by Julia Mills
“Nothing,” they answered in unison, and he knew they were both lying, but with all he had to think about he let it go.
Rian was the first to break the silence, “So what’s up with the meeting? I was talking with Carrick when Rayne called.”
“Carrick? What were you talking to him about?” Royce asked, not hiding his concern.
“Can’t one Head Elder just talk to another? After all, he has been at this since before we were born and he was one of father’s closet friends,” Rian replied. Royce could tell there was more to it.
Before he could probe any farther, Rory spoke up, “I see your little witch is in good company today.” He nodded towards the entrance to the Grande Hall and there was Max holding the door for a smiling Kyra.
Royce immediately saw red, or maybe it was green, and his dragon pushed for the man to stake his claim and run the mangy cat away from their mate. After several deep breaths, he was able to speak, “She is free to speak to whomever she likes.”
“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Bro,” Rory chuckled and smacked him on the back just as they reached a group of his brethren waiting to enter the hall.
Lance was the first to speak, “Hey, Gramps. How’s it going? You coming to training after the meeting?”
“I am,” was all he said as the lingering scent of patchouli and rose petals assaulted his senses.
“We have a few that are ready for their Swordsman test, thank the Heavens you’ll be there to administer it,” Devon added, smiling like all had been forgiven. Royce knew he had put him in a terrible position when he asked him to look after Kyra and he would be forever grateful for all his brother had done.
“Oh, yeah? Do we have anyone good?” he asked, trying to think of anything but Kyra, just a few feet away and still ignoring his very existence.
It was Aaron that answered, “There are a few. The others just need more practice. They could really benefit from your sparring.”
“Then they shall have it, and I’ll bring this useless lug with me,” he pointed towards Rory. “He’s been known to be handy with a blade, after all, he had the best teacher around.”
Royce smiled, just about to give himself credit, but Rian was quicker, “Damn sure did…ME!”
The group erupted into laughter and then Rayne appeared with Kyndel on his arm. “Would you all care to join us inside?”
“Sure,” they all answered and followed the Commander.
As soon as Royce spotted Kyra at the front of the room his heart skipped a beat. He was once again amazed at how absolutely gorgeous she was and for the first time noticed the beauty of the aura that surrounded her. It was a spectacular mix of red and orange that reminded him of the sunrise they had shared all those days ago and indicated the depth of her strength, passion, and courage. The longer he admired her, the brighter the white light mixed with the red and orange became, telling him that his mate was in perfect balance with everything within and around her. It was just as his mother had said; she was everything he could have ever hoped for.
His mind reeled with thoughts of how to make her at least talk to him when Max appeared at her side. Royce took a step forward before he was able to get his emotions under control. Of course, it didn’t go unnoticed by his brethren. Devon moved to his side and spoke under his breath, “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” he answered, not sure who he was trying to convince.
Thankfully, Rayne appeared at the front of the room and called the meeting to order before anyone else could speak. After explaining all they knew so far, Max spoke and Royce had to continually remind himself to listen and not think of all the ways to skin a cat. When the King yielded the floor to Kyra, Royce held his breath. It had been over a week since he had heard her voice above a mumble from across the room, and he realized in that moment how much he had missed it.
Her voice shook with nerves and her fingers fiddled with the strands of her hair that had fallen over her shoulder. His heart and dragon begged him to do whatever possible to ease her stress. Doing the only thing he could think of, he focused all his energy on Kyra and pushed reassurance, confidence, and the tiniest bit of love through the bond he had only found existed a few days ago. It was weak and fading due to his negligence, but it was the only tie he had to her and the only way he knew to help.
He watched as her shoulders lifted and she stood a little taller. Her voice became clearer and the shakiness disappeared. He could see her searching the crowd for who had helped her. It saddened him that because of his own prejudice and ignorance, she didn’t recognize her own mate’s energy, but he had no one to blame but himself. He gave no indication it was him and soon she was so engrossed in her presentation that she gave up the hunt. As she spoke, he was filled with pride at how intelligent and intuitive she was, but his pride damn near overflowed during the question and answer session. A younger Guardsman, Jase, asked, “How can you be certain he will perform his ritual on the mountain by Black Lake?”
“I am sure because I lived on that mountain and I know the power it holds, as well as the power of the Black Lake. When the conditions are optimal, as they will be in five short days, the combination of those two places will quite literally glow with power. Now, as I stated, I have no idea what he has planned, but I know he will have to harvest a ton of power to even attempt to take out you behemoths.” The room roared with laughter and appreciation at her assessment of the Dragon Guard.
When they settled down, she began again, “I also know he’ll want everyone working for him holding as much power as possible, so they will all be in attendance. It’s my belief that we will be able to stop him and capture him before he can gain the power he seeks, let alone work whatever spell he believes will harm all of you.”
The men all clapped at her words and Kyra beamed. He had thought she was beautiful before, but the woman standing before him now was simply magnificent. His need to be near her overrode his common sense and he started towards her. Devon’s hand on his shoulder stopped him and he spun around to tell his brethren to ‘Fuck off’ but Devon’s words halted his rage, “You can’t go to her here, not now, not in front of everyone. Save it for later.”
