by Jana LaPelle
“Don’t ye fret lass, ye be a wonderful máthair. Morgwais would not expect anything less from ye.” She smiles kindly at me as she cups the side of my face in her thin hand, “Now go child, ye be needing to receive yer charm to keep ye safe from that wicked Morrígan.”
Taking a good look at Morgwais, I notice that she has a bit of glow about her. It would appear that whatever was bothering her is no longer, she looks better rested, and more youthful than I remember. Cocking my head to the side I study her more closely, “Morgwais, I think your rest has done you a great deal of good. You look ten years younger.”
“Don’t ye be silly lass, Morgwais be ancient. Now move along. Lexie grows tired.”
Taking Alaric’s hand, I walk over to Lexie. Her eyes are still shaded that odd pearly white. “I’m ready. Lex, are you about done? Because your eyes are just freaky when you channel your inner druid.”
“You are the last to receive the charm tonight. Then we can all retire. Everyone that is heading out in the morning will need to be well rested, and that includes you. Okay, I’m ready, now bare your mark to me.” She begins her odd chanting, the fingers and palm of her hand are coated in the ash, and she lays her hand on my mark.
I feel it the moment the blood majic takes hold and look at Alaric accusingly, “You said that you didn’t feel any differently.” Not waiting for a response, I turn to everyone that received the charm from Lexie, and say, “Just so we are clear, you all still have free will, we all serve the same cause, and I do not want any of you doing anything that would unnecessarily put yourself at risk. I expect you to use your own good judgment. Do you all understand?”
“Yes, Little Bit, now stop worrying so much.” Tolin is the first to speak up. Torin, always his silent partner is nodding as well.
“Ash, we have all felt somewhat compelled to follow you from the beginning, this is no different. So relax, okay? Lexie is right, we all need to get a good night’s sleep before heading out tomorrow. I can’t wait to visit the Badlands, you know how I love to do new and different things.” Jasmine says with a wink.
From behind me, I hear, “I’m so jealous, I wish I were coming with you all.” Lexie pouts.
Turning back to her, I notice that her eyes have not changed back, “Lexie is there a reason that you still have your creepy eye thing going on?”
She laughs, “For the first time since taking on this role, I’m assimilating information at a fast pace. This is the longest that I have tapped into the druid in me, and I think that was the key. I’m not sure how long it will take, but I’m certainly welcoming the information. For the first time ever, I’m gaining understanding. I have waited for this for so long.” For a moment she looks distracted, her head cocks to the side, and her eyes are unfocused before swinging her gaze back to me, cocking her head to the opposite side, “Did Morgwais talk to you about the sleeping charm?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure yet. Alaric and I are going to try to connect with the twins before deciding.”
Lexie is still distracted but says, “Ashlinn, do what you must, but know that whatever your decision, we will take care of them as if they were our own, because everyone here, those of us that will be left behind, loves them.”
I assess her as she continues to absorb the information that she has craved for the longest time, her fiery red hair is almost static as tendrils have begun to lift and swirl about her. She shifts her gaze upwards, her opaque eyes lifting to the ceiling. Declan is steadfastly by her side and senses that she is about to need him. Her breathing becomes labored, and her arms lift upward to an unknown source. Just before she collapses her hair settles about her shoulders and her eyes blink rapidly before the milky-white film recedes. Once again I see her familiar green-eyed gaze which settles my nerves, and I breathe easily once again. I don’t know why but I don’t like it when her eyes shade. I love her emerald green eyes. They are so beautiful and to see her irises absent from her eyes is seriously disconcerting. Knowing that Declan will tend to her, I turn to Alaric and say, “Let’s do this. We have a decision to make.”
He traces us to our chambers where Millie and Maith are occupying the twins. Smiling at the four of them, I ask, “How have they been?”
Millie looks up at me, “Well, Master Lachlan, is a handful, as always, and is beginning to fuss. As you know his feeding time is near but Miss Lillie is such the perfect little flower. Have you decided? What are you going to do, poppet?”
