The Isle (Chronicles of the Irish Princess Book 1)

The next morning I met with Emilia in the small room that had become the Spell Room at the manor. The book that Anabelle had given me secured tight in my arms. I wondered how much she knew about Ana's family and what she was holding back from me. As suspected, she showed up about ten minutes late and was holding a cup of something in her hand and an apple in the other.

"Good morning, Leah."

"Auntie."

"How are you feeling this morning?" I knew she was asking about the baby.

"Still sick, but thanks to the tea that Gran Kali has been giving me, it isn't as bad as it was the first few days, I'm avoiding triggers as much as possible. I'll be ready once we are past this stage and I can focus more on the growing bundle, rather than how sick she's making me."

My aunt nodded, "Well, Malakai sent me with that tea you speak of and a snack for you." She handed me the teacup and placed the apple on the table. "What's that?"

"My Blessings Day gift from Anabelle. Did you know her family name?"

"Crannaugh? Yeah, I heard it a lot growing up. They were a prominent coven at the school. But your grandmother never liked them. She had a tiff with one of their leaders when they were younger. But, after she passed away, I wanted to know more and I dug into their coven a little more. As it turns out the Crannaugh Coven is a close relation to us, and the only one to specialize in light or Spirit magic, as some call it."

"What do you know about their light magic?" I pressed.

"It's similar to yours. However their use of it is rather different. For them it was about the purity of the magic, not just the projection of the light or spirit itself. Have you been able to explore the grim war at all?"

I nodded. "Yes, I've been looking into a binding spell."

She came around the table as I sipped my tea. I watched her look over the spell and consider it as something I could learn. Having looked over the spell myself, I knew that there was a lot of self preparation that went into it. I had to know the nature of my spirit, of my soul. I couldn't let greed or evil emotions get the better of me.

"Here, let me make a copy of this for you quick," I said pulling away the book.

"Why not just leave it here?"

"I don't trust anyone with it, no offense. But the cult and my mother have gotten too close too many times. I cannot let this fall into their hands." I handed her the copy and scooped up my tea walking out the door with the book tight to my chest once again.

I made my way through the halls over to the Irish Pack quarters. Nervously, I knocked on the first door in the hall. After a moment, the door opened revealing one of the two people I was looking for.

"Leah, dear, come in. I didn't expect we'd see you so soon. How are you," Oran asked me.

"I need your guidance. Maybe even you're knowledge, if possible."

He smiled and invited me in. "Of course, lass, what seems to be the problem?"

"It's about Liz's kids. Well specifically, Anabelle. She gave me a Blessing's Day gift yesterday, her grandmother's grim war. It has some interesting things inside it. About Light magic, and binding spells. I was wondering what you and Grandma Arianna knew about it, or even their coven. It's the Crannaugh coven."

I watched as Arianna's smile faded as she heard that name. "What have those Half-lings done now?"

"Ari," Oran exclaimed.

"Grandma, what do you know?"

"Well, why don't you come in and have a seat. Would you like some more tea?"

"Sure, peppermint please, if you have some."

Arianna smiled at me, "Did Kali give you her secret weapon?"

I nodded, "It's helped so much. In stead of all day sickness, its only when triggered, or just after I wake up."

"Well, I promise in a few weeks, maybe even by Christmas, it will be gone. You'll feel better after that too. More like a mom, at least that is how it was for me and Kali."

"I take it you two are close?"

"She grew up in Serbia with me, she's been my best friend ever since we were cubs. When she found her mate in Chief, I was heartbroken. It wasn't long before Oran and I found out we were mates. After our first eight months bonded, we found out we were expecting Scott; and about two months after that, Kali got pregnant with Tomas."

"Wow, I never knew that. So what about the Crannaugh's?"

"I called them, half-lings, that was probably in-accurate. They are far less related to your bloodline than half. But their power comes from the Goddess, nonetheless. They have the same light magic you possess, but it works differently, they can use it to bind spells and create them; it can be used to protect them from harm, but unlike you, it can't light up the night. For them it's more of a glow. Their bloodline is a far descendent from the female line of Meara's first set of twins. Her daughter, Kailyn, married into the Crannaugh family, when her children received her power of light, it became a part of their DNA and a few years later, the family was rooted deep in the old magic."

"So why did they leave the isle?"

"There was a dispute between the coven's matriarch and another family member, who thought they would be better suited to continue the family teachings. This was after the matriarch's son passed away, and it was determined that her daughter would never have any magic, she was a dormant, very rare for the family. Melissa was only sixteen when it happened. There was quite an age gap between her two children. Little Anabelle who know one really knew about was maybe six months old. Not even a coven leader can determine a child's power at that age. So, she was ruled a dormant like Melissa and after a small power battle, the matriarch was bested and she lost her life along with her powers and title. Because it was such a mess Oran and your father requested that they leave."

I looked down, "Emilia found out that they are hiding in Israel. I need to find a way to contact them. They may be the only ones who can help me decipher this book, Anabelle was left her grandmother's grim war. She gave it to me for Blessing's Day. Apparently, she's been visited by the Great Mother. I found a spell in the book that could help me contain my mother's possessor from leaving her body."

"Have you told anyone else about this?" Oran asked me.

I shook my head, "Not aside from Kai. You are the only ones I trust right now. Knowing that you and Gran Kali and Chief have taken the extra care to avoid being possessed. I love my aunt, but I can't trust her, and as for Luca, he's so scatter-brained that he probably would let it slip. "

"We understand, my dear. It means a lot knowing you trust us so much. If I may, maybe Kali is someone who can help us. Or maybe even little Ana. Is she with your Aunt today?"

