Oh boy.
She blinked then her eyes did a top-to-toe scan. They stopped on the way back to the top, arrested on his chest, she blinked again and I had a feeling she also started salivating (I had this feeling because that was what I did when I saw Tor’s chest) then her eyes slid all the way up, they moved over his face then she whispered, “Dude. What happened to you? You didn’t have a scar the last time I saw you.”
Oh boy!
“Phoebe,” I said cautiously, moving into my living room and her head jerked my way, her eyes lost their wonder and her face instantly closed down.
My heart clenched and I stopped moving.
I’d been right to brace. Cora had done something to her.
Really, really, God, really, I hoped I never met that awful woman!
She opened her mouth to speak but Tor got there before her, shifting slightly but the movement was hard to miss since he was a big guy but also because it was vaguely threatening and Phoebe didn’t miss the movement or the vague threat. Her head jerked back as her eyes cut to him and I watched her body go still.
“You are clearly an acquaintance of my wife and we are not unaware that others of her acquaintance are unhappy with her, or, the other her. What you must be aware of is that I will not tolerate you being unkind to her, that is to say, the real her,” Tor declared, Phoebe blinked yet again and I snapped, “Tor!”
He looked to me and asked, “What?”
I didn’t answer and this was because Phoebe whispered a shocked, “Your wife?”
I looked from Phoebe to Tor, pointed to my friend and said, “That’s what.”
“What’s what?” Tor returned.
“Your wife?” Phoebe repeated.
I walked three more strides into my living room, stopped and planted my hands on my hips. “You can’t go around telling everyone we’re married.”
Tor turned to me, crossed his arms on his chest, tilted his head slightly but dangerously to the side and asked back, “And why not?”
“Because it freaks them out!” I semi-shouted.
“The other her?” Phoebe asked.
“Oh for goodness sakes,” I hissed, stomped to the door, reached to Phoebe, grabbed her arm, pulled her in and turned to her. Then I introduced my friend to my parallel world husband, throwing my hand out from one to the other and back again as I spoke, “Phoebe, my kind of husband, Tor, Tor, my hopefully still best friend, Phoebe.”
Phoebe blinked again and asked, “Kind of husband?”
“It’s a long story,” I muttered.
“I’m not her kind of anything,” Tor stated at this point. “I am her husband and she is my wife and the mother of my unborn child.”
Oh my God!
Phoebe’s eyes bugged out of her head.
I whirled and exclaimed, “Tor!”
“What?” he growled, losing patience.
“You also can’t go around telling everyone I’m pregnant!” I cried.
“The little white stick said you were and I knew you were even before that contraption confirmed it so why the bloody hell not?” Tor returned.
“You just can’t,” I shot back.
“You’re pregnant?” Phoebe whispered and I turned back to see her face pale, her eyes still big and they were on me.
“Uh… yeah,” I whispered back.
Her big eyes darted to Tor then back to me then back to Tor then to me.
Then I knew she came to a decision (and not a good one for me) when she straightened her shoulders and pulled in breath as I watched her face close down.
Then she lifted up the bag and informed me, “Dave said you were back. He also told me some stupid story about how you had amnesia or whatever. Total soap opera but he bought it because he’s a big dork. So, whatever. I’m here to return that Coach bag and that blouse you loaned me. Then I’m gone.” She shook the bag. “Here it is.”
I didn’t look at the bag; I kept my eyes glued to my friend.
The other Cora had done something to her, obviously, I just had no clue what.
And I also had no clue what to do to make it better.
What I did know was that I couldn’t bear thinking she was mad at me at all much less leaving her in this world after whatever happened to me and Tor knowing she would always hate me for whatever the other Cora did so I had to do something.
“Take it,” she said, shaking the bag again.
“She hurt you,” I whispered.
“All right, don’t take it,” Phoebe stated, moved further into the living room, dropped it by my armchair and hitched her purse up on her shoulder muttering, “Have a happy life with your hot guy kind of husband.”
