Free Caledonia Fae 05 - Elder Druid by India Drummond Page B

anger. So, I shut the door between us. My mentor, Elder Oron, warned me not to do so again, and he helped me bring the barrier down. While that mental fortification remained in place, I remember I had some understanding that Quinton lived and our connection was alive, but I had no sense of where he was or how he felt.” She smiled. “Would you consider me disloyal to him if I said something in the discovery was bliss?”
    Tràth shook his head, sudden hope rising where he thought none might exist. “You’re saying I could dampen our connection without releasing the bond?”
    “No,” she said thoughtfully. “I’m saying I could. My magic is of the mind, while yours is of time. Who can say if what worked for me will work for you?”
    “But you will teach me how you managed it?”
    “Before I promise to try, I will give you the same warning Elder Oron gave me. Our people need them. I do not fully understand why we can bond with these Druid Lords, but it is not a gift to be thrown away lightly. Oron warned me that the longer I shielded myself from the bond, the more difficult it would be to restore the connection later.”
    The solution was perfect. Elegant, even. Tràth could deal with his own sense of loss if only he did not have the constant humiliation of experiencing Douglas’ fraught emotions washing over him. “What if shutting off my connection to him undoes the healing effect of the bond? What if I begin to go insane?” Tràth looked away from her, not able to bear the gentleness in her eyes.
    “ If we are successful, and I cannot promise we will be, and if the closure of the connection pains you, then we will reverse the process and restore the bond. I know from my own experience it’s easily done. You will be no worse off than you are right now. I will devote a portion of my energies to soothing your mind, if necessary. You will need to stay close to me, but I am strong enough to offer some aid. Over time, you will grow stronger. Already you control time in ways you couldn’t before. I saw you stop time to catch Maiya. It was an incredible moment to witness. You will master the flows of time…in time.”
    Her generosity overwhelmed Tràth. He didn’t trust himself to speak, so he only nodded. No one had ever taken such care of him. Why did this young queen possess the power to make him feel like a child?
    She smiled and stood. “Now. Come to the dinner. I cannot excuse your absence at this point without insulting Princess Imena. After she retires to her Hall, we will return to Caledonia. I will do my best to teach you. If we fail, we will enlist the help of my own mentors.”
    “I don’t deserve your kindness, Eilidh,” Tràth said. He rarely called her by her name, despite her insistence that he should.
    “Of course you do,” she said, touching his cheek. “I am not your mother, yet you are my son.”
    Tràth took her hand and kissed the back of it. “I wish you had been. If my mother had possessed even a sliver of your grace, I would be a different person.”
    Eilidh tilted her head in a modest acknowledgement. “We’re already late,” she said. “The princess will be annoyed, no doubt. I will send Tolin to escort her and take the first drink with her. Then, you will dine beside her. Smile and be pleasant, and the ordeal will be over soon.”
    “Thank you,” he said. “I will do my best to entertain her well.”
    “I’ll speak to your father. You don’t need to worry about frog piss,” she said with a chuckle. “As long as I am queen, you have a place in Caledonia.”
    He bowed as she left and made haste as the attendants returned to finish preparing him for dinner. Thoughts of the future suddenly seemed less bleak. The comfort may have come from whatever astral trick Eilidh had done to soothe him. Perhaps the moment the evening was over, his sense of ease would disappear. Still, time thrummed clearly in his mind, as it always did when he was sober. That alone gave him reason to