Dearly Beloved - Chapter Twenty Three (Patreon)

The Dresden Files/Codex Alera is copyright Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction.

Chapter Twenty Three

It was so strange to be on the receiving end of the soul-gaze. I could see into his eyes, Harry's eyes, my eyes. It felt so familiar and strange at the same time.

His eyes, so brown with flecks of gold. Eyes of power, eyes that saw through me, into me. He gripped my hands, pulling me to him.

I saw him as a little boy, watching his father on stage performing magic. At his side, when his father died of an aneurysm. The faces of foster care-givers as he grew. The long jump competition when he first manifested his powers. The face of Justin Du Morne as he threw baseballs at his body, telling him to 'Shield! Shield! Shield!' until finally, thirteen-year-old Harry could defend himself with his magic.

Sixteen, and again DuMorne trying to enthrall him. The face of Elaine, his adopted sister, enthralled and enslaved to Justin. The face of the Leanansidhe as she granted him the power to overcome Justin. The face of his mentor and tormentor as it burned in the fire of his own making. The face of Ebenezer McCoy as Harry became an apprentice in Hog Hallow, Missouri. The face of Karrin Murphy, Molly Carpenter, Michael Carpenter, all his friends, family, and loved ones as they fled past in a dizzying stream of sight, sound, and dimension.

Harry's face settled, mouthing something to me, but what was it? What was he saying to me? He whispered in my mind, but I couldn't hear, couldn't make out what he said—just the formation of words on his lips.

Then it was over. I opened my eyes.

Nothing had changed. I was still Lara, still female. I looked up into Harry's face.

He blinked. "Ummm…"

"What?" Murphy said. "Did it work?"

"No," I said. "What's wrong?"

"I have no idea. That should have worked."

I frowned. It bothered me that he had whispered something to me, but I couldn't tell what he had been saying. "What did you whisper to me?"

"It was the tantric spell to swap us. It should have worked."

"Fuck," I said. "I guess we need to call Mab and have her do it."

Harry sighed. "Paging the Queen of Air and Darkness, Over."

A gathering whirlwind rose inside my penthouse. It blew papers around, scattered my flowers, knocked over my wine glasses. The tornado stopped, and Mab stood in my living room.

"Ugh, white furniture, people!"

Mab sniffed. "What is it, my Knight."

Harry rubbed his head. "Umm, well…"

"Mab, I'm the real Harry," I said. "Lara performed a tantric soul swap spell the other day. He stole my body, magic, and Mantle."

"What?" she said, and I heard the distant sound of thunder.

"I can explain!" Harry said. "Lara suffers from the hereditary curse of the White Court! I had suffered long enough, and when Dresden gave me the opportunity, I took advantage of it. He invited me into his mind!"

Mab nodded. "So?"

"So, he's agreed to return me to my body. Can you do what you did and put us back?"

Mab's eyes slit and faded to black. "You accused me of not doing that properly, Knight. Sexuality and all that."

"Yes, well, we just tried to swap back, and it didn't take. Can you please put us the way we should be?"

Mab walked around us. "And what do you give in return?"

I sighed. "What do you want?"

She tapped a long nail to her chin. "Hmmm…"

We stood and waited for awhile.

"My winter Lady is stubborn. I require thee to come to Arctis Tor and reason with her. I don't want her to leave the domain of Winter again. Talk some sense into her, she trusts you."

"Done," Harry said.

"Wait!" I said, "I'd be the one that would have to do that because I'd be you!"

"Oh, right," Harry said. "Sorry, not sure why I said that."

"Once again, I'm willing to talk to Molly, but she's her own person and makes her own decisions."

Mab shook her head. "You are insufferable about this 'being right,' Sir Knight."

"It's part of my charm," she said. "Okay, bargain struck." Thunder echoed in the distance.

"Okay, what do we do."

"Stand still." Mab walked around us, examining us, her eyes moving up and down.

Mab frowned.

"What?" I said.

"The other night, I was able to shift thee because ye were under the Mantle of Winter."

"Okay."

"So, the person in this vessel—" she indicated Harry. "Is still under that Mantle and can be shifted. I could put this soul in Ms. Murphy, or Mr. Raith, for example, and vice versa."

"And?"

