As the dark ages gave way to lighter ones, so, too, did the Keltar seem to wish to lay down the burden of their past.

His son thought he had failed, but Silvan knew better. They’d all failed.

On the morrow they would sit down with the ancient writings and search anew. Silvan hadn’t the heart to tell his son that he’d nearly finished searching, and if there was some answer to be found in them, he was too dense to discern it.

His eyes narrowed and his thoughts turned to the wee lass his son had brought with him. When the storm had wakened him—a storm the likes of which he’d heard but a few times before—he’d rushed outside, praying ’twas Dageus returning.

It had taken some time for the fog to clear, and though he’d called out, Dageus had not replied.

When the fog had lifted, Silvan had understood why.

In Silvan’s estimation, ’twas the lass that might yet prove to be their finest hope. For so long as his son loved her—and he did, though he knew it not himself—well, evil didn’t love. Evil tried to seduce and possess and conquer, but it didn’t feel for the object of its desire. So long as love was alive in Dageus, they had a toehold, however small.

Och, he and the lass were going to become close, Silvan decided. She was going to learn about the young Dageus who’d once strolled these heathery hills, nurturing the earth and healing the wee beasties, the gentle Dageus with the wild heart. He and Nellie would see to it. Dageus’s gifts had always leaned toward the healing arts, and now he was in need of healing himself.

If the lass didn’t already love his son—he’d not had sufficient chance to probe her—he would do all in his power to win her for him.

Doona poke at them, Dageus had warned him bitterly, meaning the ancient evil within him.

But Silvan had poked. Silvan always poked. And despite the barriers his son had erected, buffering it a bit, it had poked back and Silvan was, quite simply, horrified by what was growing inside Dageus.

Chapter 18

18

“I know I’m dreaming,” Chloe announced conversationally the next morning as she descended the stairs to the great hall. She slipped into a chair, joining Silvan, Dageus, and a woman she’d not yet met—er, dreamed about—for breakfast.

Three pairs of eyes regarded her expectantly and, heartened by the attention, she continued.