Nothing but his job and the fact that he didn’t want a mate. No more adventure once bonded.
He needed to stop thinking about her. Which was rather hard to do while touching her.
But if he didn’t touch her then she would panic again and he couldn’t allow that to happen. He needed to touch her.
Concentrate, Thoren, concentrate. Think about pain, yes, pain and how mad Alviss will be if you don’t find that Halfling boy.
Maybe Keara could help him with his mission. Thinking about his job might distract him enough to forget about how much he enjoyed the feel of her skin against his.
“Perhaps you can help us.”
“I can try.” A half-smile.
“We’re looking for a boy who looks like you, red hair and green eyes. He wouldn’t have a father and he probably has some unusual abilities. And he’d have a matching mark to yours on his forearm.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m the only one that has red hair and green eyes. Plenty of boys don’t have fathers. Roam the streets and you’ll find a few.”
“Are you sure?” Enar asked.
“Yes. No one with red hair but me. It’s forbidden.”
“To have red hair?” What kind of craziness was that?
“If it’s not brown or black then it’s evil. Isn’t it that way where you are from?”
Thoren hissed, his lip pulling back in a snarl as he realized what life must have been like for her. Tamping down the dragon that wanted to roar in protection, he forced his lip into some semblance of normal. She tried to pull away, her face a mask of terror.
He cursed. He hadn’t meant to scare her.
Why did his dragon react ferociously to her? The beast clamored to be released, to destroy the town, to protect Keara.
What was with him today? Pull it together, Thoren. Calm thoughts, calm thoughts. The dragon returned to its rest and Thoren took a deep breath.
“I apologize for scaring you.” Her face froze, her body poised for a strike. His heart twisted. “You shouldn’t have been treated that way. Where we’re from,” he gestured between him and Enar, “females like you are cherished. As a Halfling your magic sometimes runs stronger than full-breeds.”
Something he said caused her to shiver with apparent fear. She shook her head hard enough to bounce her braid, her eyes wide, freckles popping out in a pale face.
“Magic is evil. I have no magic.”
Thoren kept up the finger-stroking-over-her-mark routine until she relaxed. How could anyone say she was evil? What kind of superstitious backward people lived in this village? No other village he visited believed those kinds of things.
“Magic is not evil, Little One. Magic is in all things, but not everyone can control it. Only those with special abilities can wield magic.”
She blinked and pressed her lips together. A deep breath in. “So I’m not evil?” she whispered.
Something twisted in his chest at her words and the dragon tried to raise its head. Not again. He took a deep breath.
“Of course you’re not evil. You belong to my race. We’re Draconi. We work magic.” Plus many other things, but he needed to explain slowly. By the time he returned her to Draconia, she would know about her race and her abilities. “Haven’t you ever done something you couldn’t explain and yet it was a part of you?”
Keara sucked in her lip, her shoulders rising and falling. “Maybe.”
“The middle of the street is not the place to discuss this. My spell to move the people out of our way will break any minute. Why don’t you show us to your store?” The last thing he needed was a bunch of superstitious folk blocking their path.
With the odd way his beast acted today the thing might come out for a destroy-everyone visit. The first thing he learned about reconnaissance missions was to never show the dragon, never use it in a fight.
Today, for the first time ever, that had been a challenge.
“My store is this way.”
She took a turn at the next alley, leading them along the backside of town. The alley scenery showed no improvement over the streets, but avoiding unidentified brown globs leashed his inner dragon. How a town could be so filthy confounded him. He stepped over rubbish and sewage and tried not to take deep breaths as he followed Keara.
A couple of turns, three alleys and numerous brown globs later they came to a wooden gate set in a tall fence. Keara pushed the gate open and a whiff of clean air infused with the scent of herbs drifted through the opening.
Ah, relief.
“My store is on the other side.” Disappearing through the opening, she let out a cry. “Jamie!”
