Lonesome Paladin by SM Reine

Author:SM Reine [Reine, SM]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Western, Historical
ISBN: 9781717481740
Amazon: 1717481744
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2018-04-26T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Sophie was only moments gone when a sidhe guard arrived at Lincoln’s door.

“The queen wants to see you,” she said.

When Lincoln stepped out onto a patio overlooking the beach, he stopped well in advance of the throne and bowed. The whole world bent in deference beside Lincoln, and he felt music within his bones, as if pressing his hands to the top of a piano during a symphony.

Queen Titania rewarded him by smiling. Her hair flowed over her shoulders and framed a full-cheeked face, rather like someone had given a peach sentience. The wings at her back were a monarch butterfly’s, orange and black with crystal-clear panels. Her skin was the most perfect shining white, hauntingly colorless in tone.

“That was a good bow, Mr. Marshall,” she said. “It looks as though you’ve been practicing.”

He used to bow to greater demons in Hell. “I appreciate the kind words, ma’am.” He couldn’t bring himself to look at Titania directly, but he felt no less dizzy keeping his gaze on his feet. The runes on the OPA’s jacket weren’t strong enough now that he was at the epicenter of sidhe civilization.

“Storm?” Titania prompted.

Lincoln was approached by a sidhe. If it weren’t for the flat chest and narrow hips, he might have thought it was a woman. The long hair, glittering tights, and sheer volume of makeup looked like they belonged on a female. But he had the faintest five o’clock shadow too. It was repulsive to see, this weird mix of girly and boyish.

Storm reached out to touch Lincoln, and Lincoln recoiled.

“What are you doing?” Lincoln asked.

“Your wards can only do so much to protect your mind from the overwhelming power in the Middle Worlds,” Storm said. That was a deeper voice than he’d expected. “I can layer on extra protections so that you’re more functional. They’ll last at least a week.”

Lincoln didn’t want this thing touching him. He didn’t want to be anywhere near it.

But Storm was right about one thing: Lincoln’s wards could only do so much, and he was getting motion sick from the endless Starry Night -swirl of the ocean tossed by the waves.

He held out a fist.

Storm rolled his eyes and tapped a finger on Lincoln’s knuckles.

Frisson settled over Lincoln. The vibrancy of the colors in the surrounding world faded until it looked like an ordinary place on Earth. The beach reminded him of pictures he’d seen of seaside villages in France. All those old buildings with sinuous roofs overlooking the water. The trees were just trees, the sand only sand .

Storm wiped his finger on his hip as though Lincoln were the gross one.

“Better?” Titania asked.

He bowed again. “Yes. Thanks, ma’am.”

Titania was easier to look at now, and she was still impressive with his altered sight. Her breasts spilled over the square-cut neckline of an empire-waisted gown. Her legs curled underneath her, and oversized butterfly wings slowly twitched at her back. She looked surprisingly young. Early twenties, and curvy.

“You’re the first mundane man to have made it all the way to Alfheimr,” Titania said.

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