Gossamer in the Darkness (Fantasyland)

I mean, there was pretty much no better name than Loren Copeland (in my opinion). That name screamed badass, vigilante rock star (again, in my opinion).

But “Apollo Ulfr” was pretty danged cool too.

And Finnie’s hubster’s name was Frey Drakkar.

That rocked as well.

What rocked more was that the dude commanded elves and…

Wait for it.

Dragons!

There were a couple of those beasts up on the craggy cliffs just north of the castle right now. The first time I saw them, I kid you not, I nearly passed out. They were mammoth, scaly, scary AF.

And insanely awesome.

As a gift from Frey and Finnie, they were going to do something after the wedding and I…could not…wait.

Update: Cora, the Gracious was from my world. Dahksahna Circe was too. As were the Winter Princess and the Lady of the House of Ulfr.

Yep.

All of them.

Although that seemed rather a coincidence, as far as they knew, we were the only ones. And Valentine kept an eye on these things. It had just been so long since anyone had traveled between worlds, she wasn’t paying as close attention as she used to, and Mom and I slid under the radar.

“She’ll also bring you letters from people you love,” Circe said, regaining my attention.

“Yeah, those are the best,” Cora noted softly.

I bet they were.

However…

“Will Valentine bring people to visit, if you pay her, of course?” I asked.

“Yes,” Circe answered. “Dad has come several times to be here for important things for the kids.”

“And my mom and dad have been here too, not loads, but our babies know their grandparents from both worlds,” Cora said, but then she warned, “We have to be really careful though. My this-world parents are around too, and we have to handle it so no one who shouldn’t sees them both together. Things could get a little freaky if people were to figure it out.”

“And dangerous,” Circe put in. “The other me lives in New Orleans. She’s hitched to the other Lahn. They’ve never visited because she never wants to return, but also because all hell could break loose.” She grinned. “I mean one Lahn is enough for any world.”

We all laughed because she told no lies with that. Her guy was a lot, and fortunately it was all good.

But…yeah.

Loren had cautioned me about that before he told me I wasn’t the only one from my world living in this one.

It had been another Loose Lips Convo where he went on for a while even though I got it.

Queens and princesses and wives of powerful Houses were from a parallel universe. If that got out, considering how magic was looked at in this world, and just how crazy it was on the whole, shizzle could get real and quick.

“Do you go home?” I queried.

Update Number Two: Mom and I had gone back.

Our trip was okay, but fast, and mostly sad. Furthermore, if Valentine wasn’t with us and she didn’t do some of her mojo, I’m not sure we would have been able to convince folks we hadn’t lost our collective minds.

But in the end, it was good-bye, and not an I’ve Decided to Be a Beach Bum in Thailand Good-bye where we were far away, but they could send emails and do Facetime and had an opportunity to visit us and get some authentic tom yum goong in the process.

It was a serious good-bye.

And those always sucked.

The women glanced at each other like they were trying to decide who was going to deliver the bad news.

It fell to Finnie, who I’d found out had been there the longest.

“First, it is really important that no one learn about that world,” she said carefully. “So going back and forth, us there or people we love here, isn’t the smartest thing to do. For any of us. Second, Loren might feel differently, but we’ve all been separated from our guys in one way or another. So, although they could come with, a total and complete absence like that, of one but especially both of us, could be noticed. It’s been decided amongst us that it’s better not to court that danger. It also must be said that it takes an extreme amount of magic to travel between worlds. Valentine is powerful. She goes back and forth like it’s nothing to her, but it is. She doesn’t have a neverending reserve of power. And she does take payment, but really, even if she hides it, she has the kindest heart you could know, and one of the fiercest. In the end, no diamond is worth the magic she expends to bring us something from home. It’s a sacrifice for her. One she makes because she cares for us and looks after us. So please, be aware of that.”

She paused there, probably because all that was important, and she needed me to acknowledge it, so I nodded to her.