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.""I'm glad you think so." Lars leaned up on one elbow looking down at her, the love in his eyes shining bright in the dim room."I want a big family.I want our children to have what I never did.I want them to belong to each other and to us."Belora launched herself into her mate's strong arms."That's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard." A tear found its way down her cheek and Lars bent to kiss it away."I want the same thing.""Then we're all in agreement." Gareth poured wine for each of them from the bedside table and passed the goblets around as they all sat up, some strength returning."I didn't thank you both yet for going to save my mother.""Our children will need their grandmother.Especially when their parents want to spend some time alone." Gareth wiggled his eyebrows and chuckled, making them all laugh."No, I mean it.Truly.I didn't think I could love either of you more, but when you put your lives on the line for my mother, I knew that if I lost any of you—human or dragon—I never would be the same.I would never be whole again.""But what about the king?" Lars spoke softly from the far side of the bed."You'll have to go meet him and investigate where you come from.The royal blood is too precious to remain anonymous.What if you're a princess? Will you still want to live with us in this backwater Lair?"She reached over to stroke his stubbly cheek."Even if I were the queen, I'd never give you up.I love you." She narrowed her eyes in thought."Though I suppose it is possible that I have some strange origins.""Why do you say that?" Gareth moved up to support her from behind as they lounged on the huge bed."It's something Kelzy told my mother.She said that her parents weren't her blood parents, that it was obvious to Kelzy that my mother had been adopted.""Adopted?" Gareth prompted her when her words trailed off."Yes, but she never found out from where, or who her real parents might be.""By the Mother, then it’s more than likely your mother's real parents were of royal descent.""I guess that could be true." She shrugged.“And twins do run in my family.My mother doesn’t speak of them much, but before me, she had twin girls.They were taken just before we moved to the forest when I was about five winters, I think.”“Taken? You mean they died?” Gareth had perked up and looked keenly interested.“No, they’re not dead.At least I don’t think they are.They were stolen.It was horrible.” She shuddered and leaned into Lars’ supporting arm as both men moved closer at the first sign of her distress.“We were in a big town, at a market.Men rushed us.Big men.I remember one had a jagged scar on his face and was missing the two little fingers on his left hand.” She shuddered and strong arms went around her, soothing her.“They hit my mother and grabbed my sisters.They were too strong for her and no one would help us.The scarred man tried to grab me, but my mother held me tight and started running.She ran and ran.They pursued us, but didn’t catch her.She may be small, but she’s fast.” A small, sad smile lifted one side of her face.“She went back and tried to find my sisters, but they were gone.We left that day and never went back.”“So the reason she went to the forest, way out in the middle of nowhere was because she was hiding?” Lars puzzled through the situation with his calm logic.“I never thought of that, but I guess it could be true.We didn’t have any money and when we came across the cottage, it was empty.No one claimed it when we asked in the village and they welcomed the idea of having a healer move in closer to the village.Some of them even helped Mama in the early days, bringing her food and household items to trade for her herbal remedies.That’s how we’ve lived for the past decade and more.”“How old were your sisters when they were taken?” Gareth’s voice was calm but very serious.“I was about five, so I guess they were about ten or eleven.”“Then they’d be in their early twenties now.Twenty-three or so.”“Yes, I guess so.” She nodded, settling back into their arms.She saw the look of determination pass between her two mates and wondered at it.“We have to find them.” Lars’ quiet voice made her sit up in surprise.“What?”“Your sisters.We have to find them.Royal blood is too precious, and women who potentially have the ability to heal dragons and be mates to our brethren are scarcer than even that.We have to alert the other Lairs to be on the lookout for your sisters.Dragons and their knights may be able to sniff them out, now that we know they exist.”Hope entered her heart.“Do you really think so?”Lars stroked her cheek.“I believe it with all my heart.”“The Mother of All brought you and your mother to us, didn’t She?”Gareth sought her eyes, his own smiling softly in the dim room.“Now that we know your sisters could be out there, we’ll spread the word.Believe me, there’s nothing a knight or dragon likes better than a quest.”All three of them chuckled at that and settled back in the huge bed.“The Mother did indeed know what She was doing when She brought me to you.” Belora’s hands snaked out to either side to grasp her mates’ hands tightly in her own, her thoughts spinning ahead to the possibility of finding her sisters.The future looked bright indeed.The End.Bianca D’ArcBianca is the "D'Arc" side of an otherwise mild-mannered and successful career woman.She wishes she could say that she is happily married to a magnificent alpha male warrior, but such is not the case…yet.Bianca is ever hopeful and a great believer in Fate.Why, you ask? Getting the urge to up and quit her dream job on Wall Street just two weeks before 9/11 might be one reason.There are many others [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]