Onyx (28 page)

“I think I’ll wait in the stables fer ye,” said Onyx, turning to leave. But Aidan and Ian grabbed his arms and hauled
him inside, not letting him go anywhere.

“Clarista has a special surprise fer ye,” said Ian, “and she made us promise thet ye’d be here.”

“I am no’ in the mood fer this,” he said.

“Then mayhap I can change that mood,” said Clarista, having overheard him, and coming across the room to join them.
She looked radiant, dressed in a gown made from the MacKeefe purple and green tartan, with a long-sleeved leine beneath it in a rose color, obviously made just for the Valentine’s Day celebration. Over her shoulders she wore a shawl that matched the tartan, and her hair was piled atop her head and encircled with a thin, gold circlet that had a crowned letter A on the front – a symbol of love. And she had a colorful heart made of red fabric pinned to her chest.

“Boys, here are your lovers’
knots,” she said, holding a bowl in her hand filled with items. She handed them each a double circle of twisted twine, knotted together to make a bracelet. Aidan and Ian put theirs on their wrists, but Onyx refused to take one. “Would you rather wear a heart on your chest?” she asked, digging through the bowl.

“I’d rather no’ wear me heart on me ches
t nor me sleeve,” he said under his breath.

“Well the
n perhaps you’d like to just enjoy being paired up with one of the lady lovers here today?”

Lady Love, he thought to himself, hearing her words. He felt as if he’d never be able to hear those two words again in any com
bination without feeling torn apart inside. He didn’t understand how it was so easy for Lovelle to say she’d marry the old man and to order him to leave her life without even trying to fight it. The whole thought made him feel sick.

“Nay, I d
inna want any of it,” he said to Clarista.

The minstrels were play
ing a cheery tune on bagpipes, and drums beat softly in the background with the tinkling of bells heard as well. The mulled, spiced wine flowed freely, as well as the mountain magic old Callum MacKeefe was passing out to the guests himself. Onyx noticed the bowl of yarrow sprigs sitting on a table, being ready to be presented to everyone there today, ensuring those whose sprigs weren’t wilted that they would find true love. He knew the one he’d get would be dead, as there was no true love for him in this lifetime. Everyone was in good spirits and there seemed to be more people than usual at the celebration.

“Somethin’ smells good,” said Aidan to Clarista.

“That’s either the haggis or the squirrel stew we have prepared for the Saint Valentine’s Day feast,” she told him. “Later we’ll have heart-shaped cakes and we’ll play lovers’ games as well.”

“Squirrel stew?” asked Aidan. “Excuse me,
I need te go find Reid.” He took off to find his pet squirrel.

“I
’m sorry, Clarista,” said Onyx, “ but if ye’ll excuse me, I dinna feel much like celebratin’ love today.” He looked up to see a bishop across the room, his mitre - tall, pointed hat – reaching straight up towards the ceiling. He was dressed in white robes and held a crosier, his curved staff, in his hand. “Ye invited a bishop?” he said, not understanding why she’d do this.

“
That is the Archbishop of Canterbury,” said Storm, coming to greet them.

“Why is he here?” asked Onyx.

“He came with us.” Onyx turned to see a girl with big green eyes standing there with another girl with long, brown hair down to her waist. Next to her was a girl with hair so blond it almost looked white.

“
Ian,” he said with a scowl. “I dinna want te roll in the hay with any more triplets ye find, I am sorry.”

“You willna want te do that wit’
these lassies, believe me,” said Ian with a chuckle.

“Then who are you?” he asked the girls. A fourth girl came up to join them, and he recognized her immediately from four years earl
ier. She had dark hair like him, and her features were similar to his, as well as to the girl with the big green eyes. And this girl had her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face when she saw him.

“Remember me, Onyx?” she asked.

“Aye, ye are the lassie from Montclair Castle.”

“And also your sister,” she told him. Suddenly he knew exactly who
m the four girls were standing in front of him, and his heart jumped, and couldn’t find his tongue to speak.

“I’m Amethyst,” the girl told him.

“And I’m her twin sister, Amber,” said the girl with the big green eyes.

“I’m Sapphire,” said the girl with the long hair and the soft, gentle voice.

“And I’m Ruby,” finally said the girl with the whitish hair. “I’m your eldest sister.”

“Say somethin’ ye fool,” said Ian, hitting him with his elbow.

“Give them a hug or somethin’,” said Aidan, coming back to join them with his squirrel in his hands.

“I . . . I’m . . . Onyx,” he finally said, feeling awkward as well as overwhelmed.
The air in the room was becoming very thin suddenly, and he felt as if he couldn’t breathe. Damn, not now, he thought, feeling his little death spell coming upon him.

“Well, tell him
all about yourselves,” said Clarista to the girls. “I’d like to hear as well, as you are all my cousin’s children, and yet I really don’t even know you. And I can’t wait for you to meet my husband.

Storm’s wife, Wren came to join them, holding her youngest child in her arms. “I was separated from my siblings for most my life as well, Onyx. Then we were all finally joined again, just like you with your sisters.”

“I dinna ken what te say,” he said, struggling to get a breath of air. He wanted more than anything to walk outside right now, but wouldn’t dare with so many people staring at him. Plus he knew Aidan and Ian would hold him down if need be.

“Are any o’ ye, single, me bonnie lassies?” asked Ian, pouring on his charm.

They all giggled, and Onyx liked the way it sounded.

“Nay,” said Amethyst. “We are all married and have many children between us.”

“And we all have daggers just like Onyx,” said Ruby holding hers up for him to see.

“Our husbands are here today as well as our children,” said Sapphire. “Would you like to meet them
, Brother?”

