Merlin's Kiss

by Stephanie Burke

  "Shala," Kerian murmured and bowed low to the tall woman.

  Gracefully, she pulled aside the long skirts of her bright green gown and perched on the edge of the bed. She turned those golden brown eyes upon Brieana, who still struggled to sit upright with a lap full of drack, and parted her ruby red lips into a smile.

  Brieana felt as if a hungry wolf was staring at her, as she watched the woman's perfect white teeth glint at her. Unconsciously, she gripped the sheet covering her body closer as she attempted to move away from this exquisitely menacing creature.

  "I am Shala, mistress of this keep, and I welcome you, mage."

  In confusion, Kerian looked down at his stepmother. The woman had on her best dress and now she, who never welcomed anyone, was offering a greeting to his strange guest and calling her a holder of magic.

  "This is Brieana, Shala," he introduced. "And I don't believe that she is a mage. Or are you?" he asked turning to the suddenly weary looking woman.

  Before she had a chance to speak, the woman spoke sharply to her stepson.

  "After all that you endured to learn to treat me with respect, Kerian, you seem to have forgotten those lessons quite easily."

  Although his face remained impassive, Brieana saw his muscles tighten slightly at what had to be a dig, and she decided that she would watch what this woman did and said closely.

  "My father is no more, Shala," he calmly retorted. "And his lessons will never be forgotten." His amber eyes bored into her golden ones.

  "Excuse me, but I am no mage."

  Brieana interrupted the fierce stare-down with her comment. Her wariness was turning into dislike as she saw Shala turn her nose up at Kerian, though she did not know why she felt the urge to defend the man. It must be her protective instincts rising up to assist the man after she saw the well-hidden spot of vulnerability that he displayed at the woman's hurtful words.

  "Of course you are, my dear. Why, I feel your aura of power. I have felt it since you entered the walls of Mirage," Shala insisted.

  "I have no powers, Shala. You are mistaken."

  Shala stared hard at Brieana, causing her to nervously reach out and rub the jeweled collar encircling her neck.

  She felt a warning flash travel through her body and then she clearly heard the drack say, To the foreign woman, ill will your stepmother means.

  Brieana turned startled eyes to Zorn.

  "What did you say?" she gasped.

  Shala's eyes widened as she jumped from the bed. "You speak to that horrid beast!"

  Even Kerian seemed shocked.

  "I thought that you could not understand the words of the youthling?" Although his face did not betray the emotions running through him, he wondered if it were true. Was there another one as cursed as he?

  Hear me you can? Zorn managed, almost as shocked as the others.

  "He asked me if I could hear him." She turned to Kerian for confirmation, receiving a nod in reply.

  "This cannot be!" Shala cried as she looked from Zorn to Brieana. "Where did you get those powers, girl?"

  Shala's eyes looked questioningly at Brieana.

  "I have no powers!" Suddenly feeling trapped again, Brieana reached for the comforting touch of the jeweled torc and felt an almost instant lessening of her fears.

  "It's the necklace! May I examine it?"

  Confidently, she reached out a hand to finger the precious stones embedded there. She had felt the flash of magic, of true power, as the dark foreign girl touched the source of her energy, and Shala wanted to make sure of the source of power!

  Brieana tried to scoot backwards, uncomfortable again with the woman's close proximity. Even the now silent drack scuttled back as the woman eased closer. But before she could move, Shala's fingers reached out and touched the torc.

  Almost instantly, a bright flash of blue light exploded from the torc, throwing a startled Shala across the room. With a muffled thump, her body struck the stone wall and she bounced to the floor, all of the air forcibly leaving her lungs as she landed then rolled to her side.

  The drack let out a startled shriek as he leapt back and Brieana stared wide-eyed at the fallen woman for a moment, before struggling to rise and aid her.

  "I did not… I do not know how… What just happened?"

  One trembling hand rose to her lips as she stared at the fallen Shala.

