"So."
"So, what if she fights her destiny and denies the blessing the magic it requires?" At Jaxon's shrug Seth continued, "what if she loses everyone as a consequence? You heard what they said about the blessing yesterday. The one person who actually denied it was doomed to watch everyone she loved die off." Seth grabbed Jaxon's face up gently in his hands, "she loves you, Jax. What if I lose you because we warn her about a baby? She's married now, babies already come with the territory."
"Okay, so what about her mom? She at least deserves to know how bad it really is."
"Your mom doesn't seem to think it's that bad. You can't go filling Caislyn's head with the doubts of a sick woman. Trust in your mom, she has more magic up her sleeve than you know." Seth kissed Jaxon and held onto her tight. "Caislyn will be fine. I am sure she's having the time of her life right now."
"Perv!" Jaxon grumbled into Seth's chest as he began laughing.
"Hey, it's nothing I wouldn't be doing if your mom wasn't in here with us."
"Actually," Jaxon said as she pulled the covers up over their heads, "she's in there with Vesta, so we just need to be quiet."
~...~
Despite being wrapped in Gregore's arms, Caislyn's dreams took her to another man. She was sitting on the fallen log by the creek again, watching as Ash approached her from the other side. "Why am I back here with you again? It's too late."
"Is it?" He asked as he hopped nimbly across the water. "Let me ask you this, if you are so happily married to this man of yours, why are you here with me in your dreams?"
"Unfortunately, I don't have any control over that." Caislyn said as she turned her back on Ash and began dragging a stick through the sea of fallen leaves on the ground.
"Caislyn," he said, and then he was pushing her hair away from her neck, "you don't have to be here with me. A part of you has to want to be here for it to happen." He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her neck, near her hairline. Caislyn's eyes closed as she enjoyed the sensation and the involuntary shudder it elicited. In a matter of seconds Ash was perched behind Caislyn, straddling her as he continued to pull her hair out of the way and plant kisses upon her neck.
"Ash..." she whispered as she leaned back into him. Ash's hand wrapped around to the front of Caislyn's body, producing another emerald flower, she took it, smelling the sweet exotic fragrance. She was completely lost after that, allowing his now empty hand to caress her breast as she leaned back even further, lost in the bliss of the dreamworld. Ash picked Caislyn up and turned her so that she was now facing him. He moved her as if he was moving a feather, and Caislyn enjoyed every minute of it. His face was soon dropping down to meet her own, in a kiss as passionate as any she had ever dreamed of. "Caislyn," he whispered her name and it was like a thousand tiny kisses falling on her body. She was his for the taking. The magic that wrapped around them was coursing through her, setting her nerve endings on fire.
Ash picked her up and lay her down on the ground, Caislyn's hair splaying out wildly in all directions as the leaves dances with the tresses that settled amongst them. Ash was on top of her, kissing her, touching her, and she was unable to stop him. She didn't want to stop him. She brought her hands up to touch his beautiful face. She felt his skin, so soft against her own hands. Then she pulled the hair he had bound into a pony tale down, until it was cascading over her like a lovely brown and green-tinged waterfall. "Ash," she whispered again, stunned by his beauty.
"Caislyn," he stopped himself from whatever he was about to say, and instead looked down at their bodies, willing away the clothes that were now the only thing separating them. Caislyn didn't care that her clothes had just vanished, she only new that it brought her closer to the pleasure that was prickling her senses. Ash dipped his head down again, placing a kiss upon Caislyn's lips. She shuddered beneath him and he shifted to kiss further down the column of her throat, and to her shoulders, eventually taking her breast up within his mouth. Caislyn threw her head back and grabbed fistfuls of the autumn leaves that were blanketing the forest floor. The dry crackling of the leaves quickly gave way to the velvety softness of the emerald flower petals. She glanced around as Ash continued kissing down her body and realized that she was now swimming in a sea of the petals. The heady scent of their perfume wrapping around her and clinging to her, blocking out the reality that existed beyond the dream.
