Chapter 14
Market day arrived once again, and Keira wondered what kind of reception she would receive from the villagers. She had avoided going into the village since the meeting at the town hall, not certain that she would be welcome. She also begged Aaron to stay away, certain that his presence would arouse the villagers’ suspicions as to his motives in supporting her, but he refused.
“People will know soon enough, Keira,” was his response. “I have made concessions with regards to your family, but I refuse to stay away from the village to avoid rumors. If I cannot openly court my future wife, I will at least take every opportunity I can to be in her presence.”
Despite Keira’s fears, she was secretly pleased that Aaron had resisted her urgings. She too wanted to see as much of him as possible, even if it was only from a distance.
As Keira had suspected, most of the merchants turned away from her as she took her place at the stall, but there were some who greeted her with a smile and a nod, including Madam Draper and Madam Hunter. Although the support was muted, Keira was relieved to find she wasn’t completely isolated.
She took her place behind the table, next to Anna, who had astounded her mother when she announced she would help Keira at the market that day. Keira had raised her eyebrows at her sister in silence, and Anna shrugged her shoulders, a wry smile playing on her lips.
“Just proving my worth,” was her only comment.
It was midmorning when Keira saw Aaron striding through the market, dressed as befitted a gentleman. She watched in amusement as he stopped to chat with blushing girls helping their parents at their stalls. Clearly, they weren’t concerned about the reeve’s opinion of Aaron! She could almost hear them sigh as he greeted them with a courtly bow and a smile: “Mistress Gwyneth, isn’t this a fine morning?” “Mistress Jane, you’re looking lovely today.”
As Aaron made his way along the path, he looked up and caught Keira’s glance, before he turned his attention to another girl, who stared boldly at him from behind the table she was tending. “Mistress Sarah, I trust you’re enjoying this beautiful day.”
Sarah smiled at him coyly, but he quickly turned away and headed towards Keira. He stopped a few feet away, his eyes sweeping over her form in bold perusal.
“Mistress Keira! You’re quite radiant this morning.”
“Why, thank you, milord,” Keira responded with a grin. “Although I must confess I’m not sure I trust your easy compliments – they seem to fall from your lips without much thought. Still, if you do see something different about me, I expect it’s due to the fine weather we’re having.”
“Really, Mistress Keira? You wound me to the quick,” he said. “First you rudely refute my kind comments regarding your radiance, and then you tell me it’s due to the weather, when I was certain that I had stumbled upon some profound reason for your sparkle this morning.”
Keira smiled in response, but the look in his eyes made her catch her breath. His gaze held hers, the color turning to a glowing gold. It wasn’t until Anna cleared her throat, shoving her elbow into Keira’s side, that the spell was broken.
Aaron glanced across at Keira’s sister, his eyebrows going up as he scrutinized her.
“Anna, what a surprise,” he teased. “Have you developed a sudden liking for work, or a newfound desire to be with your sister?”
“Hmph,” was Anna’s only response, but before she looked away, Keira caught a glimpse of a smile. Aaron turned his attention back to Keira as he leaned forward over the table, bringing his face close to hers.
“You really are radiant this morning, my sweet. Like a beautiful rose shimmering with dew in the early morning light.” He breathed in deeply before adding, “And you smell like a summer dawn, too, with the hint of jasmine floating on a warm breeze.” She blushed. “Meet me at the lake tomorrow morning,” he whispered.
“At the lake?” Her tone was bemused, the memories of her last experience at the lake clouding her expression.
“It’s further away,” Aaron responded, “and I want some time alone with you.” Aaron glanced at Anna as he said this, but she was studiously ignoring the conversation. “We won’t be staying there, so no one can spy on us.”
“Oh!” Keira said. The word came out slowly as his meaning became clear. Keira glanced at her sister, who was now studying her nails, before smiling up at Aaron. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
The next morning Keira woke early and pulled on her kirtle and shawl as quietly as possible, careful not to wake Anna. She slipped out of the house a few moments later and headed towards the lake. The early morning mist hung on the ground, making it difficult to see more than a few feet ahead of her, but Keira’s step was sure. She’d walked this same path many times before, and she knew each twist and turn.
