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

longer heard the calling of their talisman. After they retrieved their talisman the people appeared content to avoid Crystal Lake. They even avoided the meadow area unless there was a special occasion which forced them to gather there by the Queen's order or by tradition. Moto never understood why his people avoid the area. He spent as much time at Crystal Lake as possible. Crystal Lake and the meadow was a part of his very being in a way that he couldn't explain. He sensed all Kahoali connected to Crystal Lake, and yet he was the only one who sought its presence.

For him, the meadow, and the water, were a welcoming friend. He often felt peace and a sense of being home in and around the Lake. It always gave him what he needed most in a strangely intuitive way. Tonight, he needed a good, hearty swim to tire his mind and body. He swam and swam and swam to his core's content. He knew he would not reach the far edge of Crystal Lake unless he wanted or needed to reach it. There was a difference between need and want which he learned as a youth. A lesson he learned the hard way.

Crystal Lake always gave him what he needed, but never what he wanted unless what he wanted aligned with what he needed.

As he swam, he marveled at the way Crystal Lake could go on forever or be very small. If he needed to, he could reach the other side in just a few strokes. Tonight, Crystal Lake appeared large and he didn't reach the other side, neither did he need to. As much as he understood, things about the Lake were still a mystery. For the most part he liked to think they understood each other. When he tired enough, he flipped to his back and floated under the canopy of the night.

His mind drifted back to the events of the evening repast, a very long evening. He spent time talking to each of the Shanees who requested to be considered as a suitable mate. Other Shanees attended the evening repast, but only four of the twelve made a request to become his bonded mate. On top of that, he kept his back to the girl all the while feeling her constant scrutiny penetrating his very core. He found it difficult to tune out her emotions while at the same time engaging in conversation with each of the Shanees. He felt grateful Shimani stayed nearby and kept the conversation on track. Other times entertained both the children and Shanees alike when an uncomfortable silence ensued. How could he choose a bonded mate from among any of them when he couldn't even carry on a decent conversation?

Shimani and Sari managed to keep the girl away from the unpleasantness of the evening. Mostly Sari since she stayed by the girl's side the entire evening. Moto knew he should be grateful, yet he cursed them both for the girl being at the evening's repast in the first place. Shimani and Sari should know better than to bring the girl to that particular repast. They could have waited to invite the girl to a different evening repast. At least they gave her watered down brey. He felt slightly grateful for that part as it relaxed her enough, she rested and helped him focus on his business without the distraction. He felt grateful to the Universe for the most part, the evening wasn't a complete disaster. The disastrous part was the fact he had to choose a bonded mate.

Moto swam to the edge and pulled himself out. Water ran down his body and dripped from his hair. Although he could use his abilities to get a towel from his hut, he chose not to. He would be dry soon enough. He lay on his back on the soft moss carpeting of the ground and rested his head on his folded clothes. He didn't bother to dress. The breeze felt good against his wet skin. He savored the moments when he didn't have to guard his emotions and could be free. The freedom to exist was potent to him.

He stared up at the night sky. That part of the forest that was open to the sky. He loved the night sky sprinkled with so many stars he couldn't count them all. It pleased him that a certain world was not visible from Crystal Lake. Since the villages lay within the forest and the canopies thicker over the villages, he didn't catch sight of that cursed world. It was visible only in places out in the open on Ki, like the land of the Agenors. He saw it so little he often forgot the other world existed. For some obscure reason he could feel its presence in the sky this cycle in a way he didn't feel in the past. He blamed that on his catching sight of the cursed world when he first found the girl on Ki with the Agenors.

He pushed thoughts of that world and its Inhabitants from his mind. He had other things to think on, the most recent being his conversation with Sari about his pending necessity to take a bonded mate. She was one of the four to make a formal request to the Queen to be considered as a bonded mate. He knew when she talked to him earlier in the day before the evening repast that she intended to make the request. He suspected she developed a plan of some sort, but she didn't disclose details. She rectified that on the way back to her village after the repast.

He should have known that he wouldn't like it. It was fortunate they found time to speak alone about it. Since she made a formal offer to Queen Shakti about becoming his bonded mate, the Queen didn't view Moto's request to escort Sari home as unusual. In fact, Queen Shakti appeared delighted by his request. It gave him