by Donna Grant
A soft hand touched his arm. Was it Danielle? Was she reaching out to him because she felt his pain? Curiosity made him open his eyes to find Mina’s hand on him.
“We’re all here for you,” she said with a bright smile.
It was too much for Gabriel. He turned his head away from her. “Please. I’m very tired.”
When the door finally closed, he opened his eyes. Hugh stood on one side of the bed and Aimery the other. “I cannot do this now.”
“You must,” Aimery said.
“I’ve told Aimery all that happened. We think the Harpy’s talons may have been poisoned in order to affect you so,” Hugh said.
Gabriel shook his head. “Does it really matter? I see how everyone looks at me,” he said more harshly than he intended.
“You will get better,” Aimery said.
“I know.” Gabriel was unable to meet either of their gazes. He was angry, angry because he shouldn’t be in a bed suffering, he should be healed already.
He took a deep and then rolled to his side. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as Aimery gave a swift shake of his head. Probably to stop Hugh from aiding him. With great effort, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up.
“I’m going to kill that Harpy myself,” Gabriel said through clenched teeth. Then he raised his gaze to Aimery. “The Shields cannot afford to have one member injured.
I am no good to them like this.”
Aimery nodded, his flaxen hair barely moving. “I know. I was waiting for you A WARRIOR’S HEART
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to understand that.”
Pride had often kept Gabriel from asking for help, but the evil surrounding Stone Crest could win if Gabriel didn’t put aside his pride for one. “Will you heal me?”
“Though I am not supposed to, I am.”
Just as the power of the Fae thundered through him, healing his injuries, Gabriel’s mind gave up one more memory long buried—of him lying on a bed, blood soaking the sheets and Aimery along with several other Fae doing their best to keep him alive.
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Chapter Fifteen
Danielle knew she should go to her own chamber, but she couldn’t seem to leave the corridor outside of Gabriel’s chamber. Everyone else had departed but Hugh. She hoped that once Hugh left, she could sneak inside and talk to Gabriel.
She desperately wanted to know what the Great Evil had said to Gabriel. Had the evil whispered to Gabriel her intent? Did Gabriel know his days were numbered? If so, then she needed to finish her deed that night and leave.
“Dark are your thoughts.”
The smooth voice startled Danielle and she spun around to find herself staring at what was possibly the most stunning man she had ever laid eyes on. His hair was so blonde it was nearly white and hung long and straight down his back. Several small, intricate plaits adorned his temple to fall over his shoulder. With the face that was perfect in symmetry and grace and manliness, she could do nothing but stare. And lose herself in his mystical blue eyes.
A smile pulled at his wide lips, as if he knew the reaction she had to him.
Danielle blinked and jerked here gaze away from him.
“My thoughts are none of your concern, sir,” she said as she tried to get herself under control.
“Ah, but they are my dear, Danielle.”
Her gaze returned to him, but this time she didn’t look in his face. He wore a tunic and pants, but the material was not common to her and the silvery white of the color was odd, almost…royal. She saw no weapon on him, but by the power radiating from him, she didn’t think he needed one.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“You may call me Aimery, though my title is Commander of the Fae army,” he said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
A breath hissed from her lungs. She took a step back and braced her hands on the wall.
His forehead puckered in a frown. “There is no need to be afraid. I will not harm you.”
But he would if he ever discovered who she had aligned herself with and just why she was at Stone Crest. With her ankle, she couldn’t run and she doubted it would do any good anyway. He was a Fae, with powers beyond her comprehension.
“What do you want with me?” she finally decided to ask.
He shrugged. “To talk for a moment.”
She licked her lips and leaned into the wall to take her weight off her injured ankle. It was swelling worse than before now. She should have taken Gabriel’s suggestion and kept it raised.
“You’re injured as well,” Aimery said, his voice as smooth as silk and as A WARRIOR’S HEART
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commanding as a king’s.
“It’s just a sprain.”
“A sprain that festers.” He suddenly knelt before her and held out his hand.
“May I see the ankle?”
She hesitated for only a moment before she lifted her skirts and raised her ankle for his inspection. His hands closed over her ankle, and even through the thick wool of her stockings, she could feel the heat of him.
His eyes closed, and he began to move his lips but no words could be heard.
Then, her body began to almost hum, as if, magic poured through her. Almost instantly the pain in her ankle ceased, and when he finally released her, she knew he had healed her sprain.