“Aye,” said Amber. “And we’ve brought along a special guest as well.
”

That’s when he saw his father standing across the room. He felt a knot twisting in his gut and didn’t want to think of all this at the same time.
It was just too overwhelming.

“Come on and talk to father,” said Amethys
t, grabbing him by the arm, “and we’ll tell you all about us on the way over. I am married to Earl Marcus Montclair and we have two lovely children, a boy and a girl.”

“Nay, leave me alone,” he said. “I want nothin’ te do wit’ the man who
wanted me thrown into the sea.”

“We all thought you were dead,” said Ruby, grabbing his other arm.
“Had he known you were alive, Papa would have treated you better than all of us put together. I was more or less the son he never had, learning to joust and wield a sword. I married Nyle Sheffield and though we lost a baby boy, we have three boys total now – so far.”

“No lassies
?” he asked, feeling his legs becoming queasy. He tried his hardest to get to know his new sisters and at the same time take in all this information.

“No girls yet, but then again, Amb
er has only girls so far, so it evens out I guess.”

“
That’s right,” said Amber, grabbing onto his arm too. “And I hear you were reading the Book of Hours. I used to illuminate manuscripts as I trained to be a nun until I married a man that everyone thought was a devil. I can’t wait for you to meet my husband Lucifer – or Lucas as he likes to be called. We have two daughters now, and I swear none of them are devils, though they are spitfires for sure.”

“So I’m no’ the only one who was referred to as a devil?” he asked.

“My first husband was a devil,” said Sapphire grabbing his arm too, as they pulled him across the room. “He used to beat me, but then Lord Roe Sexton saved me from all that. “We have the most children, as we have twin boys and two girls and another one on the way.” She rubbed her stomach, and Onyx noticed the bump under her gown.

“I’m sorry to hear that – I mean happy to hear that – I mean . . . I’m no’ sure what I mean anymore.”

Then they stopped in front of their father, and Onyx felt himself ready to combust. His head throbbed and his mouth was dry and he really needed a dram of mountain magic. He wished more than anything that Lovelle was here right now. This little family reunion was making him feel very anxious. And now that his father was in front of him and his sisters were holding his arms, he couldn’t run even if he wanted to.

“Onyx, son,” said the earl. “I hope you are not upset that I’m here.”

“What difference does it make?” he asked. “I think half of England is in here today, no’ te mention half o’ Scotland as well.”

“I want to make amends,” the man told him. “I don’t want to live the rest of my life never knowing the son I so foolishly wanted out of my life so many years ago. Can you ever forgive me?”

Onyx felt his head dizzying and the voices in the room became very loud. The smell of the scented candles suddenly made him nauseated, and he felt so trapped by all his sisters’ hands on him right now that he wanted to scream.

“I . . . I dinna ken,” he said, trying to think, but his brain was becoming muddled.

“Please, forgive me, Son,” said his father putting out his hand. Onyx just looked down at it, and it became very blurry. He really needed some mountain magic and he needed it now. And then he felt as if he was in that wooden box once again, trapped, going to buried or drowned, and with no way out. He couldn’t breath, he couldn’t move. And as his knees buckled beneath him and he fell to the ground, he heard his father saying the words he never wanted to hear again in his life.

“I love you, son,” said the earl, just before Onyx’s world went black
all around him.

Chapter 27

Onyx was in the middle of an erotic dream. Lovelle was kissing him so passionately that he couldn’t breathe. And he heard cheering from around him and his friends calling out his name. Then Lovelle reached over and started . . . licking him on the face.

“Dagger, get up, ye fool,” he heard Aidan call out.

Then he heard another voice say, “Onyx, are you alright?” It was a sweet, melodic voice that he knew only too well.

He opened his eyes to see the most wonderful site of his life. Lovelle was hunkered down next to him, her long, blond hair falling over his chest and she held his face in her hands, looking into his eyes. He thought he was dreaming at first, until he felt something licking his face and sat up quickly, to see that it was only Tawpie. Charles came over and picked her up in his arms.

“Lovelle?” he asked, looking up at her in question. “Is it really you?”

“It is, Onyx,
and now I know you are not all right as you never use my real name.”

She reached out and kissed him, and he gently took her face in his hands. “Why are ye here?” he asked. “And should ye be k
issin’ me when ye are married te thet bastard?”

She smiled then, and laughed. It was a sound he’d been longing to hear for such a long time.

“That bastard is my mother’s husband instead of mine,” she said, helping him to his feet. “So our lands are still secure after all, and I didn’t have to marry him.”

“How did thet happen?” He knew there was a crowd of people around him, but he only focused on Lovelle.

“After you left, I remembered that your father said he was friends with the archbishop of Canterbury. Actually, most your family is, but you’ll find that out in time.”

His father. Suddenly he remembered the thing that had pushed him over the edge and made him die more or less. His father had said he loved him.

He went to get to his feet, and a proffered hand shot out to help him. He looked up to see it was his father. He stood there, just waiting for Onyx to accept him.

“It was by your father’s
doing that my mother married Lord Richard instead of me,” Lovelle told him. “The archbishop has close ties with the king, and they’ve changed my betrothal. Now I’m betrothed to you instead.”

He accepted the man’s hand slowly and got to his feet.
His father smiled.

“Love, how can thet
be?” he asked curiously. “I never made the agreement with anyone fer the betrothal.”

“No, but I
did,” said the earl. “Since you are my true son, I’ve made the deal for you. I am guessing you agree to it?”

He looked over to Lovelle, feeling like his life had just gotten better. “I do,” he said. “If she’ll still have me.”

“I will,” she answered in return. “And now, Onyx, are you going to forgive your father and make amends? After all, it is Valentine’s Day, and also Loveday. This is the day you need to forgive those who have hurt you in the past.”