Seventeen - Ranulf
I had mademore enchantments in the past week than I usually crafted in an entire month. I spent hours carving the discs, shaping the spells, and drawing enough node power to make them last twice as long as usual. The focus required was the only thing keeping me from flying out of the forest to find Scarlette.
It was probably for the best that I had caught hints of Gideon and his traps throughout Drakona. I had decided that it was safest not to transform at all. If I had gone for a flight, I had no doubt my wings would have carried me southeast whether or not I planned it.
At the rate I was going, though, my control would erode enough that I’d probably start walking to her village in my sleep soon. Actually, knowing that going to her as a dragon put her at risk, I was already considering making the journey on foot. If it weren’t for the danger she’d be in from Gideon, I’d have already left and begged her to come back to the forest with me.
Why had I thought it might be easier if I sent her away before she decided to leave on her own? Even if she couldn’t settle into a life here, wouldn’t it have been better to have enjoyed her company for as long as possible?
It didn’t help that Grandmother had already informed me I was a fool for letting her leave. Once she realized I had essentially made Scarlette leave, she revised her assessment and insisted I was a complete idiot.
“Anyone home?”
The voice carried up into the attic through the open trapdoor. It was a cheerful voice, one I recognized, and not the one I wanted to hear. I levered myself off the spare bed, now truly covered in wood shavings, and went to the trapdoor. My sister smiled up at me from the bottom of the stairs.
“Is Nana down in Ortfel?”
I accepted the inevitable and walked down the stairs. My relationship with my sister wasn’t as fraught as with my mother. She hadn’t left until we were adults, and I had known it was coming. She was also better about visiting regularly. I reached the bottom of the stairs and crossed my arms. “She’s out picking mushrooms. What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming until Harvest Festival.”
“Such a warm welcome. No wonder I wanted to stop by early.” She rolled her eyes. “I heard you were having a little difficulty with a dragon hunter.”
“How did you hear that?”
As far as I could tell, Gideon had left the forest only long enough to buy a new crossbow. I seriously doubted he had told anyone about his discovery.
Rosalia waved her hand through the air. “I have my sources.”
She was hiding something, and I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what. Or rather, who. I wanted to demand information, but I knew better. That would only make my twin more determined not to confirm anything.
I shrugged, trying not to let on how much I was waiting for her next words. “Well, your sources shouldn’t have worried you. The hunter has set a few traps in the clearings, and he’s roaming the forest with a crossbow ready, but he’s not going to catch me.”
“You are very sanguine about being hunted.”
“Like I said, he won’t catch me. I’m not shifting—just to be safe—and so long as he is hunting me, I know he isn’t going after anyone else.”
“Anyone like Scarlette?”
“I knew it.” Now that Rosalia had spoken first, I gave in. Just saying Scarlette’s name would be enough for me to betray my feelings at this point, but I wouldn’t let that stop me. “She is safe? When did you talk to her?”
“I stopped by her village to check on her mother and make sure she had gotten a node charm. Oh, and then I spoke to her this morning when I left Wulfkin to come out to the cottage.”
Everything stilled as I digested the fact that Scarlette was in the forest. I didn’t breathe. I thought my heart even stopped for a moment. Then the world rushed back into motion and my heart beat twice as fast. “She’s here.”
“Well, not here. She’s still in Wulfkin.”
“Why didn’t she come to the cottage with you?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you made it clear you like your solitude and never gave her a reason to believe she’d be welcomed if she returned?”
“What?” Did she really believe that I wouldn’t welcome her?
“Come on, Ranulf. You sent her away the first time she knocked on your door.”
“Yes, but I made it plenty clear later that I had realized what a mistake that was. She can’t truly believe I wouldn’t welcome her.”
“She knows better than to think a welcome in your bed is the same as a welcome in your life. Here’s a hint, Ranulf: she wants to be a part of more than your sleeping arrangements. So, if you are only interested in sex, walk away now.”
“I’m not talking about this with my sister.”
