Chapter 43
Rhi hummed to herself and sketched a beautiful tree several hundred yards away. She was in a very good mood. Her sister and uncle, both quite safe, were heading home. Should be back any time now. What Izzy would have to say, though, Rhi still didn’t know. And if her mother knew, she wasn’t telling her yet.
That was okay, though. She could wait. Because right now, all that mattered was that her sister and uncle were safe. And, she was guessing, very much in love.
Rhi stopped humming so she could smile.
“Lady Rhianwen?”
Rhi looked up, her grin growing wider. “Hello, Frederik! And please, call me Rhi. Everyone else does.”
“When I do your father glares at me.”
“Don’t take it personally. My father glares at everyone except me and Izzy. Even my mother. Although she thinks it’s cute.” She studied the Northland male. “That’s a rather large stack of books you have.”
“Oh, yes. Auntie Dagmar has given me reading assignments.”
“How much time do you have to read all that?”
“Quite a while. Until dinner.”
Rhi blinked. “Oh. All right.” She gestured to a corner of the fur covering she sat on. “Would you like to join me? I’m just drawing, and I promise not to bother you while you read.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to interrupt you.”
“No, no. Not at all. We’re kind of family now, so we should be acting like it. Please. Sit.”
With a nod, he placed his books down on the grass and sat on the far corner of the fur covering. He didn’t have to sit so far away, but she didn’t blame him either. Her father had been saying things in front of poor Frederik to make it clear that his daughter was off limits.
Rhi went back to her sketch, enjoying how it was working out while appreciating the quiet company of the male with her. They worked like that for nearly thirty minutes when a shadow fell over her. Using her hand to shield her eyes from the two suns high in the sky, she looked up and immediately smiled at Albrecht. Their time in the village the other day had gone really well; Uncle Brastias was not nearly as brutal as her father when Lord Pombray’s son moved too close to Rhi.
“Hello, Lord Albrecht. How are you?”
The boy didn’t answer, and she instantly saw the distress on his face.
“Albrecht?”
“I’m . . . I’m so sorry.”
Strong hands grabbed Rhi and yanked her to her feet. Lord Pombray’s guards had moved up behind her and she’d not seen a thing.
“What is this?”
“Don’t blame the boy.” Lord Pombray walked around his guards and looked down at Rhi. “It’s truly not his fault.”
“What are you doing?”
“You’ll be coming with us.”
“You don’t really think my kin will let you get away with this, do you?”
“If they want to get you back alive . . .”
“Father—” Albrecht began.
“Shut up!” He smiled at Rhi. “Now, your father, uncles, and all those other dragons are away from here today, so there won’t be any flying lizards to help you. So let’s not make this difficult. All right?”
“Please don’t do this,” Rhi begged.
“We won’t hurt you, girl. I promise.”
“It’s not herself she’s worried about, I’m afraid.”
Pombray glared down at Frederik.
“What do you know of it, barbarian boy?”
“I knew what you were planning. Your men are chatty when they’re drunk in the pubs. And I like wandering around pubs . . . because of drunks who are too chatty.” Frederik stood. “My Aunt Dagmar already knows of this. Even now Rhi’s dragon kin are heading this way.”
“You little bastard.”
“But even if they’re not quick enough, I’ve already learned that Lady Rhianwen is never truly alone. Not really.”
“And what the hells is that supposed to—”
The sword tore through Pombray’s back and out his stomach, blood spraying across Rhi’s face.
The blade was yanked out and the twins walked around Pombray. Talwyn’s sword dripped with blood. She, like most of her dragon kin, was a fan of the sneak attack. While Talan was more like his mother. He hefted a battle axe and swung it, removing Pombray’s head from his body.
“
My lord, no!
” one of the guards screamed.
Rhi looked at Albrecht. “Run,” she told him. “Run and don’t look back.
Run!
”
The boy took off, tears coursing down his cheeks as Talwyn kicked Pombray’s head aside.
