"What do you mean, not real fire? Created a dragon?"
"He said he was a mage. A prince of mages or something. And he took Terion! I think he's going to kill him!" Mianna burst into a fresh round of sobbing.
Brianna's heart froze. "Where did he take him?" she asked urgently. "Was it outside the wall?"
Mianna stared at her. "It was. How did you know?"
"Never mind. I'll bring him back."
"I tried to go after them, but the guards at the door stopped me."
So there were guards. But inside, so she wouldn't see them. "They won't stop me," Brianna growled, hand on her sword.
"Bri, they don't care about swords! They're mages! You can't do anything except get yourself killed too." Mianna's voice held a note of panic.
"I'm not afraid of them," Brianna said. But she couldn't explain why. "You and Ryla wait here. The guys are at the back window, go let them in. I'll be back soon." And before Mianna could protest again, she headed for the front door.
As Mia had warned her, two guards stepped in front of her as soon as she walked into the living room. "I'm afraid Prince Balen gave orders that you weren't to leave, ma'am."
The name dispelled any last doubts she had as to who was here. It was Lyall, but what on earth was he doing? "Prince Balen will want to hear what I have to say," she said flatly. And she took a step towards the door, ready to push through them if she had to.
They exchanged a glance. "I'll take you to him," one of them said.
"I know my way." This time, Brianna did push past them and headed for the front gates at a run, not bothering to see if they followed or not.
If Lyall knew who Terion was...
She shook her head. The Lyall she knew would never hurt Terion.
But then, he wouldn't have invaded her village either.
There were half a dozen more men at the gates, and they stepped up to bar her way.
"Let me through," she demanded.
"Well, well. What have we here?"
Brianna recognised the king's advisor as he stepped forwards to stare at her. What was his name again?
"Urster, let me through. I need to speak to Ly... Prince Balen, before he does something he is going to regret."
The man regarded her thoughtfully for a few moments. "Or do you just want a chance to attack him outside the castle walls? You know, I never believed you didn't know how to use your magic. Someone that powerful doesn't just appear out of nowhere."
Brianna winced. "He's making a mistake." She glanced over his shoulder to where Lyall stood in front of Terion. Several men stood behind Terion, preventing his escape. Brianna didn't even have to measure with her eyes to know he stood just outside the strange barrier that prevented magic use. "Please," she said to Urster. "I know how this looks, but you can make sure I stay on this side of where he stands."
Urster raised an eyebrow. He would know about the barrier, and understand why she made the concession. He stared at her for a long moment, then glanced back towards Lyall. Then he nodded to the other men. "She comes with me."
It took all her willpower to walk at a measured pace beside Urster while Lyall stared at Terion. From where she stood, inside the barrier, she couldn't even tell if there was any magic being used. Slowly, the men standing around noticed her, and they all stared silently. Lyall was the last to look up.
His eyes met hers, flashing with fire, dark with desire. She had wondered, after all this time, how she would feel if she saw him again. Now she knew. She was suddenly intensely conscious of how her thighs rubbed together. As he stared at her, heat stole over her whole body, bit by bit.
She wanted to run to him and throw herself into his arms.
She was also furious at him. Furious at the fact that he had taken Terion, and frightened her sister. The Lyall she had known would never hurt anyone. And surely he wouldn't, once he knew the true situation?
"Let him go," she said quietly to Lyall.
Lyall's eyes bored into her for a second. Then he glanced around at the men staring at them. "Give me one good reason why I should?"
Hell. How could she tell him without making it blatantly obvious to Terion? She glanced down at the man her sister had married, who she had known since childhood, then back to Lyall. "You have no argument with this man."
Lyall stared at her, his gaze so intense she almost felt the need to look away. But she didn't dare. After several agonising moments, he took a step towards her. A step away from Terion. "Take him back to the house," he said abruptly, not looking back. "You come with me," he said to Brianna.
"Brianna, you don't have to do this," Terion said desperately, as the men pulled him to his feet.
Lyall took Brianna's arm, but he didn't pull. She looked over at Terion and tried to give him a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine. Look after Mia."
Terion tried to protest. He struggled against the two men holding him, but they pulled him away as if he were a child. Brianna swallowed. Then she turned and let Lyall lead her deep into the mages camp.
He didn't say a word as he led her past rows of tents and tethered horses to the middle of the camp where a larger tent stood. Lyall pulled back the flap, glanced briefly inside, then waved her in. He followed her, letting the flap fall behind him, then stared at her.
"Lyall, I..."
"Is that man your husband?" Lyall demanded.
Brianna bit her lip. Was this really the man she had fallen in love with? That she had achingly missed for the last two years? It was hard to believe this was her gentle, sweet Lyall.
"Sort of, yes."
His hands clenched into fists. "Is he the man you talked about, the one you said you were supposed to marry? How could you? After all we had together? How could you come back here and marry someone else?"
Brianna winced. It must look bad in his eyes. How could she even begin to explain? "It wasn't like that... I didn't mean it to happen."
Lyall stared down at her. "How can you marry someone without meaning to?" His voice was rough.
"I didn't marry him. Mianna did, after I left the village. Everyone here thought I was dead. When I came back, they had a dilemma. The law says twins marry together, so they decided that that meant that I was married to him as well, even though I wasn't even here when the wedding occurred."
"And what happened then?" Lyall's voice was hard. His implications were obvious.
Brianna blushed and heat stole through her again. "I haven't slept with him. And both he and Mia understand that I won't. But there is no way around the law. I tried to explain, Lyall, that I could never marry you. This is why," she said simply. "It doesn't change anything."
"When?" Lyall demanded.
"When what?" Brianna asked, confused.
"When did your sister marry him?"
"Two years ago," Brianna said softly.
"The date?"
Why did it matter? Brianna sighed. "The day we were on your boat."
"What time?"
Brianna shrugged. "I don't know. I wasn't there. Twilight I guess, that's when most marriages take place."
To her surprise, Lyall smiled at her words. "Then I was first."
Brianna didn't see that it mattered, but if it made him feel better. "Sure, probably."
"Then that means you're mine."
His words sent a warm swirl through Brianna. But she shook her head. "Mia is married to Terion. The law is on their side, not ours."
"You don't get it do you, Anna? You have no idea what it's about. The law isn't about marriage, it's about sex. If a man sleeps with one twin, he has the right to bon... sleep with both."
She stared at him. "You think it's that simple? That you can just turn up here and split up my sister's marriage because the law is slightly different where you are? That's not how it works here. Here, marriage is what's important, and sex only comes afterwards."
"Well, I control the village now, so my law is the one that matters." Lyall's voice was hard.
"You think you can just change everyone's lives like that? And that I'll just, what? Smile and agree? It doesn't work like that, Lyall. You can't just turn up and change the way everyone thinks. And even if you could, I won't see Mianna and Terion split up. They love each other, and they deserve to be together. Mianna is never going to want to be with you, she loves Terion."
There was no way out, why couldn't he see that as clearly as she did? She'd considered everything. Unless …
"The twin law. Can you change that?"
Lyall frowned, then he sighed. "The twin law is still law on Isla de Magi. I could, theoretically, declare it removed, but my father would overrule me as soon as I returned home."
The small flame of hope that had burned brightly for a short while was extinguished by his words. Lyall wasn't the sort to disobey his father. She shouldn't be surprised. "Then there is nothing we can do. You have to accept that."