Magic In The Storm (14 page)

Ducking under the low reaching branches and
skirting low growing brush, she ran as quickly as she could. It
wasn’t easy, and she had to hold her skirt up indecently high, but
she didn’t care. She glanced behind her to see Morgan not too far
back, his laughter lighting up his whole face. A branch whipped at
her cheek, causing it to sting. She turned back to watch where she
was going.

She burst out from the trees to the bit of
green by the edge of the stream and straight into Morgan’s
arms.

He laughed as he caught her. Giggling and out
of breath, she grasped on to his shirt to stop herself from
falling, but he held her with a strength that was comforting and
thrilling at the same time.

“How did you get here so fast? I thought you
were behind me.” she asked, still laughing, and hardly able to
speak for her panting.

Morgan laughed at her, hardly even breathing
hard. “I’m used to running through the forest. It wasn’t a fair
race to begin with.”

She tilted her head back to look up at him.
“Oh. Yes, I suppose you’re right.” She gave a little shrug. She
didn’t care. She had just wanted to have some fun, and she had. In
fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she had run like that. Or
felt so free.

Morgan’s face became serious for the briefest
of moments, and then he leaned down toward her. Gently taking her
face between his large hands, he pressed his lips to her cheek
where it stung. When he pulled away, her cheek burned for just a
moment where he had kissed it, but the stinging was gone.

She was still breathing hard, but now she
didn’t know if it was because of her run or his kiss.

<><><>

The fire crackled warmly in the grate of the
family sitting room as Tatiana stared into the flickering flames.
She’d been summoned to another Vallen’s assistance.

She would go, of course. It was her
obligation, and it was her pleasure. Helping others who’d lost
control of their magic, or stopping the abuse of the power—it was
her duty as High Priestess to see to these sorts of problems, as it
had been her mother’s and her mother before that, and so on back
for countless generations. Just as Merlin’s chalice had been passed
down from generation to generation—and now was in her care.

She looked up at the chalice as it sat in the
special nook she’d had made for it above the fireplace. The entire
sitting room had been designed around that cup. It was a futile
attempt to reflect its magnificence. The plush white sofa and black
chairs, all of the tables of white marble with black veining—they
were nothing compared to the perfection of the white marble
chalice. Nothing could possibly come close to mirroring its beauty,
because its splendor came from within—from the power that the
chalice exuded, not from the stone of which it was made.

Tatiana knew that she would never use the
chalice. It was a bitter knowledge, but one she had come to terms
with. Merlin’s chalice was not for her—she was merely its keeper.
Only the seventh child of the seventh generation was given the
honor and the power to use the chalice. It sickened her that that
child was Morgan.

Because Morgan was male, he would never
attain the level of power necessary to wield the chalice. Never in
all of the history of the Vallen had there been a male Seventh. It
was unheard of. And Morgan’s lack of powers only confirmed what a
mistake it was.

No, the chalice would have to go to Katrina,
the sixth of the sixth of the seventh generation. She was strong
and worthy of it. Tatiana had decided this, and so it would be. It
would have to be!

“Well, I’m off to bed,” Kat said, standing up
from her favorite chair and stretching like the cat she was so
aptly named after. She had the honed senses of the animal. Tatiana
had always found it very useful having the girl around.

She toyed with the idea of taking Kat on this
little trip. Someday this obligation would be hers—if all went as
Tatiana planned. But no, the girl wasn’t quite ready yet—and
Tatiana wasn’t ready to give up what was still hers. It wouldn’t be
for too much longer—but for now, she would enjoy the duty that had
been a part of her life since she had turned twenty–one.

“I need to leave early tomorrow morning,”
Tatiana said, stopping Kat from leaving the room so quickly.

“Oh?”

“There is some business in Bath which needs
my attention.”

“But what about Adriana and Lord Devaux?”

“They will have to excuse me, I’m afraid.
This can’t wait.”

