by Sky Winters
“Come see your mother and daughters, Alisa,” he said. “They’ll not believe it till they’ve seen it with their own eyes.”
“Father, we must prepare. Clan Campbell won’t rest after only one defeat.”
His eyes hardened, yet his face still seemed full of joy and wonder. “Dinnae you worry about Clan Campbell, daughter. Now that I’ve got you back, and since the fine, proud warriors of Artos are once again at my side, there’s nothing we can’t do together.”
“I hope you’re right,” Alisa said.
“I am. Whatever comes, whatever dangers and threats that besiege us, we will weather the storm as we always have. Together.”
He pinched her arm and winked, and then he moved off to give Logan a hard slap on the back. When he spotted the chieftain, Logan’s face lit up, and the two men embraced like long lost friends. Alisa watched them and smiled in wonder, thinking she was so lucky, despite the uncertainties of tomorrow. As she stood there, the village’s old medicine woman approached and handed her a cup of water. Alisa thanked the woman for it, and told her how frightfully thirsty she was.
“I thought ye might be,” the healer said. “You’ve got to keep up your strength, deary. All these people are depending on you, whether they realize it or not.”
Alisa drank and felt the cool, clear liquid restore a measure of strength. Sighing contentedly, she handed the cup back.
“It’s funny, but I never realized how much I love this old castle,” she said.
“Family has a way of drawing us to the best of things. Speaking of which, deary, have you been feeling ill in recent days? Perhaps a wee bit sick in the morning?”
“No,” Alisa said, surprised by the question.
The old woman grinned. “Well ye may, though it’s certainly no cause for concern.”
“What do you—”
Instant realization dawned, and she clutched her abdomen and felt a swell of joy deep inside her stomach.
“You mean I’m pregnant?” she said.
“I do, lass. Congratulations. May you bear him many sons.”
“But will … will the baby…”
“It will be a shifter,” the old woman said. “A mighty one at that, as far as I can tell. The future shall be bright for you indeed.”
Alisa gazed lovingly at Logan and her father. The villagers of Clan Artos streamed into her castle, her home, the only place she could think of to raise a beautiful, magical family. There was nothing they could not do together. For them, a life of love would be a life of strength.
END
DRAGON PRINCE
The couples whirled around Kareena like birds in flight. The darkness of the men’s tartans set a bold contrast against the soft pastels of the women’s silken skirts. Their colours filled her eyes and she felt a longing that she could not describe.
She blinked once and suddenly she found herself standing in the middle of the ballroom, surrounded by dancing couples, blocking their path. Kareena tried to move out of the way. She ducked and dived but she could not seem to find her way out. She tried to speak but she realized immediately that no one could hear her. She stood still and watched. Everything was moving through her as though she were a phantom examining a world she was no longer a part of.
“I am here,” she said to the passing couples, but her words fell on deaf ears.
Slowly the couples around her started to blur, until they became specks of diamonds that were carried away with the wind. Kareena focused her eyes and found herself standing on the musky earth of the forests just outside Northwick castle. She turned her head to the right and caught a pair of large, warm brown eyes staring back at her under the sun’s dewy spotlight.
Its skin was the color of a deep forest green, spotted with deep gold markings on either side of its sleek but muscular body. Its appearance was more majestic than any painting of a dragon she had ever seen before. Kareena tried to move closer so she could better admire the dragon, but the moment she took her first step, the dragon dissolved into silver mist and morning dew.
“Wait…” Kareena tried to call out.
But the dragon was already gone.
Chapter One
“Where have you been lass?” Meghan’s voice was gentle but impatient.
“I’m sorry,” Kareena replied immediately. “I… had a bad night.”
“Did ye have the dream again?” Meghan asked with a shrewd glance in Kareena’s direction.
“Aye, but it was different this time. The dragon did not show up until the very end.”
“Hmm,” Meghan’s bright brown eyes seemed to grow softer as she pondered over Kareena’s recurring dream. “Perhaps it is a sign of things to come.”
