Love of the Dragon (Her Dragon's Bane 4) (7 page)

“Why? To ask for your help?”

“No. There was a price on our heads. As there has been from time to time through the ages. It was around that time that we started to fly at night and slowly we dropped out of memory.”

“Do you miss him, Connor?”

“Sometimes. We spent a lot of time together the last few centuries. But we've been apart for longer. When your life stretches back beyond memory, the years blend into one. The days have no meaning. Unless you find love. Then the days are endless when you're apart. Zoah will have felt as though he has endured a century away from you. He is suffering, if it makes you feel better.”

“I don’t know if it makes me feel better.” She contemplated his words. “I just want him to be happy. If being away from me made him happy, I would accept it. Instead, he’s making us both miserable by staying away.”

“Well,” Connor said, replacing the sword onto the dresser. “I know what will make you happy. A nice party.”

She groaned. “You know it won’t.”

“But you can put a smile on your pretty face and tell Serena it will. She worries about you so much. We all do.”

“You’re good at emotional blackmail.”

“I’ve had a good teacher. Your sister has learned to wrap me around her little finger.”

“And Brandan?”

“He wraps us both around his finger. Round and round so tightly. At least he will be safe here growing up. It would be nice for him to have a cousin, though.”

“Have none of the other dragons found a mate? I thought now Dòmhnall had his heart stone he wouldn’t outlaw it.”

“He doesn’t. And they are looking. But, no. Not yet. It would be nice for there to be some other dragon families. Otherwise Brandan is going to grow up playing with bears and wolves.”

“Perish the thought. A dragon playing with such lesser beings?”

He laughed. “You have Dòmhnall’s thoughts exactly right there.”

“So why hasn’t he taken Tara as his mate?”

“Still doesn’t trust her, I presume.”

“But he knows. Right?”

“I have no idea. He gives her no clue. Sometimes I think he’s testing her patience. After his last encounter with a witch I think he’s waiting to see if she is tempted to use magic on him to get him to notice her.”

“Now, that would be interesting. How will he know?”

“He is of the old magic. He was fooled once; I would imagine he would have taken precautions.”

“All this intrigue at the castle.”

“And that is another reason why you are going to have a coming-of-age party. I want to see Dòmhnall on his best behaviour. How long do you think he will last without roaring in disgust at the lesser beings?”

She giggled. “Now, that is the best reason I have heard so far for having a party.”

“It’s good to have you back." He hugged her warmly. "I expect we should go downstairs and rescue your sister. There is only so much of Tara she can stand.”

“Some things never change, then?”

“Not between those two. Serena tolerates her because there is no other women living within three miles of us.”

“Then let's go and rescue her.” She walked out of the door and then stopped, turning to Connor. “If you see Zoah, can you tell him I’m ready?”

“If I see him. But he has more or less exiled himself. He has never asked Dòmhnall’s permission to come to Spellholm.”

“Would he deny him access?”

“No. But Dòmhnall expects the dragons in Spellholm to swear allegiance to him.”

“Did you?” she asked, shocked that this big dragon would do that.

“I had my fingers crossed.”

She laughed. “You’ve changed, Connor. I never knew you had a sense of humour.”

“Serena has taught me to laugh.” He paused and pondered his own words. “We have taught each other to laugh. You know the life she had before. Living here makes her feel safe. For us and Brandan. So if I have to kneel before Dòmhnall and say I will serve him in battle, I will do it.”

“You’re a good man, Connor. Thank you for looking after Serena so well. You mean the world to her.”

“She is my world. Her and Brandan. I don’t know how my father had the strength to lift his head off his pillow once my mother died. I don’t think I would be able to take one step if Serena died.”

"Aren’t we two cheerful souls? I think it’s time I stopped worrying about Zoah and had some fun. I think this party might be just what I need.”

Her words sounded brighter than she felt, but she was determined to try to enjoy herself. Zoah was ruling her life without him even being here. What if he never returned? She would waste her life over nothing. So she determined to have some fun and forget about him.

