Dianthe's Awakening (3 page)

The hand holding mine squeezed gently and she pulled me away from the thermals toward the people in the distance. "Your trust honors me, lady," Brónach looked at me shyly. "I am very pleased you choose to let me show you our home."

"No, problem," I said wryly. “I don’t really have a lot on my to-do list at the moment." She looked at me quizzically but didn’t say anything as we neared the others. Several surprised faces met us once we had joined the group. One in particular caught my attention. He wasn’t overly tall like most of the males in my life. He stood at about the six foot mark but he screamed "in charge" with his body language.

"Brónach," he murmured with a deep accent I had never heard before. It was familiar but alien at the same time. He looked at our entwined fingers and back to Brónach's shyly smiling face. An eyebrow rose nearly to his hairline before he met my gaze. Highly intelligent green eyes stared back at me before his lips tilted at the corner.

"So, you must be the latest addition to our numbers that is causing all the angst in our lord." He glanced back to Brónach before continuing, "We all thought the Hunt was for a mortal female, but no mortal could claim a hound and bring a smile to our Sorrow's face. What are you, little changeling, that you look human but have the Lord of the Hunt looking so bewildered?"

"Sorrow?" I asked. Leave it to me to ignore the important bits and go to what interested me. The stranger pointed his chin at Brónach. "She is our Sorrow, the very embodiment of our grief and loss. Yet, here she stands with a smile of quiet joy on her face and hands entwined like small children wandering down the garden path. So tell me, girl, who are you to bring such change to our world?"

"Wow," I gasped. "That’s not intense or anything." Caomhnóir moved closer to me. The heavy weight of his body rested against my hip making me feel more secure than I had been. I let the aggravation of the last twenty-four hours show in my eyes when I responded, "I'm Dianthe Mclearey, daughter of Belenus, AKA, the shining one. Who the hell are you?"

The clearing fell silent around us. Everyone had stopped to listen to the confrontation but my words had caused a silence thick enough to cut with a knife. People, both male and female, stood waiting to see what the stranger in front of me would do next.

The endless moments seemed to drag on and I took in my surroundings. It was almost like a re-enactment. Tents and semi-permanent housing stood in a village pattern around us. There was nothing of the modern world here. I really felt as if I had stepped back into a long gone time. Choking sounds interrupted my seconds of contemplation and I turned my attention back to the man before us.

His lips twisted before he threw back his head and laughed. He laughed so hard that he wrapped a hand around his belly and bent at the waist gasping for breath. "Gods," he wheezed. "Who the hell am I?" Tears streamed down his face with his mirth. The men and women around us let out a sigh of relief and Brónach noticeably relaxed.

Indignation began to rise in me. It wasn’t that funny. I thought it was pretty badass myself. I gently pulled my hand from Brónach and crossed my hands over my chest before tapping my foot. He finally calmed enough to straighten and look at me straight faced.

"I'm still waiting you know. Did your mother never teach you manners? Seriously, just because you live in the wood," I waved my arm around us, "does not mean you have the right to behave like an animal."

His mouth opened and shut several times before he was able to reply. Laughter still lit up his eyes but his voice had taken on a serious quality, "Indeed, My lady. Please forgive my crass manners. Ahem," clearing his throat, he bowed before me and took my hand in his before kissing it." I am Caratâcos of the Catuvellaunian people. Lately of the Hunt, the last millennia or so," he smirked.

"You are not," I gasped. My eyes widened to where they felt like they would pop from my head. "I assure you, lady, I am who I say. My brother can attest to my identity if you want?" He raised his arm and beckoned for another male similar in stature to join us. He was slightly taller and thicker built than his brother but shared the same wavy dark hair and laughing eyes. His was more hazel than green though and my mouthed gaped as I looked at them.

"Togodumnus," I whispered. A sexy grin slid across his face, bringing to life a scar that slashed from the upper corner of his left lip down his chin and ended at his Adam’s apple. That one must have hurt.

"My exploits precede me, lady? Have the stories of my virility and endurance carried so long in the mortal realm," he asked cheekily. I was having a major fan girl moment. Two of my favorite historical heroes were standing in front of me.

"Oh my gosh," I gushed. "You're Caratâcos and Togodumnus!"

