by SM Reine
It seemed love, even on Kingdom, was a powerful magic.
Laughing, Violet shrugged. “You know you are, my beautiful child. More headstrong than all three of your brothers combined. And we will talk about what St. John did today.” Then, leaning in, she whispered something into Lilith’s ear that caused the spitfire to blush furiously.
Red’s look was knowing and irritated, but not at her daughter specifically. “Trust me that your father will handle that situation.”
With the way she said “that,” Giles could only assume she was referring to the incident in the glen. When Ewan popped his knuckles, Giles knew his assumption was correct.
“But as this is your going-away party, let us not talk of such violent things,” Violet finished with a bright smile. “Your brothers have captured and killed a buck earlier today, and now we will roast in celebration of you and your speedy return.”
Giles was more than confused by Lilith’s clan’s reaction. He’d expected weeping, begging for him not to do this, not to take their only daughter on such a perilous quest. Ewan clapped him hard enough on the back that he stumbled forward two steps.
“Come let us eat, demon knight,” Ewan boomed.
At the sound of it all the males threw up their fists and then turned on their heels, racing down the hall toward the overwhelming scent of roasting meat. Only Lilith and Violet stayed with him.
The younger woman had her head bowed, but not as though bowed from humility, rather like she was attempting to hide her humor at the whole situation.
Violet chuckled and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Welcome to the lives of wolves, sir knight. In time, you’ll get used to it.”
Lilith’s head snapped up at this words and she glared at her mother, not with anger, but with a question burning in her bright blue eyes.
He nodded, keeping pace with the women as they led him toward the kitchen. “I apologize for any inconvenience my coming here might cost you both—”
Violet waved his words away. “You were expected, Giles. Though not by my daughter, I’m sure.”
Glancing at Lilith, Giles was surprised to see her still wearing a mask of astonishment. She tucked a black thread of hair behind her ear but still refused to ask her mother any questions. Though even he could sense them rolling around on her tongue. He wondered what could make the fiery shifter so tongue-tied all of a sudden.
Patting his arm, Violet smiled. “You will rest here the night, then in the morning I shall pack you a basket of food that will see you through to the next day, when food will become easier to rustle up.”
He shook his head. “I’d just as soon leave this night.”
She laughed. “No, that won’t be happening. There is a powerful nor’easter ripping through the Howling Canyon. It will wipe away anyone attempting to walk through the valley. You will wait and leave on the morrow.”
Frowning, he glanced back at Lilith, who was now attempting to hide her chuckle behind her wrist. Giles had allowed no one but his prince to dictate anything to him, the only reason he stayed his tongue was not because he was currently surrounded by a pack of barely leashed tempers, but because he knew the power the Heartsong wielded. If she said it was bad, he’d have no choice but to believe her.
“Then I shall do as advised.”
Her smile was huge. “Come, then, let us break for supper and talk of this quest.”
Turning the corner, Giles suffered a moment’s pang of homesickness. The kitchen was massive and hewn from the same red clay as the rest of the home. The table and chairs were obviously whittled by skilled hands. A deep, burnished mahogany wood that mingled with the rich, meaty brine of roasted haunch gave their kitchen an old-world feel.
The entire leg turned on a spit over the flame inside the massive hearth. The drip of liquid fat sizzled on the heated stones beneath and made his mouth water.
Ewan and the rest of the clan were seated in their places, smiling broadly. A wolf’s love of meat was well known.
“Sit.” Violet pointed to the three empty seats on other side of Ewan.
Taking the one directly beside the Big Bad Wolf, he sat and waited as the woman lifted the meat from the spit, bringing it to the center of the table that was already overflowing with baskets of cheese, fruit, and bread.
He expected the moment the meat hit the table that it would be an all-out brawl to get at it, but the men stayed calm. Though their gazes never swerved from the juicy leg.
Lilith took the seat beside him and Violet the one across from him.
