Chapter Two: Nightmares

Every night for the past week, the nightmares had plagued Firekeeper in her sleep. They were horrible: memories of her human life, especially from around the time of the deaths of everyone in the settlement in which she had lived when she was a child. She cried silently in her sleep, sometimes was afraid to fall asleep, and occasionally woke up, gasping for air, feeling imaginary smoke choke her lungs.

She wanted comfort, like the comfort only Blind Seer used to be able to give her. Firekeeper's thoughts immediately flitted to Derian, but she knew she shouldn't bother him. He had a business to run in the mornings, getting up before the sun to care for the horses. However, she changed her mind after one particularly gruesome dream.

Firekeeper padded from Damita's room, not making a sound. Quietly, she pushed open Derian's door, which she knew had a tendency to squeak. But she forgot to maneuver around the loose floorboard. It creaked loudly, freezing her in place.

"Hmm?" he mumbled, turning over. Derian froze, much like Firekeeper. "Firekeeper?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

She looked away. She felt like an awkward idiot, standing there in the darkness of his room is a borrowed nightgown. Eventually, she said under her breath, "I couldn't sleep." Mustering her courage again, Firekeeper tiptoed over to his bed, lifting the cover so she could climb under it.

Derian pulled her close without question. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

She buried her face in his chest. "It was a nightmare." Firekeeper paused, musing over where to begin. "It was memories – memories of when I was a child. I remember the fire…all of it now." She shuddered. "I remember the flames devouring all of the houses, and I remember the heat on my skin. I remember my mother dragging me out of the house. I lay on the ground, choking from the smoke, and she was kneeling beside me…a huge wolf came from the forest and she begged it to take me, and care for me. The wolf complied…she told me goodbye, and ran back inside to try to save my father. But as soon as she went inside, the roof caved in…I heard a cut-off scream and a loud snap as the beams broke her body…"

Derian was surprised to feel tears splash across his bare chest. "Firekeeper," he said into her hair, letting her name trail away. She squeezed herself in close, and he let her. He murmured comforting things to her, and stroked her hair. At last he bent his face down to kiss her. Firekeeper took this as welcome and let her passion take over her.

"Derian!" Colby Carter called through the door, trying to be quiet so as to not wake up Damita and Brock. "Derian!" Supposing that his son could not hear him, he opened the door and cried out in astonishment. Derian and Firekeeper were intertwined, naked, on his son's bed, kissing. They broke apart, and Derian yelled out while she looked on in amusement. He yanked the blanket up to hide both of their naked bodies.

Colby stuttered, trying to find words for hit initial reactions. Finally he managed to splutter, "Get dressed." He knew his son was ashamed by the way a red blush spread across his cheeks like a wildfire. Firekeeper was about to slip from under the covers, but he held up a hand to stop her. "Stay there. Get dressed when we leave." She obeyed him, but the reluctance was clear on her face. Firekeeper glanced over at Derian, who was in the process of redressing. He smiled reassuringly at her, kissed her forehead, and followed his father from the room.

The muscles around his father's mouth tightened, letting Derian know how furious Colby was. He refused to speak to his son until they reached a deserted area of the stable yard.

The veins in Colby's throat twitched. "What were you thinking?" His voice came low, calm, and ever-so-wrathful. Derian wanted to say something but he felt like a fish: his lips moved to try to speak, but no sound was produced. Eventually, he gave up trying to reply. It hurt him to see his father so angry at him – Colby was angry only very, very rarely, but when he was, everyone was sure to remember it.

His father waited for Derian to speak. All he could do was to shrug his shoulders and look away. Colby shook his head, dissatisfied. "I'm disappointed in you, son."

"I know," he said, his voice meek.

"What would occur if she happened to become pregnant with your child? What could you do then? You would be obliged to marry her, and raise the child you helped create. Enough of an issue that would be if it were merely two commoners, the fact that she is a noblewoman, even if it is merely by adoption, creates a sea of problems! I doubt Earl Kestrel would like his adopted daughter made pregnant by a commoner!"

"I wasn't planning on it!" he cried suddenly.

"Planning on what?" Colby asked, his tone rising slightly.

"That!" Derian said loudly, gesturing back at the house like a madman. "What you just saw!"

"You say you weren't planning on it. But how in the world could Firekeeper ever get the idea that you might remotely be interested in her? Even if she had initiated the relationship, all you had to do was to stop it. That was your responsibility!"

"But what if I love her? I can't stop my feelings!" Derian half-shouted, his anger rising.

"You're going have to learn how to control those feelings then," Colby said, turning and walking away, leaving Derian feeling more hurt and confused than ever.