Thoren shoved at the gate, slamming it against the fence. What if someone else had grabbed her? Instead, he saw Keara holding the same boy who had tried to defend her in the town square. Scrawny arms tightened about her waist as his head popped around her arm. Steel gray eyes narrowed at Thoren and Enar. He took a step away from Keara, standing in front of her, hands on his hips.
“Don’t you hurt her.”
Tough little guy. One had to admire a lad that stood up to two grown males.
“Jamie! What has gotten into you? He’s our master now.” Keara pushed Jamie behind her. “I’m sorry. He’s not normally like that.”
“He’s brave. Who is he?”
“This is Jamie. I found him, took him to the town square and claimed him as mine and since no one refuted the claim, he’s now my apprentice.” She took a deep breath, looked at the sky and then met his gaze. “He’s part of my bride price.”
Thoren didn’t need a translation to know she wanted the boy to come with them. The Council might not like it, but keeping Jamie would make Keara happy and that was all that mattered.
By the Goddess, he was turning into a lovesick fool.
“He can stay with you.”
****
Keara smiled and draped an arm around Jamie. Thank the Goddess Thoren was clueless about bride prices or else he would never have agreed to Jamie coming. Everyone knew a bride price didn’t include apprentices, only coins and goods.
Despite their size, these men seemed harmless enough. Or harmless toward her. But what did Thoren mean about magic? Was he suggesting he worked magic and she could too? Was he evil? Her grandmother would have insisted on it, but Keara knew better. Thoren could have worked some sort of evil spell after he rescued her and nothing had happened.
Instead, his touch brought feelings of peace and relaxation. He wouldn’t harm her. Hopefully. No use in dwelling on if he would or would not. Her lot was cast. She belonged to him now.
“Is that one part of your bride price, too?” Enar pointed to the back door.
Keara whirled around, surprised to see Lily standing against the shop’s door, frozen in place. In her rush to see to Jamie, she hadn’t even noticed her friend. Mouth agape, Lily stared at Enar, her face flushed.
“What?” Keara whipped her head around to glare at Enar, who paid her no heed as he stared at Lily like a thirsty man would a glass of cool water. “No, she’s my friend, Lily.”
“I see.” He proceeded to turn to Thoren, mumbling something under his breath that sounded to Keara like “claim her.” While they whispered, Keara inched her way toward Lily, who remained frozen at the door.
“What are they like?” Lily asked, staring at the men.
Keara kept her hand on Jamie’s shoulder, in case he tried to get into a fight with men three times his size. Twice in a day, her normally quiet and shy apprentice tried to defend her. Who knew such protectiveness resided inside the boy?
“Clueless about bride prices. But otherwise, nice enough. At least he doesn’t mind my mark. He saw it, but he doesn’t fear me.”
“Finally, a smart one.” Lily smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “What will happen to me once you’re gone? I’m assuming you’re leaving?”
“They said they’re taking me away, but I’m not sure when.”
“I’m scared, Keara. All my family is dead. You�
��re all I have left. You’ve seen how bare the store’s shelves are. These crazy townsfolk will probably lynch me once you’re gone.” Lily gulped, trembling slightly. Her blue eyes met Keara’s gaze. “I’d rather go with you. If you think they won’t kill me.”
“I—”
“Woman of the exquisite coloring.” Both Keara and Lily jumped, as Enar’s voice boomed across the yard. Lily’s eyes widened as she took a step back. Keara turned to face Enar, who strode across the yard in five steps.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Lily fumbling with the doorknob, apparently deciding facing a lynch mob would be safer than facing Enar. He grabbed her arm before she could open the door. Lily squeaked, craning her neck to meet his eyes.
Holding her gaze, Enar pulled a string of round beads from a pouch hanging from his belt. “Lily of the exquisite coloring, I claim you for my woman.” With a quick flick of his wrist, the beads fell around her neck, snapping in place. Lily’s eyes widened. Keara grabbed Enar’s arm, trying unsuccessfully to pull him away from her friend.
