Luathara - Book Three of the Otherworld Trilogy (36 page)

Cade moved so quickly I hardly had time to see it happen.  His fingers were wrapped around Cernunnos's throat and he actually lifted the god off the ground.

"If you hurt Meghan in any way, if you so much as make her frown because of something you say to her, you'll regret it."

Cade's teeth were
clench
ed and his arm grew before my eyes, the muscles bulging, the bones lengtheni
ng and straining the sleeve of
his shirt.

"Cade!" I cried.

He ignored me, his focus entirely on Cernunnos.  "I may not be able to kill you, but I sure as hell can incapacitate you for a few days."

Cernunnos kept a tight grip on the fingers that were wrapped around his throat.  Cade held him a few moments more, but then dropped him.  The antlered man bent over, struggling to catch his breath.  Before long the coughing turned to laughter.

He stood up, his eyes watering and his face slightly red.  He smiled and his
eyes
w
ere
alit with mischief.

"Well done Caedehn!  But have no fear, I mean your sweet Meghan no harm.  A pity though.  It would be fun to take you on in my stag form.  But alas!  Not tonight.  Not with your foster father and grandfather just in the other room."

He stepped forward, but kept his distance from Cade.  Before reentering the ballroom, he turned and gave me another bow, this
one
more sloppy than the one he'd greeted me with.

In my mind, his words whispered across my conscience.
 
Remember Meghan, you can't tell a single Faelorehn man or woman about
that magic I gave you
.

My eyes
narrowed.  I knew this already, why was he repeating it?  Did he think I was stupid enough to forget
?

He must have sensed my irritation because his face softened ever so slightly before his words reached out to me again.
I am allowed to
offer you one
more
sliver of information
the Spirits of the Wild shared with me
.  You will have spent some time in the Morrigan's lair before you can act.  That is all I am permitted to say.

I drew in a sharp breath as my eyes grew wide.  The Morrigan's lair?  That could not be good.  But at least he was giving me more to go on.

"Remember what we discussed, dear Meghan," Cernunnos said aloud, his dark eyes hard and locked with mine.  "And keep an eye on that boy of yours.  Quite the temper he has.  It could get him into trouble."

I crossed my arms and glared at him but made no response.  He chuckled and slipped past the curtains to join the other revelers.

Cade stepped forward, reaching out an arm.  "Meghan," he said quietly.

I threw my arms down and shoved him hard in the chest.  Cade grunted in surprise as he took a step back to catch himself.

"You idiot!  What is wrong with you?  Why on earth would you entice a Celtic god like that?  Do you have a death wish?"

Cade merely rubbed his chest, frowning in slight confusion.
 
I sighed and dropped my face into my hands.

"I was the one trying to hurt him," I grumbled.

Cade gently took one of my hands and pulled it away from my face.  I looked up at him, my expression one of misery.

"Why?" he asked.

When I didn't answer immediately, his eyes grew hard again and he asked with a clipped tone, "And why was he out here confronting you to begin with?"

Oh yes, why indeed.  What could I tell Cade without making him suspicious?

I shrugged, trying to shake off this new batch of unease.  "We had a misunderstanding is all."

As I turned to head back into the ballroom, Cade's hand fell on my shoulder, stopping me.

"Meghan," he said, his voice gentle but insistent.

I cursed inwardly, my little spider working furiously to capture and bind all the thoughts about Cernunnos's magic that now poured into my mind. 
Quickly Meghan, invent some excuse . . .

"He wanted to introduce himself properly, so he said.  Then he made some off-hand comment about Danua I didn't care for."

Cade's eyebrows rose.  "Oh?"

Nodding, I swallowed and continued with my fabricated explanation.  "Yes."
I smiled and stepped closer to Cade.  "He couldn't understand why the high queen of Eile would allow her daughter to traipse around the countryside with a ruffian like you."

Cade returned my smile and pulled me close, molding me against his chest.  I took a deep breath, inhaling his scent and letting his presence relax me.  After what I'd learned tonight, I needed Cade's comfort like a
fish needed water
.

When the weight of Cade's heavy arms settled around me, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, letting my mind drift off.

"I'm sorry Meghan," he murmured against my hair, "about the way I reacted.  But when I saw Cernunnos's hand around your wrist . . ."

He trailed off and I felt his muscles tense and his body heat spike.  With some effort, I imagined, he got his anger under control.  The last thing either of us needed right now was for a piece of his
riastrad
to rear its ugly head once more.

Cade sighed again.  "I guess I just went blind with rage."

He gently removed me from himself and put his hands on my face.
 
"I thought he was trying to hurt you."

I smiled and
stood on my toes
, settling my mouth against his.  He accepted the kiss and transformed it into anything but the innocent caress
I had initiated
.

When he finally let me go, I put a hand on his chest, his heartbeat playing strongly against it.  I bit my lip to hide a grin.

"I understand Cade.  Just try not to anger the gods too much, okay?  You need to be whole and healthy when the Morrigan decides to attack us."

And just like that, the little bit of peace Cade had created shattered.  Why did I have to
go and remember what lay ahead of
us?

Cade drew me close again.  "Don't think about that now Meghan."

Behind the curtains, where my mother and her court and all the other Tuatha De stood aroun
d talking and sharing news, the
orchestra started in
with
a new song.  The music was gentle, soothing, as if somehow the people playing the instruments knew I needed some comfort right about now.

