Page 63 of The Splendor of Fire
Despite the heaviness in her soul, Moira was touched. The girl had learned a few signs in order to greet her.
She spoke in a careful voice. “Did I do it right? Nice to meet you?”
Moira nodded.
“I am Eilidh, Iain’s twin sister. I am so pleased to meet you, Moira. Iain’s never brought a woman to us, you must be a very special person, indeed.”
Special person as in…his woman? Moira’s eyes went wide and she gawped at Iain, ten years her junior.
Iain huffed. “I told ye Eilidh, it’s no’ like tha’. I feel aboot Moira like I feel aboot ye. She’s like a sesster. The friend who knows Léo MacKinnon.” Moira nodded in agreement and pointed to Iain, sticking her tongue out in disgust. Iain prickled. “Oi. Tha’ was no’ necessary.”
Eilidh crossed her arms. “Oh. I tho’ maybe he was denyin’ it cos he cared for ye.” No longer trying to make a favorable impression, Eilidh’s voice slipped into an accent as thick as Iain’s.
Iain made a sound of annoyance. “I do care for her.”
Eilidh squared up to her brother more than a foot taller than she, arguing in language that was only barely understandable to even her native Hebridean ears. “No’ like ye care for Fenella MacAndie. She doesnae like ye, Iain. S’cuse me, Moira. I go’ me hopes up tha’ maybe he was interested in someone who wasnae a detestable coo.”
Iain stomped down the hall. “Och! I canny talk tae ye. Come, Moira.”
Moira followed, stifling an urge to laugh.
Eilidh put two hands to her mouth and called after him. “Fine bah may! Yer bum’s oot the windae!”
They crossed through the front hall and up a short set of stairs, then down another wide hallway. Trepidation began to build in her chest.
They paused outside a broad door and Iain gave her arm a squeeze. “This’s my private solar. No one will disturb ye here.”
She nodded and he opened the door, closing it behind her once she entered. The room was beautifully adorned with rich blues and reds, colorfully painted walls with roses and thistles, and racks of antlers. The stark contrast of the elegance of the MacLeod solar to the dark brutality of the MacKinnon solar was striking.
In front of a wall of glass windows, the distinctive towering figure of Hector lingered, blowing on a cup of steaming drink. He turned and looked at her, and there in his eyes she saw what she hoped she wouldn’t—disappointment.
The dam of her tears burst apart and she rushed forward, throwing her arms around his middle. Words would not come to her throat. Unexplainable need to find safety in him overpowered her, and she threw herself at his mercy.
His arms tightened around her shoulders, and he said nothing.
Tears became her food as the past two years of loss scoured her soul. Maw’s eyes full of peace as they pushed her over the cliff and into the ocean. Father punching the man who dared harm his daughter and being killed for it. Léo’s judgement and his rejection. The knowledge that without her mother and father, and without Léo, she belonged to no one. She cried for her disobedience and impatience, and the difficult choice she had made. For the flames that destroyed the siege engine and protected her, but that claimed the lives of men as well. When she had released every hurt she pushed away from his soaked chest and held up shaking hands.
I am sorry, H-E-C-T-O-R. I am so, so sorry.
His big hands stilled hers.
“What sign do you use to say forgive?”
She snorted through her blocked nose and dusted her palms together.Forgive.
He signed.I forgive you.
A fresh wave of tears hit her.Why?
There was something in his piercing eyes that told her he understood her pain.Because Jesus didn’t wait until I deserved it to forgive me. If he did I would still be unforgiven.
His hands created her signs with an unexpected gracefulness and ease, and his brow crinkled with sorrow.I am disappointed, Birdy. Why did you not wait?
She wiped her cheeks.I kept asking, but you kept saying no.
Yes. Because these things must be carefully planned. We would have destroyed the trebuchet, but with a team of people, when the time was right.
She shook her head.But I was running out of time.Her eyes refilledwith tears.Niall cannot be put off much longer. Destroying the trebuchet got him off Skye.
