Page 21 of Beguiled By the Highlander
“Ah, curses.” With more reluctance than she’d ever admit, she forced herself to release Njord. To be sure, the trees might hide them from view. On the other hand, they might not. And either way was irrelevant since Sjord had already made his presence known. “Unless ye wish to be subject to even more gossip than ye are already, we had best be on our way.”
He straightened, glanced over his shoulder, and a dark frown slashed his brow. “I cannot allow yer reputation to be sullied because of me. I’ll go further into the woods and wait until the danger’s passed.”
She laughed. “There’s no need for such dramatics, man. Come, we can cut through the trees and rejoin the path up ahead. They’ll never know we were skulking in the shadows.”
Without waiting for his reply, she took his hand and darted through the trees. Beside her, he laughed, and the uninhibited sound of mirth warmed her heart. She glanced at him, and he winked at her, and for some reason she found it vastly amusing.
They rejoined the path just beyond the rocky outcrop that shielded them from the women and continued onto the village which lay directly ahead. She supposed she ought to release hishand, since the news would certainly reach her grandmother’s ears. But the prospect of a reprimand wasn’t enough to forego the exhilaration of having Njord’s fingers interlaced with hers.
As they reached the village, he shot her a sideways grin before releasing her hand, and she smothered a sigh. He had noble manners, and she could scarcely fault him for it. Even if she secretly wished otherwise.
“A fine village,” he said. “I see why ye wished to show it to me.”
“Indeed. ’Tis the finest village in Eigg. But that isn’t the reason I brought ye here.”
“I’m agog with anticipation.”
“I feel ye may be mocking me, and considering what I’m about to show ye, that isnota good idea.”
“Let me guess. We’ve come to pay our respects at the tomb of yer Pict queen ancestor.”
She cast him an approving glance as the kirk of Kildonnan came into view. “Not bad. Except there is no tomb.”
They went around the side of the old stone kirk, which had been constructed two hundred years ago or more with an impressively grand arched window that looked out over the graveyard. “Are ye sure ye’re ready to learn of my Pict queen ancestor?”
“I feel ye are very like her in nature, so aye, I’m ready to learn about her.”
She laughed. “I like to believe I have her fighting spirit. But ye may change yer mind about the rest.” She turned and pressed her palm against the stone wall of the kirk. “This has been a place of worship for over a thousand years, ye ken. The Norse, and before them, the Picts, built shrines to their gods. And who knows who were here before them?”
“Don’t look at me. I don’t even know where I was last week.”
She smiled and couldn’t resist giving his forearm a comforting pat. “Before the Norse claimed the Isles, Eigg was ruled by a powerful Pict queen. Some say she was a druid from ancient times. Her legacy had passed onto her from her mother, and in turn, she passed it onto her daughter.”
“Huh.” He gave her another of his bone-melting smiles. “Could she have known her legacy would prevail for so long?”
“I’m certain she wanted it to.” The Deep Knowing was proof of that. But the Deep Knowing was something that could not be shared outside her family, no matter how she wished to tell Njord of it. “However, Saint Donnan from Eire took this holy place and built his monastery upon it. But the queen refused to convert to the new religion.”
“Damn. Did the saint kill her?”
“He did not. When he refused to relinquish what he had stolen, the queen gathered her warriors—all women, mark ye—and slaughtered the saint and his monks in his newly built monastery.”
“A warrior queen, indeed.” He appeared amused by the story, as though he thought it nothing more than an intriguing legend. “Ye do have her spirit, I’m sure of it.”
She planted her hands on her hips in mock outrage. “Ye do not appear sufficiently awed by how the queen avenged the wrongs inflicted upon her land.”
“I’m sure she was a fierce queen. But it was a long time ago.”
She sighed. “Aye. But ’tis more than a story. She was willing to sacrifice everything for the love of this Isle. As her descendants, we are blood bound to ensure her legacy endures.”
The daughters of Sgur’s bloodline could not leave the Isle. She had known this since the first time her mother had told her of the Deep Knowing, when she had been but five years old.
But since she was forbidden to share the Deep Knowing with him, she could scarcely tell him of her conviction of its meaning. And it troubled her more than it surely should.
“Isolde.”
She swung about at the sound of Freyja’s voice. Her sister looked exhausted.
“How is Laoise?” She took Freyja’s hand, and her sister exhaled a weary sigh.
