by Hazel Hunter
“What? How?” he demanded.
“The lass who came to take Cadeyrn used it.” Ruadri went to brace an arm on the mantle and stare into the flames. “I’ve said naught to Brennus about it, or how I’ve used it to come to you with my reports.”
A knock sounded on the door, and Mistress Moray came in with bowls of her porridge and two mugs of morning brew. Smiling at Ruadri, she set the meal down on the table before bobbing a curtsey and departing.
“Come and sit,” Bhaltair invited. “You can tell me everything while we eat.”
“I’ve but to tell you this.” The big man turned to face him. “I can use the portal to search for Cadeyrn.”
Bhaltair knew what the lad was about to propose. “I cannae permit it. ’Twould expose your druid training to the clan.”
“I ken that.” Ruadri closed his eyes. “I’ll go alone to find him, and send word back through the portal before I confront the famhairean.”
“But alone against them, that ’twould be…no,” he said flatly. “I’ll no’ send you to your death. Lad, how can you think of wasting the great gift we’ve bestowed on you?”
“Gift, you call it.” The shaman turned and strode over to snatch him out of his chair. “I’m a traitor to my clan. I’ve been thus my entire life. So much betrayal clings to me I wear shame like my skin.”
Was that how Ruadri thought of his sacred duty? What had Galan put in his head?
“’Tis no’ so. As you are, you still serve your clan. You watch over them, for their good as well as the good of mortal and druid kind.”
“I ken exactly what I am,” the shaman told him. “I spent my boyhood being beaten and ill-used and reviled by my own sire. He fashioned me into your creature. I’ve swallowed my disgust all this time to keep my clan safe, but it doesnae change what I am.” He lowered Bhaltair back to the chair and knelt before him. “After I’m gone the clan shall never ken what I was. Permit me end my slavery by saving my brother. I beg you.”
He’d never seen such torment as he beheld in Ruadri’s eyes. “I shall release you from your duties as Watcher.” He held up one hand. “If you shall vow to me in return that you willnae go near that portal, or by other means attempt to end your life.”
The shaman’s broad shoulders sagged. “I never thought you as cruel as my sire. ’Twas another mistake of mine.”
As Ruadri covered his eyes with one huge hand Bhaltair touched his arm. “What your father…what Galan did to you, ’twas born of grief. Losing your mother twisted his mind and darkened his heart. Only ken that the harm he inflicted on you, he did in secret. ’Tis why he insisted he alone train you, I reckon, so I and the other druids should no’ learn of it—and we never did.”
The shaman let his hand drop to stare at him. “Then how could you ken of it?”
Bhaltair silently cursed himself for stepping into a trap of his own making. “Galan spoke of it to me after I told him we had awakened your clan. He shall be made to answer for it, Ruadri.”
“But no’ while your tribe takes sanctuary with his,” the shaman said bitterly, and then turned his head and rose to his feet. He moved silently to the door, opening it quickly, and a small cloaked figure stumbled inside. “The next time you sneak about, dinnae lean against the door. That makes it creak.”
“I wasnae sneaking,” Oriana said as she tugged back her hood. “I but wished to ken if my master had finished with you.”
Bhaltair rubbed his brow. “Lass, what do you here?”
“Forgive me, Master, but I couldnae remain behind when you might need me. ’Tis much I may do to serve you and our cause.” She regarded the shaman with a far less contrite expression. “Unlike some I might name.”
Ruadri looked perplexed, while Bhaltair said quickly, “I’m touched by your willingness, my dear one, but ’tis far too dangerous now to accompany me. You must go back to the forest.”
The young druidess’s lower lip trembled. “But you vowed that I would be your acolyte. I cannae learn from you if I’m no’ at your side.”
“’Tis no’ a time for teaching, Mistress Embry,” Ruadri told her, sounding tired. “Return to my sire’s settlement. He and his tribe shall keep you safe.”
