by Ava McArthur
She scoured the ground for what she needed and gathered a few twigs and moss in her hand, adding flowers to give the trinket some life and beauty. In the end, she created a heart shape with flowers wrapped around the outside. She presented it to Niall, who nodded, impressed.
“It’s a lovely thing ye hae made, Moira, but I fail tae see how this is a game. Dae ye expect me tae make something similar? Because I can tell ye now that it’s nae gaeing tae be pretty.” The trinket rested in his palm, nestled against his flesh. Moira chuckled and plucked it out of his hand, holding it between her finger and thumb.
“That’s nae the game at all, silly, though I would like tae see what ye could come up with. But the game is that I’m gaeing tae hide it and ye hae tae find it…and then ye hae tae come find me. Now, turn around and close yer eyes.”
Moira turned Niall around so that he was facing the castle wall. She lifted his hands so that they covered his eyes, and she made him promise that he wasn’t going to peek.
“I dinnae need tae peek tae find ye,” he said.
“We’ll see about that,” Moira said, glad that he was throwing himself into the challenge. She told him to count to a hundred and then come and find her. As soon as he began counting she turned and looked for a good place to hide, not only to hide herself, but also the trinket.
At first, she thought about rushing to the stables, before quickly dismissing the notion. The horses might give her away. The wide fields offered few places to hide and he would find her easily, and she didn’t want to go back into the castle as Niall knew the building far more than she did. In the end, she raced to the forest, moving as quietly as she could through bushes.
She passed through a lot of trees and found one that was particularly old and gnarled. Pressing her hand against the rough bark, she felt connected with nature for a moment before she told herself that she had no time to lose herself in reverie. She found a small nook into which the trinket fit perfectly. Pleased with herself, she moved to a thick area of bracken and hid behind it, waiting to see how long Niall took to find her.
Moira waited with bated breath. In the distance, she could hear Niall call out that he was coming to find her. Moira’s heart beat quickly and she found it silly that a child’s game could still be so thrilling after all these years. She had played it often with her niece and nephew, but she always had to make it a little easy for them.
With Niall, there were no such qualms. However, Niall was a skilled hunter, and it didn’t take him long to come across her trail. She had hoped he might think she had gone to the stables, but he made a line straight towards the forest and she cursed herself for not thinking about covering her tracks.
However, once Niall entered the forest, he found it far more difficult. He called out to her, pretending to be in trouble, but little did he know that she could see him from her vantage point and knew he was not in any danger. He tried to coax her out, but she remained silent, stifling a laugh.
Niall looked closely at the plants and flowers around him, and picked something off one of them. It looked like a thread. Moira glanced at her arm and saw that indeed a part of her shawl had caught on a thorn without her realizing it. She must have been in such a rush that it pulled away without any effort at all.
He then noticed some broken sticks and a place where she had pushed aside a thick part of a bush. Moira frowned. It wasn’t taking him as long as she had hoped to find her trail, and she was dismayed when he passed along the trees and found the trinket without much trouble at all. He plucked it out of the hidey-hole and held it aloft, calling out to Moira that he had found what she had hidden.
But that was only part of the game. The other part was to find her.
She watched Niall crouch and inspect the ground, looking at the tracks she had left. Then, he seemed to stare right at her. Moira froze. No, she told herself, it was impossible that he could actually see her, and she wasn’t ready for this game to be over.
She pushed herself up and carefully ran away, skipping lightly to try and make as little sound as possible. She had gotten quite good at moving stealthily with Gregor and Lileas, and she moved around the forest, hiding behind a tree.
She watched as Niall broke through the bracken with a triumphant cry, expecting to find her there. She sniggered as he frowned and looked around, wondering where she had gone. Moira wasn’t going to rest, as she knew it would take him only moments to figure out the path she had taken, so she moved again, using the trees as shields.
Niall noticed the sounds of movement.
“I know ye are out here, Moira. Ye cannae hide from me forever!”
