The Phoinix: Age of Demigods (31 page)

“Do you understand why you must learn
to control your emotions?” Cole asked coolly as he pushed Bre out
of the way.

Before Cole fully examined
Eoghan’s injuries, a woman appeared out
of
the tree’s branches. She picked
Eoghan up and cradled him
,
humming softly. She
wore
a brown and green
dress
,
and her
shoes were made of gold
leaves
. She had long, red curly hair
that flowed over her pale white shoulders. a crown of twigs
rested on her head,
with
a few
leaves
that
stuck out, curling
elegantly
.

“Druantia, what are you doing here?”
Brian asked the Queen of the Druids after he and Cailean rushed
towards the one-sided fight.

Druantia stood
up
,
and branches
formed steps for her
to
walk down
.
“This abomination not only damaged my
tree
,
but she
damaged a future Druid.” Druantia peered down, disgusted at
Bre.

Breanna was more
concerned
about getting
Eoghan
back
than she was offended
.
“Abomination? Who in
the…”

“Silence!” Druantia cut
Breanna off
.
“You
do not get to address me. He belongs to my lands and my religion.
You so carelessly fling him about as if he belongs to
you!”

Druantia’s anger exploded and a branch
from the Elm tree slammed into Bre’s abdomen, tossing her
aside.

“I was in favor of
creating The Queen. Peace to the lands would protect
my
nature. But you, you
do more harm than good,” Druantia said, glaring at
Bre
,
Her words
full of venom.

Another branch swung down
and slapped Breanna
,
leaving a giant welt across her face.

“Druantia!” Alina yelled, “I command
you to stop!”

“You command nothing, Fairy Princess.
You left our world behind to marry a savage,” Druantia said,
appalled with the Etruscan Queen.

The same branch swung around to slam
into Alina as it did Breanna. Nikolaos caught the branch with his
hands and snapped it in half. The wood fell lifeless in his
Herculean grip.

Druantia raised an eyebrow
at Nikolaos
. Suddenly,
roots and vines emerged from the ground and wrapped
themselves around the brothers.

Druantia’s lip curled in disgust.
“Savages,” she muttered.

Druantia, still cradling Eoghan in her
arms, moved a hand towards the back of his blood soaked
hair.

Eoghan’s
breathing was
labored
and he winced when the goddess touched his wound.

“Eoghan!” Breanna cried out, but
another branch flew towards her head. This time she rolled out of
its path.

“I do not deem you worthy to speak to
one of my Druids,” Druantia said as she caressed Eoghan’s
head.

“She is The Queen,
Druantia. She meant no harm to Eoghan or to the Druids. She has
only just come into her powers, but she is learning quickly. She
will be able to control them soon,” Brian
interjected, trying
to diffuse the
goddess’s anger.

“She has come into
half
her powers,”
Druantia corrected
.
“Imagine what she could have done if she contained the rest
of it!”

Eoghan’s eyes fluttered
open to see who
cradled
him. To his astonishment, he woke up to Druantia,
Queen of the Druids. He sat up and took a knee, bowing to the
goddess. “Druantia! My queen, forgive me.”

Druantia raised his head
so he could look into her golden eyes. “You have nothing to be
forgiven for, my sweet.” Druantia lightly kissed
the
top of his forehead
and Eoghan slumped over again
,
unconscious.

Brian and Cailean moved to
grab him
, but
before they reached him, Druantia
scooped
Eoghan
back up
in her arms.

“Where are you taking him?” Cailean
asked in an attempt to stop Druantia. He needed to stall the
goddess so Brian had time to figure out how to get Eoghan back. To
his surprise, Brian remained silent.

“I have been watching you all
carefully, especially Eoghan here. You have taught him well, dear
Brian, as have you, my sweet Cailean. However, this girl you call
the future Queen has abused the blessing that is my loving Eoghan.
I provided the Druids as a gift to her cause and she has abused it.
Therefore, I am taking my gift back.”

“He is my best friend. I never meant
harm to him, I swear,” pleaded Breanna.

“
You may not have meant
harm, but harm has been done. How many opportunities to prove
yourself worthy do you deserve, Princess? How many times will you
hurt my precious Eoghan?” She stroked his head
lovingly.
“He is noble and kind,
strong and brave. He is a king in training
, and
a king he will be!”

In a gust of wind
and
leaves
Druantia disappeared with Eoghan. When she
left
,
the roots
and vines released their hold on the brothers.

“Where did they go?” Breanna
frantically asked Brian.

“I am afraid to believe that she is
taking him to the closest nemeton, which is at Arras,” answered
Brian, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Perfect, it’s on the way,” Lysandros
replied and then stormed off to gather the horses.

“That may be so, but if
Druantia was powerful here, she
will
be
even more powerful on sacred ground. We
have to be careful
.
We were lucky to survive this encounter,” Cailean warned,
staring at Nik and his brothers.

“If she hurts him, so help
me I will bring the full force of Tartarus down
on
her,” Breanna said
en
raged, clenching h
er fists.

“First of all, you are not
the daughter of Death
;
secondly, Mother may be able to do that
;
and thirdly, Druantia will not
harm him. If she is indeed taking him to a nemeton, she plans on
marrying him and making him King of the Druids. She would wait
until the next new moon to perform the ceremony. This means we have
a week to get there,” said Cole
,
sounding
pessimistic
.

