“I do, Darius,” she said softly.
I tugged at Jack’s sleeve. “Let’s go. We really have no business here.”
“Well, okay.” He agreed reluctantly. “Darius, just a bit of advice before we leave. I like you fine, but this is my sister who you somehow happened to bond yourself to—”
“Bonded himself to!? What an interesting choice of words, Jack,” I said, laughing.
“Jack, stop it!” Maggie shouted. “I’m a grown woman. I can take care of myself. Now leave us! Astrid, please take him out! This is crazy enough without Jack’s two cents.”
Jack laughed. “I’m the least of your problems, Maggie. Wait until James hears you’re getting married.”
Maggie shrieked, on the verge of tears. “Married? Who says I’m getting married? Are you insane?”
Darius’s arm moved to Maggie’s shoulder, rubbing it gently. “Don’t listen to your brother, Maggie,” he said. “He and Astrid have been together for—how long, Jack? Almost a year?—and it doesn’t seem we’re going to hear wedding bells anytime soon. We’re bonded, that part we can’t control. But as for a wedding, don’t worry about it, please. Okay?”
“I’ve proposed,” Jack said defensively. “It’s up to Astrid now to set the date, but she’s been digging in her heels. And consider yourself lucky, Darius,” he continued, still refusing to leave. “Maggie at least knows what bonding is. Astrid didn’t have a clue. When I explained it to her, she went ballistic and wanted to run away to Patagonia.”
“Astrid,” Darius said, “go to my Aunt’s house and ask Amilla to find you some warm clothes. You two are the same size. Jack, I’ll find you later. I need to talk to you.”
“Time to go, Jack,” I said and pushed him toward the door. ”I’m sure we can find ourselves a better job than chaperoning a newly bonded couple.”
MAGGIE AND Darius’s bond was the second one that day that I knew of, after Ahmed and my mother’s. Being unconscious at the moment when it had happened, she still wasn’t aware of it. The next one was between Takeshi and Darius’s cousin Amilla, a tall, slender redhead with dark blue eyes.
And that was only the beginning of the bonding spree, as Eamon called it, that struck at least a dozen other couples that very day.
I stood in the kitchen of Arina’s house with Eamon and Lily. I decided at this point not to investigate how these two, together with Drew, had managed to appear in Copper Ridge the moment the battle was over. We were having a quick break with a cup of tea when Amilla came in from her room, carrying the clothes for me draped over her arm: a flannel shirt, warm jacket and thick thermal socks. At the same moment Takeshi rushed into the house looking for his mother, and bumped into her almost knocking her over.
The clothes flew everywhere. Takeshi grasped both Amilla’s hands to steady her, and then, shocked, bounced back. Stunned, Amilla took several steps back, and then both of them crouched down, in a state of total confusion, and started collecting the clothes.
“What am I going to tell Tina?” Takeshi murmured before he shook his head and ran out, leaving a speechless Amilla behind.
“I am oh-so-not touching any girl or women here, young or old, married or single,” Eamon said in an agitated voice. “This is insane! I refuse to be a victim of some celestial joke. Wherever you turn your head, you see couples bonding. It freaks me out! I’m not ready for this crap! No, no, no! No touching, no handshaking, no introducing.”
I tried hard to keep my face straight.
“Look what happened to those people,” he continued, throwing his arms in the air. “They came out of the battle without a scratch, and ended up hit directly in the heart by Cupid’s arrow.”
“And what’s wrong with that?” Lily said. “They’ve found their true love. It’s not important how and when. Besides, you could touch whomever you like. You’re too young for bonding, Eamon.”
“How can you be sure? Since you know a lot about it, tell me then what the minimum required age for bonding is?”
“Maturity, Eamon,” Lily said. She had been observing Takeshi’s and Amilla’s bonding incident with her customary coolness. “So you’re safe.”
“Ha-ha, very funny. I bet you wouldn’t mind getting bonded.”
“Well, I have the first requirement. Maturity, I mean.”
“Well, I don’t,” Eamon said. “And I’m darn glad for it.”
