A Warrior's Quest (21 page)

***

Aureliana knew all in the courtyard were watching her and the Laquazzean she now knew was Phaenna. She hadn’t been a Beansidhe at all, but had only taken the guise of such.

You
’ll have such abilities, when you have need of them.
Phaenna spoke inside her mind, the thousand voices she’d used previously condensed in to one.
It took me a while to understand all of mine.

How was this possible? Why was I chosen? I
’ve never heard of someone becoming Laquazzeana. I’ve heard they’ve all gone mad. All who have tried.
 Aureliana felt each question pour from her mind into the
other
Laquazzean. She recognized Phaenna now, too. The old woman who’d placed Thas in her arms was now in the guise of a beautiful woman with warm brown skin and eyes of the greenest Aureliana had ever seen. Which was the real her? Aureliana suspected she’d never know.

Those who have tried for greed or power. Not those of the Chosen
Laquazzeana, the babe you call Thas, he is the child of two Laquazzeana who aspired to greater powers than even the oldest of our Kind possessed. They lost their souls through their own choice of darkness. They were able to sustain each other only long enough for you to be given their babe. It is
you
who are the start of a new Kind, not just the babe. Your younglings will be of this Kind. You are merely the
first.
And they will help the worlds grow together in peace.
If
you can protect these realms from what is to come.”

What
is that?
It chilled her, even to think of the term. Instinctive response? Or something that was a part of her now?

None of us know. Not of what it is or
who
it is. But the gods and goddesses, the demons and various Kinds that populate the eighteen realms, none are as strong as this coming. But
you
and the other
Asceshian
will be. You must.

Others. There would be more that this happened to. Who? Did she know them? Why? Why them, why her?

And would she be able to do it? She felt so different now…
But…

Is this really what you want to know now, Aureliana? Or would your heart be perhaps more filled with the love of your mate and the children you will raise together?

Ren!
Where was he? Why could she not remember what had happened to him? And dear goddess, what of the babes—Thas and Cerridwen, and little Zephra? Kindara and Rathan, Danae and Bronie? Where were they, were they all safe?
Where is he?

Look around you, my dearest sister, Great Mother. Your loved ones await…For
you
to guide them.

Aureliana looked at the people surrounding them, and saw Phaenna was correct. Everyone watched her. Everyone—there was Kindara, sheltered in Rathan
’s arms.
He
was filthy, covered in the blue mud the likes she’d never seen before. But at least the demons hadn’t killed him. Bronwen was there, glowing like she always did when she healed. There was a large male hovering over her. Koios.

Danae and Zephra were nearby
, the second Warrior Twin King behind them.

Theo and his
Rajni,
Cormac, and his. Aodhan. Her brother was there, a bloody gash over his head that Kindara was trying to tend to. Mallory was in his arms, was she hurt? Her and her sister had once been human. Demons and battles were bound to horrify them. She’d make a point of checking on them herself soon. First, she needed Ren and the babes.

The crowd parted for her. And then he was there. Big, muddy. Purple.

He was still in his purple battle skin. Did he realize that?

She started toward him.

He was watching her, a look of awe and vulnerability on his face. People moved out of her way. No one spoke until she got close to her brother. His eyes were wet from tears. That was something she wasn’t used to seeing from her brother. Mallory was on her feet now, pale and silent. Aureliana hugged her sister-in-law, then her brother. She loved her family so much, and they were the majority of it. She told them that then walked on.

Bronwen was next; she paused in her healing long enough for Aureliana to hug her.

When she did, she held Bronwen tighter. She didn’t know how she knew it, but everything in her told her that Bronwen would face her own destiny soon. She told Bronwen she loved her; something she had said before to this woman she’d helped raise. Bronwen was as cherished by her as Jierra was.

Rathan and Kindara held each other tightly. This
fight
would have been especially difficult for Kindara—the fear that she would lose Rathan had to be something Kinney dealt with daily. Aureliana knew exactly how Kindara had felt.

Ren was beside his brother, the children cradled in his strong arms now. Cerridwen no longer glowed—thank the deities—and she was happily sleeping on her father
’s shoulder. Thas fussed, but Ren held him tightly. More lovingly than he ever had before. Did he realize that?

She stopped in front of him. Felt sudden awkwardness hit her, despite the
newness
she felt.

What was she supposed to say to him now? He was filthy. But she wasn
’t much better.  She took care of that with one tiny thought, removing the mud, blood, and everything else from their clothes and skin.

“Some new trick you can do, pet?”

“One of a few.”

What did it mean for them? Would they be able to be together now? Was he still her
Rajni?

She was a Laquazzean, more of a deity now than the girl goddess she had worshiped her entire life. What would that mean for her now? For them?

He took the next move, passing the babes off to Mickey and Mallory. Then his arms were open and Aureliana was in them. She laid her head on his chest and wept, the enormity of everything that had happened to her—them—in the last few hours too much for her to process just then.

Her world had tilted on its axis the moment she
’d accepted her fate. The moment she’d looked at Phaenna and
knew
what lay ahead for herself. She couldn’t explain it, even now. But what had happened was meant to happen. Why she didn’t know. How she would cope was something she didn’t know, either. But she would.

