After Sarina left, Darrick tried to relax, but sleep would not come to him. He kept seeing the softness of Alanna’s smile as she played with Ellette, the tender love in her face when she spoke of her child.
A child that should never have been born.
He couldn’t help but feel this way.
Yet, despite his protests and refusal to listen, he knew Sarina was right.
Alanna’s child was as much a part of her as her heart and soul. If he could not bring himself to love her son, he might as well learn to live alone
* * * *
Geoffrey saw Sarina storm out of Darrick’s tent and froze, his gut clenching. Surely she hadn’t— He shook his head, wondering at the strength of his fury. He shouldn’t be surprised; after all, she’d tried to seduce him, and Darrick was much more a man of the world than he.
When she noticed Geoffrey standing near his tent, she waved. He managed a nod and a cold half-smile. Undeterred, she marched over, grabbed his arm, and attempted to drag him inside.
About to tell her he wasn’t interested in taking Darrick’s leavings, he yanked back his arm.
“We need to talk.” She accompanied her announcement with a wave of her hand towards Darrick’s tent. “I tried to talk to your fearless leader. He won’t listen to me. Maybe you will.” Pushing away the tent flap, she disappeared inside.
Intrigued despite himself, Geoffrey followed her.
Though he stayed near the exit, in the close confines of his tent, her presence overpowered. He couldn’t get far enough away from her. Her scent struck him first, her musky, earthy fragrance sending a jolt to his groin. Her lush figure and smooth skin presented a stronger temptation each time she came close to him. Crossing his arms to keep himself from touching her, he frowned.
“Well?”
She licked her lips like a hungry kitten, sending another bolt of heat his way. “I want to talk to you about Alanna and Darrick.”
“What?” He’d been so sure her need to talk had been yet another ruse in her quest to seduce him. Off-balance, he grew so flustered he uncrossed his arms to tug at his ear.
Her smile blossomed into a grin. “You thought--”
“No I didn’t.”
She made a clucking sound, indicating she didn’t believe him. “You know, any other time I’d take you up on that. Believe me.”
His ears burned.
“But this is more important,” she continued. “Your Darrick seems determined to go after Alanna.”
“I know.” Grimly he thought of the way Darrick had kissed his former betrothed. “I saw the kiss.”
“Searing, wasn’t it?” Sarina watched him closely.
Disconcerted, he swallowed. “Er, yes. It was.”
She moved closer. “Hot.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “So hot it made you want to--”
“Sarina.” He growled her name, mostly because he didn’t trust himself to be able to speak normally. “Darrick and Alanna. What did you want to discuss about them?”
“Right.” God help him, she sounded disappointed. “I tried to talk to him about it, but he refused.”
Ah, now he thought he understood. “You wanted to see if Darrick would kiss you the way he kissed her?”
“What?” She goggled at him, her mouth open. “Are you insane?”
The rush of relief that flooded him nearly made him smile. Nearly. “So you didn’t--”
“No.” She poked him in the chest, so hard he nearly staggered. Only by grabbing her shoulders was he able to keep from stumbling.
“Sarina…”
She clutched his head and pulled him down to her. “Kiss me,” she commanded. When he hesitated, she pressed the entire length of her soft, curvy body against him, making him dizzy. Of their own volition, his hands explored the seductive hollow of her back.
“Kiss me.” Sounding breathless, she gazed up at him with such wanting he felt her gaze like a touch.
He groaned. One taste, he told himself, one touch of the lips, as chaste as he could make it, and his obsession would be satisfied.
Slowly, carefully, he covered her mouth with his own. He meant to but lightly sample, but at the first sweet taste of her he found he couldn’t get enough. Like a starving man at a banquet, he slanted his mouth across hers, and took deep, drugging, draughts of her. She quivered beneath him.
With an oath he broke away. “There.” He could not keep the bitterness from his voice. “You have gotten what you came for, what you wanted.”