Planning to use it as a base from which to hunt Samuel, he had returned to one of his old haunts. He had been surprised the stone fortress had remained intact. Centuries had passed since he or Connor had been here. He only hoped that Connor got the message about where he would be if they ever needed him. His gift to Charlotte was the clue, but maybe it was too subtle for his big brother.

He snorted with derision at himself. There were six dragons living very close to her. At least for the summer she would be safe. He had decided that now would be the best time to leave her completely alone. Let her enjoy a summer in Spellholm without him stalking her. He was sure she knew when he watched her. However, just like that last night at the house, she preferred to keep it hidden from him. Or was she simply ignoring him in the hope he would go away?

Looking around the cave, he decided that hard work was the only way to get his mind off her. He had a couple of months to kill. The cave would look transformed by the time he had finished clearing it.

First, he started with the dirt and leaves. Fashioning a broom, from dried twigs, he swept it out. The work wasn’t hard, but he wasn’t used to such menial tasks. By the end of a couple of hours, the cave was clear but his muscles ached. He enjoyed the pain; it was akin to a punishment. Instead of resting and taking a drink, he carried on. Next, he moved some of the rocks and boulders that had rolled down onto the cave floor. Rolling them over and over, he pushed them off the edge of the precipice and sent them hurtling down to crash on the valley floor below.

He smiled to himself, remembering the days when men would try to scale this wall to hunt the dragons. He and Connor would have competitions to see who could knock them off. If they were really bored, they would fly down and loosen their grip first. Flapping their wings hard, the draft buffeting the men until they were barely clinging on. More than once, they had simply burned them off with their dragon fire. At one time it seemed an everyday occurrence that someone came to chop off their heads.

Being persecuted gets boring after a while.

The memories of his past life gave him pause to smile for the first time in months. If only he had some pesky villagers with pitchforks to harass. He would begin to feel like his old self.

“With Tara there, I didn’t like to ask you how you’ve been.”

Serena and Charlotte were walking in the forest. An excited Brandan running in front of them. It felt so good to be free. No studying, no part-time job. No dragon watching her. Although every once in a while she would feel a prickle in her neck and think it was him. Then realise it was only the breeze playing tricks with her imagination.

“I’m doing OK. I love my course.”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” Serena said gently.

“I know, but I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say. He’s not here. I don’t know whether he’ll ever be here. I go from wanting to see him so I can tell him it’ll all be OK if he only took a chance, to wanting to throttle him for being a jerk. I mean, this whole ‘bonded mates’ thing works for you and Connor; you are so happy. So why won’t he come here and let us be happy? Instead of being this chivalrous fool.”

“I haven’t seen Zoah for months, Charlotte. Last time Connor spoke to him, and that was a while ago, he got the impression Zoah was simply waiting for you to finish uni. Once you decide what you wanted to do with your life he'll see where he fits in. He didn’t want to push this onto your shoulders while you were still so unsure of what you want to do. You have ambition, and drive. Something I never had. Once I met Connor, all I wanted to do was settle down with him and have children. I couldn’t be happier. But do you think you would be happy with this life? Pregnant at eighteen has never been one of your ambitions.”

“I could make it work.”

“Charlotte. Be honest.”

“I am. I know I’m young. If you’d asked me when I was fifteen, I would have told you I never want to settle down and have kids. Not until I was in my thirties, at least. But it’s been over two years since he left. In that time, I’ve thought of nothing else. I weigh it up from every angle. I will never want another man. Ever since the day I realised what we were to each other, I’ve never looked at another man.”

“Don’t you date?”

“What’s the point? I would only upset any guy who fell for me. To be honest, they haven’t exactly been queuing up to ask me out. It might be after the third guy I turned down, all the others got the message. Or maybe I give out this vibe that says unavailable.”

“Do you feel it? Do you feel that bond with Zoah?” Serena asked. “Sometimes it’s like there’s something attached to my heart, tugging it towards Connor. If it was something visible, it would be strong and unbreakable like the silk of a spider’s web.”

