by D. E. Morris
Jessiah's eyes widened. “I always thought the Volar were passive and against violence. I knew they fought in the war, but...” He trailed off looking down into Lilia's face. “That's terrible.”
“It is,” she agreed softly. “But it is also how our people have lived for generations.”
“Lilia.”
They both looked up, startled to see Tasarin standing there. She scrambled to her feet and curtsied, managing a quick, “Your Majesty.”
“Thank you for your help. I will take it from here.”
Before she could leave Jessiah reached forward and grabbed her hand, bringing a blush to her cheeks. “Thank you,” he said in a whisper. She gave him a quick smile and was gone.
Within the hour both Tasarin and Jessiah walked into the solar where Jaryn, Ashlynn, the children, and her ladies were waiting, all of them surprised at seeing the young man up and about.
“You should be resting,” said Lilia with disapproval.
“Perhaps I should be, but I'd rather be here.”
“Papa?”
Rowan's head tilted to the side, her face gleaming in excitement. “Fuair tú dom!” She got to her feet and stretched out her arms as if waiting to be picked up, all the while gazes of confusion were moving from the girl to Jessiah, and back again. He looked at Rowan just as in the dark as everyone else.
“Who's this?”
“Come here,” Ashlynn said. She rose and handed Lochlainn to Jaryn so she could take Jessiah's hand and bring him closer to Rowan. There she made him crouch and took the little girls hands to press them gently to Jessiah's cheeks. “Rowan, this is Jessiah. He is our friend.”
“Hello, Rowan,” said Jessiah cheerfully, even as her fingers moved over his newly healed features and ran through his beard. “Good to know you.”
Rowan didn't answer. Instead she stood there with a furrowed brow, her small hands cupping his face. All at once she let go of him and reached for someone to pull her back to where she'd been sitting beside Ashlynn.
“This is the child we were searching for,” Ashlynn explained. “We are still looking for her father.”
“I wish I could help,” he lamented, his eyes still on the sad little girl, “but I was in the dungeon the whole time I was back there.” He glanced around. “Where is everyone else?”
“A messenger arrived with a letter for Cavalon,” said Ashlynn, “Badru is with him. I am not entirely certain where my father is.”
“I am here.” The older king came into the room with Cailin, her hand resting absently on her sword. “Cailin was just filling me in on the happenings at Lerranyth. I am afraid the situation may be worse than imagined.”
“Of course it is,” muttered Jaryn.
“You look like you could use some more bad news.” Cavalon and Badru followed Wessely and Cailin. By the sorrow on the Badarian's face his message had not been a good one. “Bás was attacked early this morning. Completely destroyed. No survivors.”
Those gathered looked at him with shocked horror on their faces. “What?” Ashlynn gasped.
“According to the messenger a great swarm came over them from nowhere, a black cloud...”
“Like summer flies,” Ashlynn whispered, finishing the thought easily. She could still hear the pain-riddled voice of Elas in her head saying the very same thing. Before the war he and his fellow water dragons had been attacked by something very similar and he had likened them to summer flies. “Everyone was killed?”
“Everyone,” Cavalon confirmed. “The messenger saw it from far enough away that whatever attacked didn't see her. She waited until it looked like the cloud had gone and then went to investigate herself. She said...” He paused and looked with purpose at Rowan. Lilia took the hint and grabbed Rowan by the hand to lead her from the room, promising her a fun game in the nursery with Zarra. When the three of them had gone, Cavalon's pursed lips parted to finish what he had been saying. “The messenger said the bodies had been stripped of skin, organs, everything, right down to their bones. She came straight here to tell me.”
“They were looking for Rowan,” said Jaryn, confident in his assumption. “They thought they would find her and be rid of her.”
“Forever sealing the fate of the Water Elemental,” said Badru darkly.
Tasarin looked at Ashlynn, his brows drawn together. “Donnchadh knows Rowan is here. Now I am sorry that I told him, but I was looking to get a reaction.”