He sighed and nodded, knowing what his friend was saying was true. Not that it stopped the ache in his heart and soul to go to her, only her forgiveness would soothe that.
The questions continued until Rayne stepped to the front and called their meeting to an end. Royce followed the others towards the door but not before one long last look at Kyra. She was caught up in packing her supplies and unaware of his attention, but he still took in all that he could before he left the building and headed to the training pit. The others’ chatter was a buzzing in the background as he thought about his situation and looked for any glimmer of hope or for a way that he could make amends. Luckily, they reached the training area before he had to admit that he had once again come up empty-handed.
He, Rory, and Devon watched all the young Guardsmen for the better part of an hour before pairing off with ones that needed the most help. Their sparring went on until the first glimpses of dusk touched the sky. Tired and in desperate need of a shower, Royce and his brothers headed for home. They had steaks marinating and cold beer in the fridge, and for the first evening since he had gotten home, Royce was going to relax. The Heavens knew that all the problems of the last few days would still be there in the fresh light of a new day. Who knew, maybe a little reprieve was just what he needed to find a solution.
Their steaks had been amazing and they had laughed until the wee hours of the morning. The fresh new light of day shone through the window, and aside from the headache that only came from the three O’Reilly brothers, two fifths of Bushmills, and a case of Budweiser combined, Royce was no closer to an answer than when he had fallen into bed still clothed. He should have been happy that he hadn’t had another erotic dream starring Kyra, but in all honesty, he missed it and he knew that made him more pathetic than he was willing to admit.
S
tanding in the shower and praying for aspirin, he heard his brothers in the kitchen and prayed they were making coffee. Once the water was off, he listened to their conversation.
“Do you think Kyra will come around and forgive Roy?” Rory asked.
“Yeah, she’ll come around. No one, even a witch as powerful as her, can resist the pull of the mating call, and I guarantee you the mating call is working on both of them,” Rian answered and Royce could tell he was smiling.
“I know, but she is still really pissed,” Rory said. Royce could hear the uncertainty in his younger brother’s voice that mirrored his own.
“She is and she has every right to be, but did you see her sneaking looks at Roy when he wasn’t looking yesterday?” Royce immediately felt lighter than he had two seconds before. Could Rian be right, was she looking at him with something other than a scowl?
“I saw, and I also know he was trying to help her when she was all nervous and fidgety. Do you think she knew it was him?” Royce could tell Rory was smiling now too, and that made him feel better about the mess he had created.
“Nah, she had no clue. For all she does know about our kin, thankfully, there are a few things she is still clueless about.” They both laughed.
“I think we need to help this situation along, Ri. I’m tired of waiting and damn tired of watching both of them mope around.” Rory sounded determined and Royce wondered if it was time to walk out there and shut the gossip session down.
But Rian’s response stopped him dead in his tracks, “Already taken care of little Bro, already taken care of.”
~~~~~~~
Watching butterflies flit around the garden out the window over the sink while waiting for the coffee to brew was the most restful thing she had done in the last twelve hours. After the meeting with all the Dragon Guard, she had been in a planning session with Max and Rayne until just before sundown. By the time she had gotten home all she had wanted was a huge glass of wine and a hot bath. Over an hour later, well pruned and buzzed, she had fallen into a dreamless sleep. When her alarm had gone off at eight a.m. she’d hit the snooze until it had finally shut off on its own.
She wondered what it would feel like to have nothing more pressing for an entire day than to float on the breeze, land on flower petals, and enjoy the sun on her wings. Butterflies might have the most perfect life ever; or maybe it was cats. Either way, they damn sure had it better than she did. It was becoming harder and harder to stay mad at Royce. She was still hurt and still cringed every time she thought about what had happened, but then she would catch him looking at her and it all kind of faded to the back. Every time their eyes met she could feel how much he wanted to talk to her, see in his eyes that he was sorry, but then he would take a step towards her and she would find an excuse to leave. No matter how pitiful he looked, she was not ready to listen…not yet.
So instead she tried to stay busy every waking minute, even if it meant wondering what it would be like to be anything but what she was or to be anywhere but where she was. The last few drops of coffee dripped into the pot and she grabbed her favorite mug to pour her first cup of the nectar of the Goddess.
Heading to the dining room, she almost spilt her coffee when the ringing of the doorbell startled her. She grumbled to herself as she grabbed the knob. When she saw who had seen fit to make an appearance, her first thought was to slam and lock the door and run and hide under the bed, but she knew it would only prolong the inevitable. Instead, she smiled her sweetest ‘eat-shit’ smile and used the nicest tone of voice she could muster, “Hi, Mom. How’s it going? Long time no see.”
Calysta swept past Kyra and sat primly on the very edge of the couch. It had been a long time since she had laid eyes on her mother but not much had changed. She was still tall, thin, and elegant. Her hair might have had a few more silver strands, but for the most part it was still a perfect strawberry blonde and hung past her butt in cascading waves. Her aquamarine eyes shone bright and moved across the room, taking in everything and disapproving of it all with a slight downturn of her mouth and a crinkle across the bridge of her nose. Some things never change, Kyra thought as she sat in the chair directly across from her mother.
