Lost Wanderer Awakened - Book One of the Airendell Chronicles

by Audra Hart

  Aideen looks at Luca questioning. “Her headache must be getting worse,” Luca supplies, looking very worried. “Absorbing new information about her past lives does this to her. I was hoping that since she remembered so much of it on her own that it wouldn’t be so bad this time, but her consciousness is still firmly rooted in this life time. I guess finding you have a daughter you never knew about would strain anyone’s ability to cope.”

  “Sorry Daddy, I probably shouldn’t have told her about Magdrid putting you in the exile spell,” says Aideen. “I just have a hard time thinking of her anything but an invincible warrior goddess. I know it’s childish, but Brigid, Breena and Rinda speak of her as though she could carry the world on her shoulders like Atlas himself. I guess I just expect her to actually be able to handle anything.” Aideen shrugs at that, looking slightly smug as she does it.

  Aideen walks over the table by the door and picks up her leather bag. It looks a lot like a small gym bag, but it’s made of very soft black leather. She picks it up and heads to the bathroom. “Well, I will feel better once I have examined her myself. Does sleep help with these headaches?” she asks Luca.

  “Yes,” He replies. “I have a theory that her brain has to shut down and turn back on, much like rebooting a computer after new programs have been installed. Once she sleeps, usually four to eight hours, she seems to have a firm handle on any new information, and the headache eases considerably. I am sure she just needs to sleep.”

  Aideen nods thoughtfully, “Well, let me go make sure she’s not having a stroke or something. Then I will give her an injection to make her sleep. How does that sound?”

  Luca walks over to his daughter and gives her a hug. “It sounds very much like you are a good daughter. But I feel like I must say this in defense of your mother. She is one of the strongest, most impressive beings alive, ever. You and Brigid both saw her in the hospital after the crash. It takes a strong person just survive that, and come out of it sane, much less everything else she is having to deal with.”

  “You have grown up always knowing who you are and the power you are destined to wield as a Spell Weaver, always being surrounded by people who love you and look out for you. Your mother has been repeatedly stripped of that knowledge and had to repeatedly reabsorb it. She hasn’t always had one tenth of the love and support you have had.”

  “This is her fourteenth life. None of them have been easy. She doesn’t remember all of them. Two of them were so horrible I am grateful she doesn’t remember them at all, and I made a point of never telling you about them. So, please darling, do not dismiss these headaches as a weakness, I wonder how either of us would react in her situation.”

  Aideen looks sad and says “Daddy, I am sorry you thought I was judging Mama, I wouldn’t do that. I could never begin to imagine how anyone survives what you two have been through. Both of you have my utmost respect, my loyalty and my love. I am sorry if I said anything that made you question that Daddy.” When she finishes speaking she turns and walks toward the bathroom door.

  “Aideen. Honey, I never question your heart or what is in it,” Luca says quietly. “You are much like your mother, loyal and loving.”

  Aideen nods to acknowledge that she heard her father. Then she knocks on the bathroom door and enters without waiting for Morna to answer.

  She finds Morna is sitting on the floor with wet washcloth wiping her face. She propped up against the wall by the toilet. Aideen can smell the vomit, and is shocked to see her mother looks ashen, and very ill. Aideen helps her get up off the floor and moves her to a chair. “Mama, is it always this bad? Or can you remember?” she asks.

  “Aideen, I am not sure. Your father would know better than I.” Morna shrugs and tries to get up.

  Aideen puts her hand on her shoulder to stop her. “Mama, I am a doctor remember. I want to check you out quickly, is that okay?”

  “Sure, but I need to lie down soon. I know sleep helps, I remember that much,” Morna sighs weakly.

  Aideen gives her a mini physical and decides she is in no immediate danger. Her condition presents like a severe migraine. So she calls Luca into the bathroom to carry her mother to the bed. Once he has pulled her shoes off and settled her under the covers, Aideen asks if she would like an injection to make her sleep. By now the pain has reached crippling proportions and Morna can only nod in agreement. Aideen gives her an injection. She kisses her mother on the forehead and then leads her father back over to the table.

  “Daddy, that should put her out and keep her out for eight hours or so,” Aideen informs her father.

