“I do care for you, Brint. Very much. I’m sorry I've wasted so much time, sorrier than you'll ever know.”
Brint thought his heart was going to explode. She cared! He lifted her delicate hand to his lips and kissed it fleetingly. “We have all the time in the world, Holly.”
She gave him a brief smile. “Promise me something, will you?”
“Anything.”
“If…if anything were to…happen to me, you'd be sure to tell Mother and Father how much I loved them. You'd do that for me, wouldn’t you, Brint?”
“Holly, I won’t let anything happen to you. No matter what, I will never leave you, and I will never let you down.”
“I know, Brint, but promise me anyway.”
He didn’t like the worried look in her eyes, and he couldn’t imagine what would have her thinking such serious thoughts all of a sudden. They were in a tough spot, but nothing life threatening. Still, if it would give her comfort, he saw no reason to refuse her request. “I promise, but nothing’s going to happen, okay?”
She nodded, and her expression softened once more. “Could I ask for one more thing?”
“You’ve pretty much made me happier than I've ever been in my life. I think you can ask me for almost anything.”
“Could I…what I mean to say is…would you…would you kiss me, Brint?”
Would he kiss her? Had she really just asked him that? Holly, who would barely ask someone to pass the butter at the dinner table for fear she might be thought of as a nuisance.
Brint placed his fingers under her chin and tipped her face ever so slightly upwards. He lowered his mouth to hers. When he'd imagined this moment, and he had imagined it—more times than he could count—he'd always had his eyes closed. Wasn’t that how one kissed someone they loved? But now, he couldn't seem to look away, and she appeared to be of a similar mind, for her eyes remained wide as well. When their lips met, however, his eyes seemed to shut of their own accord. It was as if his senses had suddenly been assailed from every direction, and the only way to keep from shattering into a million bits of pure bliss was to close his eyes and surrender to the moment. Just when he thought it couldn’t get any sweeter, he felt her arms slip around his neck.
As far as first kisses went, Brint thought it fell somewhere on the scale between epic and legendary, but he had to admit that he wasn’t opposed to trying to top it sometime in the near future. For now, he contented himself with holding her close and feeling the steady thrum of her heart as it seemed to beat in time with his.
Chapter 27
“Brin? Brin, darling, wake up.” Siusan had started out with gentle nudges and progressed to shoving him as hard as she was able, but the most she achieved was getting him to snort once and roll over. All the while, he continued to dream. It wouldn’t have been a problem except that he kept calling out in his booming voice. Siusan didn’t think their hiding spot would be easily discovered, but that wouldn’t hold true if Brin kept bellowing the way he was. Finally, she went and stood beside his head, cupped her hands, and cradled a small globe of icy air between them. “Sorry, darling.” She blew softly on the globe of air and sent it straight into his ear.
The effects of her attempt to wake him were instantaneous. He bolted upright and roared deafeningly. She covered her ears and realized too late that if there was anyone within ten miles of them, they were surely made aware of the dragon’s presence. Then again, the way his roar echoed off the stone walls might have helped disguise their exact location.
He swung his head around looking wildly for whoever had attacked him in his sleep. She stood guiltily before him and shrugged her shoulders sheepishly.
“You were dreaming again,” she said, by way of explanation.
“I know, I mean, I remember, but in Tolah’s name, woman, couldn’t you think of a kinder way to wake me? You know how I feel about the cold.”
“Do not be such a baby. The cold will not kill you—it is merely unpleasant. As far as being kinder, I tried, Brin, but you are a pretty sound sleeper. What was it this time? The same?”
Brin conjured the images of the dream, trying to sort through all he had seen. “Yes, but closer, I think. It feels familiar, but I'm sure I know why.”
“You do?”
“Aesri said she was going to Maj to tell Dearra and Carly what had happened, and to bring back help. It must be Dearra’s approach that I can sense.”
“I thought you could not hear her anymore, not since you were freed from the sword, you said.”
“And so I cannot, but this is different. It's more of a feeling, an awareness.”
“Oh.” Siusan stepped away from him, moved to the edge of the cliff and looked out over the Windy Wall. This was the place that Tolah had told Brin to wait. Really, it was just a long section of cliff, made up of shelves where the sea birds came to nest. In the off-season, when the nesting site was abandoned, the wind would whistle off the sea and make an eerie, sighing, cooing noise as it blew along the rock face.
“Siusan? What is it?” Brin moved to stand beside her, but she kept her focus on the sea.
“Nothing, why would you think something is wrong?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s the way you walked away from me for no apparent reason, and now you won’t look at me. I may be a dragon, but I’ve spent enough time with Dearra to recognize when a woman is in a mood.”
“Dearra, again.” Siusan sighed.
“What does that mean? Siusan, you’re not…you couldn’t possibly be jealous, not of Dearra! Tell me you’re not.”
She turned to face him. She was jealous. Jealous of a woman who had known him longer and more closely than she could ever hope to. They shared a special bond with one another, and though Dearra was married and there was no doubt she loved her husband dearly, Siusan had always wondered if Brin wasn’t a little in love with her himself. Just the way he talked about her was enough to set Siusan’s mind spinning. She hesitated, but then nodded, one, clipped nod.
