Caelihn

by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson

  Cade smiled at Meghan, and my heart swelled. There was absolutely no question in my mind that he would do anything for her. The girly side of me that had been awakened after meeting Devlin urged me to run over to my own Lorehnin boyfriend and wrap myself around him. The tough-as-nails, badass Robyn, on the other hand, wanted to slap the sappiness right out of me.

  Shape up, Dunbarre, my conscience barked, you still have a bet to win, remember? No succumbing to your sentimental side until after you have secured a favor from Devlin.

  I decided to compromise by grinning like a fool in his direction instead.

  Devlin sighed and shook his head. “When we are done with the Amsihria and we return to the Weald, I’ll help you plant the right seedlings.”

  I beamed and then turned to Meghan. “You’ll have to come visit and help me get them settled.”

  Meghan took up my arm again and patted it like a seasoned lady at court tending to a newcomer. “I would love to help,” she said with a smile.

  -Chapter Five-

  Study

  We continued our walk, bypassing the staircase we had taken down into the garden, and instead, stepping through the archway that brought us out onto the courtyard. As we passed through the space, Meghan and Cade introduced us to the other people who worked to keep Luathara Castle up and running. Many of them we met in passing as they darted back and forth on one errand or another. I learned that most of them lived in Kellston and traveled to the castle every day to attend to their jobs. Carpenters and stone masons made up the majority of the people we met, and Cade explained to us that once Luathara was finally complete, there wouldn’t be so many men and women bustling about.

  Birgit caught up with us at the front gate to inform Cade and Meghan that dinner would be ready in half an hour.

  “Enough time to see the latest project, I think,” Cade announced, offering his elbow to Meghan.

  She took it easily, leaning into her husband and encouraging Devlin and I to do the same. We stepped through the main gate and crossed the bridge over the stream, then turned right onto the dirt road.

  “Kellston is a few miles in that direction,” Cade said, pointing to the left.

  The road continued on, rising and falling gently with the land, before it disappeared behind a hill. To the right, the lane stretched another half mile or so, coming to an end in the middle of a wide field. Several more hills rose up from the low areas to surround this end of the valley like giant, sleeping turtles. A large stone building, rectangular in shape with a wooden roof, stood in the distance. Beside it, a similar structure was in the midst of construction, as well as several others.

  “The stables are down there,” Cade indicated the semi-finished building. “We are also working on kennels, as well as a smithy and several other buildings to house those who work at Luathara.”

  Devlin eyed the layout far ahead, his gaze calculating. “A barracks as well?” he asked, arching a brow at Cade.

  The Faelorehn man only nodded grimly. “Unfortunately, the Morrigan’s reach transcends the grave. Her evil still lingers in this world, and we must defend ourselves.”

  Devlin tensed beside me, but voiced his approval. “Don’t I know it. You’re probably already aware of my quest in the mortal world?”

  “I know a little of it,” Cade admitted, “but not the entire story.”

  “Something for us to discuss over dinner,” Meghan cut in as she glanced toward the west, where the sun had disappeared behind the hills. “We’ll have to show you the outbuildings another day.”

  “Have they seen the castle yet?” Cade asked as we headed back across the courtyard.

  “Most of it,” I admitted.

  “Even Meghan’s private study?”

  I came to a screeching halt, forcing Devlin to stop walking as well, and shot wide eyes toward my friend.

  She clenched her teeth and elbowed Cade in the ribs. He let out a whoosh of breath, but he was clearly amused.

  “No,” I said carefully, my heart rate spiking. “She hasn’t shown me her study yet, although I’ve asked to see it.”

  I desperately tried to ignore Devlin’s presence behind me, but I’m pretty sure his sudden stiff posture gave me a mild case of whiplash.

  Cade coughed a few times, trying to cover his laugh. “You mean the lady of the castle hasn’t been the most gracious of hosts?”

  “Cade!” Meghan hissed, trying to smack him on the arm. Fortunately for him, he was fast enough to move out of the way.

