by Lucy Monroe
“I’m surprised there were any among the Sinclair.”
“So was your father.”
“He banished them?”
“The ones he did not kill; they were caught hunting Éan.”
“And you? Have you killed wolves besides Luag and Galen?”
“I am protector of my people.”
It was an answer…of sorts.
Another caw sounded from above. Ciara made a point of not looking up this time though. She hoped the young ravens’ antics would be less annoying to their prince if she pretended to ignore them.
The rumble very much like a wolf’s growl that sounded from Eirik’s chest said her hope was in vain.
“You know, if you were willing to travel by boat, rather than as a dragon, we could take our horses with us on the crossing.” The boats that made this possible required a minimum of two rowers, and not one of them a still healing and fragile human woman. “And we would not need a guard, Éan, or otherwise, for our horses.”
“Birds fly over water. We do not ride boats.”
Right. Arrogant dragon. “Lais is riding in a boat.”
“He would trust Mairi’s crossing to no other.”
“Is she really his mate?” Ciara asked in a whisper, though she doubted the others could have heard her regardless.
Lais and Mairi lagged behind because the healer insisted the other woman’s horse maintain a slower pace. He was coddling her like she was as broken as she’d been before his sessions healing her. Though it was clear she was much better and well able to ride a horse without trouble.
It was amusing and really, a little sweet. Though Ciara was sure Lais would not thank her for saying so.
Eirik looked up at the sky and then at Ciara, his expression giving nothing away. “Only time will tell.”
“But he’s so protective of her.”
“He is a healer.”
“Never mind.” Eirik clearly had no intention of giving her a direct answer.
Even though it was perfectly obvious from the way he’d spoken the night Ciara had found Mairi that Eirik believed the MacLeod’s daughter and Lais to be mates.
“Why ask if you do not want an answer?”
“If I wanted doublespeak, I would go to the English, thank you.”
Instead of taking offense, Eirik laughed. Loud and full of real mirth, it was such an arresting sound that Ciara felt a strange tightening in her chest. She wanted to hear more.
Unfortunately, the sound cut off almost immediately. “Quiet,” he ordered.
She didn’t ask why but did her best to discern his reason for caution. She could hear nothing in the forest that seemed out of place, but she noted the eagle high in the sky was flying far to the left of them rather than directly above. And the two younger ravens were far to the right.
Suddenly, Lais and Mairi had caught up and Eirik had taken lead while Lais dropped to the back, with Ciara and Mairi’s horses between them. The two men drew their swords at the same time, both their attention fixed to the left, though Ciara still could discern no untoward sound.
If she didn’t know better, she would think the two warriors were communicating with mindspeak. But only some family and true mates could mindspeak. Though, perhaps among the Éan, this was another difference from the Faol.
Mairi did not make a sound, but it was clear she was aware something was amiss. Ciara’s wolf’s hearing could tell the other woman’s heart rate had increased and fear scented the air around them.
Eirik’s head came up and he sniffed at the air, a frown showing on his strong features. He’d noted Mairi’s scent of fear and wasn’t happy about it.
The danger must be closer than Ciara realized for the dragon to be worried in this way.
She let her horse move next to Mairi’s until they were close enough for her to reach out to the other woman. Ciara took Mairi’s hand and leaned so she could speak directly into the human woman’s ear. “You must control your fear. If wolves from your father’s pack hunt us, they will smell it.”
The scent of fear spiked, but Mairi made a clear attempt to calm herself. Taking deep breaths, she even closed her eyes as if she trusted Ciara to make sure her horse stayed its course.
“Good. Remember, we have five Chrechte warriors with us and one is a dragon.” Calling the two raven youths warriors was stretching it a bit, but Mairi needed the assurances. “Naught will happen to you. I promise.”
Mairi squeezed her hand, her fear fading a bit. And Ciara had an idea. She’d never tried anything like this before, but there was nothing to lose by it.
They were taught that human children of Chrechte parents shared none of their gifts because they did not share the ability to shift. Ciara had not always been convinced of this.
If MacAlpin had not had Chrechte cunning, would he have been able to betray and kill the others of his line the way he had done?
“Concentrate on the scents of the forest around you,” she instructed Mairi. “Can you do that for me?”
Mairi nodded with a tiny jerk of her head.
“Good. Can you smell the trees?”
“Yes,” Mairi barely whispered on a puff of air.
“Now, smell the earth, the dead leaves, the boar who traveled here earlier today, the fern and heather. Let their sun-warmed fragrance fill your senses.”
The scent of Mairi’s fear began to dissipate.
“Good. Keep concentrating on the fern and heather.” Two scents found throughout the forest, they would mask Mairi’s own without causing any who hunted them to stop and consider.
Mairi continued to breathe deeply, her eyes closed, but her scent was almost completely gone now.
“Now think about that smell surrounding you. Imagine your very skin giving off the perfume of heather, the leafy smell of a fern.”
It worked; Mairi’s scent was masked completely by the scents of the forest around them.
Chapter 15
No doubt but there is none other beast comparable to the mighty dragon in awesome power and majesty, and few so worthy of the diligent studies of wise men.
