Pain burst to life in my head in waves of red that pounded and pulsed stronger and stronger until I thought it would explode from me.
“Stop!” I yelled, and miraculously, it did.
I opened my eyes and glared at the two men who faced each other over the altar of the cathedral, the echoes of their shouting disturbing the dust motes that danced in the thin sunlight streaming through the lovely stained-glass rose window. I turned to the man on my right. Slightly taller than me, of a thick, muscular stature, with golden brown hair and almost identically colored eyes, he reminded me of one of my father’s prized bulls. “Baltic has done nothing to harm me, nothing.” “He has sworn to destroy all silver dragons who do not submit to his obscene demands,” Constantine Norka said, glaring at Baltic. “Why would he bring you to me unless you were damaged?” I held up a hand to stop Baltic’s retort, which I knew would be loud and vicious. “He didn’t harm me because he is a man of honor. He swore to take me home, and he did, although”—I shifted my gaze to give him a reproachful look—“I meant my father’s keep, not to be delivered into the hands of dragons.” “You belong to my sept,” Constantine said, his hands fisted.
“Your sept belongs to me!” Baltic snarled.
“For the love of the saints, please don’t go through that again!” I said, rubbing my forehead. The remnants of a headache, caused by listening to the two wyverns circle each other snapping and snarling for the last hour, still lingered. “The fact is that he did as he said.” “Including spending the nights in your bed?” Constantine asked, his gaze tight on Baltic.
I raised my eyebrows and considered whether I should respond with maidenly indignation, or a more worldly approach. I decided for indignation. “My maidenhead is intact, if that is what you are desirous of knowing. Baltic did not bed me.” “No? Then why do his men say he was in your cabin every night?” I thought of the weeklong journey from England to the southern coast of France. It was true Baltic had visited me each night — I had been unable to refuse him, and had, in fact, learned much about what pleased him, and what drove him to the point of losing control.
“I was afraid of the journey,” I said truthfully. The sea was a foreign thing, and I did not trust or like it.
The corners of Baltic’s mouth curved upward.
“It’s true that when we were on the ship he came into my cabin at night, but it was to comfort me.” That also was true, although more of a half-truth. I would have to seek a confessor in my new home.
Constantine made a noise of disbelief, but I raised my chin and said calmly, “I say again that my maidenhead is intact. If you insist on an examination, I will submit to one.” “No,” he said, never taking his eyes off Baltic, who was still smiling faintly, an amused look in his obsidian eyes, as glossy and shiny as polished stone. “I will accept what you say.” “Thank the heavens. And now, I would greatly appreciate it if someone would tell me where my family is. My dragon family. So long as I have been ripped from the only parents I have known, I would like to meet the ones who gave me up.” Constantine’s hands flexed, but at last he stepped away from the altar, finally turning his gaze to me. In the distance, the song of the monks could be heard as they prayed in a smaller chapel. “It grieves me to tell you this, but your parents are dead, Ysolde.” “No,” I said, stopping when he tried to take my arm and lead me out of the cathedral. “They can’t be. I came all this way to find them.” “I’m sorry. Your father died in battle with your savior.” His words and expression were bitter as he nodded toward Baltic. “Your mother did not long survive him. They were a very devoted pair. I did not know you survived — your mother told us you had drowned. I don’t know why she placed you with mortals rather than her own kin, but we rejoice that you have been returned to us.” A deep sense of sadness leached into my heart, filling me with a black despair. I lifted my gaze to meet that of Baltic. He was waiting for me, his eyes guarded, his face devoid of emotion. “You killed my father?” “We are at war,” he said. “Lives are lost during wars, Ysolde.” I nodded, tears filling my eyes, my heart so heavy I couldn’t speak.
“Come. I will take you to your mother’s family. They will welcome you,” Constantine said, one hand on my back as he escorted me down the aisle of the cathedral, his guard falling in behind him.
I paused at the great double doors and looked back. Kostya and Pavel had joined Baltic at the altar. All three watched me. I wanted to thank Baltic for honoring his word to me, even when it meant he had to meet with his most hated enemy. I wanted to tell him how much pleasure he had given me in our nights together. I wanted to tell him that I was no longer angry that he took me away from the only family I’d known.
I said nothing. I simply looked at him, then turned and accompanied Constantine out of the cathedral and into my new life.
“You will be cherished now, Ysolde,” Constantine reassured me. “We have much to teach you, but you will learn that by-and-by.”
Chapter Six
By-and-by, I thought, my heart filled with so much sadness I knew it must shatter into a hundred little pieces. By-and-by.
By-and-by? No, that wasn’t right.
“I said hi. Hello? Howdy? Hidy ho? Hi hi hi?” I blinked, the fog evaporating into nothing, the back of the bench once more solid under my hand. In front of me sat a large shaggy black dog, panting in the sunlight, long streamers of drool dribbling from his slobbery lips. I looked around for the dog’s owner, but no one was there.
“There you are. Ysolde, right?”
My eyebrows raised, I looked down at the dog. The voice was coming from him.
He tipped his head to the side and I swear he winked at me. “Wow, you look like hell. How ya doing after that header you took into Ash’s marble coffee table?” “Er…” My jaw sagged slightly. “Do I know you?” “Yeah. We met at Aisling and Drake’s house during the big birthing hullabaloo. I’m Jim. Effrijim, really, but that’s way too girly for a butch guy like me. You look kind of funny. You didn’t see me when May ordered me into human form, did you? Because that would explain why you look like you’re seeing a three-headed alien dance A Chorus Line.” “Human form,” I repeated stupidly. “No, I was…” I was dreaming. In the middle of the day? Panic gripped my stomach with clammy fingers. Now the dreams were coming to me while I was wide awake? “Dear god, the shock treatments are going to be just around the corner if my brain keeps going at this rate!” “Ya think?”
I stared at the dog; my thoughts panicked.
“Ouch. You look like you’re gonna pass out or hurl. If you’re going to do the latter, can you aim away from me? This magnificent coat takes forever to dry after a bath.” “I’m all right,” I said, managing to get a grip on my errant emotions. “You’re a dog, but you can use human form?” “I’m a demon. Sixth class, so it’s OK. I’m not going to rip your entrails out and drape them over a tree or anything like that. Besides, Aisling would lop off my package if I did that. She’s always threatening to lop off my package. I think she’s got a secret genitalia fetish, if you want to know the truth, but she’s a nice enough demon lord otherwise, so I don’t make a big deal about it. You sure you’re OK? Hey, put your head between your knees or something — you’re as white as Cecile’s underbelly fur.” I did as the dog — demon — suggested, wondering where I knew him from. Before I could even complete that mental sentence, I corrected myself. Demons, I remembered hearing one of my mage instructors say, were always referred to by means of gender-neutral pronouns. Why, I had no idea; it just was. “You said I know you?” I asked after a couple of minutes of trying to get a little blood back into my brain.