Christina Phillips - [Forbidden 01] (45 page)

“Carys, move.” His voice was harsh as he tugged her brutally toward the forest. “We don’t have much time. Your kin need to leave this area before the Legion arrives. Do you understand?”

She shot him a comprehending glance as they ran through the whipping grasses. “Yes.” Relief meshed with awe, and she shivered with fear. Maximus was going against his beloved Rome to repay the debt of life she’d given his Legion. Would he ever be able to forgive her?

When they finally reached the cromlech—how short the journey seemed now, when there was no need to circumnavigate the area and backtrack to avoid leaving noticeable pathways—few Druids remained and Druantia’s body had vanished.

“Carys.” Morwyn rushed toward her and gripped her arm, steadfastly ignoring Maximus. “We’ve been searching for you. Hurry; we’re to leave instantly for—” She snapped her lips together and shot Maximus a suspicious glance. “To where your mother awaits you.”

The Isle of Mon. The Druids’ most sacred sanctuary.

“No.” Pain engulfed her heart, crushed her lungs, at the knowledge she might never see her mother again, might never see any of her kin again.

This was the sacrifice her goddess claimed. And it was a sacrifice that would forever wound her spirit.

But the alternative meant she would never again see Maximus.

Morwyn shook her arm. “We have to leave. Gather our strength once again. But we will come back, and we will reclaim Cymru for our own.”

Panic clutched deep inside, cold and deadly. Her vision had shown her the end of Druidry. The end of everything they held dear,
unless they embraced Rome
. But how could her culture survive alongside the unrelenting claws of the Eagle, if all her fellow Druids left?

“Stay, Morwyn. You and Gawain and any others who will listen.”
And let her mother return
. “Our people need us now, before they forget all the old ways.”

Morwyn gave her an odd look, as if she didn’t understand what Carys could mean. “They’ll never forget our ways. And we’ll return in a moon or less, as soon as the anger of the gods diminishes.” Her tone held no doubt, as if the devastating events of this eve could be easily forgiven, easily forgotten. Her fingers tightened on Carys’s arm. “Carys, you can’t stay. The Romans will crucify you.”

“Rome will never touch Carys.” Maximus unlaced their fingers and wound his arm around her shoulders. “We’re not complete barbarians. We can honor a foreign princess.”

Morwyn flicked him a disbelieving glance. “The Morrigan commands we leave now,” she said, turning back to Carys. “Before the cursed Romans arrive.”

A chill entered her heart, shivered along her arteries, as a certainty threaded through her brain. A certainty that solidified and expanded and became absolute.

She stood at the crossroads.

The all-seeing Morrigan, who could no longer see Carys, demanded her Druids follow her down her path.

And Cerridwen, standing by the other path, demanded nothing but the continuance of her sacred Cauldron—or perhaps her Flame—of Knowledge.

By whatever means necessary.

This moment was the reason the Morrigan had turned from her at the hour of her birth
.

The reason why, in that prophetic vision, the goddess had held her accountable; because Carys’s destiny was entirely within her control.

She cupped Morwyn’s jaw and gently stroked her thumb over her split lip. “I’m staying, Morwyn, to be with the man I love. The one Cerridwen brought to Cymru.” She hitched in a shaky breath. “Tell my mother she’s forever with me.”

Morwyn’s eyes sparkled in the light of the fires. “I’ll miss you, Carys.” There was a choke in her voice, and as they embraced, Morwyn whispered, “Goddess be with you, my princess.”

As Morwyn pulled back and turned and fled into the forest, a great, molten rock throbbed in the center of Carys’s chest. She gasped, pressed her hands to her breasts, as the agony engulfed her in a wave of despairing grief.

Maximus dragged her roughly in his arms and she clung to him, fighting back the tears, fighting back the sensation of utter isolation.

“Don’t cry.” His voice was gruff. “I’m sorry it came to this, Carys. But, gods, I couldn’t bear to lose you.” His hold tightened, crushing her bones, squeezing the breath from her lungs. “I love you, Celt.” He dragged in a harsh breath. “I love you,
Druid
. Stay with me because you want to, not because your goddess commands it.”

I love you, Druid
. She gave a gasping laugh that sounded like a sob, but it didn’t matter because Maximus accepted who she was,
what
she was, even though it went against everything Rome stood for.

“I wanted to stay with you when I thought that was the last thing my goddess wanted.” She freed her arms and speared her fingers through his hair, his short military hair that fascinated her as much now as it ever had. “I’ll always be a Druid, Maximus. It’s what I am.”

He gave a heavy sigh and slid her braid through his fisted hand. “I’ll learn to live with it.”

She had to tell him. “I’m glad you didn’t have to betray Rome by warning my kin, Maximus. I’m glad they’d already made the decision to leave.”

His fingers stilled on her hair. “It wouldn’t have been betrayal. I promised you I’d never harm your kin.” His sigh echoed through the core of her existence, the foundation of her love. “I’ll always honor my promises to you, Carys.”

And in the distance, vibrating through the earth at her feet, she felt the approach of the Roman Legion.

