The Heart of the Falcon: The Guardian Maidens Book 3

by Marilyn Foxworthy

  Without even a kiss goodbye, Lucy, now called Stacy ran away in the direction of the village.

  Val said suddenly, “Where is she going?”

  I said bashfully, “She’s headed back to the house.”

  Dawn said, “Um, she’s naked.”

  I said, “Um, I know. She was in a hurry.”

  Harmony said, “Give me her dress. I’ll catch her. No, never mind. I’ll get her home without anyone seeing us,” and Harmony, who was wearing a dress already, ran after the naked woman.

  Val said, “So, are you going to see Gerald right away?”

  I said, “I guess I better. I hope he’s at the farm. I hope he understands.”

  Val said, “Then the girls and I will go back to the house. We’ll see you for dinner, if not before. We love you. Thank you for doing what’s necessary for us. For talking to my father. He’s a good man. He will understand.”

  Val and the rest of them kissed me and we finished dressing, and they left in the direction of the house.

  Chapter 4 - Clarifying Things with Gerald

  I stood for a moment, staring off in the direction of the farm, trying to think, but my mind was blank. Gerald was a good man. And if we thought about it, he and Lucy, I mean Stacy, weren’t actually mated, but they had made commitments to each other. In a way, it was like with Anne and the man that she had agreed to be with that hadn’t worked out for her. In that way, Lucy had tried out an arrangement as a widow-wife with Gerald and it hadn’t worked out. Neither of them had a commitment that couldn’t be easily be dissolved by mutual consent. But they had seemed so sure and so passionate. And Gerald was my father-in-law. And I had been calling Lucy my mother. Yeah, there had been underlying feelings the whole time, but we never planned to do more than tease each other. And Lucy had done the majority of the teasing.

  That was the main reason that I had told her that I was changing her name to Stacy. I had known Lucy, and she had known herself, and even Gerald had known her, all under different circumstances than we would be under as soon as I talked to Gerald. That’s if things went well anyway. For now, Lucy was Lucy, but I hoped that in an hour, Lucy would be a memory for all of us, and Stacy, my new woman, would be free and able to grow into something entirely new.

  I sighed and took a step. Every journey starts with a step, as they say. The first step is the hardest. The second step that I took toward the farm was easier. And each step for the next hour was easier still. Until I started to get closer to my destination.

  But before I got all the way to the far side of the fields, on the side near the farm house, I could see Gerald walking toward me. And he didn’t seem to be himself. We arrived at the fence at about the same time.

  Gerald grabbed me in a hug and said, “I’m glad to see you. I hope that you’re glad to see me. Jean told me that you were headed this way. Ronin tell me the truth. She is part elf, isn’t she? That’s where she and Val get their talents, isn’t it?”

  I nodded gravely and waited for him to speak again.

  He said, “It’s a perfect explanation. So, her sister is part elf too. And so are you.”

  I nodded.

  He said, “I have known this day would come for two weeks now. In so many ways I’m happy. And in some ways, I feel desperately ashamed. Ronin, I’m a generally jovial man. Even under the hardest circumstances. But this thing weighs on my heart. Ronin, it’s one reason that I wanted you to come with me when I spoke to the man who had Anne in his house. I told him that there was no shame for him that he didn’t find a place in his heart for Anne, and that I did. Oh, this is hard for me. Ronin, if it were the same for Lucy, would you love her the way that I love Anne now?”

  I nodded again. I said slowly, “Gerald, I would. I do love her. She and I have a special bond. You’ve said so yourself.”

  Gerald looked off into the distance and was quiet for a minute and then said, “Ronin, I want to make this right, but instead, will you let me make it easy?”

  I said, “Of course. Gerald, I owe you my life. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  He looked puzzled and said, “Hurt me? What do you mean. Never mind. This is so hard. Let me act like it isn’t. Like I did with Anne. OK, here I go.”

  He turned to face me and held out his hand to shake mine.

