Chapter 16 #2
He eased her back down among the velvety pillows and set the glass aside, disappointed that she’d managed only just a little.
“So you said Bansys is no more?” Her eyes slowly drifted shut again as if weighed down with the weariness of battling the poison within her system.
“Aye, Bresag’s eldest son, Kannis, ate her.”
She smiled without opening her eyes. “Poor Kannis. He’ll probably get a bad case of heartburn over that.”
“Aye, well, he’s a dragon. I dinna ken if they ever suffer from heartburn.”
The softest rustling came from the dragon egg nestled up against her. Calia smiled broadly and rested her hand on it. “They’ve been whispering to me through their shells. Two girls. One boy, and he’s feeling outnumbered.”
“He’s got two older brothers who, I’m sure, will side with him. Giddrie will teach them magic, and Kannis will teach him how to eat everything in sight.”
As she idly stroked the egg, her smile faded. “Your sons. You didn’t mention them.”
“I know now for certain that I am not their father. They have the look of the Na Fir Ghorm. Their father’s bloodline was the stronger when it came to weaving those two in Aluwyn’s womb.”
Her yawn ended in a frown. “They look like what?”
“Mermen. The Blue Men of the Minch.”
She opened her eyes, blinking slowly as if trying to rid them of the film of sleepiness.
“I don’t know why that surprises me. Not after time travel, humans shifting into animals, dragons, and ghosts who teach me how to burn their bones, but for some reason it does.
” She blinked harder. “I think my sight is trying to come back. I can’t seem to focus, but I see fuzzy blobs of colorful lights and darks now. ”
“Then ye need to drink the rest of these tears.” He helped her rise again and pressed the cup to her lips. “That’s it, love. As much as ye can. There’s naught but a wee bit left.”
She drank more but not all, then pushed it away again.
“Apparently, tears really fill you up.” She reached up and pulled him down for a salty-sweet kiss.
“I am so glad you’re safe,” she whispered against his mouth.
“Having you here will heal me quicker than anything.” She cupped his cheek while slowly raking her thumb across the bristles of his beard.
“Litress has gone quiet. I’m worried about her. She took in the poison to save me.”
“I believe she and Dubh are in the In-between. Dubh was worried about her as well and has nay spoken to me since I entered the nursery. He will help her heal.” Admittedly, it felt odd whenever his spirit animal left him for that dimension.
“Yes, he’ll help heal her.” Calia shifted with a relieved sigh. “Like you’re helping me.” Her brow slightly puckered with another frown. “What happens now?”
“We must still deal with Carman.” He hated to bring it up, but it was better to prepare her than to let her think that all the dangers were resolved.
“Once she is destroyed, we shall return to Wraith Tower, sort out the traitor or traitors, and then do our feckin’ damnedest to live in peace and happiness all the rest of our days. ”
“There’s a traitor at Wraith Tower?”
“Someone spread the word that yer wolf was the pale alpha. It had to have come from within Wraith Tower. Ye had barely just arrived here in the Ninth Realm, and yet everyone knew.”
“How will we ever know who it was?”
He gently took her hand and placed it on the necklace around her lovely neck.
“The wolfstone is once more with its rightful owner. The amulet will tell ye whom ye can and canna trust. Never remove it. Never, ye ken? Not only did Mairwen advise us of such, but so did Noirgarth and Bresag. We must heed their warnings this time. We nay took Mairwen seriously before.”
Calia closed her fingers around the medallion resting at the base of her throat. “Did you go to Seven Cairns?”
“No, love. Mairwen brought it when the cards told her ye had been taken.”
She bit her lip, nervously chewing on its corner. “And my things from my time? My things from Gillian?”
He took her hand and kissed it again. “Mairwen has them in safekeeping and has sworn to bring them to ye as soon as we’re settled back at the Tower. She specifically told me that yer daughter’s book is safe.”
A tear slipped from the corner of her eye, and he kissed it away. “We will make yer Gillian a room at the tower. A place for her alone. For whenever ye need to light a candle and send yer love to her.”
“Do you think I’m crazy?” she asked quietly.
“No. I think ye’re a mother grieving for yer daughter.”
She closed her eyes again and pulled in a deep breath while mindlessly petting the large dragon egg beside her. It was as though the touch of its shell consoled her. “It’s been two years. You’d think I’d be better than this by now.”
He gently brushed the backs of his fingers along the velvety softness of her cheek. “Ye feel what ye feel, mo chridhe. There are no rules when it comes to saying goodbye to those we love.”
