Luathara - Book Three of the Otherworld Trilogy (31 page)

Ice!
she sent to me.

I nodded and wrapped my arms around my torso.  It was freezing, but
then again the bright colors of summer had begun fading a week or so ago.  Autumn came cool and early in the Otherworld
.

We followed the wide dirt path around a small hill and found several of the Dagda's guard, milling about in the open, preparing their own horses and packing their bags.  Among them were Cade and his foster father, donning serious looks and giving out orders to the other men and women.

Cade looked up and saw me, his expression softening.  He said something to the Dagda, then grabbed Speirling's reins and headed my way.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked quietly.

I knew he was talking about seeing my mother again and not the ride to Erintara.  Pulling a slow,
cold
breath into my lungs, I glanced up at him and said, "I'm ready for anything with you by my side."

Cade's eyes glinted as his face split into a huge smile.  He gave me a quick kiss then helped me climb atop Lasair.  Once
Cad
e was settled on
his own horse
, we turned to face the Dagda and his retinue.

"There is a dolmarehn a few miles from here that will take us to the woods behind Erintara," the Dagda said as he nudged his giant horse closer to us.  "But we'll ride swiftly.  I don't know if any of the faelah from the other day still linger
."

Cade's foster father led us out of the hills and onto open ground.  Once we were clear of his domain, the horses broke into a faster pace.  I was no expert rider, but Lasair's smooth gait, along with the fact that he now had a saddle, made the ride easier than it could have been.  Cade rode by my side on Speirling
,
and Meridian and Fergus trailed after us, keeping a lookout for faelah.  At the pace we were going, we reached the dolmarehn in half an hour.  The structure was huge, like the one behind Luathara, and in no time we were all through, emerging in the middle of a sparsely forested area.

The trees here were mostly beech and oak, their leaves
wearing the first, burnished golds and rusts of autumn
.  Cade and I eventually caught up with the rest of the group, all who had stopped in response to the Dagda's raised arm.
 
Cade urged
Speirling
forward and I followed him.  The Dagda and his horse stood near the edge of the woods on a ledge that overlooked rolling farmland.  He lifted an arm and pointed.

"Erintara," he said.

I raised my hand to shade my eyes and squinted.  In the distance, the glassy surface of Lake Ohll stretched on forever.
  Rolling hills continued to the east of the lakeshore, and resting on top of the tallest hill was a great castle.  Erintara.  The home of Danua, high queen of Eile.  My mother.

I settled back down in the saddle and gave Cade a solemn look.  The last time I had spoken to Danua things hadn't gone
so
well.  She had told me to stay away from Cade and I had refused, informing her that she had no say in my life.  Now I was returning, and Cade and I had grown closer than ever.  I was afraid of how she would take
that little morsel of news
.

What's wrong?
  Cade asked me using
shil-sciar
.

I sighed. 
Just thinking about how Danua and I parted the last time we were here.

He brought Speirling closer and reached out to take my hand. 
It will all work out Meghan.  Don't fret.

That was easy for him to say.  I'd been confident when we left the Dagda's home this morning,
but
now that we were within sight of the castle, those pesky nerves started their tap dance once again.

Gritting my teeth and telling myself I was silly to be nervous, I nodded and clicked Lasair on as the Dagda began leading us down the side of the hill.  The countryside proved to be a welcome distraction, its beauty shining forth as it
succumbed to fall's approach
.  Most of
summer's green had given way to duller hues
, but every so often we crossed paths with a pile of golden leaves or
several
red apples clinging to an orchard tree
, waiting patiently for the harvest
.

As we got closer to the city of Erintara, we began to see more people out working their land.  Many stopped, leaning on a pitchfork or resting against their plow horse, gawking at the Dagda and his guard.  Some even removed their hats and bowed, clearly aware of who it was passing by on their road.

Despite the cold
morning
,
the city of
Erintara was alive with people scurrying about, but once they caught a glimpse of the god riding the golden horse, they
paus
ed in their tracks and showed reverence.  Some bowed like those in the countryside, others cheered.  By the time we reached the gates of the castle, we had the entire city treating us like the spectacles of
a town parade.  Cade remained gallantly
silent the entire way and I
did my best to
mimic him.  I never liked being the center of attention and Cade had been alone for so long I imagined he shared my sentiment.  But, despite what Cade had told me, I still dreaded the idea of facing my mother, and something told me he wasn't looking forward to it either.

* * *

I didn't see Danua right away.  The Dagda, Cade and I were welcomed into the castle by the many servants who worked there while the men of the Dagda's guard were shown to their own rooms in the soldiers' quarters.  My heart beat faster as we walked through the castle of Erintara, all the memories from the previous spring flooding through
my mind
: the cold, disapproving attitude of my mother, the general disdain of her courtiers, the disregard of Cade's presence . . .  It all sent a chill through me, but I stood up straight and held myself with dignity.  I had suffered far worse after leaving the castle last time.  I could handle these memories.

A woman in a green gown greeted us at the top of the stairs.  I suppressed a growl when I recognized her; the older lady in waiting who had been so rude to Cade the last time
we were here
.  She clearly remembered me as well, if I was judging correctly by her unnatural stiffness and the sour look on her face.

