His commanders had followed him to the residence, of course. They were now all sitting around a stone table topped with all manner of food and drink, but no one was partaking of any of it. The general mood in the room was, at best, morose.
“Was there another entrance to the dungeons of which we were unaware?” Baldemar asked after a long period of silence.
“Of course not,” Grolkinei snapped. “I designed the damn structure and oversaw its creation. One way in, one way out.”
“Perhaps she can alter the minds of others,” Kanika suggested. “She might have somehow influenced the guards to allow her passage and made them forget about her presence after she and Quincy escaped.”
They all considered this. It seemed remotely plausible. Grolkinei’s temper seemed to ease a bit at the possible explanation.
“But why wouldn’t she have used that ability against Eloy?” Layla argued. “He obviously hurt her since she used her holy light and a hair comb, of all things, against him. If she could have influenced him to keep herself from harm, surely she would have.”
“Maybe it only works against weaker minds,” Kanika said with a shrug. “Eloy might have been too strong-willed for her to influence.”
“Could you scan the minds of the guards who were on duty and determine if they were influenced that way?” Grolkinei asked Kanika.
“I can.”
He would have her check, but he was almost certain that wasn’t what had occurred. Why bother returning the cell key to the guards after they made their escape? he reasoned. The guards had shown him their keys, still in their possession. They had sworn on their lives that they had been attentive throughout their time on duty and hadn’t experienced anything unusual to explain the escape. He was still debating whether or not to kill them just as a matter of principle.
“Do we know yet what this traitor wants from us?” Angius asked from his position on the opposite end of the table. “He or she has now assisted us several times.”
“No,” Grolkinei answered, frustration lacing his tone. “We have not determined the gender or class of this Estilorian, either.” He glanced at Kanika.
She raised an eyebrow. “I am sorry, my lord. I do continue to try and ascertain that information every time the traitor makes contact. But he or she is incredibly guarded with every thought.”
“Yes, well, he or she had better make good use of the coming days. The last message we received before the Corgloresti’s rescue was exceedingly concerning.”
They had learned of the efforts to reinforce the protections in place at the Estilorian stronghold. Using the powers of Saraqael’s daughters, the elders were making the base impervious to Mercesti influence of any kind. That meant Grolkinei would soon be extremely limited in those Estilorians available for conversion, having access to only those who left the stronghold. His class numbers would suffer greatly.
“We are going to have to act quickly,” Angius said. “If the plan to claim this plane is to have any success, we must strike before the enemy is beyond our reach.”
Grolkinei nodded. “I agree, and had come to that conclusion myself. I have had enough of these minor skirmishes resulting in us running off with our tails between our legs.” He looked around the table and now brought his wineglass to his lips. After swallowing, he said, “We must provoke the rest of the Estilorians to action.
“If they foresee a great battle, well, I am more than happy to bring it to them. It is time to lay our claim to this plane.”
PART III:
Preparation
Excerpts from the Great Foretelling:
“Led by faith in each other, the combined powers resulting from the exchange of vows will be beyond any possible belief.”
“At last, doubt will be overcome. And the new beings who had once been considered unworthy outsiders will lead us all to our fates.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Caleb opened his eyes and looked around with a combination of curiosity and wariness. Above him was a canopy of trees. Sunlight filtered through the orange and gold leaves of that canopy, casting thin beams of light over the ground. A cool breeze carried the faint scent of autumn with it.
Centered in this clearing, he rested beside Skye in the bed of the villa provided for them by the Lekwuesti for their honeymoon. Actually, she was sprawled over him more than lying beside him. The curling ends of her hair tickled the underside of his chin, and the heat from the length of her body pressed against his had generated a light coat of perspiration over them both. They were unclothed, just as they had been when they had fallen asleep. Of course, they had still been in the villa itself and it had been dark outside then.
Recognizing it for the dream it was, he gently disentangled himself from Skye and sat up. As soon as he did, he spotted Sky Tomaganuk. The elder was seated on a log not far from the bed, whittling what appeared to be a piece of pine.
“He sleeps at last,” Tomaganuk said without looking up. There was mild humor in his voice. “That was nearly two days straight for you, was it not?”
Caleb withheld a sigh as he got up from the bed and imagined a pair of shorts for himself. The last being he needed giving him a hard time over making the most of his extremely short honeymoon was Skye’s spirit guardian. Lord knew he was sure to get enough grief from his brothers when he had to admit to them they had been right.
“I assume, sir, that you have something you wish to express to me since you went through all of this trouble,” he said as he stood and pulled on the shorts he had willed into existence. He glanced at Skye to make sure he hadn’t disturbed her.
“She will sleep,” Tomaganuk said calmly as he whittled. “She is half-human, you know. Unlike you, she needs more than an hour or two of rest at a time.”
