Sorcha's Heart (10 page)

“
Take me to the king,” she commanded. “I must fulfill the destiny the Heart of Fire has laid upon me.”

Chapter Eight

Ambassador of Peace

King Leofric regarded Sorcha with distrust and distaste. “You expect me to believe that necklace transformed you into a dragon?”

“
I do, Sire,” she replied. The icy calm that had gripped her soul since Caedyrn returned to their clutch allowed her to bear the King’s obvious disbelief with equanimity. “I have witnesses to my transformation. Your own knights will verify my tale.”

She saw his eyes flick to the other side of the hall where armored men stood in uneasy silence.

“
Yes, very well.” He sighed and rubbed his stubbled chin. “Assuming I accept your statement, what is it that you expect of me?”

“
I expect you to listen to me as I explain the peculiarities of a dragon’s hearing. I expect you to appoint me ambassador and allow me to help you negotiate with their representative when I invite him to return. I expect you to forbid your knights and subjects to harm a single scale of a dragon’s hide while we hammer out a truce.”

Leofric stilled, his expression cold and stiff. Grumbling erupted from the men behind her, and she ignored them with effort. Her ears no longer retained dragon sensitivity, but she had grown disused to physical sound. The echoes in this stone hall worried her nerves. Even the tapestries lining the walls couldn’t provide the dampening effect she longed for. When Caedyrn returned, negotiations would need to be held in an open meadow. Someplace where sound could dissipate and not bounce around to assault his delicate hearing over and over again.

“
Be careful, young woman,” Leofric growled. “I think you forget to whom you speak.”

She doused the flames of anger and retreated behind a mask worthy of the aerie’s ice. Bowing her head, she said, “Forgive me, Sire. This has been a very stressful time for me.” Taking a deep breath, she tried again. “Sire, I remain in contact with the flight of dragons. If you will guarantee his safety, I will request that my, uh, my colleague join us for negotiations.”

“
And who will guarantee
my
safety?”

“
I will, Sire.” Her pulse raced with the magnitude of the lie she was about to utter. But alien or not, she trusted dragonkind far more than she trusted humans. Her time with the flight had shown her little in the way of deceit or treachery. Traits she knew well on the human side of the equation. “The Heart of Fire has magnified my powers. I am fully capable of protecting you from human and dragon alike.” She paused and turned to face the king’s knights. “I am also capable of exacting a terrible price from any who breaks the king’s peace.”

Leofric remained silent for a moment and then said, “So be it. You will act as my ambassador. You will be present at all negotiations to augment my understanding and guide my decisions, but make no mistake. They will be
my
decisions.”

He clapped his hands and cried to the room at large, “Let the dragon ambassador return under my personal protection.”

He paused, narrowed his eyes and stared directly at Sorcha. “Be warned, Wizard. If this dragon breaks my peace, your life will be forfeit.”

Sorcha bowed and murmured, “As you wish, Sire,” before turning to leave the room.

Upon reaching the safety of her assigned chamber, Sorcha barred the heavy wooden door and collapsed on the bed. She took several calming breaths before touching the link to Caedyrn’s mind. The golden thread sizzled and sparked, and she felt the familiar warmth of his presence.

“
Welcome, my love,” he murmured. “Are you well?”

She laughed, giddy with relief at the concern in his thoughts. “I am well. The King is suspicious of my request to allow a dragon at court, but I am in no danger. How are our children?”

“
Keeva dedicates herself to their care. She blames herself for your loss. The Rex himself has vowed to guard them if I am called to return to the south. Will you call me, my love?”

“
Yes. King Leofric has placed you under his personal protection. Come when the Rex allows and we will negotiate the peace as the Heart of Fire intended.”

“
I’m not sure what the Heart of Fire intended,” he growled, “but I am grateful for our time together.”

She felt his emotion light her soul, and shivered with a cruel mixture of delight and despair. “As am I. I’m not happy with this turn of events, but I am grateful. Give Keeva my love and my thanks. She is not to blame.”

“
I will tell her you said so. Be well, my love. I will join you tomorrow.”

*~*~*

Unable to sleep, Sorcha climbed to the battlements to greet the dawn. She carried herself with dignity though she could feel the suspicious glances of the guards who paced the wide stone walkway. Stepping into the shadow of a deep crenellation, she turned in time to see one warrior sketch a protective sigil between him and where she stood. As deep purple turned to rosy orange, she surveyed the brightening fields with tear-misted eyes. Once, this castle and its bustling town had been her home. She’d been happy here, practicing her craft and avoiding messy entanglements with men who found a young woman of power a compelling aphrodisiac. But then she’d chosen to call the Heart of Fire, and the price had indeed been great.

She blinked back her tears and studied her homeland. The sheltered valley rose in the southern distance to foothills and majestic crags, but at the north, a lake winked in the sun’s first rays. The forest behind the lake remained dark, but the meadow before it gleamed with green-gold promise.

