Missy Jane - Born of Stone

“We follow you, Orestes,” Corbin said.

Orestes nodded and once everyone was ready, he leapt into the sky with Bastien on his back. He headed in the direction his gut and his heart told him he would find the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about.

Nel was silent on the journey to the Masters’ castle and Phaidra feared his anger. Why did she have to be so frightened all the time? She sighed into his neck while she held onto him. His arms also tightened around her body, and soon their flight was slowing. She glanced down to see the ground coming up fast and squeezed her eyes shut. He landed gently and set her on her feet.

“We are here, pretty one. There’s no need to fear.”

She released his neck and looked around. They were in the courtyard of a large stone castle. Torches lined the walls, brightening the early morning gloom. A door banged open and another Master strode out.

“Nel! Brother, you have been found.”

Nel turned to face the man and they embraced briefly. “Yes, Kephas. I am back where I belong. And I’ve brought a guest.”

He turned and held out a large stone hand to Phaidra. She didn’t even think to hesitate before placing her much smaller hand in his. After the initial shock of seeing him turn to stone and grow in height and girth, she no longer feared him. His brothers she would reserve for later judgment. But she knew so long as Nel was at her side she would be safe.

“This is Phaidra. She is a Fifth in the House of Iva and helped me escape their entrapment.”

Kephas’s shock was evident. “Iva? A Kevan held you captive?”

Nel nodded. “Yes, but she and her Second seemed to be the only Kevan working to keep me there. As well as Albain, it seems.”

Kephas growled menacingly and Phaidra closed the small distance to Nel’s side. His arm went around her shoulders without hesitation.

“That bastard Albain has much to answer for,” Kephas said.

“Yes. We’ve been informed. The others are following Orestes to where they believe Albain may have taken our staff. I’m here to aid in the protection of the Stone.”

“Good.” Kephas nodded once before turning back to the door. “We’d best get inside. All other entrances are blocked to the best of our abilities. This is currently the only way in or out.”

Nel gently pushed Phaidra ahead of him into the castle. It wasn’t the largest or grandest home she had ever stepped foot in, but it was very different from the homes in Keva. She tried to look everywhere at once while Nel directed her farther in. Finally, he simply lifted her into his arms and carried her with a chuckle.

“You will have plenty of time to explore later. I hope you’ll find your new home to your liking,” he said.

A blush warmed her cheeks when she looked at his handsome face. It was almost hard to look directly at him. He grinned and her pulse leapt. What could he possibly see in a simple Kevan like her?

“Yes. It’s beautiful.”

He nodded and his grin slowly faded, but he never broke eye contact. “Yes. Very beautiful.”

Finally, she had to look away.

They descended many stone steps until reaching what she took to be the dungeons. Nel continued to carry her while he followed his brother down a long hallway made of stone and lined with metal doors. She knew he was strong in his Gargoyle form but she felt silly being carried around like a child. As soon as they entered a large round room at the end of the hallway, she tapped his broad shoulder.

“You can put me down now.”

His brow went up as if he’d forgotten he held her. When he did set her down, he slowly slid her body along his. She expected it to be like scraping her flesh against a mountainside. Instead the warmth of his skin remained just as it had before his change. He was larger and looked like a granite statue, but he felt alive and vibrant beneath her fingers.

“Once I’ve spoken to my brothers we will rest,” he said.

She nodded and reluctantly dropped her hands from his bare chest. To her surprise, he kept her hand in his when he stepped farther into the room.

The room itself was bare, with the exception of a stone pillar at its center. A light shone from the pillar almost too bright to look at directly. But when she did glance that way she realized there was a polished stone on top. The light actually emanated from what had to be the Wizard’s Stone. It was a nondescript color, possibly a pale yellow or off-white. Every time she blinked, it seemed to change.

“Don’t look directly at it, Phaidra,” Nel said. “It’s very powerful.”

She nodded and looked at her feet instead. Other Masters filed into the room until all six who had been left to guard the castle stood around the stone with Nel and Phaidra. At first, no one spoke, then one Phaidra didn’t recognize broke the silence.

“The Twenty feel the presence of the Stone. However, one of them once told me it is muted by our stone walls. Perhaps it should be moved since they each know its place at the moment.”

“That is true, Craig,” Nel said. “Any ideas on where to move it? With its power it isn’t the easiest to hide.”

Another unfamiliar Master spoke up. “At the moment we have it at the lowest point in the castle. What if we move it instead to the highest?”

“Adalstan. Surely you don’t mean the tower?” Kephas asked.

“Why not? We can put protections in place easily there.”

Soon all of them seemed to be speaking at once.

“It would be harder to protect.”

“It would be easier to get to.”

“Wizards have ways of flying just like we do.”

“Perhaps we should bury it instead.”

Phaidra was soon overcome with exhaustion. The excitement of her journey had waned and a soothing glow bounced off the walls around her from the Wizard’s Stone. It pulsed like a heartbeat with a rhythm that had her eyes drifting shut.

“Nel, your woman.”

Sakhr’s words and pointing finger had Nel glancing down at Phaidra, then doing a double take when she swayed on her feet. He caught her as she began to fall and cradled her to his chest. It was a sign of her fatigue when she simply cuddled against him and snored softly.

“Are we really so boring?” Petros asked with amusement.

The others chuckled quietly along with him, Nel included.

He shook his head though his gaze was on the woman in his arms. “No. She has done much in the past few hours. She needs her rest.”

“As do you, brother,” Craig said with a light slap on Nel’s shoulder. “We’re seeing to the protections for now and there isn’t much else to do. Take your rest. One of us will wake you if you’re needed.”

Without Phaidra in his arms, Nel would have argued, but he knew Craig was right. Though he’d been tied to a bed for days, his body wasn’t at its best yet. Being home and in the presence of the Stone would fix that, but he should rest while he could. With a short nod to his brothers, he left the dungeons and headed for his room.

He set Phaidra on his large fur-covered bed and left the room to find fresh water and a clean towel. He hadn’t been home for a couple of weeks but nothing had changed in the bathing room. He gathered all he needed and returned to Phaidra’s side. She hadn’t moved an inch. With great care, he removed her clothes and bathed her supple skin. She was a bit thin and petite for a Kevan, making him wonder if she had been properly fed. Her dark hair also made her stand out among her people and told him her Kevan side wasn’t dominant.

She moaned in her sleep when he smoothed the wet cloth over her most sensitive parts, but she didn’t wake. The urge to run his lips over her clean skin was strong but he fought it. No way would he touch her so intimately without her consent. As it was, keeping his touch light and impersonal was damn near impossible. He tried to be quick about it but her beauty arrested him. Finally the self-torture was finished and he pulled a thick quilt over her sleeping form. She smiled for him but still didn’t wake.