The Duke and the Dryad (Elemental Series) (25 page)

“Then you must both, joined together by the vines that hold you as one, now proceed to the top of the sacrificial stone.”

“What?” he asked,
looking over to the druid and then to the sacrificial stone. Visions of his slaughtered bull lying atop it flashed through his mind. “Is this what you meant by honoring each other in the next life?”

Rae couldn’t help but laugh when she saw the frightened look upon Wolfe’s face. He was a handsome man, and even more handsome wearing the tunic and crown she’d made him for the wedding. He almost looked like a woodland fae himself right now.

“Rae, is this one of your
playful tricks?” he asked. “I am not being sacrificed, am I?”

“Nay, husband, ’tis just the end of the ceremo
ny, nothing else, I assure you. We need to stand together as one on the marriage stone, as I call all nature to join us in our union and celebration.”

“Oh, is that all.”

She mounted the stone with Wolfe at her side. All eyes were on them standing high atop what was once the sacrificial stone, but today was the marriage stone. She raised her hands above her head, with Wolfe following suit. Wolfe stood at her right, and his left hand was still tied together by vines with her right hand. Their fingers were interlocked as they held on to one another.

She threw back her head and closed her eyes, and the chanting started up by not only the druids,
but by every single person who was there to witness their marriage. She got lost in the moment, and felt the vibrations flowing through her of every person and thing as she called forth the animals of the forest, and gave thanks to the plants, the trees, and the stones.

Then, hearing the sound of Zev’s howl, she opened her eyes and was pleased. Just outside the henge of stone, and just behind the wedding guests, were animals of all kinds. Her black wolf
sat down, and actually smiled, if she wasn’t mistaken.

“Rae?” asked Wolfe softly. “Do I see what I think I see?”

“Tell me what you see, Wolfe.”

“I see your black wolf with rabbits and squirrels and dears and even bears behind him.” He looked up to the sky. “And there are birds, lots of them overhead. Owls and hawks and ravens and birds of every kind.”

He was speaking louder and louder with the excitement, and the guests all started speaking to each other in hushed tones at the wonderment that was now before them.

The breeze brushed past their faces and lifted her hair. And the trees, whether he realized it or not
, were bowing to her in respect and admiration.

“
’Tis done,” she announced. “We have been joined and accepted by all nature. We are married, now,” she told him. “And I have one more surprise to tell you about too.”

“Another crown?” he asked, forcing a smile.

“Something better. I know why I’ve felt so tired lately and it wasn’t just from the fire.”

“Well, I haven’t been making you plow fields, so that could
n’t be it,” he said with a chuckle.

“Nay. But this morning, Juturna looked into her gazing crystal and told me I am carrying your child.”

“What?” A smile lit up his face. “Are you telling me, we are to have a baby?”

“Not
just her,” said Brynn from the ground. “But I am pregnant as well.”

“
Really?” shouted her husband Drake. “I am the luckiest man alive.” He rushed over and gathered his wife up into his arms.

“Nay, I am the luckiest man alive,”
Wolfe corrected him. He removed the vines from their wrists and picked Rae up in his arms. “And I think this Fae wedding is not over,” he said, looking at her lips.

“It’s not?” she asked with a slight giggle.

“Nay,” he answered. “As I don’t remember anyone saying, you may now kiss the bride.”

Wolfe brought his mouth to hers and she melted in his embrace as their lips joined them
together as one. She knew she was the luckiest woman in the world to have found a man like Wolfe. Then her father came forward, climbing up onto the stone to join them. Wolfe put her down and she put one arm around each of them. The three of them looked out into the crowd, and there she saw the spirit of her mother, giving her the woman’s blessing.

“Do you see her?” asked her father.
“My wife of beauty is not dead . . . and she also wears a wreath of flowers upon her head.”

“I do
. I see her,” Rae answered.

“See who?” asked Wolfe, looking around, trying to understand what was happening.

“My mother is here in spirit,” Rae told him.

“I don’t see her,” he said looking out into the crowd.

“You are not fae,” she reminded him. “But now that you are married to me, in time you will start to be able to see spirits as well, just like my father.”

She then turned to her fathe
r. “Papa, I am so happy to have found you and that you have once again joined me in this life.”

Rae
knew he was the same father she’d known as a child, even if he spoke in riddles and from his hard life looked to be older than he should. Still, it meant the world to her that she would now be able to share her family with Wolfe, and start a new one as well, with Wolfe’s baby already growing inside her. She put her hand on her stomach and already felt the baby’s energy.

“Do you have any words of wisdom for us on our wedding day, Papa?” she asked,
or for the new baby?”

The man thought for a second, and then he smiled and answered.

“In the forest, my dear, you once had hid . . . but now you two are one –
The Duke and the Dryad
.”

From the author:

I hope you enjoyed
The Duke and the Dryad
, Book 2- Earth
. The next book of my
Elemental Series
will be released sometime in July, 2013. It is called
The Sword and the
Sylph,
Book 3- Air
. You have already met the hero, Sir Braden, and yes he is finally going to meet the elemental Portia-Maer who kissed him and healed his wound.

Please stop by my website for updates and blogs and to see covers from upcoming novels. Drop me a note on my website and let me know what type of novels interest you the most.

You may want to check out some of my other medieval series such as
The Legacy
of the Blade Series
, and my
Greek Myth Fantasy Series
as well.

