Wait for Love

By Linda Kage

When a mysterious woman appears in Prince Olivander’s life and gives him a taste of forbidden temptation, he’s...well...

He’s confused.

You see, he’s been mated to his true love, Unity, since he was thirteen. The love mark tattooed to the side of his face has told him Unity will be his future, his soul mate, and partner in all things, but he questions how he’ll ever experience passion with her after they’ve been separated for years and he’s waited for her to come of age, especially when this intriguing newcomer right in front of him keeps causing him to forget Unity completely.

So just how accurate are these hallowed love marks, anyway?
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Amid broiling scandals and palace intrigue, otherworldly visitors and magical ruses, Olivander and his new assistant must discover the truth behind a dangerous curse plaguing the Outer Realms, or else the Outer Realms may cease to exist entirely.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda Kage
• Release date: May 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005792695

Linda Kage

The youngest of eight children, Linda Kage grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest. She now lives in Kansas with her husband, daughter, and nine cuckoo clocks. Linda is a member of Romance Writers of America and its local chapter, Midwest Romance Writers.

Book preview

Wait for Love

Wait for Love

A Love Mark Fantasy Romance: Book 4

Linda Kage

Linda Kage

Wait for Love

Copyright © 2021 by Linda Kage

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses or establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

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All rights reserved. No part of this book—except in the case of brief quotations in reviews—may be used, reproduced, or translated without written permission of the author.

Contact Information: [e-mail]

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Publishing History

Linda Kage, May 2021

Smashwords edition

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Credits

Cover & Formatting: Kage Covers

Editor: Shi Ann Crumpacker

Editor: Summer @ Red Pen Revolution

Proofreader: Shelley @ 2 Book Lovers Reviews

Proofreader: Judy @ Judy’s Proofreading

Vellum flower icon Created with Vellum

For Tina, because you said you liked my fantasy books and because I miss seeing you around work. You better be enjoying retirement!

Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things people need to believe in the most: that honor and courage and virtue mean everything, that good always triumphs over evil, that true love never dies. No matter if they’re true or not, a person should believe in those things because those things are worth believing in.

- Adapted quote from the movie Secondhand Lions.

Wait for Love

Prologue

Unity

Where: On the bordering edge of the two kingdoms of High Cliff and Tipton.

When: Outer Realms Year 320

W hat’s that?

At my question, the young man sitting on a fallen tree log across the campfire from me jumped in surprise and guiltily jerked his attention up from whatever peculiar-looking object he was writing on.

Eyes widening in surprise when he found I was still awake and had vacated my tent, he immediately snapped the mysterious item shut by slapping the two halves together until it folded in on itself and compressed into a smaller version of the original.

Then he cleared his throat and discreetly tucked the gadget under his thigh as he asked, What’re you doing out of your bedroll, my lady? Once the item was out of sight, his nervousness seemed to dissipate, and he lifted his eyebrows with reproach before more sternly adding, It’s late; you should be asleep. Tomorrow will be a busy day.

Tomorrow. Ugh.

My stomach roiled at the very notion.

Because tomorrow, we were set to arrive in the Kingdom of Tipton, where I would begin my training at the most astute ladies academy in the Outer Realms. It was a great honor to get to attend, and I had been dreaming of becoming a learned lady from the moment I’d first spotted a group of them at court. Their beauty and poise and knowledge had just been so alluring. Who wouldn’t want to emulate them?

But now that the time was nearly upon us for me to start there, I felt very unsettled.

"Well, I can’t sleep," I grumbled, sending my escort a petulant scowl as I caught a piece of my hair and began to nervously wind it around my finger.

Indigo hissed out a long, tired sigh. Then he patted the log in invitation. Come.

Since it brought me closer to the intriguing thing he’d hidden from me, I eagerly gripped the skirt of my nightdress, lifted the hem to just above my ankles so it wouldn’t scrape across the ground, and I scampered around the crackling fire to plop down next to the knight-in-training.