“Oh yes, you are. She’s my friend. I don’t want to see her get hurt, and I will be on her side, even though you are my twin.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Rosalia wasn’t going to let it go. “I don’t want to see her hurt, either. I’m pretty sure—no, I’m certain—I love her.”
“Then you should probably tell her.”
“I can’t fly to Wulfkin with the hunter around.” I’d take the risk for myself, but I had every intention of bringing Scarlette back to the cottage with me. I would not risk having her on my back now that Gideon once more had a crossbow. “Why did you let her stay in the village?”
Another thought occurred to me. Something I should have realized sooner. “If the huntsman discovers she is in the forest, he’ll go after her. She humiliated him.”
“Calm down. She’s safe in Wulfkin. The villagers will not let the hunter get anywhere near her. She’s a favorite there. I’m pretty sure the Weslets already offered her a job.”
“Rosalia, it is going to take me most of the day to get there walking.”
“Then it is a good thing I borrowed a horse from Thalia. You can return it for me.”
For the first time in over a week, I smiled.
Rosalia flapped her hands at me. “What are you waiting for? Go!”
Even with thehorse, it was mid-afternoon by the time I reached Wulfkin. I had only taken the time to shove the pile of charms and enchantments I had made into a bag—pulling out one wooden disc with a crescent moon engraving and slipping it into my pocket first—before leaving the cottage. I rode as quickly as I dared, but the beast couldn’t gallop the entire distance.
Once I entered the village, I handed the reins of my mount off to the first child I saw, instructing him to get the horse back to Thalia. She’d find the bag of talismans and take care of them. I patted the disc in my pocket and went to the inn.
My eyes had to adjust to the relative dimness in the common room, but when they did, I found Scarlette immediately. She wore a white apron over her skirt and had a mug in her hand. She laughed with Aaron at the corner table and handed him the mug. It was too early in the day for him to be here, and I realized Rosalia was right. The villagers wouldn’t let anything happen to Scarlette.
She didn’t see me, but Mistress Weslet did. She waved me over.
“She’s not going to accept my job offer, is she?” The innkeeper complained when I reached her.
I shrugged. “That’s up to her. Once the hunter is dealt with, I can fly her down here easily enough. But I’m afraid you will have to make do without her for the rest of today. If she is working to pay for a room, I’ll cover it.”
“She’s working to keep from fretting about you. You’d better not hurt that girl, Ranulf.”
“I’ve already had the lecture from my grandmother. And sister.” I wanted to be mad. My personal life was none of her business. But I couldn’t summon even a speck of anger, not when her concern was all for Scarlette.
“Good. Just remember that the hunter will be the least of your problems if you screw up this second chance.”
“Then you don’t think I’ve already messed up beyond forgiveness?”
“I think that girl would be willing to forgive you just about anything, which is why the rest of us are determined to watch out for her.”
“I wanted her safe and happy.”
“Then keep her safe and make her happy yourself. Now, go. Aaron can’t keep her distracted much longer.”
The innkeeper was right. Though the man was clearly trying to tell an engrossing story, Scarlette glanced around the room. She spotted me, and her lips parted.
We met in the middle of the room, and I didn’t care who was watching. I kissed her.
“Ranulf,” she moaned against my lips.
Our audience became an inconvenience. I grabbed her hand and led her to the back stairs. I dropped the apron I had unknotted during our kiss on a chair as we passed.
“Ranulf!” This time she said my name with a mixture of shock and embarrassment.
“Mistress Weslet said she doesn’t need you the rest of today.” We reached the top of the stairs. “Which is your room? We need to talk in private.”
She pointed at the second door and pulled a brass key from her pocket. “Just talk?”
I ran my knuckles down her cheek and jaw. “I hope not, but talk first.”
The room was small, little more than a bed with a wooden chest at the foot. There was a window letting in a breeze, a small fireplace—currently cold—and a table with a washbasin and oil lamp. No chairs.
Scarlette hesitantly sat on the bed, and I decided that joining her wasn’t wise. Not if I planned to stick with my decision to talk first.
