The Emerald Dagger Read online

  Delilah had stopped coughing, but tears streamed down her face as she sipped from the flask. Then coughing ripped through her again. The water erupted from her mouth and doused Kelsey's chest. Delilah's gaze pleaded for forgiveness as she took another sip from the flask. This one she got down and the coughing subsided. With a heartfelt sigh, she drank again.

  She pushed the flask away and wiped her mouth. "Dragons," she said, with chattering teeth.

  "Aye," Angus answered.

  "Gold one ... saved us...."

  Angus nodded. "Zara." He moved toward Jax. "We ride."

  Taking a deep breath, the girl stood. Kelsey reached out a hand to steady her, but Delilah shook her head. "I'm okay."

  Kelsey watched the girl walk slowly to Jax and Angus and reach up for the dwarf's extended hand. She swung up behind Angus, and Jax started forward along the upward winding path.

  Kelsey shot a quick glance skyward before grabbing the reins. She placed her left foot into the stirrup and swung her leg over Freya's back. As she settled into the saddle, the back of her neck erupted with chill bumps. She ran her hand across the hilt of her sword. Something's very wrong here, she thought, and the sooner we reach Raya the better.

  The path opened onto a wide ledge. To the right, a dark hole expanded the entire length of the mountain's side.

  Angus leaned over Jax's head and whispered into the gelding's ear. The horse shook his head and quickened his pace. Without urging, Freya followed suit.

  As they drew abreast of Zara's cave, a hot wind gusted from inside and enveloped them in the scents of newly mown grass and cinnamon. A soft keening came to Kelsey's ears, and her throat tightened in response to the pain-drenched sound. She halted Freya as Angus continued on. The mournful keening grew louder, tugged at her heart. With eyes blurred by sudden tears, she saw Delilah glance back at her. Tears trailing down her cheeks, Kelsey moved toward the cave’s entrance.

  "Commander, what are you doing?" Angus said, then, "Queen's-Commander, stop, I say."

  Kelsey kept going. Inside the cave's entrance she hesitated, letting her eyes adjust to the dimness. The plaintive cry came again and urged her onward. Somewhere ahead, a wan light pulsed a prism of color. She moved toward it. The air around her warmed. Sweat formed on her forehead and trickled into her eyes. Ignoring the sting, she continued toward the light.

  "Kelsey."

  The voice came from far away.

  "Kelsey. Don't."

  This time it was louder. She knew the voice, but a name escaped her.

  A hand grabbed her arm. "No. This isn't a place for you. Not ever and certainly not now."

  She tried to twist away from the gripping hand. "Kelsey, listen to me. Zara will kill you if you venture any closer. It's only because of me that you are still alive."

  Regan's pale face floated before her. Kelsey shook her head. What magic was this? Her sister was in Raya. She blinked and looked around her. How had she gotten inside the cave? She reached out and her hand encountered her sister's bulging stomach. "Regan? What are you doing here?"

  "Zara called. I came."

  Kelsey felt herself being tugged toward the cave's entrance. "I've got to get you out of here."

  Kelsey came to a halt as Regan stopped in mid-step and turned to face the flickering light. "Yes, avatar, she is of my blood, Thea's blood. I understand, and thank you Golden One." Regan's voice hardened to something Kelsey barely recognized. "I will avenge you. This I promise."

  Kelsey saw a figure outlined in the sun's light just inside the cave's entrance. It was Angus. He stepped back when he saw them approaching. Outside the cave, she blinked, shielding her eyes from the brightness.

  "By the dark ones' horns," Angus said, "What were you doing, girl?"

  Kelsey turned to stare at him. The dwarf's face was void of color. He had been coming for her, even without Xuya. Hot shame flooded her cheeks.

  Regan yanked Kelsey past the dwarf. "We've got to get away before Zara changes her mind." She faced the far ledge. "Gilda, come." A brown mare trotted toward them.

  Angus moved his glare from Kelsey to Regan. "And just how do you plan to mount?"

  Regan pointed to a four-foot high, flat-topped rock. "With that." She moved toward it.

  The dwarf scowled as he advanced on her. "You will climb upon that? No. I will aid you into the saddle."

  "Don't be stupid, Angus. I'm half again as tall, and almost as round as you."

  "I can help," Delilah said, hurrying toward them.

