by Lucy Monroe
"You cannot simply say you are her father," Neilina muttered in an aside to Haakon.
"I will gift our daughter with Chrechte nature."
"You cannot."
"With you, with our stones, I can."
"Don't you think I already tried to pull forth any Chrechte nature she might have?" She'd done it with a coming of age ceremony, but while the light had sparked, Freya had remained wholly human. "She has no Chrechte in her ancestors."
Haakon cocked his head to one side, his blue gaze going unfocused as if in thought, or that he was listening to some inner voice and then he said, "You were not enough."
Neilina felt the words like a blow and drew herself up, anger making her voice sharp. "I have protected her these past nine years, taught her the ways of a warrior, how to live as a Chrechte even without our nature to sustain her. I am her mother. I am enough."
"Would you allow her to remain unchanged because your pride will not accept my help with our daughter?" For once that infernal control of his slipped and Haakon sounded angry. Truly angry. With her.
Neilina's throat tightened and no words of denial would pass her lips. Was it possible that their daughter did have Chrechte blood in her and that she might gain strength and a longer life if she was presented to the stone by Haakon as well as Neilina?
If there was even a tiny chance, Neilina knew she had no choice but to take it.
"It is not only Haakon who will touch the stone with you. Each of your fellow conriocht will as well," the Sinclair vowed.
"And I," the dràgon rì promised.
Ciara smiled at both Neilina and Freya. "And I. Freya is your daughter for a reason. Let us call her nature forth from the stone."
"But we must have our council, time is not in our favor," the Balmoral said.
As much as Neilina wanted Freya protected in every way possible before the coming peril, she agreed with the alpha. "The laird is right, we must figure out how to stop the Fearghall from perpetrating the atrocities I have seen in my visions."
"As to that, I have some ideas," the Balmoral said.
With that, they all moved to the table and began the Chrechte council meeting with a ceremony of the stones glowing on the table. Haakon was recognized as the representative for the Paindeal and Neilina found herself surprisingly accepting of that.
Perhaps her unreasoning prejudice toward his kind was finally lessening.
The fact she considered it unreasoning was something new and she thought good for her as well as her daughter. It was Neilina's job to set a good example for Freya and she'd long known that she did not want to imbue Freya's nature with Neilina's own bitterness toward the Viking people.
Haakon said they were no longer Viking…but she did not believe it. The Chrechte had longer memories than humans. They would still live by the Viking way, but that did not mean he was a threat to her, or any of the other Chrechte she'd come to help.
Haakon shared what his Seer had foretold. It was so close to what Neilina had been trying to convince the Sinclairs of that she could not doubt he'd been sent to the Faol just as she had been. Then the Balmoral Seer spoke of his own visions, again testimony to her claims.
The dragon's visage grew more and more grim as the discussion progressed, his mate's countenance being taken over with grief.
She was true celi di, the spiritual and emotional welfare of her people weighing heavily on her, as well as their overall safety.
When the Balmoral told the other alphas the claim Haakon had made about a Chrechte not being able to lie in front of the dragon, she saw the same disbelief she'd been faced with since her arrival on the mainland.
Frustrated, Neilina pounded the table with her fist. "Because you have lost knowledge of the old Chrechte ways, does not mean they are wrong. We do not have time for these foolish arguments against the truth. The dragon is your dràgon rì. He is the ultimate guardian and as such, every Chrechte must speak honesty before him, even those who refuse to follow him."
"We dinna even submit to the whims of Scotland's king. You think we are going to follow the will of any other man without question?" the Balmoral asked her wryly.
"I do not believe our dreki kongr would ask you to follow blindly. 'Tis not the Chrechte way." She sighed but couldn't help glaring at the alphas who had discounted Haakon's words. "But you must stop arguing truths you dinna understand."
"Try to lie," the Sinclair said to Circin, the laird of the MacLeod. A young shifter with dual natures that gave him powers she suspected he knew nothing about.
"I am not…" Circin's jaw strained with the effort to get words out. "I canna do it. I was going to claim I was not the alpha of my pack, but even though I am still training with Barr, the words wouldna leave my mouth."
The Sinclair nodded. The Balmoral had not argued with the powers of the dragon, so the lack of surprise on his features was expected.
It was Ciara, celi di who turned white. "It cannot be on Eirik's shoulders entirely. One man, no matter how powerful, cannot route out the betrayers among the packs." She scowled around the table. "He will not be responsible for passing judgment on them."
"Nei, all guardians stand together." Haakon shook his head. "Our peoples have been separated so long, we have all forgotten different things, but this I know…we are all responsible for finding the Fearghall among the clans and giving them the chance to learn a new way or perish."
The Balmoral nodded. "We can test our packs again, but this time, the vow of fidelity must specifically be to each alpha, not the pack, or the clan. The Fearghall see themselves as the saviors of the pack, so vowing loyalty to those they plan to save from pretender alphas, as they call us, does not give off the scent of deception."
"But if we tell them to pledge themselves to serve us specifically?"
"They canna do it without lying."
"So, it's possible all the packs have Fearghall among them still."