Caislyn reached for Ash and pulled him back up to face her, "be with me," she whispered and he needed no further prompting. Ash gently pushed Caislyn's legs apart, making room for him to enter her. As he did they both moaned with the pleasure of their joining. The world around them was alive with magic, Caislyn could feel it pulsing through the both of them as they came together. They were both too lost in the sensations of being together to notice as everything around them began to shift and sway, the world making and remaking itself as they freely gave and took from one another.
"Ash," Caislyn called again and again as he brought her to repeated climax. What seemed like hours and only minutes all at one culminated with Ash filling Caislyn and collapsing on top of her, gently kissing her lips, then her eyelids. "Ash," Caislyn began, but the world around her was dimming around the edges.
"Caislyn!" There was concern in his voice. Caislyn watched as he said her name again, but it was no longer his voice, now she was hearing Gregore calling her as her magical world in the forest began to dim even further. Ash began to fade away, and the last thing Caislyn saw before she woke up was Ash smiling at her and waving goodbye.
"Caislyn!" Someone was shaking Caislyn and all she knew was that she didn't want to wake up. Finally she opened her eyes and saw a very worried Gregore leaning over her.
"What?" Caislyn asked as the worried look finally registered with her. "What is it? My mom?"
"Caislyn, look around us?" Gregore let go of Caislyn's shoulder and backed up so she had room to move. She put her hands down to her sides to push herself up and felt a familiar velvety softness beneath them. She looked down, heart pounding in her chest, already knowing what she would see there before she allowed her eyes to look. "Oh, Gods!" Caislyn whispered as panic began to boil up from her stomach. Caislyn scrambled out of the bed that was overflowing with emerald flower petals. "Nooo," she whispered to herself, but Gregore heard her.
"Caislyn, what is this? What does all this mean?"
"Greg, I..." Caislyn grabbed up her wedding dress and tossed it back over her head, as she ran out the door.
"Caislyn?" Gregore was at the door calling after her, but he was still naked so he couldn't follow.
"I have to go talk to Jaxon." Caislyn yelled over her shoulder as she continued running around the RV to the one her mom, Merriwyn, Jaxon, and Seth had shared the night before.
"Jaxon!" Caislyn was calling out as the door flung open.
"Caislyn? What's wrong?" Caislyn didn't respond before she was dragging a half-dressed Jaxon out the door.
"Cais, at least let me get some clothes on."
Caislyn grabbed a jacket that was hanging by the door on the way out and flung it back at her friend as she continued pulling her towards the forest. "We need to talk, right now."
Caislyn waited to say anything else until they were nearing the clearing in the forest by the creek. Then she stopped and turned to her friend, sure that no one would be around to listen. "I had a dream last night."
"What kind of dream, Caislyn, you are worrying me."
"I know, I'm sorry, it's just that I am scared." Caislyn told Jaxon about the dream she had and then she stood waiting as her friend absorbed what she told her.
"That was some dream, damn you probably didn't need to describe it in such vivid detail."
"No, you need to understand, that it felt completely real, and then..." Caislyn's voice trailed off as she stared off into nothingness.
"And then what, Cais?"
"And then Gregore was shaking me awake, demanding to know what was going on."
Jaxon was dumbfounded, "what
do you mean he demanded to know what was going on? How could he know what you were dreaming?"
"We were swimming in a sea of emerald rose petals on the bed, Jax." Caislyn turned towards the creek, and got ready to walk to the spot where she had been with Ash in her dreams.
"Wait," Jaxon grabbed her shoulder, "you woke up in a bed full of green flowers? How does that happen from a dream?"
"I don't know," Caislyn was crying now and as the tears fell from her cheeks, Jaxon pulled her into a hug. "We'll figure this out. It's not really cheating if you were dreaming, anyway, right?"
"Yeah, but how did the flower petals get there if it wasn't real? Even when I am dream-walking certain aspects are real, remember, that's what your mom was concerned about with the Fey possibly snatching me out of a dream."
"Yes, possibly snatching you out of one, not screwing you in them." Jaxon said as she giggled a little. Caislyn looked as though she could slap her for giggling, "oh come on, you know you'd be laughing too if you hadn't just gotten married yesterday."
