Unquiet Slumber (56 page)

Isabella held out her hand toward Tianna’s hair. “You look like a princess to me.” She started to stroke her hair and made “Oooo” noises of delight. Tianna let her play with the beads braided into her hair until they split apart to go to their separate homes. Having children nearby made Tianna relax a little. Tianna continued on with Gabriel at her side.

Tianna was pleasantly surprised by Gabriel’s home. Given that he was a warrior, she expected his home to be more like Zarin’s—dark and cluttered with warrior weapons. Instead she found a beautifully decorated home full of color and light. He did have warrior items, but they were all neatly on display.

After she was given a full tour, he asked, “We’ve had a long day. Is there anything I can get for you?”

Tianna sniffed her arms and scrunched up her face. “What I really want is to soak in a hot bath. I smell of horses and sweat.” He gave her a deep bow.

Once the bath was ready, he left her alone to enjoy her private time. Tianna sighed when she sunk deep into the water.

When it was getting close to time for evening meal, Gabriel checked on Tianna, finding that she had already finished her bath and was fast asleep on his bed. He heard a quiet purr coming from her chest. He walked over and smiled down at her, giving her a gentle kiss on her cheek.

She stirred, stretched, and smiled back up at him.

Gabriel whispered, “It’s time to get ready for evening meal. Everyone will be anxious to get to know you.”

Tianna’s face fell and the purring stopped abruptly. “Can’t I just stay here? You need time alone with your family. I don’t want to intrude.”

Gabriel gave her an exasperated sigh. He knew she felt like an outsider and just wanted to hide. He took her hand and pulled her up, saying, “My family is going to love you. Actually, given the looks on my sons’ faces earlier, I’m going to have to keep you close by my side. They might try to steal you away, especially that charmer son of mine, Aryyn.”

As he spoke, Tianna could feel his power surge. She was surprised how much she liked the feeling of protection that she was still sensing from Gabriel, but she said, “Now that we’re in Haven, you don’t have to continue protecting me. Although I like being by your side, I don’t want to interfere with your normal life. I’ll find myself another place to stay.”

He leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re part of my family now and are welcome in my home for as long as you want.”

Tianna sat up. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He secretly hoped that she never had to find out.

Gabriel dressed, but Tianna wasn’t sure what to wear. In the end, she put on something comfortable. Since this was the first night to meet his family, she decided to wear the leather dress that she wore the night she met Gabriel. He chuckled in approval.

They arrived at the training field where many of his family members had already gathered and started a large campfire. Tianna watched and listened to the sounds of Gabriel’s sons wrestling with Seth. It didn’t take long before the camp fire was surrounded by not just family but by many others from Haven who wanted to formally welcome the quest home. As the crowd size grew, so did Tianna’s unease. She fell back into the shadows, feeling like an outsider but, every time she found a quiet corner, one of her former traveling companions would find her and pull her back. They all refused to let her hide.

Her unease grew to a painful level when Nathaniel joined the gathering with Raven trailing behind him. Tianna could tell that Nathaniel was angry and was trying to get away from Raven, but Raven refused to leave his side. Tianna didn’t feel sorry for him. He got himself into his situation, he could get himself out.

Tianna tried to ignore them, keeping herself as far away as she could from the couple. As hard as she tried to keep them out of her mind, Tianna felt chills up her spine whenever Raven laughed, which she seemed to do often and in an unnecessarily loud tone. She wanted to walk up to her and whack her in the chest with a branch to knock the laugh out of her. The image brought a brief smile to Tianna’s face.

Throughout the evening, everyone shared events within Haven over the last year while the travelers told their stories of the magical villages they had visited. Everyone cringed when they heard about Tianna indulging in the diet of the Inari.

Tianna defended the people she now considered family and said, “Bugs can be good for you and they don’t all taste bad. The key is in the preparation. I bet I could make you a dish that you would love.”

Seth replied, “I think I speak for everyone when I say, you can keep your bugs. We’ll stick to foods that we don’t normally scrape off the bottom of our feet.”

 Seth became very animated when he told the stories of the giant’s from Knightstorm and of the warrior competition. He received sturdy pats on his back when he told of his win in the tracker challenge. Everyone was shocked to hear that Tianna had won at archery. Tianna was grateful that other stories of her at Eden and of Kai remained unspoken.

When Marcus’ mate Sharay asked how the travelers had met Tianna, Gabriel was happy to share how she dropped out of a tree and threatened to kill him. Everyone laughed.

Aryyn was quite pleased to hear of Tianna’s skills in archery and said, “I’m also an archer. Maybe someday soon we can go out to the training field and shoot together.”

Tianna nodded with a smile.

They all shared evening meal together and the stories went on well into the night. Many of the unmated males were distracted from the tales when Tianna sang songs to Isabella and shook out her hair so she could practice making braids. It had already grown several inches since it had been cut and was once again projecting a life of its own. Isabella giggled as Tianna’s hair played back.

When Tianna realized the distraction she had inadvertently caused, she stopped singing and blushed.

Later, when Sharay saw Tianna rocking her sleeping daughter in her arms, she decided it was time to call it a night. She was the first to announce that she was taking her family home, but others took the hint, agreeing it was time to let the travelers have a good night’s rest.

Tianna cursed at herself for watching Nathaniel leave with Raven at his side.

