Laura Jo Phillips

by The Gryphons' Dream: Soul Linked#5

  “Where are you going?” Olaf asked, bringing Aisling to a halt. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and arranged her face into the calmest, most serene expression she could manage. Then she turned to face the men she loved.

  “I apologize, I almost left without thanking you for your generous hospitality,” she said. “You have made our stay here much easier than it would have otherwise been, and I appreciate it very much. Now that the work is done, it is time for us to leave.” Unable to think of anything else to say, she turned back toward the door and hurried out of the house, down the steps and into the car Elder Vulpiran had sent for them.

  Chapter 20

  Olaf, Rand and Rudy watched numbly as Aisling calmly walked out of their home, and out of their lives. They listened to the door close behind her, frozen in place with indecision and shock.

  “Why did she leave?” Rand asked.

  “Why wouldn’t she leave?” Rudy countered. “We told her that we loved her, and at the first sign of trouble we turned our backs on her.”

  “That’s not so,” Olaf argued. “We had no choice but to defer to her true Rami.”

  “They were not her Rami,” Rudy argued. “We did not even wait to determine the truth of their claim before we ceded Aisling to them as though she were a prize, just as Karma said.”

  “You are correct,” Olaf admitted. “Not that it matters. Eventually her true Rami will show up to claim her, and we will be expected to give her up by our own laws.”

  “Give her up?” Rudy asked. “You would do that?”

  “It is the law of our people never to interfere between a male-set and their Arima,” Olaf said. “Would you break that law?”

  “Absolutely,” Rudy replied forcefully. “I would break any law, fight any battle for Aisling. You would not?”

  Olaf sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “Yes, I would,” he admitted. “I love her, as you do. Once she is ours, I would never give her up.”

  “Then why did we allow her to leave?” Rudy asked.

  “For her sake,” Olaf replied. “It is better to let her go now so that when her true Rami find her, she is free to be with them. If she stays, we will make her ours, and once that happens, we will never let her go.”

  “That’s never going to happen,” Rand said quietly.

  “What’s never going to happen?” Olaf asked.

  “Aisling will never find another male-set,” Rand said. “We are her Rami, just as she says. I believe her. I believe the way I feel about her. She is meant to be ours, as we are meant to be hers.”

  “Our mating fangs have not descended,” Olaf reminded him.

  “So what?” Rand asked with a casual shrug. “Forget about your damn fangs, Olaf. What do your heart and mind tell you? How do you feel?”

  Olaf’s shoulders slumped. “I feel as though I cannot breathe, as though she took all of the air with her when she left.”

  “That’s how I feel as well,” Rudy said. “Arima or not, she is meant for us. She is the woman of our dreams. We must get her back.”

  “I don’t know how she could ever forgive us,” Olaf said. “This is the second time we have hurt her.”

  “If anyone has the heart to forgive us, it is Aisling,” Rand said. “But we must be certain, Olaf. We cannot do this to her a third time. I would rather live with the pain of losing her than risk hurting her again.”

  “Agreed,” Olaf said. “Rudy?”

  “What will we do if a male-set comes to claim her?” Rudy asked.

  “We will fight,” Olaf said firmly. “We will never give her up, no matter what happens, no matter the cost.”

  “Then we should go after her,” Rudy said. “And hope she forgives us again.”

  Chapter 21

  Before the driver opened the ground-car door for Aisling and Karma, Aisling knew that the Gryphons were standing outside of it, waiting for her. She also sensed that they were very determined about something.

  That’s fine, she thought. I can be pretty determined myself when I need to be.

  With that thought firmly in her mind, Aisling got out of the car and faced Olaf, Rand and Rudy.

  “Our transport is prepared to take us to Badia,” Olaf said. “Elder Vulpiran told us that is your destination as well. There is no reason why we cannot all go in the same transport.”

  “Thank you for the offer,” Aisling said politely. “We would prefer to take the transport Elder Vulpiran arranged for us.”

  “You are that angry with us?” Olaf asked.