He was a handsome young man, six years my senior at age eighteen but seven years younger than Ollie, with thick, dark hair and a smile that always made me feel as if I were being let in on a secret joke.

When Olivander had been interviewing soldiers from his father’s royal army to escort me to the academy, I had immediately clicked with Indigo. He irritated me constantly with his unfailingly dutiful ways, he always found something to tease me about, and he was almost as overprotective and stifling as Ollie was. So of course, I adored him and already thought of him as the annoying big brother I was supposed to have.

Now… he started, clasping his hands and setting them on his lap, where he tapped his thumbs together in thought. Tell me what’s troubling you, Little Bug.

I rolled my eyes. I do wish you’d stop calling me that. I’m about to become a learned lady, you know. And learned ladies wouldn’t dare stand for being called Little Bug.

He’d taken to labeling me the obnoxious term about halfway through our journey because—as he put it—I bugged him constantly with my interested inquiries.

But who could figure anything out without questioning it first? Honestly.

Olivander said my curiosity was refreshing.

"Well, you’re not a learned lady yet, Indigo countered in that mocking way of his that told me how much he enjoyed teasing me. So to me, you’ll remain Little Bug until I deem you worthy of a nobler address."

With a roll of my eyes, I muttered, I should’ve had Ollie assign you to pig-slop duty instead of being my escort. You’re quite impertinent, you know.

Instead of growing intimidated by my threat or even indignant, Indy merely threw his head back and shouted out a hearty laugh. Indeed, he readily agreed. "Your mate very well probably should have. And yet here I am. Are you sure you even need to attend this academy? I’d say you’ve already mastered that uppity, superior countenance it takes to be a prince’s wife."

Stung by his summation of me—because I wasn’t uppity, was I?—I let my brows furrow in consternation before I pursed my lips and nodded. You’re right; maybe I don’t need to attend this academy after all. We should just go home now.

Home to Olivander.

Indigo glanced over at me and blinked. Go home? he repeated in surprise before his eyes glinted in the firelight with understanding and he began to nod. Ah, so that’s what’s caused the sleeplessness. You’re worried about tomorrow, are you?

I’m not worried. Sniffing as if he were wrong, I then almost immediately began to wring my hands. "It’s just that Ollie’s going to be over a three-day ride from me. I’ve never been that far away from him before. And now, I’m supposed to be that far away for at least six years? It’s just not right. How am I supposed to bear it? I stopped feeling him in my mark on the first day, you know."

Well, you did mention it about eighty times, Indy tried to answer. "So I’d say I’m quite aware, yes."

"The first day!" I repeated dramatically, ignoring his sarcasm and talking over him. "What if he gets hurt? Like mortally wounded. I won’t be able to feel it, much less get to him in time to heal his injuries, even if I could feel it. He could die!"

"Hey, hey, Indigo murmured as he bumped his shoulder gently into mine. Olivander will be fine. I assure you, he can take care of himself."

But—

He said attending this academy was a dream come true for you, Indigo went on. "It’s all you’ve talked about for the last two years. This is what you want."

With a moody scowl, I muttered, "I know, but I didn’t realize I’d have to be apart from him if I attended. He has nightmares sometimes, you know. I have to sneak into his room and snuggle up next to him before he’ll calm down again. Who’s going to settle his bothersome dreams if I’m not there?"

Indigo merely grinned before hissing out a sigh and shaking his head. As his gaze moved to the crackling fire, he said, Do you know why he couldn’t come with you to Tipton?

I growled out a sound of exasperation. "Because he’s a High Cliff prince. Rolling my eyes, I added, It just wouldn’t do for him to reside in Tipton for six years while I attended the academy. Yes, I know all that." I wasn’t stupid.

But still…

It felt like a fist to the stomach. Olivander was my soul mate; the marks tattooed to the side of both our faces said so. And soul mates were supposed to stay together.

"Oh, that’s not why, Indy said, his lips spreading wide with amusement as he shook his head. Nothing would keep that man from your side—certainly not royal boundaries—if it wasn’t what was best for you."