“That may be a problem,” Brian
worried, trying to calculate how quickly they could get to
Arras.

“
Do you think Grandfather
will help?” Nikolaos asked Alina.

“No. Druantia and Arawn have an
intimate past that did not end well,” Alina replied.

“Hold on! What do you mean she plans
to marry him? She is a goddess and he is a mortal. I thought it was
taboo for goddesses to marry mortals. Mother married a demigod and
she was expelled from the fairy world.” A knot formed in Bre’s
stomach at the thought of never seeing Eoghan again.

“Druantia is not just a
goddess.
On top of
being the Queen of the Druids and a goddess of nature, she is
also a fertility goddess. Fertility goddesses can marry and mate
with whomever they please because they make the rules regarding
love,” Alina explained.

“We have another problem,”
Cailean added. “If Druantia feels he is not solely hers, she will…”
Cailean paused and looked at Breanna
.
“Eoghan may be smart, but she is a
love goddess and will see right through his lies.”

“Yes, that does pose a problem,” Brian
folded his arms.

“Will someone please explain?” Breanna
pleaded, restless and sick to her stomach.

“
If Druantia becomes aware
that he has affections for another, she will kill him,” Cole
answered bluntly.

“Affections for whom? He has never had
time for affections.” Breanna snapped her fingers and their camp
was packed and loaded on to the horses.

“You are
young
,
aren’t
you?” Leo situated himself on his horse after Lysandros returned.
He smiled and patted
Bre
patronizingly on the top of her head.

Alina trotted up on Lightning and
laughed lightly, “Oh Sweetheart, affections for you.”

The group sped off with Brian and
Cailean in the lead, leaving Breanna behind, speechless, trying to
process Eoghan having feelings for her.

Whisper huffed and snapped
her out of her thoughts
.
“Alright, let’s go boy. We have a wedding to
break up.”

Chapter 25

The Betrothed

D
ruantia and Eoghan arrived at the entrance of the Nemeton of
Arras.
The
outside of the nemeton was a wall of trees and vines
that protected
the
sacred grove inside. The entranceway was an arched tunnel made of
ivy leaves and white flowers. Druantia could see people on the
opposite end, but the passageway into the nemeton was
long
, and
the
figures looked like green blotches.

Druantia laid the still unconscious
Eoghan on the ground and walked to the threshold of the
grove.

Two muscular Celtic
warriors, daring enough to look Druantia in the eyes, met her at
the entrance and refused her refuge. They wore full Gaelic war
armor. They each carried a sword and several daggers, with a bow
and quiver strapped to their backs. The warriors looked similar,
brothers no
more
than two years apart.

Druantia smiled and
seductively swayed towards them
,
attempting
to lure them into a euphoric
trance. She bit her lower
,
strawberry colored lip and blew them each a
kiss.

“Now, now, Cadman, you
know who I am,” Druantia said and ran a finger down one of
the
warriors’ breastplates.
She lightly dragged her finger across his
collarbone as she walked around him.

Her touch sent a shiver
through Cadman’s body
,
but he remained silent. She turned to the other guard when
Cadman did not
pay
the slightest attention to her efforts. “Caedmon,” Druantia
sighed and dragged her finger up and down the warriors bicep, “Come
now, my dear, you do remember me, don’t you?”

She whispered in his ear
and a crooked smile appeared on the warriors face. Druantia turned
back to Cadman and whispered in his ear,
causing him to reveal
the same
wicked smile.

The guards quickly came back to their
senses and shook off the mischievous look. “We do remember you,
Druantia, which is why we cannot let you pass into Arras,” Caedmon
responded.

Druantia knew she would
get into the sacred grove one way or another. Her face hardened and
she petulantly pushed her shoulders back
.
“Listen to me
.
I am your queen and you will let
me pass.”

Both guards drew their swords and
stabbed the blades into the ground. A line of fire spread across
the entranceway, blocking the goddess.

“You will not enter the
grove. The Druidess has seen what you want and will not grant your
marriage,” Cadman said, trying to
avoid
eye contact
.

Roots sprung from the
ground and tree limbs leaned towards the goddess as she shouted,
“
I am your queen!
”

In her temper tantrum,
Druantia’s foot accidentally slid into the fire and flames engulfed
her dress. However, the flames quickly extinguished when a female
in a simple white tunic and girdle made of bronze covering her
breasts and torso exited the nemeton. She carried a pale yellow
staff made of yew and a gold sword
that
hung from her hip. Her
dirty-blonde hair
was
pulled back into a bun, held together by a silver dagger. Her
delicate
,
feminine features slightly resembled the two brothers
guarding the nemeton,
with the
same cheekbones and blue eyes.

Druantia’s anger grew when the
Druidess laughed at the goddess’ burnt appearance.

“What exactly are you laughing at,
Haley?” Druantia said through gritted teeth, barely able to control
her temper.

Haley calmed her laughter
and clutched at her stomach
,
slowly catching her breath
.
“It’s just…you look ridiculous,
Dru.” Haley burst out laughing again.