The Dragon's Stolen Mate: A Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance

by Jade White

  Eleri colored at the memory. It had been a wonderful night, and now they would have many more together. It was almost too good to be true. “Still, let me bring you to the point,” Ceridwen continued. “I know you were the one who pushed to free the imprisoned spirit rather than slay him as Carwin would have done, and I owe you a debt of gratitude. Is there any gift I can offer you? Unfortunately, I cannot bring your father back from the dead, but I dislike being in debt to a mortal, however deserving. I would like to make things even between us.”

  It was hard to think of anything she might want when all of her wildest dreams had already come true, but it wasn’t every day that a goddess owed you a favor. She considered for several moments before an idea, a crazy idea, popped into her head. “There is one thing...”Epilogue

  Celyn had only been an initiate at the Temple of Arianrhod for a few weeks, and he still wasn’t sure that he liked it. It was better than being left to starve on the streets after his mother had died, but it was boring. There were a lot of rules, and he wasn’t even sure he believed in the gods, anyway.

  They’d never done anything to help him. He pulled another weed out of the soil with a practiced twisting yank, and something, a sound or a feeling, made him look up at the sky. Two dragons soared overhead, so low he fancied he could almost reach up and touch them. One had scales of glittering emerald and gold, and the other was crimson and silver. The passed over him with a rush of wind, and then they were gone. It took him a moment to come to his senses, and then he ran for the temple, shouting.

  “What’s all this commotion?” asked the druid at the gate, frowning as he prepared to scold the boy. Celyn didn’t know him well, but he knew that Bryn was senior enough to know what to do and kind enough to take him seriously.

  “Dragons! I saw two dragons flying to the temple,” he said breathlessly. “We have to warn somebody.”

  “Oh.” Bryn smiled then, and Celyn scowled. He had been so sure Bryn would believe him, but he should have remembered that adults never took children seriously. “I know,” Bryn continued.

  “They’re friends of the archdruid. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to meet them later. Go on and finish the weeding.” Celyn gaped at the young man in wordless disbelief, and he gave the boy a little shove to the shoulder. “If you don’t get your chores done, you’ll never get to see a dragon. Of that, I can assure you.”

  Later that evening, Celyn came back in, sore and tired from work and sunshine, but feeling proud of himself for what he’d accomplished. Bryn had complimented his work and had told him, with a friendly wink, that he’d ask the archdruid to introduce him to their guests if he could.

  After bathing his hands and face, he went into the common room for dinner. That night, it was a little fancier than usual, with little pies filled with sweet fruit and tart cheese, and brown bread slathered with honey.

  Celyn looked around for any sign of dragons, but the only unfamiliar thing he saw was an elderly man and woman sitting next to the archdruid. They were smiling and laughing together, their hands clasped tightly. Though he wasn’t old enough to appreciate that sort of love, it still struck a chord in his heart. There was something beautiful about them both, despite the gray hair and lined faces. The man had eyes the color of a holly leaf, his own namesake, and the woman had long silver hair and a kind, loving face.

  As he finished his meal and stood to take his plate to the kitchen, someone grabbed his arm. It was Bryn. “I believe I promised you an introduction.” Celyn grinned, not quite able to believe what was happening, and then found himself standing in front of the old man and woman he had noticed before.

  “This is the initiate I told you about. He saw you fly in, and I think he thought you were going to burn the temple down.” The druid grinned down at Celyn. “I’d like you to meet my grandparents, Lord Carwin and Lady Eleri of Castelldraig.”

  “What are you telling people about us, you rascal?” Carwin said jovially. “I thought you would be bragging about your famous grandfather from here to Ireland.” Celyn gaped. He felt like his eyes might pop out of his head. Bryn had a famous grandfather who was a dragon? He shook his head incredulously. They must be playing a joke on him.

  “Now look, you two. He thinks we’re teasing him,” the woman, Lady Eleri, said. “We aren’t so impressive to look at, are we, young man?” she added with a knowing grin. “I suppose Rhian doesn’t even tell our story anymore.”

  Now the archdruid looked somewhat abashed, and Celyn was astounded. He’d never seen her be anything but elegantly serene. “It has been a while, and the boy has only been with us a few weeks. Besides, I thought you wanted to keep a low profile from now on. Bryn told me you wanted to retire. Isn’t that why you’re here?”

  “We are going to step away from the limelight a bit,” the green-eyed lord replied. “Briallen and her husband are doing a fine job managing our lands in Gwynedd, and I’m sure you know that the twins have been down in Aberderwen with Eleri’s sister.”