"'Tis a certainty more like," Neilina muttered under her breath.
But those around the long table heard her as they too shared her keen sense of hearing.
Haakon's almost-there smile sent an odd warmth through her, like his approval meant something good to her. And maybe it did.
"Ja. Each pack must swear anew and there must be a guardian present for every swearing ceremony."
"And me?" Eirik asked. "We cannot ignore this gift I've been given." He gave a soft look to his wife. "No matter how much we may wish to."
"We begin here. In this room. Every member of the council must pledge their loyalty to you as dreki kongr, or dràgon rì as you say, our one, true king, and utterly denounce the Fearghall."
An acrid scent of fear wafted over the table and Neilina knew that Haakon's words were true. They could not afford to ignore the very group that had been tasked with protecting their people.
There was a betrayer among them.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone trying to leave the hall by sneaking behind the oddly placed English buttery. Lady Emily's doing, no doubt.
Neilina leapt from the bench on which she sat and ran to intercept the Chrechte thinking he would avoid giving his vow and no doubt planning to warn others of the tests to come.
She caught the older man before he made it to the door leading to the tunnel that, by the smells emanating, led to the kitchens. He twisted in her grasp calling her all sorts of foul names.
She held tight and dragged him back to the table. "I suggest you start with this one."
"Donnan?" Circin asked, sadness and resignation in his tone. "You swore you did not follow Rowland's beliefs and I was sure there was no deceit on you."
The elder tried to get away again, but Neilina had no trouble holding him. She was conriocht, after all.
Finally, the old man stopped struggling, glaring at everyone present. "I'm not traitor. Ye canna think this woman who pretends to be a man has the right of it. I was going for a breath of fresh air."
He was a wily one. Neilina allowed that. Th
e alpha Circin looked relieved, but Haakon frowned and stepped forward. "You will not address my mate as you have done again. Or I will end your life."
"She's no mate to you. We all heard her deny your claim."
Haakon didn't flinch. "I know what our souls say. Apologize to Neilina, conriocht to your people, kelle to all."
The man stood there stubbornly mute.
Neilina didn't care if he said he was sorry. "His opinion does not matter to me."
"You are kelle, both warrior and celi di. You deserve respect. For him to call you such names shows his deep lack of reverence for our ways. I will not tolerate it."
"Apologize," Circin said, using his alpha voice.
The elder glared at the young alpha, but he muttered, "I'm sorry I called you names."
Haakon's glower did not diminish. "You Fearghall have a way with deceit, I'll give you that."
"You've not right to call me anything but Chrechte."
"Vow your allegiance to this council, to Eirik as your dràgon rì and denounce the Fearghall."
"I've spoken my vow of allegiance." Donnan looked around at those assembled, his expression filled with ire. "Asking me to do it again to make this upstart happy is an offence and an abomination."
Circin looked unhappy again. "Speak the words, Donnan of the Donegal. Now." There was no question the alpha expected his elder to do as he had been told.
Donnan glared at Circin and then around at everyone else before opening his mouth. He seemed like he was having difficulty getting the words out.
Neilina shook him a little. "Say it, elder. Either you are loyal to all Chrechte, or you are true to none."
His scowl focused on her, the look promising her death and retribution.
Neilina held back a dark laugh with effort. No matter how powerful this man thought himself, he would not harm her. She would not give him the chance.
"I am loyal to all true Chrechte."
There was no sting to her nostrils from deceit, but then there wouldn't be.
"Denounce the Fearghall and pledge loyalty to the Chrechte on this council!" Circin barked.
The elder opened his mouth, but no words came out. He looked toward Eirik and spat, "Demon!"
Circin turned away, dismissing the elder. "He is no clan of mine. Do with him as you see fit."
Barr, the man who had been training Circin came forward. "You are his alpha. You pass judgment on him." His tone was hard, but there was understanding in his eyes. Compassion, if a warrior could have such a thing.
Circin stopped, took a deep breath, his chin in his chest, then nodded as he turned back around. He faced the elder, a man that he had trusted and probably called friend. "Donnan, you have deceived us all, pretending to support your alpha and the Chrechte of our clan, all the while you had a terrible agenda, one which would see us all destroyed."
The man did not deny the accusations, but stood, defiantly mute, only the acrid scent of fear giving away how he felt about what he faced.
"There is no bringing one such as yourself around to caring for all Chrechte," Circin said with grieving finality.
"How dare you pass judgment on me? You are nothing but a carrion bird, your wolf subject to all its weaknesses."
"If the Éan are so weak, how have we lasted despite the best attempts of the Fearghall to kill us all these many centuries?" Eirik demanded.
"You are such a fool," Neilina said to the old man and shook her head. "Those who have three forms, whether they are guardians or dual natured shifters have gifts our brethren wish they all had."
Haakon nodded, the look of disgust in his eyes clear for all to see. "Circin will live centuries, not decades. His strength is near twice that of a normal shifter when he calls upon both natures at once, he can both fly and run as a wolf, making him near impossible to track and kill. You denigrate that which you do not understand."
"Or that which he fears," the Balmoral said in hard tones.