I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. He gave me a wary look, but then relaxed. “All right, you can touch me. You’re safe. You know what? I’m gonna help your grandmother. She’s safe too.”
“You sure Dr. Vandermeer isn’t a potential bonding threat?” Lily asked.
Eamon ignored her and gently patted my bump. “Here’s another girl I don’t need to be scared of. How’s my niece doing?”
“Fine,” I smiled.
Eamon’s eyes widened. “Hey, she just moved, didn’t she? Isn’t she too small for that?”
“She’s just saying hello to her uncle,” I said. “And she’s quite advanced for her age.”
He gave me a peck on the cheek. “Off I go to help Ella. You should have a rest, Astrid. By the way, I saw Angie Flanagan. Henry’s fine, just very upset because Dr. Altman didn’t let him come here with her.”
“I know. Adam told me. Did you hear what he did?”
“The little daredevil raised hell to save his Ellida. Everybody’s impressed. Also, Frances got a healthy boy.”
“What!!! When!? Who was with her? Is she okay!? She’s in week 36!”
“Well, not any more. The baby came a bit early, but they said the little guy weighed six something. Well, whatever the normal weight is. They are both fine. Anyway, after Henry’s alarm, Dr. Altman sent the police and ambulance to check on Frances. They brought her to the hospital and she went into labor within hours. What else? Aha! Ahmed sent Graeme back home in a chopper a half an hour ago—”
Eamon stopped in the middle of the sentence as a commotion in the narrow driveway caught his attention. He walked to the window and parted the lace curtains. “Wow, two Mercedes. A black CL-600s, and a C-350 red cutie. … They’re not from Red Cliffs, and for sure not from here. Two men are coming out of the black Mercedes. A woman and a young girl from the C-5350… Are you expecting a foreign delegation, Astrid?”
Lily and I peered through the curtains.
Thanks to Gerard and Dinah’s description, I immediately recognized my visitor. “Ellida Ariel, from Winston, I believe,” I said, taking in a tall, slender girl, with a rare and stunning combination of long, smooth, blond hair and bright, golden-brown eyes.
Forty-Seven
Astrid
I OPENED the door.
“They told me I’d find you here, Ellida Astrid,” Ariel said in a resonant, young voice as she and her people walked in. She smiled and bowed slightly.
“Ellida Ariel,” I said, bowing back. “I’m honored to see you. Thank you and Einhamir Bessim very much for sending your warriors to fight with us.”
The fair girl smiled. “You’re welcome, Ellida. We honor our ancient alliances. I’ve heard our people fought well.”
“They fought bravely,” I said, amused by our ceremonial language and gestures.
Ariel turned to her escorts. “Ellida, may I introduce you to my friends, and my impromptu bodyguards. Einhamir Bessim didn’t want me to travel on my own.” She first motioned toward the tall, blond man at her left. “Azem Nimmani, Einhamir Bessim’s son.” Then she introduced the couple to her right as Jason and Harriet Killian.
“Nice to meet you all, and thank you for coming,” I said as we shook hands. “Mr. Nimmani, I heard you’re a lawyer. My grandfather mentioned you worked together on several human rights acts. He has a very high opinion of your abilities.”
“It was the greatest honor to have Master Arnaldur as my mentor,” he said.
“Let me introduce you to Lily Falconer and my cousin Eamon Mohegan,” I said.
I couldn’t help but smile at Eamon’s stiff expression when it
was his turn to shake hands with Ariel, whose honey-golden eyes, open and curious, scanned over him.
“I’ve heard about you, Eamon,” she said.
Clearing his throat, Eamon lifted his eyes and bravely met Ariel’s gaze. He squared his broad shoulders and I couldn’t help but notice what a handsome young man my cousin had become.
“I’m honored to meet you, Ellida Ariel” he said. “I’ve heard about you, too. Now if you would excuse me. I really need to go.” And with that, he steered a wide path around Ariel and strode out of the kitchen.
Ariel’s eyes followed him, adopting the same faraway expression I’d seen on Morgaine’s face many times before. “It’s a perfect match,” the girl murmured and smiled, before she shrugged and turned to the three Winstonians looking at her with amusement.