  “Even our grandchildren are growing up,” the smiling woman added, beaming at Bryn. “But we weren’t planning on fading quietly into the sunset just yet. I still have my gifts from Rhiannon. We never needed to use them, for which, I suppose, we should thank the gods.”

  “We have led a blessed life,” Lord Carwin agreed. “But there is much more that we can accomplish.”

  “So you will use the apples?” the archdruid asked. “And then what?” Celyn was feeling a bit befuddled by this conversation, and he sensed it wasn’t meant for him, but when he tried to slip away, Bryn held him by the shoulder.

  “It seems a waste not to plant the seeds and see what grows,” Eleri said thoughtfully. “We could think of no better place than here. We’ll stay on for a week or two,” she added. “I believe you promised someone dragons. We can’t have this poor initiate thinking you’re a liar, now can we?”

  Bryn chuckled.

  “But right now, we’d like it if you showed us to a small garden. Someplace secluded so that if something does grow, it can be protected,” Carwin said. “I’ve had my fill of hearing my bones creak every time I stand up.”

  Rhian laughed at that. “I used to envy you two. You have had such an exciting and meaningful life, but now, I am ready for peace and quiet. I suppose it is well that you are not feeling so sedate. There is always darkness in the world that only lacks someone willing to fight it.”

  Now the archdruid turned her attention to Celyn. “You can lead the Lord and Lady to the special herb garden. The one reserved for the rare healing plants. And Bryn, you can go ensure their usual room is ready for them, and then make sure our young Initiate gets to bed.”

  “Of course,” they both replied. Bryn bid his grandparents farewell, and Celyn, still somewhat unbalanced by the whole thing, turned to the elderly couple. “Please, follow me,” he said, feeling sure that it wasn’t a polite way to address nobility, but not actually knowing what the proper form would be. Luckily, neither of them seemed offended.

  “Lead on, young man,” Lord Carwin said, and he took his lady by the arm and followed at a sedate pace. Despite their advanced age, Celyn saw that their speed was due more to a lack of need to hurry than from infirmity. Their steps were firm and sure, and even though they had asked to be led, he thought they seemed more familiar with the temple than he was. He supposed that made sense for personal friends of the archdruid, but he still wasn’t sure what to make of the whole dragon business.

  They reached the garden, and Celyn unlocked the gate. The sun had set sometime during dinner, and shadows lay thick over the neat rows of plants. “Should I light a torch for you?” he asked, hoping he seemed helpful.

  “I don’t think we need one,” the lady said with a smile, and the look she gave the man at her side was something Celyn would not understand for several years. It made him shiver.

  “After all this time, I think the moonlight will be enough,” Lord Carwin agreed. “Just stay out here and wait for Bryn. I promise, we won’t get i
nto any mischief,” he added with a twinkle in his eyes. Celyn nodded, though he wasn’t sure he believed them to be capable of any such thing, no matter how spry they seemed.

  He sat on a bench across from the gate and waited with his chin in his hands. The minutes seemed to crawl by. Whatever it was they were doing, they were having a lot of fun. He kept hearing the sound of quiet laughter coming from the garden. After a long while, his curiosity got the better of him, and he crept up to the gate to peer inside.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said Bryn’s familiar voice from the shadows. Celyn felt like his heart nearly leaped from his chest. “You ought to know better than to violate the privacy of guests that way. Besides, however they may look to you, my grandparents are far from the harmless elderly couple that they seem. You don’t want to get on their bad side.”

  The young boy gulped. “I just wanted to make sure they were all right. I’m sure it’s been hours. What could they still be doing in there? I thought they were planting an apple tree or something.”

  The young man suppressed a smile. “If you don’t know what they’re doing, you certainly aren’t ready to find out. But if you want to see some real magic, just stand here and wait a bit longer.”

  Celyn was too curious to not be swayed by that, so he obediently stood next to the older druid and waited. “Haven’t you ever heard the tale of the dragon of Ceridwen?” Bryn asked after a few moments.

  Everyone knew that story, and Celyn wasn’t ashamed to admit that it was one of his favorites. “Yeah, but that’s just a story. I’m old enough to know that most bards’ tales are just make-believe.”

  “Stories have to come from somewhere, Celyn,” Bryn said seriously. “All of them have a grain of truth, but that one is as true as they come. I was born in the castle of white stone that was once the home of a monster.” He pulled something out of his collar, a pendant made of two dragon scales, one green and one red, that had been fused together and cut in the shape of an apple. The boy gasped quietly, and Bryn smiled.

  Before Celyn could ask even one of the ten thousand questions that sprang to his mind, the gate opened. He could hardly believe what he saw. Two people had gone into the garden, and two people came out, but it was hard to imagine that they were the same. This man and woman were young, vibrant, and almost breathtakingly beautiful.