“Now which one of you is next?” she asked, smiling.
“Don’t do this, Talwyn,” Rhi implored her cousin. “Please.”
“Don’t be weak,” her cousin snapped. “The line was crossed. They die.”
The guard holding Rhi grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. “But not before this bitch dies first, monster.”
Fear and panic swept through Rhi like a firestorm and, before she could stop, the power of it exploded out of her like an active volcano.
When the sky suddenly darkened Izzy pulled her horse to an abrupt stop as her father dropped to the ground in front of her.
“Daddy?”
“Izzy! Your sister! Where is she?”
“I don’t—”
Éibhear’s head tipped to the side. “Iz . . . what’s that sound?”
“Oh, gods,” Izzy whispered as a terrible roaring sound reached her ears. Though she’d never heard the sound before, she could easily guess where it had come from.
“Éibhear,” Briec ordered. “Take Izzy out of here.
Now!
”
But Izzy grabbed Éibhear’s arm before he could shift to dragon and watched as Elisa and the other Nolwenns they’d been escorting dismounted their horses and focused their collective attention deep into the forests.
Chanting, they all raised their hands, and Izzy felt the power they unleashed explode from them into the forests. The roaring coming from inside rammed into the power coming from without. The powers collided, the ground beneath their feet shaking, the sky above them darkening. Their horses began to panic and Izzy released Éibhear so that they could both get control of their animals.
The war between those powers raged, then abruptly . . . died.
The shaking stopped. The sky returned to its brilliant blue.
Elisa lowered her hands but then stumbled back, the Nolwenn sisters catching her. Izzy’s great grandmother had been weakened by all this, but she and the Nolwenns had been able to do what no one else had managed. Stop Rhi before she destroyed all that she loved.
“I’m fine,” Elisa said weakly. “Or I will be. I need food. Wine.”
Izzy held her arms out. “Give her to me.”
She lifted her great grandmother from the witches’ arms and easily hauled her onto her saddle. “Hold on.”
Then Izzy took Elisa straight to Garbhán Isle.
Once the shaking stopped, Talaith picked herself up off the floor and charged down the stairs, through the Great Hall, and out onto the hall steps. But before she could make it down the stairs, she saw her daughter riding into the courtyard. A woman in witch’s robes sat in front of her.
“Izzy?” Knowing her daughter was alive and well, versus
seeing
her in the flesh alive and well was something that could not be compared. “Thank gods, Izzy.”
“I’m all right, Mum. So’s Rhi, I think. Daddy went to get her.”
“Good. Good.” Talaith started down the steps but stopped, her eyes widening. “Elisa?”
Exhausted from what Talaith now realized was an unleashing of immense Nolwenn power, her grandmother nodded at her. “Talaith. You’re looking very . . . Southlander.”
“What are you . . .” Talaith took a step back. “Is Haldane with you?”
“Did you really think she’d let me come here to meet you alone?”
Her grandmother had a point.
Once on the ground, Elisa pushed Izzy’s hands away. “I can walk without you, child.” She made her way up the steps. “Is there food inside?”
“Aye. And wine.”
“Good.” And, without another word, she walked into the Great Hall.
“Izzy . . . what the battle-fuck?”
“I’ll explain everything. Later. Just . . . prepare yourself.”
“Prepare myself for what?”
“Well, from what I can tell, your mother hasn’t changed.”
“Sweet girl,
I
could have told you that.”
More horses rode into the courtyard. Talaith saw some of the sisters she’d grown up with, but she had no desire to speak with them.
“I’m going in,” she told her daughter. “I’ll deal with this later.”
“Mum . . . wait.”
“Izzy, please. I just don’t want to deal with my mother—”
“Forget her,” Izzy cut in. “This isn’t about her.”
“Then what is it?”