His hand fisted in her hair, now loose and clean. The other arm was hooked around her back and he used it to yank her closer to his chest. “Damned fool girl. Must you always get yourself in to these scrapes? Taking on a damned Beansidhe?”

“Phaenna was never a Beansidhe. I know that now.” The other Laquazzean wasn’t; she was just a woman like Aureliana. With a bit
more
thrown in to the mix. But how could she make him understand that? “She just needed a way to get me here. Where I needed to be. And a way to get Thas to me. Where
he
needed to be.”

“I do not understand.”

“She gave me him. To raise. Because his parents were what
I
am now. But they…they lost themselves. And only lived to birth him. I’m entrusted with him now.” Because she was entrusted with so much more. It wasn’t just her and Thas that were the start of this new Kind. But Ren too. Because his blood flowed in her veins. And because he was one who had fed Thas besides her. His blood flowed in Thas, too. And in Cerridwen.
They
were the start of something new.

Did he know that yet? Did he realize what they had been entrusted with?

He pulled away from her and she looked up at him. His face was somber, sincere. “I will protect you.”

“You
’ve said that before. I’ve always known I could protect myself when the time came.” And she could. She had proven that tonight.
She’d
gone with Phaenna willingly; she hadn’t been forced or taken. Everything had been her choice. “And I did. I will. More is coming, Ren. And I will be there.”

“Then so will I.” He smiled that arrogant Warrior Demon grin that drove her wild. “For from this day forth, you and I
gamata
,
Rajnis¸
or whatever you want to call it. More. We are fated. You will never get rid of me, now, pet. I am
yours.
”

So he was. So he was.

Aureliana jumped in to his arms, and wrapped hers around his neck. He kissed her, hard, there in the midst of their families and friends, in the middle of his brother’s ruined courtyard, with the oddest blue rain falling around them.

She knew it didn
’t come from Phaenna anymore.
She
was responsible for the blue rain. She controlled it with these newfound
gifts
of hers...Gifts that were given so that she could protect the realms and all the vulnerable and weak in those realms.

Phaenna had called her Great Mother.

Aureliana understood there was significance to the name. What it was she didn’t know. That would come in time, she was certain.

There were a lot of things she was certain of, and that were so dark she knew she would never understand them. What was she supposed to think about that?

She didn’t know. But for now…for now she’d focus on the male in her arms and the two babes who needed a mother. On the family they would make between them.

That was all that really mattered at the moment.

Everything else could wait.

For now.

Aureliana woke wrapped in her
Rajni’s
arms. Blue arms.

He was satisfied with himself, then. She contented herself with running her fingers through the dark hair spread over his pillow. Her
Rajni
was a definite bed hog. She didn’t mind. He’d done a pretty fair job of keeping her warm throughout the night.

Apparently Laquazzean were just as susceptible to the cold as Dardaptoans. At least she was.

A whisper of a thought had her slipping from Ren’s arms. He protested, but Aureliana kissed him and whispered where she was going. Where she was needed. Demon black eyes opened partway. “I will be there shortly.” But his hands wandered over her front. Intent. “Or we can start on another spawn of our own.”

“Kindara needs me, now.
You
can wait.” He’d had her more than enough the night before.

He threw the blanket back and stretched. “I am not so certain that I can.”

“Well, you will have to. I am going now.” Kindara’s pains grew closer. Aureliana wasn’t sure how she knew it, but she did. “The babe will be here soon.”

“
Our
spawn is waking. He’ll be demanding his pint soon.” Ren rolled on his stomach, exposing a magnificent male behind. A still
blue
behind. He sighed, then pulled the pillow over his head. “Go. He will be well with his father.”

Her heart softened toward him. He meant what he said. She was still uncertain what exactly had happened to her
Rajni
in that hut with Phaenna—he refused to speak of it—but whatever it was it had softened him toward Thas. Considerably.

They had spent much of the evening talking of their plans and what was to happen next. They were in agreement on most things, especially the future of little Cerridwen and Thas. The two babes would be raised with her as mother and him as father. And nothing would interfere with that.

Aureliana slipped into her clothing and shoes. Pulled her hair back in a loose bun.

Kindara needed her now. More so than ever.

Aureliana joined Rathan and the healer Phelius, Bronwen, and Bronwen’s older brother Thad in the king’s suite. Barlaam headed up the healers, and he was examining Kindara when she entered.

Kindara looked up when Aureliana walked toward the bed. Her friend held out a hand and Aureliana took it, reminded of that horrible day thirty years ago when Kindara had miscarried Iavius
’s babe. Today would not be a repeat of that day, or of the day that Alita and so many of their friends had been lost.

Aureliana
knew
that with every instinct she possessed. Every moment she had ever spent with Kindara ran through her mind, and threatened to overwhelm her. It was a new skill she would never get used to. She sat down beside Kindara on the bed. Rathan was behind her friend, holding her tightly, in a prime position to give Kindara blood if needed. He was far paler than Aureliana had ever seen him, and sweat—she hadn’t realized demons
could
perspire—beaded on his forehead.

He was terrified, but Kindara was oddly not. “Jierra comes soon. Cormac went to fetch her and the babes.”

“That’s good. How are you feeling?” Aureliana knew; she could so easily read the thoughts of those around her now, though she would never intrude. She would have to speak to Cormac about filters to prevent her from invading privacy. “The babe?”