“You think I care naught for any but myself, as you do?” Oriana spat her words at him. “The famhairean tortured and murdered my beloved Gwyn. He died because you and your clan of craven bastarts turned your backs on us. My master brought you back to the world for one purpose: to battle our enemy.” She shrieked the words now, her hands balled into tight little fists. “He gave you the greatest gift any mortal could dream of so to aid you, and you ran away like cowards.”
The silence that stretched out seemed to throb like Bhaltair’s knee. He closed his eyes briefly before he said to Ruadri, “I’ll have your word, lad, and give you mine.”
The shaman nodded, and after a final long look at Oriana, left them alone.
“Come here to me, my dear one.” When Oriana trudged over to him Bhaltair took hold of her hands. “Attend me now. Your grandfather has gone, but he shall return, as will we all. Only our bodies die. Gwyn isnae lost to you. Someday a young lad will walk up to you and greet you as his granddaughter.”
All the rigid tension seemed to drain out of her. “I cannae bear this world without him, Master.”
“For now, you must,” he said firmly. “Shouting at Ruadri willnae change what happened to your grandfather. You’ve every right to be hurt, but you cannae lay the blame for it on the clan. ’Tis dangerous to call the Skaraven cowards and bastarts. They’re a proud clan, and have every reason to be so. If word of what you said reached their chieftain’s ears… Brennus would take great offense. Such a thing could cause a rift between us that I might never repair.”
“So, we must coddle them,” she said dully.
“I cherish them as our only hope,” Bhaltair reproved gently. “For all our magics and wisdom, we cannae prevail over the giants. Naught but the Skaraven can.” He took one bowl and placed it in her hands. “We shall break our fast together, and then I shall ride with you to the portal.”
“Please dinnae send me back to the Moss Dapple.” Before he could reply Oriana added, “Yesterday their headman took me aside and asked me if I could channel the mortal dead. When I told him no, he grew angry. I tried to stay away from him, but…I think he might hurt me if I dinnae give him what he desires, Master.”
Bhaltair realized this to be the true reason she’d left the settlement. Speak-seers never tried to commune with the spirits of the mortal dead, as they were always crazed and violent when dragged back from the place of their afterlife. Galan knew that, but in his grief had attempted to impose his desires on Oriana anyway. The result would do even more harm to the lass.
“’Twas good that you came to me, then.” He patted her hand. “We shall take rooms at the inn here until I make other provisions for you.”
“To be at your side restores me like naught else,” Oriana said quietly. “For you are my cherished hope, Master Flen. The greatest boon of my life has been the wisdom and guidance you’ve given me.”
Bhaltair made a dismissive gesture but couldn’t help but be pleased by her fervent admissions. He had sorely missed Cailean Lusk since his departure, but this wee lass might yet prove to be the ovate’s equal.
“Doubtless it shall help me to sleep through a night entire,” he told her. “Now, eat your porridge before it grows cold.”
Chapter Sixteen
LILY FOUND A blanket for Emeline, who had claimed the narrow pallet in the back of the kitchen. “You should take my bed. I’d be jolly good here.”
“I tried it, and it’s too soft. When I get home, I’ll have to find a barn to sleep in.” The nurse sighed as she huddled beneath the warm wool, her long black braid hanging over the pallet’s side almost to the floor. “I wish you could come back with us.”
A week ago, she would have agreed. “Sleep well, Emeline.”
From the kitchen Lily padded silently to the bed cha
mber near the front room, which had an open doorway. Through it she glanced in on Perrin, who had already fallen asleep beside her sister. Rowan opened her eyes for a moment before she gave Lily a thumbs-up.
Still on guard duty, Lily thought, and returned the gesture. She puts the sentries at Buckingham to shame.
Rowan’s devotion to her sister made Lily feel envious. No one had ever loved her like that, except perhaps her mother, but she’d been too afraid of Edgar to fight for her. Another thing her father had stolen from her.
An empty bed awaited her in the room adjoining the sisters’, but Lily still felt too restless to have a kip. She walked to stand before the largest door at the end of the hall. They’d all insisted Cadeyrn get some sleep as soon as the sun rose, and he’d finally agreed when they’d threatened to stay awake until he did.