  He nods and then looks at his daughter. “And honey, I am sorry if I hurt your feelings earlier. Your Mama has been through hell, and all because of me. If she hadn’t killed that ancient vampire the witch wouldn’t have cursed her. Can you understand how much I love your mother? I mean really understand?” he asks.

  “No Daddy, probably not. But I am glad you do. Don’t worry about hurting my feelings… I think I was being a little flip about her headache. It’s just strange spending most of your life around people who think that your mother is this amazing, strong, wonderful woman, and yet you hardly ever get a chance to be around her. Sorry, I don’t know how to explain myself.” Aideen admits.

  Luca hugs his daughter close and says, “You don’t have to explain. It is a strange situation for all of us. And I know I get obsessive about her, and probably leave you feeling left out. I just can’t help it Aideen. Morna and I are bound for eternity.”

  Aideen‘s face takes on an indescribably intense look. “Daddy, I hope we can break the damn curse this time, I can’t take watching you chase her down again and go through all this all over again,” admits Aideen. “I really hate seeing the hell you have gone through over and over.”

  Luca thinks Aideen looks angry over what simply can’t be helped. Long ago he realized that anger only made him bitter so he has learned to just accept what it. “Morna said the same thing. Actually, she said I should change her so that I wouldn’t have to do it again. She swears that somehow, someway if she goes into another life time she will find a way to make me walk away from her. It is impossible. I will never do that. But don’t you see, she hates herself for hurting me, and you. It doesn’t matter that it is not her fault, she still blames herself. We have to break the curse. I can’t live without her, I won’t live without her little girl,” He vows. “I am done living without her.”

  “Daddy, what is she like this time?” Aideen asks.

  “Well, she’s passionate, loving, hard headed, hardworking, very intelligent, strong, and creative, she’s very drawn to kids with issues and other hopeless cases. Emotionally, she is the strongest she has ever been. And yet she is very much like she was in her original life in many ways,” This thought makes him smile.

  “And you are still very much devoted to her,” Aideen says quietly.

  Luca smiles happily and says, “That will never change, Ladybug.”

  Aideen looks very thoughtful at her father‘s words, and suddenly seems very eager to leave. “Daddy, I don’t think she is going to have an adverse reaction to the injection, so I am going to leave for now. I need to go make my rounds at the hospital. I will let Brigid know what happened. Just call us when she is feeling up to seeing anyone, okay?” asks Aideen as she stands up to leave.

  Luca stands up gives his daughter a hug and a kiss, “Thank you darling. Call me immediately if that link resumes, okay?”

  Aideen laughs, “No problem Daddy, believe me, I won’t hesitate!” she chuckles as she heads out the door.

  Luca walks over the bed to check on Morna. She’s sweating already so he pulls the covers down and crawls in bed beside her. His cold body should cool her off soon. He holds her close and listens to her talk in her sleep about all of her children. But at least the dreams don’t sound desolate as they have over the past months since she came out of the coma.

  She sleeps about two hours when she wakes up and asks for Aideen. “Aideen went
home. How is your head feeling?” he asks.

  “Better, I think. Let me go to the necessary and we will see what moving around does to it,” she suggests.

  She comes back from the bathroom a few minutes later and sits beside him on the bed. She puts her hand on his knee and he puts his hand over it and rubs gently. “Morna, what were you dreaming about right before you woke up?”

  She cringes and then tries to concentrate. “I think… I think I was dreaming about Rosa and Audrey, I am not sure. It all gets so jumbled. Sometimes I really can’t tell what is a dream and what’s a memory. Sorry.”

  “I can only imagine,” he says thoughtfully. “You should come back to bed, your daughter, the doctor, said that medication should make you sleep about eight hours,” he chuckles.

  “Oh well, medication never quite affects me like the doctors say it should,” she laughs. “I guess she thinks I am a pretty lame specimen, doesn’t she?”

  “Not at all,” Luca assures her.

  “Luca, my hearing is almost as good as yours, remember?” she cocks her head wryly at him.

  “Morna, I don’t know how to say this without making Aideen look bad, because it is not bad, it just is. Well, Aideen has had some issues over the centuries of being jealous over you,” he admits.