  Regan swept a gaze over the girl. She darted a quick glance at Kelsey, but didn't say anything. Regan stopped behind the rock. "Okay." She pointed at Delilah. "Reach over it and grab my hands." She glanced at Angus. "When she's ready, you push me up from behind."

  "Push...behind? Regan—"

  "Just do it."

  Kelsey rushed to Regan's side. "Don't you dare fall."

  Regan reached for Delilah's hands. "I won't. I'm not as cumbersome as I look."

  Delilah pulled.

  "Now," Regan said.

  Angus hesitated.

  "Now," Regan snapped. "This isn't the time for stiff-necked niceties."

  Red faced, Angus placed his palms against Regan's backside and pushed.

  With a scramble of feet, Regan was atop the rock. "See? Piece of cake." Gilda moved to stand beside her. With a triumphant grin, Regan swung her leg over the mare and settled into the saddle. "Let's ride."

  They left the ledge behind and headed down into Unicorn Valley. Once beneath the sheltering arms of the oaks, Kelsey rode up beside Regan.

  "Rae, what happened back there?"

  "Your mind was caught by Zara's dragon song," Regan said.

  "But Angus and Delilah didn't hear it."

  "You and I share the same blood, Thea's blood." Regan sat up straighter in the saddle and reached behind her with her left hand to massage her lower back.

  "You okay?" Kelsey said.

  "I'm fine, just tired of being ballooned out."

  Kelsey looked her sister over. Besides the round stomach, she looked no different than she had seven years ago. "Angus said they'd confined you to the castle."

  Regan's brow furrowed and her mouth thinned into a tight white line. Her fingers clenched Gilda's reins as she answered. "Zara called. I had no choice. Something murdered one of her children."

  Kelsey drew back. "What? Who would kill a dragon? And how?"

  "Zara says fairies riding the backs of wolves."

  Angus rode up beside Regan. "Fairies?" The dwarf spit in disgust. "Fairies are but gnats to a fully grown dragon."

  "Zara says they are the size of a human child, fairies but not fairies, and the wolves the same as our ponies."

  "Child-size fairies, but not fairies?" Kelsey said. "What does that mean?"

  Regan rubbed her temple. "I don't know, but the dragon Gorsedd is dead. I saw his savaged body." She swallowed. "They fed on him."

  "The bronze dragon that attacked us?" Kelsey said.

  "Llyr, Zara's other son. He is wild with rage, wants to kill all that are not dragon-kind." Regan shook her head. "I don't know how long Zara can control him or his sister Lilith. She is filled with rage herself, and vows she will kill all fairies."

  "The fairies have an alliance with Queen Tessa and the elven King Timothias," Angus said. "They will not let that happen."

  Regan sighed. "No, they won't. I've talked to Zara, even commanded her, but she will not listen."

  Angus frowned. "If Zara attacks the fairies—"

  "It won't just be Zara, but Llyr and Lilith, too," Regan said.

  Kelsey's stomach twisted with dread. Daradawn would war against dragons? Who would win? Regan winced and Kelsey saw her sister had grown very pale.

  "Regan, are you all right?"

  "Just a cramp. I'll be fine."

  The horses stopped.

  "What's going on?" Delilah asked.

  Angus swung from Jax's back. "The babe is coming."

  "W-w-what?" Kelsey said.
/>
  "Gilda has told Jax, and Jax me. We go no further."

  "No. I'm fine. I can make it to the castle," Regan said. A moan escaped her lips. "It will take awhile..." A look of surprise crossed her face. "Oh. My water just broke."

  Kelsey felt her heart pound inside her chest. "Can we make it into Vilsathor? Margeaux—"

  "Margeaux is at the castle awaiting the birth," Angus said. "No, it will have to be here. We've no choice."

  "Angus, help me down," Regan said. "My daughter is in a hurry to come into the world."

  "Here? In the middle of nowhere? What if something goes wrong?" Kelsey's voice rose in panic.

  "Don't yell, Kelsey." Regan slid from Gilda's back. She walked in a slow circle and breathed in quick pants. "Everything will be all right. Women have been having babies without hospitals forever." Regan groaned and then doubled over.

  "Shouldn’t you lie down?" Kelsey said, sliding from Freya's back.

  "No, she shouldn't," Delilah said. "She should keep walking and panting and let gravity help."

  "What?" Kelsey cast a wide-eyed glance at the girl.