Izzy stepped back and Talaith watched the protective guard that had ridden with the Nolwenns. Not surprising. One of the duties of the Sefu Imperial Guard was to provide protection when necessary for the Nolwenns.
Several of the guards dismounted and strode toward the stairs. Helms were removed and heads lifted to look directly at Talaith. She blinked, her head tilting to the side. Something seemed . . .
“Talaith?”
Talaith took in a breath and looked past those younger guards to the powerful older man behind them. A feeling she hadn’t known for more than three decades now hit her in the chest, her hands covering her mouth.
“Zachariah?” she asked when she had her voice back.
The blacksmith walked up the stairs, those light brown eyes that were so like his son’s sweeping over her. “Still a beauty, I see.”
Unable to wait for him to reach her, Talaith ran down the stairs and right into the blacksmith’s big arms.
“Zachariah,” she whispered before sobs racked her body. She held him tight, remembering how kind the man had always been to her. And now, she realized, how kind he’d been to Izzy. Otherwise Izzy would never have brought him or any of Sethos’s kin here.
“Talaith, thank you so much,” Zachariah whispered back. “For sacrificing so much for my grandchild. This amazing warrior you’ve bred. You’ve managed to give me my son back. Thank you. Thank you.”
And, holding the old man close to her, Talaith finally allowed herself to mourn the first love she’d ever known, the man who’d managed to give her one of the two greatest gifts she’d been allowed by the gods to receive.
Chapter 44
The most entertaining thing for Éibhear was watching Rhianwen hug her grandmother and great grandmother over and over again, even though they clearly detested being hugged and truly felt it was an inappropriate display of emotion for a Nolwenn witch. Or any witch who planned to study under them.
They sat at the dining table in the Great Hall. Talaith, Briec, and Izzy on one side. Elisa and Haldane on the other. Éibhear at the very end and sweet Rhi constantly moving around the table. What probably could have been the worst day of her life had turned into the best because of Elisa and Haldane. So she was willing to overlook what she’d begun calling “their unfortunate past mistakes regarding my mother.”
Izzy and Talaith however . . . not so much on the forgiving.
“So,” Talaith began, “heard about the welcome you gave your first granddaughter.”
“I was trying to protect myself. I’d assumed you sent someone to kill me,” Haldane tossed back.
“Of course, I didn’t send someone to kill you. Because I’d planned to come and kill you myself. At least that was my dream.”
“Mum,” Rhi said. “Please.”
“It’s all right, Rhianwen. Your mother was always a ridiculous whiner.”
“What’s ridiculous,” Talaith shot back, “is how wide you let your ass grow.”
“Mum!”
“Quickly, Rhi,” Izzy gleefully urged her sister. “Hug grandmother before she gets too angry! Your hugs soothe her so.”
“No, no, Rhianwen, I—” Haldane gritted her teeth, glowering across the table at Izzy while her younger granddaughter hugged her around the neck.
“I’m so glad we’re all together!” Rhi cheered, kissing Haldane’s cheek.
“So am I!” Izzy clapped her hands, her smile bright.
And when Izzy saw Éibhear watching her, she winked at him. That’s when he knew he had to get her alone. Just for a little while. For days they’d been traveling with an entire entourage of humans and dragons, so there had been no time for them to just talk or do anything else they’d enjoy that might involve their being naked.
Éibhear tried to think of a good excuse to get Izzy away from this table, but he never had a chance as Gaius, the Rebel King, and his twin sister Agrippina entered the hall, Uncle Bram behind them. It had been decided that he’d be the one to inform the Irons about their cousin since he was known among the family as the peacemaker.
“You let her go?” Agrippina demanded when she finally stopped at the table, her eyes on Izzy.
“Aye. And I’m sorry, but it wasn’t my choice.”
“What do you mean it wasn’t your choice? I was told you had her. In your grasp.”
“We did.”
“And?”
