After the Flood 1: Blood and Magic

by Lena Austin

  Kella’s spirits fell. If Le-An wanted the child, all her plans would be dashed. It would hurt more to leave than the first time, to return to seeking a chance to get pregnant. However, honor was involved. Kella shifted to human so that she could speak. “She is precious because she is yours, the product of your union with Reimy. Reimy doesn’t want her; she just abandoned the baby at the river. You have the right as the other parent to the child. Do you want her?” She prayed Le-An didn’t hear the catch in her voice when she asked the last question.

  Le-An looked at her daughter and answered, very slowly. “Kella, I’m afraid you will think me very selfish.” Le-An plucked at the rags wrapping the babe, and cuddled her for a moment. She closed her eyes and heaved a great sigh.

  Kella felt the tears start to well up in her eyes. She feared the worst.

  “I don’t have the slightest desire to give up my freedom. I don’t have the foggiest notion of how to mother a child. I’m male half the time, anyway. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to raise her. Would that be all right? I’ll be like a godparent or relative, but I can’t be a parent. I don’t know what to do, but you do.” She thrust the child at Kella.

  Kella forced herself not to snatch the child to her breast, and took the babe gently. “Le-An, I’d be happy to take care of little Leanina for you. It would make me the happiest bitch in the Valley. No, the world! Thank you!” She wasn’t even looking at Le-An anymore. She had eyes only for the baby. It slowly dawned on her that she had not heard one word from Tanne. What must he be thinking?

  She slowly turned to look at Tanne, attempting to plead with just her eyes. He returned to human form and wrapped both of them in his arms, holding Kella and the baby as though he dared the world to try to take them away.

  Kella snuggled into his chest for a few moments. A certain warm wetness forced her to step back. “We have a damp child, no cradle, no food, no blankets for her, nothing.” She shoved Leanina into Tanne’s arms. “Change the baby.” She went inside for only a few moments, to create the things they would need.

  Howls of laughter beckoned her back outside. Le-An was laughing so hard she leaned against the cavern entrance, using it to steady herself, and gasping for air. Tanne held a wolf pup in his arms, and looked very confused. “I did what she said,” he protested.

  Hysterical laughter bubbled up inside Kella. A few minutes later, she managed to gasp out, “I meant change the swaddling clothes. She’s damp.”

  Tanne looked sheepish and offended all at once. “I don’t know these things. I never had a younger sibling, and naturally, we don’t worry about swaddling our young.”

  “Change her back and give her here.” Still chuckling, Kella took Leanina off to the bathing room to wash her and change her into dry clothing. “Tanne, see to Le-An before she chokes.”

  When she returned, a glass of bubbly wine waited for her. Le-An teased Tanne, “Now that you are a father, you’d better have a formal bonding.”

  Tanne stared at Le-An for a few moments. “That’s not a bad idea.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  The next day, Tanne disappeared right after breakfast. Kella kept expecting him to appear at any moment. She even tried to reach him via mind-call, but he was shielded.

  There was no wet nurse available, so Kella spent the morning attempting and finally succeeding in changing her form to that of a lactating female. She was not expecting the sensation of nursing, especially since there was no pregnancy to lead to it. Somehow, she got started, and found the process soothing.

  With no patients to tend, the hours lengthened and became oppressive. She grew nervous and worried that perhaps he had changed his mind about being her partner and mate. By the time he appeared, she had worked herself into a lather.

  He carried a circle of flowers and knelt before her. “Will you formally bond with me?”

  Kella’s brain stopped functioning. She restrained herself from saying, “I can saddle you with my problems, or myself. What if you do tire of me eventually?” The hurt was still in her from having been thrown out once, and she didn’t want him to feel tied down to her in any way.

  She stammered an excuse. “We can’t exactly ask the high priest of my temple to officiate. We’re doing fine just the way we are. A ceremony would be rather redundant, even if we did find someone to officiate. I can just imagine us going to the Herd Stallion and asking him. I’ll bet Talamar won’t like the idea, much less give permission. You do have to ask him, don’t you?”

