Bryan. She recognized his spirit.
She swung him up in her arms, around and around, until she thought he might explode with delight. Then she lowered him onto the carpet and turned back to the man, who still watched her from afar. She wondered at the distance he kept, when his spirit was so clearly a part of her own. She wondered whether if she held out her arms, he would run into them like the boy had done, but then decided to close the distance between them herself.
He dropped his eyes when she approached, but when he tried to kneel she stopped him.
“No, you don’t kneel before me,“ she said, and was pleased to hear that her voice sounded sure and true, even as her heart pounded as if she was afraid.
When she reached for him, he wrapped his arms around her without hesitation. She stretched up and buried her hands in his hair, and he kissed her as if it was the only way to complete the connection between them.
Still, something worried her. She worried about the spirit within him, the spirit that completed hers. She worried he might not see it that way.
“You’re back,” he whispered against her lips.
“Was I gone?” she asked, genuinely confused.
“Yes,” he answered. “Only worse than before. I couldn’t feel you at all. It felt like I was only breathing with one lung or …” His hands clenched and unclenched at her hips, as he struggled with the words choking in his throat. “I … I’m not certain I am fully alive without you.”
“Something was missing. I was missing. And now I am not.”
She felt relief flood his body, and his lips moved over her own, more insistent and demanding than before. This made her smile, which disrupted his kisses further, so he buried his face in her neck and seemed to try to control the emotions boiling out of him.
“I see you,” she whispered in his ear. “I see you, Hugh. You and I are one.”
“Yes,” he answered, his voice heavy with emotion. “I’ve always known it to be true.”
The child, Bryan, was flying circles around them on the carpet as if it was a wild horse. The carpet didn’t seem to mind, and the child’s giggles were infectious. No matter that she desperately wanted to feel all of Hugh, smooth skin and hard muscle against her, right at this moment; spirit practically demanded this intimacy. She was also aware of the small force of warriors, led by her mother, moving quickly in their direction. Being caught making love to one’s spiritmate moments after waking from a magical sleep might be frowned upon.
Spirit would have to be momentarily content with handholding, at least until she could beg fatigue and get Hugh behind closed doors.
Though had she known how long that was going to take, she might have opted for option one. The stone hadn’t looked all that hard and the child was easily distracted.
∞
Her mother kept touching her like she was reassuring herself that Theo was actually there, and, although it was true she wished she could run screaming away from all the meetings and planning and appearances, Theo was glad every time she felt her mother’s light touch on her shoulder or hair, because no one, besides Hugh and Bryan, ever voluntarily touched her, let alone stepped into the same room or hall as her. She scared everyone, even Dougal and especially Ren.
They called her Spirit Binder.
She wasn’t going to mention all the other things she could actually do, so she didn’t fight the title. Not much at least.
Dougal, who was setting up a new system of government with her mother’s blessing, worshipped her to the point where she actually had a hard time talking to him. She hoped she did something to disappoint him soon, just so he’d ease off.
She thought a government selected by the people to help run their daily lives was a brilliant outcome from the Aerie Rising, as it became known. Her mother would still oversee spiritual matters, though it had taken a lengthy argument from Theo to stop her from stepping down.
Unfortunately, Dougal also wanted Theo to be involved. He wanted the people to have access to her “wisdom” and “spirit”. Hugh had to choke back a laugh at this pronouncement, but didn’t look so happy when he found out he was also expected to hear and judge petitions that couldn’t be handled by the other two governing bodies.
When people started talking too much, but Hugh was still occupied, Theo found her eyes and thoughts wandering to Ren, who often stood as far from her as possible and never met her eye. His fear of her was the only sadness she carried with her, and though it pained her to do so, she suggested that Dougal find an occupation for him that allowed Ren space from her … perhaps his fear would ease as time passed. As Dougal pointed out when he handed his position as Chief of the Cascadian Guard over to Ren, he was a valuable asset, but it was the friend she missed the most.
∞
Time passed. Life continued.
She kept feeling as if there was some sort of revelation or epiphany she should have discovered or uncovered. That there was some sort of knowledge, some greater understanding, she was now supposed to impart to the world, but all she had was everything that made her. She certainly didn’t understand how everything worked, or even how to make this a perfect world with a single proclamation or spiritual gesture.
∞
Challenges were presented and overcome. There were lasting ramifications to her manipulation of spirit in the Aerie Rising, but then there were always rough edges to smooth.
They did their best.
She and Hugh formalized their bond. People came from all across Cascadia to witness their wedding. They adopted Bryan and his little sister, Rose. Soon, there were other children who’d lost their parents and needed their protection, because of her actions at Aerie Ridge. She and Hugh accepted the responsibility willingly.
Ren and Peony married, to no one’s surprise; their bond had been unshakable since she’d healed him on the battlefield. So, she lost two friends because of her actions, and though she missed them, she still could not regret it at all.
She left the blood sword sealed in the tower. Part of her knew she should destroy it, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do so … it had a further part to play, though she didn’t know how any good could come from such a thing.
She never remembered the futures she’d seen stretched out before her during the three months of her Great Sleep, but as she curled next to Hugh every evening and met his eyes when they woke every morn, she was fairly certain she was living the life she was meant to live.
For Michael
without whom there would be no magic
With thanks to:
My story editors
Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Ita Margalit, & David Spencer
My Beta & Proof Readers
Clare Hodge, Kelly Sarmiento, & Heather Doidge-Sidhu
For their continual encouragement, feedback, and general advice
Eric Finkel, Karen Lam, & Michelle Demers (& Michelle’s book, The Global Indie Author)
For her Art
Irene Langholm
And, of course, my friends and family, who put up with endless hours of rambling plot outlines, outraged dialogue/character dissection & generally crazy dreams. At least I bake. A lot.
Meghan Ciana Doidge is an award-winning writer based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She has a penchant for bloody love stories, superheroes, and the supernatural. She also has a bit of a thing for chocolate, potatoes, and sock yarn.
SPIRIT BINDER is Meghan’s second novel.
Novels
After The Virus
Spirit Binder
Time Walker (Fall 2012)
Novellas
Love Lies Bleeding (Summer 2012)
Connect with Meghan on:
her personal blog, www.madebymeghan.ca
Twitter, @mcdoidge
Facebook, MeghanCianaDoidge
SPIRIT BINDER
Copyright © 2012 Meghan Ciana Doidge
Published by Old Man in the CrossWalk Productions 2012
; Vancouver, BC, Canada
www.oldmaninthecrosswalk.com
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be produced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, objects, and incidents herein are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual things, events, locales, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Library and Archives Canada
Doidge, Meghan Ciana, 1973 —
Spirit Binder/Meghan Ciana Doidge — Kobo ePub
Cover image & design by Irene Langholm
Model/Makeup by Kahina Spirit
Original Photo by Teresa Baliño
ISBN 978-0-9876851-9-3
Spirit Binder Page 21