"Your vessel has a strange smell to me. It's locked down very tight. The soul beneath cannot be relocated without the knowledge of the lock. To do so, would imperil my own soul."

"How did that happen?" I said.

"I do not know, child. It smells of brimstone, however. Have thee been consorting with demons?"

I glared at Harry. "I haven't, Queen."

Harry's face turned red. "Ah, yeah. About that."

We waited. Harry stammered a bit more.

"So, when we struck a deal with the demons, part of it was to lock you into Lara."

"What?" I said. "You just now thought to tell me that?"

"Well, I didn't realize the bond would be so strong."

"It is," Mab said, woodenly.

"She gave the demons my full name."

"She gave them Lara? Or Harry?"

"Harry blahblahblah Dresden."

She sighed. "That is unfortunate, Knight."

"Well, they didn't take me earlier because apparently, it isn't my true name."

Mab stared at both of us. "Harry. Blackstone. Copperfield. Dresden."

I winced. I did NOT want Mab to know my true name. "Yes."

"How did you know that?" Harry said.

"Apparently, the demons are out for your soul. They have put out a…oh; I don't know how to describe it. A call for your soul. We all received it a little while ago."

"That's not good."

"No, child, it is not. If they told both courts, they told others as well. You could have multitudes at your doorstep. Sidhe, Demons, Outsiders, The Fallen…they've basically put a price on your soul."

"That name no longer applies to either of us in this circumstance," I said.

"It might not have, but it does now. I suggest you come to Arctis Tor to be protected."

"But…what about our souls?"

She looked at me. "You are stuck, at least until you can get one of the demons who agreed to the bargain, to unlock you. As is Miss Murphy, in that rather sexualized form."

"Me?" Murphy said.

"Indeed. Unless you want me to put you in Harry, or Thomas."

"No!" We all said at the same time.

"So there you have it. Bargain is nullified since I can not accede thy request. Though I do wish thee woulds't come to Arctis and speak with Maalshiira."

"Can you at least give me my magic back?"

She shook her head. "Part and parcel, child. You should know that."

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "This just doesn't seem fair."

"The world is unfair. Would thou like to visit now, or later?"

"Let me get some sleep. I have another project at the moment, but I'll attend to her shortly, Queen, I promise."

"Very well." She turned to Harry. "And you, Sir Knight?"

"I think I'll just go back home."

"And wait for the demons or some other group to take you? I think not, Sir Knight. I think now is a good time to serve thy punishment as well."

She snapped her fingers, and Harry was encased in a block of ice.

"Oh, dear," Murphy said.

"I'll return him when I'm done with him. We may need to change his true name, however, and that is not done frivolously."

I nodded. "Yes, my Queen."

She looked at me. "You know, thou has the honor of being the first individual to ever leave mine service without my leave."

I shivered at that. "It wasn't my intent, Mab."

"That is the only reason you aren't encased in ice right now, child."

I shivered.

"Will there be anything else?"

"Not at the moment, Mab."

A wind arose, again scattering the paper, flowers, and what remained of my glassware. In a moment, Mab and Harry were gone."

Thomas and Murphy both looked at me.

"What?" I said.

"Are you okay?" Murphy said.

I sighed, sitting back down on the couch. Murphy sat on one side, and put her head on my shoulder. Thomas sat on the other side, and put his head on my shoulder. "Yeah."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry, Lara," Thomas said.

"Maybe you should just call me Tiffany," I said, giggling.

"Don't even," Murphy said.

"At least I didn't lose you," I said, squeezing Murphy's hand.

She turned my face to hers, kissing me softly on the lips. "And you never will."

She kissed me a little more and a little more…and…suddenly I felt a searing sensation. "Ouch!"

She pulled back. "What's wrong?"

I rubbed my lips. "It was like you were burning me!"

Sticking my tongue out, I could feel blisters rising. I got up and went to the mirror. Several blisters rose on my lip and over my tongue. I had several more on the inside of my mouth, and I winced. They were all painful.

"How did that happen?"

Thomas sighed. "True Love. Curse of the White Court."

I felt the tears then. It just wasn't fair. I went back to the sofa and put my head in my hands and wept.

Murphy came over to me, put her arms around me, and held me tight.