Irish Seduction (12 page)

“Well, do something about it, man,” Richard said, shaking his head at Jasper.

Jasper looked up. He had been instructed by Elena to wait for Helan to calm down. What more could he do? “Are you saying what I think you are?”

“I have never known you to be the type to sit and wait for something that you wanted, Jasper, so why start now?” Richard grinned from ear to ear, his face smudged with soot and grime from the battle. “I’ll gladly join you if you need backup, my friend. I would like to see the wee girl again too.”

“You would garner the wrath of the gods for me?” Jasper asked.

“What do you think? When have we not had each other’s backs?”

Jasper pondered the idea for the shortest length of time before he slapped Richard on the arm. “Let us clean up here and see these poor people home and then we can make plans. I refuse to go and claim my wife looking like I have slept in the trenches for these last few months.”

It was morning before they had sorted out their soldiers and arranged somewhere to stay for the displaced tenants. By the time they made it home and unsaddled their horses it was almost mid-afternoon. It took another hour for Jasper to tell his mother of their battle and his plans to reclaim his bride before he could go to his room to clean up.

He took care with his bathing, tying his hair back and choosing his clothes. When he was dressed, he went to his workroom and gathered his tools to cast a spell before going to the stables to meet with Richard.

“Are you sure you want to do this? We might not get out alive, you know.”

“Do you think I would let you try this on your own? No, my friend, we are in this together.”

“You had best wear this then,” Jasper said handing him one of the charmed armbands. “Put it under your sleeve and pray that it will be strong enough.”

Richard slapped his sword with his hand and angled it into its sheath over his shoulder. He took the beaten silver band and fitted it high on his arm. “Let’s go and do this.”

They walked with a determined swing to their steps as they headed for the cliffs and the portal. Once it opened, they walked with confidence to the main hall where they found the gods lounging around, eating.

“What is the meaning of this?” Helan roared when they approached his table.

Jasper stopped in front of the angry god with Richard standing nonchalantly behind his right side. “I have come for my wife,” he said with a calmness that he did not feel. The conversation in the room came to a complete halt. All eyes turned to Jasper and Richard, who were ready for battle. Their hands hovered over their swords.

“Stop!” Elena rose from her seat of comfortable cushions and put a hand out to stop her husband. “Everyone remain calm and stay where you are.” She walked toward Jasper and Richard, all eyes upon her.

“What is the meaning of this, Jasper?” Her eyes were weary. They all knew that she could have killed him on the spot with her powers if she so chose to, but that was not her way. For that, Jasper silently thanked her.

“It is quite simple, Elena. I have come to take my wife home. Remember the truce between us? It works both ways now. I think that you have had time to adjust to that and I have come to claim what is mine.”

“You will not take my daughter, Jasper,” Helan yelled, coming toward them. “No wiccan will rule this world, regardless of the deal my wife made with you. I will destroy you all before I let that happen.”

“Mari has chosen another consort, Helan, one of whom you would approve,” said his wife, brushing her hand over his arm. “Jasper, I believe, is talking of Leona. Is this not so, Jasper?”

Jasper inclined his head, slightly scanning the room for his wife.

“She is not here,” Mari said, coming toward them. “She has gone to our summer home for her health. She has not been well.”

The blood left his face and his heart contracted, leaving him breathless. He had expected some impediment to his quest, but not this.

“Not well. What ails her, Mari? I can help her if you would take me to her.” Jasper clasped her arms. “Please. Take me to her.”

Once again, Elena held her husband back from attacking Jasper. She gave a slight nod of her head to her eldest daughter and watched when Mari guided Jasper and Richard from the room.

“You almost let me down, human,” Mari said walking with them to the portals. “I had thought you would have been here demanding your wife sooner. She has almost given up hope and is pining for you.”

“I promised your mother that I would wait until she thought your father was used to the idea before I came here again. I even convinced Leona that it was the best way. What have I done?”

“Follow me,” said Mari.