Despite the fact that he knew he was dreaming, Caleb felt a flush of embarrassment heating the back of his neck. He could admit that he hadn’t been very considerate of Skye’s need for sleep these past two days. He hadn’t been able to help himself. Once she had eased him past his uncertainty to experience what it meant to fully join with her, he hadn’t been able to get enough of her.
Even when she did doze, he had simply lain in the bed gazing at her, stroking her scented hair and gently caressing her soft skin, greatly enjoying the contrast between her feminine curves and taut musculature. His uncontrollable urge to touch her always led to him waking her and starting the whole process again. He couldn’t stop marveling over the depths of pleasure two beings could bring each other. Nothing in his entire existence had ever made him feel so powerful and so powerless at the same time.
And he now completely understood why his brothers so often looked at their wives with moony eyes.
“What is the message you wish to convey, sir?” he asked respectfully, accepting the teasing as his due.
“You can call me Qel’a,” Tomaganuk said, looking up from his craft. His light blue eyes were both kind and piercing.
For the first time, Caleb understood the meaning of the title when he heard it. It translated to “holy spirit.” While he had always assumed it was something like this, knowing that he could translate it now made him feel even closer to Skye.
“Very well, Qel’a,” he said with a bow of his head.
The elder nodded. “I thought you should know that Skylar is very much like a granddaughter to me. I have watched her grow from a newborn babe.”
Struggling against the urge to run to the bed and cover her naked form with the sheet, Caleb simply swallowed hard against his discomfiture and nodded.
“I also wanted to say that I believe you are a perfect match for her, and I am very happy for you both.”
His eyes widened slightly in surprise. Then he again bowed his head. “Thank you, Qel’a.”
“Skylar needed to pair with a strong individual, someone who wouldn’t be easily swayed by her strong emotions, but who would respect them. You have never made her feel as though she needed to change her temperament, though she reacts quite dramatica
lly to most things.”
“Why would I want to change her?”
“Perhaps so she could learn some restraint?” Tomaganuk shrugged and went back to whittling. “I imagine there have been times you wished she could manage more self-control.”
There was some truth in that, he acknowledged to himself. “Only because she endangers herself so often,” he clarified aloud.
“But you know that it is this lack of restraint that allows Skylar to achieve what it is she does,” the elder said in his patient voice.
Caleb nodded. He was only too aware of the fact that his avowed’s uninhibited nature allowed her to accomplish unimaginable things, like transporting herself and another being to safety. But that inhibition came with a price.
“Yes,” Tomaganuk agreed. “Much as Gabriel has combated Amber’s lack of faith caused by frequent upheaval in her life on the human plane, and much as James fosters Olivia’s love of learning while ensuring she is physically strong enough to defend herself, you will serve as a grounding presence for Skye. You will ensure that her emotions will not rule her and lead her into danger.”
He thought bleakly of how he had initially denied his feelings for her, resulting in the delay before they paired with each other—and, thus, her death.
Tomaganuk’s gaze conveyed understanding. “Caleb, if you had not shown such care with your feelings, clarifying with yourself what you felt for Skylar before you confessed it to her, she would not have been receptive to you. She relies upon your matter-of-fact and level nature to balance her completely opposite tendencies. Although she is your equal in stubbornness and likely would not admit it, she needs you as much as you need her.
“And because she will conceive as quickly as her sisters did, you will soon need each other even more than you ever imagined.”
Caleb realized without much surprise that Olivia must be pregnant, too. Then he blinked at the image that flashed through his mind of Skye growing round with their child. He again looked at her as she slept. He had never felt so protective of her as he did just then.
“This foretold battle,” Tomaganuk continued with a quick glance up before he returned to his whittling, “will most definitely take place. It will require Ambryl’s strength, Olaya’s judgment and Skylar’s spirit, as well as a powerful connection of all three. When the time comes, you must think to the Great Foretelling.”
“The Great Foretelling?” Caleb repeated with confusion.
“Yes. You will understand when the time comes. You will not remember much of this dream when you awaken. But it will return to you when you need it.”
“I don’t want Skye or our family to come to any harm.”
“I know. That is why you will remember.” Tomaganuk looked up from his work. “You are now my grandson in every way that matters. Whether or not you are prepared for it, Skye’s insight now belongs to you.” He smiled. “Enjoy the time you have left. Hardship will follow only too soon.”
Caleb slept.
When awareness finally returned to him, he blinked slowly awake and wondered idly how long he had been asleep. He knew that he and Skye had fallen asleep while it was well past the middle of the night on the second day of their honeymoon. Now as he regained consciousness, pale pink and orange sunlight lit the horizon as the sun rose on their third day. That meant he had slept for several hours.
The cobwebs slowly cleared from his mind and he became very aware of his wife pressed against him. He knew he should let her sleep. That didn’t stop him from shifting so that she rolled from all but on top of him to being on her back, beneath him.
