by L M Lacee
She laughed. “Five, you missed the baby on the floor.”
He stretched his neck to see. “Wow!”
“My name is Charlie Easton.”
“Oh, I am sorry,” he grimaced, “they tell us to say our name first. Sorry again, I am Clint Sorren your guide. And if you tell me what you think you need. I will call it in and make sure you get it.”
Charlie sucked her cheeks in as she thought. Not weird at all! “Okay, ready?”
Clint nodded. “Yep shoot.”
“First, we will need a healer ASAP! For the girls and baby. I really need coffee. We probably should eat, then a bed for the night. I have clothes for a couple of days for everyone, so should be alright for now. I cannot think of anything else at the moment. Did I say coffee?”
“Yes and no problem.” Clint said as he pulled a phone from his pocket and started messaging quickly. Charlie admired how his fingers flew across the screen, he seemed really comfortable with it. Unfortunately Charlie was not as quick, she thought it was more to do with patience, rather than practice.
He spoke as he typed. “Okay, the healer will be there as soon as they find him. June the liaison for the castle will organize a room and food. I told her you were with four children and a baby. Was that okay? She would like to know their names and ages please.”
“That’s fine Clint, I should have thought of it. Kelsey is the oldest at five. Then we have the twins next Lacey and Macie who are four. I am not sure, but I think Cara is around two years old, she is young. The baby is a boy, and I have no idea how old he is, he is very small and underfed so hard to tell.”
While she talked, he had been messaging her replies, as she finished he said. “June said that Healer Sharm; he is the chief healer, has someone who can determine age. So if you want, I can have them there too?”
“Yes please Clint.” Charlie sighed. “Really someone who can do that is amazing. I did not know that could be done?”
Clint nodded. “It is new, Healer Sharm’s shadow. You know what that is!
“No, but before you tell me what I should know. You haven’t forgotten the coffee, have you?” She glanced in the mirror and caught his smile as he answered. “No ma’am, I will get that when we arrive, I promise.”
He laughed when she said. “You are very professional, have you been doing the, 'meet and greet thing' long?”
“No Miss Easton…”
Charlie interrupted him. “Just Charlie, please Clint.”
His smile widened. “Okay. No Charlie, this is my first time.”
Right then, Charlie realized two things. She had been right he was a teenager and he was a dragon. How she knew that, she did not have any idea, it was just a feeling. Clint leaned on the back of the front seat, his long arms along the top with his chin resting on his hands as he asked. “Umm! Charlie, is it alright to ask how the baby got underfed. Did his parents not have any money?”
His voice was so full of hurt at the thought of parents not being able to feed their kids; and Charlie wondered if she had ever been that innocent and young. Nah! Never!
Quietly she told him how she found the children but left out a few details. There was plenty of time for teenage boys to know how bad the world could be. She liked Clint, and part of her did not want to see that look in his eyes yet, when he found out she was a killer. He then told her what she needed to know about Dragon’s Gap.
A rather abbreviated version but he hit all the bits he considered important about the dragons and their Lord and the royal family. Then about the town and center. She was going to ask more questions when Clint said suddenly.
“Okay turn here at the sign.”
Then sat back in his seat she drove past a sign that proclaimed. CASTLE in big letters. She took her foot off the gas and the car slowed. Clint looked up from his phone “What?”
“Ah Clint! It says Castle?”
Sheepishly he answered. “Sorry I forgot to tell you about that, the healer is there. You are all staying at the Castle tonight. Because it will be easier to find you a place tomorrow or if you have to stay, until you all don’t need the healer anymore.” Anxiously he asked. “Is that alright Charlie?”
She smiled to reassure him. “That is fine Clint, very considerate of you to make those arrangements.” She had a pretty good idea that the liaison had suggested that, but she felt sorry for the teenager. He seemed a little upset he had forgotten to tell her about the plans. Charlie concentrated on her driving as she crossed an honest to goodness drawbridge. She pulled her truck to a stop in the stone court yard. In a friggin Castle, right out of King Arthur's days.
Clint touched her shoulder lightly and in a serious voice he said. “Welcome Miss Charlie Easton and family to Dragon’s Gap!”
Charlie sat with a stunned haze filling her mind. She never really believed the sign could be true and yet here she was in the courtyard of a huge stone Castle at a place called Dragon’s Gap. Yes, she knew she was repeating herself.
She was going to stay here in a castle, a beautiful castle overnight. Looking at the stirring children, she ginned inwardly. Well, her life was certainly taking a turn for the better. Children and now a castle. What else?
She turned the engine off and undid her seat belt, grinning as Clint gave her shoulder a pat. “I know, right?” Which made her laugh as he jumped from the truck. It took a few minutes to get the tired girls moving, but they made little complaint. Especially when they saw the castle.
Clint was a little bewildered that not one of the girls would allow him to pick them up or go to him. They clung to Charlie, even though he tried to make himself seem non-threatening they just stared at him.
Charlie took pity on him. “It is not you Clint, I told you what their lives have been like lately and I have no idea how they lived before. They don’t know you and they don’t trust you. They are just tired and scared.”
