by Linda Howard
Though Cael bristled and cursed, Mercy barely heard him over her own heartbeat, which drummed maddeningly in her ears. Sidra had shared Mercy’s deepest, most carefully guarded secret with Ansara and Raintree alike—with Dante and Gideon. Her brothers glared at her, shock on Gideon’s face, rage on Dante’s.
“Tell me this isn’t true,” Dante demanded.
“I can’t,” Mercy replied.
“Eve is half Ansara, the daughter of their Dranir?” Gideon asked.
“Yes.” Mercy answered Gideon, but her gaze never left Dante’s face. “When I met him, I didn’t know who he was.”
“How long have you known?” Dante asked.
“That he was Ansara? Since the moment I conceived his child.”
“Why didn’t you tell me…tell us?”
The sound of Sidra’s voice echoed off the mountains, spreading like seeds in the wind, capturing the attention of all who heard her.
“It is your choice,” she said. “To live and die with honor at your Dranir’s side, or be destroyed along with this madman who claims a throne that is not his!”
Shouts of allegiance rang out as the Ansara chose sides. Not one blue uniformed warrior broke formation, and only a handful of Cael’s troops deserted him to join his brother’s army.
“What’s going on with the old Ansara seer?” Dante asked. “It’s as if she’s instigating war between the brothers.” He looked to Mercy. “You don’t seem surprised, which leads me to believe that you know what’s happening, why the Ansara created this lull in the battle to iron out family differences.”
Mercy realized that she did know, at least to some extent, what was occurring within the Ansara camps. “The brothers and their warriors are probably going to fight to the death.”
“And you know this how?”
“How I know doesn’t matter,” she said. “All that matters is that we have to be prepared to fight the winner.”
Within minutes, Mercy realized she had underestimated Cael’s madness. The vision of brother battling against brother, Ansara renegade warriors against the Ansara army, that she had expected altered dramatically when Cael commanded his forces to attack the Raintree instead.
Taken off guard, Dante quickly recovered and started issuing orders, first to Mercy and then to his warriors. He told Mercy to search, find and heal as many of their wounded as possible, then send them back into the battle.
“If we have any hope of holding the sanctuary until reinforcements arrive, we’ll need every Raintree warrior left alive,” Dante said.
As the battle raged around her, Mercy, who occasionally had to use her sword for both protection and attack, combed the battleground, searching for Raintree wounded. In all she found nine, including Echo, who had been frozen in place, and Meta, whose left arm had been hacked off. With the heat from her healing hands, Mercy thawed Echo slowly and drew the frostbite from her body. Before Mercy recovered from the healing, Echo left, rushing back into the battle.
Mercy managed to save eight of the nine wounded, including Meta, whose arm Mercy reattached, but she warned her not to use it during the battle.
“It won’t be completely healed for at least twenty-four hours,” Mercy cautioned.
After expending enough energy to work her healing magic on nine people, Mercy’s strength was greatly depleted, so much so that she could barely stand. She desperately needed rest, hours of recuperative sleep. But there was no time.
As she continued her search, her legs grew weaker and her arms felt as if they weighed fifty pounds each. Her hands trembled. She staggered, then fell to her knees. She clutched her sword tightly but felt her grip softening.
Hold on to Ancelin’s sword! Don’t let it go!
Try as she might, she couldn’t keep her eyes open, couldn’t fight her body’s urgent need for rest.
She toppled facedown onto the ground, Ancelin’s sword slipping from her fingers. She could hear the clatter of battle and smell the scent of death all around her as she lay there in her half-conscious state, drained and defenseless.
She had to find cover, a place to hide away until she could re-energize. Forcing her eyes open, she reached to her side until her fingers encountered her sword. Clasping it loosely, she dragged it with her as she crawled toward a stand of trees less than fifteen feet in front of her. She made it halfway there before a booted foot knocked Ancelin’s sword from her grasp, then stomped on her hand, flattening it against the ground. As pain radiated from her hand, along her arm and through her body, Mercy gazed up into a set of cold gray eyes.
