik and asked, “You finished with those apples?”

“No,” he said quietly.

“Then get back in there and finish. Benjamin and Adrienne will be a while. He didn’t like the Cliff Notes version of the story so he’ll make her go through the entire thing all over again,” Hannah surmised. She headed back into the kitchen, pushing Malik in front of her. “There’s nothing to worry about. Benjamin is all show. He had to pretend to be mad or he would have cried all over Adrienne in front of everyone and embarrassed himself.”

Malik allowed her to push him back into the kitchen. He even went back to preparing the apples. He pointed out, “Benjamin’s anger was not a ruse.”

“Okay, so he is angry. He’ll get over it.”

A muted crash sent Hannah running out of the kitchen back to the living room.

Pollux said quickly, “Don’t worry. The clock fell over. Nothing broken.”

“Yet,” Hannah finished in an angry mother tone. She put her hands on her hips and regarded her sons and their new playmates. “Why not take them out back if you’re going to roughhouse like that?”

“Sure,” Castor said. Feyr rose off of Castor, and then all four of them trooped to the back door and left the house and all breakable items behind.

Mushira stopped fiddling with the remote. She looked back at Hannah and asked, “Is that wise, Hannah? Adr…Adrienne said there are no big cats like mulits on Earth.”

“There aren’t,” Hannah agreed with a shrug, “but we have a high fence around our backyard. No one should see them. Do you worry this much when you’re on Bron?”

“Yes, I do,” Mushira answered. “It is part of my duties to think of everything.”

“Like I said earlier, you’re on vacation now. Give your head a rest and let me and Benjamin worry about Adrienne for a while. We had the job first, after all.” She waited for Mushira’s nod before returning to the kitchen and Malik. Something had distracted him.

He stood in front of the cutting board and stared at nothing. Hannah walked over to him but he didn’t acknowledge her. She waved her hand in front of his face. “Hello? Anyone home?”

“Adrienne is amused.”

“Huh?”

He turned his attention to the apples. “The bond I share with Adrienne allows us to feel each other’s emotions.”

“Is that normal on Bron?” Hannah asked. She started adding the thinly sliced apples to a frying pan of sizzling butter.

“Only among blood-bonded mates.”

“Between what now?”

Hannah listened as Malik explained the blood spell that found Adrienne and the ritual they performed during the wedding ceremony.

She was silent during the whole recital.

Adrienne stood, hugging her father. He returned her hug while he tried to hold back his tears. She pulled away and asked, “Do you feel better, Dad?”

He grumbled, “I would feel better if you were here longer.”

“I’m sorry, Dad. Malik and I have responsibilities as the rulers of Ulan. It took this long to arrange three free days to visit.” She wished they could stay longer too, but she wouldn’t complain about the amount of time given. It served to let them know she was healthy and happy.

“I didn’t even get to give you away. I was looking forward to that,” he complained.

Adrienne frowned as she remembered the wedding ceremony on Bron. “That isn’t part of the Ulanian marriage ceremony, Dad. We didn’t even say vows or anything.”

“Then you aren’t married,” he said firmly.

Adrienne held up her left arm. A pulling sensation preceded the silver cord’s appearance. She held up the cord for her father to see. It glinted in the light, showing off the red blood stripe. “This means we’re married, Dad. It’s a cord of marriage.”

Benjamin fingered the cord. He asked, “You had this on the whole time? I didn’t see it.”

“It only turns visible and tangible when Malik or I want it to.”

“What’s this red?”

“Blood,” she answered honestly. Like with her mother, Adrienne hadn’t told her father about the assassinations of Malik’s parents or her danger from the same. He wouldn’t want her going back. She had no problem telling him about the marriage ceremony since he would handle it better than her mother.

“He stabbed you!”

Adrienne rushed out, “It didn’t hurt, and healed almost as soon as he took the knife out. We needed the blood to make ours a marriage of equality. It also reinforces that we’re soul mates.”