  He smiled and said, “Ronin my boy, I’m glad you came. I have something to talk to you about. It’s about your Aunt Lucille. Yes, I said Aunt, not mother-in-law. Ronin, the truth is that Lucille and I aren’t suited to each other. We thought that we were. You were there when we said that we wanted each other. We were so sure. But what you didn’t see was that, a moment later when we kissed for the first time, it was awful. Remember how I said to Anne that the proof was in the eating? And how when I kissed Anne, she and I both knew that we were right for each other? Ronin, when Lucille and I kissed each other, it was proof that we were not right for each other. Not at all. And I have wrestled with it ever since. I want to be a good husband and provider, but now every time I see her, I feel ill. Like I’m a horrid betrayer. Ronin, I’m so ashamed of myself. These past few days as she has stayed with you, I have felt relieved. Son, my house feels happier. I’m a terrible man. Jean is part-elf, and now I wonder how she ever chose me, but I suppose that there were none of her kind and I was the one she fell for. And I’m glad. Ronin, before we go farther, how is this happening? That there are elves? And in my own family?”

  I said, “Gerald, three weeks ago, I didn’t even know that there were elves. I didn’t know that I was part-elf. I certainly didn’t know that Dawn was too. Or Val, or Jean. I found out later, from Lucy. There are a few of us here in the village, but not many, and now, except for Jean, they are all in my house. Do you know the old woman? The one they call Shaheen?”

  He said, “I have heard of her. The White Falcon. I don’t know her. She keeps to herself.”

  I said, “She is the last one here. Alice and Brenda are part elf as well. Ichabod was not.”

  Gerald said, “I think it’s good that they are all with you then. I can’t understand it all, but it’s best if you have each other. I can imagine that it could be a lonely secret. And believe me, it should stay a secret. And I will protect it with my life. The old woman must be very lonely. I hope you can make friends with her.”

  I said, “Gerald, she doesn’t look as old as you think, and I intend to make her part of my house. One of my mates.”

  He eyed me and said, “Really?”

  I said, “You would swear that she’s no older than Lucy. And Lucy looks younger than she is.”

  Gerald said, “She really does. Ronin, I haven’t slept with her. I only kissed her once. I haven’t even been swimming with her. You have seen her naked, but I haven’t. And I haven’t wanted to. And that brings us to my point. What about Lucy? Ronin, will you do all of us a favor and take Lucy into your house? As a widow-wife, or some other arrangement? I am tormented by the way things are now, having pledged to be her husband and knowing that I never truly will be. She loves you. Can we have her love you in your house?”

  I said, “Gerald, I wish that I could simply accept what you say and tell you that she is welcome with me and that I will find a way to make her happy and that yes, I will take her as my widow-wife since you ask me to, but I’m ashamed of myself for what I’m going to tell you. I can’t deceive you. You are my father.”

  He sighed and frowned and said, “So, you can’t do it?”

  I said, “Gerald, I can do it, but I can’t pretend about the circumstances. This morning, only two hours ago, Lucy confessed to me what your relationship was like, and I agreed to take her without talking to you first. And because of how we love each other, once I knew that she wasn’t bonded to you, I took her, and we were mated immediately. I betrayed you. We are very ashamed of ourselves, but in the moment of finding out that there was no reason not to be man and wife, we were overcome by urgency and didn’t wait to do it properly, after I had spoken to you about it. I’m so sorry. I hope that you can
understand. If you hold it against me, I will give you all of my treasure and belongings and I will move away in shame.”

  Gerald looked at me puzzled once again and said, “Ashamed? Ronin, I’m happy for you. And for her. And for me. Val was unattached, and I told Jean that I would be happy if you and she were mated while I was away at Marjan’s Dock. If a woman is unattached, and you fancy each other, be together. Why do you suppose that I was so easy about Lucy spending time with you, swimming and being naked, sleeping at your house, and I hoped in your bed? I hoped by telling you that you were free to have a very open relationship with her that you would fall in love. I was too ashamed of my inability to connect to her to tell you that I had failed her, but I knew that if it came to it, that she would tell you before she pounced on you and tried to rape you. Oh, I’m sorry. I was being ribald, and this situation is too serious for that.”

  I said, “Gerald, you have it mostly right.”