Listening for any sound that would tell her Cadeyrn was still up, Lily felt rather foolish. She should leave him to it and try to settle down herself. Tonight, they’d set out on another long, grueling jaunt, and he’d need her to help him with the other women. They’d have to be on the lookout for the guards and the mad druids while they searched for the water that he’d promised would get them out. After everything she’d seen since coming to this time, Lily didn’t doubt it, but what would come after they reached safety still troubled her.
Sleep wasn’t what she needed.
Slipping inside, Lily stood for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. The couple who had lived in the big cottage had elected not to put windows in their bed chamber, which had been furnished with a large bed and little more. Cadeyrn lay on his side on the bed and, judging by his bare chest and arms, he’d stripped to his skin. She couldn’t quite make out his clever features, but she already knew how they looked when he slept. With his guard down and the hard lines smoothed away, he had the face of a prince. Though she ached to go to him, he was sleeping.
As I should be.
But when Lily started to turn away, the scars on her arms tingled. She glanced back at Cadeyrn and saw the ink on his arm taking on a soft blue glow. The compulsion to be with him only grew stronger, almost tugging her to the side of the bed. The closer she drew, the warmer she felt.
With him is the only place I belong now.
His golden eyes opened, but before he could speak she pressed her fingertips against his mouth. She couldn’t put what was happening into words, at least not that would make any sense, and he might send her away. Lily stepped back and took off her clothes.
Watching her, Cadeyrn propped himself on his elbow, and pulled back the linens. Once she’d climbed into bed he gathered her against him, and the feel of his body against hers made her think of a razor-edged knife sheathed in silk velvet. The moment she touched him some of his ink’s glow seeped into her hand and raced up to pulse in her scars with cool blue light.
Finally, finally.
Lily put her hand to his face, tracing the angles and curves under his skin. Her fingertips found no flaws, and when she swept her thumb over his dark brow he dragged the edge of his teeth over the heel of her hand. He kissed her wrist before grasping it, and glided his mouth along her forearm to the inner bend of her elbow. That brought her breasts against the hard muscles of his chest, and her nipples pebbled so tightly in response she gasped.
Cadeyrn looked at her naked breasts for a long moment before he rolled onto his back and lifted her over him. His strong arms shifted her up until one peak grazed his mouth, and he enveloped it.
Watching him feast on her breast aroused her almost as much as feeling the wet, hot tug of his mouth. Lily brought her knees up to his sides and worked her hand under his head, pressing him against her throbbing mound as he licked and sucked.
Between her thighs his shaft hardened and swelled, and she shamelessly rocked against him, stroking both of them as desire bloomed thick and wet between her thighs. His mouth travelled from one breast to the other, which he lavished with the same hungry attention before he released her peak and looked up at her.
In that moment Lily fell into his gaze. The room around them faded as the blue glow from their arms took on a blinding brightness. It brought them together in a way she’d never before felt, as if his battle spirit stripped away all the outer trappings of what they were. Her eyes filled with what wasn’t and yet what had always been, in the secret part of him that no one but she could see.
She gasped at what was there.
A huge castle made of immense golden stones towered in the midst of an endless desert. The air around the structure shimmered like a mirage and smelled of his heat. Shadows and light passed over the outer walls, revealing countless carvings of his eyes in the stones. The fortress stared back at her, enormous and unmovable, with only one gate built of bronze bars as thick as her body. At the base of the walls hundreds of owl-headed sentries stood, each armed with a sword and a club with a raven carved around the huge end.
Part of her understood the inexplicable sight. This was what lay inside him, this remote, guarded palace where he had always dwelled alone.
This is his fortress, but where is Cade?
Lily glanced down to see her body glowing in the hard sunlight. Although she’d never pranced about starkers, being naked here felt right. She ignored the menacing sentries and walked up to the massive gates. Looking in a narrow gap between the bars, she saw Cadeyrn standing inside, a huge sword held ready in his hands. He wore nothing but a cloak of white feathers that hung from his shoulders. Dark streaks painted on the cloak formed four words.
