Warrior's Moon (38 page)

“You cannot blame yourself for the actions of evil men,” Shona assured Ciara.

The other woman shot her a grateful glance.

“Why have you hesitated to return?” her mate asked.

“You have unhappy memories of that place.”

The Éan prince pulled his mate close and kissed her softly before releasing her. “I have no regrets from that day.”

“You hate casting fire to kill.”

“It is less bloody than my sword.” The words were facetious, but Shona heard the weight that sat heavily on the dragon’s soul.

A man might kill in battle, but to have the ability to rain destruction from the sky must be a terrible burden to bear.

They smiled at each other and Shona could not help wondering at the story behind that look. But right now, she had more pressing matters to attend to.

They were returning to the MacLeod holding and her children would be with her.

*   *   *

S
hona survived her first sighting of a dragon, but
was not at all sure she would live through riding one.

She looked up, and up,
and up
at the great flying beast Ciara’s mate had shifted into under the moonlight. “Why must I and the children ride the dragon? Why can we not bring our mounts?”

Caelis cupped his warm hand round her nape, his focus entirely on her. “This way is safer for you and the children.”

“It is safer, to
fly
above the earth where no person was meant to go than to ride our horses?” she scoffed.

He smiled indulgently and her heart caught. “The Éan take to the sky all the time.”

“That is different.”

“There is an urgency about this; we must move quickly. You yourself said you felt it.”

“I did. I do.” Though she did not begin to understand it. “But that does not mean I want to fly on a dragon’s back.”

“It is quite safe, not to mention enjoyable,” Ciara chimed in. “My mate is a very adept mount.”

Shona nearly choked on the laughter welling up at Ciara’s unintended innuendo. The
celi di
seemed to realize at that same moment how her words could be taken and laughter trilled from her, breaking some of the tension closing in around their group.

She shook her finger at Shona. “You are a very naughty woman.”

“I said nothing,” Shona defended, but it felt good to smile.

The dragon snorted and Caelis shook his head, but his expression was warmed with something Shona could only name love. If she were going to name it.

Not yet ready to do so, she remained silent.

But the fact that the man had been willing to give up his destiny to keep her happy? That one telling gesture overcame doubts and certainties she’d thought ingrained for life on her heart.

“Mum, come on. We have to go.” Eadan looked up at her with the typical impatience of a small boy.

And she was grateful for it.

“It’s all right for you. You want to ride the dragon,” she said with a mock frown.

Part of her envied both children their sanguinity about this adventure. Marjory was already seated on the dragon’s back and ignoring her continued protests; Eadan was scrambling up now that he’d admonished his mother to hurry.

There was nothing for it. She had to go up on the mythical beast’s back, to watch over her children, if nothing else.
Once she was in place, she checked to make sure the children were securely harnessed to the leather saddlelike contraption on Eirik’s back.

Ciara took bundles from her mother and tied them to loops apparently for that very purpose. “I love you,” she said to the Sinclair lady.

Both laird and lady repeated the words and then waved them off.

Shona looked down at Caelis as Eirik’s dragon’s body tensed in preparation of jumping into the air. “I love you, mate. Have a care on your journey.”

“I love you,” Caelis said for the first time in six years. “Watch over our children and enjoy your adventure!”

Eirik jumped into the air and Shona’s reply was lost on the wind, but even she was not sure exactly what her words had been.

Caelis had said he loved her and she thought she might well believe him.

Taking to the sky was like nothing she’d ever experienced, shocking and frightening and exhilarating all at once. A scant quarter of an hour into the ride and she was very glad indeed that Caelis had insisted she and the children wrap up in furs.

Eirik flew with dizzying speed, causing a steady stream of cold wind to wash over his passengers.

Ciara appeared to love the flight, petting and talking to her dragon mate constantly as they flew.

Whenever she went silent, Shona was sure the other woman was using the mate bond to communicate with the Éan prince.

As the moon began to wane in the night sky, they landed in a valley Shona vaguely remembered from her childhood.

The clan had been discouraged from visiting the place though it was situated between a clear stream and hills, which blocked the high winds that often plagued the Highlands, even this far south. An idyllic location, but one she now realized Uven and the lairds before him had kept apurpose for the express use of the Chrechte.

Ciara dismounted first and then put her hands up for first Marjory and then Eadan. Shona waited until both her children were safe on the ground before she slid off the dragon’s back.

Once she had dismounted, Shona turned away from the dragon to give Eirik privacy to shift back to a man. Her attention was immediately snagged by Ciara as the other woman pulled a dagger forth and pressed the stone from the handle into an impression on the rock wall.

While moonlight gave some illumination to the area, it was not bright enough to see the rock face in any detail. The sound of stone sliding against stone came and then the side of the hill opened to reveal the dark entrance to a cave.

Shona could not have stifled her gasp of surprise had she wanted to. The children made to rush forth in excited wonder, but she held their hands tightly.

“We follow Ciara,” she admonished them.

Eadan frowned, but nodded. Marjory just yawned. The poor tyke had gotten no sleep this night and even the excitement would not keep her from somnolence much longer.

Ciara lifted a torch and fire
whoosh
ed past Shona to light it.

She jumped back and looked over her shoulder to see that Eirik had not yet shifted.

“He won’t return to his warrior form until we are safely inside the cave,” Ciara said to Shona.

That made perfect sense, but the fire trick had still been quite startling and so she said.