"Wait. What? Tipping my head, I frowned at him. So you think it’s best for us to be separated?"

Who in their right mind would think that?

Not me, Indigo corrected. Olivander.

Ollie? The air whooshed from my lungs.

But why—why would Ollie not want to be with me?

"He told me that for your entire life, you have only known yourself as his mate. Your first concern has always been about his happiness or health or comfort. But now it is time for you to think about you. You need to learn who you are as a person in this world, and you can’t truly do that with him in the vicinity, clouding your judgment through the mark. So he could not come with you."

But I—I don’t know who I am without him, I confessed in a hoarse voice.

When a tear trailed down my cheek, Indigo patted my hand. And that is exactly what he wants you to discover, he said. It’s time for you to grow up now, Little Bug.

But… Shaking my head, I looked to my escort for guidance. I’m going to miss him so. How will I breathe without him?

You’ll breathe, was all Indigo said.

I frowned, not comforted.

Because he didn’t know. He didn’t have a true love yet. How could he possibly realize what this felt like?

How it throbbed like an open wound in the center of my soul.

For some reason, I hadn’t even thought of how it would hurt when I’d left home two days ago. I had sensed a great sadness bleeding off Olivander when he’d seen me off on my journey, but I assumed it had to be because of something terrible his father had done again. Now, I understood that he’d already been missing me. The entire time he’d hugged me goodbye, kissed my brow, and then waved as my carriage rolled away, he had known it would ache like this for us to be separated.

I suddenly felt stupid and small. If only I had realized then how the distance between us would feel, I would’ve hugged him longer. Breathed in his scent deeper.

Actually, I probably would’ve refused to go entirely.

Which had to be exactly why he hadn’t told me.

It’s time for you to grow up now, Little Bug.

Scared and intimidated by the notion, I gulped painfully. Before, I’d always thought growing up meant I’d get to do more and someday be old enough to finally marry Olivander. But now—now it was starting to feel more like a heavy, burdensome responsibility.

What if I couldn’t handle the weight?

From the trees surrounding us, the echo of a man’s snore rose to a crescendo and then fell away again, tearing me from my troubling thoughts.

Nearly a dozen armed men were traveling with us to Tipton, but only Indigo, the assigned leader of the caravan, was allowed to come within the camp with me and sleep so near to my tent.

When he and I glanced at each other, both of us having heard the snore, he snickered, and the contagious sound made me snort out a small laugh too.

But it was short-lived because laughing without Ollie present felt rather empty.

"And that, I believe… Indigo announced, slapping his hands onto his knees before pushing to his feet and holding a palm down to me. Is my signal to escort you back to your tent so you can get some sleep."

I looked at his waiting fingers and then noticed the object he’d set down earlier, lying on the log unattended.

Nodding slowly, I said, "Sure. Just as soon as you tell me what this is." And I dove toward it, snagging it before he could stop me.

"No! Wait. That’s—careful! It’s not a toy."

"Then what is it?" I asked, jumping to my feet and easily evading him when he lunged forward in the hopes of taking it back.

Failing, he scowled and dropped his hands, while I grinned in triumph.

Unity, I’m serious, he tried reasoning, his expression turning grave. Give me the book back.

Book? I stopped in my tracks and looked down at the object. "What’s a book?"

Nothing. And it was promptly ripped from my grip. Now off to bed with you, Little Bug. No more shenanigans.

I huffed and sent him a mean look, even as I obediently turned away. Fine. But you’re not being very nice. I just wanted to look at it.

He only chuckled. "It’s not my job to be nice. It’s my job to keep you alive. And I don’t want you looking at it."

Hmph. Crossing my arms over my chest, I stalked the rest of the way to my tent, calling, "Well then, I’d wish you a good night, but honestly, I hope you don’t have one."

As I tore open the flap and crawled into my protected sleep space, my aggravating escort taunted back.