“So what brings you to my door?” Kyra asked.
In the tone that had always made Kyra want to run screaming from the room, Calysta responded, “Well, darling, if Mohammed will not come to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed.”
“So I’m Mohammed in your scenario?”
“Would you not say I have been patient? Twenty-five years seems sufficient enough for you to sow your wild oats or whatever it is you took off to do.” Condescension dripped off the Grand Priestess’ every word.
Kyra counted to ten in her mind and took a few deep breaths before speaking, and even then she knew she sounded pissed, “Sowing my wild oats? That’s why you think I left. At fifty years old, you thought I needed to drink and have sex with strangers to make my life complete?”
“Do not be crude, Kyra. I simply mean that you needed to be free from what you saw as an oppressive situation.” Calysta sniffed and Kyra wanted to laugh, but instead waited for her mother to continue. “For the first few years I expected you to show back up, but as time went on I realized you felt the need to punish me.”
Kyra really wanted to laugh at the theatrics but it was almost too pitiful to be funny. She did, however, look around to see if maybe some of her aunties were peeking in the windows or had snuck in when she wasn’t looking, a performance like she was witnessing was usually not wasted on just one person. But she saw no one and her mother was apparently waiting for her response.
“Mother we had this conversation the day before I left. I did not leave for any other reason than to live my life the way I saw fit. If you could have seen reason I would have stayed, but as always, things had to be your way.”
“I blame this on your human side. If your father had been a wizard none of this would have happened.”
Kyra had heard enough, and if her years on her own had taught her one thing, it was that she did not have to listen to anything she didn’t want to hear. She calmly stood, walked across to her mother and spoke in the calmest voice she could muster, “Mother, my human side is all that has stopped me from smacking you across the face more times than I’d like to admit.” Calysta gasped and feigned fear.
“And that human side you like to criticize is the only reason I was chosen by the Universe to have a dragon shifter as a mate, or did that little fact slip your mind?” She paused to see if her mother would at least try to deny what Kyra was saying, but true to form, Calysta just sat looking regal.
“No, I’m sure it didn’t since that was all that really mattered. Admit it Mother, you had always suspected that I would be the one. I would even go so far as to say that the chance at having a dragon shifter as a son-in-law was the only reason you were ever with my father. Goddess knows you couldn’t have what you wanted without a little human in the mix.”
Finally Calysta started to speak but Kyra was too angry and still had things she needed to say. “Don’t Mother, just don’t. I’m talking and for once you’re going to listen. You came to my home uninvited, and did not even have the decency to ask me how I was. Twenty-five years, Mother…twenty-five years and not even a fucking hug or ‘how are you’ or a ‘you look well’? Just some shit about bringing the mountain to Mohammed?” Kyra knew she was screaming and could not have cared less.
“It was always about that damn Prophecy. It was never about me.” She paused in an effort to control her temper, but nothing short of throwing her mother out on her ear was going to help.
“Tell me, Mother, why are you here? Really. Not some bullshit reason you think I’ll buy but the Goddess honest truth. You know I never found the Prophecy. You also have always known where I was or at least the general vicinity, you are after all Calysta St Croix. So what is it Mother, what do you want after all these years?”
“I only wanted to see if you were alright. N
o matter what you think of me, Kyra, I am your mother and I do worry about you. I admit I kept tabs on you but I gave you your space. I let you do whatever it was that you thought you needed to do, but now I think it is time that we come together as a family again.”
Kyra knew she was lying, knew it like she knew the back of her own hand, and she knew that she should keep her close just to keep an eye on her, but in that moment it was either make her mother leave or run the risk of snatching every last strand of hair from her head. So she did the only thing she could think of, she marched over to the door, threw it open, looked her mother right in the eyes and said the words she had longed to say for more years than she could remember, “Leave Mother, just go. I do not want to see you or talk to you and as for coming together as a family…I have a new family so there is really no reason for us to see one another again,”
“Now, Kyra, you listen to me,” Calysta’s voice rose with every syllable, but Kyra was not moved.
“No, Mother, you listen to me…get out.” The last two words were whispered with all the venom Kyra could stir up.
Calysta stood in front of Kyra for just a second before storming out and getting into the backseat of her Mercedes, complete with driver. Kyra slammed the door but not before she caught sight of Royce standing at the end of her walk with a bunch of flowers in his hand. Great! Just fucking great! she thought as the slam of the door shook the frame. And if all of that wasn’t enough, she still had not had her coffee.
~~~~~~~
After a serious internal debate, Royce had decided that confronting his brothers about their conversation, especially Rian’s ominous comment, would only lead to a discussion he was neither ready for nor wanted to have. He appeared in the kitchen like nothing was wrong, had breakfast with his brothers, and finally escaped by telling them he needed to talk to the other men...which wasn’t a complete lie.
