Born of Fire

by Kella McKinnon

  Meara only nodded. “That’s just what I thought had happened. Where have you been sleeping, child?”

  She shrugged. “In the woods at the edge of the village. I figured it was safer than out in the open.” No one was going to help her or take her in, and she didn’t blame them. The king had forbidden it, and she’d seen his punishments first hand. In fact, she wouldn’t have let anyone help her, even if they’d offered. Luckily, it was summer and there were berries and greens to eat, and the few vegetables that fell out of baskets or carts at the edges of the fields. She couldn’t say she wasn’t a little hungry, but at least she had yet to starve.

  Meara nodded, taking her half-empty cup out of Nessa’s hand and urging her to her feet. “Go now, and have patience and hope. I have work to do.”

  Bridei was not at the night fires with everyone else. Instead, Meara found him alone in the hall of the broch, pacing in front of his chair as if he couldn’t quite calm himself enough to sit.

  “Nessa”, she said to him, crossing her arms.

  He stopped pacing for a moment and looked at her, but quickly began again. “What of her?”

  “Do you know that she’s been sleeping in the forest? Existing on berries and nuts, I assume. She looks very thin.”

  “So?”

  Meara raised an eyebrow. “So? It isn’t good for the child she carries. Many a woman has lost a babe in times of famine. Have you so little regard for your own son?”

  He stopped cold. Turned around slowly. The blood visibly drained from his face. His voice was shaky. “She’s still carrying my child? She kept my son?”

  Meara glared at him. As far as she was concerned, he had sulked and raged long enough. “Aye, of course. She loves you, and the child.”

  He put both hands on the table in front of him, bracing himself. It seemed he could barely speak. “How can you be certain?”

  “I am certain, Bridei. As certain as I am standing before you now.”

  Nessa sat back on her heels and drew a deep breath. The fires were lit and dozens of people basked in their warm glow. People that she had known, and had once been included among. Now she was alone, still heartbroken, and uncertain of her future. She had no idea what she was going to do once winter arrived. She might have to tell Bridei about the baby just so that he would give her food and shelter. Her hand went to her stomach and her eyes welled up with tears. She didn’t want it to be that way. He hadn’t wanted a child, true, but she had hoped that after a happy reunion, she might tell him and he would accept it and maybe even be glad after all. Now apparently all she could hope for was his mercy to save their lives.

  Nessa took another deep, shuddering breath. What a mess she had made of things, and how naïve she had been, thinking she could walk back into Bridei’s life after hurting him and still have everything turn out like the fairy-tale ending she had secretly imagined. Maybe she had imagined his feelings for her as well, though hers were still as strong as ever. The tears began to fall because she just couldn’t hold them in anymore. The patience and hope Meara had told her to hold on to now seemed much too heavy. All at once the dam broke, and she sobbed until there were no more tears left to fall. She must have cried herself to sleep, because the sudden sound of shouting startled her awake.

  “Raid! Raid!”

  There was a clamor of metal and loud voices and when she looked up with sleep-bleary eyes. She saw men in the distance fighting with swords, knives and fists. It was then that she felt an arm curve around her waist and a hand cover her mouth. Acting on pure instinct, she bit the hand as hard as she could and managed a single scream before the silent threat of violence in the form of a blade at her throat quieted her. As she was dragged farther into the woods, she saw a second shadowy figure following. She stumbled after her captor for several long minutes until they finally emerged near a narrow road where three horses stood waiting, nothing more than black silhouettes in the moonlight. One of the horses carried a third man, and she knew then that she was sorely outnumbered. The men stopped briefly to tie a leather gag across her mouth and bind her hands behind her back. She fought them as hard as she could, because she knew no one would be coming for her. The terror she felt was all-consuming. She was utterly alone.

  Bridei had just learned that he was still going to be a father, and his head was reeling with the implications. She had come back to him, and with the babe. Could he have been too hasty in his judgement of her? He had just opened his mouth to ask Meara’s advice on the matter, his heart in his throat, when suddenly the night was shattered with calls of a raid. Bridei sighed in annoyance, but immediately turned to run toward the call. It wasn’t uncommon for neighboring tribes to sweep in at night and try to make off with food or weapons. Some even considered it a rite of manhood to steal from a wealthier village, and to the people of Tallorc, it was usually more of an irritation than a real danger.

  But when Bridei heard a scream from the edge of the woods, his heart nearly stopped. He knew in an instant that it was Nessa. And it had been a scream of terror. Suddenly, nothing else mattered except getting to her. He turned towards the woods, and as he ran, his pride quickly seemed like a small and petty thing, his honor worthless without the woman he had once wanted above all others. In that moment, he knew that he wanted her still, perhaps more than ever. If anything had happened to her…

  It didn’t take long for him to find the men who took her, as carelessly loud as they were. He paused under cover of the thick trees, forcing himself to carefully assess the situation before charging in like a mindless animal. There were three men, and one held Nessa by the waist as he attempted to lift her onto the back of a horse. She struggled and kicked and the man swore and drew his hand back as if to strike her.

