‘I’m not in heat,’ Julius said, aware of both Zacharias and Brendon moving into defensive positions around Megan.
‘No, you’re not,’ Megan agreed. ‘I imagine your normal scent was altered by the parasite; it was alive inside you after-all, altering your body chemistry.’
‘And now I’m free and cured,’ Julius exclaimed happily.
‘That was quick,’ Yolanda remarked. ‘That’s all it takes? An hour recovery and a man is fertile?’
‘That’s the beauty of the immortal healing speed,’ Megan acknowledged.
‘So, what are you sitting around here for? Let’s go down to the village and get those people cured too.’
‘Not today, Yolanda.’
‘Why? There’s still plenty of daylight.’
‘In case you’ve forgotten, I’m not immortal,’ Megan told her. ‘We’ve been on the road all day, and I’ve used my magic repeatedly trying to help Schubert and now Julius. Besides, I was under the impression curing your friend was the first priority?’
‘But Schubert..’ she said in a tone which was almost a wail.
‘Is probably just what she needs,’ Megan finished for her firmly. ‘They know their options and are both free to make their own choices,’ she told her then went off to have a lay down.
Megan was pleased and not at all surprised when Clarice privately took her aside later on.
‘I take it you hope to become pregnant to Schubert?’ Megan asked, ‘or would you prefer to delay until he is no longer in heat and so compelling? I know you’d like to be cured, but that doesn’t mean you necessarily have to have a baby right away.’
‘I know what you’re saying but now’s my best chance. I’ve tried so many times over the years to have a family. It’s so lonely here. Taking a man in heat is my best chance to achieving that.’
‘I understand. I mean, do you have another prospective father picked out? I will be checking out your neighbours too because unfortunately it’s likely they have been affected too.’
‘I’m not having an affair with anyone and am not going to try and poach someone else’s husband. Schubert is single is he not?’
‘Yes.’
‘There you go. We can aid each other. Is there a chance I might become fertile in time to coincide with him?’
‘To be honest, I’ve not done this on a woman yet, so I don’t know the timings. A man is easy because generally speaking they are fertile all the time. I suspect the pheromones a male gives off when he’s in heat triggers a woman to be more receptive, but I’m guessing here. You were planning on telling him?’
‘You think I should? I don’t even know him.’
‘He wants children; he told me so. When his wife and son were murdered, centuries ago, he was devastated. He’s honourable, generous and has a big heart. I’m certain he’d make a wonderful father. He just needs someone to give him the chance to create a family he can lavish his love on.’
‘Why don’t you take him then?’
‘I love my Zacharias. Once he’s cured we will have a family of our own. I’m mortal; I don’t have the luxury of time like the rest of you do. Now, lay down so I can find where your problem is.’
Megan knew Clarice went into Schubert’s room later that evening and since she did not immediately come out, Megan allowed Schubert’s shield to drop.
‘Was that wise?’ Zacharias asked her.
‘Clarice wants his child. His scent is there for a biological purpose that I’ve been artificially masking. Let’s see what happens.’ Megan closed her eyes feeling the sexual summons getting stronger and stronger. Zacharias put his arms about her and she turned her passion to him, much to his amused but very eager surprise.
‘MEGAN!’
She drowsily stirred, but Zacharias sat up fast in annoyance. He jumped out of bed and went down the corridor to Schubert’s room. ‘Stop yelling my wife’s name in the middle of night,’ Zacharias snapped.
‘She’s not your wife and I need her,’ Schubert growled back, not remotely chastened.
‘Why?’ Zacharias demanded but was warned when he looked past his shoulder. ‘You should have stayed in bed.’
‘When you two are growling at each other? What’s the problem Schubert?’
‘What did you do?’
‘Schubert it’s late. What exactly do you want to know?’
‘Look at her, look at them,’ Schubert declared.
‘Clarice is sleeping; no doubt your scent and activities are responsible for that.’ Then she peered into the shadows on the other side of the bed where Schubert had pointed and realised Yolanda and Julius lay there snuggled together asleep.
