by Lucy Monroe
Feth shrugged. “I like Eadan all right. He listens better than Brian and Drost.”
“Don’t speak ill of your cousins,” Emily admonished.
“I’m not.” Feth frowned. “The truth is not speaking bad of someone is it, Da?”
Shona bit back a smile as she took her seat, glad she wasn’t the parent having to answer difficult questions right that moment. She was too sleep-deprived to be as politic as that sort of parenting required.
“When are we going home?” Eadan asked. “We need to go soon. The bad man has to be stopped, Da.”
“Home?” Shona asked, trying to make sense of the words her son had spoken.
“Our keep.” Eadan turned to Lachlan. “Yours is very nice, laird, but we need to go home.”
“The barony?” Shona asked, at a complete loss.
No doubt more to do with lack of sleep than her son not making sense. He was a very practical little boy.
“The barony is not our home, Mum. We are MacLeods.”
“You, your sister and your dam will come to MacLeod land once I have confronted the laird and defeated him,” Caelis answered, proving he was more cognizant than Shona about Eadan’s meaning.
“Nay, Da. We have to come with you now. We should leave today.” Eadan spoke with great earnestness.
And although she agreed their children needed to be kept safe, Shona also felt a nagging need to leave for MacLeod lands immediately.
“You canna come with me, son. ’Tis not safe,” Caelis said firmly.
Eadan’s features took on a stubborn cast Shona knew only too well.
“The dragon will protect us.”
“Dragon?” Shona asked faintly, quite certain there was yet more of the Chrechte world she did not know.
“He is mate to the celi di, Mum.”
“Eadan—” Caelis said warningly.
“The celi di must come, too. The conriocht in my dream said so.”
Caelis frowned at their son. “Eadan, have a care what you say.”
“No one who is not to hear will understand our words,” Eadan said with such certainty that Shona felt a chill of affirmation climb up her spine.
She looked around them and noted that none but the laird, his wife and their small group paid any heed to their conversation at all. Not even the laird’s second and his wife sitting at the same table.
How could this be?
“I’m doing it, I think,” Audrey said, looking frightened and awed at the same time. “I felt something strange and wonderful when I touched the Faolchú Chridhe, but I did not know what it meant.”
“How?” Shona asked.
“I’m not sure. There are stories about Chrechte gifts. Mother said they were myths, but now I’ve touched the sacred stone and I can feel it working in me.”
“But how did you do it?” She still didn’t understand.
“I was just sitting here wishing no one would hear Eadan’s slips of the tongue.”
“Why?” Shona asked.
Audrey shrugged, looking apologetic. “Mother ingrained in me the need for secrecy.”
“So, no one but those privy to the discussion can hear it?” she asked, just to confirm.
Audrey looked hesitant to answer, but Eadan said with all the authority a five-year-old boy who was certain of his facts could muster, “Right.”
“That is impossible.”
“So is reading minds,” Caelis said to her with a significant look.
“You said that was the mate bond.”
“What we experience goes beyond the mating bond.”
Unwilling to consider the implications of his words right then, Shona turned to her son.
“You saw a conriocht in your dreams?”
“Yes, Mum. He is from long ago, but said he would help me when I needed him.”
“There is an ancient celi di who guides me,” Ciara offered, the look she gave Eadan full of wonder. “I did not see her for the first time until last year.”
“There is much to be done before I am of age,” Eadan said as if quoting another and sounding much older than his five years.
“I…” Shona did not know if she wanted her son to be destined for such things, but then what choice had she?
She was mother, not Creator.
“You can all come to MacLeod lands once I have defeated Uven.” There was no give in Caelis’s tone.
“No,” Eadan said with authority no child should have in his tone. “We must go with you.”
“Why?”
“The conriocht said so.” Now, at least, Eadan sounded like a child.
“You will be safer here, among the Balmoral.”
“Nay. You must keep Mum with you or you will lose her.”
Caelis blanched. “You cannot know that.”
“You must protect Mum.”
“The Balmoral will not let any near her. Here on the island…” For the first time in memory, Caelis sounded uncertain. “You are all safer here.”
“Percival knows bad people.” It was a child’s way of putting things, but there was such certainty in Eadan’s voice that Shona could not doubt his pronouncement.
“Percival would not come this far north, surely,” Audrey opined with more hope than conviction.
Suddenly Eadan shrugged, looking exactly like the small boy he was. “We must go to the MacLeod holding together. Mum will be safe in the sacred caves.”
“Besides, Shona must be with Caelis when he confronts Uven, or more will die because they will doubt their fellow Chrechte’s claims.” Ciara sounded no less certain than Eadan.
Shona felt the pressure of need pushing against her as well. “They are both right. I do not understand it, but I am sure the children and I must be with you to confront Uven.”
“The Chrechte will be convinced by my conriocht that I am chosen as their leader.”
“Nay,” the Balmoral argued. “Some will assume you should submit the conriocht power to Uven. You must show the pack that Uven has disregarded sacred law.”