They entered the portal and in a flash of blinding light, transported to another place where the sun was shining over a smaller, less austere-looking palace. They made their way through the corridors until they came to a large room, overlooking the gardens. On a bed placed by the balcony, lay a small still form.

Mari motioned the attendants to leave the room and Jasper rushed to the side of the bed.

“Oh,
mo ghra,
please forgive me for leaving you,” he cried, cradling her frail body in his arms. He held her close, letting the tears ran down his face. Behind him, Richard and Mari waited silently.

“How long has she been like this?”

“A few weeks now,” Mari replied. “She insisted on living here when she came back from your wedding night. Nothing we could say would dissuade her. Then she stopped eating and nothing I could do would help her. She refused to see our father at all, silently blaming him for your distance. I’m sure our mother knows what is happening, but she was powerless to intervene. It had to come from you, Jasper. You are the only one that can stop her leaving us.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, but he feared he already knew what had happened. The look on Mari’s face all but confirmed it.

“When you did not come for her, she cast a spell on her life,” Mari’s eyes brimmed with tears. “She could not bear the thought that she and your child would never see you again.”

“My child,” Jasper gasped. “She is with child?”

“Yes,” Mari sobbed. She leaned into Richard for support and he too was distraught enough to cling to her.

Jasper ran his finger gently over the face of his wife. She appeared to sleep gently, but he knew what the truth was. Her body breathed and inside her, their child grew. Would he be able to reverse the spell, he wondered. He had to try. In reality, there was nothing to lose that he would not already consider lost if he did not try. He lifted his eyes to Richard.

“I need supplies from my workroom, Richard. Will you get them for me and return here immediately?”

“Of course I will.”

“I will take him,” Mari said. “Get a list together quickly, Jasper. We will return before nightfall.”

Jasper instructed them on the things he needed and when they left the room, he lay down with his sleeping wife. He pulled her to his chest. He stroked his hand gently over her belly, feeling the swell of the child that grew inside of her. His heart was breaking at the reality of what his decision had done to her. He had given Helan too long to adjust to the idea of gods living openly with humans. Leona must have felt truly helpless to have done such a thing. He only hoped that his magic was strong enough to reverse her spell.

Time ceased to exist while he lay there.

Richard and Mari returned with a sack holding Jasper’s supplies and tools from his workroom. Behind them came Elena and Helan. The gods stopped at the door, looking unsure if they should proceed into the room. Jasper glanced at them, but his attention was on the contents of the bag. He had rearranged his wife back onto the pillows, where she lay still and pale.

Jasper took the bag to the low table in front of one of the windows and set out its contents. Bottles labeled rosemary, uncrossing oil, and rainwater were among those laid on the table. A small cauldron was set up in the fireplace and while it heated, Jasper mixed his potion, intent on ensuring his quantities were perfect. He crossed to the fireplace and poured the mixture into the cauldron, then stood quietly, stirring all the while until the mixture boiled gently. He removed the pot from the fire and returned to the table. Letting the mixture sit to cool, he approached the gods.

“It is my fault that Leona is in the state she is in,” he began, his voice ragged with grief. “I should never have listened to you, Elena. I should have kept my wife by my side and not given into your whim to let your husband grow used to the idea before I showed my face again. I am responsible and I will take all the measures I can to bring her back. Then I will take her home and no one is going to stop me.”

Jasper glared at them, daring Helan to object. For once, the god kept his silence. He looked at Jasper and then silently crossed the room to his daughter’s bed. Kneeling beside it, he reached out a hand and stroked the golden hair of his youngest child. His pain was plain to see to those watching.

He took a deep breath and turned to Jasper. “If you save my daughter’s life, you will have my blessing,” he said. “If you fail, I will take yours and all those that you hold dear.”

Turning, he swept past his wife and left the room.

“Forgive him, Jasper,” said Elena. “He is distraught.”