  “Yes,” Aisling replied.

  “I am sorry for that,” Olaf said. “However, the transport Elder Vulpiran meant for you will not be ready until tomorrow morning. We told him that we would see that you got to Badia as you requested. There is also the fact that we gave the Bearens, and the Dracons, our word that we would keep you under our protection. If you would prefer not to talk to us during the journey, that is up to you, but we ask that you please journey with us, in our transport.”

  Aisling glared at Olaf for a long moment, then turned to Karma.

  “It’s up to you,” Karma said with a shrug. “Though, I don’t much like the idea of spending the night in a hangar.”

  “Fine,” Aisling relented. She didn’t want to be in the same transport with the Gryphons right now, but she didn’t want to spend the night in a cold hangar either. Of the two options available to her, she’d take the Gryphons.

  The walk to the hangar where the Gryphons’ transport was kept was a silent one. Since Olaf had told Aisling that she didn’t have to talk to them if she didn’t want to, and she certainly didn’t appear to want to, the Gryphons remained silent.

  Once they boarded the Gryphons’ transport Aisling was glad to see that it was big enough that they could all have privacy if they wanted, so she selected a seat near a window in the center of the cabin. Karma sat beside her, and the Gryphons took seats near the front, respecting Aisling’s silent bid for distance.

  Olaf resisted the urge to stare at Aisling, though he couldn’t help glancing at her now and then. As the eldest brother, it was up to him to find a way to get Aisling to at least talk to them, if not forgive them. He just wasn’t sure how to go about it.

  He was so deep in thought it took him a few moments to realize that he was being stared at. He glanced up and met Karma’s gaze with his own. She rolled her eyes at him and gave her head a little shake. Then she yawned widely and turned to Aisling who was sitting next to her.

  “Ash, if you don’t mind I think I’m going to go to the back where those big recliners are and catch some sleep,” she said.

  “Of course I don’t mind,” Aisling replied. “I’ll wake you when we get to Badia.”

  “Thanks,” Karma said as she stood up, yawning again. She patted Aisling lightly on the shoulder, then made her way to the back of the cabin where she selected a recliner by a window and sat down. She did not look in Olaf’s direction again, but Olaf knew that she was deliberately giving him the opportunity he needed to speak with Aisling. He didn’t think she would have done it unless she believed that Aisling was willing to settle matters between them, and that gave him hope.

  He took a few moments to compose himself before standing up and approaching Aisling.

  “Do you mind if I sit with you?” he asked.

  “I thought you said I didn’t have to talk to you,” Aisling replied without looking up at him.

  “You don’t,” Olaf replied. “But I would like to speak to you.”

  Aisling glanced up at him for a brief moment, then looked away before nodding. “It’s your transport.”

  Olaf sat across from Aisling so that he could see her face. He knew that both Rand and Rudy were watching carefully, though they were keeping their distance. They did not want to overwhelm Aisling.

  “May I ask, why are you going to Badia?” he began.

  Aisling looked at him in surprise, forgetting that she’d just said she didn’t want to talk to him. She hadn’t expected
that question. She considered her answer for a few moments before deciding to just tell him the truth. What difference would it make?

  “I am going to Rathira.”

  “Rathira?” Olaf asked. “I have never heard of this place.”

  “It’s a Class D planet about three weeks travel from Jasan.”

  “Class D planets can be very dangerous,” Olaf said. “They are generally quite primitive. Why do you need to go there?”

  Aisling frowned. Did he think she was stupid? She was well aware of the dangers of a Class D planet. Nevertheless, she had to go and would not be deterred again. “Olaf, why do you want to know?”

  “Because we care about you,” Olaf said softly. “More than that, we love you. We are sorry for our reactions to the Falcorans’ claim, and even more sorry for not having more faith in you. We ask that you give us another chance.”

  Aisling instantly wanted to forgive them. She just couldn’t help herself. But at the same time, she knew that unless the real problem was addressed, the scene they’d just had would be repeated. She was not their Arima, and they had a problem with that. A problem that she was probably going to make worse, but she had to be honest.