Caelis did not look convinced, but he turned to Eadan, giving him a penetrating look. “Son?”
“Yes, da?”
“You are certain of this?”
“I think so.” Eadan’s confidence gave way to a child’s uncertainty. “I only know my dreams.”
“Your dreams are a gift we will never dismiss,” Caelis promised.
Shona nodded her agreement. “We will all go.”
Then she looked at Ciara and her husband, realizing she had no right to speak for them.
But the dragon—Really, a dragon? Her mind could not grasp it—agreed with a slight inclination of his head. “We will go and I will protect you and your family while your father fights to save the MacLeod clan from the wickedness of the Fearghall.”
“Thank you,” Eadan said formally.
Prince Eirik smiled and reached out to clasp Eadan’s forearm in the way of warriors. “You will be a fine protector for our people one day.”
“Yes. All Chrechte must be one.” Once again, Eadan sounded more like a prophet than a child.
Shona’s heart twinged, but there was naught she could do about the life he was destined to lead except support and love him whatever it required of him.
“Men like Uven must be stopped. He has already done untold damage. Perhaps if I had gone before this, lives could have been saved.” Ciara sighed, guilt in her posture. “The celi di has been telling me I need to return to the sacred caves, but I have resisted going.”
“You cannot blame yourself for the actions of evil men,” Shona assured Ciara.
The other woman shot her a grateful glance.
“Why have you hesitated to return?” her mate asked.
“You have unhappy memories of that place.”
The Éan prince pulled his mate close and kissed her softly before releasing her. “I have no regrets from that day.”
“You hate casting fire to kill.”
“It is less bloody than my sword.” The
words were facetious, but Shona heard the weight that sat heavily on the dragon’s soul.
A man might kill in battle, but to have the ability to rain destruction from the sky must be a terrible burden to bear.
They smiled at each other and Shona could not help wondering at the story behind that look. But right now, she had more pressing matters to attend to.
They were returning to the MacLeod holding and her children would be with her.
* * *
Shona survived her first sighting of a dragon, but was not at all sure she would live through riding one.
She looked up, and up, and up at the great flying beast Ciara’s mate had shifted into under the moonlight. “Why must I and the children ride the dragon? Why can we not bring our mounts?”
Caelis cupped his warm hand round her nape, his focus entirely on her. “This way is safer for you and the children.”
“It is safer, to fly above the earth where no person was meant to go than to ride our horses?” she scoffed.
He smiled indulgently and her heart caught. “The Éan take to the sky all the time.”
“That is different.”
“There is an urgency about this; we must move quickly. You yourself said you felt it.”
“I did. I do.” Though she did not begin to understand it. “But that does not mean I want to fly on a dragon’s back.”
“It is quite safe, not to mention enjoyable,” Ciara chimed in. “My mate is a very adept mount.”
Shona nearly choked on the laughter welling up at Ciara’s unintended innuendo. The celi di seemed to realize at that same moment how her words could be taken and laughter trilled from her, breaking some of the tension closing in around their group.
She shook her finger at Shona. “You are a very naughty woman.”
“I said nothing,” Shona defended, but it felt good to smile.
The dragon snorted and Caelis shook his head, but his expression was warmed with something Shona could only name love. If she were going to name it.
Not yet ready to do so, she remained silent.
But the fact that the man had been willing to give up his destiny to keep her happy? That one telling gesture overcame doubts and certainties she’d thought ingrained for life on her heart.
“Mum, come on. We have to go.” Eadan looked up at her with the typical impatience of a small boy.
And she was grateful for it.
“It’s all right for you. You want to ride the dragon,” she said with a mock frown.
Part of her envied both children their sanguinity about this adventure. Marjory was already seated on the dragon’s back and ignoring her continued protests; Eadan was scrambling up now that he’d admonished his mother to hurry.
There was nothing for it. She had to go up on the mythical beast’s back, to watch over her children, if nothing else. Once she was in place, she checked to make sure the children were securely harnessed to the leather saddlelike contraption on Eirik’s back.
Ciara took bundles from her mother and tied them to loops apparently for that very purpose. “I love you,” she said to the Sinclair lady.
Both laird and lady repeated the words and then waved them off.
Shona looked down at Caelis as Eirik’s dragon’s body tensed in preparation of jumping into the air. “I love you, mate. Have a care on your journey.”
“I love you,” Caelis said for the first time in six years. “Watch over our children and enjoy your adventure!”
Eirik jumped into the air and Shona’s reply was lost on the wind, but even she was not sure exactly what her words had been.
Caelis had said he loved her and she thought she might well believe him.
Taking to the sky was like nothing she’d ever experienced, shocking and frightening and exhilarating all at once. A scant quarter of an hour into the ride and she was very glad indeed that Caelis had insisted she and the children wrap up in furs.
Eirik flew with dizzying speed, causing a steady stream of cold wind to wash over his passengers.
Ciara appeared to love the flight, petting and talking to her dragon mate constantly as they flew.
Whenever she went silent, Shona was sure the other woman was using the mate bond to communicate with the Éan prince.
