Children of the Moon 04 - Dragon's Moon

obviously been used to store food and other supplies. The second opening led to a series of smaller caves, some of which ended in additional caverns no bigger than most bedchambers that maywell have been used by the kelle for sleeping and privacy. Other passages simply ended and the lack of any carving on the walls of these led Eirik to believe they were used rarely if ever by the ancient kelle .
    The third passage was more of the same and by the time they’d finished exploring it, Vegar informed Eirik that dusk had arrived. Ciara and Eirik returned to the cavern and shared roasted meat with Lais for latemeal.
    “There must be another passage off of this cavern,” Ciara said, her voice strained with fatigue and disappointment.
    Eirik tugged her around until she leaned against him. “We will find the Faolchú Chridhe , faolán . You must trust in yourself and your connection to the stone.”
    “I can feel it, beneath us here, but I’ve no idea how to reach it,” she said dispiritedly. “I’m tired and I feel this itch between my shoulder blades telling me that MacLeod’s soldiers are near.”
    “I’m feeling the same itch,” he admitted.
    Lais ate intermittently between examining jars from one of the tables. “More like you are sending your sense of impending trouble to Ciara through your mating bond.”
    “If that’s the case, you can keep your worries to yourself. I’ve enough of my own,” his sweet little mate said rather sourly.
    He smiled at her bad temper and reminded her, “Being a mate means sharing your burdens.”
    “I do not want the burden of dragon senses,” she huffed and then sighed, looking lost. “I am sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
    He started rubbing her shoulders and neck, kneading the tension from her. “It will be well, mo gra .”
    “What did you just call me?” she asked in a soft voice, laced with an emotion he wasn’t sure of.
    It almost sounded like hope, but what had she to hope for? She was his. He was hers. Their mating had been blessed by God himself.
    Rather than discuss things that had been set in stone since the moment he caught her in the air after her fall from the tower roof, he mused, “We may have missed something in one of the other passages.”
    “No.” She rubbed her head against his chest. “We were very careful in our search.”
    “We were just as careful searching out openings in the walls.”
    Lais said, “Perhaps the way to the hidden cavern is down, not out.”
    “Of course it is down, I told you I could feel the sacred stone under us…” Ciara’s voice trailed off. “Oh, I take your meaning, Lais. You think there actually is some kind of opening in the floor.”
    “The floor of this cavern is smoother than slate prepared by a mason,” Eirik observed.
    Ciara asked, “But how is that possible?”
    Lais shrugged. “I know not, but if our ancestors could fashion an entrance like the one to these caves, and floors so clearly made by man, though seeming of solid stone, they could make a hidden doorway in the floor. I say we move the covering on the dais.”
    “It’s so old…it will disintegrate in our hands.” Ciara’s tone made it clear the idea bothered her.
    Lais frowned apologetically. “I’ve searched the rest of the floor and cannot see any place that could open like the entrance to the cave outside.”
    Eirik was not surprised the eagle had spent his time searching for the secret passageway, despite his great interest in the cavern itself. The eagle was an honorable Chrechte that knew how to put the good of the many above his own interests and desires.
    ’Twas one of the reasons Eirik considered him brother more than friend.
    Ciara sighed. “I suppose there’s no hope for it, but we will be careful. This is a sacred place.”
    “We will treat the cavern and everything in it with the respect it deserves.” Eirik hugged her close, trying to impart his sincerity and matching concern through his touch.
    “Thank you.”

Chapter 24

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
    —L AO-TZU
    H er hands trembling, Ciara reached out to touch the leather covering on the dais. It had been made by warrior priestesses who had served their people with love and loyalty unto death centuries past.
    She tugged experimentally at the corner and found it surprisingly soft and supple under her fingers. “Let us each take a side and slide it off onto the floor.”
    Eirik and Lais