Antlered Crown Read online

  Angel shifted position, crossing her legs beneath her. “So there will be others besides those of us living in the castle?”

  “Yes, eventually. As soon as the castle is settled, they’ll start to come. Farther along the shore, there are some wide meadows that will sustain cattle. Herne says we’re going to need to create our own self-sustaining environment. Even though magic can work wonders, it can’t take the place of food, nor any of those day-to-day activities that support daily life.”

  “What’s the village going to be called? Have you decided?”

  “Avondale, the valley of waters. Herne actually chose the name of the village, since I chose the name of our castle.” I paused, bursting out into a nervous laugh. “I can’t believe I’m talking about having a castle and overseeing the creation of a village.”

  I leaned down, staring at Mr. Rumblebutt, who was sitting inside a very large, comfortable carrier. “I need to get you a friend or two to play with.”

  I wiggled my fingers between the bars of the cage, and Mr. Rumblebutt reached out, sniffing them as he purred and rubbed his head against my hand.

  “When will the villagers start trickling in?”

  “A group is due to start out in two weeks, bringing the livestock that we’ll need, and then, a couple weeks after that, another group of settlers. Meanwhile, the men will begin building houses for the village and the women will start gathering what food they can find, and hunting. We can’t plant crops until next year. From what Cernunnos says—and volunteers to settle the area are coming from all around—I’d estimate we’re starting off with a population of about a thousand people. Cernunnos was good about recruiting. Herne’s well-loved among the Elves.”

  I yawned. “Sorry,” I said, stretching my arms wide. “The rocking of the vardo makes me sleepy. I feel so scattered. Elta has promised that I’ll regain my focus as time goes on. So much has happened in the past few months that my coping mechanisms aren’t working very well.”

  Angel snorted. “Don’t you think that the fact that you’re a goddess is affecting you?”

  “Yeah, I know it is.” I paused, then said, “Just think, next summer we’ll be out picking berries on the hundreds of bushes that grow down the slope near the sea. We’ll be picking berries all season come next summer.”

  “I rather doubt that you will be picking the berries,” Angel said. “That’s not a job for a queen. Or a goddess.”

  I frowned, realizing she was right. One of the hardest things I was having to adjust to was accepting that I could no longer do anything I had a whim to. In a way, I’d discovered that life at the top was more limited than life down below, when I had people to answer to. I had balked about letting the servants do everything until Herne bluntly asked me if I wanted them to lose their jobs.

  His family paid their servants well, and that included everybody from the lowliest kitchen maid to the grand butler and the head housekeeper.

  “Did you ever envision your life taking a turn like this?” Angel asked.

  I shook my head. I had never in my wildest dreams envisioned myself ending up here, in this situation.

  On the fourth day, we could see the castle at the top of the cliffs. The final stretch of trail leading to the crest of the cliff was open and devoid of trees, although the forest spread in and around the slope we were ascending. The sea was on the other side, and I could hardly wait for Angel to see it. Herne had brought me here several times through the months as the workmen were busy building the castle.

  As we neared the top, I asked the driver to stop so we could get out and ride horseback the rest of the way. As the groom saddled our horses, we waited alongside Herne and Viktor, who had obligingly stopped the caravan.

  Viktor was in his element. He was used to the mountains, and as a half-ogre, he thrived in this environment. He was grinning and wearing leather armor, and he looked right at home. Herne motioned for Angel and me to join them, riding between the two.

  I was on a black stallion, bred for strength, a present from Cernunnos. I had wanted to name him Mr. Ed, after an old TV show, but Herne had strongly suggested I pick a more noble name, given my new position. Reluctantly, I had agreed. I remembered the horse in the movie Brave had been named Angus, and so named my horse Aengus, a variant spelling.

  Herne rode a white horse, of the same build and basic genetics, and he had named his mount Chantilly. When I had asked why, he said it seemed to fit.