  “Of course she has. Her absent mother has been responsible for taking her Daddy away from her. That girl obviously adores you Luca. You have done a good job with her. I mean that, she seems very rock solid.”

  “I knew, somehow, that you would understand. Now get back into bed, and take care of yourself,” he orders.

  “I want a shower first, I feel sticky and the headache isn’t completely gone.” She leans over kisses him, caressing his neck. I’ll be back out in a bit. Oh, have you talked to the kids at home?” she asks.

  “Yes, I have. Everyone is fine. Go take care of you for a change,” he insists.

  Morna grabs a clean bra and panty set out of her suitcase and goes to the bathroom to shower. While she’s in the shower Luca calls Aideen to see if she should be awake already. “Definitely not,” says Aideen. “She should be out like a light. She must have the constitution of a damned Clydesdale,” she chuckles. Then asks, “Is her head any better?”

  “A bit. She’s showering now. Sometimes that helps. Mostly, I think she should just sleep more. Maybe I will get her something to eat while she is in there. She didn’t eat much while you were here. Anyway, thank you for looking after her earlier. Tell Brigid I don’t know when we can make it to her clinic. Apologize for me, Okay?”

  “Nothing to apologize for Daddy, I saw how sick she was. I am wondering if I shouldn‘t have insisted we take her to Brigid to run some tests.” Aideen is thoughtful, “Is it this bad for her every time?

  “I wondered about that too. But to answer your question; sometimes it is worse, sometimes not so severe. I guess it just depends on how much she can remember on her own, over time. This time she doesn’t have the luxury of time. So I think it will be very hard for her,” he worries aloud.

  “Wow! Sorry, I had no idea it‘s been so hard for her,” admits Aideen.

  “Well, she just turned the shower off. I’ll call you later,” he says.

  “Wait Daddy, Brigid and I were planning to come over at 8:00, would that be okay?”

  “It should be. It would give her eight hours to recoup her strength. She won’t need that long, but it will be nice for her not to feel rushed,” he says. “See you two at 8:00. Good bye.” Luca hangs up the phone and stares thoughtfully into nothingness. Wondering if his two girls were going to be able to come together soon enough to meet the challenges ahead.

  Morna comes out of the bathroom, wearing the new bra and panty set, (this particular set is covered in cheetah spots,) and drying her hair with a towel. “Well, the shower helped a little more. I almost feel like returning to land of living,” she jokes. Her grin disappears when she notices the pensive look on Luca’s face.

  She goes over to him quickly and kneels before him. “What’s wrong? Is everyone okay?” she asks breathlessly.

  He shakes his head to rouse himself from his worries. He caresses her face gently and says, “Yes, it was just calling Aideen. I was asking if you should be awake yet. She said you must have the constitution of a Clydesdale,” he chuckles. Then he adds, “Aideen and Brigid are coming over at 8:00. I bet Breena comes along too.”

  Morna rises up and kisses him deeply then pushes him back on to the bed, and stretches herself out, hovering over him. “Darling, don’t worry. Women are funny creatures. Aideen and I will find our way, I promise. It will be okay.” She kisses him again and says, “Guess what I remembered while I was in the shower?”

  Luca chuckles as he runs his hands up her sides from her lush hips and says, “Well out of the thousands of memories you might have had, it would be a little hard for me to guess.”

  She beams happily and says, “I remembered our first wedding! And our honeymoon in that little tent,” she giggles. And then she gets very serious. “You really don’t mind that I am so much older than I was then? And physically, I am huge compared to that life. What was I then? Maybe 4’11” or 5’? I am over a foot taller this time and probably 70 - 80 pounds heavier. I was much prettier then too,” she says quietly.

  Luca sits up, forcing her to sit face to face with him. He takes her face in his hands, “Morna, you have always been beautiful to me, in all your incarnations. But honestly, I feel more passion for you this time than I ever have. You are lusty and gorgeous. Beyond a doubt, the sexiest woman I have ever been in love with, and believe me, I have been in love with in all shapes and sizes.”

  “I’m the sexiest?” she looks doubtful. “With my gray hair, wrinkles, extra weight? Sure Luca, try again,” she jokes.