As the moon began to wane in the night sky, they landed in a valley Shona vaguely remembered from her childhood.
The clan had been discouraged from visiting the place though it was situated between a clear stream and hills, which blocked the high winds that often plagued the Highlands, even this far south. An idyllic location, but one she now realized Uven and the lairds before him had kept apurpose for the express use of the Chrechte.
Ciara dismounted first and then put her hands up for first Marjory and then Eadan. Shona waited until both her children were safe on the ground before she slid off the dragon’s back.
Once she had dismounted, Shona turned away from the dragon to give Eirik privacy to shift back to a man. Her attention was immediately snagged by Ciara as the other woman pulled a dagger forth and pressed the stone from the handle into an impression on the rock wall.
While moonlight gave some illumination to the area, it was not bright enough to see the rock face in any detail. The sound of stone sliding against stone came and then the side of the hill opened to reveal the dark entrance to a cave.
Shona could not have stifled her gasp of surprise had she wanted to. The children made to rush forth in excited wonder, but she held their hands tightly.
“We follow Ciara,” she admonished them.
Eadan frowned, but nodded. Marjory just yawned. The poor tyke had gotten no sleep this night and even the excitement would not keep her from somnolence much longer.
Ciara lifted a torch and fire whooshed past Shona to light it.
She jumped back and looked over her shoulder to see that Eirik had not yet shifted.
“He won’t return to his warrior form until we are safely inside the cave,” Ciara said to Shona.
That made perfect sense, but the fire trick had still been quite startling and so she said.
Ciara laughed and Shona got the feeling Eirik was amused as well.
“He finds it charming you referred to his gift as a trick. Others have been far more impressed,” Ciara explained.
Shona smiled around a yawn. “Well, of course I am impressed. The man shifts into a mythical beast and breathes fire, after all, but in truth, my capacity for shock and awe is diminished of late.”
Ciara nodded, looking very serious all of the sudden. “Yes, I imagine it has.”
Ciara led them into the cave and down a long, narrow passageway, which opened into an underground cavern. The celi di immediately began lighting wall torches she must have known were there. But then, she’d been here before, hadn’t she?
As each new torch was lit, it revealed more of the cavern in which they stood. The space was huge, bigger than any great hall Shona had ever been in, including that of the Balmoral’s keep. Stone benches and seats were interspersed along the walls and a dais of marble graced the center of the room.
Other dark openings indicated passageways that led away from what had to have been a room of meeting sometime in the past.
Shona did not know if it was her imagination, or if the great cavern felt both welcoming and like it had waited for them. She only knew she felt safe here, with a sense of peace she’d never before experienced.
The tranquillity of the cave had affected her children as well. Both Eadan and Marjory looked ready to fall asleep on their feet.
Shona asked Ciara, “Is there a chamber I should prepare the furs for their sleep?”
“That way.” Ciara pointed to her left. “There are several smaller chambers I’m positive were once used as sleeping rooms for the celi di who lived here.”
“Did only celi di live here?” Shona wondered.
“I have always assumed so, though my mentor did not say that specifically.”
“Hmm…” It was something to
contemplate.
Later. Right now, she needed to get her children to a place of resting.
Shona found a likely room with what appeared to be a raised stone bed jutting out from the wall. A shallow basin, which had been carved out of the top, would make a good place to pile heather for comfort’s sake. Shona had no heather, but she did have the furs. She laid that which had been wrapped around the children down and then helped Marjory and Eadan to get situated on top before covering them with her and Caelis’s mating fur.
Despite the excitement of being in a strange and wondrous place, both her children were asleep before she’d reached the doorway of the chamber.
She retraced her steps to find Eirik and Ciara in the main chamber, now lit with numerous torches. He was still in his dragon form.
Shona looked questioningly at Ciara.
“I will sleep better if he remains dragon tonight.”
“Oh.”
“The others will most likely not arrive until after sunrise. You would be best served by getting some rest yourself,” Ciara added with a smile.
Shona yawned again and thought the celi di had a very good idea. She returned to the chamber with her children and snuggled into the furs with them, that strange sense of peace making it easy to drop off to sleep.
Shona woke sometime later as she was lifted into strong arms.
“Mmm…hmm…” she mumbled against the thick column of Caelis’s neck.
“Shhh, mo toilichte. I am just taking you to our bed.”
She didn’t ask him what he meant, but let him carry her a short distance to another pile of furs he’d arranged on the floor. He settled her into them before curling his big body around hers, providing both warmth and protection.
Shona did not wake fully again, but was aware when Caelis’s warmth disappeared some hours later and then Marjory was placed into Shona’s arms and another fur settled over both of them for added warmth.
Chapter 24
We cannot burn all our enemies to a crisp, no matter how great the desire or provocation.
—EIRIK, PRINCE OF THE ÉAN
While Eirik and his mate explored the sacred caves, Caelis and Vegar planned their challenge. The other four MacLeod soldiers had come with them as well as Thomas.
