Page 60 of Consort's Glory
What would people do when they found out? Would they find out? Or would Theodore hide her away, pretend like she didn’t exist and go on with his life knowing he would always have an endless supply of magic at his beck and call now? Would he use her and use her until she was nothing but a burnt husk, tethered to him, dependent on his goodwill as she was?
This was why the elders of the Coven always impressed caution on the younger witches. One ought to do their best to avoid bonding with someone recklessly, in case they turned out to be someone untrustworthy, or otherwise unsuitable.
Once it was done, there was no going back.
The rational witch in her would never have risked it, but the caged, feral thing in Margot had decided that Theodore belonged to her, that he wouldn’t hurt her, and it refused to wait for any reasonable assessment of the situation. It wanted to live, and that meant sinking her claws into the sovereign with the rabid possessiveness of a starved creature.
But no matter what Margot’s other half thought, the truth of the situation was that she had no idea what Theodore was going to do now that they were tied. For all she knew, he could wake up in ten minutes and toss her in a cell. Worse, he could wake up and realize that he just… didn’t want her.
Margot’s throat bobbed around a shard of pure hurt. I can’t stick around to find out.
If she went back to the Tower, she would be fully at the mercy of the elves — not just Theodore, but everyone around him. What if Theodore wanted her as a bondmate, but someone else saw their bond as an abomination? A weakness to exploit? His position was so new, his power untested. This fragile thing between them, if he even truly wanted it, could get them both killed.
And if Theodore died because of her, a territory would crumble. More than just the two of them would die. Hundreds, thousands, could perish in the gasping power vacuum that would follow. The Protectorate would crumble onto the heads of innocent people.
Margot tried to breathe past her feelings, each one tumbling end over end until she could hardly discern one from another. There wasn’t enough time to think about it all. They would cross the bridge and be at the Tower soon, where a retinue of guards and staff would be waiting to greet them.
It wasn’t like she could just explain what had happened, not without first discovering what it meant to Theodore and what, if anything, he was willing to risk. No matter what, Margot knew for a fact that showing up to the elvish stronghold with the sovereign passed out in her lap and no reasonable explanation as to why was a surefire way to get herself thrown in a deep, dark pit.
Can’t wake him up because I don’t know what he’ll do. Can’t stay in the car because I can’t go back to the Tower with him passed out.
Margot’s breath was a harsh rasp as she clambered towards the tinted window. She watched as the city sped by. They were out of the thicket of downtown, the m-enhanced luxury vehicle that was her current prison driving smoothly toward the Bay Bridge exit.
There was no way she could get away if the car got to the bridge.
Margot scrambled on hands and knees over the center console between the front seats. She did her best to keep from knocking Theodore too much, or, Glory help her, accidentally ending up with his head in her skirt, but was only partially successful on both fronts.
With her coat twisted around her, sweat dotting her forehead, and her limbs in a pretzel, Margot landed in the driver’s seat.
Righting herself, she scooted to the edge of the seat so she could reach the pedals — elvish blood did not give her the height advantage it should have — and grasped the steering wheel.
Nothing.
Margot wasn’t exactly surprised nothing happened. It wasn’t like she knew how the fancy vehicles worked, but she had hoped there would be some sort of manual override if a person took the wheel. Cursing, Margot turned to the massive, clear-paneled console.
It was a marvel of the newest m-tech advancements, a cascade of information and readouts as the vehicle took in everything around it to guide them safely down the tightly controlled Protectorate streets. When they slid into the back seat, all Theodore needed to do to get the car moving was swipe his clawtips over the screen, activating softly glowing sigils in blue and green as he input their destination.
Margot could read sigils as well as any trained witch, of course. She was no slouch with spellwork, even if her magic wasn’t always suited toward the finer elements of it. She was also perfectly capable of reading the words IDENTIFICATION NEEDED when she attempted to input a command.
Staring at the flashing words and accompanying PIN prompt for a long, incredulous moment, Margot thought, Of course it’s keyed to him.
It had to be for safety reasons — maybe even this very reason. If something happened to the sovereign, and if his escorts both tailed and led the way, no one could simply abscond with him.
Which is exactly what I was planning. Not intentionally, obviously. Margot had no desire to kidnap Theodore. But she knew she couldn’t let herself be locked away in the Tower again. Not without every single assurance that no one would use the bond against her.
Or him.
With a jolt of unease, Margot realized that this was no longer just about her. No matter what Theodore’s intentions were, no matter who he was, they were now a team. Their fates were now bound by Glory’s hand, and…
Nope, not going to think about that.
Margot craned her neck to look over her shoulder. Forcing her eyes away from Theodore, she eyed the sleek black vehicle following them at a reasonable distance. Reasonable to them, at least.
A glance through the windshield told her that the car ahead of them was much the same.
“Okay,” she said aloud, half to herself and half to Theodore. “Can’t kidnap you. Can’t go back to the Tower. Gotta get out of the car without being seen. I’d prefer not to die doing it.”
Nerves made her stomach bunch up into knots. She wasn’t a coward, no more than circumstances had forced her to be, anyway, but even she felt more than a twinge of unease as she peered out of the passenger side window.