“Azem, would you go find Dinah and Gerard and tell them to meet me in half an hour?” she said. “You and I are staying in Copper Ridge. Jason and Harriet, you’ll need to go back tonight, but in the meantime, see how you can help before you leave.”
“I saw Gerard and Dinah with Master Arnaldur in the City Hall,” Lily said. “I can take you there.”
Once they were alone, I asked Ariel about the werewolves who had saved my mother and me earlier today. “I want to thank them,” I said. “Who are they?”
For a moment Ariel kept her golden gaze on mine. “The bravest men I’ve ever known. Sort of refugees. Long ago, Winston offered them sanctuary. They stay in their wolf form all the time—”
“What are their names?”
Ariel shook her head. “I can’t tell you more than that. I’m sworn to protect their identity. They need to go back to Winston tonight. Einhamir Bessim needs them there. And he also hopes to see Lord Robert and Lady Arwen in Winston soon.”
“Oh, Jack mentioned they had friends in Canada,” I said. “I didn’t make the connection.”
“They are the Einhamir and his wife’s old friends, yes. They visit each other often. Let me ask you something else. How old is your cousin?”
“Seventeen. Why?”
“Ah, that explains it. He’s too young to feel the bond.”
“There were several super-fast bonds here today,” I said, puzzled by the sudden turn of our conversation. “Eamon’s terrified he would end up bonded to someone before the end of the day. He worries needlessly. As you say, he’s too young for bonding.”
Ariel laughed softly. “There’ll be more bonding here, for sure. I saw several pairs of perfectly fitting outlines. Those people are bond-mates, some of them already bonded, some of them will be soon.”
“You can see who’s bonded and who will bond?” I said, confused. “How does it work?”
“As you know, many werewolves can see other people’s auras, but I can see more.” She tilted her head, assessing me. “You can’t see auras, can you?”
I shook my head. “No. I know Jack can see the auras, but not bonds. I didn’t know bonds can be seen.”
“It’s similar to auras, and it’s different. Seeing auras is like having infra-red vision. We see the outline of body heat through a solid barrier. If a person is in our visual field, we don’t see auras. It would be redundant, right? But I can see them always, not only through the barrier.”
“Uh… Isn’t it distracting to see it all the time?”
“I don’t need to see it all the time. I can switch it off, but today I was deliberately checking it.” She took a step closer to me and lowered her voice. “You know, I was always curious who my bond mate would be.”
“How do you see it?”
“The auras of a bonded couple are the same, regardless of the differences in their body size. They are a perfect match, always. Like yours and Jack’s. Yours is bluish-red, like mine, because we’re both a wizard and a werewolf. Jack’s is crimson red, but they overlap one hundred percent.”
She turned toward the window, her eyes focused again at some point in the distance. “Aha, there it is… Your mother and Dr. Demmir’s. You know that already, don’t you?” Her eyebrows suddenly arched. “Now that’s interesting,” she said. “Eamon’s parents, James and Betty.”
“They’ve been married for twenty-something years,” I said. “But they aren’t bond mates.”
Ariel smiled. “Yes, they are, Astrid. They still don’t feel it, but they will soon, in a day or two. See, sometimes bonding develops, rather than happens, and for sure it’s never a random process.”
I smiled. “I’ve figured out that much. It’s a gift, not a lottery draw. You’d probably enjoy talking to my friend Tristan. He has some interesting bonding theories. What about you? You said, ‘I was curious’, not ‘I am curious’ Has your curiosity been satisfied, then?”
“It has… Tell me first about you. Each Ellida has her unique set of skills. Among other things, I can see bonding. What did you get?”
“I’m good with swords, and bow and arrows. I’m good in human combat techniques. I can bring up my wolf, or rather, she can come when I need her. Sometimes I see light and colors associated with a person or an event. Not now, of course, because I’m pregnant.”
“These are wonderful gifts!”
“Can you tell me who your bond-mate is?”
Ariel ran her fingers through her silky hair, still looking through the window. “His aura is blurry, it still needs a year or so to firm up. But I felt it when I touched him… I’m older; I didn’t expect that.”