“Aye, I can understand that, but still, he has had things his own way for too long. It is time to move forward and think of others. You cannot always have what you so desire without causing harm to others, even if you are gods.”

Jasper returned to the worktable and proceeded with his spell. He decanted the cooling oil into a clear glass jar. This he placed on a square of red cloth and spoke his words of magic over it. When he was finished, he fitted a glass stopper on the top of the jar and walked out to the balcony. He left it on a shelf in the full sun and came back inside.

“The moon and sun must pass over the oil three times before I can use it,” he said. “In the meantime, I will stay here and keep watch over her. You can go home if you want, Richard.”

“Not likely. If you stay, then so shall I.” He walked over to the door and sat on a small stool, intent on guarding his best friend.

“I will get you both something to eat,” Mari said, slipping away.

Elena slowly walked over to Jasper and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“I had no idea that it was you she was pining for. If I had, I would never have kept you away for so long. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, not at the moment, though I do thank you. We have to wait now for the cycle to finish and then I can bathe her in the oil. It is the strongest reversing spell that I know of, but I wonder if she can live long enough for me to use it?”

“Stay with her, Jasper. Let her know that you are here through your touch,” Elena said. “I will return when the time is up.”

She ran her hand down his arm, gently squeezing, before she left him alone with Leona and his guard. Jasper moved over to the bed and once again lay with his wife, pulling her close to him. He clearly remembered the last time they had lain together on their wedding night. Had it been then that their child had been conceived or was it earlier when she gave herself to him? No matter. All that concerned him now was reversing her spell and healing her body so that she and the child she carried might live.

He held her in his arms and spoke to her softly while she slept. Jasper refused food or drink until the eve of the third day came upon them. Mari coaxed him into taking some food and wine so he had the energy to continue once the sun disappeared in the sky. Agreeing, he asked for a tub to be brought so he could bathe himself before he performed the ritual on his beloved. He also asked for a large bowl of water for the bath he would give her and asked that they leave the room. Jasper would find them when it was all over.

Jasper dropped his clothes on the floor and stepped into the tub. A few drops of the oil he had prepared for purification when he needed to cast a particularly strong spell were added. Once his body was cleansed and anointed, he stepped from the tub and wrapped a white sheet around his hips and slowly undressed Leona.

He brought the bowl of clean water over and dipped in a soft cloth. Jasper wrung it out and methodically washed her body. When every square inch was anointed, he dried her. All the while, she lay immobile, not moving or showing any signs of life, apart from the pulse that throbbed faintly in her neck.

When the sun dropped from the sky to be replaced with the moon, Jasper took the oil and warmed it between his palms. He poured some out into his hand and rubbed them together, a generous sheen coating both of his hands. Starting at her feet, he coated every inch of her skin. The spell called for the enhanced oil to soak into the body, revitalizing all the cells that she had called on to shut down. He could do nothing more but wait and see if he had been in time to save her.

Jasper lay by her side, his arms wrapped around her unresponsive body. His heart cried out in pain but his wiccan teaching was telling him that all things were possible and if she wanted, she would return to him.

It was the heat of the sun that woke him the next morning. The brightness of a sunrise and the feeling that someone was watching him. He opened sleep-deprived eyes to see a pair of bright green eyes close to his. His breath sucked in. Was this part of his dream? He could feel her warm breath on his face. Tentatively, he reached out and touched his lips to hers. She sighed against his mouth and pushed her body closer to his. He wrapped his arms around her and he pulled her atop him. Jasper squeezed her tight, the tears running unchecked down his face; he buried his head into the side of her neck.

“Sshhh, my love,” she whispered, her voice weak, while kissing his face. “It is over now. You are here with me.”

“I am such a fool,
mo ghra
. I could have lost you and our child forever.”

“I should never have doubted you would come for me, but I did,” she whispered to him, her voice raspy and low. “I was weak and that is not a trait that comes easy to a goddess. Perhaps I would fare better being the wife of an Irish lord. I am sure there would be less scrutiny and expectations in your world.”