She became very still. Her blue eyes looked huge in her pale face. “You’re wrong, Geoffrey. If I’d gotten what I wanted you would be sheathed inside of me right now.”
He clenched his jaw to keep a moan from escaping. The sensual images her words created caused his already over-heated body to nearly explode.
And she must be as aroused as he, if the way her nipples poked against her overdress were any indication.
Hellfire and damnation! If she touched him again, he feared he’d embarrass himself and spill his seed in his leggings.
“Go,” he snarled. “I cannot bear to look at you.”
“Liar.” Her response came so softly he wasn’t quite sure he heard her correctly. “Look down at yourself instead of at my breasts and you would not speak so falsely.”
He didn’t need to look. He could feel the force of his own arousal swelling his breeches.
“Any man would want you.” Wiping his hand across his eyes, he sighed.
She made a little sound, something of a cross between a laugh and a hiccup. “Then why--”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Fierce now, he attempted to silence her with the strength of his glare.
“Fine. But we still need to discuss Alanna and Darrick.”
“We do?” He pretended surprise. “So that was no ruse to--”
“Believe it or not Geoffrey, I have as little control over what happens when we are together as you do.”
Right. The ultimate temptress now tried to make him believe she found him equally alluring?
“Geoffrey, do you want Darrick and Alanna to get together?”
“I want,” he said stiffly, “whatever will make my lord Darrick happy.”
She snorted. “I’ve seen the way you look whenever they’re together.”
“And how is that?”
“Like you want to vomit.”
A laugh escaped him. She was good. Damn good. Too bad she was so beautiful.
“Look, you probably won’t understand this, but I fear for Darrick’s soul.”
“Ah.” She eyed his cross. “Still espousing your witchcraft theory?”
He held his tongue. When he didn’t answer, she took a step towards him.
He moved back. “No.”
“I wasn’t going to touch you. Only the cross.” Then she reached out and lifted the medallion from his chest. Watching her slender fingers caress the silver, he felt an absurd longing for her hands on his skin.
Finally, she let the necklace fall. “I don’t want Darrick and Alanna to get together any more than you do.”
Now she’d succeeded in shocking him. “Why not?”
“Because he will hurt her. He thinks he cares about her, but if he convinces her to wed him, he will only rip out her heart. She’s had enough of that for a lifetime, and we Fae live very long lives.”
He let the Faerie inference go, focusing instead on her belief that Darrick actually cared for Alanna.
“Do you really think he loves her? `Tis not merely lust, like--”
“He cares for her.” Conviction rang in her tone.
This puzzled him. “If he truly loves your Alanna, then I fail to see why you believe they’d be unhappy.”
“Sometimes love is not enough.” Once she began to outline her reasons, he saw her point. Even if Darrick could bring himself to allow such a child as Caradoc to be raised in his household, he could never, ever love the child as Sarina claimed Alanna wanted. No man could.
It followed then,
if Darrick and Alanna were to wed, they’d be dooming themselves to a life full of unhappiness. Not to mention eternal damnation for Darrick’s soul.
“We have to stop them,” Sarina concluded.
He found himself nodding agreement. “Yes, I think we do.”
She held out her hand. Gingerly, he took it.
“Partners?” she asked.
“I--” Then, gripping her hand more firmly, he nodded. “Yes, partners.”
CHAPTER TEN
“Wake, Darrick Tadhg.” The voice sounded ancient, yet stern. Decidedly feminine, yet carrying an unmistakable ring of authority. A dream?
“Wake, I said.”
Not a dream. No such luck.
“Not again,” he groaned, trying to slide back into slumber. How long had he been asleep? Not long enough. He needed more rest.
A soft kick to his side abolished that idea.
With a resigned sigh, he opened his eyes. The elderly woman standing over him looked vaguely familiar.
Squinting up at her, Darrick propped himself up on his elbows. “Wynne?”
She waved her hands regally. “In the flesh.”
Darrick couldn’t resist a wry smile. “You allow me to see you. What, no invisible voices this time?”