Slowly, she stood on her foot and felt not a twinge from the damaged ankle.
“Thank you.”
He bowed his head. “Think nothing of it.”
“I understand I have the Fae to thank for the cloths as well.”
He smiled. “You do not like that we have been kind?”
“It has been…awhile since anyone has been kind to me.”
His unusual blue eyes grew sad. “You are in the company of very good people.
They are risking their lives for the fate of all mankind. You could not have come to a better place.”
“I agree,” she said softly. But she wasn’t fooled. The Fae were all powerful, which meant, he must know her story was false.
“Tell me, Danielle,” he said as he held out his arm for her. “What brings you to Stone Crest?”
Danielle wanted to run away, to hide from the prying eyes of the Fae, eyes that could see deep into her soul. She took his arm instead. “I’m sure Lord Hugh has told you my story.”
“Aye, as has Gabriel. However, I would like to hear the truth from you.”
She stumbled and nearly fell to her knees, but he was quick to right her. She looked straight ahead, unsure of how to answer.
“I will be honest,” he continued. “Your mind is blocked from me. That doesn’t usually happen unless someone knows how to block a Fae, or magic was used. Which was it?”
She shook her head and stopped. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said as she looked up at him. “My mind is blocked from you?”
“Aye. The Fae have the power to read minds. It is how I keep the Shields safe from harm. Whenever I encounter someone who has blocked their minds from me I become suspicious, as I’m sure you can understand.”
She nodded slowly. “I don’t know how to block my mind from you.”
He studied her for a moment. “You are being honest.” He held out his arm once again.
“You know that as well?” she asked as she took his arm and continued walking.
“There isn’t much we can’t do.”
“But save this realm.”
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He sighed softly. “Understand, Danielle, that if it was in my power, I would battle the Great Evil myself. I would fight him from now to eternity if it meant he left this realm and others alone. However, I do not have that authority.”
“Why?”
“The Fae once dwelled on Earth. We had a great love of this place, but eventually, we had to leave.”
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br /> “Why?”
He smiled down at her as he opened her chamber door and ushered her in.
“There was a war long, long ago. We had no choice but to relinquish Earth to man.
Because we loved it so, the Fae have always looked out for this realm, as well as man.”
Danielle was riveted by the story. “It still doesn’t explain why you cannot fight.”
Aimery gestured to the chairs before the roaring fire. When she had taken a seat, he took the other. “Upon abandoning this realm, there were…rules set in place that kept us away. Most people of this realm think the Fae are nothing more than a myth, a story to tell to children at bedtime.”
“Yet you walk among them.”
“What people don’t believe, they don’t see.” He shrugged. “Though we are allowed to aide mankind, we cannot fight their battles.”
“So, you gathered together the Shields?”
“Exactly. They have kept Earth safe.”
She thought over his words for a moment. “You say you cannot fight the evil here, but you will if it comes to your realm.”
A dangerous fire lit the Fae’s blue eyes. “How I wish it would dare to step foot into our realm. The evil is not that brainless, however. He knows a direct battle between him and the Fae would only destroy him.”
“This evil, it has to know you are aiding the Shields.”
Aimery laughed, but there as no mirth in the sound. “Of course he knows. For he understands, to destroy Earth, it would destroy our realm as well.”
Danielle felt as if the wind had been sucked from her body. “What?”
“Since we once inhabited this realm, we are connected to it in ways that you could not possibly understand. The Realm of the Fae is directly linked to this realm. The Shields fight not just for this realm, but for mine as well.”
“A mighty task they have undertaken.”
“You only know half of it,” Aimery said with a sigh. “What the Shields have endured it impossible to comprehend. They are men that know they might never live through this final battle, but willingly do it to save two realms.”
Danielle found herself looking at the Shields much differently. Her mind wandered to Gabriel, it was always Gabriel.
“Gabriel cannot remember his past,” she said. “How can he give an oath to the Shields if he doesn’t know what his past holds?”
Aimery’s gaze held her prisoner for several heartbeats. “Gabriel has proven his worth time and again to the Shields. His knowledge of healing and herbs has saved each of their lives more times than I can remember. His past matters not to any of them, or to me.”
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“You hold him in high regard.”
“I hold each of the Shields in high regard, most especially the ones whose lives their missions have claimed. We’ve lost so many. I cannot lose these last remaining five.”