  “I don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to do anything. Talamar won’t wed us, but I think we could find someone to do it. Maybe Le-An or Sedna. If I lived in the herd, I would have to ask my mother’s permission, out of courtesy. However, I don’t live in the herd. Anyone who questions my choice of mate challenges my honor and will die on my horn. Anyone who would choose to fight one who could best the Herd Stallion is insane.” There was no small amount of pride in his voice.

  Kella remained dubious. “Are you really sure you want to be with us for the rest of our lives?”

  “I must. I can’t bear the thought of losing you, nor another night like that night. I missed you terribly. I need you more now than you needed me.” He was so wrapped up in sorting and expressing his emotions that Kella was forced to use mind-speech to get through to him.

  Yes, Tanne.

  “You don’t know how much you mean to me. When I thought you’d kill yourself ‑‑ What? What did you say? Did you say you’d marry me? Did I hear that?”

  Yes, I will marry you. Stop shouting.

  They contacted Sedna, and this time, she visited the cavern. Once again, as she had many times throughout their relationship, she asked, “Tanne, do you truly love her? It isn’t just forbidden fruit or lust?”

  For an answer, Tanne took Kella’s hand. A magical glow surrounded them. Tanne’s eyes went round with wonderment. “I only intended to hold her hand while I answered.”

  Sedna brushed honey cake off her hands. “Well, that’s all the answer I shall ever need, and I shan’t ask again. Stop staring and close your mouth, Kella. You were once a novice priestess, and if you don’t recognize a god’s blessing, I’ll take a switch to you, sorceress or not.”

  A flute-like laugh sounded from the cavern entrance, and Jenna trotted in, before changing to her humanoid form. Kella was honored by that alone, for Jenna rarely enjoyed transforming. “And you do the same, Tanne, or I’ll borrow Sedna’s switch for your backside, too. Do you mind if I join in? If Sedna is acting as mother of the bride, then I claim my rights as mother of the groom.”

  Tanne manifested a chair for his mother’s dainty frame, and she sat with a regal nod of thanks. Sedna and Jenna greeted each other like old friends. At Tanne’s raised eyebrow, Sedna explained. “I know Jenna from when your father ruled the Valley. She helped our village get settled when we first arrived. Why didn’t you tell me you were her son?”

  Kella had been wondering the same thing. She shot Tanne a look from under her eyelashes. “You have some explaining to do. I didn’t know I was marrying the prince of the Unicorns.”

  Tanne looked down, turning red. Jenna just laughed and answered for him. “My son never wanted the dubious honor of being Herd Stallion, Sedna. Not that I blame him after what his father went through.”

  She sobered. “We’ll just keep the wedding short and sweet. Talamar has been getting increasingly paranoid about stallions who might be competition. He will look for a good excuse to harm Tanne to consolidate his own power. I mean you no ill, Kella, but I think you can understand that Talamar would not consider your needs or feelings important.”

  Kella snorted cynically, without rancor or insult directed at Jenna. It was the truth.

  Sedna jumped in. “There are no laws against your union, just a lot of traditions and precedents. I mean no offense, Jenna and Tanne, but we all know the worship we Vampires have for Unicorns as living gods. Sex is acceptable; marriage is not. They’ve accepted Tanne and Kella having sex. To
form a mated pair would be unforgivable. We should keep this quiet to avoid trouble.”

  “Agreed,” Jenna replied. “Unicorns are a little more stringent as to where one deposits one’s seed. We feel if it cannot germinate, then you are denying the herd the possibility of your line continuing. If you stayed in Unicorn form for the rest of your life and bore Tanne’s foals, Kella, there would be no issue. However, I don’t blame you one bit for choosing to stay in a form you share equally. You both are doing wonderful work as healers, and your choice is a wise one.”

  Sedna groaned. “The Vampires will probably just come up with a new form of the Goddess, or something. They would come up with a legend of how she came and lived among us and was elevated to Unicorn status due to her eternal youth and beauty.” Her voice fairly dripped with sarcasm.

  Kella was nauseated at the thought. Tanne looked like someone had stuck something foul under his nose. Jenna snickered, then pointed at their faces and laughed outright.

