of her hand and did not recoil when the flaming fingers touched him. She could smell the faint scent of roses, and heard his voice as if it had come from afar.
«They were said to ward off more wounds than any shield, and he who wears them is invulnerable, but I have been invulnerable since before the rose with thorns appeared.»
«How do you believe yourself?» She ventured to ask.
«I have always believed that the rose is the girl you love. It is one look at her before you even touch her, and you are too hurt.»
«My name is not rose.»
«But you hurt me before I even knew your name, before you even noticed me.»
His voice was calm, but it conveyed a brutal truth. Rhianon didn’t even have time to sob when strong arms tightened around her waist. It was frightening to even imagine how powerful they were. He could have crushed her with a single thrust, crushing her flesh like chunks of marble statue. Instead, he jerked her off the ground and set her on the parapet.
The height! Rhianon nearly suffocated. The teeth of the parapet beneath her feet were wet with rain and slippery. If Madael hadn’t continued to hold her, she would have fallen, but he didn’t loosen his embrace. His palms slid smoothly around her waist.
The long-standing fear of heights came back to life, but it was different. Maybe it was because someone else’s wings were fluttering behind her back. They were Madael’s wings. It was as if they were her own. His wings were for the two of them. As long as he was with her, she would not fall.
The heights were so dizzying. Someone else’s voices might have beckoned her from heaven and from the abyss, but she was with Madael. What would happen if he left her?
What would he want to do? He set her on the parapet of the roof. Is this not a dream?
«Are you tired of living?» His fingers lightly touched her cheek. How like the touch of a moth’s wings. «Everyone who sees me and can’t forget me eventually finds their way down,» he nodded at the sharp rocks. «Do you seek your death in battle? Or do you wish to fall prey to court intrigue?»
«Guard me from them if you wish,» she allowed graciously.
«Am I your enemy?»
Strangely, she wanted to fight him, and yet she did not consider him her enemy.
«Are you drawn to the abyss? Do you want to kill yourself? Do you want to fly down the parapet?»
She hesitated. No, she was not being pulled down. Perhaps he thought otherwise. He was used to the fact that once you see it, you can’t go on living.
«You won’t jump without me, because I am your wings,» Madael whispered to her.
Then he let her go. Rhianon didn’t even have time to see that they had switched places. She was now standing near the parapet, and Madael was hovering beside her. He himself was not afraid of heights. The golden-haired figure with wings, suspended in the air, was both strikingly beautiful and somewhat frightening at the same time.
The angel tilted his head slightly to touch her lips with his lips. The kiss was quick but sweet, just like touching the petals of a rose.
«Love me and I will give you wings.»
He had said those words before. Rhianon recoiled. They were empty words, beautiful though they were.
Madael grinned, noticing the change in her mood.
«Still want to fight me?»
She didn’t have to answer that question. She could have spared her the trouble of answering that question. A moment’s pause to make up had been and gone. Madael gently flapped his wings.
«There are no more sentries on the towers,» Rhianon reminded him sarcastically. «You have no one left to kill.»
He grinned, dismissive and arrogant.
«I’ll always find someone,» he said menacingly.
Rhianon couldn’t even believe that he had flown away. Her first impulse was to go back to the bedroom and find the sword hidden there. So she did. With it in her hands she no longer felt weak and defenseless. It was a pity she couldn’t wear it at her side all the time. For that she would have had to give up her dress and flaunt it in men’s clothing. Of course, she’s the only lord here and any of her antics should be turned a blind eye by those around her.
Orpheus was pleased to tell her that Ferdinand had returned to Vinor with the rest of his troops and was waiting there to hear from Rhianon.
«I pretended to be a messenger and took him a letter from you and a couple of pretty gifts. He believes he must stay away from you for the time being for your own safety. He no longer claims to share the throne of Loretta with you,» Orpheus explained. «Well, I’ve managed to convince him. Well, I also cut a lock from your head while you were asleep and took it to him. It was necessary. And something else needs to be done to keep him from forgetting you while you’re away and choosing a minion, needing blood, his and yours, and some memorabilia.»
«Leave him alone,» Rhianon slid her fingers over the hilt of her sword. The dwarves had done their best for her. The blade gleamed in the candlelight as soon as the scabbard was removed. It thirsted for blood and was already vibrating quietly. Only now could Rhianon hold it for any length of time. Her hand grew stronger. The vibration of the blade was felt in her palm no more than the beat of her pulse. It should be. If Madael didn’t know how to control his powers exactly the same way, they would crush the world.
Rhianon caught herself thinking that she wanted to be like him in everything. Even if the next time he showed up at her window not with romantic confessions, but with threats of war and reprisals, she would still try to copy him in everything.
«Ferdinand deserves amusement,» she told Orpheus. «He must have someone to keep him from going mad. I will only encourage him to choose.»
«He has to want it himself,» Orpheus muttered, almost resentfully.
«And if he doesn’t want it, what’s the point of the spell?»
«It is just in case. I want to take care of longevity of his feelings. He’s not an angel or even a spirit, and people are so fickle.»
«Not everyone,» she thought of Ron, rotting in a deep grave, where his remains must have been devoured by something buried there with him, or nurtured by the earth after he’d fallen. There are always demons living in treasures, and it is the same in graves. If this young man had not turned out to be fanatically devoted to her, he would still be alive.
«Still, it wouldn’t hurt to secure our place in Vinor,» Orpheus snorted. «I could remove the heirs.»
«Don’t you dare!» Rhianon was distracted when she heard a low shriek. The sound had come from Hildegard’s chambers. It was easy for her to tell. For some reason she felt a strong urge to go and check what was going on there.
Her chamber was just below, in one of the towers. Rhianon had to go down there. A door opened and she beckoned. She hid her sword behind her back and entered. What she saw reminded her of a scene she had seen once before in this
