Fire's Embrace [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 6] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) (6 page)

Caelyn and Graham made their way toward the large table that had replaced the thrones. It had been built specifically to accommodate the three Imperial Consuls and their mates, and it did all that while still maintaining the majestic nature the thrones once had. Caelyn and Graham actually looked a little relieved at the sight. Or maybe it was Eanera’s presence that helped.

When they reached the table, the three guests bowed lowly. The three Imperial Consuls gestured for them to approach. “Welcome,” Kael said.

“It is an honor to have you here again,” Hareem added, “this time, under more pleasant circumstances.”

“Thank you, Your Grace,” Caelyn replied. “We are honored by your invitation, and your assistance.”

“We hope that this day will signal a new beginning for our peoples,” Karein offered.

“As always, you are most generous,” Caelyn’s mate, Graham, said.

Meanwhile, Eanera was beginning to look frustrated. Obviously, she didn’t have the patience to go through with all the formalities. Likely, she was concerned for her son. After all, Sari was the reason she’d come here. According to Rachen, Sari’s condition had improved and he hadn’t had any other strange visions, but his health still needed to be monitored, just in case.

Obviously feeling a similar urgency, Karein got up. “You do us a great honor by visiting Draechenburg, High Priestess,” he told Eanera. “If you’d please follow me…”

“Thank you, Your Grace,” Eanera replied automatically. She patted Caelyn’s shoulder in passing, and then followed Karein as the draechen consul left the throne room.

Karein’s departure seemed to trigger a reaction all around. The rest of the draechen started to fret, questions on all of their lips. Kael’s voice rang out through the room, silencing them all, “Lord Caelyn Sutharlainn-Powers, and his mate, Graham Powers, are honored guests and personal friends of the Tersain. They will be staying here for the purpose of reviewing the Directive of the Shifter Castes. No slight to them will be accepted.”

Kaelezrin’s authority was such that everyone froze. Meanwhile, the former-emperor-now-turned-consul was already pulling Caelyn and Graham aside. They were leaving through a side door, probably in deference to Caelyn’s condition. Hareem threw a gaze toward Alwyn and Rachen, gesturing for them to approach. Alwyn could only follow the draechen’s instructions and joined the group as they left the throne room.

As the resident sprite, he was supposed to welcome Caelyn to Draechenburg. He and Caelyn would then prepare the field for a visit with Ferradul Cyraltin, one during which Alwyn could inquire into the truth behind his identity.

Until then, Alwyn had to actually get acquainted to Caelyn. But that was easier said than done, in spite of all of Rachen’s encouragements. Everyone was quiet as they walked through the corridors of the palace, something that didn’t exactly surprise Alwyn.

Well, if he was going to go through with this, he might as well start now. He approached Caelyn and Graham and said, “I didn’t get to introduce myself back there. My name is Alwyn Cyraltin. I’m also a guest here, but I’d like to welcome you to Draechenburg either way.”

Strangely, his own name tasted bitter on his lips, like a lie or a deliberate deception. Alwyn didn’t dwell too much on that and instead decided to focus on Caelyn. The other sprite was smiling slightly. “I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s a pleasure. I must admit it was a surprise to find out about your stay here, but I’m told you’ve been quite an asset.”

Caelyn didn’t say it outright, but he obviously knew about the Ancient Horror and Alwyn’s involvement in defeating it. Well, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It meant the draechen trusted him, so perhaps Alwyn could trust him, too, at least a little. “I’ve tried to help, to the best of my ability. On my part, I’ve gained quite an attachment to Draechenburg and the people here.”

Without even meaning to, Alwyn threw a gaze toward Rachen. Rachen grinned at him, his gaze glittering with affection, and the emotion Alwyn saw there steadied him. It made him truly believe that he could do this. He could be the sprite they needed him to be.

When he turned toward Caelyn and Graham again, he found the two of them smiling knowingly. Obviously, his feelings toward Rachen were obvious even to strangers.

As they spoke, they reached the quarters that had been assigned to Camden and Sage. When Alwyn succumbed to silence, Hareem finally began to explain, “Sari was very eager to see you both, but unfortunately, as you might probably know, he hasn’t been feeling very well lately. Once his mother checks him over, you’ll be able to see him.”