Kat just looked at her, clearly shocked that
she would be leaving at this important time, and indeed, it
surprised Tatiana as well. But duty was duty, and she couldn’t
shirk it just because her son was a fool who didn’t know how to woo
a girl.

“You will understand soon enough, Kat.”

“Ma’am?”

“Soon you will attain your destiny. When that
worthless son of mine turns twenty–one, we will prove he is not
capable of taking up the destiny that should have belonged to him,
and then it will be yours.” Tatiana rose and stalked over to the
fire. She paused for the briefest of moments to caress the chalice.
Its heat and naked power tingled through her fingers. But it didn’t
soothe. Just the opposite, it made her even more infuriated as she
thought about Morgan.

“But I don’t want Morgan’s destiny. Aunt,
please...”

“You don’t have a choice, Katrina,” Tatiana
said, as she picked up the poker leaning by the side of the
fireplace. Despite the warmth of the room, she jabbed at the
flaming coals, enticing even more heat to come from them. “If he
had done as he should have and been born a girl, then you would not
be in this position.”

“But he is not to blame,” Kat whispered, too
embarrassed, or frightened, to say it out boldly.

Tatiana jabbed at the fire once more. “You
think I should take the responsibility for this? I assure you I
will not. I did all that I should have, all that was within my
power,” she said, knowing full well that the fault did in fact lie
with her. But she wasn’t about to admit to such weakness, nor would
she ever.

Yes, she had been the one to create the
monstrous disappointment that was Morgan. She still could not
believe it. How could she, the most powerful, talented Vallen of
the century, have given birth to such a pitiful, weak little boy? A
boy! After five girls, the one that had to be a girl...

That would have been bad enough even if he
had been powerful. If he had been a talented Vallen with natural
abilities such as was the right of the seventh child in her
family... But no! He had been pitiful and weak. From the moment he
was born, he’d had almost no magical powers at all.

Tatiana could put up with that from her other
children. It was even expected of them. Surely her body had been
waiting, waiting until the seventh child, until the rightful heir
was born to be imbued with all of the magical abilities she had and
more.

But no! “No! He has nothing. He
is
nothing. I will not suffer that boy to live!” Tatiana threw the
poker against the black marble of the fireplace and spun around,
ready to destroy anything that got in her way.

Kat stood just behind her, her hazel eyes
wide with fear and shock. “You cannot kill him,” she said, clearly
horrified at the thought.

Tatiana spun back around to face the fire
once more. That was what her husband had said, only he had done so
much more forcefully—and with magic. “No. I cannot,” Tatiana
admitted, “His father saw to that. Morgan has a protection spell
over him that even I cannot break. I assure you, if I could, I
would have many years ago.”

“You can’t mean that, ma’am.”

“Do you question me, Katrina?”

“No, ma’am, it’s just that... even though he
isn’t the girl he should have been, Morgan is still your
child.”

“And what of that? A mother was never more
disappointed than I.”

“Even so. You carried him in your womb for
nine months. You do have some love for him?” The last was said more
as a question, but with the certainty of a statement.

Tatiana though about what Kat said for a
moment. Did she have
some
love for Morgan? She supposed she
must. She hadn’t killed him in all these years. She hadn’t really
even tried to break his father’s protection spell, although she
probably could if she truly wanted to. So perhaps there was some
love in her for her son after all.

But she would rot in hell before admitting
it.

A
driana let out a
startled scream as Oberon, Morgan’s dog, grabbed her hat between
his teeth and lifted it off her head. She was looking extremely
pretty today. Her sunny yellow dress and straw bonnet adorned with
yellow silk flowers blended perfectly with the bright sunshine of
the day, and contrasted beautifully with the colors of the forest.
She had been kneeling down on the soft earth, carefully plucking
the pretty white flowers of a marsh–mellow plant, when Oberon had
decided that it was time to play.

The dog stood just out of Adriana’s reach. As
she leaned forward to grab her hat, he jumped back. She moved
forward very slowly, woman and dog staring eye to eye. Quickly she
lunged for the hat, and just as quickly the dog leaped backward and
avoided her grasping hand.

