Dasha and Rika needed to be treated with kid gloves and eased into this time.
"Selfish girl," Myst snapped, shoving Dasha against the wall by her neck, holding her there. "You can't comprehend what Kaderin's gone through for so long. She deserves this happiness. You have no idea how much. And yet you both still sneer at the idea of her with a vampire."
Rika kicked Myst behind her knee, making her stumble and release Dasha.
Rubbing her neck, Dasha said, "It is easy for you to accept Kaderin with a vampire, since you have one as your man."
"It doesn't matter if it's easy or not," Myst said. "You simply have to accept it - for her. She has happiness within her grasp with a strong, honorable warrior who adores her, and you are standing in their way."
"Myst, we believe even we might come to tolerate her decision," Dasha said. "But you forget, we were on a battlefield with Furie less than two weeks ago. Her nature isn't dim in our minds, as it is in yours. When Furie is found, do you think she would possibly let either of your husbands live?"
Rika added, "Would Kaderin run with this man? Become a fugitive? We would never see her again."
Myst shook her head, though she had the same fears. "Let Kaderin determine this. Let her and Sebastian decide if they'll take that risk." She regarded both sisters. "Kaderin and Sebastian can't live without each other. Mark my words, both merely bide their time."
42
"If Kaderin didn't send for me herself," Sebastian said at the entrance to Val Hall, "then I don't want to be here." Lightning clattered constantly. Smoke and fog inundated the grounds. The old manor was imposing, sepulchral.
"You aren't curious about what you've been called here for?" Nikolai asked. "Even Myst has no idea what this is about."
"All I know is, she didn't send for me." Sebastian scowled up at the ghostly specters guarding the house, and Nikolai slapped his back in sympathy.
"They will not hurt you unless you try to get in without payment or permission."
"I'm not concerned with them." At Nikolai's questioning look, Sebastian shrugged. "After the things I saw in the Hie?"
"That's right, Nïx's origami storyboard. I need to ask her about that."
Sebastian said, "I was just thinking that if this is where Kaderin calls home, she will not like the estate I just purchased."
"You gave Myst carte blanche to pick it out - a bold and reckless move, but one I feel will serve you well with your Bride."
"Kaderin asked for time." Even missing her as he did, he still felt her request was reasonable. He expected eternity with her. Two weeks was nothing. "I am intruding on her and her sisters."
Just as he was about to trace, Nikolai grabbed his arm. "How long will you wait?"
"Until she calls for me."
"I don't think it would help your cause if you shun an invitation to their coven. It's, uh, very rare." Nikolai held up a lock of red hair Myst had given him in advance. A wraith swooped down, and their way was cleared.
Reluctantly, he followed Nikolai. Inside, Sebastian heard her voice in a nearby room.
"Now, this spear is a weapon of apocalyptic power," Kaderin was explaining. "You must use it wisely, Dash. To abuse it will bring ruin to our people."
"Let me see that," Dasha said.
"No! Push the red button on the right," Kaderin said. "Your other right, Dash!"
Video games. He grinned, even as he was saddened. He missed her too much - his chest was besieged with a constant ache, and now he understood what it was.
When he and Nikolai stood at the door, Nikolai gave him an encouraging slap on the back that would have felled lesser men, then traced away.
Sebastian saw her shoulders stiffen. "Bastian?" she murmured. Lightning struck just outside.
Kaderin heard his voice, his sure footsteps. He's come for me.
Her mind seemed to go blank. The yearning she'd felt for so long turned to excitement, excitement to urgency.
She'd been waiting for the right time to tell her sisters she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. That time was now.
If she wasn't touching him in seconds, she'd go mad.
She scrambled to her feet. She knew her sisters were eyeing her strangely, knew that what she was feeling was undisguised. Right then, she didn't care. She turned and ran for him. Bastian! Standing at the door, so tall and proud.
When he saw her, his lips parted, then he absently palmed the center of his chest.
As she hadn't slowed, he opened his arms - she knew what this meant - but she didn't hesitate to run into them, leaping up and latching onto him. They would have gone reeling if he weren't so strong.
The Valkyrie who'd flown down the stairs at the marked lightning saw her. All around them, she heard gasps. One muttered, "She ran to his arms. I saw it."
"Bastian, I missed you!" Kaderin whispered.
"God, I missed you, too," he murmured, clutching her. She felt him stiffen, and knew Rika and Dasha had appeared behind her. He released her with obvious reluctance, but once on her feet, she only turned, keeping his front to her back.
Just when she thought there'd be a confrontation, Rika said, "Kader-ie, we have a thing we wish to tell thee - " She winced. "I mean you."
"What is it?" Kaderin asked, pulling Sebastian's arm around her. He tightened it immediately.
"We invited him," Dasha said.
Rika added, "And now we can see that it was a wise decision."
"What do you mean?" Kaderin asked, her voice unsteady.
Dasha answered, "You spent too many years blaming yourself for our deaths and too much time without happiness. It must stop. It is time for you to be content."
"You deserve it more than anyone," said shy Rika. She approached Kaderin and Sebastian and addressed him. "We hate that vampire for what he did to Kader-ie, and to us." She frowned at that, then said, "But you are not that vampire. If you love Kad - "
"I do," he quickly said.
She squeezed his arm.
Dasha muttered, "Then be wed with our blessings."
"Rika? Dash?" Kaderin said in a breathless voice. "Are you in earnest?"
"Kader-ie, you need him. Even if we didn't support this, you'd go to him eventually. We understand that."
Kaderin turned to him, gazing up and nibbling her bottom lip. "Yes, I would have."
"You would?" he rasped, his eyes so dark.
"Of course, Bastian." She glanced over her shoulder and said to her sisters, "Thank you. I-I don't know what to say."