Druidess Found (Druidess Trilogy Book 1) by Machelle Hanleigh (interesting novels to read txt) 📕

his mind. He listened to the sounds outside his hut. He let his breath out that he held. All was quiet. He sat up on his pallet, bent his legs and rested his forearms on his knees. He woke before with the taste of fear running through him. He woke from his night terrors with this type of fear, wondering if his night terrors became reality. None of those times woke him to a full-on panic attack like this one did. He thought perhaps some noise outside penetrated his troubled sleep and woke him.

No noise came from outside his hut. The fear gripping him did not abate. He ran his hand over his face to clear the remnants of sleep, and the last of the night terrors that plagued him for the past week. It wasn't his usual ones of doom and destruction to the villages. These were worse. They were of his fair, sea-green eyed, auburn hair girl that he left in that cursed stone building with those cursed people. In all the times before, not once he dreamt about her. Not until he found her on his world, not until he left her in the Agenors stronghold. Guilt plagued him. He attributed the night terrors to his guilt at leaving her there. He should have taken her back to her world when he first found her.

Since finding her, he didn't resist visiting her while she slept with the exception of this past night. Exhaustion carried him into a deep sleep. Moto meant to sleep a short while and then make his nightly visit. It didn't work out that way. He laid the blame for his exhaustion to the events of Council sessions with the Shanees and Queen.

The meetings went beyond the normal three days. He found himself at the center of more than one discussion. He didn't know if he should be flattered or irritated that the Queen allowed him to give voice to his night terrors of doom in the Council meetings. In the end, it didn't matter. None of them could be persuaded of the potential danger any more than the first time he presented the night terrors in a previous Council gathering. Or the many times he tried to persuade the Queen to pay heed to the warning his people were being given in his night terrors. The reason why she allowed him to voice it again went beyond his understanding.

The Council and Queen thanked him for bringing this to their attention, again. They assured him they would be vigilant of the village defenses. With all that said, what concerned them most was the fact he consistently had those night terrors. To satisfy them, he admitted to having developed other abilities, although he only admitted to having similar abilities as the other Chosen possessed. He downplayed to what extent those abilities developed. The fact that he could open portals, use a looking bowl to see others in other places, found the Ancestral Gateway and traveled to other worlds, he kept to himself. He was unusual enough for Kahoali male. He didn't need to give the Shanees and Queen additional reasons to be concerned about him. Or fear him.

Only Sari and Shimani knew the truth about him and his abilities. He intended to keep it that way. Neither would betray his secrets. There were his closest friends and trustworthy. He knew there might come a day he would be forced to disclose all to Queen Shakti, just not that day or any in the near future if he could help it. She would not understand. He didn't understand. Why should he develop abilities beyond the norm and not any of others? With the exception of Shimani. It's what drew him to Shimani in the first place. He noticed when Shimani was young he displayed similar abilities to what Moto's younger self did. Moto received a few strange looks when he practiced in public. He realized early on he needed to keep his true abilities secret. When he saw the same telltale signs in Shimani, he took the kid under his tutelage to help guide him. Moto learned so much on his own through trial and error. He didn't want Shimani to go through the same difficulties.

His mind drifted back to the girl. Her image burrowed deep into his mind and center being. He often woke wanting to touch her, to draw her close. Even from the night terrors of her, he woke wanting to draw her close. He shook his head to clear his mind. It didn't matter what he wanted to do to or with her. He couldn't give in to those impulses. It eluded him why he woke wanting her so much. How could she touch him in such a way? None in all the Kahoali villagers stirred him in the same way she did. Sometimes he wished that someone in the villages would stir him to break the connection between them, the connection which drew him to her time and time again.

A cruel joke of the Universe he should desire one not capable of being a true bonded mate to him. He would have asked the Universe that question if he thought it would give him an answer. He learned a long time ago the Universe only revealed what it wanted and in the time of its own choosing. And it had a wicked sense of humor. For the record, Moto sent out to the Universe, I am not amused!

He lifted his eyes to the openings near where the wall met the ceiling. The dark of night gave way to the first light of day. Moto stood and rolled up his sleeping pallet. He felt a lingering sense of fear despite his efforts to push it aside. He grabbed his vest and trousers. He couldn't determine the source of the fear. He hoped the warm shower would wash away the unpleasant emotion and clear his troubled thoughts. It didn't make sense that he