“And what Cookson and I share together…” Her cheeks colored as she alluded to their physical relationship. “What we share is not something I thought I ever would experience after those men hurt me so viciously. But Cookson is loving and gentle, and he makes me feel treasured and beautiful, and he makes me feel wonderful.” She gushed in relating the fact she was pleased with the bedding.
“I am happy your time together is mutually pleasing,” Alainn truthfully related.
“I am surprised I carry two babies, and it will take some time to think on that notion, but I am happy, perhaps even excited about the babies, as well. I simply wish my mother were here to share this with me and to help me for I admit I know very little of babies.”
“I understand; I would wish that for you also.”
“And now you’re saying you must leave soon as well. I don’t understand, Alainn. Why must you go?”
“It’s complicated, Lily. I am only able to tell you, I will be back when and if I can, and as soon as I am able.”
“But you’ve just returned from searching for your father, must you leave so soon?”
“Aye, well, in truth, this has to do with my father. I must go to be with him for a time.”
Lily’s eyes knitted in a displeased manner as she attempted to understand. “But milord will not accompany you this time?”
Alainn shook her head. “Killian is an important chieftain and needed here at Castle O’Donnel.”
“Sure, he will miss you much.”
“And I shall miss him.” Alainn sighed.
“And who will I have to befriend me in your stead?” Lily forlornly asked.
“Roisin is a lovely young woman. She is healer, and also a midwife. There’s Eireen, you know she’s a kind, caring woman who adores children. She will gladly help you with the babies, as will Cookson. He was raised in a houseful of many children and you’ve seen how kind and patient he is with his younger siblings. And he loves you well. You will never feel alone with Cookson in your life.”
“Aye,” She pouted slightly and her lip trembled. “But you will be here for our wedding then? Will you promise me that?”
“Yes, Lily, your wedding is in two days’ time, I will not leave before that under any circumstances,” she said loudly and spoke as though to the sky.
Lily looked at her as if she was on the verge of losing her mind entirely, but Alainn simply smiled at the young woman and headed to her chambers.
*
“It’s been two days, Alainn. You need to speak to me. This is ludicrous. We both are terrified that you may need to leave any day and now you refuse to speak to me. Were you not the one who not so long ago spoke of frittering away our time?” Killian said as he watched her dress for the early afternoon wedding.
“You look most handsome,” she quietly replied as she glanced over at her dashing husband in his finery.
“And you look enchantingly beautiful, Alainn, sure your golden dress is the color of your hair, only not as lustrous.” He smiled.
She glanced away again and stared out the window. He went to her and took her in his arms and she clutched him so tightly he gasped at the suddenness of her embrace.
“It is easier somehow to be filled with enragement at the gods or even at you than to allow the sorrow and the fear to enter my heart. I never want to let you go, Killian. I never want to leave your arms. Sure, I think I might have preferred to die in your arms in the realm of the gods than to be parted from you again and not know if I will be held within these powerful protective arms again,” she said as she stroked his muscular forearms.
“But we will be together again, Lainna. I feel it in my heart. Your own father said he believed we’d have seven children. Well, it’s certain we can’t accomplish that living in different centuries. You will go to the future and do what needs to be done, and come back to me straightaway. Do you hear me, Alainn O’Brien?”
She nodded, but clung tightly to him, inhaling his masculine scent and reveling in the sensation of his arms around her and his heartbeat near her ear.
“Cookson and Lily will be disappointed if you aren’t there to sing at their wedding.”
She nodded again and he took her hand as they walked to the castle’s gardens and the crowd waiting to see the young couple wed.
*
“You cannot sleep, Lainna?” he whispered as he went to her where she sat on the window seat in their chamber.
She smiled a sad smile and shook her head.
“The winter solstice is still nearly a moon away,” he reminded her.
“I think it will not be that long,” she whispered regretfully, “I sense the time is near.”
“That is why you have seemed so sad and ever distant these past days?” His voice filled with solemnity as well.
“I told myself I would simply be happy for these days we have, that I will not allow myself to dwell on when it will be, but I have fallen short of my intentions, Killian. Sorry I am for that.”
“I know it well, Alainn. I can think of little else either. Even when I dare to distance myself from you, all the while wondering if you might be whisked away while we are parted, when I am soldiering or in the great hall supposedly offering astute judgment, all I can think of is you and how I only want to be with you.”
“Let’s find a place where it will be only you and me till I am called away then, Killian.”
“A fairy glade?” he suggested.
“Perhaps.” She smiled as he sat behind her and wrapped her in his arms so they both stared out at the waxing moon.
He placed his face in her fragrant hair and inhaled deeply. “My sweet Lainna, how I love you, how I have loved you all these years.”
“And I you, my Killian, my only love.” She kissed his hand and rested her cheek against his forearm.
“Dance with me, my Lainna. Come dance with me, my beautiful wife.”
