by D. E. Morris
“And the wedding is still on?” questioned Ashlynn.
“Of course it is! Lynnie, I fell in love with him before he was cured. I know what he looked like and what he may continue to look like. That never mattered to me.”
Ashlynn gave a half smile. “I know that, and I know you better than to think you would postpone your wedding because the look of your beloved has changed. What concerns me is his temper.”
“Tasarin will heal him.” Kenayde spoke with such certainty that it seemed as though the subject were closed. The look on Ashlynn's face said differently, causing the younger sister to stare at her as though to challenge defiance. “Tasarin will heal him, Ashlynn.”
“He will,” Ashlynn agreed demurely. She cast a look at her husband before taking Kenayde's arm and rubbing it. “Shall we get started on today's tasks then?”
“I'll check in with Cailin and the others,” offered Jaryn. Ashlynn gave him a grateful nod, then left the room with her sister. Alone, Jaryn let out a low whistle before heading out himself to begin his own duties.
Over the next few days, Altaine began to fill with guests coming in for the wedding. Jaryn was content to see to the usual tasks of running a kingdom while the women spent their time with wedding preparations. It was fun for him to greet the men and women who streamed in each day and to hear stories from lesser kingdoms within Siness and beyond as travelers from other nations arrived. His days were spent in merriment for the simple fact that he enjoyed being around so many people, all together for the sole purpose of celebration. It didn't take long, however, for even Jaryn to need a break from constant companionship and seek refuge in his private library.
The cold snap had broken and once more, the breeze that danced by his window held the promise of warmth. He stood with his face turned out to the sun, warmed by the sounds of voices drifting in from outside, but even more pleased that none of them would be able to spoil his time alone. He watched people walking below, ladies arm in arm with one another or walking close with a man and giggling together. It seemed that even the animals within the castle were welcoming the chance to be outside in the warmer weather. One of the many dogs about had gotten off his leash and was running down the length of the parapet, long ears flapping against his skull with the joy of a puppy on his face. An unhappy cat leaped out of the way and scrambled up the wall, perching itself there to watch with an indignant twitch of its tail. Jaryn laughed quietly, enjoying the show. It seemed, however, that the excitement was quick to pass. With little else to hold his attention, Jaryn began to turn for his desk.
Below, Misuzu seemed to appear from out of nowhere and wrap her hands around the cat. The black and white ball of fur hissed and scratched, but she was unrelenting in her grip on the animal. Once the cat was secured in her arms, she turned for the inside and disappeared from Jaryn's view all together. He stood at the window a moment longer, his brows drawn together in utter confusion. Whatever the cat had done to slight her, it appeared the castle would soon have one less rodent catcher if the anger on her face was any indication.
Only a few minutes later, his door opened, pulling him from his thoughts, and a guard announced Misuzu. Jaryn turned with a grin and a shake of his head. “If you've come for a hearing for your cat...” His smart quip faded on his lips when he saw the man Misuzu led into the room. He was a little shorter than she was, stocky and with long gray hair and a beard. His slanted eyes were only slightly different from Misuzu's, and there was anger in his expression that not even his wrinkles could hide. “Bakeneko,” Jaryn breathed. “Your natural form is that of a cat. How very clever.”
“This is my father,” Misuzu explained lowly, “Hideo. Father, this is High King Jaryn MacKeamish.”
“So the dragon hunter arrives.” Jaryn's shoulders squared and he looked past them, nodding to his guards. They closed the doors behind Hideo, leaving the three of them alone. “We were beginning to wonder if you were ever going to show yourself. Please.” He extended a hand in the direction of a couple of lounging couches and chairs that surrounded a table cluttered with books and papers. As he sat down himself, he fixed Hideo with an unreadable expression. “Welcome to Castle Altaine. I will assume you are here to petition my wife about the dragons and the Gaels, and nothing else.” He offered Misuzu and Hideo a decanter filled with a dark gold liquid. “Try some of this citrus spiced mead from southern Siness. It's delicious.”