  "I was training to become a doctor." Delilah looked around. "We need something for her to press her back against when it's time." She pointed at a fallen log. "That'll do, and something to cover the ground."

  Kelsey grabbed the backpack she'd looped around Freya's saddle horn and pulled out the silken shawl she'd brought for Margeaux. "How about this?"

  "Fine." Delilah took the shawl and spread it in front of the fallen log. She turned to Angus. "That stuff you gave me earlier, give it to me. It will disinfect my hands."

  The dwarf handed over the flask of Fire and Ice.

  "Oh, God," Regan moaned. "I have to push."

  "Get her pants off."

  Angus hurried toward the trees. "I will find something to carry Regan and the new babe."

  Regan laughed. "Heaven forbid he sees me without my pants."

  "Sit down," Delilah said. "Put your knees up and spread them. Yes, like that."

  Kelsey knelt beside Regan and grabbed her sister's hand. Behind Regan the brush shook and a golden horn poked through.

  "DaKar," Regan panted. "I hear your words."

  "We will sing your daughter into this world," the unicorn sent.

  Unicorns with soft, velvet-brown eyes stuck their heads from the brush that surrounded the clearing. Their golden horns swayed in unison and a melodious hum made goose bumps form on Kelsey's arms.

  "My daughter is coming. My daughter is coming," Regan cried, and then put her head back and screamed.

  "Pour this on my hands." Delilah handed the flask to Kelsey.

  Shaking the liquid from her hands, the girl knelt in front of Regan. "Yes, I see the head. Push, Regan, push." And Catherine Elizabeth Canterville slipped from her mother's body into the hands of Ben's daughter.

  The unicorns' humming rose in volume and a child's lusty cry filled the day.

  "Let me see her." Regan held out her hands.

  "We need something to cut the cord."

  Kelsey unsheathed her sword. "Use this."

  Delilah shook her head. "Not me. You. I don't know how to use one of those things." She poured some of the dwarven liquor along the blade.

  With trembling hands, Kelsey lifted the sword that was twice as long as her new niece. "Stretch it."

  Delilah stretched the umbilical cord between her hands and Kelsey sliced down.

  Regan groaned as the afterbirth surged from her.

  Looking down at the bloodstained shawl, Kelsey shook her head.

  "The person it was intended for will be honored to see it used in such a manner," Angus said from behind her.

  "It was for Margeaux."

  Regan had been counting her daughter's toes and fingers and now she called to them. "Kelsey. Angus. Look."

  They both leaned toward the baby. "What?" Kelsey said.

  "Here, on her left thigh."

  It was small, no larger than Kelsey's thumbnail, yet clearly a perfect blue flame.

  "The Power has chosen for Daradawn's future," Angus said, a quiver in his voice. "It is unusual for it to not skip a generation." He glanced at Regan. "Perhaps it is because both you and Peter have the Power." He spotted his flask where Delilah had set it aside and picked it up. With a salute, first in Regan's direction, and then in Kelsey's, he tilted the flask and finished off the liquor inside. He slipped the flask back inside his pocket, then bent to gather the four corners of the shawl.

  "What are you doing?" Kelsey said.

  "The babe was born upon the breast of the Great Earth Mother. I go to make her a tribute of blood. I will return with the shawl." He walked toward the trees.

  "You don't have to bring it back," Kelsey called after him.

  The dwarf turned and cocked an eyebrow at her. "Margeaux will be even more honored to receive it with the birth stains upon it."

  Kelsey's face flushed. Of course. She'd been too long in the other world. "Thank you for the honor, friend dwarf."

  "Kelsey," Regan's voice was tired, but full of pride. "Meet your new niece."

  Delilah stood beside Regan. She held her sister's discarded pants. "We'll wrap the baby in these. They will keep her warm."

  "No, wait." Kelsey walked to her backpack and found the filmy, pale-blue, negligee she'd brought for Regan. "How about this?"

  "It's beautiful," Regan whispered. "It will be like wrapping Catherine in a slice of the sky."

  Delilah swaddled the baby in the negligee and handed her to Regan.

  Kelsey looked down at her niece. Delilah had wiped the birthing blood from the baby's face, but pink still tinged her abundant hair. Catherine Elizabeth Canterville, Kelsey thought. Such a big name for such a small form.