Cael Ansara’s eyes.
He lifted his foot from her broken hand, then grabbed her hair and yanked her to her feet. Realizing that in her condition she wouldn’t be able to fight him, she sent out a psychic scream for help. It was all she could do.
Pressing her back against his chest, he slid a dagger beneath her chin, resting the sharp blade across her throat. He pushed his cheek against hers, and his hot, foul breath raked across her face as he laughed.
“Judah’s beautiful Raintree princess.” Cael licked her neck.
Mercy cringed.
“Too bad we don’t have time for me to show you that I’m superior to my brother in every way.” He thrust his semi-erect sex against her buttocks.
If only she could muster enough strength to command Ancelin’s sword to come to her, she might be able to—
“Release her!” The commanding voice came from behind them.
Before Cael managed to turn around, the hand he held to her throat sprung open, and his dagger fell out and dropped to the ground. Startled by the appearance of a man who had been nowhere near them only seconds before, Cael momentarily focused on Mercy’s rescuer and not her. While Cael was distracted, she directed her core of inner strength on one objective—freeing herself from his tenacious hold.
Just as she managed to break away from Cael, Judah reached out, grabbed Mercy’s arm and pulled her to him. Cael growled with rage as Judah shoved Mercy behind him.
Where had Judah come from, and how had he gotten here so quickly? Mercy asked herself. The only explanation was teleportation, an ability she hadn’t realized he possessed. But why had he appeared, and not Dante, whom she had beckoned with her silent screams?
As Judah faced Cael, he spoke telepathically to Mercy. It wasn’t Dante’s name you called, he told her. It was mine.
Had she actually screamed for Judah to save her and not Dante?
How did you…?
Eve transported me, Judah said. She also heard your screams for help, so she sent me to you.
“How touching.” Cael’s lips curved in a mocking smile. “You actually called for my brother to help you. You must be a fool, Princess Mercy. Don’t you know the only reason he’s here to fight me is because he doesn’t want me to have the pleasure of killing you? That’s a treat he wants for himself.”
Judah didn’t deny his brother’s accusations. In fact, he ignored them completely. Instead he instructed Mercy to lay her hand on his shoulder. When she hesitated, he said, “Trust your instincts.”
She did, and laid her hand on his shoulder. Immediately she felt a surge of Judah’s strength transported into her. Not much, but enough to keep her standing, and enough to enable her to call Ancelin’s sword up from the ground and into her hand.
Cael sent the first wave of mind-numbing mental bolts toward Judah, who deflected them effortlessly, then returned fire. Mercy moved backward, away from Judah, and knew he understood that she could now protect herself with the ancient power of Ancelin’s sword, which left him free to concentrate completely on the Death Duel with his brother.
Cael used every weapon in his arsenal of powers and black magic to attack Judah and to counteract Judah’s superior abilities. Mercy watched while the brothers fought, bloodying each other, exchanging energy bolts and optic blasts, pulverizing trees and brush and boulders within a hundred-foot radius all around them. And then they charged each other, coming together in mortal physica
l combat, sword against sword, might against might.
Mercy held her breath when Cael pierced Judah’s side, ripping apart his shirt and slicing into the flesh beneath. Judah cursed, but the wound didn’t affect his agile maneuvers as he backed Cael up farther and farther, until he managed to chop off Cael’s sword hand. Howling in pain as his sword fell to the ground along with his severed hand, Cael reared up and, using all his energy, conjured a psychic bolt. Judah deflected the bolt, sending it back toward Cael, who barely managed to escape. As he hit the ground and rolled, Judah strode toward him. Before Cael could rebound and come up fighting, Judah swooped over him and plunged his sword through his half brother’s heart. Cael screeched like a banshee. Judah yanked the sword from Cael’s heart, and with one swift, deadly strike took off Cael’s head.
Cael’s body shattered, splintering into dust. Judah stood there silent and unmoving, his brother’s blood coating the blade of his sword. Mercy rushed to him, her only thought to comfort and heal Judah. Holding Ancelin’s sword in her left hand, she ran the fingers of her right hand over Judah’s wound, then realized his body had already begun healing itself.