‘What do you say to that?’ Schubert demanded.
‘You could have closed the door when you’d reached your preferred number of companions,’ Megan told him archly. ‘Oh, in case you hadn’t heard, Julius is now cured and so too is Clarice.’ She took a deep breath intending to say more, but Schubert’s scent seemed to reach overload in her mind at that point. ‘Zach,’ she whispered and wilted against him.
‘Give her to me,’ Schubert demanded, getting out of bed and moving closer.
‘Go to hell,’ Zacharias responded, swinging her into his arms and well aware Schubert was driven by blind lust.
‘I can give her what she needs.’
‘So can I and I am the one she actually wants,’ Zacharias told him, his eyes blazing.
‘So why hasn’t she cured you yet?’
‘One of us needs to have our thoughts out of our trousers. Concentrate on your own woman. Clarice wants your children. She’ll have healed and be fertile soon enough.’ With that he turned on his heel and left the room.
***
Megan accompanied Clarice and Yolanda into the village the following day to visit one of Clarice’s friends. It was going to take time, not for word to spread of the “infection” that made many immortals barren, but for people to dare to admit to a problem and come forward. They might know and trust Clarice but they were uncertain of whether she had been duped by a wizard purporting to have a cure to something they didn’t know was wrong with them. Immortal women didn’t usually have many children, despite their long lives. It was not uncommon for decades to pass between each child. Therefore an individual’s lack of pregnancy wasn’t necessarily obviously a potential medical problem.
Megan decided it would be better to start with the women, allow them a chance to be cured and then heal before working on the men, many of whom would doubtless go into heat. To take full advantage of that fertile cycle, the women needed time to heal and consider their options. If they preferred not to become pregnant then they could take appropriate action. Ultimately, they would now have a choice of whether to begin a family now or later.
Fortunately the village was tiny, only comprising a dozen couples, but Megan’s strength was finite; it would still take several days to treat all the women. Megan decided once she had accomplished the women, she would cure Zacharias, regardless of whether Schubert had finished his cycle. Schubert certainly seemed to have better control since meeting Clarice and she wondered whether a man calmed once he had claimed and tuned himself to one woman. Zacharias had been patient, not once demanding she hurry or put his needs first, but she’d heard him try to answer Schubert’s taunt and had felt the wave of inadequacy that had gone through his mind. Zacharias felt diminished and incomplete because of this affliction and she would make him put up with it for the least amount of time.
‘Oh, hello Bernadette,’ Clarice said answering the knock on the door. ‘What can I do for you?’ Bernadette was one of the few women clear of the parasite. She’d thought she might be barren because the affairs she’d had over the years had never resulted in a pregnancy.
‘I heard you have guests,’ Bernadette responded and breathed deeply of the scents emanating from the house. ‘Who smells so divine?’ she added and clapped her hand over her mouth that she’d uttered that out loud.
‘We have two in heat,’ Claric
e responded with a grin. ‘That’s why wizard Megan hasn’t been to the village today, she cured her man last night.’
‘Ah,’ Bernadette responded, guessing the wizard would not be sharing. Three men came into the room and she pinpointed a waning heat in the biggest man; he wasn’t the divine scent though. And “divine” didn’t appear. Oh well, the best were always snapped up quickly. Clarice moved over to the big man with a rather possessive air; yes, she’d taken advantage of his condition then. Actually his very size was a little daunting.
‘I see the gossip didn’t do your guests justice,’ she said cheerfully. ‘What’s your name?’ she asked the tall slim blonde and carefully noted his scent; immortal.
‘I’m Julius, you are Bernadette, I believe?’
‘Yes. Hello Julius. And your name?’ she asked turning to a tall muscular animus man standing a little behind. He had soft brown hair and gentle eyes.
‘Brendon, my lady.’
‘Brendon, that’s an unusual name. What form do you take Brendon?’
‘I’m a dog,’ Brendon responded, surprised an immortal lady would be interested enough to ask and also that she recognised he was animus at first glance.