  “That’s it!” I proclaimed, crossing my arms. “I can’t take it anymore.” I shot a glance back at Devlin. “And this time, you’re not going to butt in and distract Meghan. Cade clearly approves of us seeing what’s in that room.”

  Suddenly, my friend’s blush disappeared, and her eyebrows furrowed. “What’s all this about?” she asked, glancing between Devlin and me. “Why do you want to see my study so badly?”

  I answered with a question. “What is it you’ve got hidden in there? The remains of past servants who have displeased you?”

  “Robyn!” Meghan gasped, shoving her fists onto her hips.

  Cade laughed again. “Oh, she might,” he chirped. “It’s hard to tell.”

  This time, his wife glared at him. Apparently, she had learned that physical violence wouldn’t work. “One more word out of you, and you can sleep in one of the unfinished rooms tonight!”

  Cade showed Meghan his palms and backed away, this time looking truly chastised.

  “Meghan, you really are making a much bigger deal out of it than it needs to be,” he remarked in a much more subdued tone of voice.

  “Someone, please just tell me! The suspense is killing me!” I complained.

  “Fine!” Meghan declared in a clipped voice. “Come along if you must know!”

  I pushed past Devlin, not even waiting to see if he followed us. I could almost taste my victory.

  Meghan stalked across the remainder of the courtyard and heaved open one of the large doors leading into the castle. A few of the staff started at her sudden appearance and moved out of the way when they saw her coming. Before she even reached the door of her study, my friend had the key ring out, flicking through the metal objects, searching for the right one. The sharp clanking of metal striking metal filled the air for a few moments, echoing strangely in the cavernous entrance hall of Luathara Castle. Finally, she found the right one. Meghan shoved the key into the keyhole and twisted it. The lock clicked. She turned the handle, shoved the door open, and stepped back.

  Eagerly, I leaned forward. I expected a dungeon-like atmosphere, complete with grimy stone walls, rusted chains and a table full of torture instruments. I waited for the stench of old blood, sweat and human excrement to hit me in a nauseous wave. I strained my ears for the whimpers and wails of the falsely imprisoned. What I got was something totally unexpected. A slightly musty, dust-tinged scent filled my nose, and what I saw was a far cry from the dank, dreary darkness of a torture chamber. The light was weak in this room, yes, but there was no blood or dark puddles on the floor. Instead, there were stacks of paper, piles of dusty books and mountains of fabric, all coated with too many cobwebs and a fine patina of grime. Scrolls and dried flowers covered what must have been a desk in the middle of the room, and several decrepit boxes were stacked together beneath it. An old fireplace, stained with years of soot and charred wood, gaped at me like a small black cavern from the corner. The room was crowded with clutter, and could use a good cleaning, but as far as I could see, there were no chained servants or wicked instruments of torture.

  I turned around and blinked at Meghan. “This is what you were so reluctant to show me?”

  Meghan turned slightly pink once again.

  I stepped into the room, careful not to tread upon the pile of clothing just inside the door. With my index finger and thumb, I lifted the edge of what appeared to be a large tarp draped over one side of the desk and peered under. More stacks of books, papers, binders and boxes full of jun
k huddled together atop the desk like frightened mice.

  “What are you doing?” Meghan asked from behind me, her voice stiff.

  “Checking for dead bodies. You are harboring far too much guilt over something as silly as a room full of junk.”

  “What?!” she exclaimed. “What dead bodies?”

  I straightened up and let the tarp fall back into place, sending a cloud of dust billowing into the air. Waving the particles away, I turned and shot my friend a derisive look.

  “I’m kidding, Meghan. It’s only a cluttered room. Every house has at least one! Heck, your room back home wasn’t always in the most pristine state half the time I came over.”

  My friend pulled in a breath as if ready to argue with me, but lost her steam halfway through the thought.

  Cade stepped up and wrapped an arm around her. So, he must have sensed it was safe to be within striking distance of his wife.

  “You see, Meghan. Robyn doesn’t care that this one room isn’t tidy,” he said gently.