  All agreed that the vernal equinox was the proper day for such bindings. There wasn’t really all that much to plan, as the ritual had been used for centuries. However, they did dispense with a couple of the blood rights. They decided to hold the ceremony in the meadow near their home cave, rather than ask to use the Vampire temple for that purpose.

  * * * * *

  Those few who were invited waited in the meadow by midmorning on the vernal equinox. Le-An, the Gryphons, the Harpies, Werewolves, Elves, Jenna, Marget, and a few Unicorns ranged together in a mixed group.

  Kella’s silver-and-white gown was low cut and tight in the bodice. Since she was lactating, this caused her some discomfort, and she was terrified she’d leak milk if Leanina cried during the ceremony. Perhaps it was being passed from person to person during the ceremony that kept the babe occupied and quiet. Tanne was spectacular in blue, white, and silver. They walked up to Sedna together, and the crowd arranged themselves in a semicircle behind them to act as witnesses to their vows.

  The ceremony began when Sedna cleared her throat once. “Here stands before us Kellarashina, formerly of the Vampires, Healer and Sorceress. Here stands before us Tanne Brae, of the Unicorns, Healer and Mage. They wish to join together, forming a living bridge between the people of the Valley.”

  There was a short pause. Normally in the ceremony, there might have been a request for objections to be voiced against the union, but Sedna had omitted the phrases, knowing there were objections. It had been decided among themselves not to give anyone the opportunity to object.

  Sedna continued. “For this joining, Kella pledges to remain with Tanne away from her home village, sharing her skills of healing and magic with the whole of the Valley. For this joining, Tanne pledges to give her a home, hearth, and help, so she never feels the loss of her home village. Those who bear witness this day swear honor to uphold these pledges, should ill luck befall either. What say you?”

  The answer was a resounding, “Yes,” along with the roars of Dragons, shrieks of Gryphons, and howls of Werewolves. Sedna waited for the cacophony to cease before resuming her speech, this time looking sternly at Tanne and Kella.

  “This bond is not meant to fetter. A joining is a partnership, not two beings becoming one entity. While two hearts may agree, the minds may not. This is a pledge to respect the differences between you, never trying to overwhelm the other, but compromising whenever possible. Pain shared is pain halved, and joy shared is doubled. Do you pledge to share, to aid, and to attempt not to change the other, working together in all things with commitment and respect?”

  “I swear it,” Kella answered.

  “I so swear,” answered Tanne, his voice ringing.

  Sedna pulled a red cord from her belt. Kella extended her right hand, and Tanne his left. In a voice that sang through the crowd, she intoned the ancient blessing and tied the cord around their wrists in a symbolic binding of blood and magic, the cord glowing as they fed it their combined energies.

  “Now you will feel no harsh winds, for each shelters the other. Now you feel no cold, for each of you will warm the other. Now there is no loneliness, for you walk together. May your days together bring happiness and contentment as you start your life as pledged partners.”

  The cord was cut in half, freeing them, each to receive a piece as a reminder of their vows. Once freed, they stepped back and changed to Unicorn form, crossing horns in a symbolic gesture of two Unicorns and their bond. Jenna wept, all the while smiling and laughing.

  Cheers erupted as they changed back to their humanoid forms for a quick kiss before well-wishers surrounded them. Mischievous guests snatched Kella away from Tanne’s side and demanded kisses for her ransom. Elf musicians pulled out their instruments, and dancing erupted everywhere. Finally, having paid her ransom in kisses or dances to nearly every male present, Kella was deposited back in Tanne’s arms. He was laughing and his lips were slightly swollen, so Kella assumed he’d been forced to pay a toll to get her back, as well.

  “Wife,” he murmured tenderly, stroking her cheek and neck.

  “Husband,” she responded, and laid her hand on his strong arm. She considered starting the honeymoon right there in the meadow. Never had his sapphire eyes looked at her with such possessiveness, nor shown so brightly with love. She longed to tangle her hands in his silver hair while they made love.

  His eyes darkened with lust, and she knew then he read her thoughts and shared them. Briefly, they shared the thought of teleporting out and back home. Tanne reached for her, but a hand around her waist spun her away.

