Luathara - Book Three of the Otherworld Trilogy (53 page)

Cade shuddered but then forced himself to continue.
 
"Immediately I sought out your magic and couldn't find any.  I panicked, thinking the worst, but then I felt a steady stream of another's
glamour
keeping the tiny spark of your candlewick going."

"It was probably Cernunnos's
magic, not mine," I murmured without thinking
.

"No.  It wasn't his,
"
he replied, no question in his voice.

I stiffened.  How did he know
?

"Once we got you safely inside Erintara and I knew you were going to stay with us,
Cernunnos
pulled me aside and explained everything."

Cade pressed his lips to my temple and I could feel his mouth curve up in a grin.  "I gave him a black eye and a few broken ribs before the Dagda pulled me off of him."

"What?!" I cried, struggling to sit
up.

Oh no, that wasn't going to happen.  It felt like someone had thrown me in
to
a
n industrial strength
drier
full of broken glass and gravel and
then hit the
heavy duty button
.  I hurt all over.

"He deserved it for what he put you through, and he even said so after his nose stopped bleeding."

Ugh.  I was so tired of people getting hurt.  "Will he be okay?"

"Now that he has his glamour back he will be," Cade answered.

I sighed and snuggled back against him.
 
"Cade?" I murmured.

"Hmmm?"

"Not that I'm complaining, but why are we naked?"

He chuckled and said, "Helps with the magical transfusion.  I've been sharing my glamour with you to help you get stronger.  That's what kept the spark of your magic from going out you know, the magic that was being poured into you."

Ah yes, the conversation we'd been having before I got sidetracked with my concern for the antlered god. 
"So who was it then?  Who kept me alive?"

Cade turned my face so that I looked directly into his dark green eyes.  "Aiden," he said quietly, "Aiden was the one who kept your magic from dying."

Tears welled and fell before I could even register them.

"Is he okay?"  My voice was hoarse and my throat hurt, but I didn't care.

"He's with Danua right now.  He's a bit weak, but she managed to break whatever spell of silence the Morrigan placed on him and when you're both well enough to travel, we'll pay a visit to your family in the mortal world."

I nodded.  Now that I knew everyone I cared about was safe, sleep pulled at me.  Before I drifted off,
however,
one more thing came to mind.

"The Morrigan?" I mumbled.

"Gone
,
my love." Cade kissed me again.  "And when Eile raises her again
in a thousand years or more
, we will make sure she never gains back the power she once had."

* * *

I later learned that I'd been unconscious for three days, during which time the Tuatha De gathered their people to head back to their own realms.  They
possessed
the task of spreading the news that the Morrigan had been vanquished and that those faelah who survived the battle, the ones not controlled completely by her power, had scattered to hide until she returned again.  Or to cause their own mischief.  As for Donn, well, Cade told me he had disappeared after my blast of power hit the Morrigan.  No one thought that the god of the dead would be making an appearance any time soon.

On the fourth day after the great battle, I woke up to find a familiar set of dark eyes regarding me from the bed post.

"Meridian!" I cried,
a sob catching in my throat
.

Cade stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist
when he heard my cry
.

I shot my glance to him,
the
joy at seeing Meridian distracting me from his splendid state of undress.

"I
thought the Morrigan killed her,
"
I said.

Cade shook his head, a small smile on his face.  "We found her in a grove of trees
under
the care of a small colony of
t
wigrins."

I continued to stare at him, confused.

Cade crossed the room and took a seat on the bed next to me.

"That's right, I never told you about that
characteristic of your favorite Otherworldly creature
.  Twigrins like to fix things, well, repair things that are damaged.  They use their special magic to mend broken branches or crushed flowers, or sometimes heal the twisted ankle of a fawn."

I was smiling broadly now.  "Or cure a white merlin who has been hit with a blast of bad magic?"

"Precisely," Cade said, giving me a quick kiss on the top of my head.

I reached up and gave Meridian a scratch.  She cooed and closed her eyes.

Safe
, she sent on a mental sigh. 
No more hurt.

"What about Lasair
?
" I asked, my joy drying up
only to be
replaced with fear.

"He returned home with Epona," Cade said.  "The faelah hurt him pretty badly,
so he needs time to
heal among his fellow horses."

I nodded, pained to hear he'd been hurt, but grateful he was alive.
  Then I asked the next question, somewhat afraid of the answer.
 
"Will I ever see him again?"

Cade put his hand behind my neck and pulled me into a deep kiss.  My nerves tingled and my fingers drifted towards his towel, but he escaped my grasp with a quick twitch of his hips, lifting up off of the bed and pulling away from me so that he could dress for the day.

"He told Speirling that once he has returned to full health, he'll be back to serve as your devoted companion."

Despite my disappointment at Cade's escape, the bright smile he sent me, along with the news of Lasair's impending return, kept my thoughts positive.

I started to get out of bed, insisting on a shower.  Cade helped me, of course, because I could barely walk.  I guess using up almost all of your power in one fell swoop took a while to recover from.  Who was
I
to complain, though?  It was better than being dead.

