The Duke and the Dryad (Elemental Series) (18 page)

After Juturna left, Wolfe pulled up a chair and settled himself next to his good friend.

“If you don’t mind me saying, my lord, you seem to have a new spring to your step this morning as well as a little extra hay in your hair than you usually have lately.”

Wolfe laughed and raked his fingers through his hair. “Aye, you are observant, Sir Braden.”

“You spent some time with
the fae girl last night I am guessing?” Sir Braden smiled and ’twas good to see the life back in his eyes. He had Rae to thank for that as well as saving his own life. He now regretted ever being so harsh with her in the first place.

“Aye,” he said with a nod of his head. “We spent some special moments
together.”

“You seem smitten with Rae,” the man observed. “I’ve never seen you this way with any woman before.”

“I’ve never felt this way before,” he answered. “I cannot say for sure, but I think I’m in love.”

“Aye, I knew it.” Sir Braden scooted to a sitting position and reached for the soup. “If you wouldn’t mind,
my lord?” He looked at the bowl and raised a brow.

Wolf
e handed him the soup and spoon. “If you think I’m feeding you than you’ve got another guess coming. I don’t care how injured you may be, I would not stoop to that position. I have been humiliated many times lately, but I wouldn’t be caught dead feeding one of my knights by my own hand.”

“Nay, of course not,” he said, smiling again and
taking the soup into his mouth by means of drinking it from the bowl and disregarding the spoon altogether. He smacked his lips and continued talking. “So why did you want Rae-Nyst to stay in the forest? It seems as if you worry for her safety.”

“I do,” he said. “My surrogate father has his eye on sprites and is determined to find one and take her to his bed.”

“Why is that?” he asked, taking another sip of soup.

“He was the one who captured
Rae’s mother,” he answered. “He stole her and kept her locked in a tower. She died there. And he fought Rae’s father. That’s who gave him the scar on his face.”

“What?” Sir Braden replaced the bowl on the table. “Does Rae know this?”

“Nay, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her. I figured I’d wait til Lord Clive left and then bring up the subject.”

“You’ve got to do something,” Sir Braden said. “You can’t let the man get away with that.”

“I know,” said Wolfe, burying his face in his hands. “I just don’t know what to do. Though the man is evil, he did take me in and raise me as a child. He’s basically the only family I’ve had for the past three decades. He looked back up at Sir Braden. “What do you suggest I do? Just outright kill my surrogate father for his crimes of his past?”

“He is a murderer. And a thief.”

“So am I,” Wolfe said with a shake of the head. “I stole Rae and kept her captive not unlike what Lord Clive did. And I’ve killed so many men during the course of my life, who is to say I shouldn’t be punished as well.”

“But you didn’t kill women!”

“Nay, but Lord Clive didn’t mean to kill Rae’s mother. I am sure he didn’t understand keeping her locked in a tower would drain her life essence.”

“You need to tell Rae right away,” Sir Braden re
marked, his tone taking on a serious note. “She deserves to know who killed her parents.”

“I don’t know what happened to her father,” he said. “Rae told me the man went mad after
finding out about his wife. He roamed the lands continuing to look for her, and has never been seen since.”

“Do you plan on telling Rae and helping her look for her father or not?”

“I do,” he said solemnly. “And I regret not telling her last night. But I guess I was being selfish. I just didn’t want anything to spoil our time together.”

Wolf
e got to his feet, and made his way to the door. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “I hope I’m doing the right thing,” he said. “Because I would certainly not want her so angry that I’d kept this from her that she doesn’t want to see me again. I finally found the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, and the last thing I want is to lose her now.”

Before he could leave, the sound of a howl
ing wolf outside gained his attention. He ran to the window and looked out eagerly.

“That sounded like Zev.”

“My lord?” Sir Braden questioned him with raised brows.

“
’Tis Rae’s wolf.” He scanned the horizon, but could see nothing. Then he heard more howling and also the sound of his men’s voices shouting from the front gate.

“Something is
amiss. I’m going to go see what it is.” His hand clenched the hilt of his sword. He’d learned to always carry it with him, even in his own home. Just the precautions of a wizened warrior.

“I’m coming too. Do you think something is wrong with Rae?” Sir Braden swung his feet over the edge of the bed, his hand going to his shoulder as he winced in pain.

“Nay, you are in no condition to go anywhere. Now stay put. We don’t even know if anything’s wrong yet.”

He rushed to the door and down to the bailey. He tried to sound calm and reassuring to Sir Braden, but there was definitely something wrong, and it had to do with Rae. He could just feel it in his gut.
Why the hell hadn’t he brought her back to the castle with him? At least, if he had, he could be protecting her right now.

When he got outside, he heard his men shouting, and one of his guards was shooting arrows over the castle wall. He heard Zev’s howling again.

“Nay, don’t shoot the wolf,” he called to his men, hurrying across the courtyard.

“Raise the drawbridge,” shouted another. “The wolf is trying to get inside.”

“Still your actions,” he shouted, hurrying out the castle gate. Several of his men followed, with weapons drawn.

There
was Rae’s wolf, huge and black standing just outside the gate. Zev was angry. He howled again, and the hair stood up on his neck.

“Don’t anyone move,” Wolf
e instructed, holding out his arms to hold them back.

“The wolf’s going to attack,” said Sir Theodore. “Let me take it out before it hurts someone.”

“Nay. I am going to walk up to the animal. I don’t want anyone to do anything to this wolf, do you understand?”