  Kerian observed the woman on her knees in the bed before him. The drack now held a defensive position in front of her with semi spread wings as if he feared an attack to her person, and she still looked innocent and very vulnerable.

  "What kind of magic do you possess, Brieana of Belfore?" he breathed out, his voice dropping deeper with his shock. He shook his head to break out of his stupor and swiftly walked over to his stepmother. He quickly knelt to check and see if she were still breathing. He rolled her over to her back and was gratified to see the slow rise and fall of her chest.

  Groaning slightly amidst a tangle of shiny white hair, Shala tried to struggle to sit up, but Kerian held her to the carpeted floor until her brown eyes were open and her trembling stopped.

  "Are you well?" Brieana asked cautiously as she crawled to the end of the bed to closer observe the woman, still struggling to keep the sheet covering her body.

  With Kerian's help, Shala shakily rose to her feet.

  Brieana did not feel comfortable around the woman, but her necklace's strange reaction frightened her. She did not want the woman hurt; she just wanted her to give her some space. What was this power that lay around her neck? For truly, all that she could recall of it was that a man, a powerful man, had placed it there.

  Knowing that she had found the information that she was looking for, Shala decided that it was time to retreat and observe the strange girl and assess the necklace's power. Now she had no doubts that the strange piece of jewelry was the source of the energy that she had felt, not anything emanating from the child. The bolt of energy that had knocked her back contained magic in its truest form, and she wanted to know more about it.

  "I am fine, my dear. Please excuse my actions. I thought that the necklace looked familiar to me, and sought to see if it was indeed like my old family heirloom. We might be related, you and I. It would be wonderful to have a real family at this point in my life. I did not expect it to act as your protector."

  Family? Ha! Zorn growled. Never in all of my days, to gain someone's affection, have I seen such an obvious ploy!

  Kerian forced himself to turn away at that moment, almost overcome by the humor of that statement.

  "And just how old are you, youthling?"

  As drackoons recon it, forty cycles! the indignant drack replied, a small smile gathering on its face as it lowered its wings to settle at its side again, now certain that no one would harm its new protectress.

  "Good. Now that you have experienced forty years of life, I will feel no guilt when I fashion my new leggings from your hide."

  The humor left the drack's voice as he turned to Brieana and wailed, Oh gracious Lady! Speak with the Warlord I do beg you to, and my life spare! Listen to you, he will! Protect this graceless lowly creature you can!

  Brieana felt a smile crease her lips and lighten the tension in the room. She knew that she should be frightened now that the beast's voice was inside her head, but he was just too amusing for her to remain frightened for long. Besides, his voice felt right in her mind, as if talking to him were natural.

  "That beast is speaking ill of me, is he not?" Shala asked as she glared at each of them in turn, before a smile once again graced her red lips.

  "Guard yourself well, Brieana. Strange things happen when dracks are around. Am I not right, Kerian?" Her voice held amusement as she observed her stepson.

  This time, Kerian visibly winced as his stepmother gathered the remains of her dignity and slowly started for the door.

  "Welcome again to our home, Brieana, and please do not let this incident worry you. Your power is there to protect you, and when you get to
know us a little better, I'm sure you will feel safe." With one last considering look at the drack, Shala quit the room.

  "So that was your stepmother." Brieana looked at the warrior as he again forced his emotions under tight control. She was still taken aback at the events that had taken place so quickly in this room, but strangely enough, she felt safe with Kerian.

  "I really do not know what happened to cause the energy that tossed her so, Kerian. Yet, it was good of her to forgive so quickly. In her shoes, I would have been furious."

  Perhaps she had misjudged the strange woman, especially after she so gracefully excused Brieana's necklace's reaction to her gentle touch.

  "I too must apologize, little one. I did not know that Shala would try and touch you, making you feel as if you had to defend yourself. I would like you to feel safe in my home, yet I can understand your defense."

  While unexpected, Kerian could see that Brieana was just as surprised at the flash of energy that had repelled his stepmother as they all were. Maybe she just possessed a piece of protective magic and did not fully understand its use. Maybe the women of her continent were protected with the strange necklaces that surrounded their throats. "Where are you from, little one?"

