The Dragon and the Dreamwalker (Elemental Series) (13 page)

“I came to find you as the prophecy instructed so you could help me find the answer of how to stop Dracus.”

“I know not how to stop a dragon.”

“And neither do I. But somehow, the old seer thinks together we can discover the answer. But with each passing day, my faith in her scrying becomes weaker and I lose hope that I’ll ever be able to stop this dragon at all.”

He picked up his sword and belt and headed for the door.

“You’re leaving?” She couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

“I won’t force you to lie with me, even if you are my wife. When I take you to my bed, it’ll be because you go willingly. No ogre would do that, would he, Brynn?”

“If you go out that door, everyone will know we haven’t consummated the marriage. Your men will look at you with less respect in the morning.”

“And if I stay here I will be tempted to take you in the night, and break my word of honor. If I did that, I could not respect myself. So, you see, it no longer matters.”

He slid the lock bar off the door and pulled it open. He looked back at her with his dark eyes and she almost wanted to beg him to stay.

“I’ll send Birdie to help you undress. I would also make certain Juturna is sent for to tend to your wounds.”

She jumped to her feet. This is exactly what she’d wanted - for him to leave. But now that he was doing it, she wanted nothing more than for him to stay. She didn’t know what to do, what to say. She had so much she wanted to ask him about the attack on the castle. She wanted to know if he was injured by the dragon, or even if he would perhaps come back to her later that night or the next day.

“My lord?” she asked, stopping him from leaving. He looked back at her, but didn’t speak. “Thank you,” she whispered, not sure if she was really thanking him for not touching her, or for saving her life.

He didn’t answer. Just turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Brynn stared out the window as Birdie unlatched every one of the hooks at the back of her wedding gown. She watched Drake making his way across the torch lit courtyard below. His men approached him one at a time, but with a slight motion from his hand, he dismissed them all. He didn’t look at them, just straight ahead as he made his way toward the mews. Brynn couldn’t help but feel an emptiness inside her. One that possibly could have been filled by Drake if she had only let him try.

“Thank goodness, you didn’t have to sleep with the man,” commented Birdie as she slipped the gown from Brynn’s shoulders.

Brynn didn’t say anything, just stepped from the dress as Birdie lowered it to her feet.

“I was so frightened for you,” said Birdie. “The thought of you having to undress in front of him and lie naked with him in the bed horrified me.”

Brynn turned toward her, laying a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“That is what a husband and wife do on their wedding night, Birdie.” Birdie scooped up the gown, stopping at the sound of Brynn’s words. She looked up to her with innocent eyes.

“But he’s the devil himself, my lady. If you had to lie with him, there’s no telling what would have happened.”

Brynn walked to the bed and laid her hand against one of the carved posts. She ran her fingers over the spirals, carved flowers, and faeries, and wondered about her own parents’ wedding night. She was sure it had been filled with love and laughter. Not arguing and emptiness, as was her own.

“Yes, Birdie, you are correct. There is no telling what would have happened.”

Brynn couldn’t help but stare at the empty bed, thinking how cold and lonely it would be sleeping by herself on her wedding night.

“My lady, if you don’t mind me saying - you seem to be saddened by the outcome. I would have thought you’d be delighted.”

Brynn raised her arms as Birdie helped her off with her undergarments and unbound her wound, dabbing at the fresh blood with a rag.

“I would have thought so too, Birdie. But for some reason I cannot help but wonder what it would have been like had I coupled with Drake.”

“Are you saying you have feelings for Lord Dunsbard?” Birdie stared with open eyes, and Brynn almost laughed.

“Well, he is my husband, Birdie. A woman is supposed to couple with her husband on her wedding night.”

“Then you do care for him,” she said, sitting down on the bed. Brynn followed suit and joined her.

“I know ’tis evil,” she said, “to want a man like Drake.”

“He killed your parents,” she reminded him. “You cannot mean to want to lie with their murderer?”

“I don’t believe he did, Birdie, although I cannot prove it. He told me he didn’t, and deep inside I feel ’tis true.”

Birdie shook her head, grabbing Brynn’s hands in her own. “You did the right thing by sending him away,” she reassured her.

Brynn was about to correct her, telling her it was Drake’s decision to leave, but stopped herself. If she was to gain respect among the people of Thorndale and someday regain the control that should be hers, ’twas better Birdie and all concerned thought it Brynn’s decision not to couple. If they knew the truth, it would only make her seem weaker and Drake seem stronger.

A knock came at the door, and the voice of Juturna from beyond it.

“My lady, I have brought more poultices and new bindings to wrap your wound.”

Brynn looked at Birdie at smiled slightly. “Please do not mention to anyone I’ve banished my husband from our room this night.”

“Of course not, my lady. I would never say a word.”

Brynn nodded her head in acceptance. She knew Birdie well enough never to trust her with a secret. By tomorrow morning, everyone in Thorndale Castle would know what happened this eve. Brynn would be seen as the woman who controlled her husband’s actions. She was on her way to being the next and only ruler of Thorndale. This should please her immensely, so why did she have such an aching in her heart?

* * *

Brynn lay in bed that night, not able to sleep. Birdie and Juturna had tended to her needs, then left her in that cold, empty bed by herself. By now, the whole castle knew she hadn’t consummated her marriage. Though she felt guilty for letting Birdie think she was the one to throw Drake out of the bedchamber, she had to do it. She needed the respect of the people. She needed to change her feared nature of being a witch to one of a woman with power enough to even control the actions of a man. If she could prove to her people she was worthy of their allegiance instead of Drake, she just may be able to claim Thorndale as her own. Thorndale belonged to her, not Drake. She deserved her father’s land, not the man who stole it.