They looked at each other, passing a look between them as if I were a simpleton that needed to be humored. Okay, at the moment, I was acting like one but still…

Fanning myself, I tried to get it under control. "I'm sorry, I'm not really crazy. You people are a couple of my heroes though! You led the first revolt against the Romans when they invaded and, Caratâcos, you were captured and talked your way out of a death sentence! You invented the silver tongue!"

"Lady," Togodumnus said, “if you admire my brother for his way with words, you have not sampled the right brother." He waggled his eyebrows at me suggestively and I shook my head and raised my arm so he could see the runic markings from Robin. "Sorry, sweetie, but I'm a married woman."

Brónach took that moment to interrupt us; I had nearly forgotten she was by my side. "Dianthe, may I see," she asked.

"Sure, I guess," I began before she grabbed my arm and pulled me closer. "Can you read these?" Brónach stared at me intently. "Do you understand what they mean, to whom these markings belong?"

"Uh, yeah," I jerked my arm back, pulling the sleeve of my jumper down. Suddenly, I was glad it was still cool even in summer in Scotland. At least I could cover my arms. It had been freaking hard the last few weeks. "They belong to me," I said grumpily while rubbing my arm. "My mate, Robin, has a matching set."

Shocked gasps met that remark. Concern crossed Brónach's face and her teeth worried her lower lip. "Dianthe, when you say Robin," she paused, "Do you mean the Lord Oberon's Puck?"

"Ummm, I guess so," I murmured. "He's Robin Goodfellow, also known as the Puck. Is it a problem?" Caratâcos stepped forward and motioned to my arm.

"Does Lord Cernunnos know about your markings, my lady?" I was beginning to get worried again. It is never good when they start to ask you lots of questions without answering any in return. I had begun to run my finger over the runes at my wrist when a deep sensual voice rang out over the whispering of the crowd.

"Do I know about what, my Taoiseach?" Several small gasps rang out and I turned to meet the eyes of Cernunnos. Taoiseach, huh? So he was Cernunnos's second in command then. I raised an eyebrow and tapped my foot. No one had ever accused me of having an overabundance of common sense.

All around us heads bowed as the bane of my current existence made his way to us. His great stag antlers swaying as he walked. Beside me, Brónach lowered her head, as did the two brothers.

"Hiya, Keir," I waggled my fingers at him. Outraged breaths could be heard being drawn at the derivative of his name. Really, I rolled my eyes, it was a mouthful. The god in question raised an eyebrow before looking to Caratâcos. “My second, what do I need to know about?"

"My lord," Caratâcos rose up. “The lady has mating marks upon her arm." He nodded in my direction.

"Is this so, Dianthe," Cernunnos asked. "Show me your arm then and let me see." Pure petulance had me pulling my left arm behind me.

"What if I don’t want to? It's none of your bloody business anyway," I grumbled at him. Turning to Brónach I gentled my tone, "Thank you for showing me around. Perhaps later we can hang out?"

She said nothing but a hint of a smile played at her lips.

I glanced down at Caomhnóir and asked him, "Are you ready to go, boy? Let's go find you something to eat." His shaggy tail thumped the ground but he sat patiently waiting for me to make the first move.

With a snobbish glance toward a smirking Cernunnos, I began to walk past them. There was only a glimpse of movement before I found myself twisted around, back to chest, against the big bastard.
Damn it,
I thought. I had hoped the spoiled brat routine would work. Obviously, ancient gods did not play those kinds of games.

"Now, female, let's see what we have here, shall we?" A shiver passed through me as static raced from his body to mine. He leaned against me, his head on my shoulder while he pulled the sleeve of my jumper up. He studied them for a moment then let the sleeve go to wrap an arm around my waist. Our bodies were flushed tight together, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

"You are mated to the Puck," Cernunnos stated.

"Um, yeah…it's not a secret or anything. Kale and Daniel are my mates as well," I told him. His breath puffed out against my neck. "The mortals do not concern me. However, I have no wish to go to war with the sword of Oberon. This calling of the Hunt is not what it appears. This must be looked into before we take any other actions. My Taoiseach call forth Fechin and see what he has to say about the situation that we find ourselves in. It was he that brought us word of the call."