  "I come from Belfore, in the Britons. That is where we are now, although I don't recall this castle being here. I must have been asleep for quite a few years."

  "The Britons? Are they one of the smaller new continents?"

  "Do not be silly, Kerian. We are on the land of the Britons! This island is so enormous, we need a good king to unite the clans."

  She looked into Kerian's baffled face and felt the first stirrings of unease. The word "king" did not feel right either. Some lost memory was prickling at the back of her mind, demanding that she pay attention to it.

  "We are on the Britons, are we not?" she asked her voice now a bit husky with her growing uncertainty.

  "I know not of what you speak, Brieana. I have never heard of a clan called Belfore, nor of these Britons that you speak of."

  He looked at her in growing concern. Could she be ill? Was she from the Dark Isles? That might explain her unusual coloring, but not how she emerged from the solid stone of a mountain.

  "No Britons?" She was beginning to remember something. Again, her fingers rose to caress the torc, and then understanding exploded into her mind, and her memories returned fully.

  "Merlin!" she gasped, eyes growing wide with horror. "Merlin did this! I was queen! He took it away from me and put me to sleep!"

  Zorn's head shot up at the mention of the great mystic's name. Kerian noticed this, but continued to question a suddenly pale Brieana.

  "You are a queen?"

  "I unsheathed Excalibur from the stone and I am the true Queen of the Britons! Then Merlin put me to sleep! How long have I been asleep, Kerian? How long?"

  Noticing her near hysteria, Kerian sat on the bed beside her and took both of her ice-cold hands within his, noticing how tiny she was in comparison to the rest of the women he knew.

  "Listen to me, Brieana. I know nothing of these Britons that you claim to rule. We are on the Light Isles of this new earth. There are no kings or queens here. Only clan leaders."

  "Merlin did this to me!" she exclaimed as her eyes widened in shock and understanding. "He said that I would sleep until I would be accepted as ruler and that only a man my equal in strength could free me."

  As she turned her large expressive eyes to his confused amber ones, a startling revelation came to her. An epiphany so startling that her reserves of strength withered away and her nerves snapped! "If you managed to awaken me, then you are my perfect mate!"

  He watched as her eyes again rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed into a dead faint.

  "If she is my equal in strength," he said to no one in particular as he eased her limp body back into the pillow of the bed, "then I am a lot weaker that I thought. That is the second time that she has done that!"

  Zorn said nothing, but there was a strange glint in the young drack's eyes. In fact, he looked as if he knew something that Kerian knew nothing about. He turned speculative eyes towards the warrior as Kerian beat a hasty retreat from the room.

  Shala was almost right about one thing. Strange things did happen when a drack was near, but only if they gave you that certain look.

  Chapter Three

  "Damn that woman!"

  Kerian eyed the soldier standing in a fighting crouch before him. He had actually managed to penetrate his defenses and slice a thin, stinging line across his forearm. All because he could not keep his mind off of berry-colored nipples and her declaration that had them all but mated.

  "Again, Sato," he declared in a loud voice.

  His soldiers, men and women of the fighting ranks, eyed him curiously. Not often did a warrior land a blow against the Warlord of Mirage. They anxiously awaited the continuation of the match. Was the Warlord losing his edge or was Sato that good?

  Neither! They watched as Kerian focused his complete attention on his opponent. Drawing in a deep breath, he bent his knees slightly and drew his practice sword before him, one hand holding the great weight of the four-foot blade, his other hand held out to his side for balance.

  His sparring partner made a daring lunge forward, high on the blood of his previous small victory. With the grace of a dancer, Kerian knocked aside Sato's weapon with one deft blow. And while the soldier was reeling from the maneuver, Kerian's fist connected solidly with the underside of his chin, knocking him neatly to his backside.

  "Never let an assumption of victory cause you to act rashly, my friend," he cautioned as he offered the felled man a hand up. "Your enemy might surprise you."