Judah pulled Mercy to him and slid his arm around her waist, each of them still holding their battle swords.
“Judah Ansara!” Dante Raintree called.
Gasping, Mercy lifted her gaze until it collided with her brother’s.
“Release her,” Dante said. “This fight is between the two of us.”
Judah tightened his hold about Mercy’s waist. “Do you think I intend to kill her?”
In that moment Mercy understood that Judah had no intention of harming her. He wouldn’t have given her the strength to retrieve Ancelin’s sword if he hadn’t wanted her to live.
“He saved me from Cael when I was too weak to fight,” Mercy said.
“Only to save you for himself,” Dante told her. “Have you forgotten that we are at war with the Ansara?”
“Only with Cael’s warriors,” Judah corrected. “Or have you been too busy fighting to realize that my army was killing more of Cael’s soldiers than you Raintree were? I brought my army here to defeat Cael and to save my daughter…and her mother.”
Mercy’s gaze met Judah’s, and their minds melded for a brief moment, long enough for her to realize that Judah was telling the truth.
Dante narrowed his gaze until his eyes were mere slits. “You’re lying.”
Mercy sensed that her brother was not going to back down from this fight, that he had every intention of engaging Judah in battle, Raintree Dranir against Ansara Dranir. To the death. When Dante stepped forward, sword drawn, gauntlet dropped, Judah shoved Mercy aside and confronted his enemy.
“No, Dante, don’t! I—I love him!” Mercy cried. When he disregarded her completely, she turned to Judah. “Please, don’t do this. He’s my brother.”
Both men ignored her. If only her powers hadn’t been depleted to such a great extent, she might have been able to stop them, but as it stood…
As suddenly and mysteriously as Judah had appeared from out of nowhere in time to save Mercy from Cael, a bright light formed in the space between Judah and Dante. Both men froze, transfixed by the sight.
When the light dimmed, Eve was revealed, hovering several inches off the ground, her body glowing, her hair flowing high into the air, her eyes glistening a brilliant topaz gold. And her Ansara crescent moon birthmark had disappeared.
“My God!” Dante stared at his niece.
“I am Eve, daughter of Mercy and Judah, born to my mother’s clan, born for my father’s people. I am Rainsara.”
An unnatural hush fell over the meadow, the last battlefield of an age-old war, once thought to be eternal. Raintree and Ansara alike laid down their weapons and ceased fighting, then one by one made their way to the area where Eve awaited them.
When the warriors assembled, Raintree behind Dante and Ansara behind Judah, Eve stretched out her arms on either side of her shimmering body and levitated each of her parents upward from where they stood, then brought them to her.
Judah and Mercy looked at each other and recognized the truth. Judah was no longer Ansara. His eyes were as golden as his daughter’s. Mercy was no longer Raintree; her eyes, too, were burnished gold.
Eve’s gaze traveled the expanse of the vast meadow, shadowing all the warriors with her light. As she passed over the Ansara first, at least twenty of them disintegrated in puffs of sparkling dust, and all the others transformed, their eyes as golden as their Dranir’s, and just as he was no longer Ansara, neither were they. When Eve turned her attention to the Raintree, a handful of them, including Sidonia, Meta and Hugh, also transformed. They were no longer Raintree.
“The Ansara are no more,” Eve said. “And from this day forward, the Rainsara and Raintree will be allies.”
Dante and Judah glared at each other, neither prepared to sign a peace treaty, both wise enough to know the choice was no longer theirs.
“My father is now the Dranir of the Rainsara and my mother the Dranira,” Eve said. “We will go home to Terrebonne and build a new nation.” She turned to her uncles. “Uncle Dante, you will rule the Raintree for many years, and your son after you. And Uncle Gideon, you won’t ever have to be the Dranir.”
Eve brought her parents down with her to stand on solid ground; then she led her father to her uncle and said, “The war is over, now and forever.”
Neither man moved or spoke.
