Dragonsbane (Book 3) (54 page)

That was the problem. After what he’d done to Titus, Kael was no longer afraid. The worries that’d sent him away from his friends before now seemed like little more than nightmares — mere dreams compared to awakening that surged through his blood.

He realized he had the power to face any enemy, be it Countess D’Mere, Lord Gilderick, or even King Crevan, himself. And perhaps one day, he would.

But for now, he stood at the edge of a new season of life — a spring that blossomed behind the frost, a dawn filled with warmth, and light … and love. By the time his eyes made it to the window, he’d already lost the fight against his smile. “Well … I was hoping Lady Kyleigh might let me come to Copperdock, for a bit.”

The blaze of her stare made the fires rise inside his middle. “I suppose there’s room,” she murmured.

But though she did her best to tease him for it, he could tell she was pleased.

Chapter 49

The Giant and the Mot

In a few weeks’ time, Kael found himself sailing into the glittering mouth of Gravy Bay once again.

He hadn’t wanted to return to the Bay — he’d wanted to go straight to Copperdock. But the moment Gwen’s face was healed and she’d clomped out of the room, Kyleigh gave him some rather frustrating news: she was going to stay in the mountains for a few weeks longer, just to make entirely certain that things were settled between the wildmen and the wynns.

“They aren’t going to go to war,” he’d insisted.

But Kyleigh wouldn’t listen. “Berwyn loves to taunt them, and Gwen always rises to the occasion. Both need to understand the fact that they aren’t at the summit anymore. If they go waging war in the middle of the Valley, the Kingdom is bound to notice. And as I’m the only one who speaks both tongues, I’ll have to do the explaining.”

Kael didn’t believe anybody could possibly be that foolish — not even the wildmen. But Kyleigh had seemed to think she was responsible for keeping them out of mischief, and she wouldn’t be swayed. “Fine. I’ll come with you, then.”

She’d raised a brow. “And leave the rest of our friends to fend for themselves? Not a chance. You’ve got to make sure Lysander doesn’t wreck his ship trying to get home. He’s a man on the edge already.”

Kael had known exactly what she meant. Lysander had done nothing but fret over Aerilyn for days on end. The moment they left Tinnark, he’d sent Eveningwing straight to the Bay. Then he’d struck such a pace down the mountain that he’d broken into an accidental run — and had only stopped when he crashed at the base of a rather large tree.

“I’ll meet you in the Bay once I’ve finished here,” Kyleigh had promised.

The way her lips moved against his had made it difficult to argue. “Then what?” he said when she released him.

Her hand had fallen in a burning line down his neck. The fires in her eyes swelled as she whispered: “Then you and I will go home.”

Home
. That was something Kael was very much looking forward to. And as long as Kyleigh was by his side,
home
was precisely where he’d be.

Now that they’d finally arrived in the Bay, he found himself faced with the near-impossible task of being patient one last time. He knew it would be weeks more before Kyleigh returned; he knew it would do him no good to worry. So he tried to keep his steps as light as possible as he dragged himself behind his companions — hoping to mercy that the time would pass quickly.

But he doubted it would.

No sooner had they reached the mansion’s front doors than Uncle Martin burst out from between them. His hair stood on end, sweat drenched his brow, and one half of his mustache was bent fantastically out of place.

Lysander gaped at him. “What in high tide —?”

“She’s here!” Uncle Martin cried, waving his cane at Jonathan in warning.  “Run, by Gravy — save yourself!”

The fiddler whirled around on his spindly legs and tried to bolt, but he didn’t get far.

Clairy stormed out the door, skirts whipping furiously about her. She caught up to Jonathan in just three of her long strides. “Where have you been? Out with it, fiddler — and don’t you dare lie to me.”

He yelped when she twisted his ear. “I could never lie to you, my sweet giantess! I love you far too mu — ow!”

“Is that why you ran out on me, then? Because you love me?”

