Enchant (Rae Wilder #3)

Chapter Four

Then why did he swear himself to us?”

“You are the Priestess.”

I nodded. My eyes again went to the tree Gunarr had disappeared into. He was quiet. Too quiet.

I said, “Fair point. So why did he swear himself to you?”

Breandan stood up and offered me his hand. “Would you like to climb with me?”

He neatly avoided the question and that pissed me off, until I grudgingly admitted I attempted to avoid all questions that made me uncomfortable. Clasping his hand to rise, I jumped on his back and nipped his ear. “Nice try, but I know you’re evading me. Why did he swear himself to you?”

“Because he senses the power in me to become High Lord.”

I thought about that. “But you’re not are you?”

He laughed. “I have no plans to be. I will release Gunarr from his oath when the time comes.”

Breandan secured my legs around his waist and headed towards the same tree as Gunarr.

It was a magnificent old oak, jutting roots and stout trunked. Nothing close to the splendor of what Breandan called the ClanTrees, the three colossal trees that fairies had in the centre of their Wyld, but impressive in its own right.

Clumps of mushrooms clustered at the base and lumpy moss covered the trunk. Wispy stems of beard lichen hung from scraggly twigs, and new growth of the fungi crawled across the trunk base to blend with the scrublands. The boughs were fat and brown. The leaves were broad, the stalks and blades of the foliage well formed, suggesting a grand old age, and shafts of sunlight gilded the golden leaves with a soft glow.

Clambering off Breandan’s back, I pushed my hair back and tied it into a knot at the nape of my neck.

Striding over to the trunk, I stood on twisted aerial roots and placed my palms on the bark. It warmed under my palms, and I hummed appreciatively.

I pointed up. “Race?”

Without a word, he grinned and jumped. His hands caught hold of the lowest bough and he dead lifted his weight up as his legs swung to add momentum. In a blink, he was crouched on the first branch choosing his path up.

I skipped back a few paces and ran forward. Using the trunk as a springboard, I kicked off it, twisted, and caught the same bough Breandan crouched on. By the time I’d seated myself, his feet dangled from the branch above. I followed close behind, playfully tugging on his tail when I could reach it to slow him down. He laughed loudly, the sound careless and filled with so much joy it made me giggle uncontrollably.

We even passed a stoic Gunarr halfway up, reclining on a branch trying to get some sleep. He lazily opened one green eyelid and peered at me before turning his head.

Breandan reached the penultimate branch before me and in a moment of sheer genius, I scrambled back onto his back, and stretched to tap the tip of my finger on the highest branch.

“Ha!” I crowed and slipped down – flushed and happy.

“You cheated,” Breandan laughed as he joined me, immediately puling me into him and tickling my sides.

Squealing, I wriggled in his hold until I made a rather ugly snorting sound at the back of my throat. We both burst out laughing. My shoulders shook so hard, I nearly fell from my perch, and Breandan had to steady me.

“I always loved climbing,” I confessed once my laughter had subsided to the occasional snigger. “When I was up in a tree I felt grounded, strange as it sounds.” I rested my head on Breandan’s shoulder, something I loved doing, and toyed with the edge of his amour plate on his thigh. “I was drawn to the forest, all the life teeming Outside. I was afraid for so long, worried one day the Clerics would look at me and just know I was different.”