Uncle Andy had given a fine speech extolling Dad’s virtues and ignoring all of his faults. Damien had attended enough funerals to expect this. He and Jen had sat in the front row and spent two hours shaking hands, accepting condolences, and staring at an empty coffin. Every noble and merchant in the capital had turned out to offer their well wishes. Damien had no idea who most of them were and he doubted many of them had ever met his father. The funeral was more of a social event for them than anything. The whole proceeding couldn’t have ended fast enough to suit him.

After the noon meal, in an attempt to lighten the dismal atmosphere, the king had declared the tournament to select Lizzy’s new bearer would be held in the courtyard. If some found the timing in poor taste they kept their concerns to themselves. Damien was happy for anything to take his mind off Dad’s death and he suspected Jen felt the same.

The tournament rules were simple. The captain of the guard drew a rough circle in the center of the courtyard where two of the generals’ champions would square off. The loser was the one that got tossed out first. The last one standing won the right to be Lizzy’s new bearer. Fat lot of good that would do him.

Servants had brought the chairs from the funeral outside and laid them out in a circle facing the ring. Five members of the legion raised a soul force barrier to protect the spectators. Damien took a place of supposed honor between Jen and Karrie.

The princess reached out and twined her fingers with his. Damien offered her a smile. She’d been trying really hard to make him feel better and he appreciated that, but only time and an incinerated demon would put his heart at ease.

When everyone had settled in Uncle Andy said, “Let the tournament begin!”

General Kord’s champion entered the ring first, an almost seven-foot-tall blond man with so much muscle he must have weighed four hundred pounds. He had a strong, but not overwhelming, soul force. Lizzy would look like a toy in his hands. What was the general thinking, choosing someone like him as his champion?

Admiral McAllen’s champion entered next, a short, whip-thin man with a drooping mustache and a soul force that matched Jen’s. He probably fought with the sort of style that would mesh well with Lizzy and with such a powerful soul force he should have no trouble beating General Kord’s giant.

“What do you think?” Damien asked his sister.

“I think this farce is a waste of time. We should be demon hunting, not sitting here watching these fools dance around for a prize they’ll never be able to collect.” Typical blunt Jen.

The combatants accelerated to warlord speed and vanished from Damien’s sight. Various cracks and thuds sounded from the ring as they fought. All around him spectators were staring, trying to figure out what was happening. Unless they were warlords they couldn’t follow the action any better than Damien.

“How long will it take Lizzy to convince them that you’re the only option they have?” Jen asked.

“Not long. The real question is how stubborn the generals want to be about it. I warned General Kord, but I don’t think he really believed me.”

Speaking of the general, his champion came flying out of the dust, slammed into the barrier, and slumped to the ground. The admiral’s champion raised his fists in victory. The second match ended in a quick win for General Taos’s champion who ended up losing to Admiral McAllen’s man.

The barrier vanished and Uncle Andy went down to congratulate the winner. In the morning the generals and their champions would fly to The Citadel for a ceremony presenting the winner with Lizzy. Damien would have liked to be there to see what she did, but it was a private matter for the army, no sorcerers welcome.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The gathering broke up and Damien headed toward his room. Karrie showed no intention of letting go of his hand so they went together. All Damien wanted was to close his eyes and turn off his brain. Jen went the opposite way, probably to find someone to fight. He pitied anyone that took her up on the invitation.

When they reached the cool interior of the castle Karrie said, “What will you do now?”

“I’m going to take a nap.”

She smiled. “I meant in the days and weeks ahead.”

Damien stopped and turned to face her. He knew what she meant, but like his father, Damien wasn’t especially good at dealing with his emotions. He preferred to bottle them up and hope they went away. “I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing until things calm down, then Jen and I will hunt down the demon that killed Dad and take care of it. After that there’s still Connor Blackman to deal with.”

“What about us?”

Damien stroked her cheek and she leaned into his hand. “There’re two more years until you have to be married. You may yet find a better match than me. There’s no need to rush.”

“You’re the only one for me. We could get married tomorrow and it would be fine as far as I’m concerned.”

Damien sighed and hugged her. He hadn’t yet told Karrie that Lizzy wanted him to be her new bearer. When she agreed to share him somehow he doubted she meant full time. “There’s too much going on now. With the repairs to the city and everything, it would be awfully self-indulgent to be planning a wedding. Don’t worry, two years isn’t that long.”

“I guess. It’s just I’m sick of waiting.” She was mumbling into his chest so Damien only half heard what she said. Still he shivered a little when she repeated Eleck’s words. The fallen druid had done horrible things because he couldn’t wait any longer to be Wise One.

Damien didn’t think Karrie would do anything foolish, but you never knew. They resumed walking and Damien escorted her to the royal quarters.

When they stopped by the door Karrie said, “Why don’t you stay for a while? Mom and Dad will be busy meeting and greeting for hours.”

From the glint in her eye he suspected she had more than talking in mind. Since they were officially engaged no one would say anything if they went for a tumble, but Damien would feel guilty about it. He still harbored hopes that she would find a man that loved her. Or maybe he just wanted someone to get him off the hook. At the very least he had to wait until the business with Lizzy got sorted out.

“Tempting, but I’m exhausted. See you at dinner?”

She pouted for a moment then nodded. “You can’t put me off forever, you know.” She kissed him then slipped into the royal apartment.

Damien stared at the closed door and shook his head, all too aware that she was right. Sooner or later he was either going to have to call the whole thing off, which would break her heart, not to mention seriously angering her parents, or accept that there was no good way out and make peace his new role.

He trudged towards his room. Damien didn’t want to think about Karrie anymore. He didn’t want to think about Dad, Connor, demons, or anything else. He just wanted to close his eyes and forget it all.

When Damien reached his room the door stood partway open. He sent power to his shield and readied a blast. With his defenses ready, Damien shoved the door open and lunged through, ready to obliterate anything waiting.

“Not exactly the greeting I expected.” Imogen lay naked on his bed, a little smile playing around her lips.

Damien gestured and the door closed. The last thing he needed was for some servant to walk by, see the two of them together, and tell Karrie. While he wanted to find a way to end the engagement, that wasn’t a method he found acceptable.

“Why are you here?” Damien tried to focus on her eyes and failed. He tried to look away and failed again. Her body was like a magnet that drew his gaze. As long as it only drew his gaze he supposed it would be okay.

“I thought you’d be sad.” She rolled out of bed and slithered across the room toward him. Imogen wrapped her arms around his neck, their lips only inches apart, her breath warm on his face. “I wanted to cheer you up. We are teammates, right?”

Damien’s mind raced as he tried to think of a way to escape Imogen without touching her. If he touched her he was finished. No man had enough willpower to resist her under these conditions. Only the mental image of a weeping Karrie and furious Uncle Andy kept him from accepting Imogen’s offer. He owed them both better than what he was contemplating.

“I told you I’m engaged, right? I know we’ve had this conversation before. While I appreciate the gesture…” Damien’s whole body shivered. He really appreciated the gesture. “I won’t go behind Karrie’s back, however you tempt me.”

Imogen stepped back, but kept her hands on his shoulders. “You know this sort of honorable behavior only makes me want you more. When you get tired of pretending with the princess, I’ll be waiting.”