Tested by the Night (21 page)

He smiled for the first time since he’d watched Mia walk away, into the setting son of Bane earlier that day, and he chuckled. “As for me, I’m wide awake, and that raw fish old Grandmother Bear tossed us for our supper isn’t setting well in the pit of my stomach. I do believe I’ll pay back those farting bears with a few offerings of my own.”

He let a really loud one rip and was greatly rewarded when Jaxson gagged and at least three bears growled.

****

It had taken every single moment of the three days remaining to her to get back, but finally Mia glimpsed the gates of The Academy in the distance. Her heart leapt, even though she was exhausted and her head pounded miserably. She needed to see this quest completed, and she needed to see it completed now. Time was running out to talk to the council, take the cub back home, and rescue Talon.

The man she loved wouldn’t be safe much longer, she could feel it, and neither would his stubborn, young cousin Jaxson.

But getting back to them in any kind of a timely manner seemed an almost impossible task at the moment. The return trip alone had taken more than a half day longer than she’d anticipated. But then she hadn’t counted on Pearl’s constant grumbling about having to hunt, not just for herself but for everyone’s meals, including the bear cub. And she certainly couldn’t have predicted Wispy’s never ending questions or his need to eat, sleep, or break out in tears because he was home sick. And without a doubt, she hadn’t expected his hourly need to stop and poop or to smell every bush they passed and mark it with his scent.

Not that the entire trip back had been without its redeeming qualities, because it hadn’t. The wonder on the bear cub’s face the first time he’d seen green grass and towering majestic trees had been priceless. Somehow along the way, she herself had forgotten how wonderful God Draka’s miracles really were. Watching them unfold through Wispy’s eyes had reminded her of what a wonderful, magic world she really did live in.

But all the wonders of Albrath couldn’t begin to make up for Pierced and Alistair’s constant bickering over every subject imaginable. She was pretty sure her head hadn’t quit hurting from the moment they’d left Bane.

If Pierced grumbled about the overcast skies, Alistair countered with a diatribe about how dry the winter had been and how we all should be grateful for the clouds and the chance of precipitation. And then Alistair complained about the lack of proper cooking facilities, dining implements, or sleeping arraignments, and Pierced chided him for being a pansy.

The two couldn’t seem to agree upon anything. If the meat being served for their supper was too stringy for one, it was too mushy and overcooked for the other. If the beds of pine needles they’d made each night to sleep upon were too hard for one, then they were too soft for the other. And God Draka help them all if anyone dared mention politics, race, religion, or the practicality of blow-up dolls, butt plugs, or ménage. Mia cringed even now at the memories.

But the disagreements between Pierced and Alistair hadn’t been the worst part of the trip, either, and neither had Pearl’s grumbling or the fact Wispy was homesick. It hadn’t even been that she’d been forced to leave Talon behind in a situation that could turn hostile at any moment. After all, Talon was a barbarian warrior, one of the best she’d ever seen. Even without her, in the end, he’d be fine. And though she didn’t like to admit that to herself, she knew it to be true.

Oh, no. The absolute worst part of the trip back to The Academy had been the never ending chatter. Not only could she hear and understand every syllable the dragon, the bear cub, Pierced, and Alistair uttered, but also every single conversation between the birds and bees and flies and mosquitoes. Even the ants marching upon the ground drove her crazy with their incessant two word chant of “keep moving, keep moving, keep moving, keep moving
”
when they were anywhere within her hearing range.

It was maddening. And though she’d tried over and over to block out the ambient sounds with her mystic abilities, she’d failed.

All she wanted in all of Albrath, what she desperately needed, was to lock herself inside a sound proof room for a little while. To hear absolutely nothing but silence and the beat of her own heart. Even one turn of the hourglass before meeting with the council would surely be enough time to return at least a fraction of her sanity. Wouldn’t it?

Oh, yes. It was a very good thing they were almost home, because if she had to spend one more full turn of that very same hourglass, let alone another day, in the presence of anyone or anything else that made noise, she was going to hurt someone, badly.