Ewan then took a large knife in hand and began making thick cuts, which Violet would stab with a large, silver-handled fork and plop onto the plates of her young. The men did attack their food then, completely ignoring everything else on the table.
Picking up a knife and fork, Ewan sliced into his chunk of meat. “This journey my daughter is to take—what is it for?”
Accepting the proffered slice of meat, Giles also grabbed some cheese and fruit. Violet took no meat at all, choosing to stick with the other items on the table. Lilith took a small square of meat, but mostly tore into the bread.
“Rumpel’s son is cursed.”
Popping a grape into her mouth, Violet nodded. “Aye. I told you, mate, remember? The boy is missing his sliver of humanity. Because of Lilith’s skill and Giles’s brute strength”—the Heartsong snorted and Giles couldn’t figure out whether she mocked him or not—“they must take on this quest together.”
“Ah.” Ewan scratched his jaw. “Right. I’d forgotten.”
Giles narrowed his eyes. He’d known the Heartsong possessed great power, but he had not known, however, that she was a seer.
She smiled. “I can read your thoughts like a book. You wonder whether I’ve grown stronger. I have. Though I do not read minds, let us just say that I have friends in high places and we were told of your coming. But there is no need to worry about me, not so long as my family remains hale and whole.”
Ewan nodded, ripping into a meaty chunk and chewing as he gazed at Giles.
“Is that a threat?” Giles asked before popping a bite of cheese into his mouth. The creamy yellow wedge had a smooth, slightly nutty texture to it. It tasted fresh, and almost like it was homemade.
Shrugging, Ewan swallowed his bite of meat. “My woman is a power even greater than I. We do not deal in threats, only in actions. That she warns you is a kindness I wouldn’t have offered.”
Violet patted his tanned hand before turning back to Giles. “I sense your heart, and it is good. I know that my daughter is in good hands, but I will give you both words of caution.”
“But will they succeed, Mother?” one of the men piped up—the one with the skunk stripe in his hair. His voice was still young, but he was well on the cusp of manhood.
Giles realized he was older than all of them with the exception of Ewan and Violet, who were ancients even by his standards. Shifters matured quickly, freezing into their prime form on their eighteenth birthday, so it was never easy to gage a shifter’s true age just by looking at them.
Which made him wonder just how old Lilith actually was. The last thing he wanted was to be saddled with the body of a woman who had the brain of an immature whelp.
Lilith rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at her brother. “Will I succeed? Uriah, you’re all kinds of a fool if you’d even doubt it.”
Ewan glared at them both. “A little humility, Lilith. And Uriah, never interrupt your mother.”
“It’s all right.” Violet patted Ewan’s arm. “The boy meant nothing by it. Uriah, I cannot tell them the outcome, for there are several. Some end in success, others do not. It’s simply dependent on the choices they make. But,” she said, turning to Giles, her blue eyes piercing, “I will give you a bit of advice that shouldn’t alter the outcome by much. Trust—that is the key to success.”
He cocked his head. Attempting to decipher the impossible.
“And Lilith, it’s okay to be weak. Being willing to expose a flaw
to someone you trust isn’t weakness, but strength. Remember that, dear.”
Ewan and the brothers all lowered their heads, almost as if in a show of respect. Old as he was, Giles must confess that he knew and understood very little of the world outside of his castle.
It’d never bothered him before now.
“Yes, Mother,” Lilith mumbled beneath her breath, plucking at her fruit with a distracted frown on her rosebud lips.
The rest of the meal was eaten mostly in silence with one of the brothers occasionally offering an anecdote. Once their repast was over, Ewan pulled Giles aside and threatened to cut his balls off if anything untoward happened to his daughter. Each of the brothers did the same at different points during the night.
He nodded gravely each time one of them mentioned stuffing his jewels down his throat, understanding that it came from a place of concern. They needn’t bother, though; for him this was a job and nothing more.
Violet gestured to a curtained-off room. “That is the guest bed. You may have it for the night.”