Flanked by Branwen and Efa, Carys stood in the center of the Roman road and watched the distant Legion march steadily toward her. Despite Morwyn’s promise that the Druids would soon return, there had been no word from them. And no matter how close she had grown to the two women by her side, they could never replace Morwyn in her heart. Had she even reached the Isle of Mon? Would she ever discover the fate of her dearest friend and fellow Druids?

She drew in a shaky breath and concentrated on the advancing Legion. Today, Maximus returned to Cymru from his assignment in Britain. And soon, after she became his wife in the eyes of Rome, she would leave her homeland forever.

Late that afternoon, when they were once again dressed after hours of frantic lovemaking, Maximus took her hand and pulled her toward him. During the six moons that had passed since the creation of the Flame of Knowledge, his burnt skin had healed, and, although he would be forever scarred, he was still the most beautiful, magnificent man she had ever encountered.

“Come. There’s something I want to show you.”

A brief flash of dizziness overcame her, so swift she half wondered if she’d imagined it, but there was no imagining the absolute sense of surety that flooded her mind.

She laughed and pressed his hand against her womb. “Our daughter is conceived.”

The conspiratorial smile on his face froze and his glance dropped. “You know this?” His tone was awed.

“It’s fitting our first should be conceived in the land of her fore-mothers.” She tried to keep her voice light, so he wouldn’t guess how much the thought of moving and living among the heathen Britons still distressed her.

She knew there was no choice. Maximus would always go wherever he was commanded, and the only way they could be together was if he commanded elsewhere than Cymru.

It was the reason he’d been gone these last eight weeks. So Rome could have no reason to decree their union unlawful, on the grounds Maximus had taken a wife from his province.

His prejudiced Emperor had also been influenced by the knowledge she was a princess of Cymru and had been instrumental in leading Maximus to the High Druid, who’d planned to decimate the entire country.

It wasn’t the truth but, as Maximus had wearily explained, it was politics. And it had worked.

“Carys.” He cradled her jaw with one hand, while his other tenderly caressed her belly. “We’ll return to Cambria. Many times. Our children will know of their dual heritage, I promise you.”

Their children would be born Romans. To survive, she would adapt, and teach her children all she knew. And she knew that before Britain burned, they would return to Rome, and it was something she would never share with Maximus because he would insist on staying, insist on fighting, but the continuance of their bloodline was paramount and she’d allow nothing to jeopardize that future.

Druantia’s voice echoed in her mind.
Selfish
.

Yes. Perhaps she was. Perhaps so too was Cerridwen. But how could it be wrong to find a way, without bloodshed, to ensure the ancient knowledge of her people wasn’t lost forever?

They rode from the town on his horse, and she leaned back, soaking in the knowledge that he was back with her, where he belonged.

“When do we leave?” Aquila was remaining in Cymru, but along with handpicked centurions, Efa, Branwen and her grandfather, who’d rediscovered the joy of living during the last few moons, were accompanying them, along with several other locals who wanted travel and adventure.

“We’ll be married tomorrow, and leave soon after.” His arm tightened around her waist. “I know the Roman ways mean nothing to you, but this ensures you and our children have the status you deserve.”

At the wood they dismounted. Why was he taking her to the Flame of Knowledge? Her people, deprived of all contact with their Druids since that fateful night, had turned Cerridwen’s Cauldron into a place of pilgrimage. Carys had expected the Romans to punish the worshippers, perhaps even attempt to destroy the enigmatic Flame. But instead they too were enthralled by the phenomenon, convinced Minerva was responsible.

Minerva, sister goddess of Cerridwen. Had Maximus been right, all those moons ago, when he suggested the same gods answered to different names?

Trepidation hammered against her ribs, but she didn’t know why she had the sudden, irrefutable certainty that her life was about to change forever.

Her life had already changed forever. How could it possibly alter more without her continuing on her journey?

And she had no intention of leaving Maximus behind, not yet, not for many years, until they were both ancient and could scarcely count the number of their descendants.

He led her into Cerridwen’s sacred place. Her breath strangled in her throat and she clutched onto him, having the insane desire to laugh and weep, and her heart overflowed with a love so fierce it consumed the serpentine tendrils of sadness that had been a part of her since the night of Druantia’s murder.

“There are Druid enclaves in Britannia.” He urged her forward, toward the ivy entwined arbor of twisted branches, toward the group of Celts and Romans who stood waiting for her, toward the elderly Briton daubed in ceremonial blue, who held his hazel rod with quiet authority.

Aquila saluted, Efa smiled at her, and Branwen nodded with gentle approval. Her friends, who had spent all afternoon preparing her wedding glade.

But none of this would have been done without Maximus’s approval. He was the one who had taken the time to discover her rituals, arrange for this ceremony. Despite his Emperor, despite his loyalty to Rome, he was willing to accept her heritage and culture as, tomorrow, she would accept his.

“You’ll do this—for me?” She turned to Maximus, and he was blurred, beloved, her life.

He bent his head, and his breath whispered against her ear. “I’ll do anything for you, my Druid princess.”