  “No, no, no!” The Werewolf Pack Leader, Aahz, chuckled. “You can chase your bitch later, Tanne. For now, she must show the jacks and princes what they have missed, by dancing with us all.”

  He spun her away, calling out to her dumbfounded husband, “Now go show all the fillies and bitches what they have lost to a better huntress.” Several females fell upon Tanne as Kella was whirled out to the center of the meadow.

  The dancing and celebrating seemed to go on forever. Rarely would their guests allow them more than a passing kiss or caress before they were forced into another dance or conversation. Their eyes met frequently in growing frustration as they passed each other in another’s arms.

  Mage lights lit the meadow by the time huge tables appeared on three sides of the square that formed the dancing area. The carnivores fell upon the meat provided, while the herbivores moved more sedately toward a table heaped with vegetables and grain dishes. Those with delicate sensibilities on both sides ignored the others with studied politeness, but everyone ran to the beverage table opposite where Sedna had stood as officiant, to fill goblets, bowls, and two great tubs for the Dragons.

  With great delight, Kella saw Sedna dancing in the Unicorn stallion Jamir’s arms several times. Both had given up all dignity, and Sedna’s formal robes swirled about. Jenna whirled by in Aahz’s embrace, and then later an Elf was her partner. Le-An was everywhere, changing form and gender to suit her needs, winking and flirting with everyone. Those who could fly took wing for aerial dances of great intricacy, and Kella saw Elf children and Werewolf cubs riding on the backs of Gryphons, screaming with laughter.

  Only when even the Elves tired could Tanne and Kella gracefully thank everyone for attending and see them go. What few Elves remained were whisking tables down to tiny doll-sized versions for storage. A shout arose, and one Elf pointed to the hills above the meadow. There, barely visible in the moonlight, stood the black form of the Herd Stallion. He glared balefully down at Tanne and Kella. Impishly, Kella curtsied in his direction, not only to give him his just due as the ruler of the Valley, but in irony, knowing he did not approve of their joining.

  His golden horn flashed once in the moonlight as he snorted and trotted away.

  Lena Austin

  Lena Austin is a “fallen” society wench with a checkered past. She has been a licensed minister, hairdresser, and realtor, radio DJ, exotic dancer, telephone service tech, live-steel medievalist swordswom
an, BDSM Mistress, and investment property manager. Not necessarily in that order. She never finished that degree in archaeology, but did learn to scuba. After a life like that, gardening is pretty restful. Of herself, Lena writes, “I’m tall, moody, and I look like an unholy mating between an Amazon and a librarian.

  Lena loves to hear from her fans. You can visit her on the Web at http://lena.realmsoflove.com/ or email her at LenaAustin2002@yahoo.com.

  * * * * *

  Read on for a tantalizing glimpse of

  Reynardine

  by Lucynda Storey

  Now Available at Loose Id

  Reynardine

  Once every quarter or so, he allowed himself the privilege of running free. Natives stayed away from Slieve Callan, fearful the ancient stories of a bloodthirsty werewolf might be real. When he crested the rise and saw her at the bottom, he just had to howl his frustration. The woman who’d besieged his restless sleep for the past week was on his mountain.

  Rey couldn’t stay away. The feel of her satin-soft skin under his fingertips at the pub was a vivid memory. The need to possess her, just once, tossed aside his better judgment. The soft perfume she wore was etched into his mind. The taste of her, when he licked her hand earlier, inflamed his senses. Even in his accursed form, the desire to kiss her, experience her pliable lips under his again, was nearly his undoing.

  A game of hide and seek had developed on the hillside. If he could lure her to his home, he might have a chance to seduce her. She’d exhibited her intelligence several times at the pub. Could she be passionate in bed? If Agnis were to fall in love with him, perhaps she’d be the one to show compassion and accept the truth of his curse. His soul mate would need those qualities in abundance.

  That had been his plan, until she fell. At first, he couldn’t decide how near her he should get. But her soft moans of pain emboldened him, and he’d walked right up to her ‑‑ until she’d yelled, brandished the branch, and pulled the stungun on him. From a distance, he led her to the lodge, as far as he dared.