Misuzu sat and allowed Jaryn to pour her some, but Hideo silently declined. She took a drink of her mead, quickly flinching back. “Oh my. That certainly is different.”
“It's an acquired taste,” Jaryn laughed. He took a healthy sip of his own, enjoying the cinnamon and orange on his tongue. “More of an autumn drink, I suppose, but still good none the less.” He glanced at Hideo. “You'll excuse me for not rushing to have my wife summoned. She is helping her sister prepare for her upcoming nuptials and is busy doing what she does best, and that is charming every person she meets. Important business, that.”
“I saw you out there as well,” Misuzu countered, feeding off of Jaryn's casual air and trying to adopt one herself. “Don't pretend you aren't as endearing as she is.”
“How could I lie like that when everyone knows just how likeable I am?” The two shared a laugh, but when Jaryn glanced at Hideo and saw no humor on the man's face, he cleared his throat and sobered some. “Most of it is for show, I think. Ashlynn wants to show them a strong and rich face in a time when it seems the world is struggling to break free of the dark and dreary.”
“It is unwise to flaunt meat in front of a starving man.”
Both Misuzu and Jaryn looked at Hideo, his quiet proverb hanging unexpectedly in the air. “That's not exactly what we are doing,” Jaryn argued in good humor. “Trust me when I say that every move Ashlynn makes is strategic, and that every possible outcome has been carefully thought through.”
Hideo made a sound like a huff, and Jaryn cleared his throat. “Right, then. Shall we discuss why you are here, Hideo? Your daughter tells us you have some concerns you wish to have made known and that you think we may be able to do something about them.”
“Strange things have been happening all over the world,” Hideo grunted. “There have been many more dragons spotted across the eastern countries.”
Jaryn's brows rose to show his interest. “Really? Dragons or Gaels?”
“What is the difference but that one can disguise themselves as a human when one cannot? Both have wild and unpredictable tendencies that must be mastered and controlled.”
The venom in the older man's quiet voice shocked Jaryn. “How can you say that when-” Misuzu dropped her glass and bent to retrieve it with a quiet exclamation. As she did so, she subtly brushed her fingers against Jaryn's ankle, her voice searing through his brain like a branding iron.
He does not know about me or my mother. Please speak delicately.
Jaryn hissed and covered his forehead with his palm.
“Are you all right?” asked Misuzu as she straightened.
He nodded slowly, his eyes pinched closed. “Fine. Just a headache. Probably too much mead.” Taking a few slow, deep breaths, he was able to lower his hand and open his eyes to look directly at Hideo, anger rippling beneath his pained expression. “How can you say that about Gaels when the high queen of this country, my wife, is one?”
“They cannot be allowed to continue to procreate at the rate which has been seen in recent months. I make no apologies for my opinions.”
“I would never ask anyone to apologize for their opinions,” returned Jaryn, his voice deepening with command, “but I will not allow you to disrespect those that I love who have the Gaelic blood in them, especially Ashlynn - not here in her own home.”
Hideo tilted his head, fixing his brazen stare as if to challenge Jaryn, unintimidated. “Have you any idea what is happening outside the pretty walls of your castle, with its fine trappings and high gates? More Gaels are turning feral, choosing to leave their humanity behind for th
e perceived freedom of being dragon and dragon alone. They are losing all sense of morality and dignity. They are worse than beasts because they have known the human will and therefore will not bow to it. In Takashiri, my homeland, their numbers have become so great that our leaders have begun to organize a holiday for hunting.”
Jaryn's stomach turned, and Misuzu's jaw went slack as she looked at her father. “You didn't tell me it was an organized event! Father, have you any idea what the Celts have gone through? Have you not heard of the slaughter at Dragonspire Mountains? The Red King all but paid men to hunt and kill as many dragons on that island as they could find while he took home more than his fair share of hides as well. They destroyed every dragon and egg they came across. It nearly endangered them.”