"Yeah, well I did. I got married, I had a great time with Gregore last night, and then Ash invaded my dreams. Now I don't know if that was real or just a weird dream."
"Cais, I need to tell you something that I overheard last night. It's probably only going to make all this so much worse, but you need to know."
"Great, so on top of everything you heard us having sex too?"
Jaxon stopped, looked at her friend curiously, and then laughed, "um, no, thankfully." She pulled her friend towards a tree that had fallen in the clearing ahead and sat down on it. "Caislyn, I overheard my mom and Vesta talking about the blessing and how..." Jaxon wasn't sure how to put it to Caislyn without her freaking out, and when she reached out to share in Caislyn's feelings she knew it was already too late to worry about that. Tuning into Caislyn's emotions was like jumping on a roller coaster and forgetting to strap in properly. "Maybe I shouldn't."
"Jaxon, I've had enough torment for one day, just tell me now and get it over with."
"They were talking about how every one of the women who receive the blessing, well, they get pregnant immediately afterward. It's like a super fertility treatment or something."
Caislyn's eyes were bugging out of her head as she sat there waiting to get her breathing back under control. "So, what does that mean for me then?" She looked up, wide eyed at her friend, "what does that mean for me considering what happened last night?" Caislyn stood and began walking the length of the downed tree, towards the creek. "I slept with two men last night and I was hopped up on some crazy fertility blessing?"
"Well, you only dreamed you slept with Ash. So, if it worked then, it will be Gregore's." Jaxon was trying to make Caislyn feel better, but she was failing miserably.
"Why did they hide this from me? Why wouldn't they tell me? I could have done something to prevent it. I could have made sure nothing happened last night."
"That's why they didn't tell you." Jaxon said, following after Caislyn, "they thought you might mess up the blessing by being stubborn and they said the blessing was the only thing that would protect you from the prophecy followers who want us dead."
Caislyn stopped dead in her tracks and even before she said a word Jaxon felt the wave of panic that spread through her. "Oh my gods!"
"Caislyn, I will be here for you, it's not that bad really." Jaxon walked up beside Caislyn and then noticed what she was looking at. There on the ground in the clearing, in front of the fallen tree, was a bed of emerald green flowers.
"Oh no!" Caislyn was panicking, her tears were back, and her entire body was shaking violently beside Jaxon. "Oh no, Jaxon. It really did happen."
"It was just a dream, Caislyn." Jaxon was trying to reassure her friend, but the more she saw the more she was beginning to think it wasn't just a dream.
"I woke up in a bed full of these petals," Caislyn said as she sunk down into the flowers, sobbing. "What have I done?" She looked up once more to Jaxon, "oh my Gods, Jax. It was real."
Jaxon just stood staring for a few minutes, "holy shit."
"I thought it was just a dream, how was I supposed to know?"
"Hello, love." Ash's voice sent shivers through Caislyn as both girls jumped and turned to face him.
"What did you do?" Caislyn accused as she stood.
"What do you mean what did I do? I wasn't alone out here."
"It was a dream," Caislyn protested.
"No, it started as a dream and then suddenly you were here. You blinked to me last night, Caislyn. We were really together. We made love together, right there." Ash pointed to the spot where Caislyn was now standing.
"Oh gods," Caislyn muttered, trying to get her breathing under control again. "This can't be happening."
Ash looked hurt and confused as he walked closer to Caislyn. He reached out to hold her, but she backed away, "you were here. You wanted to be here last night, with me. We..."
"I don't know what I wanted, but I certainly didn't mean for us to really have sex. I don't know what I am doing anymore."
"But it was magical," Ash began muttering through his hurt, "so I was only good enough if it was just a dream?" Anger washed through Ash as he realized how Caislyn really felt about him, "I thought last night was magic between the two of us and you were only there because you thought it was a dream?"
"Magic. Magic!" Caislyn began yelling, "Magic is what has ruined my life repeatedly over the last two years." She picked up a few of the emerald flowers and flung them at Ash, "magic is ruining everything. I don't want your magic. I just got married last night. I can't sit back and let magic ruin that. I can't let magic ruin Gregore too!" She ran from the forest with Jaxon chasing after her.
