Page 2 of Wind and Water
Undeniably beautiful, Dierdre has long brown hair and bright hazel eyes. Her body is full and curvaceous, and she’s a generous lover. She saunters toward me. “I thought your brothers would never leave.” She wraps her arms around my neck.
I remove her arms and move back. “Why are you here? Our business together ended months ago.”
“Business.” She stomps her foot. “Is that what our love was?”
Stepping back, I cross my arms. “What we had was not love, Dierdre. You made that very clear when you began your affair with Kyle Mahony. Does he know you’ve come here tonight?”
“You should have proposed, Liam. If you had given me the position I deserve, I’d never have strayed.”
“That was never going to happen,” I say gently. “You will be happier without me.”
Making a sour face, she pulls her shoulders back, which forces her breasts forward, calling into question whether her tunic can contain them. “My father said you would go to the oracle tomorrow. He wouldn’t tell me what they’ll ask of you. I was worried for your safety.”
“You worry only for your own position, my dear. You should focus on Kyle. While what we had was a good deal of fun, it is in the past and was never going to give you what you wanted.”
In two steps, she reaches me and slaps my cheek, digging her nails across my flesh. “You are a pig.”
When her hand goes back for another swipe, I grip her wrists. “Go home before the guards are called to drag you home.”
Softening, she drapes her body along mine. “You wouldn’t call the guards on me.”
I touch blood dripping down my cheek and send magic to heal the scratches. “I would and I will. Go now before I also send a letter to your current lover explaining your betrayal.”
Narrowing her eyes, she growls. “I would have been a good wife to you. We could have ruled this land.”
It’s not as if I needed confirmation that I’d done the right thing in ending our arrangement, but her last sentence is perfectly telling. “My brother is the oldest. I am a simple soldier, and that is all I will ever be.”
“Anything could have happened in the years of your mother’s rule.” Dierdre’s beauty is soiled by the ugliness festering inside her.
“Go.” I send a bright yellow light into the sky to alert the guards that there is an intruder.
Boots sound on the path.
Eyes wide, if she were a snake, venom would shoot from her mouth. “You really are a pig, Liam Riordan.”
“I am. You are better off without me.” When the three guards arrive, I say, “Please see the lady safely back to her father’s house.”
She stomps off with the guards behind her.
I make my way to the library.
At the cave, I ring the bell and wait for the portal to open. Once its swirling light appears, I step through to the antechamber.
My mother waits on the other end. She looks at my pack, weapons, and gear. “You’ve come prepared, I see.”
“Father bid us all farewell when we broke our fast this morning, and Aaran didn’t return. I assume I will be sent somewhere.” I kiss her cheek. “You wouldn’t want to tell me what this is all about, would you? Father said he knew nothing other than to make his goodbyes.”
“Your father does not have the information, and I will let the oracle explain the needs of Domhan.” Worry creases her forehead, and dark rings are under her eyes. She hands me a roll of green paper. “This is human currency. You’ll need it.”
Offering a short smile, I tuck the bills into my pack. “We’d better let them tell me my mission.”
Side by side, Mother and I walk into the oracle’s chamber. With only the dais lit and the rest in darkness, the room is hard to make out. Ten elves, all dressed in white robes, sit on a dais. A light shines from above me where I stand before them.
“What is it you would have from me?”
They speak as one voice, though none of their mouths move. “Second son of the Riordan. You must go to the world of humans and find one of the three prophesied to save our world. You will bring the woman back here, and six will travel to the Watcher’s Gate. There, the prophecy declares you will find the means to defeat the witch queen and break the curse.”
“I’m to grab a human woman? I thought humans had no magic. Why send me? Any elf could capture a human.” Admittedly, I’m a little disappointed the task isn’t more difficult.