"You know, you’re right. Little Bug doesn’t suit you anymore. I think I’m going to have to start calling you the bloodthirsty viper princess. Not wishing me a good night, indeed. So utterly savage you are, Miss Unity."

As he roared with laughter, I rolled my eyes and jerked back the covers on my bedroll. But Indigo was wrong. I wasn’t bloodthirsty or savage or uppity. I wished Olivander were here. He’d make everything okay again.

But he wasn’t, and as I crawled under the thick blankets and snuggled in, the knight-in-training’s words taunted me.

It’s time for you to grow up now.

I twisted to face the other way, trying to wish his playful heckling away. But no matter how I tossed or turned, his words stuck, swimming through my head with haunting persistence.

So finally, I flopped onto my back with a disgruntled huff and just glared up at the ceiling of the tent, where the flickering reflection of the campfire swirled lazily like dancing stars through the thick material.

Sparks crackled as I listened to Indigo feed more wood to the flames. Not that he needed to; it was already unbearably hot here in this canvas prison. Perspiration beaded my brow. I wiped it away with the sleeve of my nightgown and decided enough was enough.

Indy? I called.

"What now, Little Bug?" his muffled words replied with an impatient grumble.

I bit my lip before just giving in and asking, Do you really think I’m uppity?

When he chuckled at the question, I glowered in his general direction, hoping the sting of my irritation reached him through the fabric wall separating us.

But this was not something to be laughed about; I was being serious.

Oh, Unity, he murmured after he’d calmed down from his amusement. "I think you were pampered and spoiled from birth inside the most powerful palace in the Outer Realms by a man who would lay down his life to give you anything you desired, so you just don’t know any better."

I blinked, not sure what that meant. Then, because he hadn’t retracted the hurtful word, and I desperately didn’t want it to be attributed to me, I argued, "But Olivander called Lady Beckett uppity once after she had a maid beaten for serving her a goblet with a fly floating in her ale. And she’s cruel and vicious and vain, while I am not."

So, ha, I couldn’t be uppity.

No, you are not cruel or vicious or vain, Indigo agreed quietly. You have a good, kind heart, my lady. You do.

I blinked, confused by his admission. Turning onto my side to face the direction his voice was coming from, I wound my hair around my finger as I said, Then why did you call me uppity?

For a moment, he didn’t answer. I opened my mouth to ask again, sure he hadn’t heard me the first time, but then he finally said, "Because sometimes you treat the people who are ranked lower than you as if they are lower than you, and it can be a bit...off-putting."

Now he had me confused. Because lower meant lower. Didn’t it? What else was it supposed to mean?

I don’t understand.

Well, you’re only twelve, he said kindly. I didn’t really expect you to.

And you’re only eighteen, I shot back, my dander lifted. "How does that make you such a wise and ancient philosopher?"

Because I’ve seen the world outside your castle walls and met people from all walks of life. And I know that the true worth of someone does not come from the fact that they just so happen to be mated to a powerful prince.

My lips parted in shock over the gall that he would dare say something so bold to me. But I—I can’t help that my mark paired me with Olivander.

No, Indigo told me gently. "And neither can the maid who washes your hair each night help that her mark did not pair her with him. Does that make you a better person inside your heart than she is?"

I… I blinked, not sure what he meant. But I answered, Well, no. Of course not.

Earlier, he’d watched in amusement as my maid had brushed and braided my hair for sleep. At the time, I had wondered why he’d looked so entertained by my instructions to her, and I’d had many since she wasn’t the usual maid who always tended to my nightly duties and thus had no idea how to do it right.

My stomach tightened in dread as I realized I’d done something wrong, though.

Do you know why I accepted this role as your escort? Indigo asked suddenly, making me jump.

I shook my head. No.

And I wasn’t so sure I wanted to know, but he went on anyway. When Olivander interviewed me for the position to escort you to your fancy new academy, even though I’m still just in training, he treated me with respect, as if I were his peer. That’s when I knew he was a man of true worth and that I would be honored to serve him in any capacity. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was a prince.