He looked into the fire. “Gabriel is special. I wasn’t the Fae who found him near one of our doorways, but I was called as soon as they discovered the extent of his injuries. In all honestly, I’m not sure how he lived. His will was strong, that I know.
It was almost as if he couldn’t let go of something, or something held onto him.”
Danielle blinked away the hated tears. “He does sound special.”
Aimery turned and smiled at her. “With all our magic and healing abilities, there are times Gabriel can heal what we cannot. His knowledge is unexplainable.”
But Danielle could explain it all to them, to expose Gabriel for who he really was.
Yet, she found herself not willing, not when Aimery had such great things to say about him. She was getting another look at Gabriel, one she hadn’t thought to ever hear.
“What do you think of Gabriel?”
Aimery’s question startled her. It seemed she was always startled around the Fae, never knowing what to expect from the handsome commander. “He is very loyal.”
“Loyal? Is that all you’ve gained from him during your stay here?”
“This is only my second day here, and I met him at supper just last eve. It is difficult to discover the true extent of a person in so short a time.”
“Not true,” Aimery said as he leaned back and threaded his fingers over his stomach. “You can discern a lot from a person by a simple conversation, much like we are having now.”
“If that is so, then what have you discerned from me?”
“Besides the fact that you are no commoner as you claim, that you are much, much more than that? At the very least, you are a noblewoman.”
“I had reasons for telling that lie.”
“I’m sure you did. However, once you tell one lie, you’ll find they aren’t so easy to believe anything else you say. How many other lies did you tell?”
“If I had told Hugh and the others that I was a lady, do you think he would have allowed me to stay? Nay, he would have wanted to know who my family was immediately so he could send me back.”
“You don’t give Hugh enough credit,” Aimery said sternly. “He is a good man who puts a person’s well being before anything else. He might have sent you somewhere only to get you out of Stone Crest and the dangers surrounding this castle.”
Danielle was caught. If Aimery pushed, she would have to tell him at least a partial truth or another lie. She was tired of the lies, so very tired of living the way she had. She wanted to be free of Gabriel, to be free of the revenge controlling her life.
She wanted to return home, or to what was left of her home.
“Why did you leave your home?”
Danielle turned her face to the fire with a deep sigh. She decided some truth was needed. “There was a war. I lost…someone. And I was betrayed.”
“So the revenge I see in your heart is what has kept you going?”
She nodded, not bothering to look at him.
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“My heart bleeds for your misery, Danielle, but you must know that this revenge you seek will not stop the pain within you.”
“I know, but I must carry through with it. For too long I have sought this revenge. I cannot give up now.”
A hand touched her shoulder and immediately the worries clouding her mind vanished. “Be at ease, Danielle. And know that turning away from your revenge will not be giving up, it will be living again.”
Tears burned the backs of her eyes before they fell down her cheeks. “I wish….”
“Wish what?” Aimery asked softly.
“I wish things were different.”
Aimery knelt beside her and turned her head toward him. “If you ask, I will help you in any way that I can.”
“I will not ask,” she assured him.
His kind eyes then turned hard. “But know this, Danielle, if you play any of us false, the retribution will be swift.”
She swallowed hard and decided to turn a question to him. “You think I came here to do someone harm?”
“I do. I just haven’t discovered who it is. Yet.”
She forced a smile through her tears and stood. “If you think I’ve come here to do someone harm, why give me cloths and a warm, safe place to stay? Why the kindness?”
Aimery stood, his sheer height causing her too tilt her head back to meet his gaze.
“Because deep inside you there is goodness, and if we can turn you away from your revenge, we will do whatever it takes.”
He took a step away from her and bowed. “Until later,” he said. Then vanished.
Danielle blinked. He was gone. She tentatively moved her arms over the spot Aimery had just been, but felt nothing. Her emotions were in a whirl around her.
She sank back down onto the chair and let the tears flow, tears she hadn’t shed since the day Gabriel betrayed her.
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Chapter Sixteen
Gabriel
opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Only a minor twinge of pain bothered him. Aimery’s magic had healed him. Someone had laid him back down and covered him. Most likely Hugh.
He sat up and swung his legs over the bed. Cool air brushed against his bare torso. Cautiously he poked at his rib. There was only a slight discomfort. To test his back, he held his arms out to his side and slowly lifted them over his head.