by Delta James
“You do what you want, Gideon, but know this... I will not give her up.”
Bridget and Ciara joined them. Kellan smiled as he watched Gideon gather his family close in preparation for leaving. Kellan could feel Míorúilt’s approach. She had softened to him since their return. She welcomed him to their bed each night, hungry for his touch and seeming to revel in his embrace. He was coming to understand that his mate had a mind of her own and wouldn’t be bullied. She still needed a firm hand, but he found she could usually be coerced by a strong bout of lovemaking. A tired and sated Míorúilt was far more likely to behave.
“You are happy, Gideon,” Kellan said as he watched the small family prepare to leave.
“I am. Bridget has heard from the alphas of Ravenscar, Calon Onest, and Dundalk. They have agreed to visit us at Tintagel at month’s end. Will you and Míorúilt join us there?”
Kellan nodded. “We will. Do you think the others will wake?”
“There is no way to know. But we keep hearing disturbing news from the Old Continent as does Gareth of Ravenscar. Bridget has heard from Ruari of Dundalk. They believe an alliance is in all of our best interest.”
Kellan growled. “The wolves and their minions tried to hunt us into extinction...”
Míorúilt reached out to him. “That was a long time ago. Bridget assures me that these wolves are not like their ancestors. You said Gideon is convinced there is a threat coming. Wouldn’t it be best if we at least met with them?”
Kellan smiled down at her. “You are your mother’s daughter. Many was the time I heard her take the sting out of Duncan’s words and cool his ire. My true heart is as wise as she is sensual and beautiful, so we will meet with all of you at Tintagel.”
Kellan and Míorúilt stood back as they watched Gideon and Bridget shift and Ciara crawl up on the man she now called Father’s back. They took flight and Ciara waved as they flew overhead and then headed for home.
“You look as though you envy him,” said Míorúilt.
“I do. He has his true heart, as do I, and a daughter.”
“I thought you would prefer a son...”
“As long as you and our offspring are safe and healthy, I will be content.”
They turned to walk back into the citadel.
“How are the repairs to Raicleach coming along?” she asked.
“Our men and the workers who have hired on are making excellent progress. I had to divert some of the manpower to the village’s cistern system. It was old and in ill repair and needed to be replaced.”
“I’m sure the people of the village appreciate your commitment to them. When I go into the village, I am constantly assailed by our people as to all of your virtues.”
“Do you still have to be convinced that my good qualities outweigh the bad?” he teased.
“No. Each night I make use of your best quality,” she said, smiling and standing on her tiptoes to kiss him, before turning serious. “What of my women?” she asked as they wrapped their arms around each other and walked into the citadel.
“We have heard nothing of Caitlyn. Brenna seems to have settled in happily with Fionn. That leaves Aurora, Fidah, and Layla. Cathal and several others seem intent on taking Layla to wife and she seems to be enjoying the attention.”
“But you are intent on settling her with Cathal, aren’t you?”
“I am. She is spirited and will need a warrior to quell her argumentative nature. Fidah does not seem interested in finding a mate at the moment and seems more interested in accompanying us to Raicleach as your lady’s maid and caretaker for our children.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“Not if that is what you want and none of our men are called to her. But Aurora worries me.”
“Why? I didn’t think Aurora had caused any trouble whatsoever.”
“That is what worries me. She is meek and mild in almost all of her actions. But there are times I catch her watching me with something akin to hatred in her eyes.”
“Can you blame her? You did come in and disrupt the lives we had chosen for ourselves.”
“Míorúilt, I don’t want to argue with you. You and your women needed to be brought to heel and integrated into appropriately into society. They have not been ill-treated...”
“I think they might disagree...”
“As with their lady, only when they have misbehaved and have felt Fionn’s hand applied to their backside.”
Kellan pulled her back into his embrace and was rewarded when she came willingly and melted into him as he plundered her mouth. He wondered if he would ever get his fill of her.
“What do you plan to do with Aurora?”
“We will keep her close until her fate is revealed. Gideon wonders if her destiny isn’t with one of the other clans. I am in no hurry to see your women placed with the wrong mate, but they need to find their proper place and that place is not running wild with my mate.”
“We were not running wild. In fact we weren’t bothering anyone.”
“Míorúilt, you heard those men when they met with Fionn and me. They felt you were a disruptive influence and had been staking out the hilltop to find your bolt hole and drawing up a plan to assault the cave and bring you out.”
“And how had they planned to deal with a fire-breathing dragon?” she asked.
“They knew your schedule and planned to wait until you’d gone hunting and take your women into their care at that time and then deal with you.”
“It wouldn’t have worked,” she said petulantly.
“Of course not,” Kellan soothed. “None of them have a dragon’s tongue to keep their drakaina happy and fulfilled.”
Míorúilt snorted, but said nothing.
