The tenderness in his voice was nearly her undoing. She swallowed the lump threatening to choke her and rubbed at her burning eyes. «Razvan. Do you think he's really dead? I've always been so accurate, and I thought I'd killed him, but when I replay the battle over in my head, I'm not so certain. You saw Maxim, and even Gregori regenerated his hand, or Mikhail did it for him, but the point is, there were so many unbelievable things. What if I didn't kill Razvan? What if he's still alive? The threat to us would be so much more. He'll never forgive what I did.»
Vikirnoff drew her closer to him, stroking caresses down her hair, his heart beating in time with hers. «If Razvan is dead, Natalya, he will not only forgive you, but he will thank you. If he still lives, it is not really Razvan. His soul is long gone and only the shell of his body remains.»
«I've gone over it a million times in my mind.» Anxiety mixed with sorrow filled her eyes. «I swear my every intention was to kill him. I knew what he was doing the moment I looked at your face and I wasn't going to allow him to hurt you.»
«I am sorry you had to be the one.»
«No, it had to be me. I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to take his life, I love him. I'll always love him and I'll mourn the brother I lost forever. It was my job. Had I been the one to turn on the people I love, to become that evil a creature, I would hope my brother would love me enough to destroy me.»
Vikirnoff framed her face between his hands and kissed her gently, tenderly. «That is the way a true Dragonseeker would think. Rhiannon would be so proud of you. I know Dominic must be.»
«Have you heard how Dominic and Manolito are?»
«Both are in the ground healing. It will take some time for Dominic. Manolito's wounds were very serious, but Dominic remained on the barrier burning while he aided you in unraveling the safeguards. The burns were very severe. Gregori feared there would be scars and Carpathians rarely scar.»
«How awful. I could feel his pain occasionally, but he shielded me for the most part. I couldn't help him at all, even though I knew he was suffering.»
«Carpathian males protect our women, Natalya. It is who we are.»
She rubbed his arm lightly, back and forth. «I know I'm difficult.»
«We will work out the kinks. All relationships have them.»
She pulled back enough to look into his eyes. «We won't be working anything out if you mean I'll be tucked away in a corner when trouble comes.»
«I can only wish.» He kissed her nose. «I was proud of you during Gabrielle's conversion. You really helped her get through it. Hopefully, when her sister arrives and she awakens, she will be happy.»
«I think she will. Her main concern seemed to be for Gary and what the Carpathian males will expect of her now. If she loves Gary, I can't imagine anyone objecting to her being with him.»
Vikirnoff remained silent, his hands sliding up and down her bare skin just to feel how soft she was.
Natalya shivered under his touch, leaning closer so that the tips of her breasts pushed against his chest. «I don't suppose your Mikhail can find a way to destroy the book?»
«Even if he cannot, it will be safe in his care. He has no wish to open it, let alone use it, so I believe, until he figures out a way to get rid of it, we will not have to worry.»
«I'm glad I don't have the responsibility of it. He was amazing. Have you ever seen that before?»
Vikirnoff shook his head. «There were rumors, legends of the Dubrinsky and Daratrazanoff alliance, that there was some weapon that could be unleashed, but I am uncertain just what happened. I am just grateful that it did happen.»
«Me, too. And did I say thank you for getting rid of that knife? I couldn't stand to know it was still in the world and might find its way back to Xavier.»
He caught her hips and lifted her off of him, setting her to one side. Natalya gave a small cry of joy. «Hey! I'm getting the jeans off.»
«Yes, you are.» He flicked his hand toward her and the offending material vanished. «We will practice removing your clothes hour after hour, but for now, I cannot wait any longer.» He moved up behind her, bending her forward, bracing her palms on the log. His hand slid between her legs, stroking and caressing, fingers dipping deep.
Her entire body shuddered and she pushed back against him. «So impatient,» she teased. «But then, so am I.»
He thrust into her, a long deep stroke, welding them together, hearing her soft cry of pleasure and feeling fire streak through his body. It would take several lifetimes to ever sate him. It would take even more before he could fully believe the miracle he had been given. «You are ainaak sivamet jutta. Forever to my heart connected.»
«As you are to mine.»
Appendix 1
Carpathian Healing Chants
To rightly understand Carpathian healing chants, background is required in several areas:
The Carpathian view on healing The «Lesser Healing Chant» of the Carpathians The «Great Healing Chant» of the Carpathians Carpathian chanting technique
1. The Carpathian view on healing
The Carpathians are a nomadic people whose geographical origins can be traced back to at least as far as the Southern Ural Mountains (near the steppes of modern day Kazakhstan), on the border between Europe and Asia. (For this reason, modern-day linguists call their language, «proto-Uralic,» without knowing that this is the language of the Carpathians.) Unlike most nomadic peoples, the wandering of the Carpathians was not due to the need to find new grazing lands as the seasons and climate shifted, or the search for better trade. Instead, the Carpathians' movements were driven by a great purpose: to find a land that would have the right earth, a soil with the kind of richness that would greatly enhance their rejuvenative powers.
Over the centuries, they migrated westward (some six thousand years ago), until they at last found their perfect homeland-their «susu»-in the Carpathian Mountains, whose long arc cradled the lush plains of the kingdom of Hungary. (The kingdom of Hungary flourished for over a millennium-making Hungarian the dominant language of the Carpathian Basin-until the kingdom's lands were split among several countries after World War I: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, Austria, and modern Hungary.)
Other peoples from the Southern Urals (who shared the Carpathian language, but were not Carpathians) migrated in different directions. Some ended up in Finland, which accounts for why the modern Hungarian and Finnish languages are among the contemporary descendents of the ancient Carpathian language. Even though they are tied forever to their chosen Carpathian homeland, the wandering of the Carpathians continues, as they search the world for the answers that will enable them to bear and raise their offspring without difficulty. M
Because of their geographical origins, the Carpathian views on healing share much with the larger Eurasian shamanistic tradition. Probably the closest modern representative of that tradition is based in Tuva (and is referred to as «Tuvinian Shamanism»)-see the map above.
The Eurasian shamanistic tradition-from the Carpathians to the Siberian shamans– held that illness originated in the human soul, and only later manifested as various physical conditions. Therefore, shamanistic healing, while not neglecting the body, focused on the soul and its healing. The most profound illnesses were understood to be caused by «soul departure.'» where all or some part of the sick person's soul has wandered away from the body (into the nether realms), or has been captured or possessed by an evil spirit, or both.
The Carpathians belong to this greater Eurasian shamanistic tradition and shared its viewpoints. While the Carpathians themselves did not succumb to illness, Carpathian healers understood that the most profound wounds were also accompanied by a similar «soul departure.»