  As we crested the hill, the castle loomed to the right, casting a massive shadow against the slope behind it. Caer Briar Shore faced the west, over the sea. Muir Leathan was aptly named—the sea was vast, stretching larger than the greatest of the Great Lakes back home. I hated living away from a coastline, and while I knew this was a sea and not the edge of the ocean, it looked and felt as though it could go on forever and ever.

  Next to me, Angel gasped as she looked over the edge of the cliff, at the slopes of the valley leading to the water below. The sea stretched out farther than we could possibly see, both to the left and to the right. Herne had told me it was at least six hundred miles long, and where we were situated, it was three hundred miles wide. Which meant it was bigger than Lake Michigan back on Earth. Small for a sea, it still was larger than the Salish Sea off of Puget Sound.

  “It might as well be the ocean,” Angel said.

  I could feel the difference, though. “No, I can feel that it’s a sea and not the ocean. There’s a different feel and smell to saltwater. Although there are a lot of elementals in this sea. That I can sense.”

  The caravan had come to a stop. Angel and I rode past the wagons, then dismounted and instructed our horses to stay put. I hooked my arm through Angel’s as we walked over to the railing that ran along the edge of the cliff.

  As we gazed out over Muir Leathan, I could sense the elementals playing in the water below. We were a thousand feet up, but there were winding trails that led down to the shore. While it was steep, railings had been built along the sides of the walking trails to protect anyone descending the path. The two trails that were wide enough for wagons had been reinforced on the sides so a heavy rain wouldn’t send a mudslide down the hill.

  “That’s impressive,” Angel said, a soft hush in her voice.

  I turned to look up at the castle. My new home. Unlike Cernunnos’s palace, Briar Shore was built of stone. To the outside eye, the castle resembled those in England, but inside, Caer Briar Shore spread out in modernistic beauty, incorporating the best from my world with the best from Herne’s world.

  We had visited the castle several times during the building phase.

  Herne had hired hundreds of workers to finish it by our wedding, and they had worked day and night, in shifts, to make the castle everything that we could want, and to make it a home I would feel comfortable living in. Having a home that felt like—well, home—would go a long ways in helping me transition over to my new position and my new world.

  Herne had imported building supplies from Earth through the portals. While we didn’t have electricity or Earth-style plumbing, the magic of this land would make up for that. It was the best blend of both worlds.

  Angel tapped me on the arm. “I can’t wait to see what it looks like inside,” she said.

  “I think you’ll like it a lot,” I said. “Herne did his best to make it feel like home.”

  Angel studied me for a moment. “Are you happy? I know you love Herne, so don’t even think I’m asking about that. But it seems that over the past few months you’ve been distant, off in some other world, so to speak. Do you miss home? I ask only because I know I do. I know we can’t go back because of the dragons, but I still miss it.” Her eyes were glistening.

  She looked right at home here. She had adopted the garb of Annwn, and was wearing a pair of trousers with a long tunic belted at the waist. It suited her, right down to the flat leather boots. She looked like she belonged here, even if she did miss our home.

  “That’s a hard question to answer,” I
said. “I do miss it, to be honest. And yet, Annwn feels more appropriate for me now. I guess…I’m stuck in limbo. I’m a goddess who doesn’t know how to be a goddess. I feel like myself, only sometimes I get this scary feeling that I’m evolving into someone far removed from who I was. And I don’t know who that person is.”

  I reached over to rest my hand on her arm. “Now that you’ve been approved to undergo the Gadawnoin, when do you think you’ll go through it? I’ll feel so much better when you’ve crossed this damned chasm that my transition has caused.”

  But I hadn’t been entirely upfront about the schism that had formed between us. It wasn’t one of anger, or of growing apart. Instead, it had formed after I had been through the ritual. And I was beginning to think that this would happen with anyone I knew who remained mortal. I hadn’t talked to Morgana about it yet, because I wasn’t sure what to say. And I doubted she would be able to give me advice. She had been through it, but I didn’t see her hanging out with a bunch of mortals in her spare time.

