Souls Aflame (63 page)
Authors: Patricia Hagan
Eriu turned and smiled at Brighid, calmly meeting her gaze. “So I do. A goddess can show no greater approval for any mortal man than to take him as a mate, even if only for a night. No one can doubt that such a man is worthy to be king.”
“But, Eriu—I have often wondered how difficult this is for you. As you say, you have done this since the beginning and that is a very long time. I know what a gentle and caring spirit you truly are. Is it enough for you to simply take a mate for one night and then coolly turn your back and walk away from him, never to see him again? Does this not affect your heart?”
Eriu started to answer then paused. She glanced up at the slanting rays of the sun as it began to approach the trees and mountains to the west.
“I cannot allow my heart to be a part of the kingmaking ritual,” she said at last. “If I should allow myself to fall in love with any Man, how could I ever lie with another to make that one a king?” She shook her head. “I vowed as the Goddess of the Land to do this thing for the Land where Men live, and I will keep that vow.”
“Yet it seems to me too much to ask of any woman to set aside her own need for love and companionship in order to serve the world of Men. Perhaps you have done this thing long enough. Perhaps it is time—”
“I do not perform the kingmaking ritual only to help the people of the natural world,” Eriu said quickly, her eyes narrowing. “I do it for love of the Land itself, to make certain it always has a worthy guardian and protector.
“I am no warrior. A sword would cut me down as quickly as it would any Man. I cannot protect the Land itself. But I can find the Men who will—and so I do.”
“So you do. And I understand why,” Brighid said. “But even a goddess has need of a mate and a companion who will be there for more than just one night—of someone to whom she can give the love that is now saved only for the Land. And a broken heart can be as deadly as any sword.”
Brighid took a step toward Eriu. “We have all spent time walking among the people of the natural world. We, too, may be drawn by the beauty of the Men. We may well choose to spend a night or a year or even a lifetime with a mortal mate, and then simply return to the Otherworld when that lifetime draws to a close as it must for each one of them. Even a goddess cannot prevent that.”
“Indeed she cannot,” Eriu said quietly. “And you are right, Lady Brighid, I do hear the calling of my heart, and I do wonder what it might be like to have the love and companionship of one of those fine kings for more than just one night. Yet to do so, I would have to turn my back on the Land that also has my love. How could I do such a thing, my sister? How could I ever do such a thing?”
Brighid had no answer for her. Eriu lifted the hem of her dark green gown, turned away from the setting sun and began to walk toward the east, toward the world of Men.
Souls Aflame
Patricia Hagan
Shipwrecked on the rocky shores of romance…
Julie Marshall’s brother has been labeled a traitor to the South. Unable to stay, she must now leave her beloved home, Rose Hill, and board the
Ariane,
a blockade-running frigate sailing for London, in order to save the family home. On route, she is shipwrecked on an island in the Gulf with handsome Captain Derek Arnhardt.
After finding a love and passion unlike anything she has ever known, Julie and Derek are soon torn apart when they are rescued and Julie must leave to search for her missing brother. Plunged into a world of intrigue and darkness, Julie prays that she and Derek can be reunited and rediscover the love that once set their souls aflame.
This Retro Romance reprint was originally published by HarperCollins in July 1996.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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Souls Aflame
Copyright © 2012 by Patricia Hagan
ISBN: 978-1-61921-013-4
Edited by Heather Osborn
Cover by Valerie Tibbs
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Original Copyright by HarperCollins: June 1996
First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: August 2012
