by J. B. Miller
"What do you mean?" I shouted again. Oops, forgot Nightmare didn’t like that. He turned to me with a vengeful look in his eyes and his walk turned into a canter. The freaking ground was closer than it looked but definitely just as hard as it looked. After a few moments of stunned shock, matching golden eyes met. "Ouch, you big brute, that hurts." I held up a hand in surrender. "I get it though, no shouting."
"Unless you are in battle," Brónach casually added. "Then battle cries are expected. Otherwise, it is confusing. Why would you be screaming if you were not enraged or in need of help." She shook her head. "Really, Dia, you are very like a child. Do not worry though," she added hastily at my mutinous look. "You practically are a child. I will teach you all that you need to know. Before you know it, you will be an outstanding rider."
"Yeah thanks," I grumbled. "In the meantime, I think I broke my butt." Brónach reached down, grabbed my hands, and pulled me up. Nightmare ambled over and stood patiently beside us. My evil friend cupped her hands once more and knelt to give me a leg up. "You have got to be kidding me," I exclaimed. "I just fell off. I'm broken," I whined.
"You need to get back in the saddle, as they say," she smirked. No remorse and a little glee were evident in that look. "Do not whine. It is unbecoming of a lady and you are the daughter of a god. Others will look to you as an example. You need to learn to comport yourself benefiting your station."
She had to be joking. I had great manners. My mother and Mara made sure of it. The look in her eyes told me that whining wouldn’t be tolerated. "Fine," I sighed and climbed back into Nightmare’s saddle. "Let the torture begin," I grumbled.
"You will get there, Dianthe, just wait and see. You will make a remarkable huntress." The look in Brónach's eyes told me she would make sure of it.
*****
"Did you know that time has very little meaning in the wild wood? I mean how long have I been here? Days come and go and there are times I don’t even notice it, Caomhnóir. I've lost track of the days and weeks."
I was lying by the river with Caomhnóir. His great wiry body lay close to mine. I was on my belly, fingers trailing in the water, watching the day go by. Today was a rest day. We had them once a week from what I could work out.
Everyone was allowed to do what he or she wanted once their chores were done. The only time a rest day was cancelled was in a state of emergency or a Hunt. Neither had happened since I have been here.
People have left a couple times. Cernunnos disappeared every now and again. Once he slipped out in the night and I wondered if he had went to have a tryst. He hadn’t shown any interest in the females of the Hunt and when I asked Brónach about it, she changed the subject. The most I got out of her was that it was none of our business what the lord did with his free time.
"So did you see me today, Caomhnóir? Nightmare and I were jumping fences; it was exhilarating. I never thought I would sit on a horse much less be doing cross country," I paused.
"I don’t know how to explain it, boy. I don’t even think of you in the sense of being animals. You're not just a dog and he's not just a horse." He snorted at that. Seriously, for a dog he was easily offended.
"No, I'm not explaining it right," I tried again. "You two are like a part of me. I do not understand it myself. I'm happy here. I miss my family and my guys but it's muted. I have tried to bring the feelings to the surface but I just cannot.
“It's almost like everything before was a dream and then I woke up here. I know they are real and that I have to get back to them eventually, but just not today. Robin told me time moves differently here," my voice faltered and I rolled over.
I stared into the sky. Lavender hues tinted the blue and wisps of clouds filtered the sun. I closed my eyes and let the warmth of the day seep into my bones. A few moments later, I continued where I left off. “Robin took Kale to Faery, did you know that, boy?"
Caomhnóir raised his head lazily and shook it. "Well he did. They were gone for about three weeks in this realm. In mine, it was only a few hours. I know that and it comforts me. I'm not concerned in the way I feel I should be. Does that even make sense?" I asked him.
"Ughhh, there's too many questions and not enough answers, boy. You know what my mum always said when that happened?" Caomhnóir cocked his ear waiting patiently for me to tell him. "I wish you could talk to me," I sighed. "I know you understand what I'm saying but it would be nice if you could talk back."