Jonathan was bent at such an unnatural angle that Kael had begun to worry he might get stuck that way. Fortunately, Lysander stepped in before the fiddler could suffer any permanent damage. “I’m afraid
I’m
the one responsible for all this. Ah — I mean, I asked Jonathan to come along,” he added quickly when Clairy turned her scowl on him. “We needed a guide to lead us across the Valley, and I could think of no man better for the job.”

“It was a right dangerous journey, too,” Declan said. “Had it not been for the wee fiddler —”

“You were supposed to send him back!” Clairy fumed. “I sat all alone for months waiting for him to return! I had to listen to Brend go on about how he’d known it all along, about how he thought I was fool for believing
a clodded string-twiddler like that would ever stay for long
. I traveled across the seas to get here only to find that you’d gone off adventuring!”

“It wasn’t an adven — ow!”

She twisted Jonathan’s ear with one hand and swatted at Declan furiously with the other. Nothing Lysander said could convince her to call off her attack. Uncle Martin seemed more concerned with bending his mustache back in the right direction than anything else.

All Kael wanted was to go upstairs and sleep until supper — but the battle raging in the doorway made it impossible to get through.

At last, Jake stepped in. He brought his hands together and a sound like a thunder’s clap rent the air. “Now see here, Jonathan did a very brave thing for us. He was even kidnapped by bandits.”

Clairy cupped a hand around her ear. “What?”

“Something about having a nap,” Declan said loudly. He slapped the side of his head. “What’s that? What’s all that ringing?”

“There’s a bee in my ear!” Jonathan cried.

Uncle Martin swung his cane in an impatient arc. “Yes, yes — I
hear
you, Bimply! You can stop ringing that blasted lunch bell.
Stop
, I say!” He stormed into the mansion, shrilling at the tops of his lungs: “Cease your wails, you unrelenting harpy!”

“Why’s everybody yelling?” Elena said.

Kael wasn’t sure, but he’d been around Jake long enough to guess: “One of his spells must’ve gone wrong.”

And right on cue, Jake threw up his hands. “Oh, blast it all. I knew that spell wasn’t ready quite yet. I thought it might be a little less irritating than a whistle, but it appears I was wrong.” He leaned until he was an inch from Clairy’s ear. “I said Jonathan was
kidnapped
!”

Clairy gasped. “Kidnapped! Oh, you poor wee thing!”

The fiddler’s scruffy face disappeared into the crest of her bosom as she crushed him against her. “Is it safe to come out?” he called, his voice slightly muffled. “Am I forgiven?”

Clairy didn’t seem to hear him. She toted Jonathan through the door, yelling about how she planned to
put some meat on those skinny wee bones
, and the rest of their companions followed — slapping their ears and complaining loudly about all the ringing.

Jake sighed heavily. “I’m never going to be useful, am I? I suppose I ought to just stick with blowing things up.”

“I’d be all right with that,” Elena murmured.

“What?”

“I like to watch you destroy things. I like even better that you’re reluctant to destroy them —”

“I can’t hear you!”

“— because that means you’ve got a gentle heart.” She crossed her arms and eyed him from over the top of her mask. “I like you, Jake. And I trust you. You’re different from other men. One of these days I’m going to be able to tell you that, and I’m going to give you all the love you deserve.”

He squinted at her. “I can’t tell if you’re talking to me or not!
Are
you talking to me?”

She pulled her mask down so he could read her lips. “Lunch!” she said, pointing to the door.

“Ah! Oh, good!”

He shuffled inside, and Kael tried to follow him quickly.

But Elena caught him by the belt.

“If you ever speak a word about that to anybody,” she whispered, her dagger’s edge against his throat, “I will murder you in your sleep.”

Kael swore to keep his mouth shut.

*******

Though Lysander insisted they could stay as long as they wished, the giants were eager to return to the plains. And so the pirates readied a ship and took them off that very next morning.

Jonathan and Clairy sailed along with them. The fiddler kept his arms wrapped about her middle the whole way across the Bay — and his face planted very firmly against her chest.

To everybody’s great surprise, Declan chose to stay at the mansion. “I’ve not spent much time in the seas,” he said when they asked. “My men can find their way back without their General. Brend won’t need me right away. There’ll be no harm in staying here a while longer. I don’t understand why everybody’s going on about it.”

