Chapter 16
IN THE MORNING, leaving Cillian, they were able to go part of the journey with Eion and Magnus.
The ride was uneventful. They passed villages and farms, and people working as they always did, going about life.
The people they passed waved and nodded in grim appreciation; everyone was ready, waiting to head to safety or battle stations when the time came.
Kylin discovered that Eion was interested in his sister, and was eager to know what Sigurd thought of him.
“Hard for me to know my father’s mind, Eion, but you’ve had a fine reputation for following well in your father’s footsteps, for working for the people rather than expecting exultation for your rank,” he told the rí. “But—”
“Just as Eamon said that Deidre must make her own choices, Sigurd has determined such for your sisters,” Eion said.
“Aye.”
“But that is fine for me!” Eion said. “I don’t wish to have a wife who isn’t equally eager to have me as a husband.”
“Is it Maeve or Maureen?” Kylin asked him.
Eion smiled. “Maeve. We met at Eamon’s one day, and a few times after.
And the greatest thing was that we could laugh together.
She is so lovely.” Eion chuckled. “I’m sure Maureen is lovely, too.
But Maeve . . . we could laugh together, something that seems to ease life, to help make sense of it all. ”
“Speak with my father and my sister. Wait!” Kylin said. “Do that in the reverse order. Speak with Maeve and find out if she feels the same. And if she does, if you go to my father together, I’m sure you’ll discover that he’ll welcome you to the family.”
“Strange,” Eion said.
“What’s that?”
Eion smiled. “Well, I’ve also always admired Deidre and, of course, in doing the proper thing, the expected thing, I thought that she was a truly beautiful lass and perfect as far as a dynastic marriage went.
But as I’ve watched you and Deidre together, I’ve seen, well, I’ve seen the relationship I believe I might have with your sister.
” He let out a breath. “I think that without men like Eamon, life must be very hard for the women of our day. Because a ruler is allowed to do what he chooses. And a mate is a creature to bear children and accept whatever a great ruler chooses to do. But because of Eamon . . . Sorry, not that all men are monsters, I did not mean that at all. But Eamon opened my eyes to a different way of life, and I do admire him greatly. As did my father,” he added quietly.
Kylin couldn’t help but wish that Eion hadn’t chosen that morning for a discussion on relationships.
He was haunted enough by the dream.
So very real. I can hear her laughter, feel her length, smell the sweetness of her flesh, of her hair.
Why had the dream come again? Wasn’t he in enough torment?
He had to shake off the memory. There was too much at stake lying ahead of them. He and Deidre had been gifted, and they were meant to lead.
He almost smiled.
Maybe Eion’s strange declaration of his care for Maeve did mean something. Mutual respect.
They had been chosen to lead. A man and a woman. And perhaps the particular talents of each were needed.
He’d always known how to kill.
Deidre had taught him the wonder of learning to save lives. What the living could do—that the dead could not.
“We turn off here,” Eion said. “But if you’re worried—”
“No, we’re fine. We’ve made this journey many times,” Kylin assured him.
“But now is it instinctive fear that we feel? One that we can’t let paralyze us, but rather give us the strength to move ahead as necessary. Anyway, I can’t help but feel that it’s coming closer.”
“We’re all in danger, Eion. And still, we must reach our homes.” He managed a smile. “Deidre is an excellent swordswoman. And not to brag, but I’m a fine warrior myself. We look out for one another, just as you and Magnus must do. We part ways but will see each other again soon.”
“When battle has begun,” Eion said, shaking his head. “I’ve seen to it that my most vulnerable people have been sent behind Eamon’s great wall. My warriors are prepared to ride with you and your men as you lead the enemy inland.”
“And messengers, our swiftest men, are ready to bring word at a moment’s notice,” Kylin assured him.
Eion nodded and smiled, then nudged his horse ahead where he spoke with Magnus, who had been in idle conversation with Deidre.
They all said their goodbyes, swearing that they were prepared.
When they were gone, Kylin and Deidre remained mounted and still, watching as the other men took the turn.
“Alone again,” Deidre murmured.
“And nearly home,” Kylin said.
“Preparations will have been made,” Deidre said. “Do you think this is definitely happening?”
“I do. There will be an attack and it is coming soon,” Kylin said.
“Even if we didn’t have word from the men we didn’t kill, I don’t believe that the ancients, the angels, the Tuatha Dé Danann .