“Of course I know all of that,” Hideo barked. “Would that Tadhg had wiped that abhorrent race from this earth back then! Close your mouth, daughter. Your heart is too soft, and it is clear this man has not the stomach for it either. Only listen closely: this problem will spread until dragons and feral Gaels outnumber the birds in the sky. Then it will no longer be a problem a few hunting parties can fix.” Hideo returned his attention to Jaryn. “The elves have long since renounced their support of Gaels and dragons, and have even gone so far as to come close to banning them from Mirasean all together. Your country has done the complete opposite! You must make your queen see the danger in this. She is a Gael and therefore, it should be up to her to control these creatures.”
The anger Jaryn had been trying not to give into was poorly hidden. His fists were clenched and his brows drawn low over his eyes. When he spoke, he pointed an accusing finger at the older man. “I adore your daughter and think of her as family, and it is for that reason and that reason alone that I will not say the words my tongue so desperately wants to condemn you with. What I will say is that you have so far crossed the line that it is within my every right to throw you out of my kingdom entirely.”
“Your kingdom?” Hideo's eyes narrowed in feigned confusion. “According to rumors, it is your wife who wears the heaviest crown and you are the one who carries the train of her gown.”
“Father!”
Jaryn was on his feet, teeth bared. “Get out.”
Hideo rose as well, slowly and much more collected than Jaryn. “Do not believe for an instant that you are safe simply because you rest on the middle of a mountain. The dragons will come here one way or another. What will become of your precious castle then? What will become of your wife and family when the Gaels can no longer be controlled?”
Before Misuzu had a chance to react, Jaryn covered the distance between himself and Hideo, taking him by the front of his robes and jerking him across the room. The moment he bellowed, “Guards!” the doors flew open. Jaryn shoved Hideo at the waiting men and stared him down with a burning glare. “Make sure he is on the first ship out of Siness. I don't care where it's sailing, as long as it is out of my kingdom. Have Cailin escort him away from Altaine so she knows his face well enough to stop him, should he try to enter again. Remind her that he is a shape shifter as well.” Once more, he pointed at Hideo. “Never set foot in Siness again as long as I live, or so help me...”
The two guards pushed Hideo into the hall and closed the doors behind them. Misuzu hadn't moved from her seat, shaken and with all color drained from her face. As soon as Jaryn turned toward her, she clasped her hands together before her and bowed her head deeply. “Jaryn, I am so sorry! This was why I wanted to stop him from coming here.”
“It's all right, Misuzu.” There was anger on Jaryn's face and a vein still throbbed in his neck, but he touched Misuzu's folded hands and gently pushed them down into her lap. “You have nothing to apologize for. He is a grown man and capable of taking responsibility for his own words and actions.” Unable to sit or be still just yet, Jaryn paced the length of the room, turning back when he reached the wall. “I have known men in my time who harbored distaste for Gaels and dragons, but nothing to the level I just witnessed, save Tadhg himself.”
“I knew he wasn't fond of them, I just never knew it was as bad as that.”
“And to threaten my family so boldly?”
“I am so embarrassed.”
“Don't be.” The sadness in her voice pulled Jaryn from his anger and calmed him enough to return to where she sat. “I understand why you didn't want him to know about you or Mei Xing.” He shook his head. “Why would she ever choose that man for a partner?”
“I will never know the answer to that question myself.” Misuzu poured herself more mead and took another sip, taking more of the liquid into her mouth this time, despite her initial disgust. She coughed and gave her head a hard shake before setting her now empty cup down. “When my father was younger, before he met my mother, he had been married and already had a family. One day he was away from his village; he and some of the other men went to fish once the ice had broken from the long winter. The village was attacked by a dragon and her young offspring, no doubt starving, who killed many. They were eventually brought down, killed, and found to be feral Gaels, but my father's family did not survive the attack. He has harbored great anger and resentment toward all drags ever since.”
Jaryn's anger pulsed low in his veins now, and he frowned. “That is a sad story and I do not take joy in his loss, but that does not give him an excuse or the right to speak to me the way he did.”