“What kind of things?” Kareena asked.
“I suppose we shall have to wait and see,” Meghan replied as she ran a hand through her silver-grey hair. “Now pass me the sage.”
Kareena suppressed a smile and did as she was told. Meghan was understanding and kind but she was also extremely methodical and that made her impatient. As she got to work on her latest remedy, Kareena moved to the herb cupboard and started to tidy it. She was half way done when she heard steps on the cold stone floors. A moment later, the large wooden door was pushed open and Lady McNeil stepped through. Kareena felt tension engulf her immediately, but she pushed it aside and turned around to face her stepmother.
“Good morning my Lady,” Kareena said with a well-practiced curtsy as Meghan mimicked her movement.
Lady Etaine McNeil was a beautiful woman. She was five and forty but youth still clung to her features. Her eyes were a mixture of blue and brown, and her hair was an uninterrupted gold that fell to her lower back in waves. She turned her thickly lashed eyes onto Kareena with an expression of tolerant distaste.
“Ye look worn this morning Kareena,” Lady McNeil said with a smile that did not reach her eyes.
“’Twas a hard night is all,” Kareena replied.
“Take care to rest yourself. Your looks will abandon you soon enough.”
Kareena bit back her retort and nodded her head in acquiescence. Lady McNeil turned her head slowly to Meghan. “I will need a new batch of your skin remedy,” she said delicately.
Meghan nodded curtly. “I shall begin now.”
Lady McNeil’s eyebrows rose suddenly as though she had just had a brilliant notion. “Perhaps it would be better if Kareena were to make the remedy. She must learn if she is to be a healer.”
“If that is what you desire,” Kareena replied trying to be agreeable.
“Tis. I shall expect you to deliver the finished remedy to my bedchamber,” Lady McNeil said, her tone betraying a threat.
Kareena bowed her head in acceptance. Lady McNeil nodded and walked to the door with a flick of her skirts. She was on the threshold when she turned her head back and called out Kareena’s name.
“Aye?” Kareena replied looking up.
“Lord McNeil is hosting Royce McDougal of clan McDougal tonight,” she said with a smile that Kareena did not understand.
“Aye, I know,” Kareena replied. “I have made preparations for the supper in his honour.”
“And I am grateful, but you will not attend the supper tonight.”
Kareena blinked once. “I don’t understand, my father –
“Your father has changed his mind,” Lady McNeil went on smoothly pretending as though Kareena had never spoken. “You will be absent this night.”
Kareena felt her body grow cold with anger. “Why?” she asked, her voice raised louder than she had intended.
Lady McNeil’s eyes narrowed infinitesimally. “Because it is no place for a bastard.” With that, she turned on her heel and disappeared through the door. Once her footsteps had sung its last echo, Kareena turned to Meghan trying to control the frustration coursing through her.
“She can’t do this to me,” Kareena replied.
“I agree,” Meghan said coming forward and putting a hand on Kareena’s shoulder. “You must speak to y
our father.”
Kareena nodded. “Aye… of course. He doesn’t know of this. If he did, he would never have allowed her to bar me from the feast tonight.”
Meghan smiled reassuringly at her. “Aye, now there’s a smart lass. Don’t you worry.”
Kareena sighed and sunk down onto one of the crooked wooden chairs that surrounded the centre table. “I wish she didn’t hate me so much.”
“Tis not you she hates lass,” Meghan said comfortingly. “’Twas your mother. It does not help that you inherited her fiery red hair and her sky-blue eyes. Except for the sharp nose and freckles you are the very image of your mother.”
“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t,” Kareena admitted out loud. “If that would make her hate me less.”
Meghan’s eyes grew soft with sympathy. “Turn your mind from such thoughts lass. It wouldn’t have made a difference.”
“I know,” Kareena said with a sigh. “She will never be my mother or my friend. But it does not matter, as long as I have my father.”