Still, deep down she felt as if she had betrayed her husband. Drake told her he’d come to Thorndale in peace, with no thought to lay siege. If this were true, then it changed her opinion of him immensely. He had come to the castle looking for her. Had she been inside the castle walls at the time, mayhap things would have been different.

If she could have seen he meant no harm, she could have convinced her father. Together they could have joined forces and went up against the Klarens. If so, there would be a good chance her parents would still be alive today.

Thoughts of the dragon ran rampant in her head. She couldn’t believe Drake had offered himself to Dracus, trying to stop the dragon’s attacks on the village. That should have told her right then and there that Drake was a man willing to die for what he believed. There was some good in him, though it was taking her a while to see it.

She lay back on the pillow, watching the full moon spill its bright beams into her room. She felt an attraction to Drake that she didn’t understand. She wanted to talk to someone about it, but couldn’t. She had almost told Birdie about them tonight, but something stopped her. She was no longer sure who she could trust.

Her mother would have understood had she still been alive. Her mother had always been there for her when she needed to ask about feelings or
dreamwalking
or walking

through fire. But now her mother was dead, and Brynn was all alone.

She longed to ask her why Drake knew he was
dreamwalking
, as most people are not aware when they are in this state. He mentioned the fact he knew they both were on the
dreamwalking
plane. Would he remember it in waking life? If he knew she’d left her body and he had thought to follow, then did this mean he could command his spirit to leave his physical shell at will, just like she was capable of doing? Just like her mother before her had had the capability of doing?

It took someone special to
dreamwalk
at will. It took someone magical, powerful and enchanting. Drake was all those things to her. She wondered about his past. She wondered just who he was. She had so many questions she longed to ask him to have her curiosity sufficed. She knew virtually nothing about this man who was now her husband. She missed him deeply for some odd reason and wanted to know as to where he would be spending the night.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. Her thoughts drifted to Drake. She willed her soul to leave her body and bring her to the place where Drake rested. This worried her at first, as she thought mayhap he’d taken up with one of the kitchen maids as did Asad. But when her etheric form rose into the air and whisked off toward the mews, she knew she was wrong about him.

Her etheric body walked through the closed door, and found Drake sleeping in the hay among the falcon’s quarters. The birds knew she was there. Animals were very aware and could even see a
Dreamwalker,
when people couldn’t. Most the birds were hooded, but those that weren’t watched her with wide eyes in the dark.

“Hello, Feathers.” She talked to her own pet, a Peregrine falcon. It had been a  present from her parents several birthdays ago. She reached out to pet its head, but of course her hand went right through it.

“I’ll come see you in the morning, I promise. Are you taking good care of Drake?”

She walked over to where he slept in the hay. Moonlight spewed in from a crack in the wooden slats, bathing his face in a purplish white glow.

“He looks so different when he sleeps,” she said, bending down to see him better.

“What’s wrong with the way I look when I’m awake?”

She spun around and realized the etheric Drake was standing behind her. She looked at his physical form and then back at his spirit.

“Drake!” He seemed oblivious to the fact his physical body lay sleeping in the hay.

“So, wife, I see you have come to keep your promise after all.” He laid a hand behind her head and pulled her close to kiss her.

She pushed away.

“Still fighting me, I see. Well, what do I have to do to woo you, my lady?”

“You might try treating me like a lady instead of a whore for starters.”

“Ah, so you want me to please you though you are not willing to please me?
”

“You know this isn’t real. I mean, our physical bodies are fast asleep.”

“So let them sleep. I am wide awake and rather enjoying your presence here.”

He ran his fingers through her hair gently. It was arousing, alluring - so much better than in the physical sense, and she was very curious to see how making love would feel on another plane.

“You want me, Brynn, don’t you? You are my wife. All you need you to do is say you want me as well, and we could consummate this marriage.”

She reached out and touched him on the chest. He felt so alive, so vibrant, so real.

“I am not sure ’twill be worth it. Or at least, not for you. You won’t remember it when you wake.”

“Ah, but
you
will, won’t you? And that memory may make you want me physically as well. So I would say ’tis definitely worth it.”

“So that’s your plan,” she said with a smile. He returned the smile, and her heart melted at his antics.

“Cannot a man try?”

“I would like to kiss you,” she admitted, and before she knew it, he had her in his arms and his lips pressed against hers.

“You are delicious, my dear.”

“And you as well.”

His hand trailed down her cheek to her chin and he let it wander further this time, to the neckline of her nightgown.

“Your skin is so soft. Your body is so alluring.”

She closed her eyes as his lips grazed the skin of her collar bone. His kisses trailed down her neckline and to the top of one breast.

“I would not take you against your will, Brynn. Not even in this form.”

She took his hand and guided it into her nightgown without hesitation. “I want you, Drake. I want to fulfill my duty as your wife.”

In one move he ripped her gown away, leaving her etheric form naked. He then removed his own tunic and hose and pulled her down into the hay, not far from his physical body.

He hands caressed her breasts, his fingers magic against the tips. A shudder of delight wracked her body and she almost screamed out in ecstasy when he brought one and then the other to his mouth for a taste. She tingled, vibrated and arched her back. He had a way of bringing her to life. She felt more like a woman than she ever had before.