When several of Gabriel’s sons asked Tianna where she would be staying, Gabriel could feel her tense. He saved her from having to respond by taking her hand and saying, “She’ll be staying with me until we find her a place of her own.” Their shoulders drooped in disappointment, since they were all prepared to offer their homes to her. Seeing the looks in his sons’ eyes, Gabriel quickly sent them all away.

Tianna gave Gabriel’s hand a squeeze as a silent thank you.

Once back at Gabriel’s, he headed toward the bedroom saying, “Let’s call it a night. We’ll have to get up early to go see the Seer.”

Tianna stopped at the bedroom door. Although she had been sharing a bed roll with Gabriel and Nathaniel for weeks, she was a little nervous about going into the bedroom with him. Lying together in a cold campground was very different than crawling into his bed.

Gabriel turned around and saw her apprehensiveness. “If this makes you uncomfortable, we can make other arrangements. I have another room you could stay in.”

She felt safe with Gabriel and really didn’t want to spend her first night in a new village alone. She smiled and shook her head. “No, if you don’t mind, I’d like to stay with you. I’m a bit shaken by the day and could use the touch to calm down.”

Gabriel gave her a big smile. “Then, by all means, ladies first.” He motioned her forward.

They prepped for bed and both sighed contentedly as they crawled into a real bed with real blankets. Tianna giggled. “I’m not sure I can sleep without a rock in my back or having to swat away bugs.”

Gabriel put a serious look on his face. “I want my guest to be comfortable in my home. Let me go get some for you and bring them in. I’ll find some extra big bugs so you can have a snack if you get hungry during the night.” He started to scoot out of the bed.

She grabbed his arm and yelled, “No!”

He chuckled and settled back in, snaking his hand under her shirt so he could press his palm onto her skin. He sighed contentedly when Tianna started to glow and purr, his body becoming completely relaxed.

Although she enjoyed having Gabriel next to her, she couldn’t help but think about where Nathaniel was, who he was with, and what they were doing.

*~*~*~*

Nathaniel, after a long fight with Raven, convinced her that he needed time to himself to recover from his travels. In reality, staring at her reminded him of his betrayal and the pain was too great. He lay in his bed alone staring up at the ceiling, missing holding Tianna and smelling her scent. He felt a pain in his heart as he thought about where she was, who she was with, and what they were doing.

He knew Gabriel had exceptional control and would never hurt Tianna, but he couldn’t help but be concerned for her safety. As the image of Tianna mating entered his mind, his dragon rumbled. He couldn’t bear the thought of anyone’s naked body on top of hers, anyone except his own. His dragon snarled, “
Mine
,” in his mind.

As images of him in bed with Tianna filled his mind, he was surprised that his inner voice didn’t scream at him. He still held the fear that his dragon would hurt her, but his panic did seem to be less intense. For now, he would have to be content to have Tianna in his dreams. He closed his eyes and let pure passion unfold.

First thing in the morning, each member of the quest rose, washed, and dressed. Each male was expected to present themselves to the Seer in the traditional ceremonial armor that represented their Setts. Since Tianna had the blood of multiple magical creatures running through her veins, she represented no one group in particular. She wasn’t sure what to wear. That question was answered for her when she was taken to a special room not far from the Great Hall. The Seer had sensed her arrival in the tunnel and insisted that she be presented to her formally. No one questioned the Seer’s decrees, so Tianna was given no choice.

She was dressed by the Seer’s handmaidens in clothes chosen for her—a traditional ceremonial gown. They could pick her gown but she insisted on leaving her hair in Inari braids and beads. The line of her ear still glistened with jewels.

Tianna was exceptionally uncomfortable showing any part of her Black Dragon mark. Given its increase in detail, it was now displayed prominently on her chest and, with the dress design, there was no way to cover it up. She decided to ignore it and maybe others would too. That was wishful thinking. The moment the Seer’s handmaidens saw the bonding mark, they screamed and ran from the room. Guards came in running thinking that someone had attacked them. When they saw Tianna’s mark, their eyes opened wide in shock, but they remained silent. They wouldn’t go near her, however, they stayed in the room. Given their order to guard her, they weren’t going to leave her side.

One handmaiden came back in reluctantly and finished dressing Tianna. Tianna guessed she had been ordered back in, but her hands shook the whole time.

The gown she was put in was sewn with material that appeared to be almost alive as it changed colors depending on how light hit it or movements she made. The colors represented each Sett. There was blue for Healers, green for Trackers, red for Warriors, violet for Architects, and silver for Craftsmen. She noticed that there was even black for the Wizards. She wondered if the gown could sense Setts and change color to match. That would explain why it kept changing color. The dress couldn’t figure out what she was either.

All edges of the dress were outlined in diamonds and other gems. The material flowed up to a high collar and down to the floor dragging for at least a foot. The handmaid had to do some quick hemming to adjust for Tianna’s lack of height. It had sleeves of sheer material that gathered at her elbow and then fanned out into thin strips. When her arms rested at her side, some of the strips hung down almost to the ground. As she moved her arms, they seemed to float in the air. Although it had a high collar in back, it plunged too low in front for Tianna’s comfort. It had a fitted waist and a corset so tight it made it hard for her to breathe. Between the lower cut and the tight corset there would be no doubt that she was all female.

She had to admit it was a beautiful gown, but she felt awkward and unsure in it. It didn’t fit her body well and wasn’t comfortable. With all of the material and gems, it was heavy. It felt like she had saddle bags hanging over her shoulders, weighing her down, and she hoped she wouldn’t have to stand in it very long. She sighed as she thought about her comfortable riding attire.