The sun was just starting to appear behind the mountains when Keira arrived at the clearing surrounding the lake. It was impossible to miss the huge dragon crouching low on the ground as he waited beyond the trees. His wings were folded against his back, and as Keira moved into the clearing, he inhaled deeply, breathing in her scent. The sight of the enormous beast made Keira stop in her tracks, her pulse suddenly racing as a tremor of fear spread through her.
She pushed the feeling away, mentally chiding herself, but seeing Aaron in his true form, as a beast, suddenly filled her with dread as she realized the enormity of the commitment she had entered into. She was marrying a dragon! Aaron’s nostrils flared as he watched her.
“Keira,” he said softly, his warm breath caressing her face. “Please don’t be frightened. I haven’t changed. It’s still me – the same creature that you know, and that loves you. You know I would never, ever do anything to hurt you.”
Keira closed her eyes as he spoke and his familiar voice washed over her. Suddenly her fears seemed foolish, and she opened her eyes with a smile.
“I know,” she said as she stepped forward. She reached up her hand and gently placed it against Aaron’s cheek as she looked into his glowing eyes. “I love you,” she whispered.
He gazed at her for a long moment before lifting his head and stretching his neck to its full length.
“Come on,” he said, “up you go.” This time Keira was ready when he wrapped his tail around her, and she steadied herself as he lifted her onto his back. Inching forward until she lay along his neck, she wrapped her arms around him as he lifted himself into the cool morning air.
Aaron flew in silence, the movement of his strong wings making the air pulse around them. The sun was almost above the mountains when he started dropping, circling around in slow, leisurely sweeps.
“Look down, Keira. That’s Storbrook.”
Holding on tightly around his neck, Keira inched her head over to one side of his massive body. She gasped when she saw the castle laid out below her. Instead of the dark, forbidding structure she had imagined from childhood tales, Storbrook Castle seemed to shimmer with light as the early rays of sun glittered against the light yellow stone of the building. It was so huge that Keira wondered how long it would take to walk from one end to the other. The castle had been built on top of a mountain, completely covering the entire surface, the sheer rock at the top of the mountain merging with the tall stone walls that surrounded the castle. Within the walls stood the main building, the donjon, which soared to heights far above the castle walls. The back half of the building formed part of the wall, and reached another twenty feet higher than the front, and along this section were turrets that soared so high that Keira was certain she could reach out and touch them as they flew past. Along the back wall were enormous arched windows, open to the elements. Large enough for a dragon to fly in or out of, Keira realized.
There were other buildings within the castle walls – workshops, stables, a chapel and a priest house, and she could see people moving around the massive courtyard, going about their daily duties. A walled garden stood adjacent to the donjon, which Keira supposed was a kitchen garden
, while beyond that was a pleasure garden, bright hues competing with the greens of the trees and lawn. A path wound up the mountain, leading to a huge gate with a portcullis covering the entrance. As Keira looked, Aaron circled around the castle, dropping lower with each turn to give her a better view, before finally heading back up to the clouds.
“We’re not going to the castle?” asked Keira.
“Not today, my sweet. There are too many people at Storbrook, and I want you all to myself.”
“You didn’t show me the caves beneath the castle,” Keira said. “Someone told me that the dragon’s lair would be dark, malodorous and filled with bones.” Keira felt the laughter rumbling in his chest before he responded.
“I don’t want to scare you away,” he said. “I’ll show you my filthy lair as soon as you’re mine. That way, if you try to run away screaming, I can lock you in a tower.”
A few minutes later, Aaron began to lose height once more. He came to a stop at the top of a mountain, above a waterfall thundering to the depths below them. The sun catching the water spray sent bright rays of color shooting through the early morning air, and Keira gasped.
“Look Aaron,” she whispered, afraid to break the peace of the morning. “It’s so beautiful.” She slid off his broad back and turned towards him with a smile.
“That’s why I brought you here,” he said.