  “What would you say if I told you that my blood test results indicate that I am a berezi?” she asked.

  “I would say that it proves you are supposed to be our Arima,” Olaf said without hesitation. “You were correct, Aisling. Other than the absence of our mating fangs, we have all of the indicators of a male-set who has found their Arima. What’s more, you have all of the indicators of an Arima. We will no longer doubt this. We will not question our feelings for you again, nor yours for us.”

  “I don’t understand why you’ve changed your minds, again,” Aisling said, wanting to believe, but needing to understand.

  “Because we have dreamed of you. For centuries,” Rand replied, joining them.

  “What?” Aisling asked, not sure she understood him right.

  “We have dreamed of one woman our entire lives,” Olaf said. “A woman with hair the color of flame and eyes the color of my own. A woman with the courage of a warrior, and enough heart to love all three of us in spite of our failings. You, Aisling. We have dreamed of you for so long that when you actually showed up, we hesitated to believe what was before us.”

  “Dream,” Aisling said softly. “Do you know what my name, Aisling, means?”

  Rudy joined them, and the three of them stared at her blankly.

  “Aisling means dream,” she said. “Interesting coincidence isn’t it?”

  “Maybe,” Olaf said with a smile. “Maybe it’s not a coincidence. Maybe it’s fate. By the way, may we know your last name?”

  “Ametsa,” Aisling replied with a grin.

  “In our ancient tongue, Ametsa means dream,” Olaf said.

  “I know it means dream,” Aisling replied. “But I didn’t know it was your ancient tongue. My father told me it meant dream, which is why they named me Aisling. He said that I was his dream, and mother’s dream, so they thought two names meaning dream was appropriate.”

  “It seems you are the answer to many dreams,” Rand said.

  “Will you forgive us again, Aisling?” Olaf asked. “We promise, we will never turn from you again.”

  Aisling opened her mouth to respond, then closed it when she got a strange feeling from Olaf that she didn’t understand. After a moment she realized that he was holding something back. She could not bring herself to ask what it was, so she just continued to stare at him, waiting.

  Olaf sighed. One could not lie, or even withhold something important from one’s Arima. Even if she was not their Arima, she was close enough to it that she sensed his feelings, and his reluctance.

  “We meant to tell you this earlier this evening, before the Falcorans arrived,” Olaf said. “I hesitate to tell you now as I fear it is something you will be unhappy about, and you’ve had enough unhappiness this day.”

  “Just tell me, please,” Aisling insisted gently.

  “When Clan Jasani reach the age of maturity, which for gryphons is about eighty to ninety years, we lose both the ability and the urge to have sex.”

  Aisling was so shocked she didn’t know how to react. This was the last thing she had expected him to say. “How is it that you have children then?”

  “When we find our Arima, and our mating fangs descend, the urge to mate returns to us,” Olaf explained. “If we choose to mate with a human female who is not our Arima, we must drink the potion to artificially stimulate our mating fangs. Then we are able to have sex with that one chosen woman, and her alone.”

  “I see,” Aisling said, not sure she really saw at all, but knowing that Olaf was being honest. “So you have no sexual urges at all?”

  “Oh, we have intense urges for you, Aisling,” Olaf said. “We do not, unfortunately, have the ability to satisfy them at this time.”

  Aisling smiled. That they at least wanted her meant a lot. “I need to know if you plan to do that potion thing with me.”

  Olaf, Rand, and Rudy rose to their feet, all of them looking at her with solemn expressions.

  “We would ask you, formally, if you will do us the honor of becoming our mate,” Olaf said. “If you agree, we promise to cherish and protect you every moment of every day throughout eternity, both on this plane of the living, and all planes beyond.”

  Aisling swallowed hard, wanting more than anything to leap up and throw her arms around Olaf’s neck. But as they had been honest with her, she had to be honest with them.

