Warden
Ishould have told her. I should have explained to my lady there is only one creature in the entire of the Yeavering who can control a Dunnie.
But my creeping suspicions as to what was keeping Hazel at the tavern in the Night Lands, about what has been at our heels since we escaped, is slowly crystallising.
The Thegn.
I wanted the showdown with it. I wanted the chance to regain my mortality. But I did not want it to involve my Hazel.
She should be safely inside the Shadow Keep, growing round with our child, content and safe to gestate in peace when I take on the one thing which can give me back all I have lost.
Once I kill him.
And Hazel was not supposed to be here when I did the deed.
If I thought she might be protected with the Bluecap, I would take her. But I know the Shadow Keep is the only place which is safe from the Thegn. I will not bring the creature to his door either. Annoying though Linton may be, neither he nor his mate deserve to be visited by this foul thing.
I should have told her. I should have told her everything, not half of what is true. My mortality is only the surface of what was done to me by the Thegn. I cannot just kill it. I have to obliterate it as if it had never been.
But such a deed will not be easy and it will not be clean. Hazel cannot be part of it. I can’t risk any part of her being caught up in what I will have to do.
I increase my pace, exploding across the landscape, putting distance between us and the Dunnie. I don’t bother to check if it follows because it will. Instead I concentrate on our path back to the Night Lands.
“Slow down,” Hazel bellows, her fingers digging into my flesh. “Warden, stop. It’s gone.”
The last thing I want to do is stop. But my lady has asked me, and I cannot ever deny her.
“It won’t stop,” I say as she drops from my back. “It will never stop.”
“What does it want?”
“It wants what its controller wants.” I scan the landscape, which sweeps down to the sea, the scent of the salt water on the breeze.
“Something is controlling it?”
“The Thegn,” I growl, half under my breath. “It took my mortality.”
“So why is it here now? It has what it wanted.”
“My mortality isn’t the sole thing which makes me worth pursuing.” I dip my head. “You have already encountered another reason the Brag is wanted within the Yeavering.”
Hazel’s brow creases. “The…mating thing?” she queries.
“Brags have always been powerful beings. It’s the reason the Faerie drew us into the war in the Night Lands, telling us the Reivers wanted our mortality, lying to us about why we should fight.
” I sigh, tamping down the memories of the Faerie lords and the poison they dripped into the ears of me and my fellows.
Memories which are still painful in their truth.
We should have never believed them.
“Our magic is ancient. It is drawn from the soil beneath our feet, and so much of it is inherent in what we are,” I say as Hazel studies me.
“Our mating brings life in more ways than one.” I feel my groin heat.
“Our presence causes calm or war, depending on what we want.” I shrug.
“Our magic is shed, like the damn Bluecap sheds his scales. Everyone benefits. And were we anything other than warriors, we would be at the mercy of others.”
Hazel looks me up and down. “What does the Thegn want?”
“It wants you.”
She continues to stare at me, her arms by her sides, her hair shining in the weak sunlight, the colours so vivid all I want to do is groom her mouth with mine.
“But it can’t have you. Not now, not ever,” I growl.
“And what happens if it doesn’t get me?” she asks.
My growl deepens.
“The mate of a Brag is considered the most precious of possessions.”
“Because you can be controlled?”
“No, because they have captured a heart which is not supposed to be caged. It makes a Brag’s mare the most powerful in all of the Yeavering.”
“I’m not powerful,” Hazel says. “I was lost, and you found me. Any power I have comes from feeling like I belong with you, and not anything else.”
She touches the hilt of her sword, and I feel a wave of heat through my body, a connection with her, one I relish.
“You are the mate I don’t deserve,” I respond.
“Warden, after everything we’ve both been through, I think we deserve each other, and if the Yeavering or anyone wants to change that, it’s even more reason to stay together.”
This time, the warmth I feel pools around my heart, making me feel like we’ve just mated, like we’re there in the moment of bliss. I don’t know what it is, but I want it to last forever.
Because I feel like I belong.
To her.