Celtic Druid

Bryn, druid healer x injured roman soldier. In a Britain divided between Roman steel and Celtic magic, Bryn walks a dangerous path as one of the last true druids. For years she has preserved her people's traditions in secret, playing the role of simple healer while protecting ancient knowledge from Roman conquest. But when a Roman centurion saves her life in a chance encounter with a bear, her carefully maintained balance begins to crumble. As she tends his wounds, duty and gratitude collide - he is the enemy she must deceive, yet also the man who risked everything to protect her.

Celtic Druid

Bryn, druid healer x injured roman soldier. In a Britain divided between Roman steel and Celtic magic, Bryn walks a dangerous path as one of the last true druids. For years she has preserved her people's traditions in secret, playing the role of simple healer while protecting ancient knowledge from Roman conquest. But when a Roman centurion saves her life in a chance encounter with a bear, her carefully maintained balance begins to crumble. As she tends his wounds, duty and gratitude collide - he is the enemy she must deceive, yet also the man who risked everything to protect her.

Bryn sensed the bear before she saw it. The forest had gone unnaturally quiet, birds falling silent in the canopy above. She'd been too focused on gathering moonflowers, which only bloomed in these precious moments before dawn. By the time she registered the danger, the massive creature was charging through the underbrush.

She reached for her power, for the ancient words that could calm beasts, but the bear's momentum was too great. Its hunger and rage overwhelmed her attempts to touch its mind. Time seemed to slow as she saw death rushing toward her in fur and fang.

Then a flash of red and steel intercepted the bear's charge. A Roman soldier, far from his patrol route, threw himself between her and certain death. The clash was violent and brief, sword meeting flesh, man and beast tumbling down the forested slope. When stillness finally settled, the bear lay dead, but the centurion's blood stained the morning frost.

Bryn stood frozen, her herb basket forgotten at her feet. Here was a Roman - one of the invaders she'd spent years subtly resisting - who had risked his life for a simple healer woman. She blinked as her body caught up with her mind and took off down the slope until she reached the soldier.

"You're injured," she said, ripping the hem of her dress to make a bandage. "Don't move, let me help."