  Not while he lived and breathed.

  Bridei burst from the trees, drawing his weapon, and the attention of all three men. He did not look at Nessa. He needed to focus, and seeing her frightened or injured would certainly undo him. The looks on the men’s faces turned from surprise to complacency as they realized he had come alone.

  “Take your hands off her”, Bridei demanded in a low, feral growl.

  The man holding Nessa drew a blade and held it across her throat. “I think not. You leave your women unguarded in the forest at night, and they are free for the taking.”

  “She is not yours. Drop your weapons, lead the horses away, and I will let you live.” For a moment.

  The man smirked. “As I said, I found her, and I’ll keep her. She’ll be warming my bed later tonight.”

  It was the wrong thing to say. Bridei’s eyes went from merely murderous to hell-bent in an instant. “Get down Nessa, now! And stay there!”

  She only had an instant to wonder how he expected her to do that with a blade nearly piercing her neck, when something flew from Bridei’s hand and not even a second later the man holding her slumped over. She dropped to the ground without question, though she couldn’t help but peek out from under her arm. She wanted to be ready to help if he needed her. It was two against one, after all. Her hand reached out to grab a stone lying on the ground in front of her. Not much of a weapon, but better than none at all.

  She should have known she wouldn’t need it. Before the other two even noticed their friend was bleeding out where Bridei’s knife had sunk neatly into the artery of his neck, he was on them. The first victim had his stomach slashed wide, and Nessa put her face back down, not really needing to see the man’s intestines spilling onto the forest floor. The second was thrown to the ground, and Bridei pinned his there with a booted foot heavy on his chest.

  Then he looked at her for the first time. “Nessa.”

  She looked up at him, her fierce warrior, so strong, so beautiful. “Did they touch you?” he gritted out.

  He meant, she realized, to give the man either a swift, or a slow and painful death, depending on her answer. She scurried to her knees.

  “Did any of them touch you? Or hurt you at all?”

  “No.”
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br />   He nodded once, then drove his sword directly into the man’s heart. There was a choking sound, then a stream of red life began to flow from the wound and from his mouth. He was dead just seconds later. She let out the breath she had been holding. She looked at each of the three dead men lying on the ground, but she couldn’t seem to muster any pity for them. In this world, they got what they knew would come to them if they played with fire. Or King Bridei.

  Bridei tossed his bloody sword to the ground and knelt beside her in the dirt. “Nessa…I…”

  She had started to tremble with the after-shock of what had just happened. The trembling quickly turned to shaking and she was finding it hard to draw in enough air. Bridei wrapped her in his arms and held her tight until her breathing evened out and her muscles began to relax. She had never felt so warm and safe, but there was still so much standing between them, including a child he hadn’t wanted…

  One Nessa had calmed, Bridei held her at arm’s length and looked her over carefully, his gaze lingering a moment longer on her stomach. She kept him. My son. Our son… But she had chosen another man. She had left and gone to a place he could not follow. Pain and jealousy twisted his insides. He had to know, even thought it might kill him to hear it.

  “Why did you come back? Wasn’t it what you wanted, to go back to your own time and be with the man you love?” The words felt like hot sand in his mouth. She shook her head, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.

  “Bridei. I didn’t…I couldn’t. I wasn’t with Nathan while I was gone. I swear to you. I couldn’t even let him touch me.”

  He watched her face carefully, and when he realized she was telling the truth, relief like he’d never felt before flooded through him. If she could feel for him only half of what he felt for her…

  He reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek. “Meara once told me that a true soul mate breaks you first”, he said softly. “You have shattered me to tiny pieces Ashta, and now you hold them all in your hands. Why, then? Why did you go?”

  “I didn’t mean to leave, Bridei.” She was sobbing now, breaking apart before him. “I was so wrong…but you let me leave; you didn’t fight for me! I didn’t know what to do…

  “I wanted to kill him!” he growled as a wave of fresh rage welled up from deep inside. “But I knew you would never forgive me if I killed the man you loved.”

  “I didn’t love him enough”, she said through her tears. “I didn’t love him like I should have. Not like he wanted me to.”

  But could she love him? Bridei didn’t ask. He wasn’t certain he could bear it if she told him no. With a sigh he gathered her in his arms and placed her gently on Lotex’s back. He brought her back to his chamber and carefully bathed, dried, and tended her, his emotions running wild all the while, and with very few words spoken between them. He should have listened to her story when she first returned. He should have at least given her a chance to explain, but he had been too stubborn and prideful. And for that he had nearly lost her, and his child. Now he lay her on his bed, all soft and warm and naked. She watched him as he took off all of his clothing and lay down next to her. He kissed her, slowly and tenderly, and it felt like coming home.

  “I’m sorry, Ashta. I have wronged you.”

  “No, it’s my fault…”

  “Shhhh…” He kissed her again, harder this time. She would never understand the depth of his regret, but he would spend the rest of his life trying to make it up to her. Their tongues twined together and a small sound of desire escaped her throat as he shifted his body on top of hers and she pressed her hips upward to meet his. She wanted him, and for now, that was all he needed to know. He was burning to be inside her; it had been far too long. Too much had come and gone between them. It was time to start again. He was so hard that his cock throbbed insistently to the rapid rhythm of his pounding heart. He was dizzy with need, and beyond salvation by anything other than being deep inside the woman he held captive beneath him.

