Exclusive Excerpt from Magic & Mirrors
by L.M. Brown
Lucius gazed down at the still blindfolded Harry and smiled. He wondered when he had become so attached to his would-be assassin. Even though he had given his word not to bring up Harry’s profession, he had to ask the question that had been tormenting him for days.
“Harry, would you ever consider giving up your life of crime?”
Harry raised his hand towards the blindfold, but Lucius stopped him. “Leave it, you’re less jumpy when you can’t see me, or rather not see me.”
“I don’t mean to be,” Harry said. “It’s just odd to only see you in mirrors.”
“I suppose it must be. Are you going to answer my question?”
Harry sighed. “I’m not trained to do anything else. If I don’t earn my keep as an assassin, I’ll starve.”
“You could learn a trade,” Lucius suggested. “An honest one.”
He didn’t know why he was pushing the issue when it was clear that Harry was perfectly content to continue on his current path. Perhaps it was because he could see the good in the man whose bed he currently shared, and he didn’t want to see his life end on the scaffold.
While he had promised to pardon him for all his crimes, he had no doubt that without other options, Harry would soon commit more and he would come to a sticky end. That was the last thing Lucius wanted. He had got to know Harry during their journey and he liked him more than anyone else he had ever met.
“Or I could offer you a position in my kingdom, once I get it back again.”
Harry snorted. “Doing what?”
Lucius thought of Prince Aiden and Robert. It was clear that even though Robert was a commoner, he had found a place in the royal household and was respected and happy with his husband. Lucius knew better than to raise with Harry any suggestion of a similar arrangement for the two of them. It was far too soon to think of marriage. Yet the words were out of his mouth before good sense could stop them.
“We could wed.”
Lucius didn’t know what he had expected Harry’s reaction to be, especially since he hadn’t thought this through at all. He would have hoped for something better than gales of laughter.
“I mean after I escape from the mirror world and get my life back in order,” he clarified. “And I’d have to sort out the legalities regarding my other marriage, but I’m sure that can be resolved.”
Harry continued to chuckle and shake his head. He even took off the blindfold to wipe away his tears of mirth.
“It wasn’t that funny,” Lucius muttered.
“Oh it is,” Harry replied with another guffaw. “Can you even imagine the looks on the faces of your people if you announced your marriage to a man hired to assassinate you? They’d lock you away before you could rustle up a priest.”
“Well, I wouldn’t draw attention to your former career.”
“You mean my current career?”
“I know what I meant. You wouldn’t be an assassin if you married me.”
Harry sat up, dislodging Lucius from where he rested against him. “I’ll always be an assassin. My face is on wanted posters, and you know as well as I do that the ceremony wouldn’t make it past the does-anyone-object part.”
About Magic & Mirrors
When King Lucius is imprisoned in a magic mirror by an evil wizard, he is forced to watch as his life is destroyed and his kingdom brought to the brink of ruin. Trapped in his own reflection, he only has the freedom to move and talk when the wizard sleeps.
With his subjects under the dark spell of the wizard, Lucius is forced to rely on the most unlikely of heroes if he hopes to get his life back.
Harry comes from a long line of assassins and prides himself on being one of the best in the kingdom, but when he is hired to kill King Lucius he discovers that all is not as it seems in the Kingdom of Cinders.
Harry agrees to help Lucius in return for a full pardon for his crimes, but to complete his quest he may have to give up everything, including his freedom and the king he has come to love.
Available at: Amazon
About L.M. Brown
L.M. Brown is an English writer of gay romances. She believes mermen live in the undiscovered areas of the ocean. She believes life exists on other planets. She believes in fairy tales, magic, and dreams. Most of all, she believes in love.
When L.M. Brown isn’t bribing her fur babies for control of the laptop, she can usually be found with her nose in a book.
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