Morgan stifled a laugh.

But Adriana was laughing herself as she got
up off the ground and dusted off her dress. “You want to play, do
you? Well, that is all fine and good, sir, but I will not have you
ruining my best chip straw bonnet,” she addressed the dog with mock
severity, placing her hands on her hips.

Oberon was clearly having a lot of fun
teasing Adriana. Morgan almost wished he’d thought of it
himself.

She took a menacing step toward the dog,
watching carefully as he retreated, and then, without even trying
to take back her hat, she turned around as if she no longer cared.
Oberon hesitantly moved closer. And then with a swift movement,
Adriana spun around and reached for the hat.

But once again, Oberon was too fast for
her.

This time Morgan could not contain his
laughter as his dog outwitted her yet again.

Adriana spun around to face him. Her face was
flushed with happiness, her eyes sparkling with laughter. Morgan’s
breath caught in his throat. Never had he even dreamed that a woman
could be so incredibly beautiful. He thought his heart was ready to
burst with joy.

“Well, are you going to just stand there and
laugh at me, or are you going to help?” she said, rounding on
him.

He gave a non–committal shrug and laughed
once more.

Each and every day he and Adriana spent
together, Morgan was happier than he had ever thought he could be.
For long stretches of time, he had been able to forget his
troubles. Each day they spent together was better than the day
before—and so it had been for the past two weeks. The only thing
marring his happiness was the time Adriana was away from him, and
the fact that his powers did not seem to be increasing anymore—no
matter how hard he worked and practiced his magic.

A yelp from Adriana broke Morgan out of his
reverie, and he watched as she went running off toward the stream
after the dog.

Morgan followed. He couldn’t help but burst
out laughing at the sight of Oberon standing in the stream up to
his shoulders, still holding the hat just barely above the level of
the water. The long yellow ribbons trailed in the gently flowing
water.

“Why, you horrible thing, you! You wouldn’t
dare!” Adriana said, standing on the shore. But Morgan could see
that she was desperately trying to hide her smile.

Then just to show that he would dare, Oberon
slowly lowered the hat so that it skimmed the surface of the
water.

“No! That is one of my best hats!” Adriana
cried and laughed at the same time. Kicking off her shoes and
quickly pulling off her stockings, she carefully tried to follow
the dog into the water, holding her dress up so it wouldn’t get
wet. She displayed quite a bit of her enticingly long, shapely legs
as she tried to coax the dog out of the water.

She had nearly come within a hand’s reach of
him when he turned with a great splash and leaped into the deeper
water, heedless of the hat still in his mouth. Adriana let out
another screech, but this one sounded less like a laugh than the
others.

Morgan decided it was time he took matters
into his own hands.

“Oberon, come!” he said in his most masterful
voice.

The dog continued swimming across the
river.

“Come, Oberon, now!” Morgan tried again.

“Oh, he is going to ruin my hat, Morgan.
Can’t you make him listen?” Adriana said, taking another hesitant
step forward. The bottom few inches of her dress was now hanging
into the water.

There didn’t seem to be anything else for it.
Morgan pulled off his own boots and stockings and ran past Adriana,
heedless of his own clothing. Adriana gave another little shriek as
he splashed past her.

Morgan dove into the cool, refreshing water,
swimming up under his dog. In one swift movement, he had the dog on
his shoulders, and turned around heading back to the shore.

Adriana’s beautiful tinkling laugh greeted
him as he sloshed to the shore. She reached up to take her hat from
the dog’s mouth, and at the same time waved a finger in his face.
“That should teach you a lesson in manners.”

Her laughing green eyes slid down to Morgan’s
and then her lovely smiling face turned bright pink as they moved
lower—to take in his wet shirt and breeches.

Morgan, too, noticed that quite a bit more of
Adriana’s dress had become wet and was clinging to her shapely
body. He felt a stirring as his blood heated.

He turned and knelt to the ground to put
Oberon down. When he turned back around, Adriana had begun to rub
her hands up and down her arms as if she were cold.