  Once on his feet, Sato performed a quick bow of respect before stumbling off of the practice field.

  "Let this be a lesson to all of you!" Kerian continued, raising his voice so that all of the assembled warriors could hear. "Never let your guard down." He glanced at his bleeding arm so that they would know that he spoke of his mistake. "And never anticipate a victory. The battle is won only when the last man has fallen either to your sword, or to his knees in surrender."

  With a curt nod, he dismissed his troops from practice and went to seek the comfort of his own solitary thoughts.

  * * * * *

  "I worry about him."

  Shala's voice floated over to Brieana, causing a small shudder of unease to shiver down her spine. The woman had been nothing but kind to her, yet she felt a great sense of unease in her presence.

  "Kerian?" she questioned as she looked out onto the practice field, now devoid of all movement, from the large doorway to the castle. "He seems perfectly fine to me."

  After her last fainting spell, Brieana had not seen the warrior at all. Zorn, her constant companion, had kept her company in the days since she had arisen from her bed. She assumed that he stayed with her more for his own protection than any hidden dangers in Mirage, yet the skittish drack had stayed by her side. For that she was grateful.

  She still had no idea where she was or how long she had been sleeping, but she was beginning to suspect that she had been spellbound for quite a time.

  "He seems restless, edgy, more prone to mistakes of late." Shala's voice drew Brieana away from her musings. "I wonder what is troubling him?"

  Again Brieana felt a strange quiver of unease. There was nothing telling in the other woman's words, yet she seemed to react…coldly to her stepson.

  "Why do you not ask him? I have not spoken to him since the incident in my sleeping chamber."

  Maybe he senses that the witch will seek to do the great Warlord harm! Trust her, I do not! Zorn's agitated voice intruded in Brieana's head and she fought to stifle a giggle as she turned accusing eyes to the purple beast.

  Shala's eyes narrowed as she viewed the drack, but said nothing. She knew that he was speaking unkindly of her, but that did not matter now. Soon, there would be no secrets from her.

  "I, too, have not been able to catch him in
an unoccupied moment, dear one." Shala continued ignoring the play-by-play between the drack and the young woman. "If I could, I would seek to ease his…burdens."

  Again, Brieana felt a shiver of discomfort as she listened to Shala's words. The woman had been nothing but kind to her. She had given her a wardrobe of beautiful dresses and sturdy pants, including the brown leather pants and tunic she was now wearing, as well as necessary toiletries, but Brieana's instincts were screaming for her to get as far away from the woman as possible.

  "I think I shall go and talk with him, Lady Shala. Perhaps I can be of assistance to him."

  "Very good, child." Shala seemed pleased to hear of her plan. "And if you need any assistance at all, please come to me. I want you to think of me as a mother. After all, it is quite possible that we are indeed related. With the similarity of the necklace and all."

  With a pat to her head, Shala walked away, as regal as a queen, and disappeared down the hallway that led to her personal chambers.

  "Very good child, indeed!" Brieana huffed as the drack's silent laughter filled her head. "She speaks to me as if I were a babe! I was once the Queen of the Britons, and she pats my head as if I was a green girl in need of comfort!"

  Better a pat to the head, gracious Lady, than a knife to the back! Zorn stated with some finality.

  "You do not like her because of her opinion of dracks, my dear Zorn. I do not know why I react strangely to her, though. Maybe it is the torc."

  She absently fingered the reassuring warmth of the golden band before turning her attentions again to the empty practice field.

  "I could have bested him, Zorn. Or at least gotten under his defenses quicker than he would have expected."

  I have, of that, no doubt, my Lady. Shall we go inside now?

  Zorn knew that she was making up her mind to go and seek Kerian, and Zorn would have rather avoided the Warlord now. Although he had Brieana's erstwhile protection now, that could change at any moment. And he was just uncomfortable being away from his coven for this long period of time. Oh, those cursed chum are going to be the death of me! he silently wailed.