A Passionate Magic (34 page)

“We are wanton,” she whispered.

“I do hope so,” he replied, and bent to kiss
her shoulder.

Turning her head, she touched her tongue to
the corner of his mouth. She felt his shiver of response deep in
her bones.

Dain kissed her throat and her ears, her
eyelids and her chin. She swayed toward him, wanting his arms
around her, but he drew back a little, to look into her eyes.

“You are mine,” he said.

“Only if you are mine, also.”

“Will you never be obedient?” He sounded more
perplexed than annoyed.

“I doubt it, my lord,” she told him.

There remained an inch or two of space
between them and Emma could no longer bear even that slight
separation. She stepped forward, put her arms around his shoulders,
and kissed him on the lips.

His strong arms almost crushed the breath out
of her. Dain lifted her off her feet and laid her on the blanket.
He came down firmly on top of her, letting her feel his need,
making clear his possession, telling her without words that she
did, indeed, belong to him. He kissed her as if he would never get
enough of her heated response, and he caressed every inch of her
quivering skin.

“This cave is a magical place,” he whispered
so harshly that Emma knew he was making a desperate effort to
restrain his ardor for just a little longer.

“But you don’t fear magic,” she said, and
shifted her legs a bit to let him know she welcomed his increasing
pressure against her liquid heat.

“You are the magic. I do not fear you,
Emma.”

She was unable to answer, for as he spoke
Dain made them one, and Emma shook in the grip of an all-consuming
pleasure. The wonder that lay between them seized her, holding her
enthralled, opening her body completely to his driving masculine
presence.

Only dimly, as from a great distance, did
Emma hear her voice and Dain’s crying out together at the final
moment. She felt the warm rush of Dain’s seed. The same magical
knowledge that had once told her Dain was her true mate now
informed her in a blaze of joy that in their joining they were
creating a child. She was granted only an instant in which to
accept that wondrous truth before the convulsions of her release
came upon her and she lost awareness of time and place for a long,
enchanted eternity of love.

“Now that the bandits are routed,” Dain said,
“and you and Vivienne are safe, I have one more important duty to
perform.” They were lying together on Hermit’s blanket, still
naked, and Dain’s palm brushed lightly over Emma’s breast, stirring
a gentler fire than the demanding one they had recently
extinguished. She turned to him with a smile that vanished when she
heard his next words.

“I must go to Tawton Abbey and inform my
mother that her plan to murder you and my sister has gone awry and,
furthermore, the man she sent to perform the deeds is dead,
himself.”

”I do still wonder what message Wade carried
for her,” Emma said, “and to whom it went.”

“Perhaps she will tell me.” Dain sat up,
reaching for his shirt. “We ought to return before Todd brings
men-at-arms to the beach to search for us. He’s remarkably
efficient. What’s this?”

Dain dug his fingers into the sand where his
feet and Emma’s had churned up the surface of the cave floor. He
drew forth a golden crescent, twin to the one Vivienne had placed
on his pillow weeks ago.

“Where do you suppose it was made?” he asked,
holding it up for Emma to see.

“Agatha says there are bits and pieces of
ancient jewelry to be found all along this coast,” Emma said. “They
were left here by folk who sailed to these shores centuries ago,
looking for tin.”

“Take it.” Dain put the crescent into her
hand and folded her fingers around it. “If you like, I’ll have it
fastened on a chain for you to wear, to remind you of the magical
hours we’ve spent here.”

Emma took the suggestion as a sign of hope,
believing Dain would not have made it if he planned to rid himself
of his non-submissive wife. Yet the bitter truth was that their
wild and passionate love-making had not resolved the differences
between them over what she was, and what he wanted his wife to
be.

There was, also, the matter of the newly
generated presence that she must keep secret from Dain until she
knew with absolute certainty whether he loved her, or merely wanted
her. If she told him what he had given her in the last, sweet
instant of their joining, the knowledge would influence him in her
favor. She wanted Dain to love her for herself, not for what she
carried, still unformed, deep within. She had a few months before
she must reveal her priceless secret, or he guessed it. She told
herself to be patient, and to hope, and to trust in Dain.