“He has been looking for her as well,” said Wessely. He glanced at Cailin. “As I said, the situation is worse.”
Cailin nodded. “I can tell you under no uncertain terms that Donnchadh is Rowan's father.” Cavalon swore but Cailin, nonplussed, continued. “He only has suspicions himself, but Fintan and I know for certain. Nealie told him in confidence, forgetting I was even in the room. As much as Donnchadh puts on a friendly face for you, Ashlynn, he never loved the Gaels. He didn't even know I was one, else I'm certain I would not have had such a high position.”
Ashlynn shook her head. “If he hates Gaels, why take Nealie to bed?”
“Hate can sometimes be confused for passion,” said Badru, sadness on his face. “Nealie brought out both in many people.”
Jaryn sighed and looked down at the baby in his arms, content in sleep and unaware of what was going on around him. “Rowan is no longer safe here, and neither are my wife and child.” He turned to Ashlynn and grabbed her hand with his free one, squeezing it hard. “I'm sorry I ever doubted you, my love.”
“But what of these black things?” Jessiah asked. “I don't see Donnchadh being in league with demons no matter what he's done.”
“I don't either,” Cailin agreed.
“Unless it is not Donnchadh at all.” Ashlynn lifted fear filled eyes to Tasarin. “I saw something in that room, something dark and looming directly above his head.” She looked to Jaryn, expecting him to come against her observations, but there was more worry on his face than anything else. “It was as it had been on Mirasean,” she continued quietly, haunted by the memory. “Everything had been perfectly normal, and then the light changed.”
She said nothing more for a moment and Cailin asked, “Then what?”
Ashlynn raised her head to meet her friend's gaze. “Tadhg was there.”
“Tadhg?” Cailin repeated.
“The Red King?” balked Jessiah.
“I know it sounds like madness,” Ashlynn offered in a quiet, uneven voice, “but he was there and...” She looked down, ashamed, “he has been haunting me since.”
Jaryn's brow creased in alarm. “Still?”
“Always.” There was shame in her eyes. “I have been taking the sleeping potion since Badru first made it. When I don't, Tadhg is there.”
This admission sparked angry concern in Badru and he crouched before Ashlynn. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”
“You do not know what it is like without it! I see him everywhere! Awake, asleep, it doesn't matter anymore. But the potion-”
“The potion was never meant for long term use.” Badru took up the place beside her where Rowan had been before, gathering Ashlynn's hands into his own. “You must face your fears, not run from them.”
“I wish you had written to me,” Tasarin injected softly, a mixture of empathy and sorrow on his face. “If I had known I would have been here much sooner.”
“We must make sure Rowan is safe.” Ashlynn turned the attention elsewhere. “Lochlainn as well.”
“I feel I must agree,” said Wessely. “If these demons are the same we dealt with last year, if they have now attached themselves to Donnchadh, then there is no telling what may be coming.”
“I believe Mirasean would be the safest place for her,” Tasarin offered, his gaze on Ashlynn clearly unhappy and meant to let her know he was not ready to forget about the subject of her own personal demons, “but it would be difficult to convince the elves to agree to housing the children if they knew the danger surrounding them.”
“I was going
to offer to bring them home with me,” said Wessely. “Throughout Tadhg's reign, Oceana was the forgotten kingdom. We were left alone, completely ignored, apparently unworthy of conquering. I believe it would be a safe place for them. Perhaps Elas could even teach Rowan a bit about what it is to be a water dragon.”
“It would be good for you, too,” said Jaryn, looking at his wife. “Your father's right.”
“I'm not going anywhere.” Sure in her decision, Ashlynn shook her head. “If there is even so much as a rumor of me being with the children at Oceana, the target will then follow them and that is what we want to avoid. No, I will stay here. You should go with them.”
Jaryn quirked a brow. “Me?”
“One of us should be with them and since I am an Elemental and likely hunted now as well, it cannot be me.”
“I'm not going to leave you alone here to fight whatever it is that may be coming for you.”