Brin’s laughter was the last thing she expected. She thought he would deny it, maybe even try to make a joke, but to out and out laugh at her admission cut her to the bone. She took a step from the cliff and let herself float toward the beach below. She heard Brin calling to her to come back, all trace of laughter gone from his voice, but she ignored his calls.
She had no warning at all. One moment she was drifting downward and the next thing she knew there was a red blur beneath her. She hit his back and almost tumbled off again, but one wing lifted in time to steady her. She could have simply jumped from his back and continued on her way, except that they were already streaking above the ocean waves, and Etrafa was growing smaller and smaller behind them. She scooched herself forward along his back until she reached his neck, and she was able to get into a more solid position. She was a little angry with him, and though she would never admit it, she wriggled around a lot more than necessary before settling in.
“Are you kidnapping me, Brin’du Drak’Tir?”
“That depends. If you are going to be stubborn and not listen to reason, then yes, I am kidnapping you. If you choose to be the mostly rational female I have come to know and love, then we are simply out for a little ocean air and sunshine. So, what will it be?”
Siusan grumbled a few choice words under her breath, which she knew he wouldn’t be able to make out over the sound of rushing air around them.
“I’m going to assume that you have agreed to be reasonable.” Brin banked right, and Siusan leaned forward and wrapped her arms tightly around him.
“Take it easy, Brin! Are you trying to drop me?”
“Never! I just like it when you hold on to me.”
“You are impossible.”
“That’s part of my charm.” Brin chuckled. “Tell me, now, why are you jealous of Dearra?”
She paused before answering, though it never occurred to her to deny her feelings. “She had you first. The way you talk about her makes me feel like I will never be able to measu
re up. I think you love her.”
“And so I do, but I don’t like to tell her that, as it goes right to her head. Siusan, she is like…like a cross between my child and my sister, though that’s a disturbing combination if you think about it too much. She is always and forever a part of me. We share my blood, and we have shared one another’s thoughts, but I never thought about her in the way you are suggesting. Until you, I never thought about anyone like that. Dragons are few and far between, you know. Cifera is the only female dragon I have encountered in my long life, and she certainly doesn’t interest me. That left people, and though I came to care for them, I would never be attracted to a person.”
“So why are you attracted to me?”
“That's a good question. Why are you attracted to me?”
Siusan had to think about that one. Physically, they were hardly compatible. She tried to think back to when she first started to feel something more for him. It had been so gradual, and at first she had mistaken it for their growing friendship. It was that, too, but there had been more. The first time she remembered feeling the flutter of attraction had been when she had stitched up his wing. Maybe it was the way he had looked at her, and she had thought she had seen her own confusion mirrored in his eyes. It had taken her forever to fall asleep that night.
“I like the way you make me feel,” she said. “I know we are an odd pair, but when I look at you, I do not see a dragon—I see you. You are strong and brave and funny. You make me feel cherished. When I kiss you, I feel it deep inside.
"I like the way you breathe when you sleep. I like the feel of your warmth. Sometimes, when you look at me, I feel like I may burst into flames. I know it is silly, but you make me wish I was a dragon.”
“There's nothing silly about that—it's very intelligent, actually. I imagine everyone would wish to be a dragon if they could. Except for me, that is. For some insane reason, I've found myself wishing to be human of late. Now that is silly, for who would desire anything like that?”
“Do you really, Brin? Want to be human?”
“Not all the time. Only when you're kissing me and I'd like to be able to kiss you back. And at night, when you lie beside me, and I long to hold you. And when you're being stubborn, and I'd like to put you over my knee. And when you're running through the forest and laughing, and I'd like to run beside you and experience your world as you see it, and…a few other times, but other than that, I am quite content to be a dragon. Don’t tell her I said any of that, though. She'd undoubtedly throw it in my face every chance she got.”
“She? She who?”
“I’m not saying her name. I don’t want you going off in a snit again. You would jump off my back, and I would have to come after you once more. It's a terrible waste of time to forever have to be chasing you down.”
“Oh, her.”
“Let’s not start that again. When you meet her, you will love her. She’s part me after all, so that’s one very big point in her favor.”
“Brin, darling, no one will ever accuse you of having low self-esteem. You think enough of yourself to make up for any bad opinions anyone might have of you.”
“To know me is to love me,” Brin said with a hearty laugh.
“I think so,” Siusan responded with a laugh of her own.
Brin’s laughter stopped abruptly, and his voice turned low and serious. “There is one other reason I wish to be human, Siusan. Someday, you will die. I do not know what happens after that. If I could be sure that your kind and mine would be joined, I would follow you into the next world. I would—”
“Stop it! You would do no such thing! We are given the time we are given, and when I leave, you will go on. That is all there is to that. You are speaking foolishly, and I do not wish to hear it.”
“But you cannot expect me to—”
“That is exactly what I expect! If Cifera has her way and you are killed, should I follow you?” Actually, that was precisely what she meant to do, but she didn’t think it would help her argument to point it out.