“Thank you, Your Grace,” Caelyn said, his voice suddenly subdued. “I have missed him a great deal, but I don’t want to put any strain on him in my zeal to speak to him.”

“Soon,” Hareem promised. He stopped in front of a room in the guest wing. “In the meantime, you can rest here. Of course, let us know of anything you need.”

“Thank you. We’ll do that,” Caelyn replied. Glancing at Alwyn, he smiled. “Perhaps during my stay here, we can spend a little more time together.”

Alwyn beamed back and nodded. “I’d be honored.”

Truth be told, Alwyn hadn’t left his room since he’d had the strange…well, Alwyn hesitated to call it a vision, but he feared that was exactly what it had been. He wasn’t feeling very social, or too capable of acting like a so-called host. Not to mention that there was something in Caelyn’s voice that put Alwyn on alarm. Even so, he tried not to let it show and simply kept up his façade of warm welcome.

It was with great relief that he watched the two guests slip into their room. Once they were gone, he leaned against Rachen and groaned. “Well, that was painful.”

Rachen chuckled, his hand combing through Alwyn’s hair and making him shiver with delight. “I thought it went quite well.”

“I agree,” Hareem said. “Their apprehension toward being here is normal. They’ll warm up to you more. Caelyn will certainly appreciate having another sprite here.”

Except Alwyn wasn’t sure he even was a sprite. He didn’t say it, though. They were all aware of his doubts and were working to figure out whether there was some truth to them or not.

As they started to walk away, he did his best to convince himself that Caelyn’s arrival was a good thing. His mind kept returning to the way Caelyn had looked at him. He couldn’t help but wonder if Caelyn knew something he wasn’t saying, and what it would mean for Alwyn.

* * * *

Inside their new room, Caelyn plopped down on the bed. “My feet hurt,” he complained, beckoning Graham closer with a pout.

Graham chuckled and sat down, too. He gathered Caelyn’s legs in his lap and started to massage his feet. Caelyn closed his eyes and melted against the pillows, allowing himself to relax. Even if he’d done his best not to show it, ever since he’d stepped on Draechenburg soil, he’d been expecting the worst, remembering their last visit, when he had almost lost Graham and their unborn child.

“We could have stayed in Eternelle,” Graham pointed out. “No one forced us to come here.”

“No, but I don’t regret it,” Caelyn replied. After a small pause, he opened his eyes and fixed Graham with a glance. “Did you notice?” he asked.

“I could tell something wasn’t right, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

Caelyn released a heavy sigh. “I really hope I’m mistaken about this. I hope I’m just seeing things because of being in Draechenburg again.”

“But you don’t think so, do you?” Graham inquired.

Caelyn shook his head. “No. Still, I can’t be certain. I’ll try to spend more time with him, get a better feel of what he’s like. It’s too soon to tell. Besides, I’m likely way off. There’s no way Ferradul Cyraltin would have done something like I imagine. The amount of magic needed for it would be…I really can’t even compute it.”

“Let’s just not make any rushed judgments,” Graham told him. “Most of all, we can’t take any chances. If there’s any danger involved in investigating this, we’ll just leave. But in the meantime, we can’t tell the draechen about this.”

Caelyn shuddered at the idea. “Believe me, I don’t have any plans of sharing this information until it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t look forward to telling Rachen Tersain that his mate might not exist at all.”

* * * *

All of her life, Eanera had known she had Jenarra’s help and affection. Her faith had supported her no matter what, even through the pain of acknowledging that the man she loved would never be hers. Jenarra had comforted her and promised her a bright future for Sari when Sari’s marriage had first been announced, not in actual words, but more like in a feeling.

Now, however, all Eanera could sense was dread. Jenarra hadn’t sent her any visions since she’d been possessed by the Ancient Horror, and Sari’s episode had taken her completely by surprise. She remembered all too well how affected she’d been when she’d first had a vision. And Sari was pregnant now, out of all things. He risked losing the baby.