‘I like dogs, always so protective and kind and you do have beautiful brown eyes.’ Then she glanced at Julius to include him again. ‘Could I interest you gentlemen in a walk?’
Schubert bit his lip, amused at Brendon’s surprise to be singled out. Her attention was divided between Julius and Brendon to the exclusion of anyone else and she tucked her arms through each man’s as she took them outside.
‘Guess my scent is about gone,’ Schubert remarked to Clarice.
‘No, but Zacharias’s scent is now stronger. Those two are both single and fertile are they not?’
‘Yes.’
‘So she chose correctly,’ Clarice said with a relieved shrug.
‘She’s not married then?’
‘She lost her husband years ago. Unfortunately there’s a shortage of single men in the area and few travellers venture down here when the road bypasses us entirely. I’m disgusted with myself that I didn’t tell her about you all myself.’
‘I wonder who she’ll choose,’ Schubert said, his gaze on the three as they walked off out of sight around the barn.
‘Both are attractive, fit and healthy men with magic. Either would suit,’ she judged critically with a shrug. ‘I think you scared her actually,’ she added and stroked the heavy bicep muscles straining his shirt tight. She breathed deeply and privately had to agree, Zacharias did smell divine. Schubert’s scent had been powerfully heady but she couldn’t remember much more now than that it had floored her. ‘Come on you, stop being so nosy,’ she chided aware he still kept an eye on the window. ‘Isn’t there anything else you’d rather be doing while we’re alone?’ That immediately captured his attention and she squealed as he grabbed her up off her feet and strode down to his bedroom.
22
When Megan returned to the village nearly a whole week had passed. It felt strange to be without Zacharias; he had barely left her side and certainly hadn’t let her out of his sight since she’d cured him and he’d gone into heat. Zacharias in heat: wow!
‘Hey, stop daydreaming,’ Yolanda intruded. ‘There’s your first patient.’
Megan eyed the man walking swiftly to meet them. She surmised he’d been keeping watch for her return.
‘Wizard Megan,’ he greeted. ‘I worried you were not returning, it’s been so long.’
‘Hello Bernard. I told you everyone’s wives needed some time to heal. My man also needed to be cured,’ she admitted. ‘His heat took longer to pass than we expected.’
‘Ah. He let it extend then did he? I expect he now needs time to recover from that, hey?’ Bernard asked shrewdly aware there might not be a man by her side at the moment, but he could scent one.
‘Let it extend?’ Megan queried. ‘Zacharias could influence his heat?’
‘If he wished to and if he had the strength. I’m surprised he let you come alone.’
‘He shattered a leg a few weeks ago; it’s still painful to walk too far. Besides, I’m sure he doesn’t really want to know how many other men I’m going to have to examine. So, I assume you want to be first?’
Bernard simply nodded and eagerly led the way back to his house. He listened to Megan’s advice on what to expect even whilst she worked to magically extract the problem. Seeing the parasite and killing it made it very real and disgusting to know what had been inside him for years and had been responsible for ruining his chance at a normal family. Now, nature could be allowed to take its course. He watched the little wizard head off to his neighbours with new hope beating strongly in his breast.
The following day, when Bernard spotted her in the village, there was a very attentive but watchful man by her side. It relieved his mind to see her protected; he was now in heat as were two of his neighbours. An unprotected or unclaimed woman drew their attention and whilst he was happy to centre all his need on his wife, he knew others who were less happily married. He sincerely hoped the strength of heat would rekindle those couple’s flagging marriages.
***
‘That’s the last villager cured,’ Megan said with weary satisfaction to Zacharias. As soon as some of the men were likely to be in heat, he’d accompanied her each day to the village. She noticed the villagers seemed reassured to see Zacharias, to know that she was neither interested in taking a village man, nor would he allow any man to behave inappropriately towards her. His presence, as a fellow immortal, helped maintain her professionalism and the villager’s respect of her as a healer.