I planted myself in front of the window. I couldn’t even pace without tripping over her feet. How to start? “How is your mother?”
I wanted to slap myself. That was not how I wanted to start this conversation. Maybe I should have stuck with kissing her. That got the point across rather well, after all.
Scarlette’s hands burrowed into her skirt. “She’s doing wonderful. The charm made her improve so much we realized just how bad things had gotten. I haven’t seen her so full of energy since I was a girl.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “I’m no good at this.”
A wisp of a smile played over Scarlette’s lips. “What? Talking?”
“Exactly. I don’t even know where to start. I don’t want to mess this up, Scarlette.”
“Maybe you could start by telling me what, exactly, you don’t want to mess up?”
I gestured between us. “This. Whatever this is after I already messed up because I didn’t ask you to stay.”
“You wanted me to stay?”
“Want,” I corrected.
“Then why did you insist on taking me home?”
I ticked the reasons off on my fingers. “Your mother. My mother. My sister. Gideon.”
“My mother is now fine. We’re going to take care of Gideon together, and then he won’t be a threat to either of us. But what do your mother and sister have to do with it?”
“I’m the odd one out. I enjoy my solitude and living far from everyone. Mother and Rosalia couldn’t get away fast enough. They felt stifled out in the cottage. Even Grandmother spends days at a time in Ortfel more often than not. How could you be happy living in isolation with only me as company? You deserve a life full of people and laughter.”
“Only you?” she repeated incredulously. “Do you really think you aren’t enough? What do I care for being surrounded by people if none of them are the man I love?”
“You love me.” The words were half a plea, half a question.
“So much. I didn’t want to force myself on you, but leaving was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I want to stay with you, Ranulf. Nowhere else will ever feel like home.”
It only took a single step for me to stand in front of her. “Are you certain? I don’t want you to ever feel trapped.”
“I don’t see the cottage as trap. It is a haven.” She smiled, a hint of playfulness peeking through. “Besides, I’ll have my very own dragon to carry me whenever I want to visit Wulfkin.”
I sighed, trying to sound long-suffering, but in truth it was relief. “I already told Hilde I can fly you down if you wanted to accept her job offer.”
Scarlette’s lips parted. Then she surged up from the bed, wrapping her arms around me. “You’d do that?”
“Scarlette, I’d do anything for you.” I tucked her closer against me. “I love you. I lived my life in a fog, not knowing what I was missing until you came and cut through the gloom with your brightness. If carrying you to Wulfkin every day was what it took to keep you happy and with me, then I wouldn’t hesitate.”
She looked up at me, her eyes bright. “I’m not sure I want to spend every evening away from you. But maybe . . . a delivery of bread every other day might be a nice compromise. Master Weslet is an excellent cook, but not the best baker.”
“Whatever you want, Scarlette. I’m sure Hilde would be overjoyed to get even a single loaf of your bread each week.”
“And maybe . . .” She trailed off, no longer looking at me.
I twisted to catch her gaze once more. “Maybe what?”
She shook her head. “It’s not important. We should focus on more critical matters. Like how to handle Gideon.”
“What matters to you is important, Scarlette. Gideon can wait.” She pressed her lips together, and I couldn’t resist leaning down to kiss her, a quick peck before I forced my lips into the semblance of a scowl. “Tell me.”
“Well, it’s just that Mistress Weslet doesn’t truly need my help in the tavern every night, but I’m sure she would appreciate a little extra help, and I think she and my mother would get along well, and Wulfkin is far closer to the cottage than Graenod—”
I cut Scarlette off with another kiss. “Wanting your mother to move here is certainly not nothing. We can talk to Hilde about it in the morning. You can write to your mother, too, and Thalia will get the letter delivered.”
Suddenly Scarlette was the one kissing me, her hands fisted in my shirt. Her lips moved from mine to my cheeks, my chin, then the column of my throat. Between each kiss, she spoke. “I. Love. You. How could you think you wouldn’t be enough for me? You. Are. Everything.”
