Damien lingered in Lizzy’s world for a thoroughly enjoyable hour before returning to his physical body and flying back to the capital. He reached the castle around mid-afternoon. The guards all gave him searching looks as he walked across the courtyard with a bare blade in his hand. Lizzy had lost her sheath when Dad fell, but he figured she’d fit well enough in the scabbard he used for his ordinary sword.

He jogged through the halls to his room, Lizzy wrapped in an invisibility field so he wouldn’t scare the servants. Damien reached his room, shut the door and sighed. His sword sat on his desk where he’d left it the night before. He only remembered to grab it about half the time unless he was on a mission. Lizzy floated beside him while he yanked the old sword out of its scabbard and tossed it on the bed. She fit perfectly, just as he’d hoped.

Smiling, Damien sat in his soft chair with her across his knees and remembered the day four years ago when he first went to The Tower. How badly he had wanted to swap out his old sword and bring Lizzy with him.

He hadn’t been able to fulfill his wish that day, but today he had. They were partners now, he’d see her every day not just a handful of times each year. The only thing that would have made it perfect was if Dad had just retired and left Lizzy to him. But he hadn’t and Damien needed to accept that, for Jen’s sake as much as his own. Her almost overwhelming rage worried Damien. He feared she might do something she’d regret.

Damien yawned. He needed something to eat then he had to find his master. He hoped she’d give him permission to hunt down the smoke demon with Jen. If she didn’t he feared Jen might try to handle it herself and he couldn’t allow that. She was the only family he had left. Damien couldn’t let her throw her life away against an opponent she had no hope of beating.

He was about to get up when someone knocked on the door. Maybe Jen had heard he’d returned and come to find him. That would make things easier.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Karrie stood in the doorway, her normally smiling face creased in a frown. She stepped inside and closed the door. “So it’s true. Daddy said you’d gone to try and convince the generals to let you have your father’s sword. I see you succeeded.”

She didn’t sound happy for him.

“Yeah, it took a bit of doing, but in the end they saw things my way.” Damien stroked Lizzy’s hilt.

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Karrie stared at his hand, her frown deepening. “When I agreed to share you this wasn’t what I expected. You were only supposed to see her occasionally. Now you’ll always be together. You hardly pay any attention to me as it is. How are we supposed to make this work if she’s always with you? It’s not fair.”

She had a point. It wasn’t fair, but Damien had no intention of spending less time with Lizzy. When this whole business began Karrie knew she wasn’t his first choice. If she had a problem with that he’d be happy to end their engagement. In truth he’d had nothing but second thoughts since the day he agreed to it.

“What do you suggest?” Damien asked. “If you want to call the whole thing off I understand.”

She stared at him. “Call it off? Would you really choose that spirit over me?”

Damien cocked his head. “I thought I made that clear when we first discussed this. I love Lizzy. While I don’t mind helping you out with Sig and the other noble boys that have been bothering you, I’ve never thought of you as more than a friend.”

She slumped on the edge of the bed, missing the razor edge of his sword by inches. “I’ve been lying to myself all this time, haven’t I? I kept thinking once our relationship became official, became real, you’d discover you loved me too. If I just kept smiling and gave you time you’d start to look at me the way I did you. That’s never going to happen is it? You’ll never see me as anything more than a little girl you need to protect.”

A thin trickle of soul force moved his old sword to the corner of his room and leaned it against the wall. Damien scooted his chair over so their hands were almost touching. He reached out and lifted her chin until their gazes met. “It was never my intention to hurt you. I thought we both understood that this was an arrangement of convenience for you. While I knew you harbored some illusions that it might become more, when you agreed to share me with Lizzy I thought you’d made peace with our relationship. If you want to end this we should do it now. The longer it goes the harder it will be when you make up your mind.”

She sniffed back tears. “Do you want to end it?”

Damien wanted to shout yes at the top of his lungs, but he’d given his word. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Whatever you decide I’ll accept. I promised to help you and I won’t go back on that unless you say it’s okay.”

“I appreciate that, but what do you want?”

What did he want? He thought about Lizzy and how he certainly wanted to be with her as much as possible. He also thought about Imogen lying naked where Karrie sat now and how different his reaction to the older woman had been. Could he sit there and say he’d ever think of Karrie as anything but a friend? Even though she was sixteen, when he looked at her he saw the eight-year-old girl that used to chase him and John around when they were kids.

“I want you to be happy, but I can’t pretend I’ll ever feel the way you want me to. You should try and find someone who can love you the way you deserve. That said, you’re welcome to introduce me to any of the boys that don’t treat you properly. I’ll explain the error of their ways.”

She smiled and laughed. “This really was a stupid idea, wasn’t it?”

Damien brushed her tears away. “Sometimes you have to try the wrong thing before you find the right thing. I may not be the best husband for you, but I’ll always do my best to keep you safe and happy.”