She felt bad when he lifted sad eyes to hers. She squeezed his arm and whispered only for him to hear. “I promise they will come around, just give them time.” He sighed and quietly answered. “I know you are right. It is just they are so small and the smell of fear. It is giving my dragon a hard time. He wants to grab them and carry them away to protect them.”
Charlie mentally patted herself on the back for being right, that he was a dragon. She gave his arm a pat again saying. “I know, so why don’t you go and grab our bags and I will try to get the girls to calm down.”
He nodded once and scooted to the back of the truck. Charlie scooped up Cara and the baby in her arms as Cara tucked her head in what Charlie thought was becoming her favorite spot, her neck.
“Okay my beautiful brave girls, we are going to go into the castle.” She poured wonder and excitement into her voice as she slowly started to walk, the girls following behind her, their eyes wide as saucers. The fear they had been giving off drifting away, even when Clint caught up to them, they stayed calm.
It was a slow group that entered a large stone hallway but Clint didn’t hurry them. He walked with a big smile on his face as they swiveled their heads around and up. Trying to see everything at once, especially all the tapestries. They were like large paintings with dragons and warriors depicted on them and some of them had castles and ocean scenes. It was art at its finest, Charlie thought as she wandered with the girls.
They walked past rooms that were obviously being used as offices and for storage, a few seemed empty. Clint told them as he led them to the Healers unit, that they were not in the main castle. He promised to show them the whole castle another day. The girl’s eyes swung to him and stared. Clint stopped and dropped the bags, then placed his right arm across his heart saying. “I vow I will show you whatever you wish to see in the castle.” Then he picked up the bags and walked on as the girls eyes swung to Charlie. She bit her bottom lip as though she was thinking. In actual fact she was trying not to laugh at the teenager’s way of trying to win over her girls. She looked down saw the unspoken question in their eyes and shrugged casual
ly, saying. “Yeah, I would trust him!”
Out the corner of her eye, she watched the three girls put their heads together and whisper as she continued to walk slowly after Clint. Giving them time to talk and after a few seconds they ran to catch up. Whatever they decided it seemed to have made them lighter in spirit.
Eventually, when she was starting to think that Clint had gotten them lost, they arrived at a set of double doors. He pushed into the room and dropped their bags in a corner. Turning around and motioned the group in. “If you could just wait in here, the healer will be here soon. I will go get your coffee, drinks and a treat or two for the young ladies.”
He gave them all a wink which made Cara giggle and the twins duck their heads. Kelsey just gave him a bland look. Which funnily enough seemed to make Clint blush or at least that is what Charlie thought as he almost ran from the room. She turned to Kelsey saying. “That’s a powerful weapon you got there, kid.”
Kelsey gave her an obviously fake innocent look back. Charlie kept her face straight as she said. “Try again kiddo.”
Kelsey gave her a small smile, then Charlie addressed the others. “Okay! We should look around and see what we have here.”
What they had was a very lovely room painted in a soft rose color with several nice wide chairs grouped together. They were covered in a deeper rose material, which invited a person to sit and relax. In the middle of the area was a beautiful coffee table that had to be an antique.
On one side of the room was what one expected to see in any medical unit with the typical examination bed and table. As well as a counter with a small sink. There were tall cupboards and shelves with all the usual medical stuff one saw in a doctor’s office filling a wall. A closed door at the end of the room beside French doors with floor to ceiling drapes.
Was to intriguing not to investigate but it only led to a plain utilitarian area with an enclosed bathroom and at the end of the room. There was another door leading to who knows where. Charlie didn’t investigate further, the girls had not moved from the room they first entered. The floors she noticed as she came back to where they stood were all tiled in white, with nice rugs spread around. The walls had beautiful paintings of landscapes hanging on them. It was like stepping into someone’s lounge room, a nice place that was soft and calming for adults. As Charlie bent over and lowered Cara onto her feet allowing her to clutch her jeans in tight little fists she said. “They need to make it more kid friendly, don’t you think girls?”
She kissed the cheek of the baby as she straightened, he was still warm but lethargic and too quiet. The blue tinge had returned to his lips, and she guessed his hands and he stared into her face as she moved slightly away.
And as Charlie stared into those lavender pools, she knew she was a goner. There was no way she was leaving these kids. Looking down at each upturned face, she felt the heart of each child fall into her hands. They were hers as much as she was theirs. Damn it!
When a few minutes later she had assured them enough that they were safe and she was not leaving them. They finally released their death grips on her and started to relax a little to sit with her in one of the wide chairs.
They heard heavy footsteps of someone walking in their direction and had only seconds to wait until a very elegant, casually dressed and handsome older gentleman appeared. Another dragon, Charlie thought. Huh, I’m getting good at this!
CHAPTER FOUR:
R ene` Kingsley former Dragon Lord walked along one of the many service corridors on the lower level of the castle. This was his home when he was at Dragon’s Gap, which was not as often as it should have been. In truth he normally never came to these levels when he was home. Tonight he was drawn here and Rene` never, ever ignored the urges he got from time to time that suggested he go somewhere or do something.
