Chapter 11 #3
“And take some sage advice from him as well,” Cillian told her.
“And how did you manage with Angus before we came?” Kylin asked her.
She shrugged. “He is angry, of course. I talked about—” she paused briefly, smiling over at Cillian before continuing “—I talked about the way Kylin and I had grown together, how remaining with my father, my brother, and in my homeland meant everything to me. He reminded me, of course, that your father has tainted blood and therefore you do, too, Kylin, but I told him that your father was the most steadfast man I’d ever met and that you were following in his footsteps,” she finished.
She offered Cillian a sweet smile. “In time, it will all be well. Angus will find himself a rich lass who will grace his home and give him lovely children.”
“Angus should have married already,” Cillian said. “He is not an older man such as your father, but . . . youth can fade quickly.”
“Stranger alliances have taken place,” Kylin said dryly.
“But . . . well, the ard-rí wants us here tonight. I don’t suppose it’s a bad idea.
I’m not sure who remains, though he mentioned that Berach of Linns was here still.
I don’t know if any of the other leaders have traveled in with their men to support the ard-rí’s troops.
But, at the least, we will have more time to observe Angus and Berach, though . . .”
“Though no one wants to believe either can be a traitor,” Kylin finished for him.
“Trust me, sire, we are all so gravely dismayed to believe that there is a traitor among our ranks. It is heartbreaking enough when we face the small parties of raiders from the sea, intent on stealing goods and gold from our monasteries and churches—and killing anyone, including innocents, who get in their way.”
Cillian nodded at him. “Well, I believe I will head out in what sunlight we may have today and see if I can find Berach.”
“Ah, well, we should be on the same mission,” Kylin said, looking at Deidre.
“Let’s go find Berach,” she said.
“When visiting Ard-rí Declan for an extended stay, where might he be?” Cillian wondered.
“Training,” Deidre said. “Wherever the warriors are practicing their combat skills, that’s where we’ll find Berach.”
Kylin studied her. He couldn’t help but be curious about her relationship with Berach.
He had been with the young ruler often enough himself.
Unlike Angus, Berach tended to be a far more courteous man, concerned about those around him.
With bordering lands, Berach, Eamon, Sigurd, Aidan and Kylin himself often discussed not just battle tactics with the constant danger of small attacks against the shore, but efforts in farming, animal care, blacksmithing and more.
He liked the fellow himself.
But if Deidre herself has ever considered any of the noblemen who has sought an alliance with her, Berach would most probably be the man she would think of most highly.
It was ridiculous, he knew, to feel jealousy over a pretense of a betrothal—and a dream. A vivid dream that even in memory seemed to produce warmth.
He gave himself a mental shake. He had no right.
“I believe that there is a long stretch of field out back, near the stables,” he said.
“Aye!” Deidre agreed. “It is where the ard-rí’s men work and where I believe we’ll find them all now.”
“You’re right,” Cillian said. “We’ll join those working.”
They headed out to the rear of the great stone residence. Kylin himself knew about the field; he’d worked there with others.
And long before they reached the field, he knew that they were right.
A group of twenty or so men were listening to the advice of Declan’s commander, a seasoned warrior named Brian McManus, who had survived many a skirmish because of his expertise. He was calling out instructions and commands, yelling at one man.
“O’Malley! All of you. Watch your weight and balance, but lunge with your thrusts! In hand-to-hand combat, you must force your opponent down, not nick his flesh. Remember, an enemy is no training tool, but a fighter of flesh and blood and instinct, quick to withdraw!”
Brian turned, aware that his group was being joined. He stopped speaking to hail their arrival.
“Young warriors! ’Tis the Rí Cillian and Kylin, son of Sigurd, and Deidre O’Connor, daughter of Rí Eamon. Welcome. Deidre, perhaps you will show this young fellow, Kevin O’Malley, how easily one can duck an easy thrust!”
“Deidre?” Kylin couldn’t help but murmur.
She looked at him, arching a brow, amused. “You, my beloved, have trained with Brian. And so have I!”
She stepped forward, greeting Brian warmly, and then taking up one of the wooden training swords to face O’Malley.
She easily hopped back from his first feint, proving Brian’s point. Then she worked with the young man, probably just out of his teens, and showed him exactly what he was to learn, drawing back herself before she could cause him harm.
Some of the other warriors laughed and teased that he had been taken by a lass. But Deidre was up to the challenge.
And Eamon had taught his daughter well. She could shift and move with the speed of light, so it seemed, and several who had laughed at the youth O’Malley quickly learned that they, too, could be taken by a lass.
Berach of Linns was among those watching. But while he had smiled at the sport the training had become, he hadn’t laughed at anyone. Berach knew Eamon’s daughter and the extent of her training.
Brian McManus ordered the men to take a break and shook his head as he set an arm around Deidre’s shoulders, leading her back to Cillian and Kylin. Berach naturally joined them as well.
“We have many young men who will face the real danger as our defenders for the first time,” Brian said. “And, of course, Rí Berach has been aiding me in the training.”
“These lads are Declan’s men, at an age now to join in.
They’ve all been taught, but as Brian has said, it is one thing to parry with trees and stuffed images and another to come full tilt against an enemy intent on killing.
Deidre, seriously, your arrival couldn’t have been better timed.
And, Kylin, I hear that congratulations are in store for you and Deidre.
A fitting union, though I’d lie if I didn’t say that it was situation I might have hoped for myself.
” Berach of Linns smiled at them both; his words rang true.
But just as a man’s harsh behavior doesn’t make him a traitor, neither do charm and a jovial manner make him innocent.
“Thank you, Berach,” Kylin said, shaking the man’s hand and accepting his words. “Sincerely, thank you.”
“Fitting,” the rí replied. “My friend, you are a man who understands that Eamon’s daughter is not to be tamed.
Others have not always approved of his way with Deidre, but my father told me of the attack that took her mother, and in my mind, it would make a great deal of sense for other lasses to be taught as Deidre has been taught. ”
“You are a thinking man,” Deidre said lightly. “And like a brother to me,” she added affectionately.
“Sad, but true!” Berach said. “So, did you wish to speak with me, or see to it that Brian was handling the training well?”
“None of us would doubt Brian!” Cillian said.
“We came to pay our respects to you,” Kylin told him. “Declan said that you were still here.”
Berach nodded. “I sent home for men. They arrived just hours ago and will soon take the field with Declan’s warriors. And thank you. It is good to see you. But did something else happen?”
“Well, we were set upon again on our journey here, and we believe that the attacks have been an effort to keep us from sharing information and making plans for our own defense against an invasion,” Kylin told him.
“But you felt you needed to return?”
“Bringing word from our fathers to the ard-rí, that they are prepared,” Deidre told him.
“Well and good,” Berach said. “I believe we will gather to feast soon. I will go and wash up and look forward to fine food and the evening’s entertainment. It will be in your honor, now that you’re here, and betrothed.”
“Perhaps we’d best do the same,” Cillian said, looking at the sky. “Night will fall soon.”
“To the castle, then,” Berach said.
Kylin looked at Deidre. She was playing her part. She took his arm.
“Indeed, Kylin, we must prepare for the night!”
He gave her what he hoped was a doting smile, one that gave away nothing of the pain he felt, wishing that all the strange dreams and visions that came to him might be true.