He took her face in his hands and stared down at her. "Do you trust me, Brianna?"
She looked up into his eyes, staring earnestly down at her, suddenly breathless. "Yes," she said simply.
The electricity she'd felt between them crackled in the air around her. The whole world spun for just a moment, and then rainbows flared everywhere.
Then Nilar and Blanc were at the entrance to the alleyway, and Lyall kissed her. As if she wasn't dizzy enough already. And how was she ever going to explain kissing him to the two warriors, both of whom had trained her since she was a child?
As Lyall lifted his lips from hers, he whispered, "Pretend you don't know them."
Bewildered as to how that was going to change anything, Brianna turned to the two men advancing towards her.
They paused in the entrance to the alleyway, hesitating. What was wrong with them?
"Can I help you with something?" Lyall's voice was haughty.
The men looked from Brianna, to Lyall, then back to Brianna. "I'm sorry," Nilar mumbled. "I thought you were someone else."
They retreated back out of the alleyway.
Something was wrong. Very wrong. She looked up at Lyall. "What did you do?"
Lyall stared down at her, his face pale. He opened his mouth to talk, then closed it again and sighed. He turned her around slowly until she faced a window in the store next to them.
Lyall's reflection looked back at her, standing with his hands on the shoulders of a girl she didn't recognise. The brown hair falling around her shoulders was almost unchanged, just ever so slightly shorter and a slightly darker brown, but her features where completely different. Her nose, longer and narrower, her cheekbones lower, and her chin rounded.
She stared at herself for a moment, panic and fear welling up in her. She twisted in his arms, pulling back. "What did you do?" she demanded.
"I changed your face, just enough so that they wouldn't recognise you."
His voice was so calm, as though he were talking about changing the sheets on a bed. "Changed … my face? How can you do that? Is it … permanent?" Her voice shook and the world spun. For a moment, she thought she might pass out.
"No, in fact, it will be back to normal as soon as I … let it go."
"Then do that." Any relief she might have felt at having avoided the warriors was totally overshadowed by the impossibility of what he'd just done. How had he done that? The answer presented itself in the back of her mind, but she shied away, refusing to believe it. Lyall couldn't possibly be a mage. He was too nice.
Her reflection in the mirror shimmered, and then was her own again. Brianna heaved a sigh of relief to be herself again. "How … how did you do that?" She was terrified he would confirm her suspicions, but she had to ask anyway-had to hear the words from his own mouth.
"I'm a mage," he said softly, confirming her worst fears.
She knew it was true. There was no other explanation. But the truth tore at her anyway. She backed away slowly, holding up her hands in protest. "No." She shook her head. "You can't be!"
He followed her, reaching out his hands. "Brianna, please. It doesn't change who I am. I mean no harm to you, and everything I have said to you is the truth."
"How can I know that? How can I believe any of it after this?" She wasn't sure which was the hardest to believe, that he was a mage, or that she'd let him fool her. She'd thought he cared about her, but he just …
What? What could he possibly want from her?
"At least give me a chance to explain, please, Brianna."
"What is there to explain? You're a mage. What more is there to say?" She didn't want to hear his explanations. Didn't want to risk being swayed by his arguments.
"How about if I tell you that you are a mage as well?"
Brianna stared at him and then started to laugh. A high pitched laugh that had far more to do with panic than amusement. "You're really desperate, aren't you?"
"It's the truth, Brianna. I wanted to tell you at the right time, not like this, but I've known since the day I first saw you. Remember when I grabbed your wrist that first night? I was so shocked to see the magical power in you that I reacted without thinking."
Brianna shook her head. "No, that can't be it. I'm not a mage."
"And when I came to you in your room, you felt the magic pass between us when I touched you. I saw it."
She had felt the spark. She'd thought it was chemistry, not magic. But it had been too strong for that.
His words were beginning to have a scary ring of truth to them. Still, she protested, "You mean it was never about me, it was always about … magic?" Even saying the word out loud was scary, as though speaking it was an admission that it might be true.
"No!" Lyall's denial was adamant. "Hell, Brianna, I could have any mage I wanted, but none of them ever interested me in the slightest until I met you. It is far, far more than that, believe me."
The intensity of his words scared her. And their arrogance should have angered her. But instead, she felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth. "Any mage you wanted huh? Not arrogant or anything, are you?"
Lyall blushed. Such a normal reaction. Entirely un-mage like. Not that she had any idea what a mage would or did do. "You know what I mean, Brianna."
He was acting just like the Lyall she'd known for the last week. The familiarity scared her and tugged at her at the same time. She'd wanted to go home with him, despite knowing she shouldn't. And somehow, she believed all that he'd said.
But he was a mage. That changed everything.
Didn't it?
She pulled her eyes away from him to glance out of the alleyway. "We should get out of here. Much as your, uh, disguise, seemed to work, I'd rather not run into them again."
She felt his eyes bore into her and avoided looking at him. She needed time to think, to try to take this all in before she could work out how she felt about it.
Lyall took her hand again, and this time, she clearly felt the … magic … surge through the connection between them, sending a shiver up her spine.
*****
Lyall was glad Brianna let him hold her hand all the way back to the inn. The magic connecting them as surely as their skin did, gave him hope that she would forgive him. Brianna still hadn't said anything and Lyall didn't push. He was going to have to go slowly. He didn't want to admit it, but perhaps his father had been right; finding out he was a mage, and that she was, had shocked her more than he had expected.
When Syrid saw them turn up, hand in hand, he chuckled. "Well, I didn't expect we'd see you back so soon, Lyall. Must be the pleasure of my company, huh?"
"The pleasure of someone's company anyway," Lyall replied swiftly, glancing down at Brianna.
She still looked stunned. Luckily, Syrid didn't seem to notice. "For how long are we to enjoy your presence this time?" he asked.
"I don't know yet." Lyall glanced at Brianna again. He wished he could whisk her away immediately, the fear that the men from her village might return and convince her to leave, to marry some other man, clutched at his heart. He shook it off. She needed time to adjust. He wanted to be sure she was coming willingly. No matter what his father said, he would not force her.
"Will you be needing a room?" Syrid asked, glancing from Brianna to Lyall.
"Yes, thank you." Even if he hadn't been unsure of his reception from Brianna, he would have requested a separate room. He wanted their first time, if he was so lucky as to have that opportunity, to be perfect. Not like this.
Syrid nodded and checked his list. "Room six is free."
"That will be fine, thanks." Room six, the one next to Brianna. Lyall shot Syrid a grateful look and put his hand on Brianna's shoulder to guide her up the stairs. The innkeeper glanced at the afternoon dinner crowd, just starting to arrive, and opened his mouth to protest. Lyall shook his head minutely and, after a glance at Brianna's blank face, Syrid said nothing.
Lyall took Brianna into her room and sat next to her on the bed. "So what are you going to do now?" he asked her.
"I don't know," she said helplessly. She looked so small and lost, his heart ached for her. He wanted to protect her, to keep her safe. But he somehow didn't think Brianna would appreciate that.
He settled for asking, "How long are they likely to be here?"
She shrugged. "Probably only a couple of days. I guess. They're just picking up supplies."
"It might be best if you stay in the inn, then, they won't find you here," Lyall suggested.
He'd be guarding the door to make sure they didn't.
"I suppose so," Brianna's voice wavered. "Maybe I should just go home. There will be other people at other times. Eventually someone is going to recognise me."