“It’s too late, Morgan, preparations have been made. Everything is ready and Cara shall marry Prince Melchior tonight. As hurtful as it is now, someday you’ll understand I was right.”
“No, I won’t because Cara and I are leaving the palace within the hour. Anyone who tries to stop us will feel my wrath.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“As much as the rest of the world. Cara is mine and I swear to you, nobody will take her away from me.”
The wizard stood up with the speed of a flying arrow. “My powers are far greater than a thousand swords. I can stop you anytime.”
“Then you’d better kill me right here, right now.”
“Enough!”
Cara hadn’t meant to shout, but their talk of killing was really getting on her nerves. Thrown out of her delightful musings featuring Morgan as her husband, she shifted her gaze from one man to the other.
“How old are you to speak in such terms to each other? Our common enemy is Devlyn and we are allies, remember? I expected more maturity from you both, but it looks like I’m going to have to deal with whiny children instead. Are you proud of yourselves?”
Morgan stretched his neck from right to left in a self-relaxing manner while Caius flattened his hands on the desk. Strengthened by their sullen behaviour, she made her voice sound firm and reasonable.
“You will apologise to each other before we end this discussion.”
To her surprise they did—without looking at one another and half-heartedly, but they did. Her warrior went to stand by the window and the wizard sat back down. Seizing the opportunity she changed the topic.
“Caius, what kind of magic did you use on me when I rode out to fight?”
“A shield.”
“No. Like you said the shield wore off as soon as I passed the city gates. I mean the magic that protected me on the battlefield.”
He raised his hands, palms up. “I didn’t use any other spell.”
“You must have. The only other wizard present was Morgoth and I don’t think he would have done such a thing for me. Anyone else have magic around here?”
Obviously intrigued, Caius frowned. “Not that I know of. Tell me, what did it feel like?”
“Weird. When I threw myself at the front line I should have been slaughtered ten times over. Yet their strikes seemed to miss me and I was able to cut them down. It felt like something countered their every move.”
“I don’t know what to tell you except that I wasn’t the perpetrator. I’ve never heard of such an effective spell.”
“That’s not all. After a while I realised the magic only worked when I was aware of the danger. When a soldier attacked me from behind the spell didn’t protect me. If Morgan hadn’t been there I’d be dead. How can such a thing happen?”
The wizard regarded her with a sudden gravity that chilled her to the bone. As his serious stare lasted she began to question her own judgement. By the window Morgan also appeared to be surprised at the long silence.
“Caius?”
The older man glanced at Morgan as if he had just noticed his presence before he moved his gaze to her. “What you’re saying is impossible.” A distraught expression narrowed his eyes and he rubbed the bridge of his nose with both hands. “Unless of course…”
His bizarre attitude was killing her. Unnerved by the time it took him to explain, she walked to the window to stand beside Morgan. “Unless what?”
Looking like a warlock faced with impending war, he drew in a dragging breath. Eyes directed towards the brown desk in front of him, he seemed to speak to the furniture.
“I don’t want to start another argument and I won’t. But it has now become a crucial matter that you tell me what happened in that cave.”
His austere and dreadful tone couldn’t be mistaken—for whatever reason he needed to know about the memorable night. Morgan looked at her, shrugged in a ‘why-not-tell-him’ fashion but didn’t open his mouth. All right, she’d do it then.
“We made love.”
When Caius expelled air from his lungs, Cara realised he had been holding his breath. Face unreadable, he didn’t throw a tantrum or bang his fist on the desk but he questioned her with a composed voice.
“Was it the first time?”
“Yes. We had tried a few times before but Morgan…”
She paused to look for adequate terms. How could she accurately narrate what had happened to her warrior before that night? She was saved the trouble as Morgan decided to speak for himself.
“My heart couldn’t sustain the pressure. Every time I was about to take Cara, a blinding pain in my chest would drive me to my knees. It only happened with Cara and I had never felt anything like it before. I still don’t know why that night the pain just never came.”
“I do.”
The wizard’s voice rang clear as a bell on a quiet morning. With the air of someone who has at last discovered the meaning of life, he stared at them.
“By the Mighty Gods, children, I wish you had told me sooner. It would have avoided so much confusion and useless actions. All this time you held the key to our future and your ignorance squandered it. I can’t believe this.”
Startled by his newly found passionate tone, Cara frowned. “Caius, we don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you don’t. Then let me guess the rest of your story. Before you made love Morgan experienced an unusual episode like a groundless pain or perhaps a strange wave of dizziness.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Oh, yes, you did.” The image sprang to Cara’s mind as soon as he denied it. “Don’t you recall when we entered the cave? You seemed fine and all of a sudden you dropped the pile of wood and you sighed like someone dying.”
His eyes widened as the recollection came back to him. Nodding, he turned to Caius. “She’s right. After that I felt liberated.”
“I bet you did. And I’d also wager a natural but rare event occurred that night.”