“She will not be alone,” said Badru. “I will stay with her. We will take on the unknown together.”
“I'm staying as well,” Jessiah announced. “It's only because of Ashlynn that I'm still alive. My life is hers.”
Jaryn ran his free hand through his hair. “This is madness.”
“It is,” agreed Ashlynn. “But it is the safest choice.”
“I'll have a ship made ready to sail immediately,” Cailin said. She turned to leave but stopped quickly, realizing she was no longer in her familiar Lerranyth and that she had no idea where anything or anyone she might need to talk to would be.
“Mairead.” All Ashlynn had to do was say her name. As the two met gazes a silent conversation went between them. Mairead knew all she needed to in that brief exchange, and she nodded. “I will take care of everything.” Rising, she offered to show Cailin the way and the two women left together.
Tasarin folded his hands before him, a slight frown upon his lips. “I admit, I am uncertain as to what my course of action should be.”
“There is nothing to be uncertain of,” said Ashlynn kindly. “Go home. Take care of your wife and unborn child. She has no idea what may be coming. Everyone knows now who and what Luella is. Donnchadh outright threatened Siness and I have no doubt his eye is on Caedia as well.”
“What of your dreams and your visions? Is there nothing more I can do while I am here?”
“There is always something more you can do.” Careful not to step on any toes, Ashlynn rose and hugged Tasarin. “There. Now you have done it. Be safe, Tasarin.”
They separated and he took her in with pity-filled eyes. “It does not feel right to leave you like this. I have always been here to advise and aid. Knowing that you are, at this very minute, struggling with something so dark...” Ashlynn gave him a watery smile, making the elf shake his head. He had known her long enough to realize when his help would be accepted and when it would be turned away. With a quiet sigh, he relented. “Please send me word of any news or happenings and I will do the same for you.”
“Of course.”
“What do you want me to do?” Cavalon asked, a thread of irritation in his voice. “If you're going to tell me to stay put or go back to Braemar-”
“That is exactly what I want you to do.” Ashlynn looked at the Badarian with a calm expression. “You have people to look after now as well, and the least courtesy you could give Nuala is letting her know what is happening and what we may face as Elementals.”
There was defiance on Cavalon's face, as if he wanted to argue with her, but he was clearly warring with himself as to whether it would be worth it or not. After a heavy moment he quirked a brow. “All right. I'll go back to Braemar. But you can't make me stay there.”
“I know.”
“Just so long as we understand each other.”
“Perfectly.”
He took a deep breath in before stepping backward and into more open space. With arms crossed, fyre sprang up from his feet and engulfed him, leaving nothing but charred stone in his wake.
Ashlynn felt as though she were in the calm before the storm. She took Lochlainn from Jaryn and nuzzled his sweet little face, waking him only long enough for him to give her a groggy smile before he went back to sleep. “I would like to go see Rowan now, and spend as much time as I can with you all before we must be parted.” She knew Jaryn was far from pleased with the plan but also that he understood it was for the best of everyone. They held hands as they walked down the hallway, fingers laced together. With Rowan's musical laughter coming from the nursery as they approached she could almost pretend they were a normal, safe family.
But the shadows still darted from corner to corner, reminding her just how close danger lurked and how eager it was to make an easy meal of her peace.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The sun was setting behind Ashlynn as she stood on the balcony to watch the carriages pull away from Altaine. Tasarin was in the lead carriage with Wessely, while Cailin rode with Jaryn and the children both as a ready protector and for assistance with the young ones. Castle guards surrounded them from every angle. If any enemy came for them they would be well protected. She was trying to take comfort in that, but the thought that kept tugging at her uncertainty was that the enemy they feared was not a normal foe. She couldn't help but wonder if this was the last time she would see her father, Tasarin, Cailin, little Rowan, and her own son. Even Jaryn, as he managed to fit half his torso through the carriage window to look back and blow her a kiss, received a teary smile and a half-hearted wave in return.
“You'll see them again,” said Jessiah boldly, guessing her thoughts even though he stood behind her and couldn't see her face.
