by Неизвестный
He was mocking her. Why shouldn't he? If anyone was shallow, it was she. Hearing her words flung back at her made her feel petty and contrite. Did she really think so little of herself? When did this happen? How did it happen? Did it even matter? Bottom line, she was alone because she believed she was unworthy of love.
Someone else. Someone else always came along because men got tired of trying to convince her of her worth. A man could walk to the ends of the Earth to prove it, but if she didn't believe deep inside herself...
Her cheeks burned with shame.
Kenrick stood, whistled for Miracle then offered her a hand up. "For what it is worth,"he said when they were eye to eye, "Catherine is beautiful, aye. But 'twas her kind heart that won my own. Were her hair chopped off and her face less fair, I would love her still."
She managed a tremulous smile. "I believe you."
He smiled back. "It is a start."
* * *
The River of Dreams. Janie watched the raging water, speechless from its magic. Crimson moonbeams reflected off the churning surface, transforming the dangerous white rapids into a frothy pink bubble bath. Were it not for several jagged-edged boulders jutting up through the froth, she would have waded in. Tepid or freezing, she could use a bath. She'd spent the last hour sweating over Myoth's next trick, not to mention her shame. So far the wicked wizard of Grimyth had yet to reappear. It only added to her misery. True to any movie or nightmare, the villain would no doubt pop up when least expected.
She rolled back her aching shoulders. "Looks like we need a boat."
"This river is charmed,"Kenrick said. He eased her from the horse to the mossy bank then dismounted. "Legend says those brave enough to dive in earn a chance to live out their dreams. Most end up tossed against the rocks. Their hearts yearn for fortune or revenge, something only for themselves. Only the pure survive the journey upstream to Locust Glen."
She blinked at the dangerous waters. "You're suggesting we swim to Locust Glen?"
"I know of no other way."He cupped her chin, urging her to meet his gaze. "Do you?"
She'd known about the troll. The booby-trapped tunnel. She'd claimed to have visions. He had every right to believe that she could foresee an alternate route, but she couldn't. In the movie, Catherine and Kenrick had only spoken of Locust Glen. They'd had no need to seek the Locust Fairy. Maybe it was a setup for the sequel. In the end though, the Locust Fairy found Catherine. I am with you always. Janie swallowed hard. "I'm not a witch."
Kenrick quirked a sad smile. "I know."
"What? How?"
He chucked her chin then stepped away to sit on a rock. "A witch would not have surrendered so easily to Myoth's trick."
"Oh, right."She let out a weary sigh. "I'm such a fool. You must despise me."
"How can I despise you when there is so much to like?"He pulled off his boots. "As I said before, I expect integrity and truth."
"But I lied--"
"You said you would help me find Catherine."He stood and walked to the river's edge. "Do you truly believe that the Locust Fairy holds the answer?"
"Yes."
"Then all is well."
She stepped beside him, eyed the raging waters and jagged rocks. "You're going to risk it, aren't you?"
He smiled at her then, that smile that melted her heart and limbs. The smile usually reserved for Catherine. "I would risk anything for love."
Janie contemplated the river and its legend. When it came to love, she'd never risked a thing. Was her motivation this moment pure? Why had she set out on this journey? At first, she'd simply wanted to escape the dungeon. But then it had become something more. She'd wanted to help reunite Kenrick and Catherine. To save the good people of the kingdom from everlasting darkness. The curse of the Black Night.
She winced, realizing her own problems paled in comparison to those of an entire kingdom. She'd been living inside a cocoon, wrapped tightly in an endless thread of insecurities. Her entire life smothered by them. Years wasted pushing others to a distance. Years wasted obsessing over her incompetence instead of recognizing the truth. She was a good person who'd been extinguished by her own Black Night.
She refused to allow others to suffer that fate.
She kicked off her shoes, held the light of the land in her mind, and dove in.
"Janie!"
Catherine. That's what she wanted to hear him say. Catherine, light of my life, welcome home. Once reunited, true love would reign and Black Night would become only legend.