Bren, Ru, Ka, Tran. Across his bare chest she saw another word scrawled in dark gold: Lily.
Could this be some imagining of his heart? If it was, she suspected that she couldn’t say anything to him that would convince him to let her inside. He’d guarded this place for so long that no one and nothing could ever breech its defenses. Then she felt something on her arms, and looked down to see sprouting from her flesh the same white feathers that made Cadeyrn’s cloak. When they grew to a pair of wide, powerful wings, Lily knew what she had to do.
I’m coming, love.
She moved away from the gate, turning her back on her lover’s fortress as she walked out into the darkness.
Dinnae go, lass.
Was that what he thought she was doing? Lily turned and began to run to him, lifting her arms as she did so that the icy air streamed under them. Just before she reached the gates she jumped as high as she could, and felt her body go weightless as she soared up and over the outer wall. She laughed as she flew up, riding the air currents as if she’d done nothing else her entire existence. When she glanced down she saw Cadeyrn staring up at her, his eyes wide.
Drawing in her wings, Lily flipped and began spiraling down until she encircled him. He snatched her out of the air, holding her tightly as she enveloped him with her feathery arms. All around them the walls began to fall, dissolving into piles of dust, and the sentries gathered around them, their weapons tumbling to the ground.
Cadeyrn drew his hands down the length of her wings, and the feathers vanished, leaving her flesh bare and warmed by his touch. She reached for his cloak, pushing it off his shoulders before she twined her arms around his neck.
You don’t have to be here anymore, Lily thought, pressing close to him. Wherever you are, I’ll always come to you. I’ll storm your castles and kick down your walls and even fight my way through your owl-men if I must.
He understood her perfectly, for he drew her hand down to his heart.
Then I’m yours, my lady.
The sky above them turned to starry black silk, and the sentries bowed as the darkness descended. Lily held onto Cadeyrn as the blue light showered over them, and then they lay facing each other in the bed back at the cottage. Their bodies remained naked, and as the glow faded tears spilled from her eyes. Everything she’d seen and experienced inside him had been real. She’d flown to him, and freed him from his lonely heart—as he’d done for her.
Whatever happened, from this
moment on, they would always have each other.
Cadeyrn’s hands cradled her face as he kissed away each tear, his mouth tender. The touch of his lips made her body heat, and urgency spike. She turned, tugging him atop her and clasping him between her legs. She didn’t want to wait, she couldn’t wait another second, and then he put his hand under her bottom and lifted her to him. He came into her with one slow, aching stroke, his heavy cock filling the last of her emptiness. When he’d buried himself in her, Cadeyrn touched his brow to hers.
They didn’t need words anymore, Lily thought, feeling the ferocious need coiling in his muscles. He wanted to ravish her, hard and deep and without mercy, and it made her clench around him as her softness went liquid. When his golden eyes burned into hers, she nodded.
He uttered a low, tearing sound as he drew out of her, and then plowed back into her pussy. She felt the ridge of his cockhead dragging against her gripping hold a moment before she muffled a cry against his shoulder, and then they both lost control.
Lily’s universe contracted to the two of them, their bodies caressing and colliding as they came together again and again. He fucked her so thoroughly she felt as if he’d become part of her body, his pumping shaft pummeling and pleasuring her until she shook uncontrollably. He caught her next cry with his mouth, swallowing it as he took her with his tongue and teeth and ravenous hunger. The bed bounced beneath her back, and then he came out of her and dragged her to the edge of it, flipping her over onto her belly and jerking up her hips as he planted his feet and surged into her again.
Yes, yes. She gripped the linens with tight fists. Mate with me.
Groaning into the ticking, Lily pushed back against his heavy thrusts, impaling herself on him as he reached for her breasts, and cupped them to squeeze her peaks. She felt her bottom bouncing and her thighs growing slick with their mingled fluids, but Cadeyrn didn’t stop. He fucked Lily as if she was his universe, as if no other woman but her could please him, and realizing that pushed her over the edge.