Page 62 of The Splendor of Fire
The family way.Another blow hit him in the heart and he moved away from her, reminding himself that whatever they had once shared was now gone.
Moira shook her head back and forth and burst into tears. Isobel helped her to her feet, and Moira crouched, wrapping her arms around the old woman, rasping and sobbing with utter heartbreak. Léo tried to hang onto his disgust—but he couldn’t. Had he really wanted to hurt her this way?
Isobel patted her back. “I’ll take her back to her chamber, she needs a lie down.”
Niall winced against the sounds of her rasping wails. “I suppose I was a bit harsh with her just now.”
A bit? Léo’s heart clenched and he longed to follow her as Isobel guided her out of the room. The door closed and Malvina and Ardis stared at it.
Niall made a noise of frustration. “Ardis, see that my things are packed. I leave this afternoon for Lochindorb. The Wolf is meeting me there. I’ll be gone for a month so make sure I have sufficient. Everyone else, get out. I cannae hear my own thoughts. Trial by fire…the dream is coming true.”
Curious.Who had been the one to destroy a siege engine? It could have been Hector, but somehow he didn’t believe it. Fifty men killed and a forest destroyed? Hector was a swift and efficient warrior.
He strode out of the room and down the corridor. As he passed Elspeth’s old chamber he heard the sounds of despairing sniffs. He lingered and wondered if he should knock and let her know that Ardis had lied to save him, that he would never spend the night with anyone he wasn’t married to. That he was sorry for hurting and insulting her. That he loved her, and only her.
“I’ve got my eye on you, Léonid.”
Malvina’s pinched face and white streaked black hair lent her the appearance of a banshee lurking in the shadows.
“Haven’t you always?”
“No, not always. But perhaps I should have. Then my daughter would still be alive.”
In an instant, he was reliving the vision of Elspeth tumbling forward over the parapet, her scream as she hurtled toward the rocks. The thud as she hit the earth. It had been the evil in his family that had killed Elspeth. Ambition, power, greed. Things that would pass away.
“Your daughter wouldn’t be alive even if I hadn’t been there.”
Malvina’s green eyes lit with hatred. “If you say.”
Whistling sounded from the stairwell and Gordon exited onto the second floor. “Ready? We’re on Kyleakin today and the rest of this week.”
Léo studied Malvina’s hard expression, her eyes traveling from Elspeth’s door to himself, parsing something out.
“Aye. Whatever I need to do to get out of cursed Skye.”
Chapter 18
DUNVEGAN CASTLE - JULY 15, 1385
Fifty men dead. Because of her.
For ten days the horrible truth filled her every thought.Lord, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.
A bìrlinn waited at the end of the dock, a distinctive axe couched between the branches painted upon its hull.
Hector.Here for no other reason but to punish her. When Iain docked the boat he put his hand down for her. She did not take it. He bumped a knuckle off her chin in a playful manner.Come now, Birdy.
I cannot face him.
Iain crouched down in front of her, light from the torch bouncing off his short red hair. His eyes, the color of violets, were full of concern.
Hector will discipline you, but he’ll be fair.
She nodded and got to her feet, following him up the boat slip and into the castle. There was no use putting it off any longer.
Dunvegan was unlike any home she’d ever seen. Rich tapestries hung from every wall, furniture was plentiful in every room, skins covered every floor, candles glowed in every corner. A cheerful young woman entered the front hall, her eyes the same violet color as Iain’s, her hair the color of yellow-pink strawberries.
How. Nice. Meet. You.