A thoughtful look crossed his doggy face but I carried on. "Anyway, mum always said and I quote," I added finger quotations. "Girly, take it to the lord. If we cannot find the answers ourselves then ask God. Even if he doesn't answer you, a problem shared is a problem halved. His shoulders are broad enough to carry a lot more than yours are."
My eyes welled a little thinking about my mother. I missed her. Hell, I missed all my family. I would get back to them, I promised myself. It might just take me a little time. "Okay, I'm going to take this to the lord. Why don’t you go get yourself a bite to eat and I will meet up with you later?" He looked unsure for a moment before he glanced past where we stood. Caomhnóir then rubbed against me before taking off. Damn, I really needed a translator for him. Oh well, it was time for my heart to heart with God and I had the perfect place for it.
Chapter Eight
Cernunnos
I watched her. It seemed as if I was always watching her. Her naivety and sincerity had seeped beneath my skin and sunk into my very bones. Countless humans had passed through my life. A few of them I considered friends, most of them faceless lovers to ease a never ending ache. Sometimes they were even prey we had sought. There were members of my Hunt that had begun life as ordinary humans but extraordinary circumstances had brought them to my attention.
The same could be said for this woman-child. She was unlike any other female I had ever known. The child of a god, yet raised human. She had none of the arrogance of either race. Even now, she was unaware that I watched.
She had left the grassy riverbank and walked just inside the forest boundaries. I followed her. Much like the Cu' she had claimed, I trotted tamely at her heels. Albeit at a distance, so she would not know.
I was curious about where she was heading. The forest was no longer off limits to her as part of her training revolved around learning its trails and secrets. She was now part of my Hunt. She needed to know the forest in which she lived.
Even as my mind wandered, I studied her movements. Dianthe slipped beneath some foliage into a denser area of the wood. The hidden trail she was on led to a tiny grotto known only to a select few. It surprised me that she had found it.
To go any further was to give away my position. However, my curiosity was greater. Calling forth my power, I transformed into one of my other forms. Seconds later a great stag stood where a god had.
*****
Dia
The trail was barely passable but the scratches were worth it. When I came to the end of the path, it opened up to a tiny paradise. A grassy knoll lay before me. The canopy of the forest rose high above rivalling the most majestic cathedrals. Wild flowers bloomed in abundance around the edges of my retreat. It was so silent here. Almost as if the world was holding its breath. There was only the tiny burble of a nearby stream and the tiny specs of dust drifting lazily in the sunbeams breaking through the trees.
Peace radiated through this place. I had been coming here ever since I stumbled across it weeks ago. I was able to center myself here and today I needed that. This is how I imagined Faery to be. A haven or paradise of nature, it echoed with the resonance of contentment.
My destination was the Hawthorn tree in the center. I had never seen anything like it. It grew in the middle of the enclosure at the very heart of the circle. My tree, as I thought of it, stood nearly twenty feet in height. Even at this time of year, it was in full bloom. Clusters of white and pink flowers exploded in an extravagant mixture.
Berries bright red grew and hung heavy from the limbs. I knew this was impossible but here
it stood in full bloom and laden with fruit. Its brown scaly ridges welcomed me when I put a hand against its bark. The most amazing part was that its vicious thorns never once pierced my skin.
I knelt down onto my knees and rested my forehead against the trunk of my tree, my eyes closed and I took a deep breath before I began to pray.
"Dear Lord, I do not know what will happen to me today. I only know that nothing will happen that was not foreseen by you and directed to my greater good from all eternity. I adore your holy and unfathomable plans, and submit to them with all my heart for love of you, the Pope, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen."
I took a deep breath and broke away from the canned prayers for a minute. "Dear Father, I'm a bit lost here. I'm not pretending to understand everything. Heck, let's face it, I don’t have a clue. God, I feel so alone and lost right now, but I am sharing that burden with you. I have thought about it and man have I thought about it. Doubt has racked my brain so many times. I mean, I have met real gods. Living beings that are actual gods, no joke. I have been told that angels walk amongst us and that there are many deities.