"I fear no Éan," Donnan spat, but his scent gave lie to his words.
The rest of the council gave his comment the attention it deserved, which was none.
Circin stepped toward Eirik, and then dropped to one knee. "I will be first to offer my pledge."
Which is what he did, the other alphas following suit, powerful men promising loyalty to a cause, a people and the Supreme Protector of all Crechte.
The rest of the council also gave their pledges before plans were made to go from pack to pack, clan to clan, requiring new pledges of allegiance to be made.
"We must begin here, on Balmoral island. Every wolf and human alike will pledge their loyalty anew to me as laird and pack alpha as the case may be," Lachlan said.
No one argued, for the visions foretold terrible calamity for his pack soonest.
"We will search the entire island for any who might hide, who may already be hidden, but are not Balmoral," the dràgon rì added.
CHAPTER NINE
Artair trained with the jarl's soldiers, glad Einar was not in his line of sight. His mate was far too much a distraction for Artair to fight with any effectiveness.
After he had put his third kotrondmenskr on his ass, Artair stepped back to take a breath.
These big Norsemen assumed that because he was smaller, he would be easy prey.
Artair was a wolf shifter, as most of them had to be aware. He'd made no effort to hide his scent from his new Pride. That, in itself, would make Artair a formidable foe, but he'd been trained by the Balmoral himself and Drustan, warriors that would have been shamed had Artair allowed himself to be bested by brawn alone.
The kotrondmenskr he'd been fighting stood and came toward Artair. "Will you teach me that move with your feet?" he asked.
Young, and clearly inexperienced, Olaf showed he at least had the wisdom to recognize skill when he saw it.
Artair suspected he'd been given the greenest of the lot to train with, because his Einar's second did not have the same wisdom.
Gart would have been furious to be relegated to their ranks, but Artair knew he would prove his own worth in time, and perhaps teach these kotrondmenskr something in the process.
He nodded. "Aye, I'll teach you."
He proceeded to do just that, pushing the young Olaf to rely on his cat's instincts as much as his brawn.
The rest of the small group Artair had been training with, a mixture of kotromnendskr and human, had stopped to watch Artair and his sparring partner, Nei, by the time he'd got the Norseman squatting low enough and able to swing his foot out the same time in the arc so dangerous to an opponent.
"You're agile, man, I'll give you that," Artair said.
He'd expected no less. The kotrondmenskr shared their spirits with large cats of prey. Though Einar had told Artair most of his pride shifted into the Mountain Lynx, nothing nearly so impressive as Einar's Siberian Tiger.
And for as big as these Norsemen were, the Lynxes they shifted into were smaller than even Artair's wolf. But they were still men who shared an animal's nature and had the agility and strength to prove it.
"I see you've decided to help train my soldiers." Einar's deep voice came from behind Artair.
He nodded, without facing his mate, who had spent his morning training with the elite warriors of their clan and Pride. "Olaf learns quickly," Artair praised the young kotrondmenskr.
Olaf threw his shoulders back with pride. "Your mate fights dirty," he said with relish.
Artair took the compliment for what it was and inclined his head in thanks.
The others crowded around asking him to teach them the ways of the fighting Scots.
"I see I may have made a mistake placing you with this group to train," Einar said, sounding chagrined as men pressed in around Artair.
"Oh? I thought it was your second who made the decision." That put a different light on things, saying something Artair wasn't sure he liked about how his mate saw him.
Nevertheless, he said, "It was no mistake, if you don't mind me saying so. I'd moved
into the training ranks before I left my clan and am happy to continue teaching soldiers now."
"It is not for you to decide you are trainer," Einar's second-in-command said gruffly.
Artair spun to face the other man. "Isn't it?" he demanded, determined that all would respect his place as Einar's mate.
"Nei. You are new to our holding. It is my job to assess your strengths."
"You are second, but I am mate."
"A female mate would never—"
"I am not female, but if I were, and trained to war, I would still expect deference to my place."
The soldiers around looked on with keen interest to see how their former leader took his demotion.
"Just because Lord Einar wants to bed you, does not give you a place above me with his soldiers," Dag spat.
Einar growled, clearly growing agitated, but Artair put his hand up toward his mate.
"We want to bed each other, if you really want to know, but mating is much more than who shares a man's furs. Nevertheless, I'm happy to fight you for position."
Artair had never wanted to fight for position before, but this cat dared to place himself in a position of more importance to Artair's mate than he himself held. Neither he, nor his wolf would stand for such.
"Nei," Einar roared.
"Ja, I accept your challenge," the other kotrondmenskr said quickly, giving the man that one day would be his jarl a look of pitying defiance.
Artair smiled. He'd never sought leadership in his former pack. Had never craved recognition for being a top warrior, but he would not have been promoted to the training elite if he was not one of the best.
And while his size might be against him, the current second's assumptions and hotheaded demeanor would be a much bigger burden to Dag.
Einar stepped between them, fairly vibrating with anger. "I forbid it."
"We will fight then," Artair said at the same time and then gave his mate a look.
The man had better step back, or they wouldn't be consummating anything after their mating ceremony tomorrow.