"Three rooms, I presume?" she said with haughty formality.

I forced a small smile and said, be
fore anyone else could answer,
"Two, actually.  Cade and I will be sharing."

Her eyes
widened and she stopped some automatic response in the back of her throat.  A strangled noise from behind me told me that the Dagda was doing his best to smother a laugh and the warm weight of Cade's hand caressing the
nape of my neck
gave me more confidence than I felt.

She turned abruptly and led us down the hallway, showing the Dagda to his room and then Cade and
me
to ours.  She bowed quickly, informed us that the other Tuatha De had not yet arrived but were expected later that afternoon, then turned and scuttled down the hallway.  I was convinced she was headed directly to my mother to inform her of the change of my relationship with Cade and the only thing keeping her from full out running was her own frigid sense of decorum.

The Dagda had excused himself and shut the door to his room, so all that was left was for Cade and
me
to settle into ours.  Cade carried the bags with our clothes inside and set them in the corner.  The moment I closed the door he pounced, wrapping me up in his arms and spinning us both around.  I squawked and smacked at his chest, but I didn't put much effort behind it and by the time he pulled me down onto the bed with him, we were both laughing.

"What was that all about?" I asked, still smiling as I pulled a plush pillow under my head.

Cade shrugged and mimicked me.  "No reason.  I just felt like it."

I arched a brow at him, my mouth tugging up into a grin.  Cade was always so careful and serious around me that it was nice to see him behaving like this.  I even unabashedly gave myself credit for this change in his demeanor.

A piece of Cade's hair
came
loose and
fell
across his forehead.  Reaching out a hand, I gently brushed it aside but let my fingers linger on his face.  His eyes darkened, but they were anything but dull.

"I love seeing you so happy," I whispered.

And then my dreary thoughts returned, thoughts about dying under the wrath of the Morrigan.  Thought
s about losing Cade again.  My
magic jumped in response, the flame flaring for a split second before settling down once again.  I bit my lip and Cade reached up with his own hand to capture mine.  He pulled me gently forward.  I closed my eyes, anticipating his kiss, but someone knocked abruptly at the door.

Cade growled in frustration and released me, getting up off the bed to go answer the door.  I sat up, crossing my legs and resting my elbows on my knees.  One of my mother's many ladies in waiting stood on the other side of the door.  She was younger than the woman who
had
showed us to our room, but still held the same frozen stiffness.  She looked Cade up and down, then glanced past him at me.

"Your mother requests your presence," she said.  "She is taking tea in ten minutes."
 
She wrinkled her nose and added, "You might want to reconsider your wardrobe."

I glanced down at myself.  I had put on a pair of dark jeans and a knit turtleneck that morning.  Some of the clothes from the mortal world I had brought with me to the Dagda's.  I shrugged then stood up and strode over to her.

Crossing my arms, I came to
a
stop next to Cade
. 
Might as well get this over with
, I told myself.

"I'll wear this," I replied.
 
"
Please, take me to her now."

-
Fif
teen-

Tuatha De

Danua waited for me in a spacious room that was located
just off
of her throne room.  A floor to ceiling window let in a stream of weak light and a cheery fire crackled in the fireplace
at the far end of the room
.  Bookshelves lined
one
wall
while
a collection of portraits decorated another.  My mother sat in a stuffed chair beside a table holding a large teapot and several trays of small sandwiches
and desserts
.  She sat regally, as always, with her hands
folded primly in her lap.  The dress she wore today was a creamy pink color inlayed with tiny rose vines
that looked like they'd been embroidered by hand
.  Suddenly, I felt grubby in t
he comfortable jeans and turtle
neck I'd insisted on wearing.

I sat down, squirming a little to get comfortable before realizing no matter how I sat, I'd never get truly cozy around Danua.  Well, I might feel at ease if I had Cade sitting next to me to offer his silent support, but he had
opted to wait in the hallway.  Yet a
s much as I wanted him by my side, I couldn't begrudge him his decision.  Danua had summoned me, not me
and
Cade, and I owed her, and myself, a chance to talk where it was just the two of us.

The moment I lifted my eyes to glance at Eile's queen, she started speaking.

"It would seem you have
gone against my wishes and
developed a deeper attachment to Caedehn MacRoich."

She picked up her delicate teacup and took a sip
as if we were discussing something as tedious as the layer of dust on the bookshelves.

I stiffened in my over-stuffed chair.

"I thought I told you to stay away from that boy."

So this was how it was going to start.  Not so much as a "Hello darling daughter" or
,
"It is good to see you Meghan" or
,
"How
have you been since I last saw
you my child?
"  Fine.  If she wanted to be
unreasonable, then so be it.  I wasn't going to apologize for my actions, especially if I didn't regret them.

"And I thought I made it clear that you had no say in the matter," I retorted.

I was nervous as hell, but high queen or not, my biological mother or not, she wouldn't be making the decision on who I wanted to date, especially since she
'd been absent from my life until recently, and
also because she
went around insisting that her orders be followed instead of talking to me like a civilized person.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair, ignoring the tea cooling in front of her.

"Meghan, I have no wish to fight with you."