***

“Why travel to Tawton?” she said as they
walked along the beach toward the pathway up the cliff. The tide
had gone out while they were in the cave, so there was no chance of
either of them getting wet, but from the lowering clouds and the
oily look of the sea the storm would not be long in coming, and
then the waves would crash upon the rocks and the beach would be
impassable. “Confronting Lady Richenda, knowing what she has done
and listening to her vituperations will only upset you.”

“She will never cease to plot against you and
Vivienne until I face her down and formally disown her,” Dain
said.

“You need not see her, if you’d rather not. I
know of an alternative, a way to put an end to her wicked scheming,
but I won’t do it without your permission.”

“Permission to do what?” He faced her with a
frown.

“To cast a spell on Lady Richenda, to make
her sweet and docile.”

“No mere human could achieve such an
alteration in her nature,’ Dain scoffed. “Not even by magic.”

“No one human could,” Emma agreed. “However,
Vivienne and I, together, can do it. If Agatha will agree to join
us, the three of us can create a spell so powerful that no one will
be strong enough to break it. Then we will all be permanently safe
from Lady Richenda.”

“It’s cowardly of me to dread seeing her
again,” Dain said. “She is my mother and I owe her respect and
affection, yet she is so wicked that even Father Maynard wants
nothing more to do with her. He told me he’s glad she is gone from
Penruan.”

“Once the spell is cast, if you want to visit
her, she will be kind, and grateful for your presence, and never
speak a word against Vivienne, or me. I propose to suppress certain
parts of her memory, so Lady Richenda can no longer recall the
hatreds that have driven her for so long, or the wicked things she
has done out of hatred.”

“All that rage and jealousy, forgotten? There
is an odd justice in such a sentence,” Dain mused. “But what of her
health?”

“The spell I intend to use will not affect
her physical well-being. The illness with which she’s already
afflicted will continue its natural progress, for magic cannot
alter its course. As I told you once before, Lady Richenda will
live for some years yet. If you are concerned about my intentions
toward her, if you cannot trust me on this matter, speak to
Vivienne, or to Agatha. Either of them will confirm what I have
just said. Lady Richenda will not be harmed, though from time to
time she may be puzzled to realize there are details of her past
that she cannot recall. I suspect those around her will find relief
in the change and will comfort her with the explanation that her
forgetfulness is the result of her increasing age,” Emma ended
dryly.

“I will consider your suggestion, and I will
consult Vivienne and Agatha,” Dain said. “Not because I lack trust
in you, but because I find myself so eager to accept the simple
solution you offer. I fear making a hasty choice that could be
unfair to my mother. I, too, would find relief in the opportunity
to visit her and hold a pleasant conversation with her, free of her
usual ranting. But, however much she appears to change, I will
never allow her to return to Penruan. Does my hardness shock you,
Emma?”

“Not a bit. Like you, I grew up with a mother
who was unpleasant, to say the least. I also understand your
reluctance. We are taught from our earliest years to honor our
parents. It’s difficult to change.”

“Yes.” He took her hand and raised it to his
lips. “But change we must, if we are not to be doomed by past
mistakes.”

They separated when they reached the castle
gate, Dain excusing himself to climb the stair to the battlements
and a conference with Todd. Emma strolled contentedly toward the
keep, a smile curving her lips and hope warming her heart, while in
the deepest recess of her woman’s body the miracle that, thanks to
her magic, she had been aware of from the very instant of its
generation settled safely into its appointed place and began to
grow.

***

The storm broke suddenly in late afternoon,
bringing with it howling wind and heavy rain. The inhabitants of
Penruan huddled indoors, with only a minimal guard sent to man the
walls, for only madmen would choose to attack on such a night. Dain
never appeared in the lord’s chamber, though Emma doubted if the
storm was keeping him away. She thought it more likely he was using
the nighttime hours to consider the suggestion she had made about
his mother. In the morning, the shadows under his eyes and the
haggard lines of his face told her how torn he was between facing
down Lady Richenda at Tawton Abbey to accuse her of conspiring to
have murder done and ordering her into stricter confinement there,
against handing her future well-being over to three sorceresses,
every one of whom had compelling reasons for disliking the lady.
Dain being Dain, he’d want to do what was right and just and fair,
and the decision was a terrible one for any son to have to
make.