“I thank you, Heartsong, though I think I shall sleep above ground.”
“I figured you’d say that.” Her smile was kind. The rest of the clan had turned in for the night and it was now just the two of them. “There will be many dangers and pitfalls along the way. My daughter is headstrong and wild, but I think she could learn much from you and you from her.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded slowly.
To deny that he was curious about how Lilith had gotten herself entangled with Rumpel would be an untruth. But how her family could be so willing to accept her fate—that he could not understand.
She sighed. “We accept it, Giles, because we have no choice.” She cocked her head. “Lilith will do as Lilith wants, oftentimes with no thought or planning.”
He jerked as she once again seemed to read his thoughts. “Are you sure—”
Her smile was sad. “I’ve lived a long time and I can read emotions well. She’s incredibly smart and lovely. Which can be an interesting combination. I would like to ask a favor of you before you go above ground.”
He nodded. “I will try.”
Her lips narrowed. “As I considered the many paths your journey could take, I realized that all of them share one similar thread.”
“Yes?” he prompted when she stopped speaking, sensing that she grappled with her next words.
“You are a gentleman—it is why Ewan hasn’t ripped your throat out. Believe me, the meal this night could have gone much worse. It took many weeks of feminine wiles to convince my dear wolf not to kill you when you finally came to our door. He does not care for what is about to come, but I know that unless you listen to your heart and not your reason, you cannot succeed.”
Those words literally made no sense to him. Heart and reason were one and the same for him.
She shrugged. “I’m sure that you think it is the same, Giles, but it is not. I sense a great conflict will happen for you both during your quest. It is why Rumpel sent you to her. For there is a lesson in this for you both.”
“My prince?” He shook his head. That was not Rumpel’s way, to try and teach Giles a lesson. And what that lesson could possibly be, he hadn’t a clue. Rumpelstiltskin was a man of action, not of teaching.
“Oh yes.” She nodded. “Absolutely. Rumpel knew what pairing you two would entail, and he is absolutely right.”
Giles frowned because her words were making him more confused by the moment. “What are you saying? That my prince had an ulterior motive when he sent me on this quest, that it is not really about the chalice at all?”
“No.” She laughed, her blue eyes twinkling. “Suffice it to say the imp does very little out of the kindness of his heart. But he understands, as do I, that truly only the combination of the two of you could have any chance of success. There are many dangers, but the greatest of these is not working together. She is young and spirited. But she is your perfect match.”
Was there a double meaning behind that? Unsure of what she’d meant, Giles hastened to correct her. “As a companion, I know not. I simply follow my prince’s orders, but you should know that my job as royal butler to my liege would make my getting involved with any woman an impossibility at this point in time.”
She shrugged, twisting her lips up. “I only know what I sense to be true. Be willing to yield, knight, otherwise this quest will never succeed. You both need each other. I will wake you in the morning.”
With those words she gestured to the den door. He didn’t turn back as he walked back out into the darkness of night. The winds were very strong tonight, but not a problem for him in shadow form. Shifting, he lay down on a bed of moss and gazed at the stars, wondering just what the Heartsong could have sensed.
Chapter Three
Lilith awoke early the next morning and was just about to race topside when her mother caught her by the elbow.
She handed Lilith a basket full of meats and cheeses, fruits, nuts, and wines. “This should stay your hunger until you reach the border of our lands north of here. Stay the course, Lilith.”
“Yes, Mother.” She nodded, turning to go, when he mother grabbed her elbow again. Last night had been a restless one for her, she’d been tossing and turning, too full of nerves and anxious energy to get started.
“The hood.”
“Mother.” She cocked her hip. “I needn’t cover myself from him. The eunuch will not touch me.” Lilith hadn’t meant for the words to sound so petulant, but she was still smarting from his apparent lack of interest in her charms.