The moment she stepped through the gates of the Academy, she turned toward her companions. “Pierced, go tell Uncle Leeky we’re back, and Alistair, please inform your father and the council I’ll meet with them in precisely one hour. But first, I’ll take Pearl and Wispy upstairs with me. I have a need to refresh myself and gather my thoughts.”

Both men nodded, thankfully, without comment, and she turned to go.

“You can’t tell me what to do. You aren’t the boss of me,” the adolescent dragon huffed.”

“I’m tired,” Wispy whined. “I’m hungry. I wanna go home.”

Mia rubbed her temples. “Then stay out here if you’d rather, Pearl. Wispy, follow me. I’ll find you something to eat when I get to my room.”

Without another word, she headed into The Academy. She took the three flights of stairs to her suite without looking back and gladly shut the door behind her the moment Wispy was also inside.

“Took ya long enough.”

Mia jumped at the sound of Pearl’s voice. “How did you—”

The dragon shrugged her thick, white scaly shoulders. “How do you think? I’m a dragon, duh” She pointed toward herself with one long sharp talon. “Magic, duh.”

“God Draka, you are such a pain in my ass.” Mia sighed.

That made Pearl smile.

Mia tossed Wispy an apple from a bowl of fruit sitting in the middle of the table. “Here eat this.” Then she looked up at Pearl. “Please watch him for a little while longer. I really need a quick bath and a clean tunic before I meet with the council.”

Pearl’s response was to throw a dead mouse carcass toward the bear cub.

The last sound Mia heard before she closed her bedroom door was Wispy saying, “Yum, this is good. I want more.”

She shuddered, not sure if it was the apple or the dead mouse the cub was talking about and pretty certain she didn’t really want to know.

Within five minutes of closing her door, she was neck deep in soothing hot water and fragrant lilac and vanilla scented bubbles. Silence, complete and total silence enveloped her. It was heavenly. She laid her head back against the rim of the tub and focused on relaxing every muscle in her body one at a time. Slowly, the tension of the last few days eased, and her mind drifted to Talon.

What was he doing right this moment? Was he safe? Was he warm? Was he being well fed? Was he getting enough rest? Did he miss her half as much as she missed him?

Mia ran her hands slowly down her body wishing they were his. Her nipples pebbled, and an ache filled her, a longing so deep it brought tears to her eyes and a gasp from her lips.

If only, if only, if only he were here, none of this would be so very hard.

She closed her eyes and stroked her slick belly with one hand while tweaking a pert nipple with the other. Tendrils of need skittered along her spine and spiraled deep within her core. Her clit began a steady throb, a throb that echoed the thump, thump, thumping beat of her heart, and the sound of her quickly indrawn breath roared in her ears.

“Talon,” she sighed. “How would you touch me if you were to find me in my bath this day?”

Glorious heat pooled in her belly as she allowed her fingers to slowly trail lower, caressing the outer rim of her pussy before venturing upward once more to her tender nipples, and then drifting back down, teasing, tormenting herself over and over, prolonging the inevitable.

With each pass she delved a little deeper between her folds until finally she was fondling the hard nub of her clit, rubbing and pinching it, circling and flicking. Her breath quickened, and her eyes flew open as ripples of pleasure radiated outward. Faster she stroked, hard, and then softly, intent on the end prize.

For long moments, she allowed the sensuous delight to slowly build, coaxing it along, glorying in the power she had to control and bring satisfaction to her own body at her own pace. But then, her pussy spasmed once and something inside her shifted, something hungry, something demanding.

She gasped for air as she quickly inserted the finger of her other hand into her sheath and pumped wildly while stroking her clit. She was close, so very close. She could feel her release cresting, like a giant wave about to crash upon a shore. Her thighs trembled, her knees went weak. One more stroke, possibly two, three at the absolute most, and she’d be there.

“Do you think I’m fat?”

Mia’s hands stilled, both of them. What the VoT?

She sat straight up searching for the owner of the voice, but saw no one. Had she been hearing things? Perhaps she really had lost her mind on the trip back to The Academy and hadn’t realized it.

