Free A Kind Of Magic by Donna Grant Page B

she breathed as she fingered one of the sheers beside the bed.

    Roderick turned to her and glanced around the room. “’Tis very similar to the chamber on my realm. The only difference is the color.”

    “What colors did you have?”
    “White
    and
    silver.”

    “Pretty colors,” she said, thinking how soothing that could be.

    “It’s very nice together, but when I became a Shield, I found a love of darker colors that I never knew.” He shrugged and waved a hand around the room. “These are my colors now.”
    “I
    love
    it.”

    Their eyes met and held, and for an instant she could almost imagine that they had shared a connection. She glanced away and licked her lips.

    When she raised her gaze, Roderick had walked a few paces from her and opened a door she hadn’t seen. Inside was an array of weapons like only a collector could dream of owning.

    “Goodness gracious,” she said as she hurried to stand beside Roderick and gawk at the weapons. “In all my years working in the museum, never once did we encounter anything like this.”

    “As a Shield, the Fae equip us with any weapon they think will aide us. We also have a shield that has our personal emblem on it, though Val and I agreed to keep them hidden here.”

    She heard the note of pride in his voice. “Incredible,” she breathed. “I would hide them.”

    “Why?” he asked as he looked down at her, his brows furrowed.

    “I would be afraid that I would damage or lose something.”

    “The Fae replace it if I do,” he said and reached out to grab a small dagger. He handed it to her along with its sheath. “Do you know how to use this?”

    “No,” she answered honestly as she reached for it. “But, I can figure it out.” A faint smile touched his lips. “I will always be beside you, as will Val, but if something should happen, I want you to have a weapon.”

    “Are you sure one is enough?” she asked as she looked longingly at a jewel encrusted sword.

    Roderick chuckled as he closed the doors. “Maybe another time. For now, the dagger is enough.”

    Elle wasn’t so sure, but she didn’t argue with him. She bent down and tied the sheath to her thigh. Once it was secure, she placed the dagger inside and straightened.

    She watched as he belted on his sword at his waist, a long dagger at his thigh, and stuffed another in his boot. He then reached over and grasped his two headed flail.

    “Where do we start our hunt?” she asked.

    Val walked into the room, his sword buckled to his waist, and holding a halberd of the like she had never seen. She gasped and walked to him.

    She saw him look over her head at Roderick.

    “She likes weapons,” Roderick explained.

    Elle examined the seven foot tall halberd as if it were a Fabergeègg. The base looked like wood, but as she ran her hand over it, she knew instantly that it wasn’t like any wood she knew.

    “It was made from a magical oak tree that only grows in the Fae realm,” Val said as he watched her.

    She nodded and noted the intricate scroll work that had been etched on the metal that came to a point as if a spear. Attached to the spear on one side was a thick blade like one would see on a war axe and the other side came to a startling needle sharp point.

    Her hand lightly traced the surface of the blade and saw a design that resembled the Celtic knotwork on Roderick’s flail.

    “’Tis our mark,” Roderick said.

    She looked over her shoulder at him. “Mark?”

    “The Shields,” Val said. “That mark is on all our weapons and anything else given to use by the Fae.”

    Elle looked again at Roderick’s flail and spotted the design on the handle as well as on each of the spiked balls. “Incredible work,” she said as she stepped away from Val.
    “I’ve seen some fine halberds and flails before, but nothing like what y’all have.”

    “Enough about the weapons. I’m eager for a hunt,” Val said, one side of his mouth pulled in a smile.

Chapter Eleven
    Elle