Grabbing her old red-hooded cloak, Violet tossed it around her shoulders and tied it up. “Not for him. These next two weeks you’ll be in a heat so profound that any wolves in the area will attempt to do with you as St. John did,” she glowered, and Lilith knew that St. John would have hell to pay for what he’d nearly done to her. “The cloak has been warded to lessen your call to them until the worst of it passes.”
She closed her eyes. What was the knight doing? This morning when she’d woken up it was to discover a hint of smoked cherries lingering in the den, and the scent of it had made her pulse quicken.
It was probably merely a result of the heat her body was in, the driving, itching, and obsessive desire she now had to find her true mate and nothing more, but it made her want to find the knight nonetheless.
She pecked her mother on the cheek. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
“Lilith Wolf,” Violet snapped, raising a finger. “I need you to promise that for once in your wild life you will be cautious. Please. I do not know what would happen to me or your father if anything were to ever—”
Heart softening, because her mother rarely allowed sentiment to show—it simply wasn’t the shifter way, though Violet hadn’t been born a shifter she’d adapted easily to the lifestyle—Lilith dropped her guard for just a moment and hugged her. “I love you too, Mother.”
Clenching her jaw, Violet chucked her daughter’s chin. “One last thing.”
Shoving her hand down the front of her shirt, Violet slipped the long silver chain off her neck, fingering the glowing lavender glass amulet before reluctantly handing it over to Lilith.
Stunned, Lilith glanced at the nondescript pendant in her hand. It was in the shape of a teardrop and full of what looked to be liquid mercury that glowed a soft shade of pinkish purple.
Growing up, it’d been an object of fascination amongst her and her brothers, always wanting to take hold of the charm and command the fairy wish inside to do their bidding. Mother had always scolded them, saying that the charm held just enough magic for one wish and that to waste it on anything so frivolous as a tree that fruited candies and cakes would be a crime.
“Mother?” She glanced at Violet’s face. “This is your greatest treasure.”
“No.” She lightly grazed Lilith’s cheek with her thumb. “My family is.”
A lump lodged itself in her throat, and she had to clear it twice before she trusted herself to spea
k. “Are you sure?”
Violet’s smile was soft and reassuring and it brought a pang of warmth to Lilith’s chest.
She’d memorized her mother’s face in infancy—from the freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose, to the rosebud lips, and the intelligent blue eyes. She’d thought her mother so pretty and wise and perfect. And looking at her now, the passage of time hadn’t changed a thing, had only caused her natural beauty to shine deeper and more maturely.
“Aye, my dear.” Violet patted her cheek almost tenderly.
She wiped a tear that spilled out of the corner of her mother’s eye with the palm of her hand.
“Well, then.” Violet waved her off, giving a sheepish grin. “Be on your way. Once outside of our glen, use your magic, darling. And I’m not speaking of the charm.” She held up a finger. “Your magic.”
“I know, Mother.” Lilith snorted. “What little magic I have.”
“Take care of your appearance. There will be many eyes watching you, so never give away your hand until you must. You and Giles both. Now off with you.”
She patted Lilith’s bottom as if to shoo her out. Lilith turned at the top of the stairs to wave one final goodbye, but her mother was already gone and there was no one else around. Not her father or even her brothers. She was alone.
She squelched the momentary flash of sadness. Because it wasn’t that they didn’t care; the fact that they did not come to see her off meant they believed Lilith would someday return to them. It was a sign of respect.
Nodding, she walked out into the early morning sunlight. Giles was already up and leaning upon a large, gnarled tree trunk. Dressed in clothing similar yet subtly different. Still wearing jeans and a form-fitting shirt that molded to the contours of his lean, yet muscular frame. But instead of it being black on black, he now wore more of a dove-gray color that popped against the obsidian of his skin.
Blood-red colored eyes jerked in her direction the second she stepped into sunlight. Standing at attention, she was aware of the subtle shift of his muscular chest and the way he stalked toward her like a graceful jungle predator.