“Leave her alone!” Keara screeched.
“What? You do what with me?” Lily gasped.
“Claim you. Same as Keara did with the lad.”
“But...but you can’t do that anyplace but the town square,” Lily insisted.
“No, I just did it. With this necklace. You belong to me. It cannot be removed. It cannot be broken until I die. And I don’t plan to do that anytime soon. Therefore, you are mine. But do not fear. I won’t be a hard master to please. I will even allow you to bring some of your things with you.” His mouth curved into a grin.
“Ouch. What—” Lily scratched at her neck before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted into Enar’s arms.
“What did you do to her?” Keara shrieked, reaching for her friend.
Enar picked Lily up, cradling her close to him. “I didn’t hurt her. The necklace merely caused her to fall asleep. It does that when a woman first puts it on. Don’t worry. She will wake shortly.”
Keara whirled on Thoren, who had moved closer to them. “He can’t do that. Just take her like that without proper ceremony. It’s not done!”
White lines formed around Thoren’s mouth as he raked a hand through his hair. “He’s a Watcher, not a Draconi. This is their ceremony for claiming women. Nothing can be done, once he has his mind made up. Trust me, I tried.”
He obviously didn’t try hard enough because her poor friend was draped over a giant’s arm like a sack of flour. Her eyes narrowed on Enar. He had another thing coming if he thought he could claim her friend. She felt steam gather in the back of her throat, leaking in wisps out her ears. Before she could take a step toward Enar, Thoren put his hand next to her ear.
Just like that, the steam vanished. Probably because she could no longer draw in air. He knew. He felt the steam and knew her difference. Despite all his talk about how she belonged to his race, how magic flowed in her veins, her confidence he meant her no harm withered like a twig cut off from a branch.
Would he insist on a lynching? Even her grandmother had threatened the rope when she saw the steam.
But Thoren only stood there, his face curious as to what ailed her. No fear, no hate, only concern crossed his features.
Maybe as an evil being, he didn’t care about physical flaws such as ears releasing steam.
Thoren touched her cheek with his fingertips. “Is something wrong, Little One?”
Yes, where do I start? “No. I mean, yes. He has my friend.”
“She’ll come with us. How’s that?”
His hand circled her wrist, his thumb tracing the dark lines on her forearm. One moment fear coursed through her veins, drying her mouth, stilling her lungs, and the next she felt relaxed and happy, like she had smoked some of the herbs her grandmother kept hidden.
What was happening to her? Normally even-tempered, today her mood swings mirrored those of a middle-aged woman.
“All right.” Shouldn’t she be fighting for Lily? Doing something besides wearing a goofy grin?
Probably, but for the life of her, she didn’t care. Nothing mattered except Thoren and his touch. Everything would be fine. Nothing would harm her.
“Why don’t you and Jamie pack your things? I need to talk to Enar.”
Sounded like a great idea. He didn’t fear her, he wouldn’t harm her, which was a lot better than what she’d get staying in River’s Run. And he made her feel peaceful, although she had a sneaking suspicion his touch worked some sort of a spell.
She, Jamie and Lily were on their way to what she hoped was a better life. It couldn’t be any worse than what they experienced here.
“Come on Jamie. Let’s pack.”
Chapter 3
Thoren sat at Keara’s table, watching Enar rock Lily. What a contradiction, a hard-as-stone Watcher gently holding a petite woman. Just as he wanted to do with Keara. He gave himself a mental smack. What was wrong with him today? Since when did he want to hold and act a lovesick fool toward a female?
Mate.
Oh, no. It couldn’t be. Forget that thought. Think of something else. Like why did Enar decide now was a good time to claim a woman. Or how they were going to get everyone home on two horses. Any thought but why he had such strong feelings for Keara.
Those weren’t really feelings. Not of the bonding she’s-my-mate kind. No, he only cared since she was a Draconi female, and females should be protected. Since she obviously wasn’t protected, his dragon half demanded he do so. That was all. No mate business for him.