Once I felt clean and was dressed, I asked about Aiden and my mother
again
.

"Danua sent a message up earlier while you were still asleep.  They are waiting for us in the parlor beside her throne room with tea."

I moved to stand up
and
as my legs crumpled beneath me, Cade stepped in and took charge
, lifting me up into his arms
.

"As much as I admire the chivalry thing," I grumbled, "I don't need you carrying me from room to room."

"Yes you do," Cade answered cheerfully, maneuvering us through the door.

As we passed down the hallway
,
people paused and stood aside, bowing and greeting me as if I had grown up
here in this very castle
.  I guess risking my life and taking out their enemy improved my status in their eyes
,
and a
gainst my better judgment, their kind acknowledgment warmed me.

Danua and Aiden were waiting for us when we arrived, my mother in her usual, court dress and Aiden in a pair of fancy clothes that looked personally tailored to
fit
him.  When he saw Cade carrying me in, he jumped up from his chair and came running over.

"Meggy!" he cried out.

Cade set me down just in time for Aiden to slam into me, wrapping his arms around me in a tight grip.  Cade held onto my shoulders so I wouldn't fall over, and I reached down and ran my hand over my brother's dark hair.  I couldn't help it.  I started crying again.
  Aiden.  My autistic brother,
talking to me as if he'd done so his entire life.

"The lady says she's our real mother Meggy, is that true?"

Aiden looked up at me with those big eyes of his and I bit my lip, nodding.
 
"Yes Aiden, she's our real mother."

He furrowed his brow
and I waited for him to deny it,
to break down and insist she was wrong.  Instead he gave a little sigh and just leaned into me.  "Then that means we're true brother and sister."

I sniff
l
ed and pressed my hand against his back.

"Meggy," he said again, looking back up at me.  "If she's our real mother, why did she send us away to Mom and Dad?"

Danua had stood up and was moving our way, but upon hearing Aide
n's words
she froze and gave me a sad look.

I cleared my throat.  "Because Aiden," I said, returning my eyes to his face, "she loves us very much and thought that we would be safer if we grew up with Mom and Dad."

Aiden seemed to turn that over in his head for a few moments, but then nodded again and closed his eyes as he rested his
cheek
against my hip.

I looked back up in time to see Danua approaching me with her arms open.  I had to swallow back my surprise when she wrapped all of us, Cade included, in
to
a great hug.  Her shoulders shook and when she stepped back, tears streamed down her face.

"I never thought in a thousand years that I'd see the two of you again," she said softly, looking first at me, then Aiden.  "And now I have both of you here."

After that, we all sat down to tea.  Aiden asked one question after another as we enjoyed our meal, and he got an answer for
each of them.  I couldn't believe
how comfortable he was here, sitting in Danua's castle and talking to us as if
he had never had a timid streak at all
. 
But m
aybe
that had never been the case
to begin with
.  Perhaps he had
just
been
awkward about his inability to communicate with
others
.  Whatever it was, I was beyond happy to see
him so vibrant.

Cade trailed
his hand across my thigh, seeking my fingers.  When both our hands were clasped, I looked up at him.  He grinned and whispered into my mind,
Danua has sent a message to your parents, telling them that you both are well.  She has also requested that Aiden start spending his summers here in Erintara.

I blinked in surprise at him.  I hadn't thought about where Aiden would live.  I'd kind of been too busy trying to rescue him and get rid of the
Morrigan.  What Cade suggested
sounded like a good plan, but I only had one question.

Does Aiden know about this?

Cade nodded. 
He was present when we discussed it.

And?

He said as long as he got to spend time with his big sister, then it was fine by him.

Smiling like an idiot, I leaned back in my chair so that I
pressed up
against Cade.  It would take me a bit longer to heal, but as soon as I could walk and function like a normal person once again, we would take a little trip to the mortal world and tell my parents everything that had happened.

That evening, my mother hosted a small dinner in my honor.  Her entire court attended (along with their new, positive attitudes with regards to me) and when I entered the dining room and found the Dagda and Enorah waiting for me, both dressed in Erintara's finest, I almost fell on my face as I bolted away from Cade's side.  I'd forgotten my legs still weren't working properly.

Aiden came in after me, flying away from Danua and latching onto my arm.  I introduced him to Enorah and the Dagda, and although he hid behind the folds of my skirts at first, by the time the main course arrived, he was as chatty as he'd been with our mother earlier that morning.  I still couldn't believe how much my brother
had
changed, but it was quickly growing on me.

The next morning, Cade, Aiden and I left for Luathara.  I was well enough to travel, and it was long past the time we return Aiden to my parents in the mortal world.  Danua came to see us off, her
regal
, controlled mask back on as she said farewell to a son and daughter she had almost lost.

"I'll come back again," I promised, squeezing her hand, "and
hopefully our foster parents will agree to summer visits for Aiden
."

Danua smiled, a tiny quirk of her lips, and nodded her head once.  I turned to join Cade and my brother, but before I could take one step, Danua pulled me back and gave me a fierce hug.

"I am so sorry for all the pain I caused you before
, and
I'm proud to call you
my
daughter
."