‘Excellent. Well done sweetheart. You’ve now given them a real chance to create a family of their own,’ Zacharias said hugging her closely. The knowledge that she was probably now pregnant gave him mixed feelings of protective anxiety and joy. The happiness abounding around the village was tangible and hugely different to how it had felt on their first arrival.
They left the village centre for Clarice’s farm but stopped their horses at the bottom of the drive where they could be alone to talk.
‘Do you think it’s safe to remain here any longer?’ she asked. ‘We’ve done what we set out to achieve.’
‘We have,’ he agreed. ‘I have a feeling that we might bring down evil on these people by being here. Word of your cure will soon begin to spread.’
‘I know. I want to help others, but letting people know where to find me could also be used by our enemies.’
‘Yes,’ he said heavily.
‘What are we to do?’
‘I think we need to leave in the morning and not worry about anyone else. If you come across people that you can help, then that is fine, but to be honest, I’d rather not leave a trail of cured, talkative people for our enemies to follow.’
‘You’d prefer me not to treat other immortals?’ she asked.
‘Not at all, I’d love to be able to cure every afflicted immortal, but we will draw attention to ourselves every time you do.’
‘I suppose you’re right. Where should we go? This farm has been an ideal hideaway. I’ll be sorry to leave it, even though we’ve been so crowded. Do you know anywhere else we could stay? And what about the others, do you think they’ll head home now?’
‘We’d best ask,’ he said with a shrug and they urged their horses on again up the drive.
‘I have a question,’ Yolanda said. ‘You talked about getting married, have you decided when and where yet?’
Zacharias met Megan’s gaze then quickly moved forward to clasp her hands to his chest.
‘You were in heat Zach,’ Yolanda continued, ‘surely you want your child to have married parents from the outset?’
‘Of course. You know full well we’ve had other priorities recently.’
‘Why not have it here where everyone knows you both. Everyone should be back to normal by the end of the week; we can arrange for the ceremony to take place then.’
‘Have y
ou thought of the danger we might be bringing down on everyone just by being here?’ Zacharias asked. ‘We’ve probably already stayed longer than is wise. These people are going to talk and draw others to get Megan’s cure. Sooner rather than later, our enemies will attack again.’
‘That may be so, but if you think about it that is inevitable wherever you go. In the meantime, hardly anyone is going to be going anywhere for this coming week so you can continue resting and healing while we organise making your partnership an honest one.’
‘Meg?’ he asked softly. ‘When would you like to become my wife? Here now, or later?’ He dearly wanted to be able to call her wife, for everyone to know they had committed their future to one another.
‘I’d like to officially be your wife,’ she said quietly. ‘I think Yolanda has a point. Having our ceremony here where we have friends, sounds good to me.’
‘Oh, this is so exciting. I know who can make you a wonderful dress,’ Yolanda burbled. ‘Leave all the details to me.’
‘Thank you,’ they said in unison then grinned at one another.
23
Yolanda caught movement out the corner of her eye and straightened, absently leaning on her fork where she’d been digging potatoes. A man was walking briskly up the drive and she didn’t recognise him. He’d obviously spotted her too for he veered off the drive directly across the grass towards her. The vegetable garden was enclosed by a waist high dry-stone wall that kept most of the wildlife from stealing the vegetables and he came over to lean on it.
‘A very good afternoon to you,’ he said and held out his hand to her.
Yolanda felt obliged to walk close enough to take his hand. Her gaze travelled over him appreciatively; clean but shaggy dark hair, broad shoulders and a taut physique currently encased in drab work flannels and scuffed leather. His voice was mellow and his dark eyes very direct and compelling. She took his hand expecting a polite shake, but he tugged her closer and before she knew it, his face was in the crook of her neck breathing in her scent. She was surprised by the old fashioned intimacy of this greeting but turned her face into his neck in reply to take his scent. Ah, immortal as she’d thought. His was a delicious masculine scent like fresh pine. She was glad to note he was not one of those men in heat, nor could she detect a female on him.
Surviving Prophesy: The Immortals Page 30