I pulled her back to my lips, then toppled us both onto the bed. “Only for you, Scarlette. My Scarlette.”
My Scarlette.
My hands fumbled with her laces, the need to show her how much I needed her burning through me.
She shimmied out of her skirt and petticoat. “Don’t stop talking. I love your words.”
For her, I found more words. “You are everything I didn’t know I was missing. Everything I need.”
Clothes fell to the floor. Somehow, I maintained enough of my wits to pull the enchanted disc from my pocket and activate it, braiding it into Scarlette’s hair with trembling fingers. I moved against her, touching every inch, determined to brand myself into her skin as she was branded into my very soul. “You are the reason for every breath I take.”
She moaned and dug her fingers into my back. “Ranulf, I need you.”
“You have me, love. I’m yours.”
Her hips arched up, and I positioned myself at her entrance. “I love you, Scarlette. As long as the sun and stars shine and fires burn, I’ll love you. You are my everything. My always.”
I thrust into her as I spoke, claiming her with my body as I gave myself to her with my words. She held me close and met my pace, her eyes locked on mine. “My always,” she repeated, shuddering around me as her release washed over her in waves.
I kept moving, drawing out her pleasure as long as I could before succumbing to my own.
We laid together for long moments, out of words. Eventually, I forced myself to get up and dip a cloth in the pitcher of water in the washbasin. I cleaned us both, then slid back into bed next to Scarlette, tucking her against my side and stroking a hand over her hair.
“In case I still haven’t made myself clear, I want you to stay at the cottage. With me.”
She chuckled. “I was beginning to get that impression, but I appreciate the words.”
“If you are ever unsure, I want you to ask me, Scarlette. Or at least remind me to use my words. I’ve spent too long alone, I’m liable to forget.”
“You seem to enjoy talking in bed. I’m sure I can work with that.”
I snorted. “Remember, I’m just a man. If you just drag me to bed without explanation, I might not realize there was a reason.”
“I was thinking more that we’d establish a positive association. You’ll learn that talking means pleasure and give up your broody ways.”
“Or I’ll become even more taciturn out of the bedroom because it gives me a hard-on.”
Her laughter was a balm for my soul. I had done that. I had given her a moment of joy. It was almost more rewarding than bringing her to orgasm. Almost.
“Ranulf?”
“Yes?”
Whatever Scarlette wanted to ask was lost when a burst of blue light filled the room. I slapped a hand over the summons crystal, my other arm tightening around Scarlette so that she wouldn’t get up. “Ignore it.”
She ignored my words instead. “Is that for here or Ortfel?”
“Ortfel. The Wulfkin summons crystal glows red.” Twice in as many weeks. We often went months without the villagers using the summons crystals, even after all of Grandmother’s urgings not to hesitate. We supplied them with enough charms and enchantments, and visited often enough that emergencies were few and far between.
“Do you need to do something?”
“What? Even if I could risk flying around as a dragon, we are a couple hour’s walk from node lands.” I didn’t mention that Peter’s horse could carry me that same distance in just over a quarter hour. I wasn’t the healer villagers wanted in an emergency anyway, since all I could do was bring the same type of charms they already had access to. “They’ll be fine. Rosalia is with Grandmother. Between them, they’ll take care of whatever the emergency is.”
“I forgot Rosalia would share your blood-tie to the node. Can she shift, too?”
“Yes. She’ll run most of the way in wolf form. One of the villagers will meet her with a horse and she’ll be in Ortfel before I could even shift into a dragon.”
The blue light faded, and I moved my hand.
Scarlette relaxed against me once more.
“In fact,” I told her, my hand drifting lower. “Since I don’t want to risk dragon form with Gideon still out and about, it will take us hours to return to the cottage. We don’t want to get stuck walking in the dark, so we really can’t leave until tomorrow morning.”
“Is that so?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Whatever shall we do to pass the time?”
I tugged her on top of me, her thighs straddling my waist. “I can think of a few things.”
She pressed her hands against my chest and slid back. “So can I.”