Page 56 of A Celtic Memory
“Hmm.” She glanced back at him again. “Interesting that the gods would have designed it that way, to begin with, seeing how there are four of us sisters.” Her brows swept up. “Does that mean one of us, assuming me, would have been a good match to help out your warlock self?”
“’Tis hard to imagine.” He brushed the pad of his thumb along her soft jawline. “As you have no evil in you.”
“That we know of.” Her eyes drifted a little. “Maybe if you had been darker, I would have been too. As is, I appreciate your dark side as much as your light.”
“As much as I like hearing that, I can only be grateful ‘tis not any darker.” He tilted her chin and brushed his lips across hers. “Evil is not a fate you deserve,mo dhraoi.”
He was about to say more when Aisling flickered in the sunlight next to them, and Oran fluttered from branch to branch alongside his horse.
“How fare thee?” Aisling asked. “That was most impressive battling earlier, m’Lady.”
“Ta,”Oran agreed.“Quite impressive.”
“I nearly forgot.” Madison sat up a little straighter. “You suddenly sound Irish, Oran!” As if his accent sparked something, her magic ignited, and she rounded her eyes at her familiar. “YouknewCian proposed to me years ago, didn’t you? That I had accepted?” Her eyes grew wider still. “That we loved each other?”
“I did, m’Lady.”He launched into the air.“And ye will soon know why.”
Madison went to speak, to call out to him, but instead grew very quiet. Still, as if sensing something. Drawn to something.
He knew what, too, considering what lay just ahead.
Chapter Fifteen
MADISON SENSED BEFOREshe saw what lay ahead and couldn’t speak if she tried. All she could do was feel as she dismounted and stared at the glorious oak that had appeared through the forest. No need to ask.
It was King’s Heart.
The tree she had dreamt about before traveling back in time.
Monstrous, it had an intricately woven silver trunk and glittering branches. Twisting and turning, there was a pattern to it all. From its trunk to the branches to every single leaf. A message as old as time. She wasn’t sure how she knew, only that she did.
“I’ve been here before.” She drifted toward it as though in a trance. “I know this tree....”
“You see it differently than we do,ta?” Cian asked softly. “’Tis not just a monstrous oak tree where we commune with the gods but more.”
“Definitely more.” She approached it slowly, careful not to step on its great winding roots. “It’s full of wisdom not only of the gods but of the forest. Of every living thing in it. The passing of time.” She looked up into its magnificent branches. “This is theCrann Bethadh,the original Celtic tree of life.”
