Each of the
women had the same mother but different fathers and it was their mother’s influence
Argent counted on to help her put her brother in his place.
5
Charlotte Boyett-Compo
“We are of age, Mother,” Argent said softly.
“ You are ,” came a soft, melodious voice from beyond time and space.
“And we believe this warrior is the Graihaltagh Reiht , the Chosen Lover.”
“This is true. He is.”
Argent’s heart soared. “Then we can have him?”
A tinkling laugh caressed the silver-haired woman. “Only if you can snare the wolf,
daughter. He has spent many a year running from commitment. You will need to bring him to
ground first.”
“Please don’t let Khee interfere,” Argent pleaded. “He still thinks of me as a child
despite having reached my thirtieth-first birthday and Dunny and Naois see Cora and
Aureolin in the same light. They are twenty-six and twenty-three but you would think
them still in swaddling clothes to hear their brothers tell it.”
“Kheelan has worries of his own, daughter, and both Dunham and Naois will stay out of
this. Tread carefully and your warrior will come to heel.”
The Fer Gait Toshee , the Primary Gatekeeper of the Citadel—the Terran fortress from
whence the Reapers were dispatched to protect mankind from evil—felt her mother, the
Ben Chiarn Mooar, the Great Lady of the Multitude, fading away, and as she always did,
felt the nearly unbearable sadness of being so far away from the woman who had given
her life.
But she and her half sisters and half brothers had been assigned essential jobs on
this distant world so many millions of light-years from their homes. A vital directive
had been given to them from the Triune Goddess Herself to help the Reapers ensure the
continued existence of humankind. As Breitheamhtái , judges for the Multitude, it was up
to them to add their psychic powers to that of their brothers, the Shadowlords, to
thwart the evil that often plagued mankind.
“The Multitude will provide for you,” their mother had told them before the longrange cruiser upon which they were traveling had breached the airspace over Rysalia,
6
Embrace the Wind
the home of the Ben-Alkazars. “When it is your time to find a mate, one will be sent to
you.”
Though it had been a lonely job so far away from their homeworlds of Rysalia,
Serenia and Oceania, the rewards had been great. The Multitude—the secret society of
sorceresses dedicated to the eradication of evil as well as the assurance of equality and
enlightenment of womankind—had seen to all their needs.
Save one.
Pure, untouched, the Gatekeepers had bided their time with patience and
unshakeable respect for Morrigunia, the Triune Goddess who governed them all. They
knew She would provide for them when the time was right and the stars and Fates
were in alignment. But watching the Reapers bring their mates to the Citadel, seeing the
precious fruit that had sprung from the unions of those warriors and their lady-wives,
the hunger for a man of their own had grown steadily. They wanted to know the love
between man and mate. They ached to discover the secrets of that part of life
whereupon man and woman gave and shared the greatest of gifts—themselves. They
longed for companionship and laughter. To them, it was far more than just the need to
bear their lover’s sons, they wanted to share his life as well. They wanted to make him
happy, make him theirs. Give him peace as only they knew they could give it. As the
years passed, they worried the Chosen One would never come.
Arriving at the black polished door that led into the High Council chamber of the
Shadowlords, Argent thought back to the first time she’d seen this immense fortress.
The Citadel had been built over the crumbling foundation of an older structure,
following closely the same perimeters as the original building destroyed during the
Burning War. Fashioned in the shape of a flattened star, the
women had the same mother but different fathers and it was their mother’s influence
Argent counted on to help her put her brother in his place.
5
Charlotte Boyett-Compo
“We are of age, Mother,” Argent said softly.
“ You are ,” came a soft, melodious voice from beyond time and space.
“And we believe this warrior is the Graihaltagh Reiht , the Chosen Lover.”
“This is true. He is.”
Argent’s heart soared. “Then we can have him?”
A tinkling laugh caressed the silver-haired woman. “Only if you can snare the wolf,
daughter. He has spent many a year running from commitment. You will need to bring him to
ground first.”
“Please don’t let Khee interfere,” Argent pleaded. “He still thinks of me as a child
despite having reached my thirtieth-first birthday and Dunny and Naois see Cora and
Aureolin in the same light. They are twenty-six and twenty-three but you would think
them still in swaddling clothes to hear their brothers tell it.”
“Kheelan has worries of his own, daughter, and both Dunham and Naois will stay out of
this. Tread carefully and your warrior will come to heel.”
The Fer Gait Toshee , the Primary Gatekeeper of the Citadel—the Terran fortress from
whence the Reapers were dispatched to protect mankind from evil—felt her mother, the
Ben Chiarn Mooar, the Great Lady of the Multitude, fading away, and as she always did,
felt the nearly unbearable sadness of being so far away from the woman who had given
her life.
But she and her half sisters and half brothers had been assigned essential jobs on
this distant world so many millions of light-years from their homes. A vital directive
had been given to them from the Triune Goddess Herself to help the Reapers ensure the
continued existence of humankind. As Breitheamhtái , judges for the Multitude, it was up
to them to add their psychic powers to that of their brothers, the Shadowlords, to
thwart the evil that often plagued mankind.
“The Multitude will provide for you,” their mother had told them before the longrange cruiser upon which they were traveling had breached the airspace over Rysalia,
6
Embrace the Wind
the home of the Ben-Alkazars. “When it is your time to find a mate, one will be sent to
you.”
Though it had been a lonely job so far away from their homeworlds of Rysalia,
Serenia and Oceania, the rewards had been great. The Multitude—the secret society of
sorceresses dedicated to the eradication of evil as well as the assurance of equality and
enlightenment of womankind—had seen to all their needs.
Save one.
Pure, untouched, the Gatekeepers had bided their time with patience and
unshakeable respect for Morrigunia, the Triune Goddess who governed them all. They
knew She would provide for them when the time was right and the stars and Fates
were in alignment. But watching the Reapers bring their mates to the Citadel, seeing the
precious fruit that had sprung from the unions of those warriors and their lady-wives,
the hunger for a man of their own had grown steadily. They wanted to know the love
between man and mate. They ached to discover the secrets of that part of life
whereupon man and woman gave and shared the greatest of gifts—themselves. They
longed for companionship and laughter. To them, it was far more than just the need to
bear their lover’s sons, they wanted to share his life as well. They wanted to make him
happy, make him theirs. Give him peace as only they knew they could give it. As the
years passed, they worried the Chosen One would never come.
Arriving at the black polished door that led into the High Council chamber of the
Shadowlords, Argent thought back to the first time she’d seen this immense fortress.
The Citadel had been built over the crumbling foundation of an older structure,
following closely the same perimeters as the original building destroyed during the
Burning War. Fashioned in the shape of a flattened star, the
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