His voice sobered her some and reminded her that she had much to do - standing there letting dread sink in was not one of them.
Turning around, Ashlynn nodded and took a breath in. “Yes, I will, and, Giver willing, it will be before my son learns how to crawl.” She walked swiftly past Jessiah into the castle, heading in the direction of the throne room. When he fell into pace just a step behind her she slowed, a silent permission given for him to walk beside her. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better, Your Majesty. Thank you.”
“You have had a little time to think since you have been back; how are you feeling about your High King now?”
Jessiah's lips curved downward. “Donnchadh was good to me for the years I was at court, but of late he has changed. I no longer know the man he has become. He would have killed me once he was done playing with me.”
Ashlynn glanced sideways at him. “What makes you so sure?”
“He wanted information from me that I refused to give him.”
“Information?”
Jessiah nodded. “He wanted to know all the numbers from Sinessian court: companies of knights; how many men at arms you kept within the castle and how many without; whether you had your own personal guard...things like that.” Ashlynn's brows rose and he shrugged. “I refused to tell him anything so he beat me, whipped me, stretched me until I thought my arms would be torn from my body.”
“Jessiah, I am truly sorry.”
“It's all right, Your Majesty.” He stopped, causing her to stop in turn, and faced her. “I knew before I joined up with Cavalon and Badru that something had changed with Donnchadh and came here with them to see the Sinessian high king and queen. I wanted to judge for myself the type of rulers they were. You and your husband are the kind of rulers that should command a country, not Donnchadh. As I said earlier, I am now yours, though I think my heart was here before you saved me from the dungeon.”
Ashlynn smiled and began to walk again. “Something tells me it was not only Siness that gripped your heart.”
A blush colored the skin under Jessiah's beard and he chuckled quietly. “You speak of the Lady Lilia.”
“I must if that was where your thoughts turned.”
“She is very charming and undoubtedly one of the most beautiful women I have ever laid eyes on, with the exclusion of Your Majesty, and she
is kind and caring. There is not a thing I have found not to love about her.”
Ashlynn's eyes lit up. “Then it is love.”
“Not yet, but I could see it turning that way if I allowed it to continue.”
“Why would you not?”
He shrugged again. “She is a Lady and I am no one here. She is not as free to marry whomever she chooses as you were. She must marry a man with status.”
“Well then, today is your lucky day.” When Jessiah's only reply was a look of confusion, Ashlynn smirked. “You will forgive the lack of pomp, but I promise to make it up to you at your wedding to Lilia.”
“I don't understand.”
“I am granting you lands just past the outskirts of the village as well as a weighty sum.”
“But...why?”
“Because as you said, you are my man now.” They came to a crossroads in the hallway and it was here Ashlynn stopped, facing Jessiah with all seriousness. “If Donnchadh is truly planning a war with Siness I will need all the inside information I can get.”
“It shall be yours.” He shifted on his feet, thinly veiled excitement in his eyes. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“No longer are you simply Jessiah but now you are Lord...” She paused, reaching for a surname but coming up with nothing. Tilting her head she asked, “What was your family name again?”
He grinned. “Clery, Your Majesty.”
Ashlynn smirked. “Lord Clery then.”
“If only you would still call me by my first name.”
“An easy second wish to grant. Now, go find Lilia and tell her the good news. I have some business to attend.”
~*~*~*~
The wind was deafening at the speed with which Cavalon and Nuala flew through the air. Her body streamed fire behind her in a colorful wake, a small speck in her animal form in comparison to Cavalon's massive dragon form. Somehow she kept up for most of their journey, but it was clear that she was slowing down. She gave a shrill cry, a call to get Cavalon's attention and tell him she needed rest. He gave no sound in reply but kept up his quick speed. Nuala flung her wings wide and caught the updraft in a quick jerk of a motion that sent her above Cavalon. In a brilliant flash of white light she became the more familiar woman with the fiery wings, dropping onto Cavalon's back and holding on tight.