Cara shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
But Morgan raised a finger to his temple. “The sky was clear. I remember looking at the stars and there was no moon.”
True. He had mentioned the absence of the moon and she hadn’t paid any attention because she had been so intent on making him talk—also because she hadn’t been interested. So what had he seen? A lunar eclipse? Across the desk, Caius nodded as if their recollections were obvious.
“I trust we have all the facts now. The disappearance of the moon corresponds to the first occurrence revealed by the prophecy. It was the time you awakened a magic powerful enough to change the future of our world.”
“All right. Then what did we do the night of the Northern Lights?”
Standing by her side, her warrior gasped. Before Caius could answer, Morgan cupped her face in his hands and the intensity of his stare touched her soul.
“By the Mighty Gods!”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Hadn’t she known all along what they had done that night in her apartment? When Morgan had hung onto her quivering body as he had rammed his cock so hard in her—again and again until she had cried out from inhuman pleasure. Probably, but the certainty only came as Caius spelt it out.
“You created the prophetic child.”
Cara’s hands flew to her belly. Basking in Morgan’s gaze, she stroked the curve of her stomach and focused on the loud beating of her heart. Although pregnancy was impossible to tell at this early stage, she felt the spark of life inside her womb. Bursting with joy, she smiled at her warrior.
“We’re having a baby.”
His wide grin sent shivers of pleasure all over her body. When he placed a light kiss on her lips she felt like dying from too much emotion. Then he lowered his hands to encircle her shoulders and he crushed her against him. Pressed to his strong chest, she listened to the fast pumping of his heart. She could have remained in the same position until the end of the day, but Caius butted in.
“Do you recall the line that says ‘By his Blood Unbounded Portents’? I believe magic bound Morgan’s blood at birth, like a shield around his heart preventing him from feeling emotions and from being intimate with you, Cara, until the right time came to fulfil his destiny by fathering the awaited child. It appears now Morgan is the one chosen by the prophecy.”
“Does it mean I don’t have to marry Melchior?”
“Yes.”
Reluctant to break her warrior’s embrace, Cara glanced over his shoulder to look at the wizard. If he experienced contrition it didn’t show. Well, he nevertheless had to be informed of her former decision.
“I wasn’t going to anyway.”
“I know. As I told you once before, I might have convinced the lost girl from New York to marry for reason, but not the Amazon queen. I didn’t push you to regain your memory because that loss served me well until this morning. I’m sorry I put you through this ordeal, but I was certain Melchior was meant to be the father.”
“So you whacked me on the head.”
He shrugged in a fatalistic manner. “I wasn’t sure it would work, but I couldn’t think of anything else to do.”
“But why would fate strip me of my past?”
“To fall in love with Morgan. Had you come back knowing who you really were, you might have chosen a different path. You’d probably have left him in the meadow to return to your Amazons and the child wouldn’t have been begotten.”
As Caius had told her many times, no matter what happened prophecy was always fulfilled. Still, something remained unclear.
“Who protected me on the battlefield?”
“Your son.”
The idea sounded so incongruous that Cara stepped out of Morgan’s embrace as he loosened his grip on her.
“What? That’s ridiculous.”
“Not when magic is involved and it runs in the child’s blood. You’re linked to the baby and he shielded you from harm so as long as you were aware of the danger. That’s why prophecy calls it the awakened sentience.”
Unbelievable. Her son was but a tiny spark in her belly and he was already protecting her. Morgan brushed her stomach with none too steady fingers and they both smiled. Although Cara had always thought magic passed down from generation to generation, she figured their baby was an exception.
“Caius, where does he get the magic from?”
He raised an eyebrow. “From you.” When he saw her blank look the wizard grinned. “I told you before you crossed over to the other world. Sorry, I overlooked the fact that you don’t remember our conversations prior to your departure.”
Fingers now caressing the curve of her belly, Morgan glanced at her. “You forgot Caius? How surprising!”
Had it not been for his good-humoured tone he might have started a new squabble. But Caius just waved his hand and continued.
“A long time ago when I got hold of the prophecy I began searching for Melisande’s dwellings. I thought I might find clues there.”
“The sorceress who cursed Anya and tried to kill Kylor?”
“Yes. Although I felt power in her lair along with parchments where she recounted her doings, something important eluded me. So I sent you there and you found the quartz. It appears this piece of rock was a conduit between universes, although it works with no one but you.”
Which was why Heather, Devlyn and Morgoth had been unable to see the tiniest trace of magic in it. Did it mean she possessed magic?
“I sure can’t throw fireballs. Why me?”
“You aren’t able to use magic as a weapon, but the power flows in your veins. You passed it down to your child because Melisande is your ancestor.”
“I descend from the bad witch?”
“Not bad. Misguided. From her writings I was able to trace your bloodline. You must read them sometime, they’re very interesting.”
So she was the vessel carrying the prophetic child. Her ancestor had been a deranged witch addicted to magic and her unborn son was destined to save the Four Kingdoms. All in all, life had been simpler in New York.
