Adrian, Erick, and Luke were standing in the dining room, and we found Dominic in the kitchens with Danela. She was instructing him on how to make a beautiful floral basket made of dough. Next to the basket were dozens of daisies made of spun sugar in various colors. Dominic looked like he'd won the lottery.
When he spotted me, he grinned. "Matt! Danela is a blessed genius! Look at those flowers! Don't they look real?"
They did, and I would have loved to have admired them more. Dominic looked superb in the kitchen attire Danela gave him. The coat was a dark blue cassock-style tunic. The crest of the house, a battle between two unicorns, one red and one gold, and fashioned into a brooch, held the collar closed. He had flour in his auburn beard, and his gray eyes were dancing with delight. His hair was sporting some flour in its spiky tufts, as well.
I addressed Danela, "Is there someplace I can take my friends that's private?"
She nodded. "There's a storage room behind that door to the left."
"Great. Thanks, Danela. Come with me, everyone."
"But..." Dominic looked at the project he was working on, pouting. "I was making this for you, Matt. You love sweets, and I remember you telling me once that you loved daisies..."
"That's..." Adorable. Precious. Amazing. "...true, Dominic, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you, but I have to talk to you - all of you. It's important."
"I'll finish it for you, Master Dominic. You did most of the basket, and I just need to do the finishing touches," Danela said as she took the piping bag from him.
"Well..." he took off his coat reluctantly and handed it to one of the kitchen help, "okay. "
"Hopefully, it won't take long, Dominic. I can't wait to see the basket all put together."
He was still pouting as he followed me and the rest into the storeroom. "It was supposed to be a surprise..."
I put my arm around his waist. "Sorry, Dom."
He patted my hand. "Well, it can't be helped."
There were wooden boxes and sacks of rice and flour in the storeroom. I put a tall box under the door handle, then sat on a stack of grain sacks.
The strangest sense of peace settled over me now that I was close to all five men. Despite how rattled I was before, the calm soothed every nerve. Within me flowed a sense of belonging I had never felt before, as the links shone between us all. It didn't feel entirely complete, as I didn't have all the people attached to me with me, but it was still comforting.
"Wow," Dominic said the exclamation with a single exhale. "What is that? I feel like I just had a group hug."
"Same, bro," Adrian said as he traced his finger down the root attached to him. "Is that because of this? Are we turning into Borgs or something?"
I suppressed my desire to laugh. Didn't it feel that way, though? I must be the creepy lady Borg attaching everyone to me. I shook off the urge to start making Borg jokes and got down to business.
"Jeanne and Elsie told me what being a member of my court entails. Luke didn't do a good job of explaining this." Then I gave Luke the stink eye because he should have. He had the sense to look guilty. He should be.
"It's not just being an official or something?" Adrian asked as he found a box of salt to sit on.
"I thought that too, Adrian." Sweat beaded on my forehead. It was hot in here. "But no... you guys gotta be... I mean... if you do this... we will be... uh...."
"Spit it out, Matt," Luis said. He'd found a crate with potatoes inside to sit on to my left.
"Married." I finally finished on a sigh. "f you become part of my court, you become my consorts, which I guess means you'll each be my husband." I sat down on a pile of full grain sacks and drew up my knees to my chest. "God, I'm so sorry, guys. First these crazy roots and now this."
"That's..." Dominic sat down heavily next to me on the same stacks of grain. After I scooted over, I looked up and met his eyes. He looked shell-shocked, but a strong emotion of complete elation like a hundred balloons shooting into the air poured past my defense. In surprise, I took his hand as hope filtered in. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad.
"Seriously?" Adrian yelled. My gaze darted to him as he stood and paced back and forth. Shock felt like ice cubes down my back, and I jerked. So much for the hope.
Dominic stroked the back of my hand with his thumb, which helped to ground me. I looked up at him, thankfully. He was staring at me with delight.
Luis wouldn't look at me at all, and I knew he was angry with me. I felt that emotion trying to sand away the delight that Dominic shared with me. I didn't blame Luis since I knew he didn't really feel like that for me. Even though it wasn't something I could control, if we were going to get out of here alive, we were going to go through what amounted to a shotgun wedding.
Luke met my gaze unapologetically and all that was coming from him was the soothing warmth of contentment. This was what he wanted, so of course, he'd be happy! Then he said, "We could have had this discussion in my study. Why are we sitting around like kitchen staff in this closet?"
Because being in his office would lead me back to that strange exchange we had, and I needed to remain focused. My face must have been explanation enough because he finally looked away.
Adrian stopped pacing and crouched down in front of me, so our eyes were level with each other, "So, let me get this straight. After this ceremony, we become your husbands? All of us?"
"Ugh. I know. Surprise!" I raised my arms and waved my hands around. "First, you find out I'm a girl, and now this. But wait! There's more!" I said this in my best infomercial voice.
"What more could there be?" Adrian's eyes were wide, taking on the tone of the shocked audience member as he joined into my sarcasm.
I gestured at Elsie and Jeanne. "My banmuinen aren't just something like maids or secretaries either. They help me out with you guys."
"What does that mean?" Dominic asked, and I felt his elation turn into horror. Horror felt like falling into a pit of ants. I pulled my hand away and wiped at my arms and legs.
After the itching had subsided, I told him, "They have your babies and stuff."
"No way!"
"No!"
"Not a chance!"
The guys were all yelling at once, except Luke, who'd already known everything. He was sitting with his ankles crossed. Elsie and Jeanne bowed their heads and looked dejected. All the emotions were overwhelming so I finally hollered, "Stop it!"