  Before Angel could answer, Herne whistled. We turned to see him waving us toward the castle. “Get a move on, women!”

  His smile was infectious. Since we had moved over to Annwn, he had blossomed out in a way that I had never expected. It was almost as though he had lifted a glamour that he had worn over on Earth to hide the radiance of his divinity. Now, it shone through him like a light from his heart. At first, I had been worried. While it wasn’t like he had become a different person, I began to see the true scope of his powers, and the reality of how strong he was shimmered through. If I had seen this side while we were just dating, it would have scared me speechless.

  “We’re coming.” I mounted Aengus again and clicked my heels gently against his side.

  He whinnied, turning around, following my lead. Angel followed, as comfortable on her horse as I was on mine. Over the months we had done a lot of riding. I had come to love it and so had Angel. We had ridden out on a number of summer evenings, taking a picnic with us. Sometimes Herne joined us, sometimes DJ joined us, but Angel and I had spent a lot of time during the summer discussing our new lives, just the two of us.

  As we approached the castle, I began to get excited. As nervous as I was, the realization that I was finally home—and this would forever be my home—hit me. I slid off Aengus’s back and handed the reins to the groom.

  Herne wrapped his arm around my waist and gave me a quick kiss. “Are you excited to see your new home?”

  I looked around, but Angel had set off in search of DJ.

  “I am, actually. I need to feel like I’m putting down roots. I’ve felt out of place ever since we moved over.”

  “I understand,” Herne said. “But now, you can settle in, and truly make this your home. If there’s anything at all you want to change, tell me and I’ll make sure it happens. Above everything else, I want you to be happy. That matters more to me than anything in the world.”

  And with that, we turned toward the castle and led the way into our new home.

  Chapter Three

  As we entered the Great Hall, I gasped. Last I had seen, it had still been under construction.

  Now… The hall was vast, the floor a black-and-white checkerboard tile, the walls white marble with two rows of Grecian columns on either side of the center walkway. There were benches and tables and chairs scattered around, and the room was four times as big as my old house back on Earth. Doorways branched off of the sides, some of them arched openings, while others were actual doors.

  I clapped. It was light and bright and beautiful, not at all the solemn gray I had expected. “It’s beautiful,” I said. “I was afraid it was going to be shadowy and overwhelming.”

  “It only gets better,” Herne said.

  At that moment, Morgana appeared in the central doorway that led deeper into the castle. She smiled and held out her arms. At first, I wasn’t sure to whom she was gesturing, but Herne strode forward to give her a long hug.

  After kissing him on the cheek, Morgana turned to me and swept me into her embrace as well. I wasn’t used to being hugged by my goddess, although I had to quit thinking of her in that manner. I was no longer her priestess. I was actually on more or less the same footing as she was, even though I felt like a junior parlor maid compared to the mistress of the house. But here, I was the mistress, and I had to act like it.

  “It’s beautiful,” I said, looking around. “Thank you. I know you’re responsible for the décor.”

  “I hope you like it,” Morgana said. “I know your favorite colors, so I did my best to furnish Briar Shore the way I thought you would like. If there’s anything you want changed—”

  “I know, Herne already told me. If there’s anything I want to change, I’ll let you know.” I looked around at the high ceilings and the windows that were spaced out in two rows—long and vertical—to cover two sides of the castle. “I love how light it is. But the windows can’t be the only thing letting in light.”

  While the windows lining the top and mid-sections of the Great Hall were spacious, they couldn’t account for the incredible lightness shimmering through the hall. For one thing, the top row was thirty feet near the top of the ceiling, and the second row of windows was about ten feet up the sides. Outside, it was overcast and gloomy. I loved the weather, but I knew there wasn’t that much light to stream in.

  “We have hidden sources of light that shine through the walls. It’s not that difficult, not when you embed magic in the very marble and rock.” She beamed. “Come, let’s go look at your private chambers.”