When my throat went painfully dry and my nose began to burn, I feared tears were close behind. And I didn’t want to cry. He’d hear how ashamed I was because he was right; Olivander did treat every person to cross his path with the same courtesy, from royal right down to peasant. That was why he was adored by all.

But I didn’t do that, did I?

So I blinked repeatedly up at the ceiling of my tent to fight off the tears.

Was this the kind of lesson he had thought I needed to be apart from him to learn? If so, then I would learn it; I would learn all the lessons. No matter how unpleasant it was already making me feel, I would do anything to become Ollie’s equal. To be a mate who deserved him.

I’d even learn how to brush my own hair.

Realizing these next few years were not going to be as easy as I had originally anticipated, I gave a hard swallow and whispered, I’m not like Ollie, am I?

Indigo chuckled yet again, but it sounded more like a fond sound than something demeaning.

Not yet, he told me with all honesty. "But I have every confidence that you’ll become as fair and gracious as your other half someday. A worthy mate. And that’s why I think it’s a good idea for you to attend the academy, too, apart from him. It’ll be good for you to experience something different, away from the pampering hand of your true love. You’ll grow and mature in ways you never would have otherwise."

For some reason, I hoped he was right. Because it didn’t sound like he liked me all that much as I was now. And I wanted him to. I quite admired Indigo.

When he wasn’t being a bore, that was.

And besides, I wanted to become a woman who actually deserved to be the mate of Olivander Bjorn, Prince of High Cliff, second son to King Ignatius, and top scholar in the entire kingdom.

With a wistful sigh, I said, I hope you’re right.

I am, Indigo assured. All will be well, my lady. Never fear.

Nodding, I closed my eyes. Except sleep still didn’t come. I wasn’t sure I was up to this challenge. What if I never learned the lesson I was supposed to learn? What if I was doomed to be uppity forever?

After a time, I gave up on trying to rest, and I called, Indigo? hoping he could bore me into unconsciousness with one of his stories about his knight-in-training duties. But he didn’t answer.

Great. Now I had nothing to keep me distracted from thinking about the coming day and being apart from my—wait a second.

If Indigo was asleep, then he was no longer guarding that book thing of his.

Oh, this was too good to resist. Smiling devilishly to myself, I pushed back my covers and crawled to the opening of the tent. After carefully easing the flap aside, I poked my head into the night and found Indigo wrapped up in his bedroll, eyes closed and breathing deeply.

Perfect! I hurried through the doorway and scampered silently on bare feet to his pack of personal possessions.

Keeping one eye on him, I tugged on the cinch string keeping his satchel closed, and then I plunged my hand inside the gaped opening, grinning the moment my fingers met smooth leather.

Yes!

I pulled the book out and backed toward the log that Indigo and I had been sitting on earlier. Then, while watching my sleeping escort’s face to make sure I didn’t awaken him, I lowered myself onto the tree trunk until the book was perched on my lap.

I mean, if he didn’t want me to look inside, he really needed to place a leather-string lock bound around it to keep people out.

Maybe he’d learn that eventually. But for now…

Holding my breath, I opened the thick leather casing, only to exhale in a huff and frown out my disappointment.

Because what was this? It was just a bunch of writings.

So a book must merely be another version of a scroll, then. Ugh. How utterly unexciting was that? Like I cared what Indio wrote about in his personal journal.

I started to close the outer shell.

Except a certain name caught my attention, stalling me.

I blinked at the genealogy tree on the first leaflet of parchment, confused because it didn’t detail Indigo’s house. I knew he came from the Moast line, while this tree was for House Graykey.

Lips parting, I glanced toward Indigo and shook my head.

Why was he keeping a record of the tree for that family? Graykeys were nothing but bad news. They were cursed with a deadly bloodlust that drove them into going on killing sprees called reapings. Olivander had warned me to always run if I found myself in the presence of a Graykey.

How peculiar that Indigo was researching them of all people.

Lifting the top piece of parchment to reveal another sheet, I saw names and dates for more Graykeys. But this genealogy contained details.