—GILDAS MAGNUS, ARS DRACONIS
Ciara did not know if the other woman had been able to do this because she had the gift of sight, more of her father’s Chrechte blood than she’d ever realized, or simply because any child of a Chrechte could do it.
And it did not matter. All that was of any importance in that moment was that Mairi’s scent would not give them away to their enemy.
“Open your eyes now, Mairi.”
The other woman did, their blue depths glazed with her effort to concentrate on masking her scent.
Eirik’s head snapped around and he stared at Ciara with shocked question, though he remained silent as a good warrior should.
Ciara smiled, her pride in Mairi’s accomplishment warm inside her. She tilted her head toward Mairi to let Eirik know the human had done it, not Ciara. Not that she could have, but perhaps among the Éan such would have been possible.
Eirik narrowed his eyes in acknowledgment but turned around to focus on where he led them.
Ciara leaned sideways to speak in Mairi’s ear again. “It is very important you keep your focus on these scents. You are too new at this to maintain the mask on your scent without full concentration.”
Mairi nodded, this time firmly.
Eirik’s horse veered to the right and Ciara followed him, nudging Mairi’s leg to make sure she did the same. The path narrowed through the trees and Ciara was forced to ride ahead of Mairi, rather than beside her, but the other woman did not slip in her concentration for even a second.
They rode in complete silence for two hours before Eirik put his fist in the air to call them to a halt.
He looked back at them over his shoulder. “We are in no danger of being discovered by the MacLeod soldiers spied from the sky.”
So, the eagle and ravens had been on guard duty. No wonder Eirik had been so frustrated with them. More to the point, the Éan had been able to co
mmunicate the danger to Eirik.
“You are sure?” Mairi asked in a strained voice, interrupting Ciara’s thoughts.
No sooner had Eirik said, “Aye,” than Mairi’s entire body sagged and her scent became discernable once again amidst the fragrances of the forest. While it was no longer spiced with fear, there was an undeniable element of relief in it.
She slumped sideways and Ciara caught her before the other woman fell off her horse. Lais was there in a heartbeat, pulling Mairi right onto the blond warrior’s lap atop his horse.
“Masking her scent was hard on her.” The healer’s concern was apparent, but so was his pride in Mairi’s accomplishment. “She did it though, and no wolf to share her soul, either.”
“That she did,” Eirik agreed.
Ciara shook her head at the way the men talked about Mairi, instead of to her. She reached out and patted Mairi’s leg. “You did as well as any wolf.”
Mairi gave her a tired grin. “Really?”
“Most certainly. Better than I the first time I tried to mask my scent.” She did not mention she’d been a child at the time.
Her father had not believed in waiting for the first change to begin training his children in the ways of the Chrechte. Since both her parents had been Faol and their parents before them, there was no question that Ciara or Galen would share their soul with a wolf.
“We have another two hours’ ride to the water.” Eirik looked at Mairi. “Do you need to rest?”
She shook her head and Lais said, “She will ride with me.”
Mairi did not argue.
Ciara noted Eirik did not ask her if she needed a break and that made her smile. He did not think Ciara weak, despite the toll her dreams had taken on her.
She looked up, taking in the position of the sun. Then she considered what she could see of landmarks around her. Eirik had guided them away from the threat, but with a minimal loss in time to reach the Sinclair boats for crossing the water to Balmoral Island.
It was impressive, though she’d no plans to tell him so. The man had enough confidence in his own abilities without adding her confidence in him to the mix.
He maneuvered his horse so they faced one another, but were side by side. “You did well, teaching Mairi to mask her scent.”
“She made all the effort.”
“No.” He brushed the back of his knuckles along Ciara’s cheek, making her want to lean into this touch. “You do not realize it, but as her princess you were able to reach out to the Chrechte within her in a way no one else could have.”
But in a way he understood.
“Is this true?” she could not help asking.
“It is. Among the Éan, those of my family are charged with training the human offspring of our Chrechte brethren. Not all have equal abilities, but it takes one of the family of the Gra Gealach to draw whatever Chrechte gifts they do have forth.”
“That is amazing.”
“It is. My aunt was charged with it when we lived in the forest. Now that we are spread among the clans, others will have to share the burden.”
“Your aunt came to the Sinclairs?”
“One of them. Fidaich’s mother.”
“Oh.” Ciara still had a difficult time seeing herself as some kind of princess, but she thought her father should be made aware of this practice among the Éan. Perhaps the Faol could emulate it.
“Thank you,” Eirik said when the silence had been stretched between them.
Ciara had been lost in thought, but apparently, he was not finished with their conversation.
“Why?”
“I did not want to engage the enemy. Your safety and that of the human seer are of utmost importance.”
“Because of the Faolchú Chridhe.” Why did part of her wish there was a more personal component to Eirik’s concern?
“We must find it before the MacLeod.”
“Of course.” Ciara should not be disappointed by his answer. She really should not, but her foolish heart ached all the same. “We will.”
“Aye, we will.”
“You are so certain?”