  “I want to say yes, but there is something I have to do first,” she said.

  “What things?” Olaf said.

  “I have to go to Rathira,” she replied.

  “Why must you go to Rathira?”

  “I got a message this morning from Jessi,” Aisling said. “She has solid information that Urwin is planning to go to Rathira. This morning, after you asked me to be your mate, I thought that I could just ignore that situation. But now I know that I can’t do that. I have to finish that business before I can move on with my life.”

  Olaf sat back down in the seat across from her, Rand took the seat beside her and Rudy took the seat next to Olaf. “We agree, Aisling, that this is a matter that must be dealt with,” Olaf said, surprising her. She’d expected an argument. “Do you have any idea what he’s doing there?”

  “I’ve been chasing this man for years, and I grew up knowing him as my Uncle. I don’t need anyone to tell me what’s up to. I already know.”

  “Will you share with us?” Olaf asked.

  “Urwin is a man who takes the path of least resistance,” Aisling said. “Simply put, he’s lazy. If something works once, he sees no reason that it won’t work again. When he’d gambled away the money he stole from me, the first thing he did was come back to me for more. When that didn’t work he decided to repeat what he’d done before.”

  “Please don’t tell me someone else trusted him to be their child’s guardian,” Rand said with a grimace.

  “Not exactly, no,” Aisling replied. “He realized that wasn’t going to happen, so he made a small change. Rather than become a legal guardian to a child, he kidnapped a young Terien woman who had just turned eighteen, and forced her to marry him. That gave him legal access to her money according to Terien law, and effectively cleared him of any wrong doing since the woman he kidnapped was his wife by the time he was caught.”

  “Disgusting,” Olaf growled softly.

  “Yes, it is,” Aisling said. “The only flaw in his plan was that Terien law does not allow divorce. So when he tried to repeat his plan with another woman a year later, he couldn’t. He was charged with kidnapping that time, but he managed to escape before they could catch him.”

  “What happened to the woman that he married?” Rudy asked.

  “Teriens are very traditional people,” Aisling said softly. “She was married without the consent of her family. That it was not her fault counted for a little, but not mu
ch. The real problem was that the man, Urwin, was a despicable criminal with no honor, who left her the moment he had her money in his pocket. That was a shame she could not live with.”

  “She took her own life?” Rand asked.

  “Yes,” Aisling said, saddened as she always was by the memory of that girl.

  “What happened to the second girl he kidnapped?” Rudy asked.

  “Her family disowned her,” Aisling said.

  “For being kidnapped?” Rudy asked, outraged. “She was a child!”

  “Yes, she was a child,” Aisling agreed. “A child that Urwin raped, thinking that if he was caught before he was able to marry her, her family would force her to marry him anyway.”

  “Would they have?” Olaf asked.

  “Yes,” Aisling replied. “We are talking about people who have very strong beliefs and traditions. To give her family credit, they didn’t want to disown her. They knew she had done nothing of her own will, that she was a victim. But the culture they lived in did not offer them a choice. They could not pretend that their daughter was pure. And if she wasn’t pure, she could never, ever be married. So long as she lived in her family home, her younger sisters could not hope to find husbands. So they sent her away to live alone in the country. They sent her money and food, but she was alone.”

  “You found her, didn’t you?” Rand asked.

  “Yes,” Aisling admitted. “I’d studied self-defense and weapons for a couple of years by the time I started trying to track Urwin down. If I had waited any longer, it would have been too late for her.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I took her home with me,” Aisling replied.

  “Ah, Jessi, right?” Olaf guessed.

  “Yes, Jessi.”

  “She has recovered from her trauma?” Rand asked.

  “Yes, in a sense. She is determined that she will never marry because, in her culture, she is not worthy of marriage. That is part of who she is, and though it makes me sad, I cannot change it. She wants to stop Urwin from destroying any more lives, as I do, so she helps me as much as she can. But it is not her life, as it has become mine, which is as it should be. She just graduated from medical school, and plans to return to Teira to practice.”