Chapter 12
Rowan
Consciousness tugged at me, dragging me up out of the depths of my sleep. There was something there. A niggle. A sound. A movement in the air.
I lay in the unfamiliar bed. In the unfamiliar room. In the unfamiliar realm. Listening. Waiting. Sensing.
But there was nothing but the faint hiss and pop of logs in the fireplace, the snap of the flames as they cracked their whips of light into the room, tempting the shadows to come out and play.
Closing my eyes, I tried to hail that boat that would tug me back under.
Waved at it madly from the edge of the shore.
But it was already sailing over the horizon, disappearing with every passing minute.
I tried counting sheep. Then goats. But before too long, I was stranded on a rocky beach, watching my sleep ship drift away while one hundred bleating sheep and goats kept me awake.
Give it up, Rowan.
Sighing, I slipped out of bed, pulling on a robe I found hanging over the end, and tiptoed to the door, suddenly thirsty.
Pressing my ear against the smooth surface, I listened intently for any noise from the other side.
When nothing sounded, I creaked it open and peeked out into the dark.
There was a solitary lantern burning at the end of the hall, but my gaze was drawn straight to Caelan’s room.
All seemed still. Yet something lingered in the air.
It felt thick with expectation. An anticipation of some sort.
Or maybe that was left over from me earlier.
With a shrug, I turned back to my room, searching for a light, my gaze finally coming to rest on a brass candle holder sitting atop a table, complete with tapered candle.
Stepping out once again, I stole a flame from the lantern and quietly made my way down the stairs.
The castle was eerie in the dark of the night.
The thick stone walls and lofty ceilings seemed to steal all the light.
Silhouettes danced in the alcoves, the tapestries warping and weaving in the bobbing glow.
It didn’t matter how high I held my candle; the darkness swallowed it whole.
I was reduced to creeping along silently, like some thief on the prowl.
Every creak of the boards beneath my feet had me holding my breath, certain someone was about to come running from a room, demanding to know what I was up to.
It made for an anxious journey.
I was nearly passing out from nerves by the time I made it to the central staircase and could see the familiar shield in the entrance hall. Turning left at the bottom, I headed towards the kitchen, or what I thought was the direction of the kitchen, believing it to be near to the dining room.
The light of a burning fire in one of the rooms drew my attention. And my feet.
I paused on the threshold of the library, glancing at the shelves with unabashed joy, my thirst and my nerves forgotten.
Mahogany bookcases lined the walls, some twenty feet high.
Ladders were propped against them, each one attached to a brass rail, with small wheels on the bottom that allowed them to slide with ease.
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of books called those shelves home, all beckoning to me.
Tempting me to step forward and read their titles.
Taunting me to unlock the secrets within.
I was in heaven. And clearly in my own world, as I didn’t hear the person stepping up behind me.
“Hello, sister,” a deep voice rumbled from the dark.
Squealing, I spun around so fast that the candle went flying from my hand, light tumbling as it fell to the ground. The flame sputtered out, temporarily blinding me. Heart thumping a pulsating beat, I turned my eyes upwards as a man slowly materialised from the dark.
He stood at least a full head above me, taller even than Caelan. His hair, dark red in the light of the fire, reflected shades of auburn and copper. It was so very familiar. He wore it short on the sides but longer on top, and it fell over one ear in an unruly heap of soft waves.
Blue eyes as deep as my own stared back at me. I gazed at them in confusion before gasping in shock as an ethereal light lit them up from within.
They glowed.
Shimmering, swirling pools of silver essence bled into the blue depths. They flashed, just like a deer’s when headlights caught them in the dark. Then the strange incandescent light disappeared just as quick as it had come.
Fae.
My gaze flew to his ears. They were pointed, just like those of the people I had seen in the village. My breath was suddenly too quick. Too shallow. But his words somehow penetrated my startled mind.
“I’m not your sister,” I squeaked.
“Have you not seen yourself in a mirror?” he replied, his voice ringing with incredulity. “You look exactly like me.”
Wide-eyed, I stared at him, my mouth falling open as my mind reeled with confusion. True. His hair did look similar to mine. And his face was somewhat the same, if not more masculine. But his eyes! They glowed with that otherworldly light, and his ears were pointed. Pointed!
Subconsciously, I moved my hand to my head and touched my perfectly rounded ear. Except… it wasn’t round at all. There was a distinct point at the top.
I was sure my eyes were falling out of my head as I touched both my ears, still staring at the man in front of me. Man? Male? Fae?
Sharp pinpricks of light flashed at the sides of my vision and my head swam.
My panic tipped over to hysteria, and a giggle fell out of me, the noise not one I had ever heard before.
I began to hyperventilate before my lungs squeezed tight.
My pulse raced so fast, I was surely having a heart attack.
His eyes widened, and he lunged for me just as my mind – after all I had seen and heard over the last few days – finally reached its breaking point and shut down.
Raised voices woke me, slicing through the air, disturbing the quiet of the room.
I registered the commotion before the flickering light of the fire penetrated my closed eyelids.
Tension and annoyance radiated, each word hitting me like a physical blow.
I tried to piece together what had happened.
The last thing I remembered was being in the library, and then…
There was a man. A fae! A stranger with an air of familiarity about him.
“What did you think you were doing? I come in to find Rowan on the ground and your eyes lit up like a damn cat in the night. You didn’t think to take it slow? Ease her into it?” The voice was deep and laced with anger.
Caelan.
“How was I to know you hadn’t told her? What have you been doing the last few days?” Another masculine voice, this one filled with frustration and impatience.