"To tell you the truth, Lord, it's scary and hard to comprehend. Talk about your crisis of faith here. The one thing that keeps coming back to me is that I've never stopped doubting you." I smiled at this and looked up at the heavens. "I figured, hey if the rest of this craziness is real then you have to be. Thank you, Lord, for giving me this opportunity to experience this world. I just pray you pick me up when I fall. Because let's face it, it's going to happen, a lot.
"I don’t know how things are going to work out but I have faith and will soldier on." My head bowed again and I closed my eyes while I continued my prayers. With little more than a whisper, I finished.
"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
“And to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,
“Is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen"
I turned around and leaned back against the Hawthorn, watching the leaves above sway in the gentle breeze. It was so perfect here. Closing my eyes I let the warmth of the day take me away for a short while. It's true a trouble shared is halved. I had to remember to thank my mother for that bit of information.
*****
Cernunnos
My form fell away. I could not hold it. There I stood in the grotto in my natural form. No one had seen me this way in millennium. The naked truth of this girl had stripped away all guises that I had.
On silent feet, I made my way to her side. The strands of my hair whipped around my calves in sentient anxiety. My body was uncomfortable being this exposed. Simply because it had been hidden for so long. I trembled slightly as I knelt next to her by the Hawthorn. Prickly thorns rushed down its trunk to hover menacingly above her.
"Peace, brother, I mean her no harm. She has undone me," I whispered. The trees branches retreated but I knew they watched. "What have you done to me, Dianthe? You are little more than a human female right now, yet you bring me to my knees."
I reached out and brushed a strand of silky hair from her face. Emotions I did not even know existed swirled into being. I was Cernunnos, a god, the green man. People had worshipped me for centuries as a god of life, fertility, and growth. Love and tender emotions were a foreign concept to me.
As I looked down at this innocent creature sleeping so very peacefully before me, I could not resist the urge to taste her sweetness just once. She had entranced me. The final piece of her unknowing trap settled into place while I watched her pray to her god. Her strength, faith, and courage stripped away millennia of hardened armor and reduced me to my base self.
"Dianthe," I murmured. "Wake up, beautiful girl, open your eyes for me so you may see me as I see you." I watched her nose wrinkle at being disturbed. Confusion crossed her face when I put my hand to her cheek turning her face to mine. Then those golden orbs opened and I saw my destiny.
"Cernunnos?" she asked me questioningly.
"Yes," I replied then lowered my lips to hers. Before the universe exploded around us, I understood. I would never let her go, no matter what.
*****
Dia
I was dreaming, that was the only explanation I had. The Hawthorn was still above me but Cernunnos was beside me. It was him but not him hence the, it must be a dream scenario. He looked like what I would expect an angel to be.
All bright, shining light and warmth. His face was still Cernunnos but that was about it. The being in front of me towered. He was a behemoth. I could not tell you how tall exactly as he was kneeling but well over seven feet anyway.
His antlers were pure white and spanned further than I could reach with both arms outstretched. Hair every shade of blonde ever invented wove around us. It trailed down his back and pooled across both of us. His brown eyes, damn what color were they now? Not brown at any rate. I couldn’t see the distinction between pupil and iris anymore.
I locked gazes with him and found myself sucked in. "Cernunnos?" I asked. Not sure if I believed he was real or if I was still dreaming.
"Yes," he responded. Then my world tilted on its axis because he leaned down and kissed me.
Powerful kisses were not new to me. My guys have kissed me into mush before. When Robin mated us, we became part of each other. This was nothing like that.
The world figuratively blew apart. Everything I had ever known about anything ceased to exist in that moment. More energy than ever before coursed through my system. I was on overload.
My eyes opened and the light nearly blinded me. A corona surrounded us and shot to the heavens. People would be able to see it for miles. It pulsed with power. All this took place in the second after Cernunnos's lips met mine.