He followed the trail to the trees, but Moira was always one step ahead. She ran lightly and pressed herself flat against a wide trunk. The light was dim as the thick leaves and branches offered a canopy that blocked out the fading light. The air smelled earthy and lush.
Occasionally the leaves shook as birds hopped and flew about, while she also sensed the sound of small animals scurrying about, getting ready to go about their business under the cover of night, with the hope that they would escape the attention of predators. Moira peered around the tree trunk, expecting to see Niall peering at the ground or looking around in a perplexed state.
But instead, there was nothing. She strained her ears to try and listen for him, but it was as though he had disappeared entirely.
Fear pricked at her mind, and she suddenly realized that she was in the forest alone with all the darkness encroaching around her. Moira’s throat ran dry, and she crept out from behind the tree, glancing around the glade, worried that Niall might have left her. Would he actually have done that? No, it didn’t seem possible, and yet there was no trace of him.
She peered at the ground, wishing that she was a hunter so she could figure out his tracks, but the ground all looked the same to her. She shook her head and frowned, and just as she was about to call out to him, she felt a presence rush by, and then two hands grabbed her and pinned her against the trunk of a tree.
“Found ye,” Niall said, smirking, his face inches from hers. Moira could have slapped him, but she was relieved that it was he who found her.
“I thought ye were some spirit!” she cried, her heart still racing.
“There’s no spirits out here. There’s nobody but us,” Niall said, his voice lowering to a soft burr. Moira’s chest heaved with exhilaration at the thought of being so close to him.
Her mind grew hazy as he leaned in and whispered something sweet and secret in her ear before his lips pressed against her neck in a soft kiss that elicited a crackling feeling. Something twitched deep inside her, and Niall lowered his hands, lifting up her skirt. The sweet heat turned into a blazing inferno, and a smile adorned her face as pleasure beckoned.
11
Moira arched her neck back as Niall kissed it. She closed her eyes and let the pleasure wash over her. It seemed strange to be doing this in a place other than a bedchamber, where these kinds of things should have been hidden away and kept secret, and yet it also felt freeing to be out in nature, to expose their flesh and be in their natural state.
Not that Moira’s thoughts were on anything like this, for her mind was preoccupied with the overwhelming sensations that coursed through her body. Niall’s hands drifted down and started playing with her beneath her skirt. She welcomed the touch. He kissed her hard, keeping her pinned against the tree.
The rough bark pressed into her back, but she didn’t care. Gripped with fervent desire, Niall pulled her top down and kissed her chest and small, round breasts. She gasped as his teeth nipped against her skin, pain and pleasure blurring into one amazing thrill.
Moira thought she would be better prepared for the sensations this second time, but they still shocked her in their intensity. Sweat prickled her temples and trickled down her cheeks. She kissed Niall hard.
Their every movement was fueled by the force of their emotion. Their low, grunting gasps filled the glade, breaking the peace of nature. Niall’s f
ingers worked their magic inside her, and Moira’s eyes rolled into the back of her head.
As it turned out, that was just the beginning. Niall sank to his knees. He still kept her skirt hoisted up, and his head disappeared underneath. Then, Moira felt a wondrous sensation trembling between her legs. His tongue lapped and licked and teased, and his lips kissed the damp wetness, stirring more deep feelings within her. It felt as though a storm whirled inside her, as though she was completely at the mercy of these sensations.
Her body was alive in a way it had never been before and the pulsing, throbbing feelings grew and grew until they exploded out of her and left her dazed and delirious.
Her mouth hung open as she looked down at him; he pulled his head away and glanced up at her. She found herself eager to do the same to him. Beckoning for him to rise, she turned him around and mirrored his movements, pulling his clothes away as she sank to her knees. She wrapped her hand around his manhood, daunted by the size. She held the shaft in her fingers and then leaned forward, lightly pressing her lips against the hot, taut skin before letting it sink deeper into her mouth.