There,
she thought. We will hold our council there before the lake. She raced down from the battlement, ignoring the whispered comments of the servants going about their morning tasks.

“
You there, squire,” she called to a youth standing near the castle gate.

He turned and approached with obvious reluctance. “My lady?”

“
Run and fetch the castle steward. Ask him to join me there.” She turned and pointed up to the top of the gate. “A gold piece will be yours if you have him back within ten minutes.” The young man’s face brightened and he ran to do her bidding.

He returned well within the allotted time, urging a panting older man in his wake. Sorcha
laughed and pulled the promised coin from her pocket. The youth hesitated for only a moment before taking it, but avoided touching her fingers. Her smile hardened and she turned to face the steward.

“
Thank you for coming, Sir Dougal. Please, join me.”

The dignified, gray-haired man moved to stand beside her on the battlement. “How may I be of service?”

“
I’ve decided that our negotiations with the dragon should take place beside the lake.” She directed his attention to the meadow she’d chosen. “Please arrange for a pavilion for the king’s comfort.”

They spent a few moments discussing details about what the meeting would require, and then the steward bowed over her hand and left to make the preparations.

With that duty performed, Sorcha set out to walk to the lake. She strolled down the main street of the village, pretending she neither knew nor cared that the folk stared and made protective signs. Once beyond the gate, she relaxed and enjoyed her solitary stroll. The sun was well up by now and the sky a soft, hazy blue. Buttercups bloomed in profusion and red clover dotted the meadow. Before her sojourn in the ice aerie, she would have been watching for medicinal herbs as she walked, but now the sky called her. Gods and goddesses! It would be a glorious day for a flight!

She stopped, closed her eyes, and grounded herself in the here and now. She was what she had been born to be — a human woman with magical gifts. The breeze whispered through the tall grass, wafting sweet scents of blossoms and good earth to her nose. Birds warbled in bushes at the water’s edge, and she detected the scurrying pace of a small creature in the undergrowth at her feet. The sun felt warm on her face and she could access her power once again.

Give it time,
she thought.
Life will be good again.
But she knew she would never be completely happy, not without Caedyrn.

With a heavy sigh, she opened her eyes and continued to the lake’s edge. Once there, she found a good sized rock, sat down and called Caedyrn to the chosen place. She barely touched his mind before she saw him soaring toward her, at first no larger than an eagle.

Her heart skipped a beat as he landed gracefully beside the lake. She jumped from her rock perch, ran forward and launched herself at him. Even widespread, her arms couldn’t span his chest.

He stroked her back with a single claw. “You are so tiny, my love,” he crooned into their link. “I must be careful not to crush you, or burn you with a flame.”

Tears filled her eyes. “If you did, I would die happy. I’ve missed you so!”

“
Your fragility concerns me,” he said. “Climb onto my back where I’ll know you’re safe.” She stepped carefully up on his knee and then pulled herself onto his shoulder. She nestled comfortably at the joint where his folded wing met his broad back, and caressed his leathery scales.

“
What will become of us, Caedyrn?” she asked, leaning her cheek against his shoulder and reveling in his smoky smell.

“
We will love from afar,” he said. “We are bonded for eternity. I do not know about your human heart, but there can be no other for me.”

“
Nor for me,” she agreed. “When they are old enough, you will bring the children to meet me?” A painful bubble threatened to steal her breath, making her glad she didn’t have to speak aloud to be understood.

“
Of course,” he said. “They will be proud to know you, as is the entire aerie. Keeva and her lair mates sing your praises to our children already, though they are still in the shell.”

The lovers rested quietly in the idyllic setting, content for the moment to be reunited in their thoughts, despite the bustle of the steward and his assistants, who came to ready the site for the king’s comfort.

When the King and his entourage arrived, Sorcha scrambled down and smoothed her rumpled skirts. She pulled the Heart of Fire from her pocket and double-looped the chain around her neck. The amulet dangled at her breast, an indisputable badge of office.

“
King Leofric.” She made a low curtsey before rising to make introductions. “Sire, I am proud to present Caedyrn, ambassador of the dragons.”

Leofric nodded to the dragon without relinquishing eye contact.

“
Caedyrn, this is King Leofric. I will act as his advisor as the two of you negotiate our treaty.”

“
An honor, Sire. My Rex will be monitoring our conversations. If I agree to terms, you may be sure the flight, as a whole, agrees as well.”

Sorcha reveled in the musicality of Caedyrn’s speech, but glancing around she saw that the rest of the king’s entourage found his voice unpleasant. She sighed. She took so much for granted these days, forgetting that her experience was unique.

The negotiations devoured the daylight hours. Caedyrn, and through him, the Rex, drove a hard bargain with Leofric. Sorcha restrained her desire to protect the flight and argued tirelessly for humanity’s rights. By the end of the day, peace flickered on the edge of reality.