“Come, my drakaina, let us join our people for the evening meal and then I will take you upstairs to have my lecherous, dragonian way with you.”
She laughed. “You have had worse ideas, my dragon lord. You’ve had worse ideas.”
Kellan entered the building with Míorúilt tucked up against his side. While he might not be sure of the future, he could, for now and for this time, be confident that he had his one true heart and that with her by his side, he could bend fate to his will and bring about another age of dragons.
Epilogue
Aurora stood at the window in her room, her cell, listening to the others talking and watching the sun set. Gideon and his family had departed more than a week ago. She had become very fond of their daughter, a bright, inquisitive child who seemed to embrace all those she met. Work was proceeding on Raicleach.
“I think some of the men here at Dragon’s Galloglas seem to be kind and honorable...” said Fidah, one of the women who had been taken from the Sanctuary.
“Brenna said they will be looking for Caitlyn and their plan is to keep us here to be mated either to one of the two remaining dragons or to one of their men,” said the other whose name was Layla.
Aurora whirled away from the window. “You’re all right with their plans? What about being mistresses of our own destiny? What about choosing who to love or to love at all?”
“I ran from my home to avoid marrying a rich farmer who was old as my father. He’d already put two wives in their graves trying to breed a son. When he tried to kiss me, I cringed and knew I had to get away. The idea of giving myself to that old lecher made me want to vomit,” said Layla.
Fidah nodded. “And I escaped my father’s plan to put me in a strict religious house.”
“Why would he want to see you there?” asked Aurora.
“He caught me with the son of a local squire, far above my station. Nothing had really happened, but he had me exposed from the waist up. So, as he already had four other daughters, he thought it better to lock me away,” Fidah answered.
“For both Fidah and me, either a dragon lord or someone who serves him is infinitely better than what we ran away from. What about you?”
Aurora laughed bitterly. “I was to be burned at the stake as a witch.”
>
“And are you one?” asked Layla with no rancor and only friendly curiosity.
“Yes, I am. But I never did any harm to anyone... just tried to help. Like Caitlyn, my family has a history with dragons. They say my ancestress was a sorceress and that she is the one who cursed the last dragons to sleep. Better that her spell had finished them off. Her sister had been taken and turned by the Lord of the Skies. She was killed trying to defend the last clutch of eggs. They say he left her there alone to die. I will never mate a dragon or any man who serves one.”
There was a discreet knock on the door and Cathal entered.
“Ladies, the hour is growing late. There was some discussion after the evening meal that all of you should be punished for withholding the information about Caitlyn. But our lady has pled for leniency and Lord Kellan has chosen to allow the punishment of Lady Míorúilt and Brenna stand for the rest of you. The dressmaker will be here in the morning so you should all try and get to bed early this evening. Layla, I will escort you and Fidah to your rooms.”
He bowed out of the room and beckoned the other two women to leave Aurora. Once she was alone, she returned to the window, not so much as to watch the sun set, but to watch the moon rise. As darkness filled the room and the citadel seemed to settle in for the night, Aurora opened her bundle from the cave. She retrieved a small silver bowl. She set it on the windowsill so that the moonlight shone upon it as it spilled from the rising orb. She filled it with cool water. She slipped her hand up the inside of her sleeve and withdrew a white feather.
Aurora lightly stirred the water with the feather as she closed her eyes and chanted, “Invisible is what I wish to be. Please let my power sink into me.” A light tingling took over her being and she felt it skitter across her skin. She breathed in the night air and then turned back toward the door. She collected the bowl, emptying the water back into the pitcher and drying it with a towel. Aurora added it back to a small bag she fastened to her waist that contained the only things she would take with her. The room appeared to be on soft focus; there were no stark lines, everything just seemed to be slightly blurred. She crossed the room and put her ear to the door and listened intently, hearing nothing. She opened the door; ensuring no one was in the hallway, she turned toward the stairwell and headed toward freedom.
She exited the citadel building. She stopped and held her breath as the men of the citadel took up their evening posts at the gate. Aurora knew from having watched them previously that it would be several hours before they closed the gate. She approached quietly but steadily. The men continued to talk amongst themselves. While her vision was softened by the spell, her hearing was sharpened. She could hear them discussing women in general and her, Fidah, and Layla in particular. Cathal seemed very intent on taking Layla to wife. While the others expressed interest in either her or Fidah, Cathal said all would have to wait until the last two dragons awoke to see if any of them were their true heart.
Aurora walked past them. At one point she could have reached out and touched them. She exited the gate and looked to the south. Caitlyn was headed back to Wales. She meant to lay in wait for Seth, the Lord of Fire, and kill him before he could ever stake his claim to his kingdom. Aurora turned to the north. If her plan was successful, neither the Lord of Fire nor his brother the Lord of the Skies would ever awaken.
The End
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