Chapter Two
Kareena walked down the long, narrow corridors of Northwick Castle. Light streamed in through the slitted windows creating intricate patterns of light as they fell onto the burnished grey stone floors. When she was a child, she used to hop between the little spades of light, making sure to step only on the shadows. She had been a lonely child and the castle had been her one constant playmate.
Kareena turned the corner into another corridor; this one was broader than the last. At its end was a large circular recess with a door at its centre. It was flanked by the coat of arms of clan McNeil. It depicted an eagle in flight, its prey clutched firmly in its steely talons. Kareena knocked hard and she was greeted a moment later with a gruff ‘enter’.
“Father?” Kareena asked as she stepped inside.
Her father was an impressive man. He was well past six feet tall with large broad shoulders that made him look much taller. He had a head of dark curly hair and a full beard that had streaks of grey running through it. His freckles were barely visible anymore.
“Kareena,” Lord McNeil greeted quietly. His chamber was a large one, but Kareena knew he liked to sit by the fire that rested just below a series of arched windows that gave the solar its spectacular brightness. She moved towards the hearth and sat down just as she used to do when she was a little girl.
“What brings you here my bonnie lass?” Lord McNeil asked softly.
Kareena had learnt early on that her father had two voices. One was loud and booming and was used in public and at clan gatherings. The other was soft and quiet and used only in private with his wife and children.
“I came to ask you about something father,” Kareena began cautiously.
“Aye,” Lord McNeil nodded. “And what is that?”
“The feast tonight…” Kareena said trailing off, feeling a sudden panic engulf her.
“Aye?”
“Lady McNeil says I am not to be present,” Kareena forced herself to continue. “But… I cannot believe that you would have agreed to that?”
His eyes dimmed considerably and he pursed up his lips. Kareena knew immediately that he had in fact agreed to just that. She felt her stomach plummet as disappointment, hurt and rejection struggled over dominancy.
“You… did agree,” Kareena said before he could speak.
“Don’t turn your eyes from me lass,” Lord McNeil said as he reached for her chin and pushed it up to meet his face. “It is an unpleasant thing… but…”
He trailed off, leaving Kareena feeling worse than before. “What… exactly is an unpleasant thing?” Kareena asked once she had processed her father’s words. “My presence at the feast tonight or my presence in general?”
Lord McNeil looked taken back. “That is not –
“Tis true then,” Kareena interrupted him as she stood abruptly. “You are ashamed of me.”
“No of course not, I –
“I was a fool to think a Lord could love his bastard child,” Kareena said as she walked to the door. She felt her father rise but he did not move to follow her. She turned at the threshold of the door and curtsied formally. “Thank you for the audience my Lord,” she said weakly before she turned and walked out.
Chapter Three
There were always people milling about the stables but horses were always being taken out to ride. No one took any notice of Kareena as she slipped in and found Frazier in his stall munching on a bale of hay. The feast was only a few hours away and Kareena did not wish to be anywhere near the castle when it took place.
“Come on boy,” she whispered into his ear as she stroked his chestnut brown muzzle. “Let’s run.”
Minutes later, she and Frazier were flying under the castle’s keep, through the gates and out into the open air of the highlands. The moment they had cleared the castle’s shadow, Kareena breathing came easier and her chest felt considerably lighter. She slowed Frazier to an easy gallop as she steered him towards the forests that clan McNeil shared with clan Maclver. It was a large, wild expanse of forest that hugged the Elsick Mounth.
“Let’s ride through,” Kareena whispered to Frazier. He whinnied as though he was answering back and a moment later they sped into the forests.
Once they were surrounded by trees and nothing else, Kareena slowed Frazier down to a trot. They moved through the forest in calm as she took in the earthy breeze that ruffled through her hair.
“Things are so much easier here Frazier,” Kareena said softly looking up towards the large cracks in the forest’s canopy. The light streaming in was warm; it touched her face gently so that she didn’t need to shield her eyes from the brightness. “I wish we could stay here forever.”