My jaw dropped. “Eamon?”
She nodded and let out a deep sigh, refocusing her eyes on me. “It’s better if he doesn’t know it for now. He’s too young to understand it. Trust me, I’m shaken enough for both of us. Don’t say a word to him, please.”
“I won’t, don’t worry. Are you sure?”
“Our auras overlap, and although his isn’t fully developed yet, it is a perfect match to mine.”
“You said you felt it. A warm current spreading throughout your body, right?”
“That’s how a bond is usually described, although there are some variations. Yes, it was something like that, only in a very gentle form. I can’t experience it fully until he’s ready to feel it.”
“Are you going to be okay? It must’ve been a complete shock.”
Ariel lifted her shoulders in a delicate shrug. “Naturally. Ah, I should’ve listen to my mother and put flowers under my pillow on Midsummer Eve to see my future husband in my dreams. To prepare myself for this, sort of.”
“So, you accept it, just like this? No questions, no doubts?”
“You see, very early I learned not to question bonding. And I’d decided not to fight it if it ever happens to me. If Eamon Mohegan is going to be my husband one day—and he will—I know we’ll love each other deeply. I’m not ready to get married, neither is he. But in due course, everything will fit together. I don’t need to fret about it now. Only, he’s three years younger. It’s not that much, is it? What do you think?”
“No, I guess not,” I said. “He’ll catch up with you anyway.”
“You’re right. He might even age a little bit more,” she said with a broad smile, serene and composed again. “Now tell me, how can I help here today?”
Forty-Eight
WITHIN THE hours after the battle, an air bridge between Red Cliffs and Copper Ridge was organized. The seriously wounded were taken to Red Cliffs Clinic and supplies and food were delivered to Copper Ridge. Several doctors and nurses came to help the local medical personnel with the injured.
The Copper Ridge Medical Center was located in a crumbling old building. The offices and exam rooms were cold, furnished with sparse ancient furniture. Surprisingly, the medical equipment, although only essential, was in solid condition, and supply cabinets and storage rooms were stocked with basic pharmaceuticals. The grim, shabby building was exceptionally tidy and smelled clean, which spoke volumes about the medical personnel who worked there.
Astrid, Ingmar and Dr. Ben Lurrie, the Center director, conducted a quick inventory, and one hour later
the most urgent medical supplies started arriving from Red Cliffs.
“The overall condition of the hospital was far better than anyone would expect,” Ingmar said. “Ella says the children are healthy and well-nourished, and every single one has been immunized up to date.”
“Unfortunately, there are only a handful of them for a town of this size,” Dr. Lurrie said. “The birthrate had been extremely low, but we hope it’s going to change soon.”
“I’m truly impressed that you managed to provide decent health care in such circumstances,” Astrid said.
“Thanks to Lady Rowena and her circle of women, Darius, our medical workers and financial support from Red Cliffs and Winston, “Dr. Lurie said. “Our diaspora helped too, as well as our people here, until we ran out of money. We survived thanks to a black market. Lady Rowena and Arina organized a steady supply of food, clothes, vaccines and prescription drugs. They often paid for the goods with their own money. Our children have had as normal a childhood as possible under the circumstances. Darius, for example, donated to the hospital the entire inheritance he got from his mother. Everything had to be done in great secrecy, though, otherwise heads would’ve rolled.” He shook his head. “Yesterday I didn’t believe there was any future for us. Today, for the first time in years I can see it.”
THE FIRST trucks loaded with food, clothes, hardware, appliances, home and garden furniture, as well as electrical equipment and tents started arriving in the early afternoon. A big celebration was planned for the evening.
The Winston warriors unfastened their swords, took off their shiny helmets and took over the party preparations. They erected tents and set up the folding tables and chairs. Chefs Stammerman and Herzog helped the local cooks and bakers to prepare the feast.
Red Cliffers kept pouring into Copper Ridge, bringing their children with them.
“Did anybody stay in Red Cliffs?” Jack said, laughing, as he watched a long convoy of cars and trucks arriving in Copper Ridge.
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