A wave of pride and love washed across her. “Jake loves his music so much. He took to the piano like a duck to water.” She envisioned him bent over the keyboard with the tip of his tongue barely sticking out. No matter how well he knew a song, he always had the tip of his tongue clenched between his lips as if it helped him concentrate. Then she remembered everything Mairwen and Keeva had told her, all the lies. “How can we trust Mairwen? She and Keeva”—she shook her head—“they were so dishonest. They basically ran a con on me that ended in kidnapping. They didn’t give me a choice. It was all a setup.”
“I believe they do as they do because they know how unbelievable the truth can sometimes be without actually seeing it with yer own eyes.” He held up a hand when she started to speak. “I dinna excuse their methods. I simply think that is what they do for the protection of the Highland Veil.”
“The good of the many versus the good of the one kind of situation?” She understood. Didn’t like it. But she understood. It didn’t make this conversation any easier.
“Aye.” With another heavy sigh, he shifted them in the oversized chair and tucked her closer, nestling her head back against his chest. His tunic was soft beneath her cheek, the kind of soft of a favorite cotton shirt laundered a bazillion times.“Rest, my love. We have a little time left before ye’re taken away.”
This time she found the strength to push herself up and stare down at him. “What do you meantaken away? I thought I had the right to choose?”
“Aye, ye do, but ye canna remain undecided forever. Neither the universe nor the Highland Veil are the patient sort. My right to fourteen days and fourteen nights set them to counting off the minutes. At the end of that time, if ye dinna choose, the choice will be made for ye. Ye will be returned to yer life, and we shall have to wait until the next existence to search each other out and choose again.” A bitter laugh huffed from him. “And I possess the average lifespan of a dragon. I still have an endless amount of hectrooms to endure. Hectrooms painful and empty because ye’d not be at my side.”
“Now wait a minute.” He hadn’t told her that part before. She patted her chest. “I’m human. A thirty-eight year old human. Statistically, if I take care of myself, I’ve only got another forty years or so left.”
“Nay, woman. When we join, yer lifespan is made to match mine. The Highland Veil will make it so.” He gave her a sad smile. “Ye’re but a wee pup in the Highland Veil’s opinion.” He snorted another bitter laugh. “In a dragon’s opinion as well, ye’re but a hatchling.” His eyes took on a grateful sheen she hadn’t seen in them before, and his smile turned genuine. “It does my heart good to see ye strong enough to sit up on yer own. The poisons are leaving ye.”
Everything he’d told her just confused her more. Well, not just confused her, but tightened the already bursting knots of indecision trying to shut down her mind and cut her gut in two. “Is there any way we can double check what Mairwen told you about taking care of Jake and the others? Does such a thing existas a magic mirror or something so I can make sure they’re not lying?”
He grew thoughtful, slightly frowning, but thoughtful. “The Scale of Rurik might allow us to do what ye wish. But I dinna ken if it will work or not since we are not yet bound.”
While she wanted to know more about this thing that sounded as if it was a weapon in a video game, if she couldn’t use it unless she and Magnus were bound, then that defeated the entire purpose of trying to verify what Mairwen had said. Knowing in her heart that he’d never lie to her, even when it would be to his advantage to do so, she allowed herself to sink deep into his silvery-eyed gaze that shimmered with the eerie golden glow of his soul. At least, that’s what she thought that golden glow was, and it comforted her to think so. “Do you believe Mairwen when she said the Weavers were taking care of my people?”
“I do.” He hadn’t hesitated.
“You really do?”
Another heavy sigh came from him before he tucked her back down against her chest. “Rest. Heal. We will consult the Scale of Rurik and pray it will open to ye even though ye are not of this world.”
“How much time do we have? Before the universe and the Highland Veil pulls the chain on your fourteen days and nights?”
“Six days.”
“That’s not very long.”
“No, my love. Not verra long at all.”
Chapter
Thirteen
“It will never work.”
Magnus turned from the window of the new private solar on the seventh floor and glared at his brother. “We must try. If it gives Lyla the reassurance she seeks, she will complete the vow. We’ve naught but six days left. Her decision must be made, lest the Veil make it for her—to the detriment of us all.”
“The Weavers should be here any time.” Talon joined him at the wide wall of windows overlooking the sea.
“Six days, Talon. Weavers dinna always feel the same urgency as ourselves.”
“Well, they should in this case. It has to do with that feckin’ Veil they’ve sworn to protect.”
“Keep yer voice down.” Magnus glanced at the door that led to the trio of halls connecting the solar to the bedchamber, the dressing room, and the even larger, more impressive bathing solar. Tern and Inuk had outdone themselves in the magic they’d used to turn the sprawling seventh floor into an impressive chief’s suite. Their feelings of guilt had proven to be a very strong force, fueling their creativity to even greater heights than usual.“I dinna wish her upset any more than she already is. Martha’s betrayal hurt her. That feckin’ maid was one of the first ones she trusted here, and with Lyla, I dinna believe trust comes all that easy.” He returned his focus to the wall of windows and studied the play of lightning rippling through the poisonous shield of clouds walling off Thornpitch from the rest of the Realm. “Any progress on the weaponry against Kcirred's barrier?”
“None. Everything we try falls short.” Talon glared at the bank of venomous fog. “I canna believe that Kcirred's magic powers that thing. No druid has ever been known to be that mighty or powerful. The evil he allied with had to have done the spellwork for him.”
“We shall see.” Eager to get started, Magnus went to the door leading to the trio of halls, opened it, and called out, “Lyla? Are ye near ready, my love?”
Albionna rushed to the door and met him. “Our lady is almost finished with her preparations, my chief.” The Selkie maid glanced back over her shoulder, then leaned in close and whispered, “She is still verra weak and has to stop to catch her breath occasionally.” She looked back again, then turned back to him and smiled. “But she is determined. Take heart. She is determined to see this through. That is her strength, mighty chief.” Before he could comment, she spun about and returned to her mistress.
“Six days,” Magnus muttered. Naught but six days to nurture the possibility of an eternity of happiness. He toyed with the idea of taking Lyla to visit Bastion and Frostborn’s hatchlings in the hopes of tilting the odds in his favor. She’d mentioned more than once how adorable she’d found the wee dragons. But as he turned to run the plot past Talon, she appeared in the doorway. Wan and noticeably weak, she still held her head high and walked on her own, barely leaning on Albionna.
