Chapter 31
The early morning light was filtering through the trees when Anna rolled out of Keira’s arms. Her eyes flew open as her body tensed in startled apprehension, then relaxed when she saw Keira and Aaron watching her cautiously.
“Enjoy your meal, brother?” she asked.
“You’re clearly feeling better, Anna,” he replied.
He pushed himself up from his crouched position and stretched his legs, then reached down a hand to help Keira to her feet. She fell against his chest, and his arms immediately went around her, his mouth descending in a kiss.
“Urgh,” said Anna. “Can you not find some place in private to do that?”
“I’m saying good morning to my wife. You can always look away if that disturbs you,” he replied, unperturbed, applying himself to his task once more as the object of his desire responded with equal ardor. Anna huffily turned her back to them, tapping her foot as she waited for them to be done. Keira was grinning when she pulled away.
“The horses you and your mother rode yesterday are close by,” Aaron said. “I’ll go fetch them and we can ride them back to Storbrook.”
“They weren’t attacked by wild animals?” Keira said.
“The only creature they need be afraid of is a dragon,” he replied with a grin. “Other predators tend to stay away when they smell dragons close by. And since the only dragon in the area had already eaten, they were perfectly safe.” Anna made a face and Aaron laughed. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he called over his shoulder as he walked away.
By the time the three stragglers returned to the castle, the sun had risen above the horizon. Keira helped Anna to her bedchamber, then called for a maid to fill a tub with hot water. The memories that had been held at bay finally crashed over her, and Keira rocked her sister in her arms as she wept. She finally fell into a deep slumber, her body and mind exhausted, and Keira sighed in relief, glad that Anna could find some measure of escape from the terrible memories of the previous night. She felt herself trembling as she considered what might have happened if she and Aaron had not arrived when they did. She looked down at her sister’s sleeping form and gently touched her cheek. Anna looked so young, lying on the white sheets, her hair spread around her face; but Keira knew that beneath the surface Anna had a resilient spirit – a spirit of courage and strength that would help her move on from the terrible events of the night just passed.
Keira watched her sister for a few more minutes before creeping from the room in search of Aaron. She finally found him in the solar, where he had been joined by Keira’s father.
“I need to know, Aaron,” Father said. “Was Edmund involved in Anna’s disappearance?”
“Yes,” was Aaron’s curt reply. Father nodded, as though that was the answer he had expected.
“Did he force himself on her?”
“No. But he threatened to kill her.”
Father’s jaw clenched in anger, but he returned Aaron’s gaze steadily. “Is he dead?”
“Yes.” At Aaron’s response, some of the tension left Father’s shoulders, and he nodded again.
“Good.” He held Aaron’s gaze. “I’d like to keep this from Jenny. It will just distress her to know the extent of Edmund’s duplicity.”
“She’ll learn of it soon enough,” Aaron warned.
“Perhaps,” Father said. “But I’d like to protect her as long as I can.”
“Very well,” Aaron said. “That’s your decision. She’ll not hear of tonight’s events from me.”
“Thank you.”
Aaron watched as Father left the room, then turned to Keira. “I promised to protect his daughters, and I failed him.”
“No!” Her response was emphatic. “Aaron, you might have strength and power on your side, but not even you can predict every possible situation. You cannot control the actions of others. Anna chose to wander beyond the safety of Storbrook, and Edmund chose to attack her.”
Aaron shook his head. “I should’ve realized that Edmund was up to something when he wasn’t with the other men. And then again when we returned and I caught his scent.”
“Well in that case, Father and I are just as responsible – we should have noticed that Edmund was missing.”
Aaron smiled bleakly. “You aren’t going to convince me that I don’t bear responsibility for this, but thank you for trying to lessen my guilt.” He took her hands and pulled her into his arms. “I thought I was so strong, Keira. Invincible. I am, after all, a dragon. But I’m beginning to realize that I am, in fact, weak and vulnerable. All those years spent indulging my anger were years of weakness. It is only with you that I can be strong.” He traced the lines of her face with his finger. “I love you so much, Keira. You have filled my life with so much meaning and purpose. I cannot imagine spending another day without you by my side.”
