Faerie Fate (10 page)

Riordan guffawed,
wanting this saucy cailín more than ever. He moved toward her, but was cut off
by the big horse master.

“Methinks we need to
talk, Riordan.” Eachan snagged Riordan’s arm and pulled the lieutenant out of
earshot. “You don’t know who she is, Riordan, and yee’d best be finding out
before you commit a killing offense.”

Killing offense?
Riordan speculated on that for a long moment.
Those were rare in Clann MacDermot.
Riordan stared at the other man,
waiting for him to continue.

“Though not formally
betrothed, she belongs to
An Taoiseac,
” the horse master informed him.
Riordan’s lower jaw dropped. “Pick up your teeth, man, and keep your eyes and
your hands to yerself. I’ll not be telling Ciaran what you’ve been thinking, or
been lookin’ at.” He chuckled, the sound both amused and lascivious. “I have
enough to tell him with the birth of the colt and this.”

Eachan left Riordan
standing there and returned to Becca’s side. “He’ll not be bothering you again,
cailín.”

Becca choked back a
laugh, but as Riordan approached them, she realized Eachan had done something
more than just put the younger man in his place. He looked so somber, she
quickly hid her smile and quenched the laughter dancing in her eyes. He’d been
fun to tease, but the difference in their positions suddenly hit home. He was
one of Ciaran’s soldiers, and she was to become Ciaran’s wife. Arthur and
Lancelot came to mind, but she tossed the thought away immediately. She was no Guinevere,
and though this man was fun to flirt with, only Ciaran had the power to make
her go weak in the knees.

“Mistress,” Riordan
greeted her formally. “Please forgive any offense I may have inadvertently
implied. I dinnit know who yee were. Please accept my fealty. As I protect
Ciaran and all that is his, so shall I protect yee.”

“Thank you,
Riordan,” Becca replied formally. Then with an impish grin and dancing eyes,
she turned to Eachan. “Is there any way you can steal a pair of trews for me so
I can ride properly?”

Chapter Seven

The nefarious deed
took Becca near a sennight, but she finally managed to snag a pair of trews
from the washerwoman. Old and soft, she hoped they wouldn’t be missed. The last
thing she wanted was to get the woman in trouble. After much cajoling, Eachan
finally agreed to let her ride the countryside, but only if she took an escort.

“These are unsettled
times, cailín,” he told her. “And if aught were to happen to you, I shudder to
think what the MacDermot would do.”

“All right,” she
relented. “Will you find me an escort while I go change?”

Eachan nodded. “I
suppose I know which horse you’ll be wantin’.”

Becca grinned
cheekily. “Aye, if you can catch him, I’ll ride Arien. If not, I’ll catch him
myself.”

“Arien,” Eachan
snorted. “And what kind of a name is that for a horse?”

“A very proper one,
thank you very much,” Becca retorted. “Arien was the magical horse born to
Poseidon.” When Eachan looked perplexed, she continued. “Poseidon was the
Greeks’ god of the sea.”

“Ah,” Eachan nodded
sagely. “Like Manannan Mac Lir. But you must be very learned to know of the
Greeks and their gods.”

Becca giggled. “Not
really. Greek mythology wasn’t really my...” She’d started to say it wasn’t her
thing, but knew the slang would only confuse Eachan. “I found other studies
more interesting,” she finished. “Anyway, back to the subject at hand. About
that escort?” She planted her hands on her hips refusing to be deterred.

“Aye, cailín,” he
capitulated. “I’ll get you an escort. Taidhg will have to go, as well as
another.”

“Taidhg? Is that my
guard’s name?” Becca had tried asking the man’s name, but he would never speak
to her.
Teague.
She rolled his name around in her head.

Eachan nodded.
“Ciaran trusts him completely, which is why he was left behind to watch over
you.”

Becca mulled that
over as well. No wonder the man looked morose most of the time. He was a
soldier, and he’d been left behind to protect a silly woman because his clann
chief deemed it necessary. Becca determined to make it up to him somehow. Maybe
getting out of the castle and into the countryside would help. Taidhg lurked
around the front of the stable. He was a very good guard because most days, she
forgot he was there. “I’ll tell him on my way to change while you come up with
another
escort
.” She emphasized the word, letting Eachan know she found
it both distasteful and amusing.

“Change? You aren’t
trying to steal trews, are you?” Eachan squinted one eye and glared.

“I’ve already stolen
them,” Becca informed him in a voice as tart as green apples. “But I’ll wear
them beneath my skirts so no one will know. Will that suffice?”

