Page 96 of The Splendor of Fire
Fingon tapped his fingertips together and Moira could feel his eyes on her. “They’ve been unable to account for it.”
Malvina made an annoyed sound. “It’s too slick for a ladder or to climb. How would you even get a ladder in? It’s too treacherous to try. The thief must have accessed it during high tide.”
Fingon smoothed two fingers over his mustache, eyes boring into Moira as she lifted small spoonfuls of porridge to her lips. “At high tide you have five minutes to get in and out before you drown. It’s impossible to move that amount of coin in a small boat in ten minutes. And our patrols wait at the mouth of the cave during those times. Always have, always will. There was blood clinging to a high rock. Whoever did it was injured. Perhaps rope?”
Remembering that she was supposed to be eating the bannock,Malvina released her knife upon the trencher with a clatter. Across the room Finlay jumped.
Malvina leaned across the table. “Gordon says he had flux the last two days.”
Moira bit her tongue to keep from smiling. Cod liver oil upended into his morning milk. A little inspiration from Gabriel.
Malvina continued. “The other guards saw Léo in the morning before dawn. Then saw him again, trying to ride that skittish horse around Kylerhea at midday.”
Angus dressed in Léo’s clothing, beard and hair groomed for the first time in his life, gold chain around his neck. From a distance they were twins. Skilled enough to stay out of sight, smart enough to be seen when he needed to be.
Fingon slapped his hand against the wooden arm of the chair and grunted. “That rules him out I suppose.”
Malvina picked up the oat bannock and took a dainty bite. “Doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved.”
Fingon made a noise of agreement.
“There you are, Moira.” The sound of Ardis’s voice snapped her out of her careful listening and she looked up, struggling to maintain a look of simple-minded ignorance.
Malvina put down her bannock and dusted her fingers, her face full of incredulity. “Ardis. What are you doing?”
Of all the unspoken rules within Dun Ringill, interrupting a family meal was one of the biggest acts of malfeasance. Without saying a word, Fingon’s hand swung out and connected with Ardis’s cheek, her head snapping back, but she stayed on her feet. Cheek pink, she turned back to Moira and…smiled.
“My apologies, Your Holiness. I’ve brought something for Moira. She was sick with stomach upset yesterday like Gordon.” Her fingers held out a small bag. “Peppermint.”
Moira looked at the brown leather bag and then at Ardis. Something swam in her eyes, something keen. Swallowing her porridge, she put her spoon down and took the bag. A smell of mint wafted from it, reminding her of Hector.
Ardis curtseyed, turned, and left.
Fingon picked up his glass of morning uisge-beatha and sipped. “Insolent.”
Placing the small bag upon the table, Moira picked up her spoon. Malvina’s eyes locked on her face. “You’ve been sick?”
Heart thudding, she glazed her eyes over a bit and gave a slight nod.
“Get gone then. We don’t want to catch it.”
Chapter 28
DUNVEGAN CASTLE - SEPTEMBER 13, 1385
Moira’s azure-colored eyes kept peeking over her shoulder at him under the glow of the lantern as the skiff made its way toward the shore. Devotion ignited in Léo’s chest, and he marveled at how deeply he was falling in love with her, so different was she from the woman he’d wanted her to be.
Théa had been soft summer breeze and gentle waves upon the shore, a balm of peace to his battle-wearied soul. With her he’d had the first blushes of a young, innocent love. Forever he would be grateful for her, and for the legacy they’d left behind in Gabriel. But for too long, he’d been consumed with finding a replacement for her and failed to see the new blessings that God was trying to bestow upon him.
Never had he expected what he would find in Moira. Together they were like flame and pitch, and she consumed him with a passion he’d never felt before. Though unable to speak, she was far from quiet. She infuriated him almost as much as she pleased him, unafraid to battle alongside him, and with him. Able to encourage him, and to put him in his place. How he wanted to please her, to be the man she believed he was, to live up to the challenge she gave him.
Théa he’d loved with the unshakable fealty of the boy he’d been. Moira he loved with the ardent fire of the man he’d become.
Moira looked over her shoulder again, noticing his staring.What?
The words fell out of his lips, unable to be stopped.“Je t’aime.”
Her mouth twitched.What?