He gently drew his fingers across her mouth before replacing them with his lips. His arms encircled her and he pulled her close. Despite his words, his embrace was strong and secure, and Keira melted into him. Whatever he might say, Keira knew that it was she who had been blessed, by being loved by a beast. She could never tame the dragon, but she held his heart, and that was enough.
Epilogue
Anna leaned against the window and stared into the garden below. She could see Aaron and Keira strolling along the path that wound between the shrubbery. Aaron’s arm held his wife securely by his side, while Keira’s laughter, trilling lightly, floated up to where Anna stood. Anna turned away from the sight in irritation.
It had been two weeks since Edmund attacked her – two weeks of conflicting emotions raging within. The outside wounds may have healed, but inside, Anna felt empty and hollow. Apart from meals, she spent most of that time in the privacy of her chambers, alone with her thoughts. Each day, Mother had come to sit with her for a short while, but she had been of little comfort. Mother never asked Anna what had happened that day, and Anna suspected that she knew very little of the events that had touched her daughter so deeply. While Anna was angry that Mother was spared the hurt and pain of Edmund’s actions while she herself had to suffer, she was relieved that she did not have to deal with Mother’s guilt.
Father had come by only twice to see her. The first time was the day after the attack, when he had held his youngest daughter and rocked her in his arms as tears rolled down his cheeks. He’d expressed his regret at what had happened, and Anna had cried too, clinging to the man who had always seemed so strong and in control. The second time had been that morning, when Father came by to say goodbye. He and Mother were returning to their home in the village, though it seemed to Anna that Father was rather reluctant to go. Keira had told her that Father spent hours with Aaron each day, grilling him with questions about his life as a dragon. And despite the fact that Aaron was older than Father by almost sixty years, Aaron welcomed the new father-and-son relationship.
Anna sat down on her bed as another wave of self-pity washed over her. Keira would come soon to see Anna, as she did every day. She was the only one who talked to Anna about what had happened, and at first, Anna had been grateful to have someone to confide in. Keira was the one person who really understood, since she too had suffered at the hands of Edmund. But as time went on, Anna began to feel annoyed and irritated with her sister. After all, if it hadn’t been for Keira, Edmund would never have turned his sights on her. She knew that such thoughts were unfair to Keira and that her sister was not responsible for what had happened, but she just couldn’t help snapping at Keira whenever she was near. The thoughts refused to be dismissed and the words just flew out. Anna always felt bad when she saw the look of hurt that always flashed across Keira’s face. But Keira had had a happy ending. Just seeing her with Aaron made Anna’s gall rise. Where was her happy ending? Where was her golden dragon? Her knight in shining armor?
Anna curled her legs beneath her and buried her face in a pillow. The truth was she wasn’t even sure she wanted a knight in shining armor a
nymore. She had always dreamed of that perfect, happy marriage. A nice home, children, a loving husband. But that night had shattered her dreams. Men could be so cruel and mean. And there was nothing a woman could do about it when her husband beat her. There were plenty of women in the village who had husbands like Edmund, although there were good husbands, too, of course. Anna just had to look at her own father to see that. But how did you know what really lay beneath the shining armor of the knight you were marrying? It just didn’t seem to be worth the risk.
Climbing off the bed, Anna went over to the window once more as she considered her options. She definitely did not want to return to the village, even though the threat of Edmund had been removed. Somehow she felt like she had moved beyond the confines of small village life. She could take the veil, but Anna knew she wasn’t cut out for life as a nun. She lacked the patience and sweet temper that would have made Keira a good candidate. Of course, she could remain with Aaron and Keira – in fact, Keira had already told her that she was welcome to stay with them – but Anna could not help wishing, most perversely, that Aaron and Keira were not quite so happy. She sighed, annoyed with her thoughts again.
She would remain at Storbrook, of course. And when the children came along, she would be the loving, indulgent aunt who’d help them learn their letters and numbers. The poor, dependent relative that people looked at sympathetically as she passed by. She would gracefully decline into old age, helping her sister until she died. Anna smiled. The picture had a certain appeal – an indispensable spinster that the family depended upon. She nodded to herself, satisfied with the image that played out in her mind – unaware, at the tender age of sixteen, that life has a way of unraveling the best-laid plans.
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Thank you,
Linda K. Hopkins
Continue reading for a sneak peak of Book II in The Dragon Archives, Loved by a Dragon.
Loved by a Dragon