"No, Ana is helping Liz with wedding prep this week for Sarah and Luca's wedding on Saturday. Something else I am supposed to be helping with. But Luca keeps pushing me about this spell. I think he knows that this pre-war less than peaceful state will last long after his wedding."

"Well, don't you worry my dear. We are here for you and ready to help in any way. Let me go get Kali and Chief. Maybe they can help you too."

It was another two hours before the five of us realized that we probably weren't going to get anywhere without Ana's magic help or the Great Mother speaking to me. It seemed like at the moment the Great Mother was only speaking to Anabelle. I was a little envious, but I was hoping that now, with the book that soon after the wedding, I would be able to speak with Her again and solve the mystery of the binding spell. Knowing that we weren't going to get an answer, I threw myself into helping with the final wedding details. There wasn't much to do, but what there was to do, involved sitting around with Sarah, Kate and Koko.

For the next few days, this was the norm. Kai and I would start the day together at the Manor. Then He would take off for the Palace with a few others to meet with my brother. Now that the Alpha's were here they were going to the meetings with their representatives, and sometimes a few others. After he left I would spend a little while with the Lunas before heading to meet up with Sarah and the others to plan for her wedding. Then each night, Sarah and I met up with our mates and had a small dinner. We'd grown accustomed to this as this was about the only time we saw them.

The day before the wedding, the routine changed a bit. I had entered my second month of pregnancy, and although I was still fighting the sickness, I was much more sound with my body and the baby. My hormones and I had finally settled on something, not to mention the various cups of peppermint tea had definitely helped. I would drink one about every three to four hours and only had water any other time. I had cut a lot of foods out of my diet as well. Chicken was safe, as well as some starches like potatoes. This allowed me to head over to the palace to help Sarah with the finalization of her plans and the seating in the space in the Hall.

At dinner that night, Kai and Luca were quiet. Like usual it was just the four of us. I had suggested a bigger family dinner with her parents and the grandparents, but they both turned it down.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Leah, we're fine." Sarah's voice told her otherwise.

Sarah, don't lie to me. What's wrong sis?

Luca, he thinks we should wait still.

From across the table, I shot daggers at my brother. Really? Does he realize, without this that I'll continue to receive no response from the Great Mother. Does her think that he can do this without me?

Sarah gave me a somber look and that was all the answer I needed. Angered, I stood and excused myself before the servants could hand me my dessert. I stormed out of our little dinner nook and took off for the balconies that sat near by. I wasn't surprised to hear footsteps following me, more than likely Kai was worried about me. I made it outside onto one of the balconies and let out a yell.

"You're Majesty, are you alright?" A guard shouted up to me.

"Yes, sorry, not hurt, just angry. Please carry on."

I turned away from the ledge and sunk to the ground. With my hormones out of whack pretty much everything made me cry now. Especially if my emotions were too much. The tears spilled out from my eyes.

"Leah?" It was Luca.

"You're the last person I want to talk to right now. This," I motioned to my upset state, " is all your fault."

"Leah, I'm sorry. It's just cold feet. I'm afraid of what will happen after. I'm afraid of the war, I;m not ready for this. Gosh we're only 18. It's not right. We're supposed to be worrying about tests and the SAT prep and school. Not war, being royals or our children. Leah, I'm afraid I won't be a good father to my children. I'm afraid of screwing up so much. But I wouldn't dare tell Sarah that. I'm not sure she'd understand."

I looked at my brother with a sad face. I understood how he felt. Given the great parents we had growing up, or rather the lack there of, I too, was afraid of being a bad mother. I'd mentioned it to Arianna and Kali once. Both of them about slapped me silly.

"Luca, can I tell you something?"

He nodded.

"Remember how you were afraid of being king? And what I told you. The exact reasons you feared becoming something new are the same as now. We may not have had the best examples, but when it came down to it, dad was a great person. Before becoming king, he was a wonderful father. You'll be a good father too. We may not have him anymore, but we have role models. We have Oran, and Chief and so many others to lean on. We have the biggest support system, in Royalty and in parenthood. Yes, we may be afraid of it, but we are going to be great at it. Just like we are this. But to even get to that point, you've got to step up. You and Sarah have to get married tomorrow."

"I know. Thank you, for everything. I'd be nothing without you sis."

He hugged me and we went back inside. Kai was waiting just down the hall from where we were, always keeping watch, I smiled to myself. When I walked over to him, he opened his arms and hugged me.

"Are you ready to go?"

"To the Manor?"

"Nope, we're staying here tonight. Oran and Chief said to stay here, limit your travel. They said they can handle the other Alpha's and anything that comes up; and that they'd see us tomorrow."

I felt my whole body relax when Kai told me we'd be staying here. I was already so tired, and I knew that the wedding was going to be an all day thing that would leave me drained. Kai kept his arm around me all the way to the suite we had. It felt like forever since we'd been there. Since finding out I was pregnant, it was the first time I'd felt at home and familiar with things. I was too tired to even take a quick shower, I changed right into a tank top and shorts and climbed into bed.

"What time do you have to get up," Kai chuckled.

"I'm sure if I'm not the first one there, I'll suffer from the fumes. I think everyone else is showing up around 10."

"I'll make sure you're there by nine then. Once Alex has your hair done, you can come to my office here and nap in a chair. That way you are away from the yuck and stay happy all day."

"Wait, what time are the boys getting ready?"

"I dunno, shortly after lunch, it's not like we take forever."

I gave him a tired glare. "Not even remotely funny."

With a smile, Kai leaned over me and kissed my head. "Rest, Luna."

It wasn't long after that I drifted off either. Again the nightmare of Naiome and my mother running off was present in my mind. The picture becoming more clear, as there was snow falling all around them and the air was cold.