  And just like that, Meghan’s tension drained, and she gave in to defeat.

  “I had hoped to clean it up before you got here,” she grumbled, leaning into her husband like a petulant child.

  I crossed my arms and arched an eyebrow at the two of them, then glanced at my friend. Meghan really was relieved, and only now that I was looking at her did I realize just how tightly wound she had been before. True, she had always been self-conscious about her tendency to let her room get cluttered, but I was now convinced there was more to her odd behavior than what I’d first assumed.

  “This isn’t about a messy room, is it?” I asked.

  Cade pulled Meghan against his chest and kissed her hair, then shook his head once. I turned my disbelieving look onto Devlin, but the expression on his face only confirmed what I had finally figured out on my own: Something had my friend so stressed out, she was blowing things way out of proportion. And looking at Devlin also reminded me of our wager. I flinched. Did this mean I had lost after all? Or had I won? Meghan was hiding something terrible, according to her, but would it be enough to convince Devlin? Maybe if I didn’t say anything about it, he’d forget. Yes. That’s what I’d do ...

  “We’ll talk over dinner,” Cade promised, interrupting my thoughts as he led the way to the stairs. “Meet us on the third floor in fifteen minutes.”

  He whisked Meghan away, neither one of them uttering another word.

  For several moments, I simply stood where I was and stared after them, completely dumbfounded. I turned to Devlin and said, “What in the deepest depths of the Morrigan’s dark dungeons was that all about?”

  Devlin, who had taken on a relaxed pose with his hands resting on his hips, drew in a deep breath. Before answering, he let it out on a slow sigh.

  “Meghan and Cade have not had a single moment’s peace since their wedding, if Enorah is to be believed.”

  “Enorah would know,” I said carefully. “Does it have anything to do with the Daramorr?”

  I shivered at the thought. The Daramorr had caused enough trouble on the Central Coast, I could only imagine what sort of havoc he’d been wreaking here in Eile.

  Devlin narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side. “Yes, and no. At least, not just the Daramorr. There are the other servants of the Morrigan at play here, some more powerful than others, but their numbers are great. And they are very good at keeping a low profile. You know that first hand.”

  I shuddered. Devlin hadn’t meant to dig up my memories of the past few months, but if these same people were harassing Meghan and Cade, then I could understand why my friend seemed so on edge, despite her earlier joy of having Devlin and me at Luathara.

  “Come on,” Devlin said, holding out his hand, “let’s not think about it. Maybe Cade and Meghan can shed some light on the situation at dinner.”

  We left the entrance hall behind and headed upstairs, stopping off in our room to grab an extra layer of clothing as we did so. Despite the fact that all the fireplaces had been lit to make ready for what would be a chilly evening, it was still rather cold.

  “I wonder why they aren’t just meeting us in the dining room,” I muttered as I trudged up the staircase behind Devlin.

  “I’m sure there is a good reason for it,” he answered.

  Meghan and Cade were waiting for us when we reached the third floor.

  “We’re going to eat out on the patio tonight,” Cade announced, his mood improved since the conversation in the main hall. “Since the next several days will most likely bring rain, we should enjoy the clear weather while we can.”

  I smiled, but kept my teeth clenched as I pulled my sweater more tightly around myself. Meghan must have noticed my actions because she grinned and said, “Don’t worry. Niall has already built a fire for us. It will be like camping out.”

  Seeing Meghan cheerful again was enough to banish my trepidation, despite my disappointment in finding nothing scandalous hiding in her study, and I gladly followed them down the long hallway. At the very end of the building, the wall pushed out into a semi-circle of stone. Stairs trailed up and down the partial tower, and two doors opened out onto the vast patio beyond. The air was just as chilly outside as it was inside, but the cold didn’t seem to affect me as much now that I had a full view of the scenery. The terrace stretched a good hundred feet or so in front of us before meeting up with the steep, oak-tangled hillside. A short, corniced wall encircled the entire space, stone planters overflowing with well-manicured shrubbery forming some sort of a border between the castle’s stone grounds and the wood and foliage of the natural world just outside of it.

