Page 83 of A Celtic Secret
“I didn’t sketch beyond this point,” she said. Stars twinkled overhead, and he felt warm and comforting at her back as his hands rested over hers on the railing. “So there's no way to know what's coming. What those black roots or eerie chants coming from Raghnall’s chapel meant. How they played into all this because I'm sure they do. Positive of it.” She shook her head. “We don’t even know if we'll get Aodh back. Why do you suppose that is? Do you think I can't see beyond today?”
Madison had been in touch with Liam, and all remained relatively calm in the future. Odd but calm as he described it after being baffled by the events that had transpired here. Furious that his own warriors had turned on them but glad it was just possession. Taken aback that Aodh was now, as far as all kingdoms were concerned, considered far more the enemy than Declán had ever been. How could he not, given the terror his dragon had sown? The damage it had done?
It was likely no one would ever trust the King of Ulster again.
If that weren't enough, there was no way to know where Aodh's kingdom stood now. If his warriors would stand by Aodh or follow his brothers.
“That you haven’t sketched beyond today doesn’t mean there isn’t more to come,” Declán said in reply to her question. “I think mayhap your heart is just taking a break for now.”
He might be right about that because, according to Liam, although things were peaceful enough in the twenty-first century, her sisters’ behavior grew stranger and stranger. Constance had become a complete recluse in her room, never coming out to do much of anything, so Liam took care of her husky, Luna’s brother Zeke, and left trays of food and water at her door. Every so often, things banged around as though Constance threw something in rage, then everything went eerily quiet.
Shannon, however, perplexed him even more as she’d taken to camping out in the woods. He knew where she was, he could see her lights, but it seemed she couldn’t stand to be indoors. Or near him, he speculated.
“Liam hears her crying sometimes,” Riona worried, knowing Declán followed her thoughts. Her concerns. “He hears Shannon weeping just like we saw her cry under the tree in the tapestry. Worse yet, he gets the sense she suffers from some sort of longing and regret.” She turned in his arms and shook her head. “I’ve never seen her cry. Not once.” She frowned. “Now it seems she’s doing it all the time. Do you think it has to do with killing me in another life? Killing me despite the fact she had to have been close to falling in love herself?”
Thankfully, Madison made no mention of that when she communicated with Liam, but what if Shannon were remembering regardless? What if she couldn’t live with herself because of what she had done in another life?
“I think ‘tis not for you to worry over this night,mo chroí.”Declán cupped her cheek softly, and with so much affection, her heart ached. “I think her story is just beginning, and we will be there for her when she needs us. Until then, we have fulfilled our end of the prophecy, so might we not take a moment to enjoy it? To enjoy each other whilst—”
She didn’t let him finish but pulled his mouth down to hers, more than eager to enjoy anything she could with him for as long as the gods allowed. The prophecy might only be halfway fulfilled, and a new, more powerful enemy lay on the horizon, but two out of four kingdoms were safe for now.
No one knew what to expect going forward, only that they were stronger for the discoveries they had made. The truths they had learned. A Celtic secret had revealed so very much and felled one of their enemies. Saw the end of a cruel king and the rise of a queen who was likely far crueler but at least it was progress.
More than that, it was love reunited.
A deep love that would always be with King Declán and Queen Riona no matter where they ended up when this was all over. Because love born of the kindness in which they first found each other was and would always be love that could withstand the test of time.
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