Eachan guffawed.
“Aye, but yer a cailín full of fire and vinegar, fair certain. I can’t wait for
the MacDermot to return. He’s in for a most memorable time, and I want to watch
every spirited moment of it. Things are sure to be lively.”

Flustered by the
direction her thoughts took, she stared at him while trying to think of a
retort. When nothing came to mind, she lifted her chin defiantly to cover her
embarrassment.

“Aye, Becca, I’ll
find another to accompany yee, and I’ll naught be tellin’ a soul what’s beneath
yer skirt.” Still chuckling, he strolled away. “Since I can’t be goin’ with
yee, Riordan will. His honor will keep him immune to yer charms.”

Becca headed back to
the castle with Taidhg in tow. “I’m going riding,” she informed him. “I think
we both need to get away for a bit.” He stopped dead still behind her. She
turned to face him. “Taidhg, I’m sorry. I know you want to be with the troop,
and I wish Ciaran had taken you.”

“Nay, mistress,” he
whispered, shocked that she’d called him by name and a little surprised that
she’d be concerned for his feelings. “
’
Tis your life I’ve been charged
with. I saw the
Taoiseac
when he found you. You are his chosen. Naught
may happen to you for
’
twould kill him fair certain. Captain MacDonagh
will guard the
Taoiseac’s
back, while I guard you.”

Becca was
speechless. She could tell by the way the man carried himself, and from the
scars on his face and arms, he was more than just a soldier, he was a warrior.
She suddenly felt very cherished. Though her eyes glistened a bit, she smiled
bravely at Taidhg. “Well, I still think we need to get out and let our horses
run.”

Taidhg relaxed and
smiled back. “Aye, mistress.
’
Twould be good to feel the wind in my
face.”

Lighthearted now,
Becca skipped up the stairs to her chamber. She put on a plainer gown and
slipped on the pilfered trews beneath it. Snagging Ciaran’s plaid mantle from
the footboard of the bed, she draped it around her shoulders and pinned it with
the brooch. It was a beautiful thing, gold and silver entwined in a Celtic knot
with a fire opal shaped like a teardrop set in the center so that all the
strands wove underneath it. Becca briefly pondered how a fire opal had found its
way to medieval Ireland. “Faerie tear,” she murmured as she stroked the stone a
moment before sending the thought away. The sun was shining, and a horse was
waiting. Time for action, not history lessons.

Taidhg waited for
her at the bottom of the stairs, and together they went to the stables. As
promised, Eachan had found Riordan, who was already mounted, and waiting for
them. Becca stuck her tongue out at him as she mounted Arien with a slight
boost from Eachan. Riordan vainly tried to ignore her.

With the two
wolfhounds on their heels, the three exited the keep gate and trotted through
the collection of huts and cottages built next to the wall. Becca heard a faint
meow and turned to find the little calico following with bounding leaps.
Laughing, Becca reined Arien around. “Go home, Nod. We go too far today for you
to follow.”

Riordan and Taidhg
sat stunned as they watched one of the hounds return to scoop up the cat and
carry her back inside the gate where he deposited her gently at the door to the
stable. He then loped back to them, his tongue lolling happily out of the side
of his mouth.

“And you’re very
pleased with yourself Master Winken,” Becca called to the wolfhound. The dog’s
happy bark sounded like laughter.

Riordan took the
lead, and Taidhg brought up the rear. The two dogs ranged from side to side,
noses testing the air and the ground for prey. Riordan led them to a long
meadow. Without a thought, Becca whooped for joy and nudged Arien into a
gallop. She leaned over his neck and savored the feel of his mane whipping
against her face as his strong legs pounded the ground beneath them. This is
what she’d missed most, the exhilaration that came with flying across the
ground. Muffled curses behind her and the pounding of two sets of hooves meant
she’d caught the men flat-footed, and they were not happy with her.

Becca spied a trail
leading off into the woods. She slowed Arien slightly so he could turn onto it.
Riordan called her, but she ignored him. She’d been denied this particular
freedom for over twenty-five years in her time, and she was not going to give
it up so easily. Even Taidhg called after her, imploring her to slow down and
let them catch up to her.

She glanced over her
shoulder to see where they were, and when she looked back to the front, a low
branch caught her chest high and swept her off Arien. She didn’t remember
hitting the ground.

****

“She wears the
Covenant,” the female said.

“Aye,” the male
agreed, “but she knows naught of it.”

“He is vulnerable
without it,” she persisted.

“Are you going to
talk to me this time?” Becca was determined to get some answers.

Silence.

“You two are really
pissing me off, you know. Why can’t you just tell me what’s going on?”