She recalled the night the two of them had danced together in this chamber so lovingly to the music she had magically created. Both their minds went to that time and they remembered together as their eyes met, that was the last night they’d been together without the pain in their hearts of losing their son, for the next day Cian had been born and had died.
Today, they’d stood in the graveyard and wept together by their wee son’s grave, and she’d said even though she knew Cian’s soul flew free in the beyond, the thought of not being able to stand at his grave and weep or speak with him, caused her much pain. Their eyes both filled with tears even now and his voice cracked with emotion as he spoke to her.
“We won’t dance then, my love. Come to our bed, Lainna. Make love with me and fall asleep in my arms. I love to hear the sound of your soft breathing as you sleep.”
She turned, took his hand and smiled up at him through her tears.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Always on guard, Killian was the first to hear the sound in their chamber and Alainn awoke as soon as she felt him move. He reached for his sword although the chamber was securely locked and the castle wall to the window impossible to be scaled. They glanced over at the full moon shining through the window, and saw the stoic figure of Aine. The moonlight shone upon her armor and her golden hair.
“It is time, my kin,” she said in a firm voice.
Alainn immediately reached for Killian’s hand and her face filled with anguish.
“There is no need for fear, Alainn.”
“I am not afraid to go with you or even off to a future I do not know, but I do not want to leave Killian. Have you never been in love?” Alainn said in a less than pleased tone.
“I have never shared a love such as you and your husband share, no. But there is little sense in stalling. It is time.”
“So you said!” Alainn sniped as her heart pounded wildly.
“There is no need for unpleasantness, Alainn. It was determined long ago that you would one day embark upon this journey. You have had ample warning and time to accept this fate. Your father certai
nly never dragged his heels in leaving.”
“He thought the woman he loved was dead and there was nothing left for him in this time.”
“I suppose that would make the leaving considerably less burdensome.”
Alainn and Killian remained on the bed. Killian had draped the bedclothes over the lower portion of his body and Alainn had placed the pillow before her.
“Am I allowed to don garments, or shall I head off entirely naked into the future.”
“You will be given garments for those you possess now would be perceived as unusual in the future.”
“So I’m simply heading naked through a portal then?”
“You may don your garments now.”
“Well, I’d really rather you turned your back to us. I’d not be overly pleased with having you salivate in watching my husband without benefit of clothing.”
“Still filled with jealousy, I see. You are in a less than cordial disposition this night. I know not why your husband is in need of garments. He shall remain here in this chamber.”
“I don’t know where the intended portal to the future is located, but wherever it is Killian is coming at least to that location with me to bid me farewell.”
Aine turned toward the window and glanced out while they dressed. “That will only prolong the pain in parting,” she surmised.
“Your godliness, you needn’t fret about my damnable pain!” She snarled.
“Alainn,” Killian spoke for the first time since Aine had entered the chamber, and he shook his head at her unhappy demeanor.
“I should not like to remember these last moments with you fraught with temper.” He smiled and attempted to calm her.
After he was donned in his trews and tunic, he went to her and assisted with fastening her ties.
He whispered in her ear. “Your being filled with misery will change nothing, Lainna. Neither of us wants this, but nor are we capable of preventing it. And when your life was recently saved in the realm of the gods, we were told when the time came for you to leave, we must remember that day. By Christ, it is tearing my heart out, but I am remembering that day.”
She turned and nodded before she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. He returned the kiss with fervor. He pulled her into his arms and she noticed how he trembled as he held her.
“Where is the portal?” Alainn asked Aine as he reluctantly released her from his arms.
“In Diadra’s tower. It is a powerful portal to many realms and many times. Danhoul is already there. Diadra will speak her farewells to her son this night as well. You are not the only one made to say farewell this night.”
Alainn inhaled deeply and took Killian’s hand. Aine drew nearer to them and enshrouded them in a golden light and carried them off to the round tower.
*
There was a distinct sadness in Diadra’s spectral eyes and Danhoul appeared melancholy as well, as Diadra held tight to his hand. Shylie was there momentarily, but it seemed too much for the young spirit to bear in being made to say farewell to Alainn and to Danhoul. She disappeared as quickly as she’d materialized.
Diadra embraced Alainn and held her close. “Take care of my son, Alainn. I pray you’ll take care of one another,” she whispered.
She soon went to her son and Alainn returned to Killian’s waiting arms.
The portal was already glowing brightly, and Aine appeared most impatient as Alainn and Killian clung to one another and it was obvious Diadra did not want to release Danhoul’s hand.
“We will see one another again one day, my son. It is certain.” Diadra attempted a brave smile and Danhoul returned the smile and gently patted his mother’s hand. He took her in his arms to comfort her and then stepped toward the portal, but did not yet step through.
Killian, holding tight to Alainn, whispered in her ear. “I love you, Lainna. I will always love you. Hold tight to that thought every moment we are parted.”
“I love you, too, Killian, but my heart is breaking. I feel as though it is being ripped from my chest.”
“Aye, I feel it as well.” He gently placed her hand to his chest and she heard his heart pounding wildly.