Water rushed into her ears, muffling the roar of the rapids crashing against the rocks. The undertow was fierce, yet she felt no fear, only serenity. Her lips curved as she opened her eyes to an underwater world of gliding neon fish and rocking seahorses. Heart bursting with purpose, she surfaced.
Kenrick swam to her. "You are daft,"he said with a grin.
"Kenrick Bonel, I do believe that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."She grinned, then grabbed the back of his head and kissed him on the mouth. She pulled away. "Let's get Catherine."
She wasn't dashed against the rocks nor pulled under. The water became pliable as she swam. It moved with her instead of against her, as though guiding her, carrying her. With each stroke, she grew stronger. Her body felt light, even though her heart, heavy with love for Kenrick, for Catherine, for their people, for herself, could have sunk her like a stone.
Morgan and Myoth were still out there. This time she was ready.
The first hint of lavender dawn streaked the horizon. They swam until the river spilled into a large lagoon, still and calm like a lazy summer pond. They climbed out and fell to their knees in the tall grass.
Smoothing his dripping hair from his face, Kenrick turned to her. "You kissed me."
She grinned but looked down, a little shy but not embarrassed. "Yes. I must've swallowed some of the pink water."She circled her finger next to her ear.
"Not the water, Janie."He cupped her chin and brushed his lips against her cheek.
"My, my, isn't this precious?"
"Morgan,"he whispered.
They both turned. Janie sucked in a breath. Morgan was even more stunning in person. It almost hurt to look at her, but Janie could only stare.
"To think I believed you would be heartbroken over Catherine. Instead you have fallen for this nobody. Kenrick, surely you would not sacrifice the kingdom for this unexceptional creature."
This time Janie saw the trick for what it was. No longer paralyzed by her insecurities, she felt enraged. Enraged that she'd wasted all of these years living her life under illusions. Illusions that had nothing to do with reality or the warm blood pumping through her heart. Her strong, capable, worthwhile heart.
"I'm sick of illusions."She stalked up to Morgan. "I've had enough of you."
Morgan laughed. "What are you going to do about it, Plain Jane?"The name her mother used to call her.
Janie grit her teeth. "You don't have the power anymore, Morgan. I don't believe in you."
Morgan stumbled back from the sheer force of Janie's conviction. She reared back her head, screamed to the lavender sky, "Myoth!"
The weakening stars sputtered out, the winds swirled, whooshing Janie back to her apartment. Only this time she was even older. She'd fallen to the bathroom floor and called and called, but no one heard. No one found her until the rent was late.
Janie held hard and fast to the light, to the love inside of her. "It's too late, Myoth!"
Her apartment faded away. Morgan stood before her, glamorous face twisted with rage. "There's more than one weakness to skin a cat."
"Not this cat."She curled her fist and punched Morgan in her perfect snoot.
Morgan stumbled. Shocked, she fell into the River of Dreams. The calm water swelled into a powerful wave and rushed her away.
Kenrick hugged Janie. Looked down at her in pure affection. "I knew you had it in you."
She smiled. "Inspired by Catherine. Now let's go get her."
They turned and
froze. Hovering amidst foxglove and marigolds--the Locust Fairy. Shimmering green body, red pixie hair, diaphanous wings. And large, black eyes. So large and liquid that Janie could see herself in them. If only I were more like Catherine. Her breath caught in her throat. She was exactly like Catherine
"Yes,"the fairy said. "It was in you all along. You just couldn't see it."
Janie blinked at her reflection. She was beautiful. The light and love within her made her glow. Her eyes were alive. She looked away. "What of Kenrick's true love?"
Kenrick stepped forward, his warrior body straining with anticipation.
The fairy pointed behind them. Across the glen. Catherine. "She is with you always."
Kenrick kissed Janie on top of her head. "Be happy, Janie Lane."He picked a handful of wildflowers and bolted across the glen into the majestic sunrise. Toward his love. His life.
She felt ready to burst. "A happy ending. I love that."
"You helped make it possible."
"But it's only a dream, right? I'll wake up in my old life."
"That is up to you, Janie Lane."
She nodded. "It always has been."
"We are with you always,"the fairy said. Then everything went black.