She dismounted and let Frazier graze around at his leisure. She picked up her skirts and explored the little clearing they found themselves in. She recognized many of the herbs that Meghan used in her remedies and unconsciously she started plucking off fresh stems and dropping them into the tired sack that hung down Frazier’s side.
She immersed herself in the forest, so much so that she didn’t even realize that the sun was slowly setting and darkness was settling over the highlands. Her thoughts became abstract until she was no longer thinking of her father or the feast taking place at the castle that very minute. Even after night had finally come in, Kareena refused to go back to the castle. A small part of her wondered if anyone would even notice. Suddenly she heard the sharp crack of a tree branch a few feet away. Kareena jumped back with a gasp caught in her throat. Frazier raised his large head for a moment and then went back to grazing.
Kareena looked around searchingly and her eyes caught a flurry of movement not far from where she stood. She rushed forward not even considering the possibility that the animal might be a dangerous one. She ran forward and immediately the animal camouflaged behind the thicket of trees took off in the opposite direction. Kareena felt a beat of shock as she realized that it was a dragon. Even in darkness she could tell it looked eerily like the dragon in her dreams. Dragons were increasingly rare in the Kinross lands. She rushed towards Frazier and mounted him in one swift move. They raced through the forest after the dragon.
The dragon darted right, down a steep slope of earth, fallen branches and dried leaves leaving streaks of motion in its wake. Kareena urged Frazier downwards but the horse seemed reluctant. “It’s ok,” Kareena said, rubbing Frazier’s neck comfortingly. “Come on boy, you can do it.”
After some coaxing, Frazier managed to sidle down the slope, landing with a quick finish onto flat surface again. Kareena spurred him forward with a gentle nudge, afraid that she had lost the dragon for good. The animal had become something of a recent legend in the territory of Kinross. It was a large beast and her father and his clan had spent nigh on seven years since it was first spotted, trying to hunt it. The scales of the dragon were said to give a king luck, and its meat would provide strength for any army. The dragon had displayed both intellect and resilience, evading capture at every tu
rn.
This was not the reason that Kareena pursued the animal however. What propelled her forward were her murky dreams that stayed with her even after she had woken. She dismounted and walked down. Hearing a rustle of noise, Kareena took care to move carefully and quietly. She stepped between two trees and caught sight of a thin stream just ahead of her. The dragon was standing on the opposite side of the stream, drinking water. Kareena felt as though she had experienced the same moment before.
Without thinking, she stepped between the two trees and out into the open. The dragon raised its majestic head and its large fiery eyes fell on her. The moon hung, full and bright in the sky above them. It illuminated everything it touched with its sparse silver rays. Kareena held her breath as the dragon stared at her with intense concentration. A shiver ran down her back as realized that its gaze was almost… human. Kareena stepped forward cautiously but the dragon did not fly away as she had expected. The creature stood there, proud and tall, as though it were waiting for her.
“What are you?” Kareena asked under her breath as she continued to edge closer.
She got to the edge of the stream. There was only the thin trickle of water that stood between them. If Kareena reached out, she would be able to touch the dragon. It’s scales were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. They were illuminating gleams of glassy silve. Its eyes were still trained on her as though it recognized her somehow.
“Am I dreaming?” Kareena wondered aloud.
The dragon moved its head infinitesimally as though it was answering her question. Kareena gave a start of surprise but she didn’t back away. “No wonder no one’s been able to catch you yet,” she said softly. The dragon continued to look at her with eyes that were aware and keenly observant. Consumed by the magic of the moment, Kareena felt herself grow brave. She reached up, moving her hand slowly towards the dragon’s crown. Again she wondered if the animal would bolt suddenly, but it remained stationary. She sucked in her breath as she touched the dragon’s gleaming coat. It was tough but there was also a sinewy softness there.