  He laughed finally and said, “Really? Hey, so, we are in agreement? Lucy was free to mate, and so were you, and she’s happy, and I’m not to blame for her spending her life in an arrangement that neither of us were meant for?”

  I said, “Well, as far as I’m concerned. If that’s how you feel.”

  He laughed again and said, “Oh, goodness, that was so hard. And how I need a beer and a celebration. Do you want to come to the house? Please, come tell Jean and Anne. Please. It will make us all so happy. Oh, I feel a weight lifted. We could go on and on, but let’s not. I like a simple life of friendship and peace, and this has been a burden. Come have a drink and be happy with family.”

  I said, “I would love to.”

  He clapped me on the back like he often did, and we set out toward the farm house. It wasn’t far.

  As we burst through the door Gerald yelled, “Jean, Anne, come here! We have Ronin! And good news! We need something cold to drink! A beer for me.”

  I said, “A lemonade for me, please. My clan was never one to have beer very often.”

  Gerald yelled, “And lemonade for our son! Out here on the porch I think.”

  Gerald and I went back to the porch and sat in two chairs around a little table, and the two women came out a minute later with a pitcher of beer, and pitcher of lemonade, and four glasses. The glasses were set out, and the drinks poured, and everyone sat down, smiling.

  Gerald said, “We have wonderful news. A new mating in the village! And the most wonderful one imaginable. Go ahead, tell them. No, let me! Our son has taken our dear Lucille as a widow-wife! He and I have discussed it, and I told him everything, and he and Lucy will be happy from now on! And I’m very happy as well. It’s wonderful.”

  Jean said, “Ronin, is this true? And Lucy told you everything? And you have found happiness?”

  Gerald said, “Apparently Lucy told him that she was free to find a mate, and they were both so excited by it that she jumped him right then and there!”

  Anne said, “Oh. Um, that sounds, um pleasant.”

  Jean grinned and said, “Anne, Ronin and I talk very openly about things, so don’t be shocked when I ask him to tell us about it. Son, what happened? Was my sister a good tiger in bed? And did you enjoy it?”

  I said, “No. Not at all.”

  Gerald gasped in horror and said, “Oh no! Why not! I thought you said that you were suited for each other as mates.”

  I said with a smile, “Let me finish. She was a tiger, but not in bed. She pounced on me in the grass beside the pools where we swim. I didn’t even know it was happening. I was, well, engulfed by her before I knew she planned to take me.”

  Jean smiled and said, “But you did enjoy it.”

  I said, “No.”

  She frowned and said, “Why?”

  I grinned and said, “Because as she as she started to fuck me, I passed out. I missed the whole thing. I woke up sometime later, and it was all over. Apparently, I perform well enough for her, even in my sleep, but I didn’t get a chance to enjoy it at all.”

  We all laughed, and Anne said, “Well, that was more information than I expected. I like it though. Tell us more? Did you get to make love again once you regained consciousness?”

  I said, “No. All of the other girls were there: Val, Dawn, Harmony, Alice, and Brenda.”

  Jean said, “Wait, she pounced on you without your actual consent, in front of your five other mates, and fucked you herself, causing you to lose consciousness, and kept fucking you in your sleep! That’s my sister alright! If there was any question about who you were with, it couldn’t be anyone but my sister!”

  I said, “Or your niece. Harmony is just as eager sometimes. And like your sister, she doesn’t ask permission.”

  Anne said shyly, “But sometimes a man wants to be a bit more in control. And woman doesn’t mind her man letting her know that he loves her.”

  I said, “That’s why I have seven mates, I guess. Each one is different. Maybe Gerald should think it over. Variety has its advantages.”

  Anne said, “You do talk openly, don’t you?”

  Jean said, “Seven? You mean six?”

  Gerald said, “Oh that’s right. You aren’t going to believe this. Jean, and you will know why it has to be this way I think, our son has found another. A seventh. And you won’t believe who it is.”

  Jean frowned and thought and said, “Gerald, I can only think of one possibility, and that can’t be. She is very old. Who am I not thinking of?”

  Gerald said, “Ronin says that she isn’t nearly as old as you think. No older than you my pretty kitten.”