“Absolutely not.” Misuzu smiled sadly. “I can never tell him what my mother was or what I am now. I fear he will look on me with the same loathing as all others of my kind.”
He sighed and fell back in his seat. “How real is this threat from Takashiri? Is there any credence to his story of the increase in numbers of Gaels and drags?”
With a shake of her head, Misuzu answered, “I can only guess. My visits to Takashiri have been few and far between since my birth. Even reuniting with my father only took me there for a very brief time. It did seem the mountains had more dragons flying around them than usual, but I didn't see so many that I thought it was odd or concerning.”
Jaryn was silent a moment, no longer slouching in his seat. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and rubbed a hand over his beard. “What worries me is that they may not be dragons at all - may not even be Gaels.”
“You think they may be demons?”
“I don't know. We learned last year that they can change their shape and form as Gaels do, so it would hardly be a surprise to learn they've been able to disguise themselves as normal dragons as well as humans.”
The statement made Misuzu twist a ring on her finger, her forehead wrinkling. “If it has come to that, then how would we know if anyone is who they say they are?”
“Therein lies the problem, doesn't it?” It wasn't something he had really given any thought to until now, yet Misuzu's simple question sent thousands more racing through his mind. Really, how were any of them supposed to be able to trust anyone anymore? In truth, how could he know those he loved dearest weren't just dark shadows in disguise? Rational thinking told him he would know beyond any doubt, but fear made him wonder. Fear made him question a great many things in a matter of seconds, when he knew it was his faith and trust in the Giver that should be leading him.
“Ashlynn and I tried to meet several times,” said Misuzu after a long moment, “but I was constantly on the look out for my father and we found little time to speak. I have not yet heard the whole story of what happened last year. Will you tell me?”
Jaryn took a deep breath in. “I'm not even sure where to begin.”
“How about with Nealie's death? Was it Jessiah?”
“He called himself Jessiah, yes, but the boy who would have grown up to be the real Jessiah died some time ago. This demon was on a quest to gather the blood of all six Elementals, the reason for which we are all very much in the dark, and some sort of a book.”
“A book?”
Jaryn shrugged. “That's all we know. Well, and that he was doing it all at the bidding o
f his master. Ashlynn believes that to be Merrik since his body was never recovered after the war, however, she entertains the idea of Tadhg still calling the shots from the depths, as well as some much darker theories.”
“There are theories darker than a dead man controlling demons?”
“Aren't there always?” He frowned, thinking of what else to tell her. “While we were in Caedia, Ashlynn and Tasarin found all of Tadhg's old conquest maps and we've since come to the conclusion that he may have been looking for the missing six Elementals just as Nir and Siobhàn were. Ah, and then there happens to be that strange sound no one understands, so that's another fun mystery.”
“I question your definition of fun.”
There were so many things that had happened since they'd last seen Misuzu, and most of them were heavy and hard to relive even in memories. He could tell her of so many different moments where something terrible happened, but instead, he chose something positive to share. “Did you hear Cavalon got married?”
Misuzu's dark mood immediately lifted. She took in a happy gasp of air and a grin split her face. “I did not! Do I know her?”
“You do, actually.” It was hard not to smile back at Misuzu, her energy suddenly so light. “He went back to Braemar with Nuala after the war, hoping to help her while she mourned the loss of Nóe, and through that process, he fell in love.”
“With Nuala?!”
“Aye,” Jaryn laughed, “with Nuala. He is also helping her raise Lucien, her son. She was pregnant with Nóe's child when he was killed.”
Misuzu covered her mouth with a hand. “How terrible, and how lucky for her that when a Phoenix is reborn, they are knit back together as whole as when they burned to ashes and with no injury. I remember her burning up in Cavalon's arms; she could have lost her baby.” Still, she smiled. “I am so happy for both of them. While I didn't get to know Nuala very well, she seemed like such a sweet person.”