Page 68 of First Light

“You sound just like him.” She blinked back tears.

She wanted to run to him and hug him, but the man in front of her was not her father. His face was older and harder. He wore armor and a circlet of bright gold on his forehead. His hands were scarred from battle, not from carpentry.

Dafydd walked toward her slowly. “They tell me that my Brightkin died. Passed into the otherworld over six years ago.”

She nodded. “His name was Gareth Morgan. My mother’s name was Tegan. They died in a car accident. Do you know what that is?”

His eyes were pained. “I do, child.”

“Did you feel it?”

“I think so.” Dafydd frowned a little. “I had a bout of melancholy that I attributed to missing my daughter, but now I think that must have been his loss.”

“He was a wonderful dad.”

“I hope I was the same.” Dafydd’s eyes warmed. “Will you sit with me a moment, Carys Morgan? I would like to know my daughter’s kin.”

When Carys nodded, Dafydd held his arm out, ushering her to a pair of benches sitting in front of a lit fireplace that warmed a small circle near the hearth.

Mared and Cadell stood on either side of the doorway, guarding the gallery from interruptions. She thought of Cadell, reached out andtugged on the vine she felt wrapped around her heart. Cadell must have felt it. He turned and their eyes met.

Do you need me, Nêrys?

She shook her head.

“It is comforting, is it not?” Dafydd said. “To have that calm voice in your mind.”

“It is. Right now?” She took a long breath and let it out slowly. “Very comforting.”

Dafydd stretched out his legs and leaned forward. “I readied my coracle the moment Mared got the message from Cadell that you were here. I knew that Lachlan had a relationship withhisBrightkin. It happens sometimes, particularly with children who grow up around the fae gates, but it never occurred to me that he would go in search ofyouwhen Seren died.”

Carys took a deep breath. “I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about that.”

Dafydd’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, I imagine you are. In case no one has told you, you’re allowed to feel however you feel. You’re Seren’s twin, but you have no obligation to Lachlan or to me. You have your own life, Carys Morgan.”

“I appreciate you saying that.”

“I can see Cadell’s bond to you, and I can’t explain it, but I’m glad for it.” He cast his eyes toward the stoic woman standing across from Cadell. “Mared has been my truest companion and my closest confidante for over fifty years, not that you can tell by her grand expressions of devotion, mind you.” He smiled and looked toward the archway. “I trust her more than anyone in my life—even my own wise queen—and she has never betrayed me.”

“That’s amazing.” Carys wondered how old Cadell was. It hadn’t occurred to her to ask.

“It’s not in their nature, you see? Dragons will be brutally honest, but they will never hurt intentionally, and their loyalty goes far beyond anything that humans understand.”

“I do trust Cadell.” She frowned. “I trusted him immediately, and Ican’t really explain why. Maybe it’s something about hearing his voice in my mind.”

That’s probably part of it.

She turned toward him and gave him a smile, but Cadell’s face didn’t even flinch from his soldier’s stance. “He reminds me of a loyal knight.”

“It’s not a bad comparison, but they are knights who choose their commander. Dragons live for hundreds of years and can bond with multiple humans or none in that time. They choose us, not the other way round.”

Carys frowned. “Why?”

“Why do they choose one human over another?” He shrugged. “No one knows.”

“No, why do they choose us at all?” She glanced at Cadell, then back to Dafydd. “What do we givethem?”

She felt Cadell start and knew her dragon was listening.

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