Crystal Shadows Read online

  “I love the wilderness and the clans, but even after all that’s happened, I can’t imagine making a permanent life here. The world I grew up in is just too different. I’ve decided to go back.”

  Derrin caught her by the arm. “Go back? You can’t!”

  She pulled out of his grasp. “Why not? The Circle has agreed to call the web. If I can cross, it will be the will of the Goddess, so you don’t have to worry that it will cause any harm.”

  “But you don’t belong there. The web guided Balek to you because you belong here, at the Center of the Circle. How can you leave the Baha’Na? They are your people.”

  “You’re leaving them.”

  “I have no choice!”

  “Don’t give me that—you’re the one who told me there’s always a choice.” She glared at him. “You made yours and now I’ve made mine.”

  Derrin was silent, scrutinizing her, his gray eyes cloaked with an impenetrable fog.

  “You would really return to the world beyond the web rather than stay with the clans?”

  She shrugged, turning away from his intent regard. She attempted a light tone. “When you sent me across the web to escape Balek, I landed in a world I almost didn’t recognize. It hadn’t changed, but I had. My world needs healing as much as Galena does. I’m not going back to my old life, but a new one. If I can heal just one person who has lost hope, it will be worth it.”

  Derrin didn’t answer. Gina squeezed her eyes shut and prayed she wouldn’t embarrass herself by sobbing like a lovesick teenager. She counted her heartbeats, waiting for his polite words of farewell.

  The warmth of his hands closed on her shoulders. She opened her eyes and what she saw in his made her breath go.

  His palm smoothed over her braids, then cupped her cheek. “Your home beyond the web is a wondrous place, Gina. I don’t have much to offer in its place.”

  His eyes were smoke, a banked fire. Her pulse skittered.

  “Life in Galena wouldn’t be easy for you,” he continued, almost to himself. “The Temple of Lotark remains strong, despite Solk’s death. Women are not honored as they are among the Baha’Na. The apprentices I’ve chosen won’t be able to pay me the full fee, even with the Hierarchy’s reduction in—”

  “Derrin, what are you saying?”

  He hesitated, then dipped his head and caught her mouth in a brief kiss. “I love you, Gina. I won’t hold you here if you truly wish to return to your world, but will you stay?” He drew back. “Come with me to Sirth. There’s a place for you there, if you choose to claim it.”

  A fierce joy exploded in Gina’s heart. She stepped into the circle of Derrin’s arms.

  “I do choose it,” she whispered.

  His lips came down on hers to seal the promise.

  Epilogue

  The she-wolf raised its head. Derrin watched, amused, as the animal gave him a dismissive glance and returned to more pressing concerns—a midday nap under the shade of the porch roof.

  The direwolf had joined Gina and Derrin the year before, appearing one night as they traveled from the village of the Seventh Clan to Sirth. Derrin had recognized the young female as a cub of the mating pair that had cared for him after his escape from Balek’s pit. He’d expected it to turn back when they left the wilderness. It hadn’t. The animal had watched Derrin and Gina build their new home, a snug cabin nestled in the foothills.

  The sleek gray animal greeted each new apprentice with a tilt of its head and a flick of its tail. Five men and four women now pursued the discipline of wizardry under Derrin’s tutelage. None of them had left luxurious homes to join him—a few had been almost destitute. Now they were thriving.

  They’d brought their families with them—spouses, children, aging parents. Their homes encircled his own, transforming the sunny slope into a village. A wide common area anchored the center of the community, while an extensive garden meandered along the streambank. He could hear children there now, laughing and chasing the crows.

  They had become an extended family, a clan united not by blood, but by purpose, living in the space Derrin once thought of as the void separating Galena from the wilderness. And Derrin found he no longer thought of himself as an outsider. He belonged to both worlds, as did Gina.

  Research and experiments regarding the healing properties of natural crystals had proven fruitful, already mitigating the worst of the Blight’s damage in the surrounding area. In the spring, he and Gina would travel to Katrinth and present their findings to the Wizard’s Council. Derrin imagined Gina lecturing the assembly of old men and grinned. She’d be the first woman to do so.

  He pushed open the door of the cabin and entered, setting the parcel he carried on a small table. Gina stood near the hearth, kneading bread on a long wooden table.

  “You don’t have to do that,” he said. “Morak’s mother said she’d be glad to take over the baking.”

  She looked up, a smile lighting her eyes. “I don’t mind. I like it.” She set the dough under a wooden bowl and wiped her hands on a cloth. “You’re back early.”

