Lady of Conquest (46 page)

He thundered out of the mist like a legend. The breath was sucked out of Gelina’s lungs as she recognized the giant of a stallion beneath him. Even as they watched, he pulled the mount up short. The horse reared, powerful forelegs flashing. The two who watched him stood crippled by the inevitability of his motion as he aimed the horse for the bluff.

“No!” Gelina’s fierce cry rent the air. She started for the narrow path they had followed to their perch.

Rodney jerked her back. “You cannot go down there. He’ll come up that path.”

“I’ve got to get to the ship.” She pulled away, her gaze panic-stricken. It darted across the cliff, seeking a way to the shore, then lit with furious determination. “If I cannot go down the path, I shall go down the cliff.”

She dashed to the cliff’s edge. Her stomach rolled as she stared down at the churning water crashing over the keen edges of the rocks below. Rodney stood paralyzed, torn between the hoof beats that echoed louder each second and his sister who had dropped to her stomach and lowered her feet over the cliff, kicking until she found a shallow impression to cram her toe into.

Conn burst over the side of the promontory, the black chest of his mount obscuring Rodney’s vision for a breathless instant as he halted the monstrous steed an inch from his nose.

“Gelina!” Conn bellowed.

Ignoring Rodney, he leapt off the horse and ran for the cliff. Only Gelina’s narrow fingers were visible as they clung to the edge of the cliff. There was a short scream and those, too, disappeared from sight.

Conn dropped to his stomach, terrified at the sight that might greet him as he peered over the cliff. Gelina hung just below his outstretched arm. One foot rested on a narrow slate ledge that tapered into nothingness. The other dangled in midair. Her eyes were clenched shut.

“Give me your hand.” Conn struggled to keep his own precarious balance and stretched a hand toward her trembling form.

She spoke without opening her eyes. “No, thank you. I’m going down, not up.”

“You’re damn right you’re going down if you don’t give me your hand.” He gritted his teeth in frustration.

He glanced back at Rodney but could see no help in his glazed eyes.

“I do not want your help,” Gelina cried aloud, her foot sliding toward the abyss below, unable to find a foothold.

“Look at me, Gelina,” he commanded in the same tone he had used on a stubborn girl long ago. All of the majesty of Erin was in that voice.

Unable to resist, she opened her eyes a tiny bit and raised her gaze to his.

“If you still want to go to that ship,” he said softly, “I will take you there myself. You have my word. Just give me your hand.”

The slate ledge began to crumble. Kind blue eyes blocked out the sun. She loosened her grip on the rock and raised one hand in the air as the ledge disappeared into the sea. She lost her grip. His muscular arm grasped hers. He heaved with all of his might, lifting her onto solid ground with one arm. Her legs folded. His arm holding her clasped against him was the only thing that stopped her from falling to her knees. The comforting smell of leather assailed her senses.

His lips nuzzled her ear. “Whether you go or stay, I will love you until I die,” he whispered.

She buried her face in his tunic.

“Now, Conn. If you can quit fondling my sister, we shall finish this.”

Seeing Gelina safe from harm, Rodney sprang into action. He pulled Sean’s sword and brandished it in the air.

Conn loosed her and drew his own sword. Deliverance flashed in the sunlight. Gelina stepped back and sank to her knees, her mind numb as she watched her brother drive his sword toward Conn’s chest. Metal clashed against metal, the sound ringing in her ears.

“He’s been practicing,” she murmured dully as Rodney parried Conn’s expert thrusts with finesse.

They moved toward the edge of the cliff. Rodney thrust again and again, seeking the opening that would grant him a death blow. Gelina sensed a reserve in Conn’s attack. Rodney should have been no match for him, but there they were, swords crossing valiantly as each sought to disarm the other.

The dull sound of metal slicing flesh brought Gelina to her feet. The unfortunate mare bore the brunt of a blow meant for Conn. The searing pain in its haunch sent it careening madly toward Gelina and the steep cliff.

Conn dropped his sword and dived for the mare. His powerful hands caught in the tangled mane. He dragged himself on the horse’s back. His weight shifted the horse’s thundering path a fraction of an inch. Gelina rolled to the side, feeling a rush of air as the mare plummeted past her and over the cliff’s edge with a whistling scream. She lay for a long silent moment with her eyes clenched shut, afraid to open them and find herself alone with Rodney on the promontory.

She opened them to the sound of Rodney’s shrill laughter. Conn crouched a few feet away from her, his nostrils flaring and his eyes on Rodney. With a careless motion, Rodney flung Conn’s sword over the side of the cliff.

Rodney advanced on him without mercy. Conn scuttled away from Gelina, following the cliff’s edge to the other side of the bluff. Rodney stalked him, each step bringing Conn nearer to the yawning abyss of the sea. Conn stretched out his arms; his lips curled in a snarl. His gaze caught Gelina’s as she knelt on the other side of the bluff. The farewell she saw within his eyes twisted her heart. Her brother’s back was to her, and she thought dryly that it was his back she had seen more often than not as he abandoned her to this fate or that one.

Conn’s astonished eyes followed her sweeping movement as she stood and unsheathed Vengeance. He stretched out his arm, hardly daring to believe what his eyes told him.

Rodney turned, following Conn’s shocked gaze, and watched as Gelina hurled the sword in a high arc.

The sun flashed from the smooth silver as it turned over and over in the air until the hilt came to rest flawlessly in Conn’s outstretched hand.

Conn swung the sword. Gelina closed her eyes, unable to watch her only brother’s head roll from his shoulders. She heard a dull thunk. Her eyes flew open in time to see Rodney slide to his knees as the large flat side of the blade stunned him to the ground.

Conn dropped the sword and faced her. His hands were shaking. She met his eyes for a long moment, then turned to face the sea and the ship anchored there—the ship waiting for her.

Conn bowed his head in defeat.

Rodney groaned softly. She pointed to him. “I daresay my brother cannot live at Tara with us.”

Conn tried to stop it, but a grin crept over his face. He spread his arms wide, offering her both his heart and his trust, just as he had once offered them to an angry, frightened girl as proof of his pledge. Gelina leapt into his arms and threw her legs around him. He swung her in a wide circle and smothered her face in laughing kisses. The waves crashed on the rocks below in giggling rhythm, like the laughter of one hysterical dwarf.

Conn of the Hundred Battles had two daughters and three sons. He was the grandfather of the legendary Cormac MacArt.

In
a.d.
280, Oisin led the Clan na Morna Fianna into battle against the Clan na Baoscini Fianna, and, fighting amongst themselves, the Fianna were annihilated.

And Gelina? Women with swords are created, not born. The Irish still speak of a woman who thunders through the windy night on a great black steed, her sword flashing in the moonlight, her eyes alight with the secrets of love and conquest.

USA Today
bestseller Teresa Medeiros has well over three million copies of her books in print. She was recently chosen one of the Top Ten Favorite Romance Authors by
Affaire de Coeur
magazine and won the
Romantic Times
Reviewers Choice Award for Best Historical Love and Laughter. A former Army brat and registered nurse, Teresa wrote her first novel at the age of twenty-one and has since gone on to win the hearts of critics and readers alike. Teresa currently lives in Kentucky with her husband, Michael, four cats, and one floppy-eared Doberman. Writing romance allows her to express her own heartfelt beliefs in faith, hope, and the enduring power of love to bring about a happy ending.

Version History
 

1.0—20July2004—Initial Release. Scanned, spell-checked and formatted from the paperback edition.

2.0—22July2004—Proofread.