Now that he had his feelings settled, he could move on to the other matter: Lily. Why did Enar pick this mission to choose a claim? Why couldn’t he pick a mission where they didn’t have to put five people and their belongings on two horses?
Which led to the next question he always wondered about and never got a straight answer: Why did Watchers claim women? Didn’t they have their own stock to choose from? Whatever the answer, Enar refused to say and Thoren had never seen one of their women. Which led to a completely different question: what did they do with all those Claims?
A toughened race of warriors sworn to protect the Draconi, Watchers made him wary. All but Enar. His best friend was the only one Thoren had met who seemed normal. Until he claimed Lily, that is.
Although in fairness to Enar, claiming women seemed to be the norm for Watchers. And his friend seemed to care for the woman, if cradling her like a baby meant anything.
What did he really know about Watchers? Nothing much.
He’d been told that many generations ago, they needed a place to settle, and in return for the generosity of donated land, the Watchers used their warrior skills to guard the Draconi.
Why a powerful magical race needed guardians was over his head. His questions on that matter had received shrugs from all he asked. Even Enar responded that Watchers had lived among the Draconi for generations and planned to for generations more.
Which told him nothing. Including why his friend insisted on claiming a woman from this backward town.
Thoren ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Enar. “Promise me you won’t hurt her.” If Lily hurt, he knew Keara would too and keeping her pain-free seemed to be his new goal in life.
“I don’t hurt women.” Enar glared. “So, you think Keara is the trace of magic you sensed, or do you think the Halfling boy is?”
Way to change the topic, Enar. “I don’t know. I definitely sensed magic in this town, but it might have been Keara. Maybe we should search the town for the boy.”
“Or not. That crowd was pretty riled up and might come back. And since the Council rules forbid you from turning into a dragon while on a mission and razing this town to the ground, we need to leave. The sooner the better. We’re returning with a Halfling female, so the Council will be pleased.”
“As much as I hate to say it, you’re right. Keara’s safety comes first. We’ll leave as soon as she gets packed.”
A creak of the st
airs, the whisper of shoes on wood. Thoren turned his head and saw Keara creeping down the stairs. Her gaze caught his, dropped to her feet and rose slowly. That look shot through him like a punch to the gut, piercing through his resistance. Was she ill? Did she need his help? He needed to touch her, to calm her fears, to soothe the hurt her pain caused him.
“What will you do with my bride price?” Her voice cracked.
Leave it here? “We can’t take it. I’m sorry. We only have two horses.”
“Then what can I take?” Her hands clasped in front of her waist.
“One bag.”
“One bag!” Fists slammed into her hips. “Are you crazy? How am I supposed to get all this,” she gestured around the room, “into one bag?”
Was it too much to ask for a female to take one bag? He had sisters; he knew the request was outrageous. But they had no other choice. How was he supposed to get an entire store on a horse?
“What about one bag for my personal items and one bag for store items?”
Thoren glanced at Enar who shrugged. “All right. Two bags. How much of the store are you planning on taking?” On the other hand, the store was valuable. Even he, who knew next to nothing about herb craft, realized the value of the vials and potions lying on the shelves and cabinets.
“As much as can fit in two bags. This is my life. I’m an apothecary.” Her forefinger circled her thumbnail, over and over. “What will I do in your land?”
“You may do whatever you like. The priestesses have herb lore. You could talk to them.”
“I would be allowed to do that?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t you?”
She shrugged, her lips turning down.
“Why don’t you go pack your things?”
She took a deep breath and released the air with a sigh. “All right. But I’ll come back down and you can help me pack up the store.”
“It’s a deal.”
He watched the alluring swish of her hips as she climbed the stairs. Keara had the power to keep him from his mission, to keep him rooted in Draconia and enjoying every moment of it.
Bugger it. The sooner he could drop her off, the quicker he could return to his love: his work as a spy.
Magical Lover Page 3