I have included an
excerpt from each, to give you a sneak peek.

Happy reading, and once again thank you to my loyal readers.

Elizabeth Rose

Elizabethrosenovels.com

Excerpt from
The Pandora Curse
,
Greek Myth Series:

Vara the Conqueror is the granddaughter of Pandora. Because of this, she is haunted by The Furies in her brain and saddled with the vices of lust, greed, jealousy, gluttony and anger. Nicolai the soothsayer, demi-god and Hera’s son, is sent to collect her vices in secret.

“Take the king and the rest of the prisoners to the dungeon while I seize my throne,” Vara instructed Zetes from atop her horse. “Then see to the captured women and children and set them to work in the kitchens. I am famished.”

“Aye, Queen
Vara.” The burly man bowed his dark head and stepped away. Two more of her men escorted the nursemaid and little girl across the courtyard.

“Queen,” she repeated under her breath and adjusted her helmet atop her head. “Queen
Vara,” she said louder, liking the way it sounded. She had conquered many a land and people, but never gained anything but reputation before today. Perhaps a royal title and gold in her hand was what she needed to turn her life in a different direction.

The king of Corinth was her prisoner now, banned to the dungeon until she decided if she needed him to further her success. Either way, she held the rights to the throne of Corinth. Now that she was a powerful queen, the Furies would leave her alone. Life would be better. “Queen,” she repeated, testing them, challenging them to invade her thoughts. All was silent in her head. She nodded, feeling success.

“Queen of the Underworld sounds admirable compared to queen of discord and deceit,” came a deep masculine voice from behind her.

She pulled on the reins and guided her horse around to find a man standing calmly in the midst of the chaotic courtyard. Tall and handsome, his long taupe hair fell loose aroun
d his shoulders. He wore a full-length purple cape fringed with peacock feathers over a black tunic with flowing sleeves. Under the tunic he sported dark hose upon his legs. Her gaze latched onto something glittering in the sunlight dangling from a leather cord around his neck. A crystal orb. Excitement coursed through her. She wanted it.

“Are you insulting
Vara the Conqueror?” she asked in challenge. “I could have you flayed and quartered for such an insolent tongue.” Her eyes remained on the crystal.

She motioned to two of her guards to seize him, but when they saw him, they stepped away.

“Queen Vara,” said one, “I don’t think you realize who this man is.”

“I don’t care who he is, I want him locked away.”

“But, he is very powerful,” stated the other. “I advise you not to try to harm him.”

“I don’t take advice from soldiers,” she retorted,
then brought her attention back to the stranger.

He didn’t look regal
nor powerful. But he did hold an air of mystery about him. Something in his gaze, his stance, his lack of fear and his calm confidence gained her interest. She lowered herself from her horse, never taking her eyes off him. With a nod, she dismissed her soldiers and returned her attention to the newcomer.

“My men may be frightened, but I fear no one. Not even the most powerful of kings.”

“I am not a king,” he told her. “And though you speak bravely, I see something conflicting within your eyes. I think you do fear someone. And I’d wager that person is yourself.”

Vara’s
heart jumped in her chest at his proclamation, and with warrior reflexes, she drew the sword from the scabbard on her back and held it to his throat.

His eyes remained fastened upon her face, and he didn’t even flinch.

“Beg my forgiveness,” she demanded, “or I’ll be forced to slit your throat.”

“Forced?” A slow grin spread across his face. “You may act with force, but even the hatred in your heart would not let you kill me before you know who I am.”

Her hand trembled, and though slightly, she knew he had not missed her reaction. Who was this man? How could he know so much about her when she’d made sure to keep her personal life well guarded from all? The man intrigued her.

“I told you, I don’t care who you are,” she said, continuing the talk of a warrior. She would not let him see any signs of weakness. “If I want you dead, you’ll be dead in a matter of seconds.”

“Want,” he repeated, echoing her word. “I wonder if you really know what you want. Matter of fact, I’d be willing to say, you want everything, yet nothing suffices the greed that fills your heart.”

Vara’s
throat tightened, and it was all she could do not to close her eyes, willing his words away so they would not stab at her heart. He spoke as if he could see clear through to her soul. The secrets, the pain, the passion. As if her eyes were windows to the past, present, and future all at once, and he could look right through them.

Excerpt from
Lady Renegade
, Book 2 in the
Legacy of the Blade Series
:

Storm MacKeefe stiffly repositioned his body, as the wooden chair he was tied to creaked under his massive form. A throbbing in his head was knocking at his brain, beckoning for him to answer. For a moment he almost forgot where he was, wishing he were anywhere but here, a captive of the one he was sent to capture. His eyes slowly drifted open. Gazing around the inside of the underground hut, he couldn't tell if it was night or day, for lack of even a single window. Then he focused on the slight crack of light coming in from under the door.

What kind of place was this? Would a woman really be so crude as to confine not only her army and herself to such gruesome living conditions, but a young boy as well? The air was musty and dank and smelled of earth and rotting leaves. No such thing as a fire for cooking, or a window for a fresh breeze graced this god-forsaken place.

"What possesses this woman?" Storm asked himself softly. "Only a mole would inhabit a place such as this."

Gazing around the small area, his eyes eventually could make out parts of his surroundings. Storm eyed what he guessed to be roots sticking out of the low dirt ceiling above his head. Large branches bracing the dirt ceiling served as restraining rafters.