“Don’t,” the female
whispered.

“Who are you?”

“She willna
remember,” the male whispered back.

“Yes, I will.”

Silence.

“At least tell me if
you are real. Or are you just a figment of my imagination? Am I going to wake
up in the hospital? If I am, just let me die now. I can’t go back. I won’t go
back.”

****

“Easy, cailín,”
Riordan soothed. “You’ll not be dyin’, and we have to take you back.” Becca
griped his arms. The strength in her hands amazed him. She was a most uncommon
cailín indeed. “You took a tumble from Arien,” he explained. “We need to get
you to Siobhan.”

The two wolfhounds pushed
past Riordan and licked her face. Becca waved them away. Slowly, she opened her
eyes. “Oh, God,” she whispered. “I’m still here.” Tears glistened in her eyes.
“I was afraid they’d take me back,” she choked.

Taidhg’s hand griped
his sword hilt. “Who, mistress? Who would dare take you?” He looked around
warily, afraid someone was watching from the woods.

Becca shook her
head. “Not here,” she mumbled, closing her eyes against the bright sunlight.
“They aren’t here, Taidhg. Don’t take me to the hospital.”

Her words confused
Riordan, and he worried she had a head injury. “Catch Arien if you can,” he
told Taidhg. “If you can’t, leave him to find his own way back. We have to get
her to Siobhan.”

Taidhg nodded in
agreement. Arien had returned to stand quietly with the other two horses. The
guard snatched the reins on all three and led them over. Riordan mounted his
horse while Taidhg picked up Becca and handed her to the other man. Holding
Arien’s reins, he mounted his own horse, and they started back to the keep.
Every instinct urged Riordan to put his horse into a full gallop and get Becca
home as quickly as possible. However, he knew that if she’d injured her head in
the fall, the gallop could do more harm. They were just a league away. He could
stay his anxiety. He would not risk further injury to her.

Becca sank back into
the place where the darkness was soft and gray instead of the all-encompassing
black of unconsciousness. Maybe those others were still lurking about in there,
and she could ask them more questions.

****

“She wants to know
who we are,” the female reminded him.

“As if she’d
recognize us,” the male replied disdainfully.

“There are those who
would,” the female argued. “And this one would ask.”

“You are the one who
gave the Covenant,” he accused.

“And you are the one
who promised it,” she reminded him.

****

When Becca awoke,
she was back in her bed.
Ciaran’s bed!
She all but cried in relief.
Siobhan and Odhran hovered over her, and she suspected that Riordan and Taidhg
clustered outside the door. That Eachan waited with them would have surprised
her. The dogs and Nod milled about getting in the way. Siobhan had shooed them
off the bed several times and tried to keep them out of the room before finally
throwing up her hands in defeat.

“You can’t be taking
such chances,” Siobhan chided her. “Yee nigh frightened a year’s growth out of
all of us.”

“Chill out,” Becca
told her, grinning when she realized Siobhan hadn’t a clue as to what the
phrase meant. “I’m fine,” she added. “That wasn’t the first time I’ve come off
a horse, and it probably won’t be the last.”

“Aye, it will,”
Eachan roared from the door. “I thought yee had more sense, cailín. Yee’ll not
be ridin’ one of mine like that again.”

Becca smiled at the
huge man, knowing he was all bluster and bluff. “Is Arien all right?”

“Aye, through no
thought of yer’n, though.”

“I’m sorry, Eachan.”
She raised her voice. “And that goes to you two lurking out there in the hall.
You might as well come in and have a go at me as well.”

Riordan and Taidhg
entered hesitantly. Relieved Becca sounded so normal, they breathed sighs of
relief. They both wanted to lay into her with sharp tongues for what she’d
done, but they were both so thankful she wasn’t hurt, neither could unleash
their wrath.

“I was stupid,
okay?” she told the room. “That’s what happens when I’m cooped up. I go a
little crazy. My head quits working. I promise it won’t happen again. I really
am fine.” She stretched and winced. “Well, nothing that a hot bath won’t cure.”

Siobhan stood apart
with her hands on her hips scowling at Becca. She cleared her throat and glared
a little harder.

“All right, already.
I promise not to ride recklessly. I promise not to run off and leave Taidhg and
Riordan behind. I promise to be a good girl. I promise not to cause any trouble
until Ciaran gets back. Does that satisfy you, Siobhan?”

“And why don’t I
believe a word of it?” the other woman scoffed. “Trouble follows you like a
shadow, Becca.”

Becca shrugged and
tried to look sheepish.