“And we could not kill her there. I assure you it was not my or Éibhear’s decision. Rhydderch Hael made it quite clear what he wanted and there are times when it’s too much trouble to go against him.”
“Why didn’t you just bring her back here alive then?”
“I felt confident she wouldn’t have survived the trip,” Éibhear admitted, and the smirk on Izzy’s face told him he was right. “And after what had happened to Vateria in the Desert Lands, it would not have looked good for her to die at the hands of Southlanders. I’m sorry. I know that’s not what you want to hear but—”
“Did she do that to you, Izzy?” Gaius asked. He was staring at the wound on the lower left of her jaw, his brow pulled down in concern.
“It’s just a little thing.”
Agrippina closed her eyes, let out a breath.
“Izzy, Éibhear . . . I’m sorry,” she finally said. “I shouldn’t be blaming you for any of this.”
“Do not trouble yourself so,” Izzy said.” I understand hating someone who treated a family member so cruelly that you dream of killing them with your bare hands.” Izzy looked right at Haldane. “Dream of it every damn day.” She focused back on Agrippina. “And, if it helps, I did incapacitate the bitch.”
Gaius grinned. “You mean like you did Vateria’s father?”
“Well . . . she did love him so. And Rhydderch Hael just made it clear she was to be left alive. He didn’t say she needed to be able to fly.”
“You—” Haldane suddenly stepped in—“keep mentioning Rhydderch Hael in such a way as to suggest you speak to him as a friend. Do you expect us to believe
that
? That the father god of all dragons bothers with someone like
you
?”
“Our Izzy,” Briec stated with great pride, “is Rhydderch Hael’s chosen warrior.”
Haldane snorted. “Her?”
That’s when Talaith scrambled across the table, her hands almost around her mother’s throat. But Briec caught his mate, yanked her back, and tossed the cursing, screaming woman over his shoulder. “Well,” he stated calmly, “I’ll see you all at dinner.”
They watched him walk up the stairs with Talaith, then to Éibhear’s surprise, Izzy apologized.
“Gods, I’m so sorry, Haldane. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Haldane practically snarled, while Elisa rubbed her own mouth to hide her smile.
“Are you sure? That was horribly awkward, wasn’t it?” Izzy clapped her hands together. “I know! Rhi . . . hug your grandmother! Soothe the moment!”
“Okay!”
“Rhianwen, no—”
Her grin wide, Izzy asked Haldane, “Now don’t you feel better?”
With her arm around her sister’s shoulders, Izzy stood on the top step outside the Great Hall entrance. Together they ignored the near-violent arguing coming from inside.
“Dinner wasn’t bad, eh?” Izzy said, gazing into the courtyard.
“No. Not bad at all.” Her sister looked at her. “We’re still leaving day after tomorrow, though, yes?”
Izzy laughed. “We’ll miss the harvest festival.”
“I don’t care.”
“It’ll be fine, Rhi.”
“Mum is just so angry.”
“You need to accept the fact that she will never be friends with Haldane.”
“But—”
“Never.”
“But maybe if—”
“Never. Say it with me, Rhi. Nev-errrr.”
Rhi sighed deeply. “All right.”
Izzy kissed her sister’s temple. “Want to stay the night at my house?”
“No.”
Surprised. “Really?”
“Really. You go on.”
Izzy narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. You’re so suspicious.”
“Because in this family I have to be.”
Rhi laughed and hugged her. “See you in the morning.”
“All right.” Izzy whistled. “Macsen! Come on!”
Her dog charged out of the hall and tore off into the darkness. He’d been in great spirits since his brief time playing stud at the Imperial Guard dog kennels.
Izzy followed the dog down the steps, lifting the skirt of her gown so that it didn’t drag on the ground. She briefly stopped at the bottom of the steps though and debated about spending the night in her old room until she heard her mother yell, “You were a bitch when I was sixteen, and you’re a bitch now!”
Followed by Rhi’s plaintive, “
Mum!