He kissed her hand and then gently kissed her lips once more, and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“It is time,” Aine repeated for surely the tenth time.
“Allow them this time, Aine,” Danhoul insisted as he purposely looked out the tower window at the position of the moon. “It is not as though a few moments longer will change anything.”
“It is as I have said; it will make the parting even more sorrowful if the farewell is extended.”
“You know nothing of human emotion, Aine!” Alainn accused.
“Alainn is correct,” Diadra agreed. “You cannot know what it is to say farewell to the one you love more than life.”
“Ahhhh, humans and their confounded emotions!” the goddess exclaimed and began to pace the tower chamber.
Killian and Alainn remained clinging to each other and even Danhoul looked toward them now perhaps believing it might be best for them to finally say a last farewell.
“Although we won’t be together, I promise you my heart, my mind, and my soul will be with you every moment, Killian. My plight is greater, my love.”
“Our plights are equally torturous, my sweet Lainna,” he replied and he held her tightly to him.
Alainn removed her cherished wedding band and held it out to Killian. “If I cannot ever make it back to you…”
“I will not listen to these words, Alainn.”
She held the ring to him and continued speaking, “If I am unable to return to you, it is certain you will sense it in your heart. Then I ask you to take another as your wife, even Roisin if that is your heart’s desire.”
“This ring is etched for you, Alainn, your name is upon it.”
“But if the day comes when I know I cannot return to you, or if I should meet with death in the future, you must know this, the etching will disappear. That will be the sign you must look for, and then you must promise me, if that day comes, you’ll take another wife and live a long happy life.”
“You will make it back to me,” he insisted.
“It will bring me comfort to hear you make this promise to me.” She placed the ring within the palm of his hand and closed his fingers around it as his eyes filled with pain and he pulled her to him yet again.
“I promise you,” he whispered but his voice cracked.
“The full moon at its highest measure in the sky allows for the most accurate placement in the desired time,” Aine declared. “It is now at that location and soon past.” She pointed her sword toward the glowing moon beyond the tower window.
Killian finally ended the embrace and took Alainn’s hand and began to walk toward the portal where Danhoul now stood. She tensed and grew light-headed. He finally carried her there and stood her beside the other man. He began to walk away, and when he glanced back, Alainn saw the tears that glistened in his eyes. She ran back to him and sobbed in his arms.
“By the gods, Alainn, you are a powerful witch, given the powers of no other human who has ever lived, the strongest of the three, perhaps the shining hope for saving all mankind and the realms beyond, and you now act as a sniveling girl with no valiancy to be found within you.”
Both men bristled at this and stared angrily at the goddess.
“Tis clear no heart beats within your cold chest,” Killian charged.
“I did warn you, Aine. If Alainn is in a state of yearning for her husband she will not be as useful or as powerful in the future,” Danhoul claimed.
“I can attest to that for always my powers were strongest when Ardal was by my side,” Diadra agreed and she smiled as she heard her son’s thoughts.
“Well, there is naught to be done about it, the other two witches will soon arrive in the future and Alainn must be there to find them and congregate them. The power of all three of them will be needed in dealing with Odhran, for the searchers hone in on
him even now. The three witches will ensure he is brought back here for the final battle. It is as it destined to be, and you must go now, my kin!” she ordered in a commanding voice.
Alainn stared up at Killian, kissed his lips as her own lips trembled once more, and this time she inhaled deeply and summoned the courage to walk away from him and toward the portal.
She stood near Danhoul and he stared peculiarly at her. “Go to him once more. Take his hand. Don’t let go no matter what happens.”
Danhoul spoke to her telepathically and capably blocked the conversation from Aine.
She nodded and ran back to Killian.
“Woman, must I take you there myself by force or by magic?” Aine resounded.
Killian looked down at Alainn with sadness in his deep green eyes, and she clutched his large strong hand and held tight to it.
Danhoul took two steps toward Alainn and spoke pretending to be annoyed with her. “Alainn, this is completely ridiculous, you are simply putting off the inevitable and I am losing my patience with you, too. Aine is right, you’re being cowardly.” He roughly grabbed Alainn’s hand, but looked into her eyes, hoping she was beginning to understand his intentions.
At that moment, Killian’s eyes flashed and he unhappily reached toward Danhoul. Danhoul grabbed tight to Killian’s arm and the three of them formed an impenetrable circle that began to glow. Alainn’s eyes brightened with realization and Danhoul pushed them toward the portal. Killian’s eyes grew wide as he glanced at Alainn.
“Don’t let go,” Danhoul insisted and he leapt through the glowing portal pulling the other two with him.
“Damnable druids!” Aine blared as she stepped toward the portal and she hit against what was now a stone wall once more. She looked toward the moon and knew she could no longer follow. The spectral woman simply grinned knowingly at the goddess.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
They arrived, the three of them still holding tight to each other, and they heard the voice of Lugh coming through to them.
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