“Are you sure this time? It seems to me you’ve been wrong over and over again with this prophecy.”
“And if I had been informed of all the facts I might not have been so misled.”
Point taken. Leaning in, Morgan whispered against her cheek, “Nice one.”
She grinned while glancing out of the window. With a light breeze spreading them out, the flags on top of the keep flapped lightly. Something about them nagged her, but she dismissed the vague sensation as Caius stood up to go around the desk.
“I have to inform the royal family of this new development and tell Melchior he won’t get married today.”
Recalling their first encounter the previous night and his passionate mention of the lovely princess of Moonstill, Cara figured the news wouldn’t hit him hard. Given that he would have been acting out of duty, he might even feel relieved.
“If you ask me, he won’t mind that much.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Just a hunch, I guess.”
Morgan looked at her with an amused frown before halting the wizard who was already on his way to the door.
“I don’t mind telling him myself. Actually it would be my pleasure.”
His mischievous tone didn’t seem to please Caius. “You’ve made enough fuss for a single day, don’t you think? Cara shall be your wife and your wish has been granted. But you don’t have to brag about it.”
“Come on, just a little.”
While Morgan had a good time teasing the wizard, the flags above the keep once more attracted her attention. Maybe because they represented a whole kingdom or was it something about the drawings imprinted on their length? She couldn’t say for sure, but they reminded her of Prince Melchior. Intrigued, she turned to Caius and recited aloud, “‘The Seventh Son of the House shall arise’. Were you wrong about that too? What about the royal bloodline? You said my child should descend from kings, but how are we going to manage that if I’m not marrying a prince?”
A spontaneous grin lit the wizard’s face and Morgan pivoted towards her. A small frown creased his brow as he observed her with a curious look.
“Well… You are.”
“I am?”
“Yes. And I thought your memories were back.”
“I remember everything and everyone from my past except the people I’ve met since my return. And that includes you, Morgan.”
But he didn’t have to tell her. Understanding speeding up her pulse, Cara glanced at the Palance flags outside. The same drawings she had seen on the medallion Morgan had gone to great lengths to retrieve from the tower of the Blind Seers—the same symbols that were engraved on the hilts of his daggers. She opened wide eyes at her warrior.
“You are…”
“Melchior’s younger brother. I’m afraid you’ll never be queen, but you are marrying a prince of Palance.”
The way he said it touched her heart, almost like he was apologising for not being the firstborn son. As if she cared about that! All she wanted was him and his child, the beautiful baby she’d soon cradle against her. Tears sprang up and blurred the outlines of his beloved face as she rushed into his arms.
“I have more than I ever desired.”
He smiled then and kissed her lips. “You take the words out of my mouth.”
Reflecting on his revelation, Cara realised why Devlyn hated him so much. More than a simple opponent, Morgan also descended from a long line of kings and stood as his archenemy. Earlier this morning, the crowd in the street must have hailed him, not Melchior like she had instantly assumed.
An image of Heather popped up in her mind. The charming lady had told her about living in Palance and being his wet nurse. As prince there was no doubt he had enjoyed this kind of privilege. And if she put her mind to it, she’d find plenty of details connecting him to the house of Palance.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“After you fell int
o Devlyn’s hands I thought it best to keep the information from you. The less you knew the safer you were.”
Caius cleared his throat. Fingers on the door handle, he disrupted their private moment and Cara guessed he’d always do that. As King Droman’s wizard and counsellor, interruption must be part of his job description.
“I’m going to speak to your parents, Morgan. Meanwhile you should make yourself useful and find a dress for Cara. Her presence will be requested soon.”
“We’ll do that at once.”
Although her warrior answered in a light voice, Cara heard urgency in the broken rhythm of his tone. Could he be anxious to exchange vows as soon as possible because something bad might befall the Four Kingdoms and they’d have to be separated again? Whatever the reason, he seized her hand and ushered her out while winking at Caius.
“Consider it done.”
Leaving the wizard to stare at them like two frolicking kids, he led her to a different wing of the grand palace. He was definitely in a hurry because she had to walk fast to keep up with his long strides. Yet when they entered an unfamiliar part of the castle, the luxurious décor didn’t look like the right place to find a dress. Morgan stopped in front of a massive oak door and pushed it open with a flourish of the hand.
“My lady.”
She stepped into a princely bedroom. Even more doubtful they’d find an evening gown in such a masculine place, Cara looked at him.
“Why are we here?”
His face looked as hard as stone, but his eyes sparkled with unbridled lust as he seized two leather belts hanging from the back of a chair. Hands around each end, he pulled on them hard enough to make them clack.
“Because, O Amazon Queen, you deserve to be chastised.”
Chapter Fifty
“Do I?”
“Without a doubt.”
The lump stretching the front of his pants seemed to push forward by the second. Now she knew why he had been in such a hurry.
“Why?”
“You took my favourite horse without my permission.”