* * *
"God's blood, m'lady. What have they done to you?"
Kenrick.
Janie felt gentle fingers in her choppy locks, checking for injuries. She shivered when his fingers connected with the back of her neck. Her eyes flickered open. Once again it was dark, but this time Kenrick was on the screen, his hands on Catherine. Not Janie.
"Thank goodness. You're awake."
Whose hands were on her? She looked away from the screen to the man holding her. "Thief!"She scrambled out of his hold then rushed him with a tackle. Already on his knees, he went down with a thud. "Give me back my purse! I'm not as weak as I look!"
"I see that,"he said. Then her eyes caught the man lying to their left. An unconscious man in black, her handbag clenched in his grip. She looked back to the handsome man she had tackled. His body hard muscle beneath her. He grinned, that playful gleam still in his eye. "I knew you had fire in you when I first saw you."
"You did?"
"I'm trained to know these things."
She looked back at the thief. She hadn't noticed the handcuffs at first.
"Theater reported some problems with pickpockets and purse snatchers. He won't be a problem anymore."
Catherine called from the speakers, "Take the tunnel to the right!"
Janie looked up at the screen. "Did you see--"
"Don't worry. I saw the movie already."
It had been a dream. For a moment, she'd almost thought ... hoped ...
From the dialogue, she must've been knocked out for only a minute or two. She recalled her entire adventure in vivid clarity. Then she grinned. This handsome man was no one- eyed troll. As a matter of fact, there suddenly seemed so very little to be afraid of. "Would you like to go for coffee?"
He smiled. "The station coffee is terrible. Once we get your head checked and your charges filed, I'll take you to the best midnight coffee in town."He winked. "Trained to know that too."
She didn't move from his body. She had the sudden urge to rest her head on his shoulder.
His voice rumbled in his chest. "I'm proud of the way you fought him. I knew you could do it."
She smiled. "Now I know too."
Kallaayt's Tale
by Rosemary Laurey
Rosemary Laurey is a retired special-education teacher who now spends her days writing about vampires and dragons. It's a lot more fun than phonics. Visit her website at www.rosemarylaurey.com.
"I will give what help I can, but..."
Kallaayt gave Arragh a twisted smile. "But you think me a foolish and ill-advised dragon."
Arragh shook his great head. "I think you disregard how shifting saps power and strength, and because of this may put yourself, and this human female, in danger."
Dark green eyes flashed sapphire blue. "You think me young and reckless!"
Arragh stilled Kallaayt's arm with sheathed claws. A hundred was young in dragon time, and Kallaayt had ever been prone to taking offense. "Not that. I killed two innocent human women before I brought my Myfanwy back to our world. Would you carry that on your soul?"
Kallaayt stared in shock for several long seconds. "Not you! Their own people slaughtered them!"
"And if I had never entered their land, they would still be spinning and weaving by their own firesides."
"You entered their land to bring back a fertile mate."
"Yes."A slow smile curved Arragh's wide mouth. "I did."As if on cue, Myfanwy and a group of females appeared from one of the caves in the valley. As they passed beneath the two dragons perched on the crater, the females waved. Kallaayt's dragon sight caught the smile Myfanwy flashed Arragh's way before she walked on, her swollen belly ripe with young dragon. Arragh followed her with his eyes. "A most worthy mate,"he said as if to himself.
"Gwen is equally worthy."
A dragon would have to be deaf and senseless to miss the affront in those four words. "You have chosen her. How could any one of us doubt? My question is not her worth, but her acceptance of your nature. Never forget, humans are taught to fear and despise us."
"Myfanwy does not fear you."
"Not now, but when she first saw me..."
"She was afraid?"
"Terrified! I smelled her fear from a hundred meters. They had her lashed to a tree, while her cowardly brothers fled to save their own worthless hides. She was petrified, but looked me in the eye and never flinched. Then, Kallaayt, was when I fell in love."Arragh smiled. "I wish that same joy to every unmated dragon among us, but never forget humans use tales of ravening worms to frighten their children. We are the bogeymen of their nightmares. What if your Gwen cannot accept your true nature?"
