Susan King - [Celtic Nights 01] Read Free

growling dog's collar firmly to show Cormac that she was protected by the dog as well as by the stone and its legend.
    "Quiet that great blue hound of yours, or I will do it for you." Cormac touched the dirk sheathed at his belt.
    "Finan Mor," she said. "Big Finan. Hold, you." The deerhound stayed still, his growls low.
    "A great hound like that is a man's dog, and no hound for a woman," Cormac observed.
    "Finan has been mine from his birth."
    "Then he has been spoiled by a woman's hand."
    She watched Cormac evenly. "Try him, and see if it is so."
    "You are safe," he said. "For now. The legend of the Stone Maiden ensures that no man of Clan Nechtan can harm a woman of Clan Laren, or he will suffer the consequences."
    "It is a shame no legend prevents the men of Clan Nechtan from warring on the men of Clan Laren," she snapped.
    "An ancient wrong gives us reason to war upon you."
    "Your hatred of us may be ancient, but ours is just as old! You would destroy us all if you could."
    "Not you, Alainna. You, I want for my own."
    "Do not say that to me in the Maiden's presence!"
    "She cannot protect you much longer. The faery spell ends in the spring. All know that." He scowled.
    He was not unhandsome, even with a thrusting, wide jaw, but the anger in his dark eyes ruined his appeal. "Some say that the Maiden's power to help her people wanes even now."
    "Our bard says the Maiden's power will increase when the faery spell ends," she said. In truth, no one was sure what would happen when the stone's magic ended the next spring.
    "Old Lome MacLaren would say so, rather than say your clan is lost!" Cormac flipped his fingers in dismissal. "The Stone Maiden will no longer keep you safe, if ever she could. The Maiden and her clan will both crumble."
    "We may be diminished by feud, and illness, and poor luck," she said hotly. "We may have few left of our name. We may be threatened by a cruel enemy"—she glared at him—"but our pride, our legacy endures. You cannot destroy that with your raids and your hatred!"
    He shrugged. "If you will listen, I have good tidings for your clan."
    "Glad news for your clan cannot be good for mine." She glanced across the narrow loch toward Kinlochan. Tendrils of smoke rose from the hearth fires; soon her kinsmen would come looking for her. If they saw Cormac here with her, there would be another skirmish.
    "I have petitioned King William for the hand of the Maiden of Kinlochan. The living maiden, not the stone one." He snickered at his poor jest.
    She gasped. "I would never wed you!"
    "You must wed soon. Your father is gone and cannot arrange your marriage."
    "He is gone by your hand!"
    "Not mine, girl." He shook his head. "Not mine."
    "Yours or another's, a MacNechtan blade killed him, and took my brothers too. I would never marry you or any of your blood."
    "You and your elder kinsmen want to end this feud, I know. And my own kinsmen urge me to wed you. It is time I married."
    "You can wed the handfasted wife you cast aside," she said.
    "Not her. You." He swelled his chest. "We can gain no honor fighting the old men of Clan Laren. You cannot oversee this vast property alone. Become my bride. Your father wanted this for the good of all."
    "He never did," she said, and beside her, Finan growled low and shifted forward. She touched the dog's head. "You would take our land and our very name from us."
    He scowled. "The king has the right to decide your marriage, since you are sole heiress, holding title and land. We will leave this up to him. I have offered for you. Such an easy end to this feud will please the king."
    "King William himself could not force me to do what I will not." She lifted her head higher.
    "A stubborn woman is a foolish woman," he muttered. "You are a willful girl, but I hoped you had more sense." He gestured impatiently. "The men of Clan Laren are too old to wield swords. Your foster brother, Giric MacGregor, is young, but he is one man—and we are many." He moved forward, but stopped