Those very instincts saved his life and the lives of his Shields and Hunters on more than one occasion. They also were solely responsible for the meeting of his dear Verity. Tonight's urge was not life or death but Rene` could not shake the feeling it was going to be life changing. So he wandered alone, his lovely shadow Verity was with Grace her friend.
Rene` had been away from home a lot lately. Running away his son Sharm’s shadow, Edith would have said. And she was right! Recently he and Edith had argued quite vehemently over his treatment of Verity and his sons.
Rene` did not receive her criticism very well. In truth he became furious, it had taken him weeks away from the castle and his family to see the truth of her words. As the Commander of the dragon’s Special Forces, otherwise known as the Shields, he had acted dishonorably. He knew he had stayed away because he had plainly been sulking. It was never nice to have something brought into the light. That you had hidden even from yourself for years. His dragon would say he was prideful, and he would admit he was. But he had been shown he was wrong and it was time to face that fact and make it right.
Pride goeth before the fall. Quoted his dragon.
Yes… yes, I know old friend.
Rene` had been confined to dragon lands and the castle for thousands of years when the mantle of the Dragon Lord was his to bear. When that title had been passed to Reighn, his eldest son, all of a sudden he was free to travel the world with his Hunters. Seeking out hidden pockets of wild dragons, convincing them to return to Dragon’s Gap. In the hopes they too would find their shadows and increase the population of dragons.
Now with the new reconstruction of the warriors, he was Commander of the Shields taking over from Reighn. Having relinquished his command of the Hunters to his second son Storm. Rene` and his Shields oversaw the rights of all magical beings coming back to Earth. In essence they were the shield and hammer for the Dragon Lord and the Elementals who were guardians for all magic users.
Rene` loved his job but lately he started to believe the uncomfortable truth that something was missing. And it was on one of the restless nights he was suffering lately. That he came to the conclusion he was unable to settle because his sons were right. He was missing his family’s day to day life. The same way he was missing his Verity’s daily life. He grumbled. Damn bear was right!
He grumbled again as his dragon snorted then said. She was right. You know she was. We both do. It is time to come home to be with our shadow and young. I miss our shadow. Nights are cold and lonely without her.
Rene` soothingly told his dragon. I know… I really do! You as always are correct and wise my friend.
He stopped walking as a thought came to him. He was able to travel at any time to any place with anyone he chose. As well as anywhere on the planet for as long as he wanted. So because he could. He realized he wanted to be home more than he wanted to be anywhere else. He missed his shadow, his sons and grand-babies. He missed the daily goings on at the castle and the town of Dragon’s Gap. The mantle of responsibility as Dragon Lord was no longer his and his dragons to bear. Finally, he realized he had nothing to hide from. Sometimes! He told his dragon. I am an old fool! He got a snort of agreement in return. Rene` laughed softly to himself, Damn Bear was right after all!
His dragon scolded him. Of course she was, she is the grounder that is what she does. Guide, challenge, and make us see where we need to be. Where we need to go!
Yes, you are right.
His Verity would love to travel with him. It was time to change, just look at what his shadow was doing with her life. She was the new curator of the first museum in Dragon’s Gap, and she was excited and happy. Their apartment was re-decorated in a new modern style. All the vintage era was gone, he loved the new look and felt truly comfortable there for the first time in years.
Usually, on his first night home, he could not wait to leave the apartment. Last night he had not ventured out preferring to stay with his Verity until she fell asleep in his arms, happy and satisfied. If not for the need to be here on the lower levels of the castle. He would be calling her home, so they could be together once more in their new bed.
He grinned as he thought on what h
is Verity had done for herself, she changed her style of dress. Gone were the long dressers and bulky clothes of the Victorian dowager. Now she told him she dressed in lovely light flowing skirts and jeans. He would admit his Verity looked very good in jeans. Which he told her, she had coyly rewarded him with a kiss that had lead them to trying out their new bed again that very afternoon.
Verity was responsible for instigating family Sunday day, so everyone in the family could catch up with each other. Their sons and their shadows. All the young together for the day to share information. To tell everyone exciting news if there was any, or to sort out family problems and laugh. There was so much laughter now in their home and loads of love. That was all his Verity’s doing. He mused it was past time to come home and stay. Verity would like that he knew, probably as much as his dragon would, he smiled to himself when he thought of her reaction to his news.
Which was the expression on his face when he turned into a room occupied by a female and several small young and a hatchling. Rene` kept his smile in place with difficulty as he was bombarded with the waves of fear and pain coming from the little ones. Surprisingly he felt nothing from the female.
She stood slowly and moved to stand between the children and him. He stiffened his mental barriers and the level of fear and anguish decreased. He saw the female’s swift once over. And knew that look, she searched for weapons, he did it often as did his sons. He said nothing as the four girls jumped from the chair they had been in and grabbed a hold of the short female. Hugging her legs from behind as she held a small baby in her arms.
Rene` raised an eyebrow when not one of the girls or baby made a sound. Although all their bruised eyes spoke volumes. He surveyed them all and came to a halt when he noticed the hatchlings lavender eyes that stared at him. Was it possible?
A lost royal? His dragon hissed in surprise.
Time will tell my friend. For now it makes no difference these young ones are hurting and afraid.