In mid-morning the rain stopped and the skies
began to clear. At the first beams of sunshine Agatha presented
herself in the great hall.

“I’ve come to check on Hermit’s condition,”
she said to Emma, “and on the other wounded men.”

“I’m glad you’re here,” Emma responded. “I
rather think Dain will want to speak with you in private.” She then
told her friend about the suggestion she had made, and Agatha
nodded with satisfaction.

“It would provide an admirable solution.
Otherwise, Lady Richenda will continue to attempt to destroy you,
and Vivienne, too. I will be happy to assure Dain that the greatest
harm his mother will experience will be the quashing of her
murderous impulses. Now, let me see Hermit.”

As soon as the midday meal was over, Dain met
with Agatha in the lord’s chamber. A short time later he sent
Hawise to ask Emma and Vivienne to join them.

“Agatha has banished the last traces of my
reluctance,” Dain said to Emma. “I spoke with Vivienne earlier and
she has agreed to seek no other redress from my mother than the
spell. You may work it whenever you wish. Is there anything you
require of me beyond my approval?”

“You may stay,” Vivienne said, “provided you
promise not to interrupt once we have begun.”

“You are going to do it now?” Dain sounded
startled.

“Why wait?” asked Agatha. “All three of us
are together, in private. Let us have an end to Lady Richenda’s
wickedness.”

”A fine punishment,” Dain said. ”A woman who
hates magic, to be held fast by magic and never know why she has
changed her ways, or even that she has changed. Well, she prevented
me from knowing my own sister, and from recalling several years of
my life. Yes, let it be done immediately.”

“Before we can begin,” Emma said, “where is
Wade’s talisman? As I recall, Dain, you put it in your tunic after
he threw it at you.”

“I gave it to Father Maynard, to keep or to
do with it whatever he wants,” Dain answered.

“Good,” Agatha said. “If it were in this
room, it could act as an antidote against the working of the spell.
But not if it’s safe with a priest who will guard it carefully.
Now, Dain, stand back and remain silent.”

“I will,” Dain promised, and put his
shoulders against the door to keep it closed, in case anyone should
interrupt. No one except the four of them knew what they were
doing, so it was always possible for someone to seek him out with a
problem or a request.

All of the women looked hard at him for a
moment before setting about their magical business. Dain assumed
they had noted and approved his serious mood, which well befitted a
lord who was allowing just punishment to be administered. Secretly,
he was filled with trepidation. It struck him as a peculiar time
and place for magical incantations; not midnight, but during a
clear afternoon; not on a foggy moor or deep in a chilly and hidden
cave, but in the lord’s chamber with the windows wide open to the
warm air of an early autumn day and the golden sunlight streaming
in to soften the gray stone walls.

Emma, Vivienne, and Agatha stood in a circle,
their eyes closed, holding hands. They were silent for a time, and
Dain was careful not to move or make a sound that might disturb
their concentration. Agatha began the spell by speaking in a
language Dain could not understand, though he believed it was the
same tongue she had used to call Vivienne forth from her hiding
place inside the cave. Next, Vivienne spoke, using a different
language, this one totally alien to Dain.

Finally, it was Emma’s turn. Dain could not
understand a word she said, but he marveled at the rich, poetic
sound of her voice, pitched to a deeper note than he was used to
hearing from her. Emma’s face was intent, and he knew she had moved
deep inside herself, to a place where she and Vivienne and Agatha
were joined in their trancelike state, a place where he could never
venture.

Demanding, primitive, masculine need clamored
inside him, urging him to seize his wife and shake her hard, to
bring her back from her mystical trance to recognition of her duty
to him and to their marriage. He reminded himself forcefully that
what Emma was doing she was doing for his sake, and for his
sister’s safety, and he set aside his selfish male pride and tried
to understand and appreciate Emma’s inborn calling. She could not
help what she was, and she used her ability for good. Agatha had
told him so, and he knew Agatha would not lie to him about
something so important. Perhaps, Dain reasoned, he ought to have
trusted Emma from the beginning, and not required someone else to
confirm her honesty.