Then she started toward the door Tor had not yet closed.
“His name is Prince Noctorno Allegro Hawthorne. He’s of the House of Hawthorne, heir to the kingdom of Hawkvale, ruler of Bellebryn,” I announced, Phoebe’s shoulders went up her neck as I spoke, she stopped and slowly turned to face me.
I kept talking.
What the hell? I had nothing to lose.
“Obviously, all this is in an alternate universe that, evidence is suggesting, has the same people in it as we have here but even though they look the same, they’re different. I was transported there in my sleep two months ago and the Cora from there was sent here. She’s a bitch, like, an all ‘round bitch. She doesn’t discriminate with her bitchiness. She’s a bitch to everyone, here and in the other world, Tor’s world. Everyone hates her there but she’s had a lifetime of building that. It proves the true strength of her bitchiness considering she’d been here for just under two months and succeeded in making everyone hate me.”
Phoebe stared up at me and said not a word.
So I kept right on going.
“Anyway, we still don’t know what’s going on but a quick update, I was transferred there and within minutes, I accidentally started a curse that, if it comes to fruition, will bring plague and famine to everyone in Tor’s land. Tor is married to the other Cora but he hates her as in, a lot, so, since this world-hopping business is about as usual there as it is here, that is to say, not at all, he thought I was her so he didn’t like me either. Obviously, since I’m now pregnant, he got over that. Then we were both transported back here and we don’t know why that is either. We also don’t know how to get back. What we do know is that when we do, he’s divorcing her, marrying me and I’m having his baby. So, I’m kind of his wife –”
“Cora,” Tor growled from behind me, interrupting me and successfully expressing his displeasure at my turn of phrase.
Therefore I hurriedly explained, “Though Tor isn’t fond of the ‘kind of’ part and just considers us hitched.”
Phoebe blinked. Then she looked up at Tor and blinked. Then she looked back and me and when she didn’t blink, I kept talking.
“So, as if uncertain travel between parallel universes isn’t enough for us to deal with, the Cora of that world, when she was in this world, was bitchy to all my friends, including, obviously, you, and now they all hate me. She also left my house and car a total pit, which was not nice but luckily at least that was easily remedied. She also got herself into some kind of trouble. We think playing poker. The Noctorno of this world is a cop and he’s involved with her somehow. There’s a shitload of money in my DVD cabinet and he’s, that is, the other Noctorno, or, I mean, the Noctorno of this world is coming back to collect his clothes sometime later. He can’t see my Noctorno,” I gestured behind me, “mainly because he’d freak. And now we need to get back to make sure the curse doesn’t befall Tor’s land and do it before getting arrested or whatever.”
Phoebe said nothing, just stared at me.
I held her eyes and tried to read something there, anything.
There was nothing. She was just staring at me.
My heart lurched.
But my mouth whispered, “I know it sounds crazy but it’s true. I can’t prove it except to point out the other Noctorno you’ve seen doesn’t have a scar and my Noctorno d
oes. So, you might believe me if you saw both Tor and Noc together but I can’t give you that so… well…” I threw out a hand. “I don’t know what else to say. Except I hope one day, when you know I’m gone, you’ll know I’m back there, with Tor, in his world, married to him and making a family because I love him and you’ll know it wasn’t me who hurt you but it was me who always loved you and I’ll be missing you.”
She continued staring at me, unmoving, unblinking.
I had nothing else to give.
Then she asked softly, “You’re pregnant?”
“Yes,” I said softly back.
“With a hot guy’s kid?”
I pressed my lips together and tried not to hope.
I couldn’t not hope.
I nodded and felt the tears stinging my eyes as the hope clogged my throat.
Then I whispered, “In Tor’s world, I’m also a princess, I can talk to birds and they talk back, the air shimmers like there’s glitter in it and my clothes kick ass.”
Phoebe stared at me.
Then she asked quietly, “You love him?”