Simultaneously Mercy took Judah’s hand and stood at his side as Lorna moved forward and grasped Dante’s hand.
Judah extended his other hand. Tensing, Dante glared at Judah’s hand. He hesitated for a full minute, then shook hands with his former enemy.
A reverent hush fell over the last battlefield.
Send our people home, Judah issued the telepathic message to his cousin. Ask Sidra and the other council members to remain here for now. We will need to meet with Dranir Dante and his brother. In a few days, I will take my Dranira and our daughter to Terrebonne. Mercy and Eve will need time to say their goodbyes, but our people will need the royal Rainsara family to guide them through the transition period and into the future.
Claude issued orders hurriedly. The new Rainsara clan began their exodus from the sanctuary, heads held high, as the Raintree rallied around Dante, Lorna, Gideon and Hope.
Judah lifted Eve off her feet and settled her on his hip, then slipped his arm around Mercy’s waist. “If you need more time…” Judah said.
“No,” Mercy replied. “I heard what you said to Claude. You’re right. Our people need us—you and me and Eve.”
Epilogue
Eve walked over to Hope and placed her hand on Hope’s flat stomach. “Hello, Emma. I’m your cousin, Eve. You’re going to like being Uncle Gideon’s little princess.”
The adults watched in utter fascination as Eve communicated with Gideon and Hope’s unborn daughter. From hearing Eve’s side of the exchange, they all realized that Eve and Emma were having quite a conversation.
Mercy had accepted the fact that her six-year-old was undoubtedly the most powerful being on earth, and that she and Judah had their work cut out for them. But they would have Sidonia and Sidra to help guide them. The two old women were already acting like rival grandmothers.
Eve gazed up at Gideon, and they smiled at each other. “It’s a good thing that I got in a lot of practice with you,” he said. “I just hope Emma isn’t half the handful you’ve been.”
“She won’t be. I promise. Emma is going to be the Guardian of the Sanctuary,” Eve announced, then settled her gaze on Echo. “But until Emma is old enough to take over, you’re going to be the keeper.”
“Who, me?” Echo’s eyes widened in surprise.
Eve laughed. “You really are going to have to work on controlling your abilities. You should have known that you’re going to be the new keeper.”
“I’m no good at seeing my own future.”
Sidra placed her hand on Echo’s shoulder. �
�Nor am I, my dear. And I count that a blessing.”
In the two days since the final battle between the Ansara and the Raintree, Judah and the high council had met with Dante, Gideon, Mercy and the highest ranking Raintree in the clan. Word had come in from around the world that numerous Ansara had perished in the cleansing, but many more had been transformed, becoming members of the new clan—the Rainsara, allies of the Raintree.
There had also been another meeting, this one between Mercy and her future sisters-in-law. She had immediately liked both women and sensed that Lorna was Dante’s perfect mate, as Hope was Gideon’s. Mercy knew that when she left the sanctuary, she left it in Echo’s capable hands. Even if the young seer questioned her ability to handle such an enormous responsibility, Mercy had no doubts. One day Echo’s empathic talents would equal her abilities as a prophet. Mercy also knew that she left her brothers in the capable hands of the women they loved and who loved them. She was free to enter her new life with Judah without guilt or remorse.
“It will be some time before I’ll see my brothers again,” Mercy told Hope and Lorna. “At best, Dante and Gideon tolerate Judah and he them. I don’t expect they’ll ever be friends, but…” Mercy cleared her throat. “Our children will be friends as well as cousins, and then the Raintree and Rainsara will truly be united.”
At day’s end, shortly before leaving the sanctuary, Mercy tried to return her battle sword to its place of honor above the fireplace in the study, but it fell off the wall and back into her hand. The same thing occurred with her second and third attempts.
“It is now Mercy’s sword,” Gideon told her.
“Take it with you,” Dante said. “And pray you never have to use it again.”
Reaching out from where she stood behind Dante, Lorna laid her hand on his shoulder. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. Mercy saw the immediate change in her brother, a gentling of his spirit.