Caledonia Fae 05 - Elder Druid by India Drummond Read Free Book Online Page A

she’ll eagerly accommodate you.” Tràth watched as Douglas disengaged himself and stood, leaning on the tall bedpost.
    “Indeed I will, Your Highness,” the faerie purred, rolling over on her side and holding out one hand to him.
    “No, thank you,” Tràth said. He looked at Douglas, admiring the beauty of the young human’s strong body. He was short, his muscles taut and compact. His grey eyes were the colour of a brooding storm. “I came to see you .”
    Douglas nodded and playfully smacked the female’s bottom. “Time to go,” he said. “I need to speak with Prince Tràth.”
    Tràth marvelled at the druid’s newfound confidence. He couldn’t help but remember what a shy young man he’d been when they bonded over two years before. Douglas had been uncertain, uncomfortable with women. Any hint of sexuality had made him blush in the most charming way.
    The woman scowled for a moment, but did as she was told, gathering her robes and scurrying toward the separate bathing room. Tràth wondered idly who she was. A servant? A scholar? The daughter of some visiting elder? “I hear the Mistgate is finished,” he said. “An incredible achievement.”
    Douglas stretched lazily. “Is that why you’re here?”
    The question wounded Tràth. Why shouldn’t he come? But then, why did he assume Douglas didn’t want him here? Perhaps the question meant nothing. “No. Queen Eilidh invited me to a diplomatic dinner at the Caledonian Hall, an offer I could hardly refuse.”
    “I don’t envy you,” Douglas said, donning a sheer lounging robe before sitting on the edge of the bed closest to Tràth. “Now that the queens have accepted our position as draoidh, we’re overrun with bloody diplomacy. At least I don’t have the bother of being trotted out to test for bonding capability. You gotta feel for Huck, Aaron, Demi, and Lisle.”
    “Quite.” Tràth paused. “Our friends miss seeing you at parties.” He glanced away. He envied the humans’ seeming ease with emotions. Although they usually went much further than he would, at least they acknowledged their passions. All too often, fae society expected his race to be expressionless. It was, perhaps, why he liked Eilidh so much. For a faerie, she was almost gregarious, although he doubted humans viewed her as such.
    Douglas tilted his head in an almost fae-like expression. He had changed. “Parties don’t interest me the way they once did. My work here is important. I enjoy feeling needed rather than merely being someone’s amusement.”
    “I have never seen you that way,” Tràth said, leaning forward. “You know that.”
    Douglas nodded, conceding the point. At least he didn’t deny what the bond told them about each other’s feelings and intentions. “The drinking, the parties, the drugs…after a while, my whole existence seemed so frivolous. I found purpose here, something I’m good at.”
    “ Frivolous is the very word my father used tonight when describing my life.” Tràth chuckled without humour.
    “Ouch,” Douglas said.
    Tràth shrugged. “He’s not wrong, though. Is he?”
    “I’m not judging,” Douglas said. “I know what you have to do to cope with the flows of time.”
    They’d rarely talked about the struggles Tràth had with the thunderous demands of his magic, stresses that had nearly driven him insane. The drink, the smoke, the physical stimulation and pleasure distracted him and kept what Douglas called his demons at bay. Tràth met Douglas’ eyes. “Nothing helped as much as bonding with you.” Affection surged from Douglas, so the faerie prince slid across to the bed and sat beside his druid. “I miss you. We don’t need to resume the life we had before. I know your work is important. There may be little in the Halls of Mist for me, but I can compromise, visit more often. Perhaps you can come to me when you need a break from time to time. We might move our home to a city closer to the portal to make travel easier. The