Very explicit details.

Marvello of House Graykey - Born in 183 to Laylee and Lawton. Youngest of three. Brother: Merlin. Sister: Morgaine. Lawton saw great power in the infant Marvello, so he killed his wife (who was also his first cousin), Laylee, plus his two siblings (Larah and Larder), and more people bearing magic in order to let Marvello consume their powers. Thus came the 5th reaping.

In 212, Marvello and Morgaine started the 6th reaping by murdering their father, Lawton (pulled apart by dogs) and slitting the throats of their brother’s three children so they could gain the house’s power. Then the siblings married each other and—

My God, I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands and gaping at the words written before me. But this was simply barbaric.

Risking a glance toward Indigo to make sure I hadn’t woken him with my horror, I went back to reading, unable to stop there.

I mean, seriously. Who could stop there?

Then the siblings married each other and, in time, bore three children together (Novak, Norton, and Nestor).

In 215, Marvello and Morgaine lay siege to the Lowden castle in Gill, where they hanged King Freydo of House Gill in his bell tower, then beheaded the rest of the royal family, placing their heads on pikes outside the castle gates. After that, they promptly took control over the Kingdom of Lowden.

In 220, Morgaine gave birth to her third child, Nestor, prompting her brother Merlin to sneak into the castle in an attempt to murder her, along with the king and their children, and gain his revenge for the murder of his own progeny years before. This sparked the 7th reaping. But Merlin’s plans were not met with success. King Marvello foiled his plot and slew Merlin instead.

In his bloodlust, Marvello next gutted his wife-sister, Morgaine, and used her entrails to choke her the rest of the way to death.

Gagging, I clutched my stomach and gaped at the words before me. But seriously, I had no idea such monstrous people even existed. This was worse than awful.

No way was I going to be able to sleep now.

So I kept reading...

Only to learn that Marvello was eventually killed by his firstborn son, Novak, who also hanged his two brothers, Nestor and Norton, in the 8th reaping so he could take control of the crown of Lowden.

Wow, I whispered into the night.

I’d always been told that the Graykeys were to be avoided, but I’d never been told these reasons why. I was in shock.

It was no wonder that I’d overheard Olivander and his brother, Erick, mention the likely possibility of our kingdom invading Lowden to take control of it. Orick Graykey—Novak’s son—was still ruling there now. Who knew what kind of horrors he would unleash if his family’s curse sent him into a bloodlust-filled fit of rage.

Something needed to be done about them.

I flipped through more stories of Graykey family members until I came to stories of a totally different nature.

Now, what was this?

Indigo quite suddenly stopped writing about death and darkness and began to share tall tales about his great-grandmother Amelia that he’d heard about from her son: his grandfather.

Apparently, Indigo’s great-grandmother had not been born in the Outer Realms at all but came from a land called Atchison, and she’d flown here in something he referred to as an airplane.

An airplane? I murmured, frowning toward the sleeping Indigo and shaking my head.

What the devil was an airplane?

As if hearing my question, Indy’s writings next described an airplane as a large metal bird that people rode in for transportation. With a snort, I rolled my eyes. Just what kind of fanciful ideas did my escort knight-in-training believe in? This was completely ridiculous.

And yet utterly fascinating.

So fascinating, in fact, that I finished his book before I was ready to. Once I reached the end, I sighed, wishing I could hear more about this alternate world his great-grandmother had come from, where people had things like electricity to light their lamps, and telephones—not ravens or pigeons—to instantly message people from a great distance away.

After I returned the book to Indy’s pack and crept back into my tent to lie down, I fell into an exhausted sleep, only to dream about airplanes and telephones and Graykeys—with blood dripping from sharp fangs—who came along and destroyed all the marvelous, otherworldly inventions.

One of them was charging toward me—arms outstretched to capture me and sink their teeth into my flesh—when a hand gripped my arm and shook.

Unity, Indigo urged. You need to wake up now.

I screamed and bolted upright on my bedroll.