Sighing heavily, I look between my two little love bugs and say, “We have been given an idea, but I’m not at peace with it yet.”
“Ashlinn, just follow your heart. It will never lead you astray.” Millie says as she hands my son over to me.
I smile and nod, “Thank you, Millie.” Turning I see that Maith has given Lillie to Alaric and both of the she-elves make to leave our chambers. Looking up, my eyes meet his, “So what do we do now?”
Through our link, he says, “I’m going to hand over Lillie, and you are going to hold them both and then I’m going to pull all three of you into my arms. Open you link to me as widely as you can and see if you could imagine seeing two other links through your mind’s eye that you can latch onto. Two tiny tendrils of light that feel familiar to you and I’ll do the same.”
While he has been instructing me, I find that I’m holding both my children and they are looking up at us both in anticipation. Alaric has us wrapped up in the safety of his arms, and it’s like we are being cocooned away from the rest of the world. I find that my entire focus is now on the four of us as everything begins to fade away. Closing my eyes, I search within our link to do as Alaric has instructed. Our bond to one another is bright and full of light. It is strong and pulsing with life. That’s when I notice two little bands of light shining brightly below ours just waiting for us to notice them. Through our link, I say, “Do you see that?”
“Yes, I knew we could do this. Mo grá, what are you going to say to them?”
“The truth Alaric, always the truth.”
Together we reach out to the two little bands of light and connect to our children. I’m overwhelmed with the love they feel for us as the link to them fully opens. We are flooded with their adoration and blind trust. I’m humbled by their devotion and know that I will cherish this moment forever because it will not always be so. As they grow older and seek to spread their wings and make decisions for themselves, they will look at us differently. We open our link to our children and respond with surrounding them in our love for them and for a moment we bask in the warmth of our family unit. Opening my eyes, I lock onto Alaric’s sapphire orbs, and he nods.
Looking down at the twins, I reluctantly begin and speak through our link, “Children, you know that mommy and daddy love you to the moon and back again. You know that we would never do anything that would ever cause you harm. You are everything to us.” As I speak, I also continue to send my emotions and even images in the hope that I’m getting my point across. I pause for a moment to sense their understanding before continuing, “Mommy and daddy have to go away for a few days, and we don’t want you to miss us while we are gone.” I sense from Lachlan how much this last statement upsets him before I continue, “Children, if we could stay here with you we would, but just like with our battle with The Morrígna over The Tree of Life, what we need to do is important for all The Realms. Because we don’t want you to miss us, we would like to have Morgwais and Lexie cast a sleeping charm over you both so that you will sleep and dream of us and twinkling sprites, and any other thing that makes you happy. You would not wake until our return. Do you understand?”
Alaric and I look down at the two who are facing each other and Lillie reaches out as if to console Lachlan, it is at that moment that tears flood my eyes and silently begin their descent down my face and I wonder how I could ever leave them. The two then look up at us both, and I can feel their understanding through our link to them, their acceptance of what we are asking of them and their sadness that we have to leave them beh
ind. Together, they lift their chubby little hands to my cheeks and pat at my tears, which just causes them to fall that much faster. I now have my answer, not that it makes me feel any better about the situation.
Alaric takes over through our link, and says, “In the morning, we will take you to our place in The Twilight Realm. You will be safe there. Nym and Khatar will be there to watch over you while you sleep as well as Millie and Maith. Your grandparents may even pop in to watch over you. You will be surrounded by those you know, love, and trust. We will be back before you know it. It will be like we were never gone.” Again, I feel a sense of understanding from the two, and the four of us are now resolute in our course of action.
Placing a kiss on both of their foreheads, I say aloud, “We love you both so much, we would take you with us if we could, but we need to know that you are going to be safe and we know you will be safe in The Twilight Realm. We’re about to break our link to you, just know that we only want to love and protect you always.” Alaric and I both push all our love to them through the link that we forged this evening before pulling back. As we do so, Lillie reaches for Alaric, and Lachlan snuggles into the crook of my neck fisting my hair in his tiny hands and clutching me to him. That’s when I feel his hot, silent tears on my skin and at that moment my heart splinters into a million tiny little shards.