Then something shifted. Our lips parted and he deepened the kiss. Everything dormant in me came to life. A realization that there was emptiness inside of me became known and Cernunnos filled that hole. Finally, I was now whole. With one kiss, my world had changed. Damn, how was I going to explain this to my guys?
"Wow," I sighed when he broke the kiss. "Oh my God," I gasped.
"Yeah?" Cernunnos questioned with a smile. Groaning, I pulled away.
"You did not just use that line. That's so lame," I flicked the end of his nose. "Back to the point at hand, oh majestic one," I ran a finger across a luminescent antler. He shuddered before lowering his lids.
"I wouldn’t do that unless you want to take this further. My antlers are," he paused with a purr before continuing, "very sensitive."
My hand reluctantly dropped back down to the ground and I used them to push myself up. Sitting back against the tree and pulling my legs up against my chest, I wrapped my arms around my knees and stared at him.
"So, what just happened here? I mean, I know you kissed me and that something major shifted in the world." I nodded in his direction, "What's with the new look and glowing body halo? You know I am married. What you did was wrong." I tried to glare at him, I really did. Unfortunately, something in me was now hardwired to him and his emotions flooded me.
"Dianthe," he began. "Do you understand how mating works? How you can have more than one?"
"Yes," I rolled my eyes. “I have three you know. Who are not going to be happy—" I was cut off.
"To have a fourth, I understand," he finished for me.
"What? No, I mean they won't be happy you put the moves on me. What do you mean, fourth? You're not trying to tell me that you think we are mates, are you? My mum hasn’t even wrapped her head around the other three yet," I exclaimed.
I was beginning to become a little bit panicked. This honestly could not be happening. Was every man I met going to want to mate with me? This had to end. I refused to have a reverse harem.
Cernunnos's eyes lit up with laughter. "A male harem," he chuckled. "What a novel idea. I would be more than happy to pander to your every sexual whim." He moved closer as he spoke and it dawned on me he was as naked as the day he came into this world.
"Whoa there, boy, slow down. Also,
stop reading my mind. It's rude. I've told you that how many times? Umm, I know I have three husbands, mates, or whatever you want to call them but listen, I'm not that kind of girl," I finished lamely.
"What kind of girl would that be," he growled low in his throat while he crawled ever closer. "The kind that radiates innocence and sexual need at the same time? How about the kind of girl whose eyes practically beg for more, yet manages to look so lost and unsure of what she is asking?"
He leaned against me. The heat from his body seeped into my skin. I could feel the hard press of his erection against the seam of my legs and I almost wanted to open them to let him in.
A wicked smile curled his lips. Damn, he heard that thought. "Do it, Dia, let me in. Let me show you how good it can be." One hand worked itself between my knees before cupping one and pushing it open. Once there was a tiny space, he wedged himself closer still, making the space wider until he was nestled between my now spread thighs.
Hands grabbed my hips and pulled me flush against his groin. Thank goodness, I was wearing trousers today. "Do you know how bad I want to sink into you, Dianthe? Do not think these garments are any deterrent. They can be gone with a single thought," he said as he rubbed against me.
"Don’t even think about it," I gasped. "This is not happening. Talk, we need to talk, Cernunnos. Whatever this is," I faltered.
He groaned, "This is destiny, Dia. But if you want to talk first, we will."
A fraction of a second later, I found our positions reversed and his back was to the tree. I was sitting in his lap and cuddled into his chest. Cernunnos's hair must have been prehensile, it was amazing. The stuff wrapped around us cocooning us in a silky blanket.
I took a deep breath and worked out what I wanted to say before beginning. "Okay, I'm not understanding any of this. How did we go from roommates to this in the space of a few moments? You couldn’t have just decided ten minutes ago, hey that Dia girl, she's the one. I'm going to go form a metaphysical bond with her. Explain that to me, Cernunnos. Then explain to me what it is exactly that is going on."