She watched the tremors of pleasure ripple upon his face as she brought her head back and forth, letting her saliva drip over him. Scorching heat filled her mouth, and she knew that she would never be able to get enough of him.
She rested one hand against his thigh as she made love to him with her mouth. He groaned and grunted, and how she loved his appreciation. His body tensed and she could feel something ready to storm out. He pulled her head away and wanted her to rise again. She obeyed his wishes, submitting to his strength. With a primal growl, he pinned her against the tree again, hooking her legs up so they wrapped around his waist. Then she felt him inside her.
Trapped between him and the tree was possibly the sweetest place to be. She clung to him tightly while his hips moved in a fast and frantic motion, as though he couldn’t contain himself any longer. He kissed her and buried himself against the nape of her neck as he made love to her. She welcomed it all, squealing loudly as the vibrant sensations burst inside her.
Panting, they pressed their heads against each other and took a few moments to steady themselves. Then, they laughed. Niall extricated himself, and the skirt dropped down Moira’s legs again. She staggered down and her knees almost buckled. It would take her a little while to gather her strength. The same seemed to be true for Niall, who leaned against the tree and breathed deeply. Moira wiped sweat from her brow, and they shared a secret smile again.
As the delirious feelings dissipated, Moira started to feel self-conscious about having made love in the forest, although she wasn’t sure why she should feel that way since what she and Niall shared was natural and beautiful. It was even more than that; it was sacred. And yet she still worried about the spirits. Had they seen her? Had they judged her?
She didn’t voice these thoughts to Niall, of course, because she knew he would just scoff and say that she had been spending too much time with Isobel. But after what happened with Jamie, nothing was certain any longer.
“That’s just about the best game I’ve ever played,” Niall said once he had gathered himself. Moira laughed and hugged him, kissing him lightly.
“Well, I’m sure we can play it again, as often as ye like,” she said. They shared an embrace and looked into each other’s eyes.
Niall smiled and nodded. “Thank ye for this, Moira. It definitely helped take my mind off things.”
“I’m glad. The last thing I want is tae see ye sink intae misery. Things will get better, Niall. We’ll find a way tae help Jamie, and if he is as strong as ye say he is, he’ll be able tae fight back against the illness. It’ll pass soon, I’m sure of it.”
“I hope ye are right,” he said, and then looked around, as though he was only just starting to notice that the light was fading more dramatically. “We should head back tae the keep. I dinnae want tae be gone tae long in case anything changes.”
“I understand,” Moira said. They linked hands and strolled back to the castle, sharing teasing laughs and secret whispers. Niall kept hold of the trinket she made and placed it in his pocket. Moira hoped that the spirits wouldn’t think he had stolen an offering to them. Grizel had said that rowan wood would protect them from the spirits, but if they became truly vengeful, Moira didn’t know how powerful a shield that would prove to be.
They were giggling like naughty children as they emerged from the forest. Niall was in a much better mood than when they had left, and Moira was glad that she could have this effect on him. She was going to have to be strong for him for as long as Jamie’s illness lasted, and she vowed to be everything he needed. It was a little strange how quickly she had adapted to welcoming someone else into her heart.
For a long time now, she had assumed she would end up alone, but she actually liked caring about someone and being cared for in return. Opening her heart to Niall was rewarding in so many ways, and she realized how wrong she was to ever think that she could have been happy merely being an aunt. Being with Niall showed her that she was capable of more.
Her mind turned to the future, to thoughts of bringing her own children into the world. It was something she was yet to discuss with Niall, and it was hardly the right time at the moment, but she felt comfortable enough planning for the future—when Jamie was better, of course.
However, as they grew nearer to the keep, they saw Grizel standing outside, hanging her head in shame. She was placing sticks and trinkets around the doorways and windows, and she was muttering to herself. When Niall and Moira approached, she bowed and greeted them. They couldn’t help but notice how distressed she was.