He watched her forehead wrinkle as she slept, listened to her murmur some manner of complaint over his rudeness. It made him smile as he ran a finger along the markings around her eyes. Her markings were interwoven, light blue swirls joined with tips of dark blue triangles, creating a colorful crescent around each eye. The result resembled a mask of sorts, and it made her already potent gaze even more arresting.
She was absolutely beautiful. He had thought so from the moment she first transitioned to this plane, but only now that he had admitted his feelings for her did he feel free to really think about her in such a way. He could even admit to being incredibly proud and honored that she bore his mark.
Leaning down, he kissed her tenderly along the outer ridge of her left eye, then did the same to her right. She sighed and shifted beneath him. Because the movement exposed her neck to him, he trailed his lips along her jaw and the side of her neck. That caused more movement and a sound that might have been a purr.
He raised his head and caught her gaze as she came awake. “Good morning,” he greeted her.
She smiled and ran a hand through his hair. “Good morning.” Then her lips formed into a soft pout. “I guess we have to leave and rejoin the others, don’t we?”
“We do,” he agreed with equal reluctance. He kissed her to remove the pout, then kissed her again just because he enjoyed it so much. When he pulled back, he said, “But they can surely wait until later in the morning for our return, right?”
She pulled him down and kissed him deeply in response. His brain pretty much stopped functioning as all of the blood in his veins flashed with heat. This time when they parted, he struggled to catch his breath and managed to say, “Or maybe early afternoon.”
They kissed again. He knew he would never get enough of the taste of her…the feel of her. He knew he would always treasure the love they had for each other.
Okay, maybe late afternoon, he thought after another minute, and then grinned when she laughed.
Stars had begun making their appearance in the evening sky when they finally returned to the rooms they shared with their siblings. They flew across the Estilorian city and then made their way to the passages Sebastian had directed them to use before they left for their honeymoon. The Lekwuesti elder had assured them that the passageways would remain vacated so that they could return without getting accosted by anyone.
“It sure was nice getting away for a little while, wasn’t it?” Skye asked as they entered the first passageway.
Caleb reached over and took her hand. A ball of light bounced along the ceiling as they walked. He nodded in response to the question.
“I guess we’ll be heading up to the Scultresti homeland tomorrow,” she continued. “It looked like a big enchanted forest from a distance.”
He didn’t comment. He was well used to her rambling when she felt a need to fill the silence. He also knew from her thoughts that she was anxious about something, but he couldn’t quite pin-point what it was.
“Do you think our joining is going to impact our success with the ritual?” she asked.
And he knew they had finally hit upon what was worrying her. He stopped walking in the middle of the corridor and turned to face her. He reached up and touched her cheek.
“Not at all. Why would you ask that?” he wondered.
She blushed and looked down at his chest, not meeting his gaze. “Well, every time one of the elders has talked about my abilities…my energy, I guess…well, they talk about, um, how pure I am.”
He blinked at that. And he realized then that even though he had the ability to share thoughts with her, he would never fully understand how her mind worked. He did, however, understand very clearly that this was a topic of great importance to her.
Rubbing his thumb from the corner of her mouth along the smooth line of her jaw, he thought, The purity of your energy is unrelated to your virginity.
She nibbled on her bottom lip. Are you sure?
He knew she was completely unaware of the fact that the innocence in her blue gaze hadn’t diminished a single iota in the past few days. Her usual air of ingenuousness continued to emanate from her like an aura. One corner of his mouth rose. I’m sure.
Her dimple made an appearance. “Okay,” she said, her trust in his response obvious. She pulled him close then and kissed him. When they parted, she took his hand and resumed their walk without another word. br />
We’re back! she sent out when they approached the door leading from the passageway to the corridor of their rooms.
Welcome back, Gabriel returned. We’re all in our room. Come on in.
They reached the end of the passageway. Caleb opened the door as well as his senses, ensuring there was no danger before escorting her out into the hallway. It was quiet; there weren’t any other Estilorians staying in the same wing as they were. It was only a few yards to the door leading to Gabriel and Amber’s room.
Skye opened it and bounced inside with a wide smile and a cheerful, “Hi, everyone!”
Their siblings had all been gathered around the table. They all rose and exchanged hugs with the newlyweds.
“We sure missed you,” Olivia said as she pulled away from hugging Skye. “Did you have fun?”
“Oh, sure,” she said with her bright smile. “It was great to—hey, food!”
She turned then toward the table, obviously distracted. Her expression looked like she had never seen an edible substance before. She hurried over and grabbed an empty seat.
“Are those turkey sandwiches?” she asked as everyone shrugged over her behavior and took their seats.
“Yep,” Gabriel said, handing her the platter. His gaze flickered up to catch Caleb’s. It was obvious he was highly humored. “Didn’t you two eat while you were gone?”
Caleb felt the flush building in his neck and saw Skye hesitate over the mildly-toned question. He knew she was thinking as he was that they actually hadn’t left the bed.