I pulled in breath through my nose and felt Tor’s heat get close to my back.
Then I nodded.
Then suddenly she tipped her head back and screamed at the ceiling, “My best friend is knocked up with a hot guy’s kid and she’s a princess in an alternate universe!”
Then she tipped her head down and launched herself at me, bursting into tears, holding me tight and rocking me violently from side to side.
I heard Tor close the door about half a second before I also wrapped my arms around her, burst into tears but mine were relieved as well as joyous.
We rocked back and forth crying for awhile then she reared back, grabbed my forearms, shook them, her eyes darting to Tor and back to me before she shouted, “Look at him! He’s tall, hot, those scars are way hot, I’ve never seen any man wear pajama bottoms that well and he has just the right amount of chest hair! Girl, you did all right.”
See! There was a reason Phoebe and I were BFFs.
“Girl, I know!” I shouted back.
“Sweets,” Tor murmured from behind me and I felt his hand warm on the small of my back before I twisted my neck to look up at him, “you may wish to calm down and rejoice far more quietly.”
“Sweets,” Phoebe whispered reverently, “hot.”
I smiled at Phoebe’s words but my eyes didn’t leave Tor’s face and I saw his eyes smile back before I said to him, “Right. That would probably be prudent.”
“Right,” he replied, leaned in and touched his mouth to mine.
“Hot,” Phoebe breathed and, incidentally, didn’t let go of my arms.
Tor pulled back, his eyes slid to Phoebe and back to me before he muttered, “I shall get dressed.”
Phoebe finally stepped away from me and as she did so, she stated, “Please, if you’re doing that on my account, I’m totally cool with you exactly the way you are.”
Tor looked at her then he looked at me then his mouth twitched, he shook his head, made no response and strode to my bedroom.
Phoebe and I watched.
Then I heard Phoebe repeat a breathless, “Hot.”
I looked at her to see she was looking at me.
Then, as often happened, sometimes for no reason whatsoever, we both dissolved into giggles.
And our giggles went uncontrolled when we both heard muttered from my bedroom, “Bloody hell.”
In fact, at that, we collapsed into each other’s arms and roared with them.
So much for being quiet.
* * *
I made my prince and my best friend blueberry pancakes and bacon and we went overkill by following this with red velvet cake.
But, whatever, it was time to celebrate. I was in love with a hot guy prince and future king, pregnant with his child and I still had my best friend. If that didn’t say celebration, nothing did.
And furthermore, if there was a time I could overeat, now was it.
While Tor showered, I filled Phoebe in on more detail about Tor and she breathed the word “hot” or drawled the word “nice” about seven thousand times while I was doing it.
Then, while I cooked and we ate (standing up in the kitchen with our plates close to our mouths, something else that made Tor’s lips twitch), I filled Phoebe in with more detail on everything else.
Then we retired to the living room.
Tor was dressed in jeans and a cool, light blue shirt he didn’t tuck in, I was wearing my nightie with my short robe tied over it and we were sipping after breakfast, after cake coffee.
Phoebe was curled in my armchair. And I was tucked tight to Tor’s side on the couch, the soles of my feet to the cushion, my legs having fallen into his thigh; his arm was curled around me holding me close when it occurred to me.
And what occurred to me was that my best friend was definitely crazy, a certifiable nut, but, even so, she’d bought our equally definitely crazy story really easily.
And that was weird.
“Uh… Phoebe,” I called when she’d taken a break from updating me on her life (doing so at the same time educating Tor to the fact she was definitely crazy and a certifiable nut) and was sipping from her cup.
“Yeah, babe,” she replied.
“Not to look a gift horse in the mouth because I’m glad you believe our story but why do you believe our story? I mean, when we told him, Dad freaked as in totally freaked. He accused Tor of being the leader of a cult and tried to kick him out of the house. You didn’t even blink.”
Well, she did blink, repeatedly, but she didn’t freak.