Movement next to me had my eyes springing open. I appeared to be lying on an aptly named fainting couch. Caelan was perched in front of me, leaning over my side, his face etched with concern. His eyes searched mine.
“Are you all right, lass?”
Wide-eyed, I nodded before looking across the room at… my brother?
My hands instinctively went to my ears, feeling for the peculiar points. They were still there. There was an odd energy coiled up inside me. Stirring in my chest. The male stared back at me, equally intrigued by whatever he saw.
“Rowan?”
Caelan’s voice broke through my thoughts, and I tried to focus on his words. He had asked me something. What? His eyes roamed over my face, his brow furrowed, but my gaze returned to the strange male, the feeling of familiarity still there.
“Who are you?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Caelan cleared his throat. “Rowan, uh… Meet Aenan Wyndaryn, lord of this estate, and… your brother. Your twin brother, actually.”
My heart gave a slow thump in my chest. My mind reeled.
I had a brother. A twin brother? I didn’t understand what was happening. What he was saying. A brother? But I was an only child. I didn’t even have any cousins.
I looked at the male again, noticing the similarities with a new understanding. We had the exact same-coloured hair, and now that his eyes were not glowing, I could see they were the same as mine. A dark blue. Recognition coursed through me.
Or maybe I was just dreaming again.
“Ow! You’re not dreaming, Rowan,” Caelan said, exasperated, rubbing his arm and rolling his eyes.
“I don’t understand.” I blanched, looking at Caelan in horror. “Didn’t you say he was your brother? Are we…are we related?” Thoughts of what I had wanted to do to him the night before, what I had done in my dream, raced through my head.
“Brother as in we grew up together, not brother as in blood. We are not related, Rowan,” Caelan assured me.
Thank you, sweet baby Jesus!
“But how?” I asked, my voice trembling with disbelief.
Aenan’s gaze was fixed on me, his expression unreadable. I had a feeling those eyes missed nothing, like he could see right through me. “How what?” he replied.
“How can we be siblings? I’m… I’m human.” At least I’d thought I was, until a moment ago. But now, everything I believed about myself was being shattered. I touched my ear again, the pointed tip so foreign.
“You grew up in the Human Realm, Rowan. You were never human. I just removed the glamour that was on you. Can you not feel the difference?”
Anxiety was nipping at my chest, so I closed my eyes and calmed my mind, just like my father had taught me. Taking a deep breath, I searched within myself. I felt… What was that? There was something. A fullness in my chest. A warm feeling. I’d felt it when I had first awoken.
Was that it?
Yes, a deep voice answered.
In.
My.
Head.
Startled, I nearly fell off the settee. Would have if Caelan had not been there in front of me. My eyes flew open. Caelan was glaring at Aenan again.
“Did you… Did you just speak in my head?”
Yes, Aenan said, his tone unapologetic.
I jumped again. “How are you doing that?” I cried, my eyebrows rising. “Can all fae do that?”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s rare. Only those with a special gift or those who are soul bonded can speak mind to mind.”
“Soul bonded? What does that mean?”
“It’s when two souls share a special bond that links them together. Or in our case, one soul became two.”
Suddenly, my life started to make sense.
I started to make sense. I’d always felt like something was missing.
That something was wrong with me. Even as a young child I had pleaded with my parents, asking them for a sibling.
Thinking it would fill that gap I felt. A brother or a sister, it didn’t matter which.
But now, I realised, it was him. He was the missing piece. The missing half of my soul.
“I’m sure you have many questions, which I know Caelan would be more than happy to answer for you,” Aenan said.
He smirked at Caelan, a joke I did not get, before looking down at himself.
“I need to clean up, so we can talk more in the morning.” He paused, his gaze lingering on me, softening.
“It’s nice to finally have you home, Rowan. ”
He said my name like he was sounding it out. Like it was unfamiliar. And I supposed it was. Before I could ask him anything more, he left the room, his commanding energy leaving with him. I stared after him long after he left, until I felt Caelan watching me.
He was quietly observing my ears. Self-consciously, I tried to hide them, but he captured my hand in his and gently pulled it away.
“They’re really quite beautiful,” he said, his eyes full of wonder.
“Just like you, Rowan. Everything about you. Don’t try to hide it.
” He tucked a tendril of hair behind my ear, not realising the power of his words.
It was just what I wanted to hear. Just what I needed to eradicate that persistent inner voice that taunted me.
My eyes drifted from his, tracing the contours of his face until they settled on his mouth. Again, I had the sudden desire to kiss him. Unconsciously, my tongue flicked out to moisten my lips, his eyes following the motion.
I imagined his eyes darkened with desire. His hunger mirroring mine.
I imagined him releasing a strangled groan, one that reverberated through the air.
I imagined him surging forward, closing the distance between us in a rush, his lips crashing against mine with a fervour that left me breathless. I could almost feel the shockwaves of pleasure that would course through me.
For just a moment, time seemed to stand still, and I believed he would do it. Believed he was going to kiss me. But he sat back just as a voice sounded in my head.
Sister, you are going to scar me for life. I really don’t want to hear you play out those thoughts about my brother. Especially when we have only just met. You need to learn to shield your mind.
My head jerked back, and my face flushed with embarrassment. I stared at Caelan in shocked silence, unsure what to do.
His lips curled into a grin before he let out a laugh at whatever expression he saw on my face. He stood and offered me a hand. “Come on. I’ll teach you how to shield tomorrow.”