Charlotte unconsciously rubbed her chest. “Yes. I feel it. I think it grows stronger when he’s near.”

“Yes,” Serena exclaimed. “Wait. How do you know that?”

“He comes to me sometimes. Not at first. But lately, he’s been round a lot. Sometimes near, often just close enough that my heart aches. A dull, empty ache. Surely, he feels it too. So what’s the point in us being apart?”

“He’ll come back when he’s ready.”

“That’s just it, Serena,” she said angrily. “Why does it have to be when he’s ready? What about me?”

“I don’t know, Charlotte. I really don’t. I’m sorry.” They had reached a stream that wound its way through the forest. They settled down to watch Brandan paddling in the shallows. “I can ask Connor if you want. Maybe he can track Zoah down.”

“No. I’m not going to beg him. Knowing Zoah, that’s what he wants. Then he’ll be able to spend the rest of his life making me feel as though he’s doing me a favour by being with me. I never want him to think that I can’t live without him.”

“Especially when that could be an eternal life when he gives you his heart stone.”

“Living forever with Zoah... Maybe the longer he stays away, the better,” Charlotte said, laughing. Then she buried her face in her hands and shook her head. “Why do I have to get the odd brother?”

“Because you’re the only one strong enough to tame him.”

“I don’t feel strong. I feel weak and pitiful.”

“One thing you need to find comfort in, Charlotte, is that you are fated to be together. The bond between you is there for a reason. Maybe your strength will temper his arrogance.”

“And what does he give me?”

“A lesson in patience.”

Charlotte laughed. “You’re right. Or to speak up for myself. This mess could have been avoided if I’d told him I knew about our bond the night before he left. Instead, I gave him no reason to stay.”

“Wet,” Brandan said, falling to his hands and knees in the shallows.

“Up you get,” Serena said, going to him.

Charlotte got up too. “Shall we skim stones, Brandan?”

He nodded eagerly and then screamed with joy as the stone flew out of her hand and bounced on the water. “Magic.”

“It’s the only magic I’ll ever be able to do,” she said.

“Are you going to have a go?” Serena found her son a smooth stone and crouched down to guide his hand. It plopped into the water, sending ripples out.

“Again,” Brandan shouted excitedly.

The three of them spent an hour at the stream. All around them birds sang, the water a calming accompaniment as it flowed over rocks worn smooth. Charlotte managed to forget all about Zoah. Since that night he had left, he had always been foremost in her mind. Here, surrounded by the love of her sister and Connor, she was home. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t here, because she wasn’t alone. The waiting didn’t seem quite so endless.

He held his wings out to the sun, the updraft keeping him in the air with no effort on his part. When had he last turned dragon and flown in the daylight?

Here, surrounded by the high mountains, he had risked it. In the days since he arrived, he had felt himself returning to his more primitive ways. He had hunted in the forest, downing a big buck. With his talons, holding it down firmly, he had feasted on its raw flesh. The fresh blood dripping from his mouth, warm on his scales. Then he had flown to a river and splashed in it, like a bird taking a bath. He had tossed his head up in the air and watched the water droplets shimmer in a rainbow waterfall.

Still feeling safe in the deserted corner of the world, he had spread his wings out to dry in the sun. The warmth of it making him sleepy. He had dozed, a belly full of food and the sun on his back. Life was good, simple, and easy. He slept when he wanted, ate when he wanted. This was a freedom he had forgotten existed. Slowly the ghost of Charlotte faded. There was plenty of time for being her mate. For now, he was free and he planned to enjoy every minute of it.

The spectre of Samuel was fading too. At night, he searched for signs of him. Slowly he had begun to believe Tara had it wrong. The villain was dead after all.

Charlotte put on the only dress she had that looked even remotely party-ish. Opening her closet, she pulled out a wrap that might set her outfit off and make it look better. It kind of worked, but did nothing to change her miserable face. She was already regretting agreeing to the party.

The next thing she practised was smiling. She didn't want it to look forced, but couldn't find enough happiness inside her for it to be natural.