Instead of smiling back, she looked grim. “The matter is urgent.”
“Urgent?” Darrick pushed himself to his feet. The last time she’d spoken to him she’d talked of Alanna being in danger. “Alanna?”
“Nay. `Tis Caradoc, Alanna’s son.”
He crossed his arms. “What of him?”
“He is in grave danger. So I have dreamt.”
Darrick stared. “If by grave danger, you mean because he is a prisoner of Morfran, do not worry. We have learned that Morfran sent the boy away with a small group of guards. Even now we seek to catch them.”
The old woman chewed her bottom lip. “What of Gorsedd?”
“Morfran’s advisor?” He shrugged. “I do not know. I would think he remains by Morfran’s side.”
“`Tis he who has harnessed the dark forces.”
“So Alanna has said.”
“And he who wanted Caradoc.”
Interesting. “I would have thought Morfran wanted his own son.”
“Morfran did not know. Gorsedd is the one who came and took the child.”
“Why?”
She did not answer.
“If this Gorsedd is as powerful as you say, I would not think Morfran would want him far from his side.”
“Morfran will do as Gorsedd commands. And I do not believe Gorsedd will let the boy out of his sight. I think he still has Caradoc with him. He must travel with those guards as well.”
None of this made sense to Darrick, but what could he say? The Fae had their own ways of knowing things, and more often than not they were right.
“Gorsedd threatens the boy?”
“Not bodily.” She frowned at him. “Alanna’s son has certain… powers. We are only now learning of them. I fear Gorsedd may try to take them from him, or force him to use them too early. Such a thing could cause Caradoc’s death.”
Darrick paced, though the close confines of his tent would not allow him to walk more than a step or two. “You say you are learning of Caradoc’s powers?”
“Yes.”
“How can this be?” He frowned at her. “Alanna has told me of the legend and recited the riddle. The child does not have the proper blood to have gained great power.”
Wynne’s small smile was no real answer.
Frustration had him clenching his fists. “You know things. Tell me what you have seen.”
“Only shadows have been revealed.”
Turning on her, he snarled. “You seek to manipulate me.”
“You know I cannot lie.”
“Not revealing the truth is another way of lying. Have you learned where they take Caradoc, and what they plan to with him?”
When she shook her head, his disappointment mirrored her expression.
“Then tell me something I do not know.”
She sighed. “Someone – most likely Gorsedd – has blocked us. We know not how. We cannot see where they hide.”
“They ride towards the sea.” The flatness of his tone left no doubt how he felt about that.
“You cannot let them cross the water.”
“Yet you know not why they go there?”
Wynne sighed. “There is a place of power on an isle to the west. `Tis believed Gorsedd goes there. All we know is for certain is that Caradoc is in danger. We cannot see more than that.”
“Why me? Why do you not speak to Alanna about this?”
Her wizened face settled into harsh lines of worry. “She cannot see what is right before her eyes. Thus, I wanted to speak to you first.”
Her cryptic response was no real answer.
A high pitched wail came from outside.
Ellette! She slept with Alanna.
Darrick pushed past Wynne and sprinted for her tent. Geoffrey and Sarina came running from the opposite direction.
Drawing his sword, Darrick yanked open the tent flap and rushed inside, Geoffrey close behind.
Alanna sat on her rumpled blankets, crying. In her lap she held a bawling Ellette.
When he rushed into the tent, Ellette’s wails turned into surprised, hiccupy-sobs.
Though he quickly scanned every corner, he saw no menace – nothing to warrant this kind of hysteria. He and Geoffrey exchanged a glance. Both sheathed their swords. Muttering, Geoffrey spun on his heel and went outside.
“What is it?”
In unison they raised blotchy, tear-stained faces to him.
“Ellette had a dream.” Alanna sounded heartbroken.
Darrick scratched his head. Nightmares had haunted his nights for years. He understood how well they could torment.