She was probably being quite transparent, because her son-in-law chose to address her concern. “Your Holiness, Sari wants me to assure you that he’s all right,” Karein said as they walked through the palace.

“Is that true?” Eanera inquired. “Sari is liable to try to coax us into believing his condition has improved, just so that we wouldn’t worry.”

Karein hesitated. “To a certain extent, it seems so, but I’ll still feel much better when you look him over.”

Regardless of Karein’s obvious concern, he didn’t appear to be desperate, and that soothed Eanera a lot. She found that she was able to breathe a little better. Still, she was very relieved when they finally reached the quarters Sari shared with Karein.

As she walked inside, she found Sari lying on the couch, browsing through a book, looking irritated and disinterested. When they entered the room, Sari’s gaze instantly shot up and met hers. “Mother,” he said simply, beaming brightly.

Eanera rushed to his side so quickly that it surprised even her. In a flash, she joined him on the settee and reached for him. “Oh, Sari, I’m so glad you’re all right.” She hugged him tightly and kissed his forehead. “When I heard what happened…I didn’t even know what to think.”

“I have to say, I completely agree,” Sari replied. “I don’t know what to make of what I saw. Help me?”

Eanera listened as Sari recounted his vision, not missing a single detail. It was, of course, a message from Jenarra. That much seemed obvious. A threat existed that involved Alwyn Cyraltin in some way and that would affect all of them. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. But how did Karein abandoning Sari for Caelyn fit into the picture? Why had the werewolves changed form and the dragons hadn’t? And what about the children…Why had they disappeared?

“What do you think, Mother?” Sari asked when he finished the tale.

Eanera carefully considered her reply. “I think there’s something terrible coming our way, and you have to be very careful with handling Alwyn Cyraltin. What you saw him do is clearly symbolic, but if he isn’t stopped, he will destroy this family, one way or another.”

“We believe there might be a second Alwyn out there,” Karein piped up, “and that he is the one Sari saw. Our Alwyn suspects he isn’t the real son of Ferradul Cyraltin and the Great Krite might have backed up his position here through a very powerful illusion.”

That would make sense, but it didn’t feel right to Eanera. She wasn’t satisfied with that explanation. Something niggled at the back of her consciousness, but she couldn’t tell what it was. “Don’t discard any possibility just yet. You have to investigate both Alwyns equally, in spite of your brother’s affection toward your guest and the help he provided with the Ancient Horror.”

Karein eyed her with a knowing look. “You instructed Caelyn to analyze him. You had a feeling about him.”

“I did,” Eanera admitted, “but it could be nothing. My abilities haven’t been very reliable lately, at least in regard to the visions.”

Sari immediately analyzed her from head to toe, concern shining in his eyes. “Are you not feeling well?”

“I’m fine,” Eanera answered, waving off his words. “Jenarra knows how to choose the recipient for this gift. It could be just that She believes you would benefit more from the vision.” Or maybe Eanera’s mind hadn’t fully recovered from her near-merging with the Ancient Horror. She couldn’t be sure, but she didn’t want to tell Sari that. “But I’m still a healer, and I can still see you shouldn’t be up and out of bed. You need to rest.”

“But, Mother…” Sari started to protest.

“Don’t argue with me, dear child,” she told Sari. “You know as well as I do that this is important for your baby.”

That effectively silenced Sari. He got up, but Karein didn’t let him take a single step. He took Sari in his arms and carried him into the sleeping quarters. It always pleased Eanera a lot to see them together, since half the time, the draechen practically looked worshipful of Sari. It was one of the reasons why Eanera simply couldn’t understand why Sari’s vision foretold their separation. Not to mention that Caelyn was very happy with Graham, and Graham lavished Caelyn with as much affection and care as Karein did with Sari.

She made a mental note to give it more thought and joined her son on the bed. Taking his hand, she allowed her healing powers to flow over him.

She found with relief that, other than some fatigue, there was nothing amiss with her son. That was another sign that the vision had come from Jenarra. If it hadn’t, a shock of that magnitude could have easily triggered an early birth, or worse. Sari might have lost the baby. He could have gotten hurt himself if a condition like eclampsia appeared.