Page 53 of The Splendor of Fire
Eoghan’s arm came around his shoulders as hot tears of acute loss burst over Léo’s face.
Unable to stop the intrusion of thoughts, he imagined Niall’s hands on the woman he loved, and her willingness to be intimate with the man who had murdered her father. His stomach gave a violent clench and he vomited.
Eoghan patted his back. “Ah, mate. It’s okay.”
Sobs racked him.Why, God? Why did everyone he love abandon him?
“Mate. It’s not so bad.” Eoghan tightened his hold over his shoulders.
Léo lifted his face toward his friend and wiped his cheeks, a stormy wind cooling their heat. “How could she?”
Eoghan gave him a smirk. “Moira?”
Léo sucked in a painful breath, knowing he must sound unhinged. “Oui.”
Eoghan shook his head. “I caught on when you nearly broke the arm off Mowbray’s chair with your bare hand. You’re in love with Father Allen’s daughter?”
A fresh wave of nausea hit him and he retched over the side of the parapet again.
“Egh, mate. You’ve really lost your head. I’m tellin’ ya, it’s not that bad. Although I must say it is a bit of a relief to see you haven’t turnedinto a fully canonized saint yet. You’re so collected, I’ve wondered if it’s true you’re French apart from the funny way you pronounce ‘it’.”
Léo burped and hung his head in the wind. “It. What? I say it.”
Eoghan laughed. “‘EEeet. I say eet.’Yes, and you have that French passion brewin’ somewhere inside you too.”
Léo wiped his eyes on the backs of his hands and pushed to standing.
Eoghan chuckled. “You’re thinkin’ Niall stole her from you? Moira didn’t have a choice. She was forced to go to Dun Ringill. In the wake of her father’s brutal death, I might add.”
“I know.”
Eoghan crossed his arms. “What then, you’re angry that you get out of this place for a day or two? Angry you may have a chance to see the girl ya love in the flesh? Angry she’s well? Angry you may be able—” he dropped his voice, “to escape?”
“I’m angry at everything.”
Eoghan shook his head. “You’re angry at God.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No—”
“You can say‘non I’m nut’as many times as you want. You are. You’re fed up. We all get that way here. Look, Moira’s done what she needs to survive, Léo, just as we have.”
Angry wind whipped over him, tangling his hair and his lingering feelings of love and devotion.
Eoghan continued. “I went away on campaign to Letterkenny five years ago. While I was gone my woman married another man. I thought she loved me and would wait for me. But I was gone for four years. What was she supposed to do? Wait forever? What could be done about it? Nothin’.”
“Is this supposed to cheer me up?”
Eoghan chuckled and squinted into the brewing storm. “Yeah, Francach. That was a hopeless situation. This isn’t. Don’t take Gordon’s word for anythin’. Trust there’s more to it than what he’stellin’ you. And even if it is true… your brother stole her away… steal her back and get out of Scotland.If I were Moira and had the choice between the man who killed me father, and a somewhat annoyin’ but stupidly handsome Francach, it would be an easy choice.”
“She’s not his daughter.”