“Grizel, what are ye daeing out here? What’s wrong?” Niall asked. The light mood dissipated instantly and he became concerned. Moira listened intently.
“Oh, Niall,” Grizel began, and Moira noticed that she was one of the few people who didn’t address Niall by his proper title of laird. “Something terrible hae happened.”
“What is it? Is it Jamie? Is he…” The words tumbled out of Niall’s mouth, but the last word seemed to be stuck like a stone within him. Moira tensed and sidled closer to her husband, preparing for the worst. Now she was filled with doubt.
Had she done the right thing in taking Niall away from his brother and his duty? Had she deprived Niall of the chance to say goodbye? With the next few words Grizel spoke, Moira was relieved, but only a little.
“Jamie is the same. Such a terrible thing…but he’s nae the only one. Oh, it’s terrible. Isobel tae, and some of the clansmen. They’re all sick. It’s happening, Niall. I told ye that this would happen. The spirits are watching and they’re unhappy. They’re unhappy!” she cried, lifting the volume of her voice at these last words.
Niall growled and frowned. “This haes nothing tae dae with spirits,” he said, but he rushed back into the castle to tend to his sister. Moira was about to follow him when she saw Grizel drop one of the items she was using to ward off the spirits. It looked a little like the one Moira had made to hide in the tree, although this was in the shape of an X.
Moira’s heart went out to Isobel and now she felt worse than ever. It wasn’t as though anything would have changed things, but she knew Niall would have wanted to be here if his sister fell ill. But what could have caused it? Moira racked her brain, but nothing came to mind. Niall had dismissed the notion of poison, but what did that leave?
Her eyes drifted towards Grizel, and then the fine hairs rose on the back of her neck.
Is it possible that the spirits hae something tae dae with this?
12
Moira picked up the trinket and placed it back in Grizel’s hand. The old woman thanked her and then turned to a window, setting the X shape in the corner.
“Come on, Grizel, it’s getting late and we should get inside. The cold is gaeing tae come in soon and ye should be in the warm,” Moira said.
Grizel sighed and nodded. “I suppose ye are right. I hae put up as many of these as I ca
n, but I am nae sure they will be enough. Nae if it’s already in the castle.”
Moira helped Grizel inside to a comfortable room, which she thought was more suitable in this instance than Grizel’s hovel. Grizel closed the shutters on the window and made a gesture with her hands before she sat down, groaning wearily as she took the weight off her feet. Moira fetched some food from the kitchen and then sat beside Grizel. The woman ate like a bird, nibbling little bits here and there without taking any great bites.
“Grizel, dae ye really think that spirits hae done this?”
“What else could it be?” Grizel replied, her cloudy eyes determined and sure. Moira pursed her lips. In some ways Grizel and Niall were alike. Both of them were convinced of one thing and had no room in their heart to admit that anything else could be to blame.
“Well, if it was the spirits, why would they make Isobel sick? I spent the day with her and she is as devoted tae the stories as ye are. She even left offerings in the woods. I cannae believe the spirits would punish her for that.”
“The spirits work in mysterious ways. Dark forces, yes, some of them are very terrible and very powerful. They cannae always be understood. Maybe they arenae punishing her, but punishing someone else...someone who loves her.”
“Ye mean Niall?” Moira asked in a cracking voice.
Grizel responded with a nod.
“But why? What haes he done tae anger them?”
“What haes he nae done? He is laird, and being a laird is a powerful thing. For tae long now the Calbraith lairds hae nae understood the spirits or the balance of the world. Niall is tae much like his father. His mam tried, aye…she tried her best, bless her…but now I fear it is tae late. If the spirits hae decided it’s time tae attack, then there is naething that can stop them. No amount of rowan wood can protect us, and I am only one woman. The old ways hae been lost. Ye cannae win a war if ye dinnae know how tae fight. I tried tae teach them, but they wouldnae listen.” She rocked back and forth in her chair and shook her head.