  As Morgana led us through the central double doors, it occurred to me that the castle was so large that it would take me weeks to truly learn my way around. I knew we had private quarters, with a dining room, living room, and kitchen as well as the bedroom and en suite. And so did Angel, DJ and his foster family, Viktor and Sheila, and both Talia and Yutani.

  There was also the throne room for Herne and me to preside in, the formal dining room, the ballroom, guest quarters, and then all of the servants’ quarters on the upper floors. Shades of Downton Abbey, I thought. The castle was huge, though it wasn’t as big as Cernunnos’s palace or Morgana’s castle by the sea.

  Herne had named the forest downslope of us the Wild Wood. Thankfully, it wasn’t part of Y’Bain, which meant that we could journey into it without any problems.

  In fact, we were actually quite a distance from the massive forest that covered a wide swath of Annwn. We were in the northern section of the realm, closer to Arianrhod’s lands than to Cernunnos’s palace. Arianrhod’s lands were to the west. Once you crossed Muir Leathan, to the northeast you would enter the realm of Wildemoone. Direct north lay Kalevala, where Raven and Kipa lived. Beyond Kalevala was Pohjola, and then even farther north led to the realms of Valhalla, Asgard, and the Forgotten Kingdom, where the dragons lived.

  Morgana gave us a tour of the first floor of the castle. It was beautiful, all the way through, with elements everywhere that reminded me of home. Although it was far more formal than I was used to, Morgana had given as many cozy touches to the rooms as she could, and the color schemes were colors I loved.

  When we finally came to our private living room, I dropped gratefully into the plush sofa. It was Victorian-style, a rich purple velvet, but it had a comfortable throw over it, and the rest of the living room was less formal. It was then that I noticed the rocking chair from my house over on Earth, and I burst into tears.

  “My chair—you brought my chair over.” I tried to wipe my eyes but the tears wouldn’t stop, and I hung my head, feeling slightly ridiculous. “I feel so overwhelmed.”

  With Herne and Angel watching, Morgana sat beside me, wrapped her arms around my shoulders, and patted me on the back like a mother might cuddle a child.

  “It’s all right, Ember. It’s okay. Everyone who’s ever gone through the Gadawnoin goes through this. It takes time to sort everything out, especially when you have to transfer worlds as well as cross that mortal
divide. You’ll be okay. I promise. Trust me?” She gave me a long look.

  I sat back, sniffling and wiping my eyes. “I do trust you. Thank you for understanding.”

  I focused on the merry fire that was crackling in the hearth. The fireplace wasn’t one of those great stone ones like Cernunnos had, but modest, like one I might find in my own home. Yet, for its size, the hearth emitted enough heat to warm the room.

  Attached to our living room were the rest of our private quarters. We had two large bathrooms, both of which looked modern even though they ran on Elven magic. The kitchen was small but functional—and when I say small, it was as big as the first floor in my old house. There was a breakfast nook in the kitchen.

  We also had a private dining room, with a table that could seat twenty. From there, we moved to our bedroom. A large chamber with a dressing room the size of a small bedroom, it was lovely—calming and quiet. The bed had four spiraling posters, but no canopy, for which I was grateful. I tended to have a touch of claustrophobia and I didn’t like sleeping under a bunch of material.

  As Angel and I explored the rooms, I began to breathe easier. While it was still more formal and grand than I was used to, we could tweak it into a comfortable, cozy space. There wasn’t anything I overtly disliked. Morgana was spot-on when it came to picking décor she thought that I would enjoy, and I began to realize that I could settle in here and be comfortable.

  “You like it here, don’t you?” Angel asked.

  I thought about her question before answering.

  “Actually, I do. Morgana brought over enough things from our house to make me feel comfortable. And of course there’s Mr. Rumblebutt.” We were going to confine him to our private quarters, and the guards and maids had all been thoroughly warned to take good care of him and keep him inside.

  At that moment, Mr. Rumblebutt jumped on the bed and began to roll around on his back, purring. That seemed to be the final step. I relaxed, dropped on the bed, and cuddled him.