“But you’re taking your life in your hands,” stated Sir Norman. “The wolf is mad. Especially to come so close to the castle and in broad daylight.”

“This is Rae-Nyst’s wolf,” he explained. “I believe he is trying to give me a message.”

Wolf
e walked slowly and cautiously up to Zev, thinking he was crazy to approach a wild animal with an angry look in its eyes. Still, the wolf knew him. He felt connected to it for some odd reason. He knew he wouldn’t be harmed.

“What’s the matter, Zev?” he asked.

The wolf growled. Its ears turned back and its tail was out straight.

“Is something the matter? Is Rae all right?” He slowly reached out to touch the wolf’s head, but the animal snapped
and turned a full circle.

“My lord!” shouted Sir Theodore.

“’Tis all right. Just stay where you are.” He held his hands up, showing he was no threat to the wolf, and also to let his men know he still had all his fingers.

The
wolf turned again, took a few steps forward and then turned back. It was clear then, what it was trying to tell him.

“He wants me to
follow him. Sir Theodore, get me a horse, anon.”

“Aye, my lord. And we would go with you.”

“Nay, I go myself, now hurry and find me a horse.”

Wolf
e didn’t want everyone knowing where Rae lived. He didn’t know what was wrong, but he felt he needed to go to the forest by himself. He had no idea what he would find, but his gut was telling him he was not going to like it.

Chapter 15

Rae rode on the horse with the evil Lord Clive most the day. He’d never stopped grabbing her and pinching her the entire time. She hated every minute of it, and when he tried to kiss her behind the ear, she’d had enough.

They were traveling at a slower pace now, and as they went under a tree branch, she called out to it for help. She ducked down an
d the branch whipped out and slapped the man across the face.

“Ow
!” He reached up with his sword and swiped at the branch, but she called an owl from a tree to distract him by flying quickly but silently past his head. He turned abruptly, trying to back away from the owl, and the branch slapped him hard again, actually knocking him from the horse this time.

His men laughed and that only infuriated him more.

“We’ll stop here for the night,” he growled. “We can’t possibly make it through the mountains and back home before the sun sets, so we’ll continue in the morning.”

Rae wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not, but at least she was still within her element of the forest. She was already planning her escape and to blend in to her surroundings when Lord Clive pulled her from the horse, hard. She put out her hands in order to break her fall, but he caught her in his arms – not the place she wanted to be.

“You had something to do with all that, didn’t you, you little witch?”

She didn’t answer, and that just made him madder. “Tie her up!” he shouted to one of his men, throwing her to the ground. “And stoke the fire. Make it hot, as I am chilled from the coldness of the elf.”

One of his men tied her hands and her legs. That wouldn’t have been a problem, as she still could have called to nature to help her, but Lord Clive sat her so close to the fire that the smoke filled her eyes and the sparks danced around her head. She already felt her energy draining. She tried to back away but he held her there.

“I have a feeling fire is your weakness. It probably works on you the same way it works on the plants.”

“I’ll be no good to you dead,” she said. “Now move me away from the fire, I beg you.”

“Nay. I need you manageable
if I am going to be able to get you back to my castle. And in order to do that, I would do whatever it takes to keep you from running or calling out to your forest friends.”

“But . . . it could kill me,” she said.

“And so could I,” he answered.

He had a crazed look in his eyes and she wasn’t sure if he’d kill her, j
ust like he did to her mother. He seemed to her like the type of man who would do such a thing just for fun.

Zev, please
, she called in her mind.
Find Wolfe. I need . . . help
. Her eyes closed and she felt her body sway. She wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to endure the heat from the fire. She only hoped Zev had heard her message and Wolfe would be sharp enough to understand what the animal was trying to tell him. If not, she would leave this life against her will, never to see the man she loved, ever again.

* * *

Wolfe followed Zev closely as the animal led him through the forest. He was headed straight for Rae’s home, and made it in record-breaking time.

The wolf stopped by the ancient oak, howling and turning in cir
cles. He was trying to tell him something, but he had no idea what.

He dismounted, callin
g out Rae’s name, and not seeing her anywhere, he took off at a run for the house. Not there. He even checked down by the creek and in the cave. Not there, either. Then he came back to the wolf that still seemed to be urgently trying to give him a message.

“Rae,” he called. “If you are here, show yourself. Rae-Nyst, is everything all right?”

No answer. There was only one more place she could possibly be. He jumped atop the horse and headed straight for the stone circle. Once there, he could see the white-robed druids inside.

“Rae,” he called again, dismountin
g and making a mad dash to the circle. Humphrey blocked his path, not enabling him to enter.

“You are not allowed in here, my lord, I am sorry.”

“Is Rae here?” he asked, frantically looking from one face to the next, hoping beyond hope that mayhap she was hidden beneath one of he hooded robes.

“Nay, my lord she is not. Is something the matter?”

“I fear for the worst. Her wolf came to find me and I am afraid something has happened to her.”

“We can find out by looking into the crystal. If you’ll allow us to continue?”

Wolfe was breaking his own rule by not reprimanding them after he’d told them to leave his land. Still, he was desperate to find Rae, and finally nodded his head in agreement.

He paced back and forth outside the standing stones, a
s they still wouldn’t let him enter. They all surrounded a huge, horizontal crystal lying atop the sacrificial stone. Holding hands, they chanted an eerie tune. This was taking too long. He paced again. He wished they would hurry. The wolf ran up, just looking at him now. Then finally, the chanting stopped and Humphrey walked out of the circle to meet him.