  Jean’s eyes went wide, and she said, “Shaheen!”

  Anne said, “Shaheen? The old woman? Don’t be absurd.”

  Jean looked at me narrowly and said. “No, it’s not so absurd. We don’t really know her, do we? We think of her as an old woman, but have we ever seen her? Or does she always wear a cloak and hides her face?”

  Anne said, “She was an old woman when I was a little girl. Everyone knows that she’s very old.”

  Jean said, “Perhaps not as old as we think. I don’t know the truth but suppose for a moment. Is it possible that there has been more than one White Falcon? Anne, what if the one that you saw as a child was the grandmother of this one? Did your parents know her?”

  I was sure that Jean didn’t really think that this was the real story, but it was a good one.

  Anne said, “Well, my father told me that the Falcon was old even when he was a boy.”

  Jean looked at me and winked and said, “The only explanation is that there has always been a White Falcon, but the one here today is not the one that your father knew. How could she be? She would certainly be dead by now. The only explanation is that the Falcon has been replaced by younger women as the older one dies. She is very mysterious and never shows her face. I think that we have to say that the Shaheen we see today is a daughter or other relative of the one before her. Or, maybe not a relative. She could choose a new woman and, let’s say she trains her to be a new White Falcon before she dies. Why they would do it is as mysterious as she herself appears to be.”

  Anne said, “Yes, I can see that. It makes perfect sense.”

  I thought to myself, does it? Not really. But it is reasonable enough that Jean can convince Anne of it, even if it isn’t exactly the truth.

  Anne said, “So, wait, Ronin, Shaheen, this Shaheen is one of your mates? Will she quit hiding now?”

  I said, “Soon. I hope. We have spoken to each other about it, but we haven’t been together yet.”

  I didn’t say anything to the others, but I could tell that Shaheen was in fact, standing leaning against the porch, hearing every word.

  I said, “Shaheen is no village hag, I assure you. She is one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen.”

  Anne said, “That makes sense. Even though I sort of remember her, there are times when I have wondered if the White Falcon was a myth. Something I had heard in a story when I was little. If any man is going to see the invisi
ble woman, it will obviously be the hero of our story, and no one else. I assume she was naked when you saw her? Rising out of the river, dripping with water and magick?”

  I smiled and said, “Almost. She wasn’t wet, but she was naked. One minute she wasn’t there, and then she was. And yes, naked.”

  Jean grinned and said, “Well, she’d have to be. For one thing, how could she be invisible if she was wearing clothes? You would see the clothes even if you didn’t see her. So, she’d have to be naked to be invisible. And if she weren’t naked, how would she enchant our hero and cause him to fall in love? She could do that clothed, but why take the chance? It’s easier if you’re pretty and naked.”

  I said, “She is exceedingly pretty. Not just pretty though. Believe me, you have never seen anyone like her.”

  Jean said, “Well, we have to be careful then. Can you ask her to wear clothes if she comes for a visit? We don’t want your poor father to go blind, now do we?”

  I said, “I can ask her to wear clothes, but it might not be enough to guarantee that he doesn’t go at least temporarily blind. It might last only a few hours. Even her eyes may be enough to stun a man. I’m used to it, being a great hero Adventurer Monk and all, but even I’m not immune. I don’t go blind entirely, but when I see her, I can’t see anything else.”

  I heard Shaheen in my mind say, “You flatterer.”

  I responded, “I mean ever word.”

  And she said, “And I love you so much for it.”

  Anne said, “Oh, come on now. This is a fun game, but you’re making all of this up. It’s a good story, but there is no White Falcon.”

  I looked surprised and said, “Oh, then who am I taking as another wife this afternoon? I was sure it was her. It doesn’t really matter to me. I only told you her name for your benefit; so that when I arrive to dinner with a stunning beauty that you have never seen in the village, and when you notice that the village hag is nowhere to be found, that you have some comfortable explanation for it. But Shaheen, White Falcon, or whatever you want to believe, there are seven princesses in my house this evening and I am the luckiest Novice to ever take up Adventuring. Anne, my dear mother, you can believe it’s a story. But I think Jean believes me,” and I winked at Jean.