  The baby's eyes were shut and, as Kelsey watched, the tiny mouth formed a tight moue. She looked like a chubby angel. A fierce wave of protective love flowed over Kelsey. Tears flooded her eyes and ran down her cheeks. "My God, she's beautiful," she choked out.

  Regan smiled. "Yes, she is, isn't she? Peter will be so proud."

  Peter. Kelsey groaned inwardly. First he'd be proud, and then he'd ream them all out good. But she couldn't worry about that. First, she had to get everybody home safe. The thought made her smile. How easy it had been to slip back into her Queen's-Commander role.

  Regan's hand tightened around Kelsey's. "What's wrong?" Kelsey said.

  "DaKar says Peter's coming."

  Kelsey looked around. "Where? Now?"

  "He's at the Queen's River."

  How far away was that? She couldn't remember. She looked down to ask, and saw Regan wince, then sigh.

  "Peter's mad as hell," Regan said. "But what else could I expect? He has Tessa's coach with him, but had to leave it on The King's Road."

  "Well, if he's on his way to us, I guess we'll wait for him," Kelsey said. She didn't ask how Peter knew where to search. With Regan gone and her impending arrival, there would be only one place that he would think of looking.

  "Hand me my pants," Regan said.

  "But you're still bleeding," Delilah said.

  Kelsey rummaged in her backpack again. Two of the bikini panties she'd brought for Regan were white cotton with pink rosebuds. She handed them to her sister. "I guess you can use these for the blood," she said.

  "They're beautiful, thanks." She handed Catherine toward Kelsey. "Here, hold your niece."

  Kelsey took the small bundle. The small eyes opened and Kelsey stared into their blue-gray depths. "Her eyes are beautiful."

  "They'll probably change," Regan said, folding the panties into a pad. "Daniel's did."

  Delilah helped Regan to dress and then get up onto her feet.

  "I'm okay," Regan said. "Just a little sore." She reached for her daughter and carried the baby to DaKar.

  The unicorn lowered his head and sniffed the baby's mass of hair.

  "The daughter of Thea and Desmond will hear me?" he sent.

  "Yes, she will," Regan replied.

/>   "It is well. We will leave you now." DaKar withdrew into the brush, followed by the other unicorns.

  Regan suddenly gasped. "Oh, Goddess, thank you," she choked out as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Kelsey sprang toward her. "What's wrong?"

  Regan tried to speak but no words came. She swallowed and tried again. "Zara blessed my daughter." Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. "In the middle of her pain, she still blesses my daughter."

  "As you would hers." A voice came from behind them and the sisters turned. From a sun-dappled pool of shadow, Peter walked Skylar into the clearing.

  Chapter Five

  Peter's gaze went first to Regan, and then to the bundle she held.

  "Peter, our daughter is here," Regan said.

  Peter moved further into the clearing. Behind him came Rourk, Margeaux, and Ben. Kelsey heard a soft gasp, and spared Delilah a quick glance. The girl stared at Ben, then stepped back into the shadows. Kelsey glanced at Ben, but he only had eyes for Regan and the baby.

  Like a hummingbird drawn to nectar, Kelsey's gaze swung to Rourk. He hadn't changed at all, still the same red beard and sky-scraping height. Their gazes met, and she saw all wasn't the same. His green eyes were different; within them she saw the shadows left by heart-wrenching pain. Her stomach clenched in response. She lifted a hand and took a step toward him, but Rourk turned from her and moved toward Regan. Kelsey's face flushed. She dropped her hand and turned to face Margeaux and Ben. Neither the elven healer nor Ben had changed, Margeaux with her tall, erect posture, and Ben with his salt-and-pepper hair, his white teeth flashing in his dark face at sight of her.

  The elven healer's gray eyes lit with pleasure. She nodded, then turned toward the baby in Regan's arms.

  Ben surged toward her and wrapped her in a rib-crushing hug. "Kelsey, you are finally home."

  She felt more tears and laughed. It seemed all she'd done since exiting the rift was cry. "Ben. My God, you look good. Those still the same robe and sandals? They sure look the same."

  He released her and stepped back. "I wish I could say the same about you. Why are you so pale?" Then he laughed. "Wait, now I remember. The sun never shines in San Francisco."

  Kelsey watched Peter move to stand in front of Regan and held her breath. Regan held Catherine toward him, and he took the baby. The tenseness fled his face and he smiled. Kelsey exhaled, and Ben patted her shoulder.