Ciara laughed and Shona got the feeling Eirik was amused as well.

“He finds it charming you referred to his gift as a trick. Others have been far more impressed,” Ciara explained.

Shona smiled around a yawn. “Well, of course I am impressed. The man shifts into a mythical beast and breathes fire, after all, but in truth, my capacity for shock and awe is diminished of late.”

Ciara nodded, looking very serious all of the sudden. “Yes, I imagine it has.”

Ciara led them into the cave and down a long, narrow passageway, which opened into an underground cavern. The
celi di
immediately began lighting wall torches she must have known were there. But then, she’d been here before, hadn’t she?

As each new torch was lit, it revealed more of the cavern in which they stood. The space was huge, bigger than any great hall Shona had ever been in, including that of the Balmoral’s keep. Stone benches and seats were interspersed along the walls and a dais of marble graced the center of the room.

Other dark openings indicated passageways that led away from what had to have been a room of meeting sometime in the past.

Shona did not know if it was her imagination, or if the great cavern felt both welcoming and like it had waited for them. She only knew she felt safe here, with a sense of peace she’d never before experienced.

The tranquillity of the cave had affected her children as well. Both Eadan and Marjory looked ready to fall asleep on their feet.

Shona asked Ciara, “Is there a chamber I should prepare the furs for their sleep?”

“That way.” Ciara pointed to her left. “There are several smaller chambers I’m positive were once used as sleeping rooms for the
celi di
who lived here.”

“Did only
celi di
live here?” Shona wondered.

“I have always assumed so, though my mentor did not say that specifically.”

“Hmm…” It was something to contemplate.

Later. Right now, she needed to get her children to a place of resting.

Shona found a likely room with what appeared to be a raised stone bed jutting out from the wall. A shallow basin, which had been carved out of the top, would make a good
place to pile heather for comfort’s sake. Shona had no heather, but she did have the furs. She laid that which had been wrapped around the children down and then helped Marjory and Eadan to get situated on top before covering them with her and Caelis’s mating fur.

Despite the excitement of being in a strange and wondrous place, both her children were asleep before she’d reached the doorway of the chamber.

She retraced her steps to find Eirik and Ciara in the main chamber, now lit with numerous torches. He was still in his dragon form.

Shona looked questioningly at Ciara.

“I will sleep better if he remains dragon tonight.”

“Oh.”

“The others will most likely not arrive until after sunrise. You would be best served by getting some rest yourself,” Ciara added with a smile.

Shona yawned again and thought the
celi di
had a very good idea. She returned to the chamber with her children and snuggled into the furs with them, that strange sense of peace making it easy to drop off to sleep.

Shona woke sometime later as she was lifted into strong arms.

“Mmm…hmm…” she mumbled against the thick column of Caelis’s neck.

“Shhh,
mo toilichte
. I am just taking you to our bed.”

She didn’t ask him what he meant, but let him carry her a short distance to another pile of furs he’d arranged on the floor. He settled her into them before curling his big body around hers, providing both warmth and protection.

Shona did not wake fully again, but was aware when Caelis’s warmth disappeared some hours later and then Marjory was placed into Shona’s arms and another fur settled over both of them for added warmth.

W
hile Eirik and his mate explored the sacred caves
, Caelis and Vegar planned their challenge. The other four MacLeod soldiers had come with them as well as Thomas.

All were prepared to fight by Caelis’s side for the right to rule the pack and the clan.

“Today is a Chrechte feast day,” Maon offered. “The entire pack will be gathered at the keep with Uven tonight. The humans who remain in the clan know to stay away from his
special
gatherings.”

Caelis knew this to be true. “Then that is when I must make my challenge.”

“It will not be easy.” Maon sighed. “Believing a lie is less work that fighting to follow the truth.”

“Mayhap for some, but not all.”

Thomas added, “And they will have the evidence of Shona and the children staring them in the face.”

Caelis did not like that part of the plan and let his scowl say so.

“There is no other way,” Vegar said firmly.

Maon nodded. “She must stand by your side—not only to prove Uven’s lies, but to show that humans are not beneath the Chrechte and that her strength is greater than Uven’s threats and machinations.”

The statement was a huge change in thinking for the powerful Faol, and Caelis was glad he hadn’t killed the man in their battle.

He could also grudgingly concede that Maon had a point, but he did not have to like it.

“Mum
is
strong,” Eadan added, his little boy trust in his mother absolute. “She got us out of the barony when Percival wanted to kill me and keep her for his company. And she is
supposed
to be there.”

The very thought of what kind of company Percival had in mind had Caelis growling. He pulled his son to him. “No one will harm either of you now.”

“I know, Da.”

Caelis knew there was no choice but to live up to the trust his son placed in him as well.

*   *   *

T
he sound and scents of multiple Chrechte came from
within the keep, even from the distance Caelis and his followers stood in the forest.

He could not believe they had not been challenged as they approached the laird’s home though. The MacLeod keep was not a fortress like the Sinclair or Balmoral holdings with high walls, towers and a bailey, but Uven had always maintained a posting of perimeter guards.

Usually paranoid, the Faol laird had grown so arrogantly complacent. According to Maon, the man had made it a practice in the last year to pull his perimeter guards into the feast. After the death of his second a year ago and the loss of the soldiers he sent north to fetch his daughter, Caelis would have thought Uven would want to increase security, not loosen it.