“Well, no but—”
“But nothing, Brin. I do not wish to talk about it anymore. If it were not for Auriel and Cifera, we would not even need to be having this conversation.”
“How do you figure that?”
“We Etrafarians used to live forever. It was not until they divided us that Rah gave us a mortal life.”
“Siusan, you cannot blame that on Cifera and certainly not on my mother. The Etrafarians chose their own path.”
“Cifera didn’t help,” she said petulantly.
“No, Cifera didn’t help, but—”
“Brin!”
“What now? Are you planning to let me complete any of my sentences today, or are you going to continue to—”
“No, Brin! Look!”
He scanned the horizon, trying to find what she was so all-fired excited about, and then he saw them, sails full and skimming the waves at full speed. One Etrafarian ship and behind her, two Maj vessels, followed by three more, flying the colors of Mirin Tor.
Chapter 28
“Tell me again,” Dearra said.
They had spent the better part of the afternoon in the clearing. Some sparks from the fire had lazily wafted their way into the darkening sky. Someone, Aesri maybe, had commented on the possibility of the sparks drawing the wrong kind of attention, but Dearra’s eyes had flashed gold, and she seemed almost eager for that possibility.
“Brin, tell me again,” Dearra repeated.
“Which part?” he asked the question, though he already knew what she'd say.
“The part where they forced my children to flee for their lives.”
“And mine!” Daniel added with a growl. Carly placed her hand on his sleeve and he patted it gently, but his angry expression remained fixed.
Brin was about to speak, but Dearra held up her hand for him to wait. “Darius!” she called out to a retreating figure. “Daniel, can you go get him again? I don’t know what he thinks he’s doing.”
Daniel nodded and set off to retrieve the man as Dearra had requested.
Brin thought he could understand. Darius wanted to go and find his little girl. Of course, he worried about Brint, too, but Tabby had always been daddy’s darling, and the thought of her out there somewhere and possibly in danger kept nagging at him to do something. It wasn’t like he could get to her any faster by taking off through the woods. No, they would take the ships to go looking to the far north, but logic tends to abandon men when it comes to their wives and daughters.
Assured that her husband would not spend the night wandering aimlessly, Dearra refocused her attention on the dragon before her.
“Oh, is it my turn, now? Sorry, Dearra. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to speak yet.”
Dearra rose from her seat by the fire and walked over to him. She placed her arms about his neck and pressed her head to his. “I’m sorry, Brin. I’m just upset. When Aesri got to Maj, Darius wanted to leave for Etrafa right away, but I could see that we were going to need some help. Thankfully, King Jaymes responded to our call for aid.”
“You mean, my sister, the queen, did,” Darius corrected as Daniel steered him back to Dearra’s side. “Don’t delude yourself on that score. That man is as irascible as ever.”
“In any event, it took longer than I would have liked, but Aesri was adamant that we had to bring enough to take Etrafa, by force, if necessary.”
“I hope it will not come to that,” Aesri said.
“I don’t know what to expect, myself” Siusan added.
Brin saw that Siusan’s eyes never left him. Dearra was still leaning against him, with one arm slung around his neck. He pulled casually away as if adjusting position. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief when Dearra sat down again, and Siusan visibly relaxed.
“What do you mean by that, Siusan? Has something happened to change the balance of power? It would be helpful to know all we can.”
“It is not that Trina is not still in control,
only that it appears her hold might be slipping. When the Great Tree fell, people were frightened. I think many of them followed where she led because they were in shock. Once that shock wore off, people started to think for themselves again. In some cases, that meant they were even more loyal to Trina and her ideas, but in others cases, people were appalled to see their friends, family, and neighbors imprisoned or threatened. It may be that we will not meet with much resistance at all. We’ll have to see, though.”
Dearra was looking at Siusan, smiling and shaking her head slightly.
“What?” Siusan asked.
“It’s so strange to hear an Etrafarian use contractions when they speak. I can’t get over it.”
“Here, now, we’re getting off topic,” Brin said. “Dearra, I’ve already told you what happened when the Great Tree fell and why Tabby, Brint, and Holly were sent off to ensure their safety. I don’t think we need to rehash that further. The first thing that needs to be done is to secure Etrafa as quickly and cleanly as possible, and then go and find the children.”
At this, Darius gave Brin a quelling look. “Maybe you can explain to me why you haven’t gone looking for them already. I'd really like to know, Brin. You were supposed to be watching them. This was just a friendly little visit, you said, and the next thing I know, Aesri shows up spouting all sorts of nonsense about prophecies, flights into the wilderness, and Rah’s plans.”
“Don’t you dare blame Brin!” Siusan said to the Breken before her. “He was wounded saving the children when the Great Tree fell. He was in no condition to help anyone. He almost died!”
“That may be so, but he looks fine, now, and that may not be the case with Tabby, Brint, and Holly.”
Siusan was so upset she was shaking, and the air stirred around her sending menacing, tiny, dust devils whirling. “Well, he isn’t fine. He cannot fly for very long, and he tires easily. He is still far too weak to go searching alone. Besides, Tolah told him to wait.”
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