She grinned at the cult comment then threw out a hand and, as if she was not rocking Tor and my worlds, she blithely said, “Because Brianna’s friend Marlene’s friend Circe lives in an alternate universe.”
This time I blinked and I also felt my mouth drop open.
Tor’s body went solid at my side.
“What?” I whispered.
“Pardon?” Tor growled.
She studied us, eyes going back and forth.
Then she repeated, “Because Brianna’s friend Marlene’s friend Circe lives in an alternate universe.”
Tor leaned forward and since his arm didn’t move from around me, he took me with him.
“Explain,” he ordered, his voice low and commanding.
Phoebe’s eyes didn’t move from him as she whispered, “Well, I mean, I don’t know Circe and I’ve only met Marlene once at a party. But everyone in that circle knows Circe went to bed one night and another Circe was there the next day and the here Circe was gone. The here Circe also came back home so for awhile there were two Circes then the here Circe went back there. She’s there now, as far as I know.” She tore her gaze from Tor and looked at me. “She was also knocked up when she got back, by the way.”
I stared at my friend.
“More,” Tor demanded, his tone not having changed and Phoebe’s eyes shot back to him.
“I… well…” She sucked in breath then she looked at me and went on, “I don’t know the whole story and from what you said while you were making breakfast, Cora, it seems her other world is different. Maybe it’s another one. I mean, birds don’t talk to her, I don’t think. The air didn’t glitter either. Definitely. From what I heard, it was primitive, savage even. The place she went to was barren with rocks and stuff, they lived in tents and a lot went down when she was there, like, serious stuff and when I say that I mean, like, NC-17 rated stuff. She’s a queen, though, married to the king of what I think Marlene called a horde.”
“Korwahk,” Tor whispered.
I looked to him and asked, “What?”
He sat back (again taking me with him) and turned to me. “She describes Korwahk.”
“That sounds familiar,” Phoebe put in and we looked at her. “She’s, like, the Golden Queen?” she asked as if we could confirm then she shook her head and muttered, “I don’t know, something like that.”
“The Gold
en Warrior Queen of The Golden Dynasty,” Tor stated and I looked back to him to see he was looking at Phoebe. “Is she fair with golden eyes?” he asked.
“I don’t know about her eyes but yes, I think she’s blonde,” Phoebe answered.
“Honey?” I prompted Tor and his eyes came to me.
“It was reported through diplomatic dispatches while you were with me in our other world that Dax Lahn, the king of Korwahk, they are known as Dax in their language, has finally claimed his queen. She is known as the Golden Warrior Queen and it is said he’s also claimed their union begins The Golden Dynasty.”
Wow. That sounded cool.
“That sounds cool,” I said quietly but a strange flash in his eyes made me think it was anything but cool so I asked, “What?”
“It is nothing,” he muttered, turning his attention to his coffee cup and therefore I knew he was also totally lying.
So I repeated, “What?”
He took a sip and his eyes came to me. “It is nothing, my love.”
But his eyes were troubled.
I didn’t need troubled eyes. We had enough trouble.
So I repeated, sharper this time, “Tor, what?”
He held my eyes a moment then he looked to Phoebe, “She returned?”
I looked back to Phoebe to see her nod but she replied verbally too, “Yep.”
“Did she wish to return?” Tor asked.
This was an interesting question and his stress of “wish” made it more so.
Phoebe shook her head. “I don’t know, I mean, I’m not sure.”
“Do you know how she returned?” Tor went on.
Now that was an excellent question.
Phoebe shook her head again. “No, but I can ask Brianna to ask Marlene.”
“Please do so,” Tor murmured then, eyes locked on Phoebe, he finished, “Immediately.”
“Righty ho,” Phoebe whispered because my friend might be a nut but she was far from stupid but even an idiot could read Tor’s intensity. So she immediately pushed herself up, put her cup down on the coffee table then turned and then twisted to hang over the arm of the chair to grab her bag from the floor and get her phone.