"Dance with me
p
rincess?" Cade whispered against my temple.

I turned and nipped his ear.  He grunted in slight surprise but I merely answered back, my own voice hushed, "Oh, of course my young man.  But we must remain out here on the dark balcony so that my mother, the queen, doesn't catch me consorting with a rogue such as yourself."

He laughed and swept me around in a circle.  I squealed and allowed my dismal mood to vanish as Cade drew me
near
again into a slower dance.

We spent a good half hour on that dark patio, dancing to the music drifting past the velvet curtains, before someone finally found us.  My worries had been eating away at me for weeks, but at least for that one evening, for those few, precious minutes, I was able to forget my qualms and enjoy the cheerful music, the warmth of Cade's arms and the happiness of knowing I was loved.

-
Seven
teen-

News

Cade and I left Erintara a
week
after the meeting with the Tuatha De, returning to the Weald in order to wait for news from the Morrigan's realm.  Although my mother had invited us to stay in the castle, I couldn't stand being there
any longer than the seven days that had already passed
.  It wasn't that the Tuatha De were cruel or rude, or that my mother's cold indifference left me feeling drained (and it wasn't Cernunnos's presence
either
; he'd been kind enough to keep his distance since our strange confrontation), it was mostly a combination of other factors.  The subtle build up of Faelorehn magic was grating away at me and making it harder to control my own glamour
, and t
he constant undercurrent of aggression as everyone scurried about, preparing themselves for the coming war
, didn't help either
.  I could sense the stress in Cade as well, his every muscle tense whenever I put a hand on his arm or leaned against him.  It didn't take long before he insisted we return to the Weald.

"It's not so far away that we can't make it back here if anything should develop," he'd told Danua and the Dagda at afternoon tea the day before we left.  "Besides, Enorah offered her help and now would be a good time to
let
her and her best fighters
know we will gladly accept their assistance
."

"Very well," my mother had replied, as cool and collected as ever.  "We will send word when you are needed."

I hated the idea of hiding out, but staying in the castle with all that raw magic bouncing around was out of the question.

My mother rose early the next morning to see us off, the great hooded cloak she wore to ward off the cold hiding her face.
 
To my great surprise, she reached out and took my hand in hers.  "Be safe daughter, and know that we will do all we can to thwart the Morrigan."

I nodded once, fighting the tears that suddenly wanted to escape.  Turning away, I called out for Meridian, my silent words brushing her mind.  She'd been hiding out in the stable, and complained in her own avian way as she found a spot on my shoulder.  The stable workers had saddled Lasair and Speirling, and as I spotted the two stallions, the odd sadness that had visited me vanished.  The red horse pricked his ears forward at my arrival, tossing his head and whickering softly, hi
s warm breath misting the air.

Cade helped me into the saddle, and once I had my
loose
riding cloak situated around me, I leaned forward and whispered, "Did you miss me boy?"

Lasair tossed his head again and dug at the cobblestones with his front hoof.  I smiled. 
"Yeah, I missed you too."

Cade led Speirling around to me.  "Ready?" he asked, his eyes glimmering with anticipation.

I smiled in return and nodded.  I couldn't help
but agree
with him.  The journey to the Weald would do our troubled minds some good.  So long as we didn't meet any faelah along the way . . .

With one more wave to my mother and the Dagda, we were off, our horses' hooves clattering along the cobblestone streets of Erintara.  The Otherworld
had cooled down at autumn's arrival, but that lingering hint of summer still
suffused
the air
.  I laughed
,
despite the relative melancholy
still
clinging to
me
.
 
Lasair's whicker matched my mood and he picked up his feet, dancing a little as
we made our way down the road.

With my smile still bright, I turned around and glanced at Cade.  He had the hood of his long riding cape pulled over his face, but the flash of his teeth told me he enjoyed my antics.  My heart all but melted in reaction to his small but sincere gesture.

We climbed into the hills, and in no time we found the dolmarehn we
had passed through the week before
.  Once on the other side, we encouraged the horses into a faster pace, Fergus increasing his own speed to keep up with us.  We bypassed the Dagda's, the grouping of hills strangely still and quiet without the cheerful god's presence, and headed directly for the dolmarehn that would take us to Luathara.  We had decided early on that we would spend the night at the castle and then head for the Weald first thing in the morning.
  How long we ended up staying in the magical forest, I couldn't say.

By the time we reached the wooded hill behind Cade's castle, it was nearly twilight.  Cade pulled Speirling to a halt and I followed his lead.  When Fergus left our side and disappeared down the hillside in complete silence, I knew Cade had sent him ahead to make sure all was well.

Fifteen minutes later the wolfhound reappeared and we urged the horses onward.  Briant and his family greeted us in the courtyard.

"Lord Caedehn!  Lady Meghan!  We have worried about you since last time we parted.  How is your sister my lord, and the Dagda?"

"You were supposed to remain in the village," Cade grumbled as he climbed down from Speirling.

Briant brought himself up to his full height.  "We live at Luathara now, my lord.  It is as much our home as it is yours.  Besides, someone had to make sure it didn't become overrun with the Morrigan's abominations."

Cade merely shook his head and sighed.  Who could argue with that logic?  As he filled his steward in on the past several weeks, I followed Briant's wife and daughter inside as the stable master led our horses away.  Lasair called out to me, seeming agitated as the stranger took his reins.  I whipped around and looked at him, his brown eyes flashing with unease.