Her words had been spoken more out of hope, but Eirik had sounded like he had seen the future and knew what would come to be. Perhaps as prince of his people, he had.
Though if he saw visions, would he not have told her? “Do you have what Mairi calls the sight as well?”
“Nay, but there is no doubt the Faolchú Chridhe calls to you in a way it does no other.”
“How do you know?” Though she herself was certain he spoke the truth, that knowledge an immovable boulder inside her heart.
“’Twould have been found by now otherwise. You have spent seven years denying its call.”
“I was afraid of what it could do.”
“Because you saw only the selfish lust for power your brother exhibited. You did not understand the gift the sacred stone is and should be to all the Faol.”
“No, I did not.” She swallowed and then admitted, “I did not let myself see the selfishness driving my brother, either. I needed to believe he wanted the best for the Faol as well.”
“He was young and deceived. He might yet have come around to understand the power was not meant for a few, but for all.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
Eirik shrugged and Ciara had to suppress a smile. He was much like her adopted father in some ways.
“We will wait to take to the sky until we see Lais and Mairi safely launched on the water,” Eirik said, clearly done with the other subject.
“All right.”
“You are being very agreeable.”
She shrugged. It was not her way to disagree for the sake of argument; if he thought otherwise, she could not help that.
When they arrived at the water, the eagle shifter was there to greet them. He bowed his head toward Eirik and grasped Lais’s arm in a warrior’s greeting.
“Where are Fidaich and Canaul?” Ciara asked Eirik.
“I sent them back to the Sinclair so they could tell him about the MacLeod soldiers on his land.”
“What will he do?” Mairi asked worriedly, seemingly oblivious to the implication behind Eirik’s claim to have sent the ravens away when they had never come out of the sky.
“He will send Niall and a group of Chrechte soldiers with him to confront the interlopers,” Ciara replied when it became apparent none of the warriors intended to do so.
Her father would not take a rival clan’s trespass on their lands lightly. Niall would be on a mission to teach the foolish soldiers a lesson as well as bring them to heel.
Lais added, “Those who survive the encounter will be taken to the Sinclair.”
Ciara wanted to kick him for his helpfulness. Mairi had gone gray. She might not want to return to her father’s clan, but that did not mean Mairi had no concern for her former clansmen. She understood, as Ciara did, that the soldiers may only be guilty of following their laird’s orders.
“Will he ransom them back to my father?” Mairi asked with a tremble in her voice. “I do not think he will pay, even for a Chrechte warrior.”
Though it was not an unheard-of practice between rival clans to demand payment for the return of those caught in battle (and to kill those the laird refused to pay for, or sell them into slavery), Ciara knew it was not something her father would do. Not unless there was a circumstance in which Talorc wanted to return a clan soldier. Then he might demand ransom.
“If he finds them worthy, my father will give them the opportunity to pledge allegiance to him as clan chief and pack alpha.”
“Truly?” Mairi asked with hope.
“My father is a Chrechte of great honor.”
Eirik grunted. “He is at that.”
“What will Laird Sinclair do if the soldiers won’t pledge him their loyalty?” Mairi asked, sounding as if she really did not want the answer.
“He will probably give them over to Niall to beat some honor into them.” Life in the Highlands was not so
civilized as their king would like to believe.
Ignorant of his long-distance Chrechte heritage, King David had been heavily influenced by his years in England. Still, he was considered a good leader by most of his people. Although, while his Highland lairds were as loyal to him as they would be any king, they did not share his fascination with the English way of life.
Mairi flinched, her eyes filled with horror. “That is barbaric.”
“A man beating his daughter almost to death is barbaric,” Eirik said with disgusted conviction. “An honorable wolf teaching another how to live in the true Chrechte way is necessary.”
“Do not worry yourself,” Lais said with a pat on Mairi’s shoulder. “Depending on how committed to your father’s orders they are, the soldiers may not survive their first encounter with Niall at all.”
Ciara had to stifle an amused snicker at the eagle’s attempt at comforting Mairi. For a healer, he was awfully bloodthirsty.
Taking pity on the other woman, Ciara said, “Niall is a great warrior. He does not have to kill an enemy to win a fight.”
Mairi’s smile of relief had barely formed when Lais said, “But he’s not a warrior to balk at killing, either. He knows when it is better to end a life than prolong it. Even when that life is Chrechte.”
By the look Lais gave her, Ciara knew the words were as much for her sake as they were for Mairi. More so, if he had a brain in his head.
Warriors!
He wanted her to understand and accept Eirik’s actions seven years ago in the forest, she comprehended that. But did he comprehend the impact his words had on the human woman standing before him, looking so frightened and tired?
Ciara did not think so.
Besides, as unexpected as she might find her own feelings, Ciara found that she had already come to terms with Eirik’s actions. The dragon was protector of his people. Whether Galen had to die was not a point for discussion any longer. The fact was, he did die and not as innocently as she had once tried to make herself believe, either.
“I take your meaning, but I do not think your patient finds your words as comforting as you might have expected.” Ciara indicated the pale features of the human woman who looked about ready to faint.
