The lord of the castle

chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

The trip home was uneventful.

Channa Leigh hid her disappointment well, but Darkfest could not shake

off the sense of failure.

 It weighed like a millstone round his neck.

Why had he failed?

The question plagued him long after they returned home.

Even Channa Leigh's sweet voice could not ease his troubled mind.

Late one night as he wandered through the castle, he found himself standing in front of the painting of his parents.

 His gaze settled on his father's face.

The Dragon Lord of Darkfest Castle .

Darkfest swore a short, pithy oath, then turned and went to his chamber.

He worked all through the night, and as dawn rose in the sky, he held up a small vial of ruby-colored liquid. It held three drops of his own blood and the ashes of four of the wolf's hairs mixed with the juice of wild berries to make it palatable.

He stared at the vial a long moment, wondering if he had at last discovered the secret to restore Channa Leigh's sight Unable to wait a moment longer, he ran up the stairs to her bedchamber and rushed inside.

Kneeling beside her bed, he shook her shoulder lightly. "Channa Leigh! Wake up, lass."

She woke with a start. "Is something wrong, my lord?"

"Drink this." He thrust the vial into her hand. "Quickly now."

"What is it?"

"Drink!"

Compelled by the tone of his voice, she downed the contents in a single swallow, gasping as the fiery liquid burned its way down her throat.

She felt power surge through her tingling everywhere her eyesight slowly cleared up she could see the grandeur of the room she slept in but where she had expected the power…..the energy to leave it did not do so she would keep this information privy until a better time to tell her beloved.

He watched her carefully, his heart pounding with excitement and trepidation.

And then, slowly, she turned to face him. "My lord," she breathed, and there was a wealth of wonder in her voice.

"Truly thou art the most handsome of men."

"Channa Leigh!" he said in mock horror.

"I can see you." A smile as bright as summer sun curved her lips and lit her eyes. "I can see you!"

With a glad cry, he drew her into his arms, their tears mingling with their quite laughter as he held her close.

As soon as she had touched him however she had felt the most pleasant of tingles like she the ones had felt when she drank his blood.

"But how?" she asked. "How did you do it?"

"The dragon's blood," he replied with a rueful grin.

"What dragon? Not Blackencrill?"

"No. This dragon," he said, thumping himself on the chest.

Channa Leigh was confused from personal experience she could tell you he was nay a dragon…

"You, my lord?"

"Aye. My father was known as the Dragon Lord of Darkfest Castle . I dinna know why I did not recall