  He reached a hand between her thighs and stroked her softly, finding her wet and ready for him. He growled low in his throat as she sunk her nails into his skin, trying to pull him closer.

  “Bridei…”

  He leaned down to take her mouth again, and at the same time, he thrust his aching cock deep, groaning in ecstasy. He moved slowly and languorously, skin sliding across skin, bodies melded together. This was all he needed, ever again. Against all odds, she had come to him twice, and this time, he wasn’t going to let her go, even if he had to keep her chained to his side.

  He bucked against her like a wild animal, groaning, nearly unable to contain all of the pleasure that flooded through him as his seed filled her. As the last shudder ebbed, he collapsed, spent but far from sated.

  Nessa sighed as she stretched out on the bed. It had been a long, but productive day working the earth and putting her green thumb to good use. It was also her first day back among the people of Tallorc. Being in the sunshine and dirt all day had left her drowsy and happy. And the hot bath by the fire had been the icing on the cake.

  The door opened, and Bridei came in, ducking his head under the low doorframe. She smiled when she saw him; her very own sexy, tattooed warrior. But there was still a wall between them, and a secret. Nessa had no idea what she was to him—Consort? Girlfriend? More?—and it was driving her crazy. She wanted to be happy. She was happy…but even before she had left, there had never been talk of love, no mention of marriage or the future. She didn’t know if she could live as just his consort. No, she was sure of it. She would never share him.

  He sat down beside her. “I’ve been thinking a lot today”, he told her, running a thumb over the seam of her lips. She playfully tried to bite it, and he pulled it away, laughing softly.

  “Have you? About what?”

  His expression turned serious, and Nessa grew slightly alarmed. She wasn’t yet secure in their relationship. It’s only been one day, Nessa! But last night was too perfect, and she felt as if the dream she was floating in so blissfully could come to an end at any moment and everything would fall down around her.

  “It tore my heart out, to see you with him.”

  Her face fell. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you, but I needed closure, I think. I needed to know that part of my life was done; that I had nothing I really needed or wanted to go back to.”

  “Are you sorry you came back?”

  She shook her head. “No! Everything I need is here now.”

  “I’m glad, because I will not have you leaving me again.”

  “But I have to tell you something.” She swallowed hard. She was going to tell him, and just get it over with, here and now.

  “Why are you trembling?” He picked up her hand and held it in his. It was indeed shaking.

  “I’m afraid.”

  “Afraid of what, Ashta?” His brows drew together in concern. “You have nothing to fear anymore, not while I live and breathe.”

  “I’m afraid that you won’t be happy about it.”

  “What is it you want to tell me?”

  “I’m…I’m pregnant Bridei. With your child.”

  He smiled. “I know.”

  “You know? How do you know?” Relief and confusion flooded her mind.

  “Meara told me, before you left with…him.”

  “Meara?” How could she have known, when Nessa herself hadn’t even known yet? “But I came back…I came back and you knew I was carrying your child, and you abandoned me! You let me live in the woods! I could have starved!” Without thinking, she hit him as hard as she could, but he didn’t even flinch, and her fist came away feeling like she had just slammed it into a boulder. “How could you do that to me? To us?”

  Bridei sighed. “And for that I am truly sorry, Ashta. I assumed you had gotten rid of the child. You said women can choose in your time. Choose whether to bear a child. I saw no reason you would want a child we made together when you had chosen another man.”

  “Bridei! O
h my god…I would never…I could never! How could you even think I could do that?”

  He shrugged, his eyes betraying the hurt she had caused him. “How could you leave with another man, and my child?”

  She shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I didn’t know! When I left, I had no idea I was pregnant. I didn’t find out for weeks after that. How did Meara even know?”

  “She sees auras.”

  “Oh.”

  He sighed and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. “I have my pride, Ashta. You left me with nothing. Not even something to fight against to win you back. There was nothing I could do to protect you or my own child. I am not accustomed to feeling so helpless.”

  “It was a child you didn’t want”, she pointed out quietly. “You made that clear from the beginning.”

  “The time wasn’t right, that was all. I was going to battle. I couldn’t bring myself to leave behind an unborn child that might never see his father. I didn’t want to leave a family behind, unprotected.” He smiled ruefully. “I was determined… I thought I was strong enough to wait. I wasn’t.”

  Nessa’s whole body relaxed. It wasn’t that he didn’t want a child, just that he hadn’t wanted to leave one behind unprotected. And now the battle was over.

  This time when she looked at him, she knew she was glowing. She could feel it. “You don’t know it’s a boy.”

  He looked sheepish, and her lips curled into a smile.

  “Meara again? I guess I’m having a boy, then.”

  “We are. And I want him. I want him with all of my heart. And I want you, with all of my soul. Now that I know what it is to have you, I would never be able to live without.”