Chapter 14
(Alaric)
Last night was possibly the most touching and heart-wrenching moment of my life. Connecting with my family like that was a blessing and a curse. To feel the twins’ raw emotions about us leaving them to go on this mission to find Lugh was beyond unbearable, and to see Ash breakdown with Lachlan was… Well, words cannot describe my feelings at that moment. My little flower, Lillie, is reserved but compassionate and strong, so very strong. My son, Lachlan is the one I worry about, he is so sensitive and so attached to his mother. Earlier we gathered together in their sleeping chambers in our own little realm, Lillie knew just what her brother needed this morning and the two drifted off to sleep cheek to cheek, hands clasped, once the spell was placed. By the goddess, I want nothing more than to stay with them. They looked so very vulnerable as they lay sleeping in their crib. Just thinking about it, my eyes prick. I can’t afford to think of that right now, I need to maintain a stoic facade for Ashlinn, if I let my emotions bleed through our bond, she will crumble. She is that torn over leaving the two and I can’t say I blame her. I’m at war with myself, and my panther is not happy about leaving our young to be watched over by others, even if one of their guardians is Nym.
Needing to put all that behind me I try to focus on the task at hand. The twins are safely tucked away as of an hour ago, and that’s all that matters. We said our goodbyes and made our way back to Glenndale Loch Keep to make ready to leave out. Glancing over at Ashlinn, I see that her eyes are still red and swollen from crying, but she is suiting up and getting ready to head out. Declan and Lexie will be in charge here while we are gone with Torin as his second.
Who am I kidding? I’m just as big a mess as Ashlinn, so I put down what I’m doing to walk over to my kindred, my impossibly beautiful mate and mother of my children and stay her busy hands. Swallowing hard I look into her eyes and smile my sad smile. Slowly, I pull her into my frame.
“Don’t… Please… don’t. Alaric, I’m barely holding it together as it is.”
“This is not what I wanted for us. Not by a long shot. Ashlinn, we will survive this. We will come back for our wee bairns. This is only temporary. Okay? They’re safe, and once we talk to Lugh, we will trace back that very moment to our little angels.”
“I know that you’re right, Alaric, but I just… I don’t know… I guess I need to concentrate on something else, anything else.”
Assessing her carefully, I nod and say, “Okay, then we leave out in ten.”
She stays my hand on her cheek and says, “You’re right. I know you’re right. I just had no idea how hard it would be to walk away from them. I could never do this without the strength you lend to me.”
“You are stronger than you know mo grá. We’ll get through this. Now if you are about ready, we need to head out.” My thumb lingers over her cheek brushing away her silent tears that continue to fall.
“Let’s do this then, the sooner we find Lugh, the sooner we come back to our children.”
“That’s my girl. Once we find him, we’ll know the location of our next destination.”
(Ashlinn)
Evidently, we’ve been in the air for at least three hours. I must have drifted off once we took to the skies. I didn’t sleep much if any at all last night. I lay awake just watching my family sleep. Lachlan snuggled into Lillie as close as he could get. My hands lingered on them both as I rocked them after their midnight feeding, I kissed them both and just continued to rock not able to bear putting them down. Last night I realized just how strong my daughter is and will be. At first, I thought that Lachlan was going to be the protective big brother, but now I’m more inclined to believe that Lillie will be the protector. My little elf-man relies on his sister more than she does him. I’m curious to see how their personalities will evolve. Which brings me to my last image to them together, but I can’t think of that right now, lest I start in on the waterworks again.