Eyes wide and chest heaving, I gasped, What’s wrong? Is it the Graykeys? Are they here?

They were attacking the camp, weren’t they? We were all going to die.

"The Graykeys? Indigo sputtered incredulously and shook his head before letting out his signature laugh. What in the world made you ask that?"

Because your book— I started without thinking, only to stop and gape at him as I realized I’d just incriminated myself.

My book? he said in alarm. Then he huffed out a gruff groan and shook his head. "Oh, Little Bug, you didn’t... Please tell me you did not sneak into my pack and open my book while I was sleeping."

Gulping, I cringed, wondering how severely he would punish me. But I couldn’t lie, either. Bowing my head shamefully, I regretfully admitted, I—I might have done so.

Ah, hell. Blowing out a breath, he plopped down on the ground beside me and cupped his head in his hands, muttering, Olivander’s going to kill me. You’re going to have nightmares for the rest of your life, and he’s going to blame me entirely. He’s going to dismiss me from training—if not have me outright hanged—and I’ll never be able to go anywhere to look for her again. Why didn’t I just put a damn lock on—

We don’t have to tell him, I cut in quickly.

Indigo dropped his hands and arched his brows significantly. You don’t want him to know?

That I failed and was already stealing things and reading journals I wasn’t supposed to, not even three days after I’d left home to learn how to be a worthy mate? Yeah, that was one confession I could skip.

I mean, if he found out or asked me pointedly, I wouldn’t lie. But I didn’t see why we had to tell him preemptively.

I broke into your pack, I admitted on a cringe.

Indigo nodded slowly and watched me carefully. You did, he agreed.

And I—I disobeyed your direct order to leave the scroll book thingy alone.

Yes.

Well, I… I very much regret my indiscretions and apologize for them earnestly. So if you could find it in your heart to forgive me, I-I don’t see why we need to bother Olivander with the issue at all.

Indigo’s lips tightened as if he were trying to smother a laugh. But then he cleared his throat and nodded solemnly. "That—that sounds like a very mature decision, my lady. I suppose I could find it in my heart to agree."

Me too, I said readily. Besides, it—it was probably only fanciful writings anyway. Right? Nothing to give me lasting worries in the least. None of that was actually true… I tipped my head down and lifted my eyes, watching him steadily as I added, Was it?

Er, right, he drew out slowly, tipping his head with me. "No, all of it was—was, yes, completely made up."

"Really?" Well, damn.

I knew I should be relieved because who wanted the Graykeys to be so awful?

But the other things he’d written about, the world he had described with such colorful detail had sounded so interesting. It kind of broke my heart to hear it wasn’t real.

Indigo sighed. Ah, Little Bug. Sorry to disappoint, but my imagination just gets the best of me sometimes, and I—well, I like to write my thoughts down before I forget the ideas. Might make fun stories to scare and entertain my grandkids with someday, don’t you think?

"So there are no such things as airplanes or telephones?" I pressed, hoping at least those existed somewhere out there. "Earth really doesn’t exist?"

Indigo laughed and ruffled my hair. "Are you serious, my lady? You think carriages could fly? Come now! Get your head out of the clouds and prepare yourself for breakfast. It’s morning, and you’ve a big day ahead of you. Time to stop thinking about such nonsense and start the rest of your life."

My stomach instantly plummeted.

The rest of my life.

It was time for me to grow up now.

All fabrications of evil Graykey bloodlust killings and amazing Earth tales were immediately forgotten as I realized he was right. Today was the big day.

As soon as he left the tent to give me some privacy, my fingers fumbled as I rushed to prepare myself. And everything I’d read the night before was wiped clean from my thoughts.

It was time for me to become Unity, a learned lady and the worthy mate of Olivander.

1

Olivander

Where: High Cliff Palace

When: Outer Realms Year 328

Ithink the next time a friend asked for a favor from me, I was just going to punch him.

In the throat.

Because this was utter madness.