  To the south, the edge of the hill tapered away like the jagged spine of a boar, and slivers of the valley and hills beyond Luathara glowed in the last light of day. Straight ahead of us and to the left, a narrow ribbon of water streamed down from a cleft high above the hill, crashing fifty feet below upon the rocks before tumbling down the crevasse along the north side of the castle. Behind us, the castle wall climbed another fifteen feet. The crenellations along the roof and edging the patio reminded me of the square teeth of a jack-o-lantern.

  I turned and gazed back at Meghan, only to find her smiling softly at me.

  “Do you think you can manage the cold for an hour or so?” she asked mildly.

  “What do you think, caelihn?” Devlin murmured as he stepped forward, pulling my back flat against his chest. All of the mischief from earlier was gone from his tone and presence, and only gentle, mutual affection remained. I felt ridiculously at ease in his arms.

  “Or would you rather go inside?” he continued.

  I shook my head, then said in a voice that cracked a little, “No. No, I want to stay out here.”

  A small flock of birds, in the most brilliant shade of scarlet I had ever seen, took flight from one of the trees on the hill, twittering and flapping their charcoal and white wings vigorously.

  I gasped softly and sank further into Devlin’s embrace. When I came to my senses, I looked at Meghan again. Although she was beaming, her eyes also shimmered with tears.

  “Oh, Robyn. I’m so glad you are here.”

  She sounded so weary, more emotionally than physically, and I would’ve asked her what was bothering her, but Birgit stepped from the tower door and quietly ushered us toward a table ringed by chairs. Placed strategically in the center of the grand terrace, the dining area offered a full view of everything there was to see. When I caught Meghan’s eye once again, she had already shaken off whatever melancholy had taken hold. Frowning, I told myself I had read too much into it. Best to let it rest then and not stir up any bad feelings.

  Cade and Devlin, like two gentleman out of a historical romance novel, pushed in our seats for us before sitting down. The steward’s daughter and a handful of other young men and women, some of those we had met earlier in the day, stepped forward and set covered platters upon another wooden table off to the side. As they placed salads, soups and rolls in front of us,
Meghan glanced at me again.

  Once more, her face was grim, as if a ghost lingered just beneath the surface of her skin. It made my nerves prickle and the hair on my arms stand on end. Beside my heart, my glamour stirred within its shell. Whoa now. What was that all about? I glanced down at my plate, took a deep breath and looked back at my friend. The haunted shadow was gone and she was Meghan once again.

  “On so many occasions, I sat down to write to you,” she said, her voice serious, “to tell you all about Eile. But so many things got in the way. First, I couldn’t find the right words, and then even when I thought I had, they weren’t good enough. Then, I would feel guilty about describing how wonderful it was, knowing you couldn’t visit me here. And then, everything that has been going on with my mother and the various threats against the good people of Eile.”

  She twirled her left hand in the air and trailed off, her right hand busy stabbing at salad greens. I followed her lead, gathering up lettuce and other vegetables onto my own fork.

  “What has been happening in Eile?” I prompted, shoving a forkful of some strange reddish colored plant into my mouth. It was crisp and sweet and reminded me of thinly sliced cucumber with a hint of watermelon.

  Meghan placed her fork beside her plate and leveled her gaze with mine. “Far too much turmoil, and far too much of it involving Cade and myself. I thought after destroying the Morrigan, we’d be left in peace.”

  She chuckled dryly as she reached for a glass of what appeared to be wine. After taking a sip, she set it back down and continued, “The war goddess may have been obliterated, but her evil influence, and dark magic, wasn’t. Now, we find ourselves contending with so many separate factions we never knew existed, all claiming allegiance and crying vengeance for a goddess who had once enslaved them.”

  “The Morrigan had a strong hold on both our lives,” Cade added in a subdued tone as he joined the conversation, “and I will always be grateful to Meghan for the role she played in freeing us from her grasp, but that doesn’t mean we have escaped the goddess’s influence altogether.”