"My lord, it shall be done," Caratâcos said solemnly before marching away, his brother in tow. I had about a million questions I wanted to ask, but I was smart enough to know now wasn’t the time. Cernunnos nuzzled closer into my neck. It unsettled me and made me uncomfortable but I tried not to wiggle.

My eyes looked to my trusted hound, yeah right… "Hey you, Caomhnóir, what happened to the loyal guardian gig?" A dangling tongue and wagging tail was the only answer I received from him. Unfortunately, it was not the only answer I got.

"He is content because I pose you no danger at the moment. Long may it stay that way. This situation however is tenuous. You will come with me to my private dwelling where we will discuss this," he slid his hand over my arm, "and other things in more detail."

I took the moment to glance at him out of the corner of my eye. I really had to work on installing a filter because said eyes widened and I blurted out the first thing to pass through my brain. "Your horns are gone!"

Cernunnos peered at me nonplussed for a moment before throwing his head back and laughing. "I am a god, Dianthe, while the antlers are a part of me, I can manifest them or not." He winked, actually winked, before carrying on. "It is not prudent to have them erect when coming so close, they could put an eye out if not careful." Mouth agape, I just stood there. He had just made a double entendre and a sexual innuendo to me. How did I respond to that?

"So, ummm...what did you want to talk about again?" He shook his head, his eyes still lit with humor and took me by the arm.

"Come, woman, let us retire and converse of more important things than my huge rack." Damn it, now I knew he could read my thoughts.

"That’s rude you know," I told him.

"Then figure out how to stop me, godling." A whistle and Caomhnóir was happily trotting beside us while Cernunnos led me deeper into the wood.

Chapter Three

Cernunnos

I had no idea what had come over me. I do not remember a time that I had felt so lighthearted and carefree. As the Lord of the Hunt, it was my weight to carry the burden of my people. Frivolities and innuendoes had no place in that.

Simple carnal pleasure was neither here nor there. Many times, I had slaked my lust on mortal women in the human realm. Never had I shown boyish charm or hilarity. There was something about this female that brought out the lightness in us all.

Even Brónach, our Sorrow, had a small smile hovering over her somber lips. She who bore the weight of all of our grief and loss looked almost content. I shook my head at the thought. It was not a bad thing to bring joy to Sorrow, but I could not let this female slither under my guard. Already she had tamed a hound, brought peace to Brónach, and from the looks of things, enraptured my Taoiseach and his brother in her feminine wiles.

Was she as innocent as she seemed or did she hide a cunning deviousness hidden behind guileless golden eyes? The very creature that filled them interrupted my thoughts. She had begun to tug gently at the arm in my grasp while scowling up at me. The girl honestly had no fear. I have killed men for lesser insult.

"Where are we going," she asked. "Because seriously, I was told to stay out of the wood. Isn't there like big bad things that can eat me in there?"

Images of what her words aroused took over my mind. I saw her lying before me, spread open waiting for me to feast. I forcibly cleared the pictures from my mind and sent her a fierce look of reprimand.

"Just saying," she said childishly. She appeared so much a youngling that I questioned her about it.

"Dianthe," I began.

"Yeah?" she mumbled.

Ignoring her ill grace, I continued, "How old are you, girl? All I know of you is that we were called to hunt but not kill you and that you are mated in ancient ways to the Puck."

"I'm twenty," she said. "My birthday was the first of May. Look, I'm sorry for being such a brat. I really am a grownup. Evidently, I react defensively when I'm cornered."

Very little could surprise me, but this did. She was a babe. In our world, she would still be under her parents guard. Never would she be allowed out into the world on her own. Why did she have no one protecting her? Ignoring the fact she was mated to not only Puck but also two other males; it was negligence of the worst kind.

Children were such a precious commodity. It was hard for me to remember that in the human world where she had been raised, she would have already reached her majority. Her childish behavior made much more sense now. Allowances could be made without looking weak. I would also speak to my men and warn them off.

Even though she was already mated, the very fact she had more than one mate would open the door to more. "Come, Dianthe, we are nearly to my home," my eyes met the uncertain gold of hers. "There is much to discuss. Do not worry; you are safe in my care. This Hunt has not been a rightful Hunt and once I get to the heart of the matter, the true oath breaker will be punished, you have my word on that," I told her plainly.