“A bad dream.” He nodded. “I see.”
“But you don’t.” Alanna’s eyes flashed green fire. “Ellette dreamt of my son.”
A chill went down his spine. Wynne. Turning, he looked for the elderly woman. She had gone. Of course she had – for some reason she didn’t want to face Alanna.
Carefully, he chose his next words. “Tell me of this dream.”
The tiny girl once again burst into tears. Her wails were loud enough to shake the sides of the tent.
Alanna made soothing sounds, gathering Ellette close and smoothing the damp curls from her forehead. Finally, the child’s crying subsided.
“She fears for Caradoc’s life.” Alanna’s tone was flat.
“She told you this?”
“As best she could.”
He knelt down in front of them. “Ellette?”
She hid her face in the crook of Alanna’s arm.
“Ellette, please. Tell me what you saw.”
“She said—
“Wait.” He cut Alanna off before she could tell him. “I want to hear this in her own words.”
Peering up at him through lashes spiky with tears, Ellette appeared to be considering him. Finally, she rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“BadmanhasCawadoc.”
Bad man has Caradoc.
He nodded, keeping an expression of fatherly concern on his face. “A bad man has Caradoc. Yes sweetheart, we know.”
Her face scrunched up and he thought she was going to cry again. But instead, she pounded Alanna’s leg with her small fist.
“Magic. Bad magic. Hurt Cawadoc.”
Darrick felt another chill. Exactly as Wynne had said.
Rising, he looked at Alanna. She’d composed herself, wearing her mask of royal iciness once more.
“Get yourself and the child ready. We need to try and stop them before they go too far.” He looked away. “We cannot let them cross the sea.”
He saw the question in Alanna’s eyes. How could he answer her, when he didn’t even know the solution himself? He was human, not Fae. He had no special gifts – he could not foretell the future. All he could do
was take one step at a time and attempt to learn from the mistakes in his past. “Wynne paid me a visit.”
Alanna’s eyes narrowed. “And?”
He had to push the words past the constriction in his throat. “She claims Caradoc is in danger. But we already knew that.”
He saw the sudden stillness in her. “Has the peril increased?”
“She didn’t say. She spoke of Gorsedd using Caradoc’s power too soon, and how that might hurt him.”
“Power? What power? My son has no power. He is too young, and a changeling besides.”
Darrick lifted his shoulder in a shrug. “I merely repeat her words to me.” He glanced at Geoffrey and Sarina. Both watched with curiously identical expressions.
“Get ready to move on.” Raising his voice, he made sure his men would hear. “We ride as soon as possible. We have a few day’s journey before we reach the coast.”
Less than an hour later they were on their way. The wintry sun’s position showed it to be late afternoon, much earlier than they usually traveled. Darrick saw no point in continuing to ride only in darkness – the attack of the dark riders had clearly shown Gorsedd knew of their pursuit. Knew and would try to stop them any way he could.
Darrick had a feeling that thus far they’d been lucky. The closer they drew to Caradoc, the harder Gorsedd would raise his magical hammer against them. He only hoped they would survive.
* * * *
When they rode out, Geoffrey again kept to the rear of their column, while Darrick rode to the front. This way, Geoffrey could keep watch on everyone, including Sarina and Alanna. Though Sarina and he had agreed to be partners in their mutual quest to keep Darrick and Alanna apart, he didn’t entirely have confidence in the woman. How could he trust someone who haunted his every waking thought?
“Geoffrey.” Darrick called his name.
Geoffrey urged his war horse into a jog, riding up to join his liege lord at the front.
“Ride beside me. I need your counsel.”
His counsel? Geoffrey felt a flush of pleasure. Though once he’d once sought it often, Darrick had not asked his advice at all as of late.
“Of course.”
They moved ahead, keeping several lengths in front of the others.
“I do not wish our conversation easily over heard.” Darrick sounded worried. Did he finally understand the possible repercussions of being involved with Alanna and her kind?
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