. . Shimmer and her friends would have appeared if it hadn’t been for the fact that they’re desperately needed. ”
Deidre was looking at him strangely. She swept her gaze away.
“What is it?” he asked her.
“Um, nothing, sorry, nothing at all, and I think you’re right. But . . . Shimmer has friends?” she asked.
“Someone spoke to me in the hills,” he said. “Someone . . . oh, I believe! If we didn’t have the gifts of the Tuatha Dé Danann, I might think it was all in our minds.”
“Because of the gifts—because they are gifts, proven several times—you believe,” Deidre said. She smiled at him, but he was disturbed. There was something a bit different in her manner, as if she was almost afraid to be natural with him.
“Is everything all right?” he asked her.
Then her grimace was real. “Other than a horde bent on death and destruction about to descend on us? Other than that . . . Hmm. I’m fine!”
He slowed his pace for a minute, listening.
She reined in, frowning as she looked at him.
“Kylin?”
He shook his head. “Nothing but the sounds of the forest and the land. However, we do need to keep checking.”
“Not far from home,” she said softly. “And, I believe, my brother will have men ready to meet us.”
“Of course, he will.”
“What was Eion so passionate about as he spoke to you?” Deidre asked curiously. “I’m sorry. Perhaps it is none of my affair. But these days, one worries.”
He smiled. “He is in love with my sister, I think.”
“Oh. Oh! Well, that would be fine, wouldn’t it, I mean if they were to be a couple.”
“I like Eion. He wants it to be all right with my sister. Then they can speak with my father together.”
“And your father would agree?”
“I believe so. Eion is proving himself to be a strong rí. And, more importantly, since I love my sister, a fine man,” Kylin said.
“Do you know how your sister feels?”
“I don’t.” He glanced at her and grinned. “But we can ask her soon.”
“It would be lovely to see something happen in our world that was just nice, just beautiful, and not about threats or battle,” Deidre said.
He glanced her way. “It’s nice just to ride with you,” he told her.
“And nice to ride with you. And . . .”
“And?” he asked.
“I must admit, it was nice to sleep beside you in the woods. You have a lovely warmth against the chill of the night.”
“Delighted to provide such good service as a blanket!”
He made her laugh. He was glad, happy that she seemed to be all right with him again.
If she only knew . . .
He reined in again. They weren’t far from home; they’d arrive at some of the farms on the far outskirts of the village soon.
Deidre followed suit.
There were, he realized, men ahead.
“Kylin! Ryan here!”
He heard his name shouted and he smiled. As he’d expected, Eamon and his father had sent men out to greet them when they arrived.
“Aye!” he called. “Ryan, it’s myself and Deidre. Coming to you!”
He smiled at Deidre. “We’re good. Ryan is—”
“One of my brother’s most trusted men, I know. Come on, then.”
She spurred her mount and was gone. He quickly followed. Ryan wasn’t alone; he was accompanied by two other warriors, Morgan and Brendan, and he and Deidre greeted them happily.
“Has Aidan seen anything coming in?”
“Nay, as of yet,” Ryan told him. “But he watches day and night. He believes that they’ll strike at night, slip in with their longboats and attack when they believe that we’ll be most vulnerable.
But much has been done in your absence. Women, children and the elderly are all within the closure of the wall.
Oil and other deterrents have been set so we can take out a great many warriors when they besiege our walls. And your trip, did you discover—”
“We know that they have been planning this for some time. We have managed to destroy a small group that had been set up in the hills of Derue to tear us down, though we’ll never know just how many they took before we were able to stop them.
But most importantly, we are in complete alignment with Cillian and Declan. And for now . . .”
“Home!” Deidre said.
“Your father and your brother will be glad to see you!” Ryan told her. “And your father, too, of course, Kylin. They are both at the stone castle behind the wall.”
“Come along, then!” Kylin shouted.
The great gates to the walled fortress remained open; Kylin knew they wouldn’t be closed until the enemy was upon the shore, assuring that those who should be in the security of the enclosure were inside.
Deidre stopped suddenly, causing the others to do the same.
“Here,” she said, looking at Kylin.
He nodded, knowing that she was referring to the place where the two of them and a specially chosen group of warriors must head when they knew that the enemy was coming from the castle. It was from here that they would lead them onward to the great Hill of Tara.
And there, they would be joined by Cillian and his men and the array of warriors who had been sent to serve Declan along with his own people.
“Here,” he agreed. “Close enough, and far enough.”