There was complete silence, then I waved my hands at the roots. "If you haven't felt it yourself, all our emotions have physical sensations to them, now. It doesn't feel good when we're having negative ones, so I hope you all can calm down, at least until we all learn how to block it."
The men all nodded and I felt a collective breath of calm between us as they tried to control their feelings. It was difficult, however. Despite their attempts, there were still muted stabs of negativity that filtered through.
When it felt like we were all under control again I turned to my banmuinen. "I'm sorry, ladies. I don't think they mean they don't think you're worth having as uh... a girlfriend or wife? It's just that they found out that they have to marry me, and now this. I mean, I'm just a friend to these guys, and it's not like that with me either."
"You think that's why I'm upset?" Dominic asked.
My brows raised. "Well... yes?"
"Matty, I've always cared for you. But those girls are strangers. I don't want to be mean, but I'm not interested in them. You're a different story." He emphasized this by retaking my hand. "The only reason why I'm interested in you is that you're you. I've felt that way since the moment you walked into my restaurant four years ago."
I never had a clue. The link overwhelmed me with a wash of emotion that made me realize he was under-emphasizing what he felt about me. He didn't just care about me. He loved me. And love felt like basking under a sunset in a perfect embrace.
"I...wow, Dominic..." My eyes were as wide as dinner plates. No. Dinner platters. Did I feel the same?
"Cut it out, Dominic. She doesn't need to hear this right now." Luis scowled and managed to knock me out of the spell Dominic's love had bound me in. I wanted to chuck a box at my best friend.
"It's bad enough that we're in this fix," Luis continued, "We don't need you confusing her while this has knocked her off balance."
"She's not yours to monopolize, Luis." Dominic glared at him. His hand tightened on mine, and I felt protectiveness rise in him. Protection felt like a shield in front of me, and I memorized the feeling so that I could use it again.
Luis's dark brown eyes blackened with barely controlled emotions as he stared at Dom's arm. "Madeline has been with me longer than any of you. I keep her protected from idiots like you." Then he glanced at Adrian. "And him."
"Oh, now I get it. I knew it! That's why Matt bailed on me. It's because of you!" Adrian's voice rose.
"Cut it out, you guys!" I hollered over them again. Elsie and Jeanne were hugging each other and crying.
Luis snarled. The warping of the surrounding air gave a clue that he was about to change... but the magic snapped back into him like a rubber band. He groaned as he dropped to the floor. I jerked in concern, but he seemed okay. He was already standing as he rubbed at the bracelet while glaring at Luke.
"You're scaring Elsie and Jeanne, Luis. You had four years to stake a claim but never did." I stared at him, daring him to refute it. He knew I'd had a crush on him.
He glared at me with his mouth in a thin line. "I never thought I had to. I've told you for years that you're mine."
"I've never been more than a sister to you."
His mouth tightened further. "That's never been the case. But when Jo —"
"Don't." I paled and held up a hand.
He dragged his fingers through his hair, then nodded stiffly. "I'm sorry."
I rubbed my hands against my knees as I blocked any thoughts of Joseph with that shield of protection that Dom helped me find. Thank God for Dom. "Forget it."
Adrian socked Luis in the arm, "Smooth move."
We all sat there in silence for several minutes. Luis was sitting on the ground with his knees up, and his arms balanced loosely over them. He stared at his shoelaces.
Luke was looking at me with horror on his face, and I figured he had put together the puzzle of why I refused to have a purity test. I was glad I couldn't feel that horror right then. I might have thrown up.
"Look..." My voice was weary as I pushed aside the memories that Luis brought up. "I need you guys to work together. There's a lot at stake here. I'm sorry all this came as a violent surprise."
Adrian tried to speak, but I held up my hand. Then he nodded for me to go on. "If I don't do what the Counsul and the Temple say, they might kill you guys. I can't have that. Plus, there's been nothing but winter in this place for a long time, and it's supposed to be my fault. Something that happened to me..." I looked at Luis, "When I was a child."
"You don't remember it. I figured that out when I found you in the alley four years ago." His voice was toneless.
"Tell me, Luis."
"When you were five years old, your stepfather presented you with a gift. A black colt."
"I don't remember any gift." I frowned at him.
"When you tried to pet me, I bit you."
I knew he could shift into several animals, including a horse. I rubbed a crescent-shaped scar on my right hand. "You did this?"
"I'd been caught, and when a Phouka is caught, they have to do what their master wishes. It's a particular weakness that we are all ashamed of. I was trying to get you to run away from me. Despite my attempt to scare you, your stepfather forced you on my back."
As he told the tale of the ride I had with him, the mists that hid the memory faded away. I remembered being set upon the colt's back and being terrified. My hand stung from the nip he'd given me and I kept begging my father to let me go. Once I was on the colt's back, he took off faster than my little body was able to manage to control. The trees that we passed blurred into solid ribbons of green and brown. I had no saddle and no bridle. The only thing I could cling to was his neck as his hooves thundered. There were arrow shots from the trees, and they hit me. They struck us both. We fell together as I was stuck to his back, unable to fall clear of him. His body was as sticky as epoxy, and I was helpless to escape it. The pain that I felt had been a clashing together of every bone in my small body, and I felt my spirit leaving me.
I also remembered my mother finding us and clutching me to her breast. She rounded upon my father and turned him into dust. She was the one that had hidden the memory from me with a heavy spell. He hadn't left me. He'd murdered me and Mother took him out.
"I died..." I whispered, looking at my hands. "Papa killed me." I struggled not to weep as Dominic pulled me into his lap and rocked me.