“No one’s going on about anything,” Lysander said with a smile. “We’re happy to have you.”

Kael thought Declan’s change of heart might’ve had less to do with spending time in the seas, and more to do with Nadine.

On the day they’d left the wildmen, her little flock of children had stood so miserably at the gates that Nadine hadn’t seemed able to stand it. She’d hardly taken two steps down the road before she’d run back and gathered them up in her arms.

“I cannot leave them — not yet. I will return with Kyleigh,” she’d promised.

Declan wasn’t at all happy about this. In fact, he’d brooded the whole way across the Valley and the seas. His eyes had slipped so deeply into the cleft of his brow that Kael had begun to wonder if they’d ever see them again. But for all he moped, it turned out to be a very good thing that Declan chose to stay behind.

In the time they’d been gone, the bump on Aerilyn’s stomach had swelled tremendously. She’d gone to throw her arms about Lysander’s neck when they first arrived and had very nearly knocked him off his feet. But as dangerous as her belly was, her moods were even worse.

One moment, she would be perfectly happy. A blink later, she was sobbing and wasn’t sure why. Then Uncle Martin would say something to try to cheer her up, and she’d laugh … until she cried. Most of the time her tears were completely harmless. But if Lysander caught her at the wrong moment, they’d pour out burning hot.

“This is
your
fault!” Aerilyn cried as she stormed into the library.

For once, Lysander was innocent. He’d been doing nothing but reading over the shipping log for the last three hours — Kael knew, because he’d have to glance up from his book every few minutes to answer one of the captain’s ridiculous questions.

“What’s my —?”

“
This
!” she said, thrusting her favorite blue dress under his nose. “You did this to me, you horrible rogue! You’re the reason nothing fits!”

“Ah, well I don’t think that’s entirely
my
fault,” he said with a wink.

Aerilyn wasn’t amused. In fact, she slung the dress at his head. “How would you like it, Lysander? How would you feel if I made you carry something for months and months, and it just got heavier and more uncomfortable — while I skipped around drinking grog like there was nothing at all the matter?”

Lysander was still struggling to fight his way out from under the frilly skirts, so the panic in his voice was slightly muffled as he cried: “But we’re going to have a baby, my love! Think of how happy you’ll be once you have him.”

“Or
her
!” Aerilyn shrilled. “Quit talking about our baby as if it’s a boy. What if we have a little girl? She’ll come out thinking you don’t love her. And that’ll make me so … oh, I’ll just be so … so
sad
!”

Before they could do anything to stop it, she melted into tears.

Kael saw his own horror reflected on Lysander’s face: the good captain gaped and clutched the skirts to his chin. His mouth moved, but no words came out. They stood frozen under her sobs for several moments before Declan plodded in.

He took one look at Aerilyn before he snatched her around the arm and grunted: “Come on, let’s walk.”

She sniffed. “Where are we walking?”

“Around. You need to move those wee little legs and get to breathing some fresh air.”

“Why?”

He thrust a thick finger at her belly. “That’s coming out early. That’s why you keep sobbing and flinging things about. My wee baby brother came early. The old women had my mother walking through the fields every evening. Helped keep her head on straight.”

“You had a little brother?”

“Yeh. And if you promise to stop weeping for a clodded moment, I’ll tell you about him.”

Aerilyn dried her tears immediately and followed Declan out the door. Kael and Lysander watched in amazement from the window as the pair went nearly a full turn around the Bay without Aerilyn once dissolving into tears.

She hung off Declan’s thick arm and he weathered her chatter — occasionally chiming in with a grunted
yeh
.

*******

A few weeks later, Kael hurried down the stairs for breakfast — only to nearly trip at its bottom. “Nadine!”

She stood in the middle of the grand circular room, smiling broadly — and surrounded by a horde of redheaded children. “There were too many of them. The wildmen could not manage them all. So I have brought some of the youngest along with me,” she explained when she saw his surprise.