It was determined early on in the initial planning that we would ride the dragon shifters to the entrance of the Badlands which is said to be a stone forest. The horses would have taken much too long to get to our destination. The dragons are fast, and we are making really good time according to Alaric. Evidently, from what everyone can gather, flying over the stone forest is not an option, something to do with erratic and unpredictable wind currents making it a no-fly zone. We can always trace back to the Keep once we get there if we think we can use the horses to navigate the forest, but the likelihood of that is slim. Camoryn will probably be better suited to get through this rocky forest than the rest of us. Aren’t goats known for being able to navigate rocky terrain? Not that I think of Camoryn as a goat or anything. I smile at the thought of Jasmine’s chosen mate. As unlikely a pairing as it is, they seem absolutely perfect for one another.
A shiver races through me and Alaric’s warm hands envelope me, the farther north that we go, the cooler it becomes. Alaric says that it’s mid-summer and that the ground temperatures will be rather mild and not as warm as it has been at Glenndale Loch. I’m entirely okay with that, especially if we’re going to be walking for the majority of the rest of this journey. It’s only about eleven in the morning, and I’m hungry. Alaric was not happy when I refused to eat this morning. I was simply too upset to even consider choking anything down. Instead of dwelling on my grumbling stomach, I decide to enjoy the ride. What’s done is done. I know that my little ones are tucked away, safe and sound until our return. I might as well make the most of this journey.
Lifting my face to the sun that has just now breached the clouds, I bask in its warmth for a moment. Then, looking around me, I take in the sight before me. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think to see something as fantastical as a squadron of dragons in the air with their riders. Interestingly enough, these shifter’s dragons come in all different colors. They range from blue-green, to red orange, to black, to silver black, to blue silver, and the list goes on. Most have an almost iridescent shimmer to their dragon scales, and as the sun hits their hide, they seem to shimmer. I can’t help but wonder what people on the ground are thinking if they so happen to look up to see our group flying overhead. It really is a sight to behold, even in Faerie, this is not something you see every day. In fact, from my understanding, this is not something that has been seen in a very long time here in The Otherworld where otherworldly things and happenings are commonplace.
The wind is a constant buffering presence up here, and unlike the last time I rode Dray, Alaric’s warm, comforting presence is pressed close to my back, and my fear of heights has lessened. I’m not sure if it’s Lexie’s charm or the safety that I feel with his arms around
me. My thoughts must be transparent because he grips my hips and pulls me snugly against his front and I lean back into him, tilting my head to my left shoulder as Alaric nuzzles my neck. He begins to trail soft, teasing kisses from my collar bone to just below my ear making me shiver with my desire for more and my eyes close of my own accord. Letting out a heavy sigh, I enjoy the very feel of our being so close to one another. Tilting my chin up, I meet his brilliant blue eyes. Lifting my left hand, I trace his masculine jawline which is clean shaven, such a pity. I like it when he sports his stubble. My gaze wanders over his face. He is so beautiful to me, and I whisper, “Thank you for being mine, for being my kindred, for finding me and bringing me to this majical place.”
Chuckling, he pulls me closer still and continues to nuzzle my neck, “Like I could belong to anyone else. I have been yours since the moment our eyes met, and I held you in my arms. You were so tiny then, but you captured my heart and soul at that very moment. Little did I know that our bond was two-fold,” He pauses, looking thoughtful, “I just realized how creepy that must have sounded. You were just a babe.”
Laughing, I pull up to turn and look at him fully, “Not creepy at all. It was written in the stars that we were meant to be,” my mood sobering a little, “Besides we make beautiful babies together, I know it’s only been a few hours, but I miss them so much. You would have thought that I would have enjoyed the break, but I don’t. Let’s get this done and get back to Lillie and Lachlan.”
“You got it. We’ll do what needs to be done posthaste and get back to our little ones and make our family whole again.”
Turning to look ahead, I see something on the horizon. Leaning forward, I squint trying to determine precisely what it is that I’m seeing, and then the clouds on the horizon light up. The lightning streaks across the dark, turbulent sky in the distance and is like nothing that I have ever seen before. The lightning display is magnificent. No wonder the stone forest is considered a no-fly zone. The storm churning in the distance is massive.