Then a sound came again, but slightly deeper this time. “My dear Natasha, of course I don’t think you’re fat. You, sweetling, are perfection. Where ever did you get such a silly idea?”

Mia jumped out of the bath, grabbed a towel, and squeaked. She’d been alone when she entered this room. She’d made certain of it. But the fact remained, she obviously wasn’t alone anymore. She quickly scanned the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling.

“Oh, Ebert,” the higher-pitched voice cooed. “You do say the sweetest things.”

Whatever it was sighed.

“Your mother, dear. She insinuated I was getting, well, rather chubby.”

Then she saw them, both of them, slowly inching their way up the back wall of her bathing chamber, and she shuddered. It was a pair of big black hairy, scary, crawly, creepy, eight-legged spiders.

“Oh, don’t mind mother, dear,” the spider with the deeper voice said. “She tends to get a little jealous of her offsprings’ mates at times. And in your case, who can blame her? After all, it isn’t just any female who can carry an egg sack with such grace. Especially one as impressive as yours.”

The other spider giggled.

Mia swallowed a scream, along with the urge to drop something heavy on top of them or swat the pair into oblivion with the edge of her towel. The desire to do so was almost overwhelming.

She didn’t though. She couldn’t, not after she’d eavesdropped upon their very private conversation and discovered they were about to become parents.

But she couldn’t just stand there and do nothing, either. Mia had never liked spiders. They’d always been one of her silly little fears, along with snakes, bogeymen, and ogres who ate bad little girls in the middle of the night. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to harm what was obviously a young couple out for an innocent evening stroll. Even if that couple did happen to be creepy.

At the same time, though, she had to do something about the fact she could hear and understand every frigging species on Albrath before she really did lose her mind, and she had to do it before she dared leave her room again. No telling how many more-than-two-legged creatures inhabited The Academy and would be waiting in the Great Hall below.

She sent a message to the council stating there was something she simply had to attend to before she could meet with them, and then buckled down to work.

For the next turning of the hourglass she searched every book on spells in her possession. Page after page of self-help totems, love potions, lucky charms, vexes and hexes. Even the occasional curse or two. But none of the sections she read addressed her particular problem.

Mia was on the verge of simply giving up and going downstairs to meet with the council when she remembered Goelz’s Study of Enchantments. It was a very old tome. And though she’d never desired to become an enchantress like her mother, she had dearly valued the gift when she’d received it on her sixteenth birthday.

She pulled the book from its protective case and opened its worn leather cover. The essence of old ink, ancient parchment, and the left over energy of a hundred other readers filled her as it had every time she’d dared delve between its pages. There was something very magical about this book. Something beyond the fact it had belonged to her mother before her.

She closed her eyes, concentrated on her need, flipped the pages through her fingers and back. Then she let them come to rest where they would. With a deep breath, she opened her eyes, and read.

To enchant an inanimate object with the ability to control sound.

First, find a keepsake you hold dear and set it securely upon a flat surface.

Next, determine exactly who or what you do and do not wish to hear.

Example: The sound of a lover’s voice you might very much wish to hear, but not his or her angry words. You may wish to enjoy the song of a summer lark, but not the screech of an owl. You can even differentiate between one child’s cry and another’s laughter if you so wish.

Once you’ve positioned your object, blow a single breath upon it and concentrate on what you wish to block and what you wish to hear. Then close your eyes and chant the mantra below three times in a row while twirling to your left. After that, wear the enchanted object close to your heart at all times.

But beware, once an object has thusly been enchanted, this spell can never be undone.

Mia took a deep breath and read on. The next paragraph contained the words she was to chant.

Listen to the words and choose them wisely.

Listen to the wind and ride its tide nightly.

Listen to your heart and follow it mightily.

And listen to your soul always heed it rightly
.

Could it really be that easy?

Carefully, she lifted off the bear’s tooth necklace she always worn and placed it upon the table. Then she concentrated hard on what she really wanted from the spell.