She turned her head and looked directly at him, her eyes still cloudy but less so, and they seemed a little more focused. “I can’t believe I was ever afraid to love you.”
“We both were a pair of fools there for a while. Neither of us possessed the courage to embrace something as terrifying and powerful as love.”
The nursery door creaked open behind him.
“Forgive the interruption,” Bresag said, “but we have Weavers at the entrance of our lair. Shall we grant them entry?”
While Mathison welcomed the Weavers so they might continue Calia’s healing, he hesitated.
Dragons and Weavers weren’t exactly enemies, but neither were they allies.
Dragons held a particular disdain for the immortals chosen by the goddesses to see to the needs of the Highland Veil.
“This is yer home, Bresag, and therefore, yer decision. I respect whatever Noirgarth and yerself decide.”
She seemed to smile as she took in his words with a slight nod, or as close to a smile as a dragon ever came. “We shall grant them entry—this time.”
“But we prefer ye meet with them in the outer chambers,” Noirgarth said as he moved to stand beside his wife. “The nursery is sacred and no place for them.”
“Understood.” Mathison gave Calia a tender, loving kiss. “I shall return shortly, mo chridhe. Rest and heal.”
“I love you,” she whispered, smiling as she closed her eyes.
He carefully tucked the blankets around her and kissed her again. “And I love ye more than ye will ever fathom.”
“Come.” Bresag motioned him forward with a sense of urgency. “Noirgarth must seal the nursery for the protection of our children and yer Calia. I shall stay inside with them. With so many Weavers of Light at our threshold, I am unsettled by the possibilities of their combined powers.”
After one last glance at Calia to ensure she was resting peacefully, Mathison hurried out.
Noirgarth secured the door by exhaling an eerily white flame around the portal’s opening to seal it.
When they reached the outermost chamber of the dragons’ home, the heat of the wall that protected the lair from the passage hit Mathison with a blast of heat that nearly stole the air from his lungs.
The barrier glowed a fierce warning red.
The dragons didn’t wish there to be any doubt that unexpected visitors, especially Weavers, were not welcome.
But within moments, the glowing wall disappeared, just as it had when Mathison first arrived.
Mairwen headed the group of Weavers whose powerful auras lit the tunnel as brightly as sunshine at midday. She offered Noirgarth a regal nod. “Thank ye for yer hospitality, mighty Protector of the Weak. Ye are most gracious to grant us entry.”
The dragon studied her, his great golden eyes narrowing. “As I am sure ye can understand, we prefer that ye stay here in the outermost chamber. It is safer for those currently unable to protect themselves.”
She opened her hands and held them out to show she had no weapons.
“I understand. We come to offer more healing for Calia and her inner wolf. Glennis, the Master Dream Weaver, has seen that Danu’s herbs and the dragon tears struggle to vanquish Carman’s poison.
” Then her gaze shifted to Mathison, and she offered him a worried scowl.
“Carman has left the Under. She searches for yerself and yer mate. To grant ye more time, time that yer Calia sorely needs for her healing, Ishbel and her Spell Weavers have cast a glamour that engulfs the entirety of Shadowmist Keep and all that exists in the tunnels under it. But this spell will not last long. Not against the intensity of Carman’s dark magic. ”
“We will be ready,” Mathison said. And they would be. One way or another. “What healing do ye offer? Since donning the wolfstone, Calia seems to have improved, but still has much healing to do.”
Mairwen waved forward a Weaver he had never met. “This is Shona, Master Tranquility Weaver. She and Bedelia have created a tincture of ferus-antidotum with a variety of herbs known to repel Carman and her ilk.”
“Her ilk are gone. I killed them with the wolfstone and one of Grandsire’s spells.”
Mairwen smiled. “Good.” Then, her pleased expression faded. “Their mother will nay be so easily defeated.”
Shona held out a ruby vial stoppered with a diamond. “The gemstones protect the tincture’s potency. Place three drops on yer lady’s tongue before her next sip of dragon’s tears.” After placing the vial in his hand, she bowed her head and stepped back to stand behind Mairwen once again.
“We will return to yer Grandsire’s lair up in the cliff and stand watch,” Mairwen told him. “Ye will not face this battle alone.” Her startling blue eyes hardened, turning an icier shade. “Ye are not the only soul with matters to settle with that witch.”
“Where is the hag now? Have ye seen her in yer divinations?”
“Close.” Mairwen’s mouth tightened into a flat, worried line. “We will hold her off with the glamour for as long as possible.”