  “Morna, look me in the eyes. Hear me, believe me. I love this version of you more than I have ever loved you. You take my breath away. You are passionate, loving, generous, caring, brave, stubborn, trusting, and yes, sexy. Very, very sexy!” He kisses her passionately and rolls her over onto her back and starts trailing his ice cold lips down her neck and finally buries his face between her breasts as he kneads them with both hands. He pulls back and says hoarsely, “I better stop for now, you need to rest. I don’t want that headache coming back.”

  She reaches up and pulls him back down to her breasts, and says, “What headache? Besides, you said that sex often helps.”

  He laughs but says, “Morna, I mean it. You probably need to rest.”

  She puts her hands on both sides of his face and says, “No, all I really need is you. More than air, more than water, more than food. I can’t remember every bit of every life we have had together, but I can’t imagine I could have ever loved you more than I do right now.” Suddenly she shifts her hands to his shoulders and she flips him over onto his back with her straddled on top. She grins a very wicked little grin and leans down to kiss him.

  “Morna, how did you do that? I was resisting, and you flipped me anyway. Did you use a spell?” he asks breathlessly.

  “Nope, just me in my forty-nine year old, passion-filled body,” she brags humorously. “Seriously, I don’t know how I did it, but it’s intoxicating to be this powerful, I must admit.” Suddenly she sits bolt upright. “Uh, oh. I am seeing red around the edge of my vision. Do you know what that means?”

  “No,” Luca admits, looking a little confused.

  “It means that I am calling on my warrior persona, without even trying to. Luca, I am not sure if that’s good or bad.” She rolls off of him suddenly, and sits cross legged facing him. “Luca, I remember defeating the trolls in 1289. There were over 200 of them and just four of us, and we drove them back. They were trying to break through near Airendell in Middle-world to get to this world. But the four of us, you, me, Brian and Bronwyn, we drove them back. We destroyed sixty-two of them in the process. Twenty, that’s how many I brought down by myself!”

  She sits open mouthed for a moment. And then she says, “Brian a
nd Bronwyn are mated. They have two children. Micah and Elias, our godsons.” She smiles fondly at the memory of the boys growing up.

  Luca sits up as soon as she does. When she pauses again, he says, “What else do you remember?”

  “Memories are just rushing in like water down a hill. Let me see, Enya and Carrick are mated, no children, that I know of.”

  Then her facial expression changes again, to one of great sadness, “And we had another baby before Aideen. We called him Kylor, he died at two months of age.” She sobs harshly. “Every healer in the Guild tried to save him with every spell they could weave, but it was no use.” He takes her into his arms and she weeps the tears of the deepest loss. She kisses his face and feels the deep loss they share. And it forges their bond even stronger. The load is made bearable by the sharing of it with someone who also shares your love.

  When her tears finally stop, he lies back on the bed and brings her with him. He holds her tightly against his hard, cold body. If he still had a heart it would be breaking again with remembered loss and at the pain he knows she is having to experience as though it were fresh, as though it just happened. He holds her this way for over twenty minutes when she says, “Love me, Luca. I need you. I need us to share ourselves right now. Does that make sense?”

  “Yes it does, I feel exactly the same way,” he assures her. He shifts to hover over her. He kisses her gently, trails kisses down her neck, through the valley between her breasts. He continues to rain kisses down her belly until his hands find the tops of her panties, he slowly, gently pulls them down and off. He kisses her pubic mound, the moves up to kiss her tummy. She grasps his head between her hands and draws him up to kiss her mouth as she tries to scoot under him so he can enter her. He grasps her left leg with his right hand and hitches her thigh up onto his hip to gain easier access. He slowly, gently enters her. They quickly find a perfect rhythm and harmony that true lovers have. She moves one hand to his shoulder, and one behind his back, trying to pull him to her even closer, wanting to become one flesh with him. They whisper to each other of their deep abiding love, and profound joy they find in each other. They share the bitter loss, they heal each other’s wounds. They each suckle together at the fount of peace they find in each other’s embrace. Their bodies come together in the deepest ecstasy that only true lovers can know.