”
Izzy shook her head and headed into the forest. It was dark in these woods, but when Izzy saw light in the distance, she knew she was near the group of homes that made up her little neighborhood.
She had almost cleared the trees when Macsen charged past her heading the other way. Izzy immediately pulled out the sword Zachariah had given her and turned, barely blocking the weapon aimed right for her. Izzy shoved the weapon—another sword—away and spun to give herself momentum, slashing at the attacker. But her opponent blocked the move, their weapons locking. Izzy, fed up, stepped close to see who the hell would attack her here, so near her home.
Shocked, Izzy roared, “
Éibhear! What the bloody hells are you doing?
”
“I’ve come to Claim you as my own, Iseabail, Daughter of Talaith and Briec.”
“Oh.” Izzy lowered her weapon at his dramatic announcement. “Why didn’t you say so?” She stepped back. “I’ll go home and get naked.” She turned to head to her house.
“That’s it?” Éibhear asked, sounding disappointed.
Izzy faced him again. “What were you expecting?”
“For you to fight me.”
She re-sheathed her sword and placed her hands on her hips. “Éibhear, I’ve been waiting since I was sixteen for you to get it through your excessively large skull that we would be together forever. And now that we’re here and you’re finally dragon enough to Claim me as your own . . . why would I fight you about that?”
“Because that’s how it’s done.”
“Well, what would I have to do? Because to be quite honest, I’d like to get this moving. My patience is waning.”
“Well . . . do you have any chains?”
“Brannie left a set once—”
“I don’t ever want to know why.”
“Trust me when I say it had absolutely
nothing
to do with sex or having a good time.”
“Do you still have them?”
“I did for a while, but Macsen ate them.”
“He ate chains?”
“And the cuffs. He was shitting metal for weeks. And yes,” she hissed before he could say it, “he really is a dog.”
“If you say so.”
Izzy stepped into Éibhear, wrapping her arms around his waist. “You know, Éibhear. I thought that the Claiming could be anything we wanted it to be.”
He nodded. “That’s true.”
“And let’s be honest. The two of us . . . we could really hurt each other if we went toe to toe.”
“That’s a good point. And I can’t afford to have my beauty marred any more than it already has been. I mean, look at what that thing did to my face.”
“It’s small.” She reached up and stroked the scar on the bridge of his nose. “I think it’s sexy.”
He laughed, his arms tightening around her waist, pulling her closer. “So tell me, beautiful Iseabail…what do you want for your Claiming?”
“For me to be yours and for you to be mine,” she told him, no longer teasing. “I want no more doubts, Éibhear.”
The dragon lifted his hand, stroked her cheek. “Never doubt. Ever. I love you, Izzy. I’ll always love you.”
“And I love you, Éibhear the Contemptible. Since I first met you and your blue hair—that you wouldn’t let me touch.”
“Not letting that go, eh?”
“No and I never will. But I can overlook it, except when I bring it up during arguments I’m losing.”
Éibhear laughed again and kissed her. As always, it started off soft and sweet, both of them still laughing. Then it changed to passionate and demanding.
“Take me home, Éibhear,” she whispered when she finally managed to pull back. “Take me home and make me yours.”
With his hands under her ass, Éibhear lifted Izzy up. As a naturally tall woman, she now felt like one of the old trees of the forest, so very tall, giggling as she pushed Éibhear’s hair off his face and kissed his nose, cheeks, and forehead.
“One thing, Izzy.”
“Of course.”
Éibhear looked down and Izzy followed his gaze. Macsen sat on his haunches watching them, drool pouring out of his mouth and onto the ground, creating a little mud puddle. It was, in a word, vile.
“We’ll drop Macsen at my neighbor’s for the night,” she offered, knowing he didn’t want to have to fight her dog for Izzy’s attention on such an important night.
“That’s all I ask, Iz,” Éibhear said with a smile while he easily carried her home. “That’s all I ask.”