  “Tarnik had a wealthy customer waiting, so he hadn’t the time to haggle over our meager furs. I got a good price on the glassware we needed.”

  Gina came around the table to meet him, an enormous belly preceding her. Derrin was certain it had grown in the few hours he’d been gone, but how that could be possible, he didn’t know. He thought of his child, curled under Gina’s heartbeat, and waves of emotion rocked him. Love, pride, wonder, humility. In a few days, they would journey to the Seventh Clan, where Gina’s kinswomen would assist the babe’s birth.

  He caught Gina’s shoulders and kissed her, pulling her close until her heavy breasts pressed against his chest. His hand slid lower, settling on her round stomach.

  The baby kicked. Derrin maneuvered Gina onto a bench by the table and knelt in front of her. He pushed her skirt up to what had once been her waist.

  She slapped at his hands, but he ignored her protest and hiked the fabric up over her belly.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, half-laughing.

  “I want to watch the baby.” He rubbed his fingers over her smooth skin, stretched so tight he could see the veins below its surface. The perfect globe moved, bulging comically to one side. He watched, fascinated, as a smaller kick rippled the skin above Gina’s swollen navel.

  Gina let out a groan.

  He looked up. “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Nothing, really. It’s just that I feel so…” She grimaced. “Big.”

  His gaze dropped again to Gina’s stomach, round and warm beneath his palms. He struggled to keep the laughter out of his voice. “You are big, Gina. You’re huge.”

  He intercepted his wife’s scowl with a grin, then scooped her into his arms. He carried her toward their tiny bedroom, staggering dramatically as he crossed the threshold.

  “Heavy, too.”

  She landed a weak punch on his chest, but her eyes were laughing when he set her on the straw-filled mattress.

  He nuzzled the curve of her neck. “And beautiful.”

  He slipped her dress up over her shoulders and let it fall to the floor, then tugged on the ribbon holding her hair. Gina scooted backward, to the center of the bed. The dark tips of her breasts puckered in the cool air and her round belly didn’t quite hide the dark triangle between her thighs. Shining hair rippled like dark water over her shoulders.

  She looked up at him through her lashes, then let her gaze travel the length of his body, lingering on the bulge below his waist. She caught her lower lip between her teeth and her breathing quickened.

  A stab of desire fiercer than any he’d ever known shot through him. Before he knew what had happened, his tunic and boots were on the floor and Gina was untying the laces of his breeches. He urged her onto her hands and knees and entered her from behind. His hands roamed her buttocks and hips as she arched to take his thrusts. As her body opened to him, so did her mind. He plunged into it gladly as a
wave of pure contentment broke over him. There was nowhere he would rather be than buried in Gina’s body and mind.

  Much later, he remembered the letter. He eased from her arms and retrieved the parchment from the pocket of his tunic. “I’ve been to Beltha’s,” he said. “She gave me this.”

  Gina looked at the seal. “It’s from Ariek.”

  * * * * *

  Derrin, I hope this letter finds you and Gina well and your apprentices flourishing. News of your success has reached Loetahl—every day I hear new tales of the rebirth of the Blighted forest. No doubt you know the Hierarchy has set up an adjunct Council here on the island, which I have joined.

  My new home is an enchanting land. Horses run wild on the beaches and grasslands. The coastal regions are populated, but the interior is untamed jungles, teeming with bizarre creatures and plant life. A recent expedition into the interior uncovered a lost city. The archeologists are seeking a wizard to study the ruins of an ancient city and a cache of crystals found there. I hope to join them soon.

  Keerak continues to grow strong. I think of him as my son, and hope, indeed, that he is, though his features belong solely to his mother. I haven’t yet convinced Danat to wed me, but I am hoping in time she will accept me. Until then, I am content to wait.

  Gina, your own time will be close when this letter arrives. Danat wishes you a speedy birth and a healthy babe. Derrin, I know you will be the best of fathers.

  Your friend and brother, Ariek

  * * * * *

  Gina refolded the parchment. “He sounds happy.”

  “Loetahl is another adventure for Ariek.” Derrin took the letter and let it drop to the floor. “Luckily, I don’t have to travel so far for a challenge.” He buried his face in Gina’s hair and inhaled the fragrance of his home.

  She turned and brushed her lips against his. “I’m a challenge?”

  “You, our child, this whole life is a challenge.” He fell back onto the bed, his hands urging her to turn until she straddled his torso. Their child rested on his chest, over his heart.

  He spread his palms on Gina’s stomach. New life grew beneath his fingers, waiting for his touch. A perfect blend of the worlds he and Gina shared.

  “A challenge I’m more than ready for,” he said.

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