Highland Raven by Melanie Karsak

Author:Melanie Karsak [Karsak, Melanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Clockpunk Press
Published: 2014-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

The ribbon finally wound to the bottom of the pole, and I crashed breathless onto the ground, the others laughing and giggling. Aridmis took Epona’s arm and swung her in a circle as the bards played on. Even Druanne smiled, and she relaxed, breathless, onto grass. Calean, Banquo’s druid companion, was twisting Sid in wide pirouettes, dancing to the music. Sid was laughing and flirting shamelessly. Banquo flopped down into the grass beside me. He put his arms behind his back and was breathing hard from dancing. After a few moments I stood up and extended my hand to him.

“Come on,” I said.

He took my hand, and we headed into the woods. “Well, my lovely priestess, where are you leading me?”

“I want you to see something. I want to see if you…well, I just want you to see something,” I said.

I retraced the path of nine oaks to the mound where Sid had taken me, to Boudicca’s mound. The new, green leaves were shimmering overhead. Sweet young ferns, their chartreuse fingers uncurling, dotted the forest floor. The air smelled loamy under the rays of the warm spring sun. We entered the moss-covered valley where the mound sat at its center. Banquo slowed to a stop and stared at the mound. When I looked back at him, he’d gone absolutely pale.

“What…what is this place?” he asked.

I didn’t say anything.

Banquo took a few steps toward the mound, staring at it, and looked back at me. He looked shocked. “Cerridwen?” he said, his voice sounding hollow. He took a step toward me and reached out and took my hand. With his other hand, he reached out and stroked a stray hair away from my face. “Your hair was red,” he whispered.

I smiled up at him. “So was yours,” I replied.

I cast a glance toward the burial mound. Prasutagus, Boudicca’s husband, died many years before his wife. He would not have seen her burial mound. He would not have been buried nearby. But the energy of the place, the power emanating from the great queen’s very bones, charged the place with memory. I wanted to see if it would affect Banquo as it had me. I wanted to see if the name whispered on the wind—Prasutagus—was more than just a fantasy. My soul knew this man, loved him, but I didn’t want to fall prey to passion. I didn’t want to give in to the energy of Beltane. I wanted to be sure. Did our souls know one another as Boite’s and Emer’s had?

Banquo leaned in, took my face in both of his hands, and kissed me. First he kissed me gently, putting soft, sweet kisses on my lips. Then he grabbed me and pulled me hard against him. His tongue roved inside my mouth. I soaked up the softness of his lips, feeling the brush of the sharp stubble of hair on his face. He smelled so sweet, but even more, he felt so familiar. My heart was racing, my knees weak.

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