She turned back to look once more at the shimmering colors, but in the next moment they were muted by a sudden flash of light that radiated out from behind her. A moment later Aaron laid his hands on her shoulders. She could feel his warm breath tickling her nape as he gently pushed his fingers into her hair, allowing it to fall softly over his hands, before running them down her arms and drawing her closer. With his arms wrapped around her she leaned against his bare chest.
“Fancy flying over a waterfall, my sweet?” he asked. Twisting herself around, Keira looked up at him, her expression dubious.
“Flying over a waterfall?” she repeated. “Are you going to throw us over the edge?”
“Are you doubting my flying abilities?” he asked in amusement. “There’s a small ledge about halfway down where we can sit behind the waterfall. I thought we could spend some time talking down there.”
“A ledge?”
“Yes,” he said. “Come along. You know I won’t let you fall. Wrap your arms around me, and I’ll fly us down.”
Keira wrapped her arms around his neck and tightly clasped her hands, and Aaron looked at her with a grin before unfurling his wings. Even though she had seen them before, Keira watched in amazement as they spread out behind his back, the light glimmering against their smooth surface, aware once again of the awesome power of the man holding her in his arms. He wrapped his arms tighter around her as he beat his wings against the air, bearing them over the edge of the waterfall. Keira buried her head into his shoulder, then lifted it slowly when she heard his voice in her ear.
“Look, Keira,” he said. “I’m going very slowly. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Cautiously, she looked over Aaron’s shoulder, and her eyes widened when she saw that they were barely moving. His wings beat languorously through the air, keeping them aloft, as he slowly moved down the length of the waterfall, spray from the water covering them in a fine mist.
He had flown about halfway down when he brought them over to the side of the waterfall and landed them onto a small ledge that led behind the thunderous falls. The water fell clear of the ledge by a few feet, and Aaron sat down at the edge, his legs dangling in the air. Pulling Keira down next to him, he wrapped his arms around her as they sat, and she leaned her weight against his side. The water was like a curtain, hiding them from the world behind a rushing, sparkling screen. The sun was starting to climb higher, and Keira could see the light sparkling off drops of water that cascaded down the mountain. Each droplet seemed to take on a life of its own as it twisted and turned its way down past the ledge to join the rest of the water crashing hundreds of feet below them.
“What are you thinking?” asked Aaron.
“I was wondering about the journey each drop of water makes as it goes tumbling down the waterfall,” replied Keira, her tone contemplative. “Will it travel through many distant lands? And what creatures will it meet on its journey? Where will it finally end up?” She glanced at Aaron, and blushed when she saw he was watching her intently. “I’m sorry, I’m being absurd!”
“No,” replied Aaron emphatically. “Never apologize for your thoughts, my sweet. I love the fact that you’re so curious. Maybe one day we can follow those water droplets and discover where the river takes them,”
“Really, Aaron?” she said, her eyes sparkling. “Do you mean it? I’d love to see distant lands. And the oceans! Are there really huge creatures that live in the depths? And rivers so wide you have to take a boat to get across them? And cities – I’ve heard that hundreds of people live in the big cities! With enormous churches and glass in the windows.”
Aaron laughed at her excitement, and caught her hands in his own. “I will show you all those things and more, Keira. I give you my word, and the word of a dragon can never be broken.”
“Really, Aaron?”
“Yes, really.”
“Oh, Aaron, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think someone like you would want to marry someone like me. I thought the best I could hope for was Edmund Hobbes, but then you came along and fell in love with me!” Her voice was full of wonder. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but you’re a gift sent by God.”
“Keira,” Aaron said, shifting himself around so that he could look Keira full in the face, “it isn’t a wonder that I fell in love with you. The wonder is that you fell in love with me – a beast. It is me who has received the gift, and I’ll spend every day of the rest of my life proving myself to be worthy of you.”
“You’re no beast, Aaron, and you don’t need to prove yourself worthy – you already are. And I love you. Maybe we’ve both been given a gift – the gift of each other.”
Aaron smiled. “I think you’re right,” he murmured into her ear before he brushed his lips across her cheek and kissed her.