"Myfanwy did."
"Yes."Arragh nodded. "But she knew me as dragon from the first. Gwen believes you human, a wandering trader. She may take fright when you reveal yourself."
"Not Gwen. She has courage enough to accept, and loves me. Last harvest, she agreed to wait for me."
Arragh forbore to point out she'd agreed to wait for Kall the trader, not a dreaded worm of destruction. "When will you leave for her?"
"Less than a sennight. Even now I gather my wares. Marbra and the others have prepared treen to trade. Rarrp has made me fine clay vessels. Even your Myfanwy has turned shell buttons for me to carry. They all wish me success."
How could they not? The whole mountain was agog with the prospect of the first live birth after five decades. The expectation of a second fecund female was enough to turn everyone's heads--including young Kallaayt's. "I wish you and your chosen well, but ask that you not go alone."
"You think me incapable?"
Arragh sighed. Sweet Goddess preserve him from young dragons with tender egos! "Not that at all! Two minds are always better than one. Why not take your brother?"
A snort greeted that suggestion. "Kallauwn? I can find a bride by myself!"
"Bringing Gwen back is but part of your quest. Humans and their towns are changeable and unpredictable. Who knows what may have happened since you were there? Ask Kallauwn to accompany you as far as Tintawn. He can wait there. If you need him, summon him."
His words weren't rejected out of hand, but neither did Kallaayt embrace the idea. "Goddess knows what he might do while I'm gone."
"True, but I doubt it would be as disastrous as you needing him and not having him within hailing."
"You're convinced I cannot do this alone."
"No, I am not."Arragh paused. Had he ever been as touchy as Kallaayt? "But I have seen the fury mortals can unleash, and the cruelty they show to their own. I would not wish that horror on your Gwen."
Kallaayt shuddered at the thought. "As always, Arragh, you're right. I doubt I'll need his help, but he'll enjoy the jaunt."
Arragh gave Kallaayt a thump between his wing
ridges. "Take him along. Let him learn how to find a mortal mate. May the Goddess go with you, and may your Gwen prove as worthy as my Myfanwy."
* * *
Some days later, as Kallaayt sewed hides together for packs, Myfanwy approached him. She hesitated, waiting for him to acknowledge her. He'd mentioned this strange habit to Arragh. "She was taught deference and subservience to males,"he'd replied. Kallaayt shook his head then, just as he puzzled now. She was a gestating female: a creature of awe and wonder, possessing the power of procreation. He shook his head. In Llanbarra, where Gwen dwelt, females took second place to the males. How these humans mangled the Goddess's will!
He sighed inwardly and smiled at the sturdy, pale-skinned woman and her ripe belly. "How may I serve you, most-fecund Myfanwy?"
A hesitant smile curled her lips. "I would speak with you, about your chosen bride...,"she hesitated a heartbeat or two, "...if I do not intrude."
He moved a little to his right to make room for her on the grassy hillock. "How could the female who carries our next born ever intrude?"
She sat down but blushed as he cupped a hand on her rounded belly and felt the thrust of a sturdy foot, or perhaps the punch of a little clawed fist. "You nurture a fine young dragon there, Myfanwy."
"Rarrp says I have two."
Dear Goddess! Was it even possible? "And what do you think?"
"Arragh says she is never wrong in these things, so I expect I will have twins."Myfanwy smiled. "A boy and a girl, she predicts."
Could they be so blessed? Male and a female offspring together. "The day Arragh brought you to us was glorious indeed."
"And you wish to bring your own mate back to Cader Bala?"
"If the Goddess wills, yes."
"It's not the Goddess who has to leave her home and family."
The sharpness in her words more than surprised him. "You are discontented?"How could she be? She was revered, respected.
Myfanwy shook her head. "I am not foolish, Kallaayt. If I were not here, I would have been killed by my people. Of course I am content."She smoothed both hands over her belly. "Most contented. But, if Arragh had asked me if I would leave my home and live with him forever in the fire mountain in the west, I would have fled in shock. Humans do not know dragons as I do now, and I fear your chosen believes the horrors, not the truth."