  They glowed with life and love. The woman was tall and slender, but not at all fragile. Her glossy chestnut hair flowed freely down her back, and her hazel eyes glittered with secret fire. The man whose hand she held was even taller, broad-shouldered and strong. He looked like some sort of legendary warrior with golden hair and green eyes full of laughter. Celyn stared at them, feeling like he must be having the strangest dream ever, when they finally noticed that they weren’t alone.

  “Bryn! Have you been waiting for us the whole time?” the woman asked, her cheeks getting very red for some reason. “I thought you were seeing your young friend to his rest.”

  Bryn grinned at her, not a little mischievously. “I could hardly miss out on seeing your big debut, grandmother. Besides, I admit I was a bit worried that you two would be so excited that you’d fly off into the sunset without a backward glance.”

  “I would never do such a thing,” the man retorted. “Eleri, however, has always been rash and impatient, so I suppose you were right to worry.” The lady slapped her husband on the shoulder, and he only grinned. “But you shouldn’t have made the boy wait. He looks dead on his feet.”

  This only confirmed the truth that Celyn hadn’t quite been able to process. They were the same elderly couple who he’d let into the garden a few hours earlier, and so it meant that the stories were true. They had eaten a magic apple from Afallach, given to them by a goddess. The gods, magic, everything—it was all real.

  “I think he’s just surprised, love,” Eleri said with a gentle smile. “Bryn must have had a reason for keeping him here.”

  The young druid shrugged. “I just had a feeling. He needed to see, and the tree will need a guardian. I don’t think I’m the right person for the job.”

  Carwin and Eleri looked down at the young boy for a moment, and Celyn wondered what they saw when they looked at him. A scrawny kid with big ears and too much elbows and knees, his black hair flopping into his eyes? That was what he saw when he looked at his reflection in the washbasin every morning, but Carwin knelt down to look him in the eyes and put a strong hand on his bony shoulder. Celyn felt like his soul was being scooped out and examined in a way that was kind and thoughtful rather than menacing.

  “Celyn means holly,” Eleri said with a quiet smile. “A symbol of protection and new life. It seems rather apt, doesn’t it?”

  Carwin smiled and nodded in response. “You will take care of our tree, won’t you? We put a lot of magic and love into that fruit. Whatever grows is going to be special. Someday, it might be very important.”

  For the first time in his short life, Celyn felt sure of how he would answer. “Yes, sir. I will guard it with my life.” Carwin smiled and ruffled his hair.

  “I hope that won’t be necessary, but you’re a good lad to say it, all the same. You’d better get off to bed now. We’ll talk more in the morning.” Celyn felt strangely light-hearted as Bryn led him back to the dormitory, considering he had just sworn his life to a plant, but then, he’d never before had a purpose. A destiny.

  It felt like the most right thing he had ever done.

  Two weeks later, he stood in the courtyard with Bryn and waved farewell as the two dragons launched themselves into the sky. They were on their way to Afallach, to say hello to some old friends, but he knew he would see them again. They were immortal now. It felt strange to think that even when he was old and gray, they would remain just the same, but it also meant that he would always know that someone was looking out for him.

  That was more comforting than he would have thought it would be. He fingered the pendant around his neck; it was just the same as Bryn’s, only they had made it from their gold and silver scales instead of the red and green ones. It was a symbol of his task, of the new life that he guarded.

  Carwin had told him that everyone had a destiny, but not everyone found it. He had warned that it could be a difficult path to follow. “But you found yours, and it made you happy, didn’t it?” Celyn had asked him.

  He had smiled in reply. “Of course. I found happiness that I never knew existed, but there were many times that circumstances were grim, and I... we both considered giving up. I just want you to know that things may not always be easy. Life can be cruel and unfair.”

  Celyn nodded. He had already learned this lesson. “But I shouldn’t give up, right?” People did seem to tell him that a lot, but coming from Carwin, it made a deeper impression.

  “No, you shouldn’t. I guess you already know that one,” he had said, tousling his hair affectionately.

  The night the dragons left, Rhian told their story to the whole temple, and when Celyn went to bed afterward, for the first time, he prayed. He prayed that he would be worthy of his destiny, and that if he ever had to face an enemy, he would have the strength to show mercy. He thought, for a brief moment, that the scale grew warm against his chest, and then the sensation was gone.

  THE END

  Authors Personal Message:

  Heyyyy!

  I really hope you enjoyed these books and if you want to see all my other releases then you can check out my Amazon Author page here!

  Why not collect them all? ;)

  Jade xoxoxox

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