Let me rephrase this in a language you understand, the irate woman in front of me said, clasping her hands together flat and then pressing the sides against her mouth to accentuate the gravity of her anger, even as she kept her words calm. I want to go home. Then she pointed to the ground in front of her forcefully. "Right now."

Er… I squinted in confusion. I’ve actually understood you every time you’ve said that.

Strangely, there’d never been a language barrier between us. A fact I found to be vastly interesting but she didn’t seem to care about in the least.

Balling her hands into fists and shaking them even more violently, she cried, "Then why am I still here!?"

Beginning to think maybe I, myself, needed to speak in a language she understood, I closed my eyes and sighed before pinching the bridge of my nose as a headache began. No matter how many times I told this woman—this Doria Baquet—that I couldn’t get her home, she just echoed her demand louder, as if she believed her volume alone could somehow alter my abilities.

And it really couldn’t.

Doria had literally landed at my feet from another world two days ago, and we had repeated this very same conversation about twenty times now. It didn’t seem to change much either.

Obviously, she didn’t believe me whenever I said, "I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to get you home. I didn’t bring you here; I’m not holding you here. I’m just trying to help you understand what transpired to get you here."

And what had happened was that she’d been sucked here from an alternate dimension I hadn’t even known existed until the day before she had arrived. And if I’d realized exactly what I’d be getting myself into when Indigo had asked me to help assimilate the earthlings who’d be arriving to take his place when he left, I would’ve told him to fuck off.

I could only thank my lucky stars that just one of them had come through in the end—not the three people I’d been expecting. Because this singular female was a handful all on her own.

Okay, then, fine, she ground out, shooting me a death glare. Help me understand exactly where I am. Maybe we can work backward from there.

Lord have mercy, I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take.

"I’m not sure how else to explain our location to you beyond showing you a map of the Outer Realms again. But fine. You’re here, in Elaina." I pointed to the little star on the map, signaling the capital of my kingdom. The cartographic illustration sat on the table between us in my private bedchamber in the High Cliff castle because I hadn’t known where else to bring her.

As a complete stranger to my land, Doria could be in danger anywhere she went, so I figured it would be best to keep her as close as possible until I figured out more suitable boarding arrangements.

If only I’d known how much torture constantly being in her repetitive presence would be.

"And you came through the portal, arriving here, in the village of Belle," I added, telling myself—for about the millionth time—to give her the benefit of the doubt.

If I’d been minding my own business in my own land, only to be unexpectedly yanked from everything I knew and then tossed into a world I’d never heard of before, all against my will, I’d probably possess a much more irritable temperament than she.

Comparatively speaking, Doria was taking this quite well. I just needed more patience. That was all. I could handle this.

Except we couldn’t stay in Belle, I went on.

If I had remained absent from the palace for too long, it would’ve drawn unnecessary questions, which could’ve ultimately exposed secrets that would place not only Doria but also myself and my closest loved ones in mortal danger.

So I brought you home with me, I finished. Which is where we are now.

Yes, I know all that. Duh. Doria sent me an exasperated scowl. "But where is your entire Outer Realms planet in comparison to my homeworld?"

I… Okay, that one I had no idea how to answer. So I just shrugged. "How the hell should I know? Jesus. How do you explain where your Earth is compared to anything else?"

I lifted my brow reproachfully, thinking that a very clever question indeed.

But Doria lifted her eyebrows right back and snapped, Easy.

Because, of course, she did.

She liked to make me look like an incompetent fool with all her earthly knowledge. She had an answer to everything.

And for a scholar like me, it was growing quite vexing.

On the other hand, I was learning volumes by just being around her. So I pushed my bruised ego to the side and shifted forward to hear what she had to say as she grabbed my quill and dunked the writing end into my inkpot, way too liberally for my peace of mind. Then she leaned to the side of the chair she sat in

Reviews for Wait for Love

[sharon dean · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this series wish I hadn’t read the last book before this one. But arrr well it all makes sense now. But damn bit harsh with Erik and family sigh. Well worth the read over it