"Caislyn," Ash was calling after her too as she ran with Jaxon back to the camp, but he didn't dare follow her there. His kind weren't welcome amongst the gypsies.
"Oh, Caislyn, I am so sorry. I don't understand how this happened, but we will fix it, okay?"
"How can we fix it. I may be pregnant now and I won't even know who the father is. How can that be okay?"
***
ASLEEP AGAIN
Jaxon got Caislyn back to camp and straight to Merriwyn. She had intended to get her mom to brew up some sort of concoction, but there would apparently be no rest for her friend today.
"Girls, I have something to tell you." Jaxon looked from her mother's face to Caislyn and knew this wouldn't be good. She grabbed Caislyn's hand and watched as Merriwyn nodded to her before continuing. "Vesta was very worn out yesterday, but I think she had us all fooled. She didn't want to miss anything, but, I think being out there so long yesterday was too hard on her." She stopped and helped Jaxon sit Caislyn down on the sofa. "I'm sorry, Caislyn. She's not doing well today. She hasn't woken up yet." Caislyn just nodded and continued staring off at the floor.
"Is this because you told her about Mac possibly being gone?"
Merriwyn cocked a brow up at her daughter, "and what else did you hear last night?"
"Just what you two should have told me to begin with - that the blessing meant I would get pregnant. The problem is, you guys never understood that it might not be by my own husband."
"What?" Merriwyn started and looked physically ill for a moment.
"I'm going to sit with my mother." Caislyn got up and walked into the other room without another word. She figured Jaxon could fill her own mother in on all the sordid details of her dream rendezvous with Ash.
Jaxon did just that, filling her mother in on all she had learned in the past few hours with Caislyn and Ash. "She thought it was all just a regular dream, until she woke up in those flower petals. She's devastated by this, mom." Jaxon looked into her mother's eyes, "she's beyond devastated, she all but renounced magic in the forest today and I know Caislyn pretty well. Magic is a huge part of her. A huge part she's ready and willing to be rid of if it means being able to live a normal life again."
"Well, I'm afraid that for her mother, being forced to live without magic is k
illing her." She reached over and hugged Jaxon. "I have to go find some supplies for her, or she won't make it through the month, let alone to see her grandchild born." At Jaxon's sickly expression Merriwyn amended her statement, "And Jaxon, it would do you good to remember and to help Caislyn see that her mom won't care who the father is. She will love that baby no matter what."
"If there is a baby." Jaxon whispered.
"Oh, there's a baby alright. The push of the blessing is what took her reasoning away last night. If Caislyn hadn't been under its influence, she would have realized it wasn't just a dream. I feel for her, I do, Jaxon. And were things not so desperate for Vesta right now, I would love to stand by her and reassure her myself. That job falls on you right now, though. Be a good friend," Merriwyn wrote a small list of ingredients down on a paper, "make this for her so she will get some rest, and I have a feeling her husband will be coming for answers sooner or later. It may be best that you handle that."
Merriwyn grabbed her jacket and was gone out the door before Jaxon could say anymore. She quickly set about making the tea that Merriwyn had given her instructions for and then she took it in to Caislyn.
"How is she?" Both Caislyn and the gypsy woman that had been left to care for Vesta looked up. When Caislyn didn't answer the other woman did.
"No change yet, dear. Your mom's gone to get what we need." She patted Vesta's hand. "We just didn't have the supplies on hand for restoring a witch's magic."
"Restoring a witch's magic?" Caislyn was very attentive now. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, Merriwyn didn't tell you then?" The woman looked as if she wouldn't tell any more, but Caislyn wasn't having it.
"You tell me exactly what is going on, right now."
"The Brotherhood apparently stripped your mom's magic while she was held captive."
"Stripped her magic? You can do that?" The old woman looked to Jaxon for some assistance and after receiving none she continued, "are you sure you want to hear this?"
Revelations Page 12
